Monica spies a surprise in the dungeon.

The Archbishop had now been unseen in the Academy for over a day. The official line from the Church was that Rhea had embarked upon an important meditative retreat to an undisclosed location. Still, when an Archbishop disappears from a monastery, rumors tend to swirl.

So it was that Monica of the Black Eagles had witnessed something unusual. At lunch, she had seen the knight Catherine nearly feed a man her fist for suggesting that the Archbishop had been imprisoned somewhere in the monastery. Furthermore, Monica noted tell-tale differences in Catherine which flagged certain suspicions: the knight, who was never seen without the same armor she wore into combat, seemed to be wearing less of it. Of particular note, her full long skirt and full breeches seemed to have been replaced by a much shorter skirt and no breeches to be seen, giving a glimpse of tan thighs over the tops of her boots.

Putting this together with the movements of the teacher Byleth Monica had witnessed earlier, a picture began to form in the student's mind. It was not hard to imagine that, somewhere only Catherine could reach, the Archbishop had impounded herself and continued to fall under the spell of the box that Edelgard intended to control. With all of this in mind, a more level-headed advisor would have brought her suspicions to her House head and formed a careful plan of action.

Unfortunately, as sharp as her deduction was, Monica's wits were not altogether present. The motivation for the young Ochs woman to gather this information had not been entirely noble. Yes, she wanted to serve Edelgard with her whole heart and deliver her an information-gathering masterwork that showed her worth and gave her a leg up on Hubert as a reliable confidant. However, more than that...

Monica had, ambitiously, been indulging a daydream whereby she collected the box herself and delivered it to Edelgard. In that event, she could reap Edelgard's full and, certainly, lavish praise in a private setting. "Oh, and oh no! My finger slipped and I activated it! No no, Lady Edelgard, you mustn't do that kind of thing for me, it's not decent! Ahahaha... ehehe..." the red-headed advisor couldn't help but daydream, wiping the corner of her sleeve. "Who does that Bernadetta think she is, getting an experience like that and hogging it all to herself?! When did she and Lady Edelgard become so close?! The nerve... I'll show everyone I deserve-"

The daydreaming strategist realized she'd been muttering aloud in the one place she could not afford to be caught. With only a small fire cast by magic at her fingertip to light her way, Monica had been fumbling along a darkened underground passage. She'd only spied Catherine exiting through the entrance she'd made use of before. She had no other knowledge of the layout. That meant she'd be stumbling her way to the supposed dungeon where she thought she'd find Rhea. There were only two things she could make use of: first, in the paths Catherine had traveled, there was a strange, almost floral scent, together with a lack of dust; second, if she made a wrong turn, she could mentally map out the labyrinth in her head using her photographic memory. With these methods, she assumed she would eventually make her way to the dungeon.

Somewhere along the way, after passing by an ominous, shut metal door, she'd lost track of the scent, but the trail she was following was clearly more well-traveled than the rest of the tunnels. Furthermore, it was starting to feel more... well, dungeon-ish. When she began to see cells and shackles, she figured she was on the right course. Of course, if she got lucky enough to find that the church was keeping a secret prisoner down here, that would also be excellent and praiseworthy ammo, but in a time of peace, she imagined this secret dungeon was little-used...

... Just as she was thinking that, she heard a groan and the sound of shaking chains from further in the darkness. The shaking continued, although the groan ceased.

Monica gulped. If Bernadetta was here, Monica was sure she would be screaming about ghosts... "But Bernadetta's not here, I am! I'll prove my value to the Black Eagles by confronting this head on. After all... there's certainly no such thing as ghosts... A-and if there are, Lady Edelgard needs all the information I can collect about them!"

She doused her flames and walked slowly in the dark towards the sound, trying not to reveal her presence. Something about the groans, which she now recognized more as frustration than pain, scratched at something in the back of her mind. Just what was she going to come upon?

The chained figure was close now, Monica could tell from the sound.

Suddenly, there was a loud ringing as the chains drew tight. Yet, the shaking continued.

A voice spoke up. "H-hello? Is someone sneaking around down here? Have you come to rescue me? Please!"

... Now, with some horror, Monica realized where she recognized the voice from. She lit a fire to reveal herself to the captive, and to reveal the captive to her.

"My name is Monica von Ochs!" the figure in the cell cried in Monica's voice, with Monica's face. "Please, I can't take it here any longer! The Church is forcing me to do something very cruel and unusual. You must-"

... For a moment, Monica and her doppelganger stared at each other with different looks of hatred. Calling the jailed Monica a doppelganger was a little generous, given the way that, to the genuine article, she was made up like a perverted funhouse mirror version of herself. The prisoner, in spite of having her arms shackled and being behind bars, was doing their best effort to grind and bump her ass against the wall. She was dressed not in Monica's conservative skirted version of the black-and-gold Garreg Mach uniform and red tights, but in an incredibly raunchy costume that vaguely mimicked it. The outfit included Monica's usual large red tie, but the jacket was more like a tube top, exposing her shoulders and pale, waspish waist. The skirt was even more salacious, reduced to a miniskirt that only occasionally bothered to cover the dark red thong the woman wore on her lower body. Even her ordinary tall black boots had heels, and her face was dolled up in heavy makeup. Worse than all of this was the fact that Monica recognized both the woman's bust and butt were sizes larger than her own, bouncing in a way that looked vulgar to the body's rightful owner.

Monica spoke first. "You hideous creature... You're the one that imprisoned me, aren't you? Kronya! To think you were still alive down here!"

The look of hatred on the prisoner's face quickly shifted to tearful misery. "Y-yes... Monica, I'm so sorry! I should never have done something so terrible to you, but... but look! Look what the Church has done to me! Can't you hear that music?! It hardly stops playing from inside this wall now... A-and, when it plays, I can't control my body! And it's turned me into a disgusting, monster version of myself! I know what I did was wrong, but please, you're a good person! Won't you please free me?"

Monica stared at the imposter impassively, watching her shake her massive breasts in a shoulder shimmy as tears ran down and streaked her mascara. Finally, Monica spoke. "No, I can't hear the music from here. And yes, I'll end your suffering, Kronya." She withdrew a tome she was carrying in a satchel strapped over her shoulder, beginning to study the lines of an incantation. "A monster version of yourself?! That appearance does not belong to you! I'll immolate you here so you don't disgrace either of us any longer. I think you shall not be missed."

Kronya sobbed miserably for only a moment longer before her eyes took on a different light, her eyebrows tilting in look of inhuman mockery. Even though there was no physical change, she would no longer be mistaken for the person she was impersonating. "You sure you wanna do that, little miss Monica? I told ya, these walls here are awful thin. If I scream real loud, I think they might even hear me over the music. What do you think this Academy'll do to ya if they find out you were down here killing their prisoner, huh?"

"You're not very good at begging for your life," Monica pointed out, looking for the most satisfying spell she could select for her ****. "Also, can you please stop that vulgar dance and have some dignity?"

"Seriously?!" Kronya barked in response, leaning over and shaking her big tits at the woman threatening her life. "Even a pea-brain like you can tell I'm not doing this just cause I want to, right?! Oh... Oh!" Kronya suddenly grinned, showing too many teeth. "You're jealous, ain't ya? I bet you're thinkin', 'I'd better incinerate this super sexy version of myself right now! Why, if my girlfriend was to see a copy of me with a bangin' bod that made my teensy little handfuls look like a washin' board, she's never gonna spoon with me again!' Somethin' like that?"

Monica clenched her teeth in disgust. "I'm quite satisfied with my own dignified, well-balanced body, thank you. And Lady Edelgard wouldn't-" She covered her mouth.

"Lady Edelgard? Lady Edelgard!" Kronya cackled with twisted mirth. "Are you kiddin' me?! There's no way you're playin' scissors with that hottie, is there? Groooss!! You're literally about to kill me and now you're makin' fun of me!"

"Lady Edelgard and I aren't like that, but... w-why is that so funny?!" Monika shouted, no longer concerned about stealth. "Gah, hearing your garbage come out of my mouth makes me sick! If Lady Edelgard and I were romantically involved, why would that be so-?!"

"Kyahahehehe!!" Kronya giggled again, laughing from her belly and threatening to shake her large breasts free from their confinement. "You really don't know, do ya? Well, come into the cell. I'll tell ya."

"As if I'd fall for such obvious bait!" the heated Monica defended. "But... if you know some secret that threatens Lady Edelgard or me, you ought to use it now to beg for mercy!"

"Fine, fine. Gimme a sheet of paper and somethin' to write with. I'll hook ya up with the secret, and then, if you're feelin' grateful, maybe you throw me a bone. Not like things can get worse for me down here..."

Finding this a reasonable compromise, Monica tore a sheet from her tome, checking first to make sure it was blank. She rolled a capped ink well over to Kronya as well, then watched as the impostor deftly used her feet to collect the offered utensils. She acrobatically lifted a leg to bring the ink well up to her shackled wrist and get the cap off, then spilled it out and began pushing a stone with her foot to write a sloppy message. It was a collection of talents that, while impressive, made her look less and less human. All the while, Kronya wore a big, toothy grin, laughing at a joke only she could hear and shaking her shoulders to keep her boobs bouncing.

Monica could hardly stand it. "What's so funny, you creep?"

"Ah, I was just thinkin'... you've already got a good shot with Edie, don't ya think?" The impish woman continued snickering as she wrote, but spoke in a friendly tone.

"...! Do you think so?!" Monica was **** to hear this from anyone, even a hated enemy. "Why's that?"

"Must be, right? I mean, she obviously doesn't keep ya around for your brains, so it must be your looks and company. After all..." Kronya's grin twisted again. "What part of this setup required ya to give me something to write with? All I had t' do was say 'Darn it, she didn't fall for the cell trap' and you walk nose-first into my real trap! Did ya forget I'm a mage, dumbass?!"

Catching on too slowly, Monica began chanting a fire spell, but it was too late. Kronya had to be bluffing, though... There was no way she could write an advanced spell to do any real damage using just her feet (and in heels, no less)!

The spell Kronya had quickly inscribed and chanted wasn't a powerful or damaging spell. It was a simple wind spell... It had no purpose other than to funnel the noise that was coming behind her to the woman in front of her.

With more time, Monica might have countered with a shield of wind to disperse the noise. Instead, as soon as the music that had been plaguing her lookalike reached her ears, she was drawn like magnet towards the cell, shimmying her shoulders in time with Kronya's own movements to her horror. "Wait... You're kidding! L-let me go! Neither of us are getting free this way!!"

"You've got a point," Kronya admitted, ceasing her chant now that Monica was pressed against the cell and close enough to hear the music without help. She approached her lookalike with taunting shakes and a wicked smile, although she eventually reached her limit when the chains became taut. "And ya know what? If I did get free of here, no matter what I said, the first thing I would do is kill one of you miserable subhumans. Just for kicks, to feel the rush again. Look at you, so helpless now... If these chains weren't protecting you from it, I'd crush your windpipe in my bare hands and watch the life leave your eyes! It would be so fun!! But since I can't do that... I'm gonna satisfy my second need."

"What's that?" Monica asked in horror. "Wait... oh no, have they not been feeding you down here?! Are you going to eat me?"

"Fuck, eat you?!" Kronya spat back at her. "Like Hel I am! I'm not a barbarian like your kind! No, it's just... it's just..." she began to wince, looking dismayed. "F-fuck! I need you to watch me and touch me! And dance with me!"

"... I beg your pardon?" Monica asked. She was holding the bars in her hands now and was rubbing herself against them with as sensual movements as her body could manage.

"This music makes you wanna fuckin' perform and I've been doin' it for an audience of rats and spiders! I feel like if I have t' go back to that, I'm gonna go insane! So now we're both stuck here, let's have some fun together, okay? I'll start..." Grinning madly, Kronya bit at the huge ribbon on her chest, then yanked it up. Doing so was enough to displace the top it was attached to and scrunch it between her large breasts and armpits, allowing the former to bounce free. "Ooh, tada! Hang out down here long enough and you're gonna look just like me! I bet Edie likes 'em even bigger than this... maybe you'll get lucky?" The villain hopped in place while still grinning, forcing Monica to watch her melons jiggle freely. "Now, it's your turn!"

"Like... I would ever... N-no, no no..." Monica's defiance held for only a moment before she found herself undoing her own jacket like she was in a rush, jerking her hips from side to side to keep the rhythm handled. In no time, she was out of her jacket and revealing her button-up shirt with its rolled-up sleeves. Even that was quickly being untucked and undone. "K-Kronya! I've changed my mind! Let's strike a deal, shall we?"

"Mmm, don't think so!~" Kronya teased. "I changed my mind. Now, more than anything, what I want to see is you made a fool of, shaking those modest little bumps of yours while I drive you crazy with my massive melons! I wanna see the look on your face when you realize there's no way for you to get out of this until some guard comes along and sees your sorry state!"

Whimpering, Monica tried to get a look at her tome. Even if she could remember the words, she couldn't channel magical energy without it. Her body seemed to have no interest in reclaiming it, though, and her rebellious hands simply finished unbuttoning her blouse and revealing the gaudy red bra she wore beneath. Her chest was, really, perfectly average, but something about the atmosphere seemed to make her agree with Kronya. All she could think was that she was done for, she was going to be expelled or worse, and, worst of all... Maybe Kronya was right. Maybe she was too plain to catch Edelgard's eye, after all? In any case, just as Kronya had planned, Monica was soon topless and shaking her bare breasts against the bars while the villain laughed.

After a minute of this unusual **** had passed, a strange thing seemed to happen in both of the Monicas.

Kronya realized, to her surprise, she was not at all satisfied. She was still horny as hell and the dancing programming didn't seem to be giving her any relief. Also, she had remembered sadistically torturing Monica being, somehow, more fun than this in the past. Something about Monica's teary face didn't seem to agree with the music, and the dissonance was grating to her.

Monica realized, to her surprise, that her concerns about being discovered, expelled, or even killed were strangely secondary to her concerns about Edelgard thinking she was unattractive. Something about the taunting doppelganger seemed to be cutting into her deeply, but quickly into her moping, she instead found something like fire.

Monica tried reaching her hands through the bars of the cage. She found that, with some effort on both their parts, she was able to lock hands with the woman inside. Just locking fingers seemed to have a strange electricity that seemed to bring both of their movements into sync, as each woman jerked her hips from side to side and looked into the familiar eyes of the other. "Kronya... what was that secret about Edelgard? Is there a way to make Edelgard like me?"

"Feh! Like I know more about Edie than you! That was a lie," Kronya scoffed, although she didn't clam up. "But if you feel like she's not hot for ya, what do you think would turn her on?"

"... Bernadetta," Monica muttered, surprised at how freely she offered it. "I don't know why, but I'm sure that she's taken a shine to Bernadetta. In other words... a slutty tramp who's affected by this noise. And, presumably, the more affected, the better."

"... You're in luck, then, aintcha?" Kronya mused, smiling. "Now that you're trapped here with me, whether you like it or not, this music is gonna twist ya more and more until you're just like me. Sexy... Confident... Irresistible. I mean, a subhuman like you can never be just like me, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to be less of a good girl, while you're at it?"

"Yeah... Maybe if I change up my look..." Monica agreed, smiling. And then, to both of their surprise, Monica withdrew her hands, then backed away from the cell.

Kronya's fingers flexed for the lost touch briefly before a panicked look took her face. "Hey. Hey!! What the Hel do you think you're doin'?! How'd you get free?!"

Monica gulped, starting to cover her bare breasts before instead letting her hands fall instead to her sides. Then, she placed her fists on her hips with a look of determination, although she was slightly red in the face. "Because... I'm going to come back here again. I'm going to learn from you and that music how to become the type of woman that Lady Edelgard won't say no to. That's fine, isn't it? You're not going anywhere, I assume."

The captive's frown slowly broke into a wide grin. "Y'know... You're a little twisted too, aintcha, little miss Monica? I ain't happy about it, but beggars can't be choosers. Next time, though, why dontcha swipe a cell key, while you're at it? I'll be able to teach you and your pretty little titties so much better if I'm free of these chains...~" She shook back and forth in time with the beat, giving Monica a parting wink.

"Don't push your luck," Monica spoke in a friendly way as she put her bra and blouse back on, carelessly leaving her uniform jacket on the floor. The oddity of the fact that she was now exchanging pleasantries with the woman who'd imprisoned her, planned to kill her, and even now wore her face was almost lost on her. As she passed by the ignored metal door with a skip in her step, Monica was just happy she'd accomplished what she'd come to the underground chambers for: she'd made solid progress in her efforts to make Edelgard fall head over heels for her.

Her only regret was that she couldn't share this information about the box's location or the survival of Kronya with Edelgard. After all, as much as Monica wanted brownie points, if the House leader discovered the box was somewhere in this dungeon and managed to reclaim it, Monica's plan to exploit it and become irresistible would be ruined. Similarly, it would all come to an end if Edelgard discovered Kronya and had her killed.

"This isn't betraying Lady Edelgard!" Monica reminded herself as she made her way effortlessly back to the exit, without even the help of light. "It's just... Lady Edelgard already has a fine advisor in Hubert, much as I hate to say it. What she doesn't have is a bewitching bombshell of a mage to share... p-passionate and tender moments with, to shoulder her burdens and kiss her forehead goodnight!" she mused, perhaps still having some trouble squaring the idea that "bad girl" was supposed to be part of this equation.