Sera visits the Hypno Garden.

NINA and THEO

It had been a few hours, and Nina had been dreading this, but she could do nothing about it. When the time came, some **** simply grabbed her and moved her body to the elevator, pressed the button, and walked her into the Master’s room, a great and ostentatious bedroom like nothing she’d ever seen before. But she didn’t care about the gold or the glitter, the intricate carvings or mahogany dressers, the beautiful carvings of slaves on the wall, each on her knees serving a master.

No, she cared about Theo. Her eyes found his, and she looked nowhere else.

For his part, he simply sighed and waved her over. He was sitting at the beautiful dinner table, and a plain-looking bolognese had been served up on two plates. She rolled her eyes.

“Really? You can’t bribe me with Bolognese, you know.”

Theo sighed.

“I don’t need to bribe you, Nina. I was just trying to do something nice.”

“Yes, well -”

“Ahem.”

Both of them turned to see a new person in the room, a tall beautiful woman in a white dress, with a rather serene smile on her face. Hair the color of spring leaves cascaded down from her head, though a pair of pointed ears poked through the green locks. She gave the two awkward exes a small nod.

“Please accept my sincere apologies for the interruption. I am Sera, and I have been asked to oversee the rest of this evening while Ishtar is otherwise obliged. As befits a host, I have come to introduce myself to each of you. You are… Master Theo and his former **** Nina, correct?”

Momentarily stunned, they both nodded.

“Excellent! I will leave you to your meal, then.”

With those words, the strange lady disappeared.

For a moment, Theo and Nina did nothing, before finally sitting down, in silence.

CHLOE and JESSICA.

Chloe had, reluctantly, returned to her room by the end of the day. She opened the door, dreading the conversation within.

When she entered, she found Jessica, sitting on the bed, strangely… calm. The Witch girl gave Chloe a nod as she entered, but could not quite bring herself to smile.

“Hiya, babygirl,” she said. “How are you doing?”

Her voice was level, steady, straightforward, but Chloe could sense the hesitation, the worry, the fear behind her words.

“I’m okay, Jessica,” she replied, but her voice was cool, bordering on cold, and Jessica just managed not to flinch at it.

“Really? Are you sure?” the other girl replied, and Chloe could hear the hope in her voice.

Chloe hated it, seeing her friend like that, and wasn’t sure how to respond. Part of her wanted to maintain her distance, to close herself off from her friend, from the heartache, to ignore whatever excuses or explanations Jessica had - Chloe’s trust in the other girl was shaken, and she was sure Jessica would be able to talk her way back into Chloe’s good graces if she let her. But Chloe wasn’t very good at cold, at closing herself off, at ignoring the other girl, she wasn’t sure she had the heart to let her friend stew without at least giving her a chance to explain. Now that she’d cooled off a little, she knew he had reacted poorly earlier, and she also knew that forgiveness was the right thing to do. She had forgiven people before, and it came easy to her, but this was different - just the thought of Jessica’s explanation made her stomach churn and her heart beat fast, filling her with some murky nameless dread she wasn’t used to.

Just before she finally opened her mouth to speak, to rebuff her friend - former friend? - or to ask for an explanation, another voice spoke up.

“Please accept my sincere apologies for the interruption.”

Shocked - Jessica almost shocked enough to fall out of the bed - the two girls spun to see the strange new woman who had appeared in their room.

“What!?” they both asked, in complete unison. Sera gave them a friendly smile in return.

“As I said, please forgive my interruption. I am Sera, and I have been asked to step in for Ishtar for the rest of this evening. As is appropriate for a host, i am making the rounds to introduce myself to each contestant. You two are Jessica and Chloe, the religious bisexuals, correct?”

“Religious!?” Jessica sputtered, in the exact same tone as Chloe’s “Bisexual!?”

“Yes, is this not correct?” the woman asked, looking confused for a moment. “Oh dear, don’t tell me I got the wrong room?”

“uh, no, I’m Jessica,” the big-titted witch said, slowly getting her bearings. “and this is Chloe.”

“Excellent! Now, please don’t let me interrupt you further! If you need anything, just call my name.”

With those words, she was gone, and both girls stared at each other in a mix of confusion and wonder.

ANNA AND MIRIAM

Miriam was staring at the ceiling when Anna returned, as she had been for a while.

“Hey,” said Anna. She’d been planning to give the other girl an apology, but the look on her face worried her a little. She was just staring ahead, and Anna couldn’t tell if she was thinking or dissociating. “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” Miriam replied. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking…”

“Thinking?” Anna asked. “Thinking about what?”

“Well,” Miriam started, then stopped. Did she really want to ask Anna, of all people, about this? The other girl was a loud-mouthed idiot party girl, and a rude one at that, as far as she could tell. But then again, the other girl was also an influencer, someone skilled at cultivating and image and playing to a faceless audience, so maybe she wasn’t the worst person to ask. And… and she was a stranger. Miriam couldn’t imagine asking Chloe or Joanna or Theo about any of this. She sighed and sat up straighter, but before she could speak, another voice cut in.

“Greetings!” came the voice, and both girls turned to the beautiful, green-haired woman who had suddenly appeared in the door to the garden. “Before you ask, I am Sera. I have been asked to temporarily step in for Ishtar this evening, and thought it best to introduce myself to each contestant. You would be… the perverts Miriam and Nina, right?”

“She’s the pervert,” both girls responded.

“Excellent! I’ll leave you to your evening, then.”

JOANNA

Joanna was lying in her bed, eyes closed, occasionally turning one way, then the other. Sera thought it best not to interrupt the sleeping girl. Joanna would have been grateful for the gesture, had she been sleeping, or indeed known about Sera at all. Instead, she was desperately fighting off the deep and petty well of jealousy in her gut, and not expecting to sleep much at all.