Erza: Session One

Ignazio began slowly swinging the watch in front of her face.

"Now, today we will focus on building trust." he said.

"Hm. I would think you know that I trust you already." Erza stated.

"You might, sure. But I will be poking around in your mind a bit. And that requires a little more trust than normal." he said. Erza nodded. She understood, and continued to follow the watch with her eyes.

"Alright. Great Erza. Just keep watching the watch. Let your eyes swing back and forth with it. Hear it swoosh back and forth. Woosh. Woosh. Woosh. Woosh. Perfectly in time. One after the other. Like the beating of your heart. In fact, focus on your body, Erza. Try to feel your heart."

He could see Erza visibly start to focus up, her eyes glazing a bit. She was still following the watch, but focusing on her heart.

"You hear it, don't you?"

She nodded in reply.

"You hear your heart. You hear the woosh of the watch. But your breathing is rough. Uneven. Try to match it. Match your breath with your heart and the watch."

Erza took in a deep breath, then released. Beginning to breathe more and more. In. Out. In. Out. He could tell she was relaxing, but not enough. It was that armor of hers.

"Erza. Do you sleep in that armor?" he asked.

"No" she replied.

"Would you mind maybe changing out of it? It may be preventing you from relaxing fully."

He saw Erza's lip twitch.

"I feel safe in it." she stated. It wasn't a direct 'no' but it certainly wasn't a yes.

"I know you do, Erza. but it's hard to sleep in. And sleeping is an important part of this. It would be much easier for both of us if you change." he said

"He's right. I should change." echoed in her mind

Erza sat up a bit, still looking at the watch, still glassy eyed, still breathing deeply, as she began to glow.

As the glow faded, Erza sat there before him in a light pink, button down, long sleeved pajama shirt, and matching baggy pants.

"Perfect. That's so much more comfortable huh?"

"Mh..." was all that got out of her mouth. Yeah. THIS was working better.

He continued swinging the watch, letting Erza listen to hear heart. Letting her continue to control her breathing. And eventually...

"I just need to let go... I need to sleep... and let him... help me." he implanted in her mind in a sleepy, unfocused voice. And just like that, her eyes fluttered shut.

He tucked the watch away, looking her over.

"Damn this woman is something" he thought to himself, as he sat back down.

"Erza. Do you hear me?"

"....mmh..."

He smiled.

"Good enough. Now Erza. In order for this to work, there's a bit of a mental barrier we need to pass. I want you to imagine something in your mind. You see a large clearing before you. This clearing is perfect. The temperature is just right. There's a pond of hot water with a nice little waterfall trickling down into it. It's the best place for you to just kick back and relax. However, there's something in your way. An invisible barrier. You can feel it, can't you?"

Erza's hands began moving up and gently tapping the air in front of her.

"Mhm..."

"You want to get in there, don't you? But this wall is in the way. Do you know what this wall is?" he asked. Erza shook her head ever so slightly.

"This wall is obedience. You are a strong woman. A woman who can conquer anything. But in order to relax, you need to do something unusual for you. You need to surrender. You need to surrender to me. Don't think for yourself. Don't make your own decisions. Instead, you need to relinquish control to me. You need to trust that I have the best intentions for you." he said.

Erza twitched a little, her face tensing. She was resisting.

"I know it's a hard thing to do. But you wouldn't be here if you thought you could relax on your own. You need me to help you relax, right? But I can't help you if you resist. Please, Erza. Help me help you. Don't resist."

"I really shouldn't resist"

As that thought entered her mind, he saw her physically lose her bodies tension.

"I need you to trust me, Erza."

"I do trust Iggy..."

"I need you to just let me have control. Only for the time that you're in this session."

"Let Iggy... have control."

He noticed her body growing lighter and lighter. The tension draining from her as she sinks more into the chair. Curling up slightly. She was relaxing. Just like she wanted. Just like he wanted.

"Good. So, will you relinquish control to me?"

"I... should. He can't help otherwise."

Erza slowly nodded her head.

"Good. Now Erza, I need you to prove it to me. Prove I have control." he said "So I'm going to ask you to do something unusual for yourself. And I need you to follow your word - like a good warrior should - and do as I say. "

"I'm... a good warrior... and I need him to help me... I'll do as he says..."

He knew he couldn't push this too far. He couldn't make her do anything too crazy. At least not yet.

"Good. Erza, please tell me something you've never told anyone. Something embarrassing. You can trust me with this information."

This time, he didn't **** information onto her, instead listening in on her mind.

"I... can trust him" she thought, sending a spark of joy over him.

"I... find Lucy very attractive." she moaned "I've occasionally thought about her while--"

She stopped, her face turning red. A blush. Ignazio had never seen Erza blush. He barely ever got to see her smile. But it worked. She was definitely willing to trust him. But, she clearly had some control still. She cut herself off. While he still got the gist of it, he didn't get the full thought.

"I see. Thank you Erza. I appreciate the trust."

Erza snuggled into the chair more, a smile crossing her lips.

"Trust... feels good..." she thought.

He couldn't go too much further with her today. But he had something he needed to do. Two things, actually.

"Okay Erza. We're almost done. But there's something I need to do first." he said "I'm going to give you something. It's called a post-hypnotic suggestion. It works like this. While you're awake and normal, I can speak this phrase, and you will react in a specific way. This is to help in the future. So Erza, if I ever say the words 'Slumbering Soldier' to you, you will reenter this exact state. Your obedience to me will return. Your trust will return. And you will immediately feel a rush of sleepiness and pleasure go through you, putting you back into this trance. This is just to make things easier, you understand."

"Will make things easier." he **** into her mind.

"Do you agree, Erza?"

She slowly nodded her head.

"Excellent. Now, let's begin. Erza. I know you love your armor. But it isn't very comfortable is it?"

Erza shook her head. He knew it made her feel SAFE, but it was still plate armor. It couldn't be relaxing.

"Nobody else wears armor around, do they?"

She shook her head again.

"And they aren't scared of the other girls, are they? The ones who don't wear armor?"

Once more, her head shook.

"Do you see it, Erza? They would be less scared - and you would feel more relaxed, without that armor. If you need it, you have it with your requip ability. But you don't need it all the time, do you?" he asked.

She shook her head once more.

"Exactly. Now Erza. In a moment I will wake you up and our session will end. When I do, you will consciously recall our discussion about your armor. Your subconscious mind, however, will be the only thing able to remember the rest of the session. Understand?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now... wake up!"

Erza's eyes shot open, and she immediately sat upright.

"Wow. That's how you wake up huh? I do have a lot of work ahead of me" he joked. Erza simply looked at him with a dirty gaze.

"So. How do you feel?"

Erza's gaze softened.

"Actually... I feel like I just experienced the best sleep I've had in a while. I assume that means it worked?"

"Hm. Yeah. Basically. I do want you to come back for more. I think we made a little progress today, but like I said before, we kinda need multiple sessions to really remove the core issue as opposed to just chipping the paint away, so to speak."

Erza gave him a firm nod.

"I understand." she stood, then stopped, seeming a little confused.

"I imagine it would look bad to walk out into the guild in my pajamas, wouldn't it?" she asked

"Probably. Gonna throw your armor back on?"

"Of course I--" she froze up, scrunching her face a little "Actually... no. I remember what you said. The other girls fear it and... I suppose it does feel rather uncomfortable."

He shrugged

"So?"

Erza began to glow once more, activating her requip ability once more. As the glowing faded, she was there wearing her still professional attire. When she wasn't in her armor, she wore a white dress shirt with a blue tie, and a blue skirt. It wasn't great - but it was better than the armor. Good enough for now, at least.

"Hm. This will do." she said "I really appreciate this, Iggy." she said

"I'm glad. I look forward to the next session."

Erza smiled.

"As do I" she replied, before walking out.

Ignazio sat down at his desk, beginning to write some things down. Namely, Erza's trigger and a summary of today's progress.

What he wanted was to get to a point where she - and all the girls - were able to be manipulated as he saw fit. But that would take a lot of work. And if he really wanted to do it, he'd need to program the men to ignore it, which would be a hassle in itself.

Still, for now, he would deal with things at this pace.

Over the next few days, many of the men of the guild came to see him. He worked with them as a real hypnotherapist would - trying to help them, while also pushing a desire to ignore the guild women into their minds. But none of the women came in. That is, not immediately. However, a few days after Erza's appointment, as he was packing up to leave for the day, there was a shy knock at his door... as his second pertinent session began.