Once upon a time, there was a group of stalwart, incorruptible heroes who ventured forth on a quest to save a kingdom from ruin. Monsters had overrun the land, and these were capable warriors with the power to dispatch them.
But they needed someone who could keep them alive.
How fortunate that they ran into you, a girl with such a sweet and kind soul, and crucially for them, possessing wonderful talent for restorative magic.
You told them of your sacred pilgrimage, but their words moved you when they told you of their quest, and you joined them.
You had plenty of opportunity to put those talents to good use, didn’t you? The courageous fools rushed headlong into every battle, and they needed regular mending to remain alive, much less in fighting shape.
With magic drawn from the unshakeable bond with your goddess, you patched their gashes, reformed shattered bone, and purged their blood of toxic venoms.
The times excessive revelry clouded their minds, they even begged you to scrub their minds clean of fog the next morning.
Did it ever grate on you? The way they took you for granted? Or are you such a sweet and loyal thing that you bore all this without doubt or resentment?
Did you feel powerful the times it was your will alone that gripped their souls and kept them from departing their bodies?
The group had such power at the culmination of their journey. Their skill unmatched, wielding the greatest treasures the world has ever known, with your power bolstering their natural abilities to unnatural heights, they felt ready to challenge the queen of darkness.
So here they are, in the heart of my lair, where any hero could have guessed it would all end. And we all know that without you, they would not have the courage to face me like this at all.
I can tell these people have come to mean something to you, haven’t they? How sweet.
Why don’t you tell them the name of your goddess, dear one?
The one whose power has touched them, remade their bodies, swept over their minds, again and again and again?
A name that bears a strikingly familiar quality. My name.
After you’ve repaired and rebuilt and realigned and repurposed them, there is no part, down to their minds and their souls, that you have not enhanced. I commend the subtlety of your work.
They still look human, though no cell remains of their original human bodies.
Like ivy, my tendrils are wrapped around their souls. I feel my threads woven into every thought of theirs. Dark energy strains for release within their flesh, waiting for a flick of my mind to unleash their transformation into my elite team of succubus bodyguards.
You have done exceedingly well, dear pet, and the fierceness of my reward will show just how much I missed your presence in my bed.
Once we have finished remaking your friends, perhaps they can join us too. Would you like that, sweet one?
Ah, there’s that smile I adore.