Just as the thought of a giant horsefly with a flyswatter popped into my head, the door opened. This must be the true illusion! My stupid brain began to suggest all kinds of outlandish scenarios of what could be on the other side of that door. My body froze in place, and my senses were on high alert. I had only taken a step when the door handle began to jiggle like someone was trying to enter the room. My task was to simply escape the room, and with a lack of opposition on all fronts, I hopped up from Piper’s bed eagerly. “I must be getting good! I’m seeing right through her illusions now!” I wasn’t sprouting a second head or missing limbs. My head whirled to my reflection in the mirror. I carefully touched my feet to the floorboards. My eyes darted around Piper’s room, examining each corner for anything that didn’t belong. Her control over the Mist seemed to grow with each practice session- which was the goal of course, but it also made me wary as to what horrors she would conjure in this illusion. Or at least she was able to make me thinkthat I saw those things. In previous trials, Hazel was able to make me see snakes, spiders, and even a doppelgänger of my own likeness. The room appeared to dim as the illusion began to take hold of me, and I tried to focus on Hazel and Piper exiting through the door in an attempt to keep a grasp on reality. My cells buzzed excitedly at the challenge. “So this time Piper and I will leave the room and see how you do on your own. “Okay, Peri, you’re a lot better at fighting the Mist now,” Hazel began. The three of us couldn’t tell if this was due to the differences in their experience level or some other personal factors. Somehow I was better at fighting off Hazel’s Mist than I was at ignoring Piper’s charmspeak. We had been at this for hours now and although some progress had been made, I still wasn’t satisfied. My face was hot to the touch and stung badly, so I eventually agreed.
“Okay, maybe we should take a break,” Hazel tried. “A-are you sure you don’t want to change the command?” Piper asked tentatively. Once again, I was unable to resist her charms. I yelped and rubbed the reddened spot on my cheek in failure. My palm twitched, then there was a loud smacking sound as flesh connected with flesh. “I’m ready,” I responded with gritted teeth.
It was like Piper had been reading from Aphrodite’s playbook of how to be a dangerously beautiful woman all her life. The almost musical tone her voice took the way that her colorful eyes sparkled sometimes she’d tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. A myriad of factors came into play when deciphering Piper’s tells. “Ready, Peri?” Piper asked, her voice already laced with that familiar honey and sweetness that made it so hard to think straight.Īlthough I had yet to master resistance, I’d learned to at least be able to detect when charmspeak was being used against me. *fans self* we’re getting into the thick of it girlies