so sickly sweet it burns

Dominique heaved in a breath: the air seemed heavy. Unnatural. Something was wrong: it was as if all of the magic in the air had been drained out.

Wincing, she tried to move, and realized her face was shoved against the concrete. Wait. This wasn’t how the warp worked.

Her paws - they were locked in handcuffs - her legs too -

She looked up. Azrael! She could work her way out of this - no way she had come to arrest her. So, she widened her eyes and smiled. “Sir Knight, I think there has been a mistake. Could you please remove these restraints?”

He did not smile back. Tendrils of dread ran up Dominique’s arms, causing her to shiver. He spoke.

“Did you really think you’d get off that easy? There is so much evidence that points towards you. Traces of pink goop on the crime scene. You, being a foreign, eccentric rogue that while well-appreciated, nobody knows personally. And, of course, the damning evidence: framing someone who is on our potential victim watch list.” Dominique looked up at him, eyes wide. “It was when you were out in your room for a while. We had a search warrant for your house - walked in, found you out of it on the floor. We put a reality illusion spell on you: it would show you only how you wanted things to go, and we would see just what that is. Of course, the entire time you’ve just been walking around town aimlessly, to the confusion of the residents.” He shook his head. “A bit cruel, but in this city, most anything is legal, bar what you’ve done. It’s over.”

Dominique’s eyes shuttered, a sad smile still on her face. “And what are you going to do with me now I’m stuck in your little empire, Sir Knight?”

Azrael struck her with a stern look. “Community service. There’s no use for prisons here we can just use magical apparatus to chain your magic and range of motion; and we all know your skill is in hypnosis and… whatever you’ve been researching, not jailbreaking. So, I hope you enjoy your new job of cleaning up this mess of a city!”

Azrael nodded to some of the people around him who stepped forward and rolled up Dominique’s sleeves up to the furred skin of her shoulder, just where the goop met her skin. They began tattooing restrictive runes into the space. Dominique watched them, eyes wild, her smile wavering.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have lots of practice to try and charm up the people here, now they know all your crimes.”

And everything broke down in Dominique’s world, again.

Her smile stayed, frozen.

In the time after,

I smile sweetly and pray

It will be enough .