“Of course I’m a mage! What do you mean?” Tonei looked skeptically at the young woman in front of her. “Well, I’m just saying, I’ve never seen a mage attempting to break into a house using a lockpick.” The girl scoffed. “Well, casting spells takes mana, you know! I can’t just waste it on something simple like opening a lock! And besides, the spell to open locks is quite loud!” Tonei continued to look skeptically at her. “Yeah, I’ve heard that. Something else I heard was the sound of a pack of tools plummeting off my balcony and waking me up, so I don’t see why you couldn’t have just cast the spell then if you were already making noise.” The girl pouted and looked away. “…well it’s your fault the balcony was at a downwards angle, maybe you should look into fixing that…” Tonei sighed. “I have been considering that, yes. I’ll look into getting it fixed after I call the guards.” The girl's eyes widened. “Hey, hey, hey, no need for that miss! I can just leave, you know, no harm done!” Tonei glared. “You tried to break into my home and woke me up in the middle of the night. I am calling the guards and telling them that a girl dressed as a mage tried to break into my home.” The girl shook her head angrily. “Hey, I’m not just dressed as a mage, I AM a mage! See this staff? Of course I’m a mage!” Tonei groaned, but was admittedly a little curious to hear how long she was going to lie about this. “That does not prove anything. It is a curved stick.” The girl smiled smugly. “Not true! It’s much more than that! Just look at it! Look at how it spirals like that up at the top! That’s proof!” Tonei raised an eyebrow. “…How is that proof?” 

The girl cleared her throat. “Well, think about it! No stick could naturally form this spiralling shape, could it? No, they couldn’t. And look at it, really look at it. See how smooth and perfect the curve is? That’s not something you could make with tools either. Just follow it with your eyes. Travelling up the perfectly straight handle, and then it starts to curve without even a seam… Perfectly transitioning from the handle to the head, so cleanly and elegantly… And the rest of the spiral continues on in that smooth, clean arc… Follow the arc with your eyes, see how smooth and perfect it is… Going around and around without a single flaw in angle, like it's a painting from an expert artist, so perfect it almost feels unreal… But it is real, and you can see as your eyes continue to follow the spiral… Your eyes going up on one side, then down the other, and up, and down, and each movement pulls you towards the center… And in the center is my magical focus, this sparkling crystal…  You can see the magic in it, can’t you? Especially as I sway it, back and forth, back and forth… See the magic shimmering inside… Swirling around just like the spiral on my staff… Just like your thoughts, all jumbled up by my soft words… And now follow my finger, as it leaves the center and spirals around and around back to the handle… And follow it as it goes down, and down, and down, and your eyes follow it down, down, down, Drop!” The girl touched the bottom of the staff, and Tonei's eyes shut. She stood there, swaying in a confused trance, as a gentle clicking sound came from next to her… Then a creak, then another click…

Tonei really was still so sleepy after being woken up in the middle of the night, so it took her quite a while to come out of her trance. “…Huh…? Wait… Oh dear…” She quickly unlocked her balcony door and stepped inside, looking around for the girl. She wasn’t in the room, and for that matter neither were a few crystals she’d left lying around. Tonei sighed and swiftly yet quietly walked out into the hallway, focusing as hard as she could on any unusual sounds. Hopefully the girl had anticipated her trick lasting a bit longer than it did and was still here. And luckily, as she walked silently down the stairs, she heard some slight rummaging coming from inside her room. The girl hadn’t thought to close the door, so it was easy to enter without making noise, and she was too busy rummaging through Tonei's money chest to notice. Tonei gently touched her necklace and extended a hand towards the girl, whispering softly as she did so. A glittering mist formed around the girl's head, and before she could do more than squeak in confusion she was in a deep, dreamy trance…

Tonei gently put a hand underneath the girl's chin, smiling at the blank, glimmery eyes staring up at her. “You should have left when you got the chance. Maybe I wouldn’t have caught you then.” The girl murmured sleepily in response. Tonei chuckled. “Come over to my bed, let’s speak somewhere more comfortable.” She led the entranced girl over to her bed, gently laying her down on the soft sheets. She placed two fingers on their forehead and chanted something, and the girl's eyes were washed over with a silvery light. No longer glimmering but now adorably blank, her eyes stared expectantly up at Tonei. “Alright, let’s start with some basic questions. What is your name?” The girl answered in a polite monotone. “Pela Gaspard.” Tonei nodded. “Alright, and why were you trying to break into my house, Pela?” Pela obediently responded, “I needed money and I heard you lived alone in a big house, so I thought it would be simple to grab something valuable and leave.” Tonei chuckled. “But you got greedy, didn’t you?” She gently took the pouch from Pela's belt. “Yes, I got greedy. There was so much valuable stuff to steal and I thought I had time while you were hypnotized.” Tonei nodded again. “Yes, hypnotized… How did you do that?” Pela, even in her entranced state, seemed proud. “I'm good at hypnosis. All I need is a good focus, and as long as they don’t realize what I’m doing I can usually drop them into trance pretty quickly. It’s useful for making people give me money and food without realizing.” Tonei was impressed. Not an easy skill, hypnosis. “And is that why you were dressed as a mage? To have an excuse to carry a hypnotic focus?” She glanced over at where Pela had placed the staff while rifling through her stuff. “Partially. I also think it makes me look more cute and harmless. And I always really wanted to be a mage too.” Tonei smiled. “Understandable. Having command over magic is… So wonderful.”

Tonei sat pondering in silence for a while, absently patting Pela's cute head once or twice. She had an idea… A very selfish idea, possibly, but perhaps one that Pela would enjoy too. “Pela, do you have any family in the city?” Pela immediately answered. “No, I’m an orphan. The closest I have is the thieves I run with but we aren’t close.” Tonei smiled. “I figured as much… Pela, would you like to be my familiar?” Beneath the spell, Tonei could tell her eyes would be widening. “Familiar?” Tonei nodded. “Yes. You would be my obedient assistant. You would perform housekeeping, fetch me things, purchase reagents from the market, and other such duties. And in exchange, I would treat you well and care for you, give you food, shelter, and love… And, as my familiar, you would act as a sort of mana repository… Which, in time, may lead to the creation of your own magical spark… And you could become a mage too… Does that sound nice, Pela?” She gently stroked Pela's hair. “Yes, that sounds wonderful. I would like to be your familiar.” Tonei grinned. “Follow me.”

Tonei led the entranced Pela down into her ritual room, and seated her comfortably on the chair in the center of the circle. “Now, the ritual works best if no other enchantments are applied, so…” She waved her hand, and Pela's eyes flickered back to normal. She looked around worriedly, but Tonei gently smiled at her. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt at all.” She prepared the reagents, crystals, candles, and other elements of the ritual, all the while reassuring Pela that everything would be okay, enjoying the adorable blushes whenever she touched her. Magical energy hummed around the room as the ritual preparation finished, and Tonei began to chant and gesticulate precisely. Pela let out a squeak of shock as magic started to flow into her, but her eyes quickly began to swirl as her mind was bound to Tonei's, and she relaxed happily. However, Tonei had a little more in mind than just a mental bond. Pela's body shimmered, and she began to make adorable noises as it morphed, staying mostly the same but with a few little changes… With a final flourish, Tonei stepped forward and placed her sigil onto Pela's neck, gazing into her swirling eyes, and the ritual was complete. Pela was now her familiar… Her adorable, obedient, little catgirl.

Pela's eyes fluttered shut, exhausted from the ritual, and Tonei also felt the effects. “Come with my, my familiar… Time to sleep.” Pela sleepily opened her eyes and followed Tonei. “…head feels funny… so does my butt…” Tonei chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure they do.” They entered Tonei's room, and Pela immediately flopped down on her bed. Tonei gently grabbed the wooden staff, and carefully placed it inside her wardrobe where It wouldn’t get damaged. “…I have a tail now Mistress…” Tonei laughed. “You indeed do, my familiar. It’s cute, isn’t it?” She looked over and saw Pela swinging her tail before her own eyes, rubbing and bapping it. “…yeah… pretty too… I could hypnotize someone with this…wave it before their eyes… make them sleepy… and then I could make them obey you too… would that be a good familiar thing to do, Mistress…” Her voice was devolving into a nearly inaudible murmur by the end as she tried and failed to keep herself awake. Tonei lay down in bed with her, and giggled as Pela latched onto her, purring softly. “Goodnight, my familiar… Sweet dreams…” Pela murmured “…gniiiiiiiii…” and fell fast asleep, and Tonei smiled kindly. She may have originally come to rub her… But Pela was going to turn out to be such a wonderful addition to her life…