"See you tomorrow, Erza!"
"Goodnight," Erza Scarlet smiled as she watched Lucy Heartfilia run off down the street towards her house on the canal-side. She wondered if Lucy was attempting to get there before Natsu and Happy showed up and either ended up wrecking the place (again) or stealing her bed (again). But she knew Lucy probably needn't have bothered. After today, all of their team were probably going to need a good night's sleep and she wouldn't be surprised if Natsu just headed home for once.
Small wonder really. It was one o'clock in the morning after all. And Natsu had spent most of the day with Elfman, running madly around trying to do whatever Laxus told them to do in whatever limited time he gave them to do it, until they'd finally been released from their duties at the stroke of midnight.
Today had been the day where the unfortunate members of the Grand Magic Tournament's Fairy Tail A had effectively become the servants of the members of Team Fairy Tail B, as per Master Makarov's suggestion at the start of the games that whichever team came second in the games having to obey every whim of the other team for a full day. In the end they hadn't been able to get a real winner due to the merging of the two teams during the tournament but in the end, they'd all agreed to reinstate the bet on the outcome of a single game of rock-paper-scissors between her and Laxus.
She really wished she'd picked paper. She actually wondered if Laxus guessed she would pick scissors based on her prowess with swords.
But no, she'd lost, and had therefore spent the entire day under Mirajane's personal control. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been so humiliated; forced into a maid costume, wrists bound behind her back and ankles tied, and spanked in front of the entire girl by the surprisingly vindictive Demon, as well as several other mortifying bondage positions and scenarios.
The only upsides was that Lucy had joined her in her plight after Gajeel had gotten bored with her and gone after a crying Levy (who burst into tears for reasons unknown), and that immediately on the stroke of midnight she'd grabbed Mira and exacted a small amount of vengeance on her. She'd been so wrapped up in spanking Mira that she'd forgotten to untie poor Lucy for a good half an hour.
Regardless, Erza was quite ready to put today behind her and if anyone in the guild brought up what happened again, she'd give them a glare so fierce that they'd probably melt into a puddle right then and there.
So, after Lucy was lost to sight, she turned and began walking back towards Fairy Hills, ready for a nice lie-in come morning and then a long hot bath after that. She doubted any of her team would be wanting to go on a mission tomorrow after all.
Most of the other girls had left for Fairy Hills a while ago, so Erza walked alone.
And as she went, she became acutely aware that she was being followed.
Erza hadn't had an easy life by any means, and her tragic past and warrior's instincts made her extremely alert to potential ambushes. She felt the tingling down her spine that she got when she was being watched, but rather than stop a look around she kept going as if nothing was happening. If someone thought that they could attack her in the dead of night then they had another thing coming.
Her follower was good though, she had to admit. She could barely hear a sound as they slunk through the shadows somewhere off to her right, and knew she probably wouldn't have heard anything at all if she hadn't been listening for it. She strained out of the corner of her eye for any sight of her pursuer, but she saw nothing. Until she got a glimpse of something lithe and graceful slipping through one of the side-streets.
Was that a tail?
Was this thing even a human?
Erza was more on edge now but she wasn't afraid yet. She was Titania, the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail. She refused to be scared of anything until she saw a good reason to be. But her body tingled as she readied herself to Requip into some appropriate armour at a moment's notice.
The opportunity came when she had just reached the gates outside of Fairy Hills. Most of the lights in the building were out, so Erza surmised that most of the others were already asleep. But if someone was planning to attack her, she wouldn't lead it towards her vulnerable friends. She'd have to head it off here. She opened the gates quickly, straining her ears for any sign of the shadow behind her.
She heard a pair of boots hit the street behind her and whirled around, changing instantly into her Heaven's Wheel Armour and generating about ten swords above her head, all of which angled themselves threateningly at her would-be attacker…
…who fell over backwards with a cry of "Nya! Wait, Er-chan! It's me!"
Erza blinked and instantly dispelled her arsenal of weapons. "Millianna?" she asked incredulously. "What do you think you're doing? I could have hurt you."
Millianna, mage of Mermaid Heel and one of Erza's oldest friends, pushed herself up and dusted her backside off, straightening the tail that was projecting from the back of her extremely daring outfit. "Sorry, Er-chan. I just wanted to talk to you about something. And I wanted to do it somewhere we wouldn't be overheard."
Erza's expression softened. "Well, why didn't you just come and say so instead of slinking through the back-alleys like that?"
"You heard me then, huh?" Millianna giggled. "I guess I should have known that there's no way anyone could sneak up on you."
"I have no intention of being caught off guard ever again if I can manage it," Erza nodded. "So, why did you do it?"
"Well…" Millianna scratched the back of her head and fidgeted with the collar around her neck. "It's… a bit embarrassing. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through with it or not but… well… since you know I'm here now…"
Erza raised a brow at Millianna's uncharacteristic antsy behaviour. She also wondered why on Earthland Millianna would choose the middle of the night to try and approach her to talk about something important. She would have been grateful if she'd come in the middle of the day and interrupted that punishment game.
But she could hazard a guess as to what Millianna wanted to talk about. Most likely, it was something to do with Jellal. After all, despite the fact Millianna had allowed the man to walk away last time they met, that didn't mean that she'd forgiven him for what he'd done to them all by any means.
Erza didn't really want to talk about it right now, but she couldn't just turn Millianna away. What kind of friend would that make her?
"Alright then," she nodded. "Would you like to come up to my room? You can spend the night if you want."
Millianna beamed. "That sounds super spiffy to me," she chirped and glomped Erza. "You're the best, Er-chan."
"Don't let Kagura hear you say that," Erza chuckled, returning the hug fondly and ruffling Millianna's wild brown hair between her cat-ear-like projections. Millianna purred and nuzzled Erza slightly, which amused her, but the two of them quickly made their way up to Fairy Hills together.
It wasn't long before the two of them were inside Erza's room and Millianna was ogling at all the different kinds of armour Erza had. Erza couldn't help but laugh quietly at Millianna's awestruck face. This was one thing she had always loved about Millianna – she was never one to suppress her emotions to keep up appearances. When she was happy, she let you know. When she was amazed, she let you know. When she was angry, she let you know that too, as Erza had learned when she had described how much she hated Jellal, unaware that Erza was secretly working with him.
"Oh my gosh, Er-chan! You actually have catgirl outfits!" Millianna practically squealed. "You have everything in here!"
"Yes well, it's only natural that a girl who uses magic to change what she wears should have something for all occasions," Erza said, trying to ignore the blush that appeared on her cheeks and wondering if she should stop Millianna before she found the underwear that Lucy had bought for her. "Anyway, what is it you wanted to talk to me about? It must have been something important for you to come all the way here from Mermaid Heel."
Millianna instantly sobered her and looked embarrassed again. "Erm…" she said. "Yeah, okay. Well, where do I start, um… we're friends, aren't we, Er-chan?"
"Of course," Erza nodded. "After all we've done together, how can we not be?"
"And good friends keep secrets for other good friends, don't they?"
Erza frowned. She hadn't been expecting that. But she nodded and said, "Of course."
"So, if I tell you what I want to tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else unless I say you can?" Millianna gave Erza a beseeching look, and she had such large soulful eyes that she knew how to do it. Erza was reminded of a tiny little kitten pleading for its dinner.
"You have my word, that everything you say will remain between us until you decide otherwise," Erza nodded.
"Thanks, Er-chan," Millianna smiled gratefully. "I knew I could count on you."
Erza said nothing, waiting for Millianna to elaborate. The girl still looked nervous despite Erza's promise, but eventually she managed to choke out the words, "I… I want you to… to… I want you to tie me up!"
Whatever Erza had been expecting, it had not been that. She almost fell over, which would have been quite a feat since she was already sitting on the side of her bed. She stared at Millianna in shock, and the catgirl looked quite scared at her reaction.
"Oh, I knew it," Millianna whined, pulling at her collar – its little bell jingling. "I knew I shouldn't have said that. You probably think I'm some kind of freak now, or something. I'm sorry, Er-chan. I shouldn't have troubled you with this. I'll get out of your hair."
"Milli, wait!" Erza stopped her short before she could reach the door. "Just wait a minute please. Let me get my head around this… you came all the way here from Mermaid Heel… because you wanted me to tie you up?"
"I know, I know, it's weird!" Millianna bit her lip. "And it's so, so wrong for someone like me, Er-chan. But it's true. I… I'm into bondage. And I didn't know who else to talk to about it but you."
Erza shook her head, running it through her head. Now she thought about it, it made sense for someone like Millianna to be into bondage. She dressed in an outfit that was something between a cat and a dominatrix and her very magic was designed specifically to restrain people. Her Cat-Binding Tubes had successfully managed to keep herself, Lucy and Natsu prisoner for a brief time, blocking their magic and holding them against their will despite their power.
And it wasn't like Erza was a stranger to these kinds of fetishes. She had a dominatrix uniform herself and she had read a great many of Levy McGarden's racy erotic books. She knew there were lots of people who liked that kind of thing in the world, so why wouldn't Millianna be into it.
What she didn't understand was why Millianna was so worked up about it. It wasn't like she made many attempts to be subtle about these things and it was against her character to get so distressed about something that seemed so… Well, perhaps trivial wasn't the right word but it couldn't be that big of a deal. Everyone has their own tastes.
"Milli," he stood up, taking her friend's hand and guiding her to the bed, sitting her down next to her. "It's alright. I'm not going to judge you. And I don't think you're a freak for liking that kind of thing. I'm pretty sure, based on what I… have seen from Mirajane… that she's into that kind of thing too and she's still one of my best friends. Why are you so upset about this?"
"You really don't get it?" Millianna blinked.
"I might if you told me."
"Er-chan, don't you see? You remember what happened to us when we were children, don't you? You should remember just as well as any of us. We were slaves, Er-chan. We were locked up in the Tower of Heaven and placed in manacles that didn't come off our wrists until after our rebellion. We were placed under the lash of those followers of Zeref and punished if we did the slightest thing wrong. The one thing we wanted more than anything in the world was to get out of there, to be free. And yet now, over fifteen year later, here I am wanting someone to tie me up again. That's… it's not right, Er-chan. How the heck can someone who was abused as much as me be into bondage?"
"Ah…" Erza understood now. She understood all too clearly. Of course Millianna would be upset by all this. There were little but bad memories from their experiences at the Tower of Heaven – the only good thing that had come out of it all were the friendships that they'd formed there.
"All I ever wanted was true freedom," Millianna looked out of the window miserably. "And yet now that I have it, all I want is for someone to hold me prisoner again. Or the other way around – I love tying people up. I play pranks on some of my fellow guild members all the time. But does that make me like those men who put us into our chains? Does that make me as bad as them?"
"Don't ever think that, Millianna," Erza said firmly. "You are far better than they were. We all are."
Millianna looked grateful, but still upset.
"How long have you known that you… like bondage… in that kind of way?" Erza asked.
"A long time now. But I didn't want to talk to anyone about it just in case they thought I was weird for liking it, since I used to be a slave. And I couldn't talk to Wally and Sho about it. I just couldn't talk to a boy about it. I mean they're some of my greatest but… well, you know. It's just too personal at the moment and I was so confused. And then I heard you had come back after you disappeared for seven years and I thought finally I could talk to someone about it. Someone who would understand me better and maybe be able to help me figure myself out. Because seriously Erza, I love it. The thought of it just… gives me tingly feelings inside. Even in the Grand Magic Games when that Minerva woman captured me and used me as a hostage against you and Kagura-chan, I was secretly enjoying myself. Until she started whipping me – I didn't like that part at all. But the part before that, when she'd pinned my arms and legs… the helplessness… I was practically getting off on it while you and Kagura-chan were fighting, and now that just makes me feel worse. Please, Er-chan, can you help me? What should I do? Where do I go from here?"
Erza was nonplussed, but one thing was for sure – she hated seeing Millianna like this. She was meant to be 'super spiffy' all the time. She was meant to be a happy, bouncy girl who loved cats and glomped people. Her distress looked as out of place on her now as her hateful grin had when she'd thought about Jellal back in Crocus.
So Erza did the one thing she could think of – she pulled Millianna into a firm but comforting embrace. Millianna didn't resist, cuddling into Erza as best she could and resting her head on Erza's massive bust as Erza stroked her hair soothingly.
"Milli," she said. "I'm not going to pretend to get it. But everyone likes different things and I will never judge you for something like this, no matter what happened to us in our pasts. But I have to admit, you picked a hell of a day to come and tell me about all this."
"Why?"
"Because I spent most of today tied up myself."
Millianna's head shot up and she stared at Erza in astonishment. "Really? Wow. Why?"
Erza quickly related the story of the punishment game and what had happened to her and Lucy at the hands of Mirajane earlier. Millianna squirmed in almost giddy delight as she told the story.
"She spanked you? She actually spanked you? Erza Scarlet the Titania? That's so hot! Oh, I have to meet this girl properly. She was the one who made that Blue Pegasus girl have to model naked for the Weekly Sorcerer, right?"
"Yes, she was."
"And what did you feel like when she had you tied up?"
"Embarrassed mostly. She was doing it in front of the whole guild. But, I suppose apart from that, it wasn't so bad. I must admit I didn't feel trapped like I would have if it had been an enemy. I trust Mira, so I still felt safe. Despite the… punishment."
"That's what I want to feel," Millianna nodded. "I want to feel totally helpless but totally safe because I know that the person who's holding me prisoner will make sure no harm ever comes to me. I want to feel owned… like I'm the most precious thing my captor has. But I also want to feel submissive. I would obey my mistress without hesitation and do anything she wanted me to do… and let her do anything she wanted to me."
The imploring look was back in Millianna's eyes now, the fact that Erza had heard her out this far giving her hope that maybe, she would indeed find what she was looking for here after all. And Erza felt herself caving under those eyes. Not that she'd been building up any resistance to them. And, she had to admit, when she turned the tables on Mirajane earlier, it had been immensely satisfying.
"You are certain you want this, Millianna?" she asked.
"Without a shadow of a doubt," Millianna nodded. "There's no-one that I trust more than you Erza."
And considering everything that had happened with Jellal at the Grand Magic Games, this was perhaps the highest compliment that Erza felt she could receive.
Erza immediately requipped into her dominatrix outfit, and Millianna practically squeaked as she beheld it. Black leather was stretched across her lower arms and legs and her crotch was only just covered by new leather panties. Her breasts were similarly tightly held by leather that was attached to her panties by tightly pulled elastic which didn't even touch her skin, so large was her bust.
"I shall require tools for binding," Erza got to her feet and stood tall over Millianna. "Some of your tubes should do nicely."
"Yes, Mistress!" Millianna nodded immediately. "Nekosoku Tube!"
She swiftly conjured several of her long and thin but incredibly strong magical binding tubes out of thin air. Despite the fact each end of every tube she conjured had a miniature cat's paw at the tip, it would easily be as effective as any rope. In fact, probably more so. Soon there was a large pile of tubes of varying length coiled on the floor in front of her and Millianna dropped to her knees in front of Erza.
"I will give you one last chance to think before you submit yourself to me," Erza said sternly. "If you do, you will not be released from your bonds until I decide to release you. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Mistress."
"And you still wish to proceed?"
"With every fibre of my being, Mistress."
"Very well. Stand."
Millianna sprang to her feet as Erza scooped up the mound of tubes and deposited them on the bed, pulling one from the pile and stepping behind Millianna.
"Hands behind your back!"
Millianna felt a thrill ripple up her spine and between her legs as she obeyed instantly. Oh, she'd truly picked one of the best people for this. Erza's naturally authoritative nature made her a perfect choice for a mistress and she had to resist the urge to hop from foot to foot as Erza slid her long arm-gloves off and deposited them on the floor. She then felt Erza gently but firmly place her wrists together and wind the tube around them. It was the first time ever that Millianna was being bound with her own bondage magic, and she couldn't seem to stop grinning.
Erza had read enough of Levy's books to know what to do despite not having a great deal of practical experience. And she'd tied Lucy up one on Galuna Island, though that had been a matter of holding a prisoner alone. This time she wanted to get it right for Millianna's sake, so she methodically bound the catgirl's crossed wrists and pinned them in place at the small of her back.
"How does that feel?" she asked.
Millianna twisted her arms and fought her bindings, her fingers fluttering and trying to reach the knot that Erza had tied between her wrists to take in the slack, but couldn't reach. "It feels… wonderful, Mistress."
"Good. Now, let's see what else I can do with my little kitty-cat."
Erza dropped another longer tube over Millianna's head and pulled it just over her large breasts, looping it around her chest a couple of times to pin her shoulders before looping it a couple more times, this time below her breasts. She was well aware that this action would cause Millianna's breasts to bulge out and she had to admit she was quite impressed at the result. Millianna's breasts already stretched her skimpy bikini top outwards but now it looked like they were threatening to spill outwards at any moment.
But Erza was by no means done. Though she was putting a lot of guessing into her work and was trying to recall anything she had read, she tied another tube to the back of the one pinning Millianna's arms and threaded it over one shoulder then down between the valley of Millianna's breasts, threading it through the ropes there to emphasis Millianna's bust even more. She then threaded the tube back up between her breasts, but left a considerable amount of slack dangling down Millianna's front like a small jump-rope as she pulled the tube over Millianna's other shoulder and tied the other end to the rope behind her back, just like the first end.
Erza then scooped up another tube, a smirk appearing on her face as she attached one end of it to the same place as the last one. Perhaps this was being a little naughty, but she was in a naughty mood after what had happened at the guild that day, and hey, this was a naughty activity anyway. But she dropped the tube down Millianna's back and caused her to 'nya' in surprise as she reached around and between Millianna's legs to pull the tube through them. She then looped it around the dangling tube on Millianna's front, pulled it back between Millianna's legs and pulled it tight.
Millianna gasped as the tube pulled against her most private area, rubbing against it and causing her to start panting at this new, amazing sensation. "Oh, Mistress," she murmured dreamily as Erza wrapped the tube around her waist and threaded it back up to tie it off at the now large knot between her shoulder blades. "It's so fantastic."
"Good slaves should only speak when permitted to," Erza stated. "I would have thought you would know that, Milli."
Millianna felt a thrill at being called a slave again. Perhaps it was wrong in some way, but she wasn't being held by the thugs of the Tower of Heaven anymore. Erza was her mistress now. And that was an entirely different kettle of fish.
Erza then gripped Millianna by the shoulders and lowered her down until she was sitting on the side of the bed. Millianna squeaked as the crotch-rope pressed against her groin still further at this, but made no other noise. Erza then bent down and began to remove Millianna's boots. She realised she probably should have gotten Millianna to do this herself at the start, but so what? She wasn't an expert at this.
She briefly debated whether or not to remove Millianna's striped blue and black stockings, but decided against it for now. She cast Millianna's boots aside and took up more of the tubes, setting to work on Millianna's lower half. This part was fairly simple for her, but after half binding Millianna's ankles together, she remembered something she'd read about and untied them, before crossing her ankles and re-tying them like that. She remembered that made it much more difficult to escape by hopping and while she was sure Millianna had no intention of actually escaping, anything she could do to heighten the helplessness was a plus.
Millianna obviously approved because of the wide grin on her face. She silently watched as Erza moved up her legs, wrapping another tube around her just below her knees, then another just above, and finally her thighs. Erza stood up then to survey her work, and she had to admit she was quite pleased with herself. Millianna made a pretty (and admittedly very sexy) bound up package.
"You may struggle now," Erza said.
And struggle Millianna did. She fell backwards onto the bed, writhing and bucking in her restraints, rolling her shoulders, kicking her legs and flexing her fingers, but she already knew that she wasn't going to get out of this without outside help. She wasn't entirely sure if her own tubes would block her own magic as they did other people, but even if they didn't there was no way it would help her escape. Her magic was made for binding, not unbinding.
"Your thoughts, slave?" Erza asked.
"I… have not felt so content in ages, Mistress," Millianna gazed up at her with adoration. "I'm truly helpless. You could make any move on me right now, and I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it."
Erza didn't miss the fact that Millianna almost sounded like she was inviting her to do it.
"I am glad," Erza nodded. "But I have had a long day myself and I wish to sleep now. My previous offer still stands and you may spend the night. But you will have to do so in your bindings. I have no intention of untying you tonight."
Millianna felt the urge to jump up and hug Erza right then, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen even if she tried. "Nothing would please me more, Mistress," she beamed.
"Is that so?" Erza said, bending down and picking up Millianna's long elbow-length gloves from the floor. "Well, perhaps you might be interested to know that your tubes will not be the only thing you shall be wearing tonight, my slave. After all, I can't have you waking up everyone in Fairy Hills, now can I? I shall have to find a way to keep you silent."
"You… you're going to gag me, Mistress?" Millianna gasped with barely contained excitement. She'd been tied up and sometimes she'd gagged herself in the privacy of her room when nobody was watching but this would be a new experience for her. To be gagged by someone else. She felt the thrill ripple through her again.
"You assumed that I wouldn't?" Erza asked. "Sit up."
Millianna struggled to follow the command but eventually managed to push herself into a sitting position again. Erza stepped up in front of her, scrunching one of the gloves into a large wad of cloth as she did so. "Open wide, slave," she said.
Millianna did as bid, but just as Erza was moving the wad to her face, she broke character and said, "Er-chan? Thank you for this. I really mean it. Thank you for everything."
Erza's mistress-mode also momentarily vanished and she placed her hand on Millianna's cheek. "I'll do anything for my friends," she said earnestly. "Even if it means tying them up."
"And that's what makes you so spiffy," Millianna grinned at her.
Erza chuckled and leaned down to plant a brief kiss on Millianna's forehead, before she re-inserted her mistress-mode and stuffed the balled-up glove into Millianna's mouth. "Mrrpph!" the catgirl said as Erza packed it inside, filling her cheeks with it, and she made no attempt to spit it out as Erza stretched the other glove and wrapped it around Millianna's face, pulling it between her teeth in a tight cleave-gag.
"There," she said, smiling down at Millianna's gagged face. "That's not too tight is it?"
Millianna shook her head. "Nn, Mrrstrs! Eh fiis yus wiyg!" (No, Mistress. It feels just right.)
"Excellent. Now, I need to pack it in for the night." Erza quickly requipped into one of her many pairs of pyjamas (she was hardly going to sleep in her dominatrix outfit) and she scooped Millianna up into her arms. Millianna snuggled against her contentedly and Erza smiled warmly in return as she used one foot to skilfully pull her covers aside. She gently laid Millianna down on the mattress and then stepped up and over her to lie beside her, pulling the covers over them both.
She then wrapped her arms around Millianna and pulled her close. "Goodnight, slave," she said. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Gniih, Mrrstrs," Millianna purred, and Erza could swear she felt Millianna's tail snaking around her belly – was that thing actually a real tail – to hold Millianna pressed against her, the catgirl resting her head on Erza's breasts and closing her eyes, snuggling into her much-appreciated pillow. And while Erza still thought this was quite a strange situation, she couldn't help but feel quite content herself as she looked down as the satisfied girl in her embrace, putting her complete one-hundred percent trust in her and her alone.
I could get used to this, Erza thought, before the pair both drifted off to sleep.