Lyn walked awkwardly around the ballroom's periphery, readjusting the dress her grandfather had given her for what felt like the hundredth time, never managing to make its stiffer Lycian fabric feel comfortable on her skin.

She didn't like being here in the least. She would much rather have been thrown into a dozen more life-or-death battles than spend even another minute at this party, trying and failing to start a friendly conversation with these Lycian nobles who seemed to find something objectionable in her demeanor no matter how hard she tried to emulate their customs and etiquette. It was a bitter reminder that no matter how hard she tried to fit into their culture, to many of them she would always be a Lorcan barbarian in Lycian dress.

“We can always leave the party if you're not having fun, Lyn,” her childhood friend Florina said beside her.

“Leave so soon? But you just got here!” said Serra, a friend she had made on her journey to Lycia. “Lady Lyndis, if you can't enjoy the company, let us at least enjoy the food and music, no? Goodness, it's been so long since I've had anything this good to eat. ““You can stay if you want, Serra,” Lyn said. “I don't see any reason for me to remain, though.”

“Pardon me, miss, but did I mishear your companion or are you really Lady Lyndis?”

Lyn turned around, finding a violet-haired Lady standing behind her. “That's right,” she said.

“I thought you might be. You look so much like your grandparents, you know? Oh, but let me introduce myself. I'm Eleanora, of Pherae. You might know me as Eliwood's mother.”“Oh! Pleased to meet you, Lady Eleanora. These are my friends, Florina and Serra.” They both bowed their heads to her in turn.

“I didn't mean to be nosy, but I overheard you were thinking of leaving the party. I understand if you're not comfortable here, but I really do recommend staying around a bit longer at least. I've been assured that they'll start handing out the party favors soon.”“Party favors?”

“Yes; there's recently been a battle on the border, and the prisoners will be handed out to guests. If you're interested in one for yourself, I suggest you stick with me; there might not be enough for everyone, but they usually let the lords and ladies have the first pick. But hold; I think they're about to start handing them out right now,” Eleanora said.

Lyn turned to see a group of servants coming in. She wondered at the fact that they were all carrying cages, taking these to various guests to offer up whatever was inside. Weren't they supposed to be bringing prisoners? It wasn't until one of them came closer that she saw the contents of these cages: they were full of tiny humans standing at a mere three inches tall. “They've been shrunken down?” she asked in disbelief. “And we're each to take one for our own?”“That's so, Lady Lyndis. It's a new custom that popped up ever since the academy created this new shrinking spell. I take it this is your first time seeing it. Is it your first time as well, girls?” she asked Lyn's companions.

“It is,” Serra answered for the both of them. “Though I've known about the shrinking magic for some time. I would like to learn it myself, but they only teach it to a very few people so it won't reach enemy hands. Still, getting to choose a shrunken captive of my own will suffice for now.”Eleanora nodded. “I'm sure you'll be quite satisfied with whoever you get. There's nothing quite like holding a human being in your hands and knowing you can do with them as you please,” she said as one of the servants finally got around to their group. “Lady Lyndis, why don't you take the first pick?”The servant went over to Lyn, holding out the cage for her. She peered inside, finding that there were only four people left inside—one for each of her group. It seemed they were still wearing the same clothes as when they'd been taken; judging by their attire, they were, or rather, had been, a knight, a mage, a rogue, and an archer. At her approach the rogue, a brown-haired fellow, walked up to her and took a knee. “My lady,” he said. “I had thought my capture a cruel tragedy, yet now to me it seems a blessing, for without it I would never have laid eyes upon you. I swear to you that, should you allow me the honor of choosing me, I will gladly dedicate my whole life to serving you to the best of my abilities.”Lyn heard Eleanora laughing behind her. “Take that one, Lady Lyndis; he'll serve you well enough. Just don't let him fool you into thinking he means even half of what he says.”She slowly reached to the cage, undoing the latch on the door and pulling it open. Just then, the blonde knight rushed out the door, leaping to the floor below. Before he could land, Serra reached over and caught him. “Gotcha!” she said, holding him tightly as he struggled to escape. “You're mine now, little guy. Ohh, I can already tell we're going to have so much fun together!”“Ahem. My lady?” Lyn turned back to the cage at the sound of the rogue's voice. She reached in, her hand hanging beside him while she tried to figure out how best to hold him. In the end, she simply curled her fingers around him and carried him out in her fist.

“So, what are we supposed to do with the prisoners, exactly? Are we meant to… eat them?” The shrunken people all turned to look at her in horror.

“Oh, no no no, dear. Why, that would be such an awful waste. Let me get one of my own and I'll show you what they're best for. Now, let's see,” she said, taking a moment to ponder her options before reaching in for the mage, pulling the blue-haired woman out between her fingers and turning her over in her hand. “Yes, I think you will do nicely,” she said. “Chin up, girl; I won't have you moping around while you're in my service. Understood?” The woman nodded rather unenthusiastically. “Good. Now... your name is Florina, right? Go ahead and take the last one.”The young pegasus knight came forward, slowly reaching for the archer. At her hand's approach, the dark-haired man yelled and darted to the back corner of the cage. Taken aback, Florina hesitated for a moment before reaching further in, her hand trembling as it approached the archer. She curled her fingers around him, then pulled him back out, after which the servant gave them a bow and departed.

“What's the matter, girl? Why, you're almost as shaky as that poor fellow,” Eleanora said.

“Florina is... uneasy around men. Around archers too, for that matter,” Lyn explained.

“Ah, I see. Say no more; Florina, I'll give you my pick in exchange for yours.” Florina happily accepted Eleanora's mage in exchange for her archer, holding the tiny woman gently in her hands. The little mage seemed more at ease in Florina's hands too, as did the archer in Eleanora's more confident grip. “Good. Now, as I promised, let me show you what these prisoners are good for.”Eleanora took a seat, then slipped off her shoes and placed her tiny between a pair of toes, squeezing him lightly between them. “Young fellow, be a dear and lick these toes clean, will you?” she said. The tiny archer didn't reply, but only looked at her toes before giving her a look of disbelief. “Looks like you haven't quite understood your situation yet.” Eleanora gave him a firmer squeeze, eliciting a squeak from his tiny lungs. “As my servant, I expect you to fulfill my commands to the letter. That will involve you helping to lick my feet clean at least once a day, so you'd better get used to it right away. So long as you obey me in everything I can promise you'll lack for nothing, but disobey me and I'll have to punish you.”The man remained trembling between her toes for a moment after she finished speaking, then shakily leaned over and began lapping at her skin. Lyn watched him for a bit, then looked around and saw that nearly everyone else in the room was doing much the same with their tinies, either making them tend to their feet, holding them underfoot, or playing with them between their toes. Even Serra had already started playing with her tiny, pinning him under her sole and mocking him in his useless attempts to escape.

“So you make them serve your feet? You don't use them for anything else?” Lyn said. “That seems like a strange tradition.”

“Oh, it's not that strange when you think about it. Our people defeated them, which makes them our inferiors. They are figuratively beneath us, and now they're literally so as well. Besides, it's really quite enjoyable. Why don't you go on and try it with your own prisoner?”Lyn glanced at her little rogue, who gave her a half-hearted smile. “I'm ever ready to serve my Lady. Just give the word and I'll do whatever you ask of me,” he said.

She took a seat beside Serra, with Florina joining her on the other side, then took off her shoes, sighing as her feet were able to breathe for the first time in hours. These Lycian-style shoes were much too stuffy for her liking, nowhere near as comfortable as her traditional Lorcan boots.

Setting the rogue down before her feet, she propped these up on her heels, presenting her soles to him. “Let's see if you're honest in your supposed desire to serve me. You can start by massaging my soles.”The man grimaced as he was met with the smell of her feet, then gave her a forced smile. “No, worries, my Lady; your faithful servant will get right on that!”“Pah. You filthy coward,” spat Serra's knight. “You call yourself a man when you're sucking up to your captors like a dog? Where is your pride? Where is your self-respect?”“Say what you will, but at least I'm not the one trapped under a woman's foot,” the rogue replied before going up to his mistress's feet to start on the massage.

Lyn went wide-eyed as she felt his hands on her foot. She had thought that a massage from a shrunken person couldn't possible be all that good—small as they were, it seemed impossible that their efforts could amount to much. Yet his delicate touch was just the thing her feet needed after spending so long in those shoes. Her toes curled in delight at his touch, all the tension leaving her feet as his tiny fingers ran over her skin.

“I told you it was delightful,” Eleanora said, twiddling her tiny between her toes. “And what about you, Florina? Won't you have your little mage tend to your feet?”“I... I don't know. Will you do it?” she asked her tiny. The little mage sighed and nodded in resignation. Setting her down between her feet, Florina took off her shoes and presented her feet to her. The mage climbed atop her toes, straddling one of them, then rubbing it with her hands. “Oh!” Florina gasped. “That feels so good!” She curled her toes, holding the woman's legs between them, and sat watching her little mage at work.

“And what about you?” Serra asked her knight. “If I lift my foot off of you, will you willingly clean my feet, or will I have to keep you down there until you learn to be obedient?”“If you're worried about your tiny running away,” Eleanora said, “I happen to have something here that I think you'll find useful.” She pulled from her sleeve a tiny silver ring, fitted with a chain around it that linked it to a small collar, perfectly sized for a tiny's neck. “I brought this along in case I got a feisty one, but it seems you need it more than I.”“This is perfect! Thank you, Lady Eleanora; I promise you I'll put this to good use.” Serra lifted her foot off the knight and reached down, snatching him up before he could scurry away. Encased firmly in her fist, he was lifted up to her lap, where her other hand was ready to put the collar on. With a quick squeeze of her fingers it snapped shut around his neck, the chain inexorably linking him to the ring on the opposite end. Then she lifted him up by the chain, letting him kick and dangle helplessly in the air until it seemed he was about to pass out. Only then did she lower back, slipping the ring around her second toe while he regained his breath.

“Ha! And to think you called me a dog. Look at you now, with your pretty little collar.” Lyn's rogue said.

“Why, you little...” The knight tried lifted his hands to his neck, wrapping them around the silver collar. He knew very well what he had to do to open it, but however hard he tried, his strength couldn't so much as budge the cold metal.

Serra watched him struggle for a bit, then grew bored and brought her foot back a bit, pulling him along. “Alright, that's enough of that. Now, unless you want me to leave you hanging again, you'll get over her and start licking my foot clean.” Her tiny slowly crawled over to her foot, looking very much depressed as he stuck out his tongue and started licking her.

A smile came over Serra's face as she felt his little tongue against her skin. Dominating a tiny person felt even better than she'd thought it would. To break the will of a once-proud knight and force him to accept his new life as her little foot pet... nothing else had ever made her as excited as this. The only way it could be better was if instead of some random knight it were Erk being forced to lick her foot clean. She'd have him down there too, one day; just as soon as she got her hands on that secret shrinking spell.

Once she had seen to it that the three younger women were enjoying themselves, Eleanora, turned her attention back to her own tiny. She splayed her toes, letting him fall to the floor, where he lay looking up at her in fear. “Stay very still now; I wouldn't want to break some of your bones by accident,” she said, teasingly raising her foot over him. Seeing her foot above him, the archer tried to run, just as she had been hoping he would. She lowered her foot in front of him and knocked him off his feet, then gripped his legs between her toes and dragged him closer while he kicked and screamed in sheer terror. Then she let go of him and, just as he started scurrying away, set her foot down on top of him, holding him down while he did his best to squirm free.

“Hmph. Once you give up on your pitiful escape attempts, be a dear and massage my sole for me, will you?” she said, scrunching her sole over him, before turning to her companions. “You know, as nice as it is to find a willing servant, the ones who try to run from you are just so much fun! Of course, they usually learn not to do so within a month, so you have to keep getting new ones all the time. That's half the reason why I keep coming to these parties!”Florina, meanwhile, was still silently enjoying her little foot massage. Her tiny mage had been rubbing her feet quite diligently, so much so that Florina suspected she must have taken a liking to them. “You've been doing such a good job, little one. I think you deserve a reward.” She raised her other foot over the tiny woman, her big toe hovering over her head. She tried to carefully lower her toe, attempting to pat the woman on the head, but accidentally pushed her flat against her foot. “Oh. I guess I don't have enough control for that. Well, let me thank you like this, then.” She slowly rubbed her foot against the tiny woman's back while she relaxed and let it happen.

When she had been shrunken down, she had been so sad and scared, thinking she would surely end up with some cruel master who would abuse her for fun. To have ended up with such a kind and gentle girl as her new mistress was truly a blessing, and she would show her thanks by serving her as well as she could. If that meant massaging her feet every day for the rest of her life, then so be it.

“I swear, some people have all the luck,” Lyn's rogue grumbled while looking on the scene at Florina's feet. Still, he supposed he couldn't complain much. He was still better off than the poor bastards to his right, at the very least.

“Did you say something?” Lyn asked, moving her foot aside so she could look at him.

“Er, I was just wondering if my mistress is satisfied with my work so far!”

“Hmm. You've been doing well enough, I suppose. I'd like to feel you put some more muscle into it, though.”

“Y-yes, of course. Well, that might be a bit difficult at my size but, ah, I'll see what I can do.”

“You are small, but I think I can provide you with some more leverage to work better. First, lie down.”

The rogue didn't like where this was going, but he had to keep being an obedient little servant if he wanted to make the most of his situation. “Like this, mistress?” he asked, lying down on the floor.

“That's good. Now keep still,” Lyn said as she moved her feet towards him. She dragged him closer with her toes, then left her sole hanging over him, near enough for him to reach up and touch her. “You should be able to work better like this. Make sure you get deep between the toes, too.”“Yes, mistress. Thank you for your help. It was very thoughtful of you,” he replied, holding back his disappointment as he reached up and rubbed her feet.

Suddenly there was a sound of silverware tapping on a glass, drawing everyone's attention to the party's host. “Your attention please,” he said. “The dancing will begin in a few minutes. Once it does, please make sure to keep your gifts off the floor; we wouldn't want any unfortunate accidents staining the floor.”“Wait, where are we supposed to put them? Our dresses don't have pockets,” Lyn said.

“Oh, you don't need pockets; simply put them in your shoes,” Eleanora said.

“Our... shoes? Will they even survive that?”

“Oh, of course! Just make sure they're somewhere you won't rest all of your weight on, like the arch of your foot, or under your toes. It even feels pleasant to have them down there. Watch.”Eleanora raised her foot off the tiny, leaving him trembling on the floor, then grasped him with her toes and moved him around until he was tucked under them. She curled her toes around him, then slipped her shoes on, leaving him trapped in the dark, clammy cavern.

Serra eagerly followed suit, lifting her foot in the air above her shoe, leaving her little knight hanging from his chain and clutching at his collar. Then she lowered him into the shoe's opening and slid her foot inside, pushing him all the way down to the very tip of the shoe, where she felt him squirming pathetically as he tried to escape.

Lyn then looked down at her rogue. “My lady?” he asked.

“Climb inside my shoe,” she said. He grimaced at her order, but resigned himself to his fate and obeyed her. Then she put the shoe on and wiggled her foot around a bit, slowly manipulating him until he was in a more comfortable position, under the arch of her foot. She then stood to see how it would feel, and found that Eleanora had been telling the truth. Though the shoes were still not as comfortable as her own boots, there was a marked improvement with her rogue as part of her insole.

“My, you feel so good down there, I think I'll have to use you as my insole from now on. Don't think you're getting off easy, though; I expect you to keep massaging my soles even while you're down there. Understand?” she asked, giving a slight shake of her foot to command his attention.

The rogue replied by moving his arms as best he could in the cramped space and running them over her sole. Great, he thought. Just when it seemed he had picked one of the more lenient masters, she went ahead and dropped something like this on him. He should have waited for the older lady's turn to pick; at least then he would have shared his duties with some other poor shrunken bastards. Well, at least he was still better off than the knight with his leash.

As for Florina, her little mage climbed into her shoe without having to be told, after which Florina carefully slipped her foot inside, making sure to keep the tiny woman in as safe a position as she could find.

A minute later, the ball began and all except Florina joined in, the shy pegasus knight preferring to sit and enjoy the music alone. With their tinies serving as insoles, the other three woman had a wonderful time dancing. Of course, for their three tinies in their shoes, it was much less than wonderful. Not only did they have to bear the considerable weight of their respective mistresses, but they also had to put up with their feet growing progressively hotter and sweatier, the atmosphere inside each shoe soon growing unbearably muggy, leaving them soaked in a mix of their own sweat and that of their mistresses.

Eleanora's archer lay stiff as a rock under the crook of her toes, fearing that if he moved even an inch else, he would find himself crushed under her foot. Serra's knight had his hands wrapped around his collar, trying desperately to free himself from it while she made sure to keep playing with him using her toes whenever she got the chance so he wouldn't grow too comfortable in there. As for Lyn's rogue, he struggled to massage her sole while she danced—not at all an easy task when he had to deal with her constantly stepping on him, her weight preventing him from moving his arms. To make matters worse, he suspected she would only make him rub her feet again after she had gotten tired of dancing.

In the end, despite having had a bad experience at the start of the party, Lyn enjoyed her time there quite a lot. Not only had she made a good friend in Lady Eleanora, but she had also received a most comfortable little insole. Of course, she still needed another one for her other foot. Maybe she would get another one if she came to the next party. At the very least it was worth a shot, and as long as she was joined by Lady Eleanora and her friends, she was sure to have at least as good a time as she'd had today.