Charlotte's unknowingly been Marion's puppet for a while.

Marion's Gift "Puppetry" is a powerful and versatile one. It allows her to "pull someone's strings" both metaphorically and literally. Once they attach to you, you have like a split second or two to fight back before you feel your mind yanked away. If you fail, it's game over and you are a nice obedient puppet for however long she wants.

Her strings aren't limited by length either, once they attach to you, she can control you from the other side of the city. She also can make them invisible; individuals who are sensitive to magical abilities can sometimes still see them, and they may choose to follow the strings back to her.

They are also able to be cut, but you'd still have to be in control of your mind to even attempt that.

Marion likes to collect interesting people, mainly for use in her stage plays. She keeps a few puppets nearby, stored in her theater in one of the break rooms, tied up and docile.

She doesn't really need to worry about feeding her puppets, once the strings are attached, their physical needs are taken care of magically. This does cause Marion to eat more than the average person since she herself is the source of magic.

She has full control of her puppets and can overwrite any part of them. She also can give them tasks that they will follow to the best of their ability, it's useful for cleaning, and for backup dancers. Controlling 12 people directly at the same time to do a dance number just isn't worth the headache.

She also has a few puppets walking around the city, living everyday lives, utterly oblivious to their new puppet status. She keeps them living their lives for a bit so she can figure out if it's worth keeping them nearby 24/7 because it's trouble more when people go looking for them.

But yeah, once you become a puppet if she tells you to forget her and go live life normally, you have no choice but to obey. And with a flick of the wrist, she can yank your mind back into her control once she needs you.

It is possible to break out of her control but that requires a strong will and a spark of resistance, usually from an outside source.

Fire works wonders tho.