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StLQ Chapter 21 - Mind Magic
🕑 Added 2025-08-17 09:30:10 +0000 UTCThe rest of Luna’s school day was a total mess of nervousness. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach through every class. Breathing felt heavy, as if she was atop a mountain with thick air. The sensations occasionally calmed, only for her heart to squeeze tight minutes later, a new wave of silent panic flowing through her.
She could barely eat a slice of bread for lunch. Nervousness was exhausting. Luna tried everything she could to calm down: deep breaths, thinking about magic, trying to force herself to pay attention to the lectures. Each of these things worked—for roughly ten seconds, until the worries in her head pounced at her heart even stronger than before, as if punishing her for daring to even consider thinking about something else.
Kai isn’t omnipotent, Luna thought. He already got his memories wiped once. If Mother catches him… She might just kill him.
But Kai had appeared confident. More confident than ever before, in fact.
Was it fool’s confidence? Was he so eager to jump into a tripwire because he didn’t know it would spring a trap?
Surely, he was smarter than that. He was the one to deduce that something was wrong after losing his memories. Even if some events were missing, he was good at using logic. He wouldn’t get himself killed.
He has a plan, Luna told herself. He promised to save me.
She felt guilty for not believing in him more. But she couldn’t help it. Her house keys were in the hands of someone who Luna knew was an idiot. An idiot, who she could not help in the slightest.
Her last class was coming to an end. Johannes Longfield wished goodbyes after an uneventful potion mixing class.
That was when Kai suddenly strolled in as if nothing weird had ever happened in the world. He received scowls from his three friends, but he ignored them with a grin on his face, and moved to the teacher.
Luna’s heart nearly came out of her mouth. A rush of emotions flowed in, none of which made sense. Kai glanced at her, smiled, then turned to Johannes and began discussing something.
Students studied Kai curiously, glancing at Luna as well. Kai’s three friends stayed, as if intending to ambush him, to finally question him after he avoided them for days straight.
“Everyone, you have been dismissed,” Johannes said. “Please leave the room. Kai and Luna, please stay.”
Disappointedly and with frowns on their faces, their classmates exited. Johannes closed the door, locking it shut. “Another long day. Kai, what is it you wished to talk about?”
“My letter conveyed most of it,” Kai said. “I’m positive I can trust you, and I’m positive you’re being framed. Do you have any questions?”
Johannes wore a difficult expression. He glanced at Luna, then back at Kai. “Your findings are damning indeed.”
Findings? Luna thought.
Kai nodded. “I came here to help Luna with one thing.”
Luna’s face was red. She stayed on her seat, head low, hands pressed tightly to her thighs. She really couldn’t stand this nervousness much longer. It was growing physically painful. Anything Kai said or did made her feel like she was an explosion about to blow.
“I was wondering,” Kai asked the teacher, “if you’d know anything about mind control? More specifically, methods to prevent mind control from happening.”
Luna’s head rose. Johannes raised his eyebrows.
“Preventing mind control, huh?” Johannes asked. “That would be a good thing to learn considering your situation.”
“Wait,” Luna said. “Johannes knows… about my mom?”
Kai nodded. “He is an ally. He knows the full story. Including Donovan’s business. We’re working together to fix things.”
But he’s a teacher? Luna thought.
Johannes had lumps underneath his eyes. He looked tired. A different type of tired from Mother’s constant exhaustion. While Mother was constantly angry and skittish from her lack of energy, Johannes’s expression reminded Luna of Kai’s mom. The type of tiredness one gained after hard work. And just like Kai’s mom, Johannes could smile, even though he was tired.
“Combating mind magic is very much possible,” he said. “A proficient mage cannot be mind controlled, so long as they know how to react to an invasion in the head. That’s why most mind magic is directed at unknowing subjects instead.”
Luna’s nervousness turned to curiosity from what she was hearing. “You mean… My Mother’s spells can be avoided?”
“Not just avoided,” Johannes said. “With some practice, mind magic can be totally mitigated.”
Totally mitigated?
The words were hard to believe. Whenever Mother invaded Luna’s head, pushing the needle of mind control in her head, Luna lost control of everything. She couldn’t channel mana. She couldn’t move her limbs. She couldn’t even blink or cry. Fighting back was useless.
“This isn’t exactly a topic I’d normally teach, especially not for sophomores,” Johannes said. “But I understand this is important. Would you like to learn how to never be mind controlled again?”
Luna’s mouth was ajar for a moment longer. A week ago, she would have already been walking home in fear that Mother would learn of this. What would Mother do if she couldn’t control Luna anymore? She’d throw a fit of rage, so angry that Luna would probably be chained down for the rest of her life.
“I do,” Luna said. “Please teach me!”
Kai sat on a desk next to Luna with a determined expression. Johannes moved a seat directly opposite to Luna’s desk.
“Has either of you ever studied mind magic before?” Johannes asked.
“Not at all,” Kai said.
The teacher turned to Luna. It took her courage to speak. She said, “I tried once… Mother found out. She made me stop.” By locking me in the bathroom for a whole weekend.
Johannes didn’t ask questions. He looked like he understood. “We will start from the basics. Before learning anything, it’s important to understand how mind control actually works from the perspective of the controller. You’ve been subject to it many times, Luna. You have likely seen how your mother appears when she uses extensive mind magic.”
“She becomes clumsy,” Luna said. “Sometimes, her body collapses on the ground. And it makes her very tired.”
Johannes nodded. “There’s a simple reason for that. When a mind magician gains access to someone else’s head, they momentarily lose control of their own bodies. Humans can’t control two bodies simultaneously at full efficiency. Mind magicians do not manipulate someone else’s thoughts, per say. Rather, the mind mage transfers a part of their own consciousness into the head of someone else. Does this make sense?”
“Yes,” Luna said. That much she’d learned on her own before Mother banned her from studying. “The more the mother controls me, the weaker her own body becomes.”
“In the healthy state you are in now,” Johannes continued, “your body knows that you are the right owner of your mind. But what if it was convinced otherwise? If a new, more powerful presence walked in and said, ‘I own this body.’ That lie, in essence, is the fundamental trick mind magicians use. Their goal is to make the recipient’s consciousness believe that the owner is someone else.”
“Theory is cool and all,” Kai said. “But how do we actually prevent this? I know damn well that my body is my own, and I still froze uncontrollably when the spell hit me.”
“A part of it has to do with fear and authority,” Johannes said. “Mind magicians frequently prey on those who view themselves as lesser. A king will have an easy time manipulating a peasant, as the peasant is deadly afraid of the king’s commands even without mind magic. If, somehow, the peasant manages to convince himself that the king is nobody important, mind magic suddenly becomes much more difficult.”
That… makes sense, Luna thought. She was deadly afraid of Mother’s punishments.
“That said, changing your view on someone isn’t going to happen overnight,” Johannes said. “There’s a far easier way to ensure you won’t be mind controlled. You can always just kick the foreign presence out of your head.”
“And how the hell do we do that?” Kai asked.
“That’s the part that requires practice,” Johannes said. “There are multiple methods. You can flood your head with a raging river of mana to push out all foreign presences. Good mind mages will stop you, taking control of your mana core before you can fight back.”
That also made sense, Luna noted. The few times Mother had struggled to control her were when Luna had mana in her body. In those instances, Mother had grown so insanely angry that Luna didn’t dare cast mana again.
“If the mana core is blocked, there is one more method to kick invaders from your head,” Johannes explained. “At that point, you quite literally have to catch the presence in your head. Depending on the skill of the mind magician, it can be as easy as kicking a ball off of a field, or as difficult as catching a fish with your bare hands.”
“Not to say you’re incorrect, but that really doesn’t tell us much,” Kai said. “How are we supposed to catch anything at all?”
Johannes thought about his words for a moment. “There are better teachers for this. But I’ll do my best. It all happens in a realm of imagination. A realm that you involuntarily enter once a new consciousness invades your head.”
Kai looked confused. Luna, however, immediately knew what Johannes was talking about. “The bubble!”
“Some imagine it as a bubble, yes,” Johannes said. “A bubble with all of your thoughts inside. There, you can watch as your consciousness is being manipulated. And hopefully, you can also see the invader.”
“Yes!” Luna said. “I can see it.”
“That is very good,” Johannes said. “The first step is to see the bubble. The second step is to interact with it. You can actually slap around and move in that place. Feel free to try it right now.”
Luna was already doing so. She closed her eyes and imagined the bubble. It was there. The same place she always saw, or felt, when Mother pulled on her memories. Whenever Mother entered, Luna had learned to grab certain memories to hide them, or to add fake memories to confuse Mother.
But now that Johannes mentioned it, Luna could also move there herself. She imagined a splash. A ripple flowed through the weird realm. “It’s working!” she said.
“With practice, you’ll gain proficiency moving there,” Johannes said. “To a good mind mage, the bubble is like home. They swim there as swiftly as tiny fish and as sneakily as an owl at night. Catching an expert outright is very difficult. There’s a much more efficient method to get rid of unwanted presences. You can simply throw a fit.”
“Throw a fit?” Luna asked, opening her eyes.
“Cause as much chaos as you can,” Johannes said. “Lash around aimlessly. Imagine a raging river washing away invaders. That’s usually enough to push away mind magicians. The mind mage has to be very good to survive through a good panic. Even in those cases, the mind mage will be too preoccupied fighting panic to actually control your body. You can use that opportunity to channel mana into your head. That will utterly destroy any extra presences.”
Luna thought about what she just heard for a moment. It made a lot of sense. She would probably need practice and confidence to actually attempt it when it mattered, but she was getting somewhere. Just the thought of fighting against Mother’s mind magic filled her body with pressure.
“I can’t see shit,” Kai said. He had his eyes closed and brows furrowed.
Johannes laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t help much beyond this. Ah, and I wouldn’t talk about this to your friends. Manipulating the bubble for defensive purposes isn’t strictly forbidden, but practice is still not encouraged. Regardless, I hope this little lesson was useful.”
Luna bowed. “Thank you! Both of you. Thank you so much.”
Johannes stood and stretched. “Don’t fret it.” He turned to Kai. “There’s still a lot to prepare for tomorrow. I’m amazed you managed to fit this all together.”
Luna tilted her head at the two. What’s this?
Kai smiled at her. “I’ll tell you on the way home. Let’s go.”
Luna felt like pouting at him, and she did feel slightly deceived, but she followed him down the stairs and to the hangers. She bit her lip, remembering the morning's storm.
Down at the hangers, Kai looked around himself and up the stairs, as if he was on some sort of sneak mission. Spotting no one, he smiled and pulled a familiar red jacket from deep in the hangers. “There you go,” he said, hanging it to Luna.
For a moment, Luna just stared at it. She took a deep breath, managing to control herself, then put it on. “It’s going to be bad if we’re seen, you know.”
“Your mom is sleeping, and the headmaster has work to do and a front to keep,” Kai said. “It’s not like they’re omniscient.”
He put on his own jacket and boots before heading outside. The winter had calmed down, though the sun was already hiding deep below the horizon. The cold bit at her open cheeks, as always, but her body itself was warm underneath the jacket. Luna followed Kai silently away from the academy’s gates.
“Are you… going to tell me what’s going on?” she asked.
“Your mother is most likely going to try something funny tomorrow morning,” Kai said. “Donovan might be included as well. I think they’ll force you to commit some sort of crime.”
“What?” Luna asked. “A crime? Why?”
Kai’s step was calm with his hands in his pockets, but he clearly considered his words before speaking. “Their motives are still a bit of a question. What you need to know is that their plans have already been investigated and confirmed.”
Suddenly, Luna felt like she really should not have asked for information. “Stop, she might read my memories.”
“No, she won’t,” Kai said. “I am most certain she will preserve her energy for tomorrow. Pillaging through your head would make her feel sluggish for hours. She will require a heavy amount of energy to mind control you tomorrow.”
Luna’s head pointed down. “This… feels serious.”
“It is, but your part is very simple,” Kai said. “I want you to play along with your mom’s requests. Nothing else. For one more day, please stay obedient. Let her order you around. Her actions will be watched, and she will be punished.”
Somehow, Luna was disappointed to hear she wouldn’t be kidnapped again. Even a single more night in a real bed, waking up to Kai’s mom’s breakfast, would have been worth any risk.
But Kai looked serious. He had a plan, and Luna was included in it. She needed to do her part. “One more night? I need to deal with her for one more night?”
“Yes,” Kai said. “But I’ll warn you again… She will most definitely act weird tomorrow.”
Comments
Jason Tram (Traminator)
Great. Thanks. It helps with the expectation :) It will be interesting, once they move past this whole immediate ordeal, if he would have any other knowledge retained from his past future that might somehow benefit him in his newly rewritten future especially if this group of antagonists continue to be the persistent threat going forward.
Matizu
2 times a week whenever I have chapters ready xD. Next one is either Wednesday or Thursday
Jason Tram (Traminator)
Is there a “typical” release time for chapters from this book? For the other book, I think I normally see it updated between 8am-9am UTC. Not so sure about this book yet tho
