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StLQ Chapter 13 - Mother
🕑 Added 2025-08-10 11:18:33 +0000 UTCThe void hole wasn’t exactly a light source. It was lit, its purple tendrils clearly fluttering in the darkness of Luna’s yard, but the glow didn’t cast light on its dark surroundings. It was a larger void hole. The type that would stay in place for days, waiting to be activated.
I gritted my teeth, afraid for the worst, but another part of me was hopeful to learn something. As always, the void holes were what helped me make up for my lack of skills as an investigator.
I needed something to secure my body for the vision. I ran to my house and to the back, to our old storage shack. I shoveled the snow out of the way of the door and grabbed a length of rope. Then I ran back.
There was a ditch between Luna’s house and the next neighbor. A tree grew from the ditch. I hopped in and tied the rope around the tree, then around myself. I was sitting in a snow-filled ditch in the cold; some parts of my body would probably be frostbitten by the end of this, but I didn’t have a choice.
I activated lich sight, and entered the most vivid vision I had seen.
***
I didn’t learn anything at school today, Luna thought.
That was dangerous. She hadn’t made any progress improving the accuracy of her mana output. Her channeling was still slow. Her casting was far too sloppy. Mother would soon learn that her progress was utterly stuck.
The thought made her shiver. Today, I need to practice. I need to make progress.
She stood outside her front door. Before opening it, she took off her jacket and boots. Taking the boots off inside would create noise, possibly enough to wake Mother up in case she was sleeping. Luna opened the front door slowly, at the exact speed that avoided the creaks.
Mother could also be awake, in which case sneaking in would probably lead to questioning. There really wasn’t any good solution for coming back home…
Luna slid inside, closing the door as quietly as she had opened it. She tried to not shiver or whimper from the cold. Her summer jacket had started to feel extra cold lately.
The house was dark, as it always was. Luna tiptoed toward her room past the parlor, watching her step for empty bottles and pieces of litter. Mother lay on the couch with a scowl on her face. Her stomach bulged from breathing, contracting calmly. Luna noted a small mental victory—Mother was fully asleep. If she was only lying down awake, her stomach usually didn’t move.
Mother’s powers made her sleep a lot. She was sometimes out for twenty hours a day. Those days were usually good; Luna had plenty of time to study. If she was really lucky, she’d be asleep before Mother awoke.
Luna entered her chamber. It was a small nook by the end of the house. She had a foldable mattress, though it didn’t quite fit all the way in her closet-like chamber. This was technically her room, though the room was definitely smaller than what other kids at school claimed their rooms looked like.
Still, the chamber was a good place to sit down and practice channeling. Luna would have to do just that. She closed her eyes, and for the next twenty minutes, focused on the mana moving within her veins.
A crash, followed by deep curses from the parlor made her flinch. Footsteps came toward her room.
A quick panic ran through Luna’s head. She composed herself, then stood and opened her door. “Yes, Mother?”
“Luna…” Mother said. Slow steps with an unusually calm tone. “I did some research regarding that group project the neighbor’s brat mentioned.”
“Yes?” Luna asked.
“It doesn’t exist,” Mother said.
Luna’s heart pounded. Mother stared at her, expecting some sort of response.
“You, um, are correct,” Luna said. “The project doesn’t exist. Kai wasted my time.”
“Are you in love with him?” Mother asked.
“What?” Luna asked. “No? Why would I be? That would hinder my studies!”
“And spending a night out at Bob’s Funhouse doesn’t hinder your studies?” Mother asked, crossing her arms.
“I went because of my studies!” Luna argued. “I heard in school that the puzzles were difficult. So I…” Think! Luna yelled in her head. “So I tricked the neighbor’s kid into giving me a free ticket. He gave one easily. And I got a top score from the puzzle!”
Mother looked thoughtful. “And what did you learn from taking this ridiculous puzzle?”
“The puzzle… It was too easy. I didn’t learn much. I’m sorry…” Luna said.
“The name of the place is Bob’s Funhouse,” Mother said. “For the sake of all holy light, what thought in your dumb head made you think an attraction there could be useful?”
“I don’t know,” Luna said. Her voice was starting to panic. She desperately tried to calm herself. Mother always got worse when Luna got teary. “I’m sorry. I won’t go there again.”
“Are you trying to become the best mage in all of Lokora, or are you trying to mess around with boys, Luna?”
“I am training to become the best mage there ever was, Mother,” Luna said. “I will not meet the neighbor’s brat ever again.”
Mother watched Luna’s expression with her stern eyes. Eventually, she nodded. “Good. You have behaved well lately. I trust you.”
Luna thanked the heavens silently, while wincing at the promise she had just made. Kai would probably try something with her. He would promise more fun, more temptations to bring her away from studies. She had to resist them. She just had to.
“This kind of initiative isn’t bad,” Mother continued. “Trickery will bring you far in life. Next time, make sure to use tricks on something less useless.”
“Yes, Mother,” Luna said. “Thank you.”
Mother stayed at the door. She looked satisfied. But she wasn’t turning away. Luna began to worry.
“Just in case, I will check on you,” Mother said. “Not because I don’t believe you. But because it would be a problem if you fell in love right now. You are at that age right now.”
Luna flinched. No! she thought. Please, no!
Mother raised an eyebrow. “Am I wrong to trust you?”
“No, you are not,” Luna said. “Your powers just hurt.”
“Pain is a part of life,” Mother said. “You should be accustomed to it by now. Open up your head.”
No, no, no! Luna thought. Think dark thoughts, think dark thoughts!
She repeated the mantra in her head, heart racing when Mother lifted her hand. The wrinkled fingers glowed yellow, and a presence invaded Luna’s head.
The invasion did really hurt, like a nail pulling at the thoughts in her head. The feeling was terrible; the most awful feeling in the whole world. Right now, however, the discomfort was barely a thought in Luna’s head. She had lied to Mother. And Mother would see all of it! Mother searched Luna’s thoughts regarding Kai. Specifically, her emotions related to him.
A wrinkle formed on Mother’s forehead. Then another.
“Luna!” Mother growled. “I trusted you!”
“I made a mistake!” Luna said. “Please, it won’t happen again!”
“The neighbor’s brat, you say,” Mother said. “You know him as Kai. You didn’t trick the brat at all; it was he who dragged you to the fucking funhouse! And you enjoyed it! You drank lemonade and you honestly, from the bottom of your heart, enjoyed it!”
“It was a mistake,” Luna cried.
“Have I not taught you what men will do to you? I’ve spent all of these days wasted away, rotting in this house, because of your father, and not one lesson has been pressed into your head! Men will promise you greatness; they will swear on their soul that they will bring you happiness. And what will they take? Your dignity, your worth, and your life itself! You will not become the greatest mage to ever step out of Lokora. You will become a playtool for a little boy!”
“He tricked me!” Luna said. “I will never talk to him again! It was a mistake!”
“A mistake that you will remember for a long time!” Mother said. More mana flowed through mother’s veins, and her fingers turned purple. The force of her magic took control of Luna’s head.
Suddenly, Luna could not move. She could not run. She could not even blink, or plead for her life.
Mother gained the right to do those things in Luna’s stead. Mind control. Luna’s leg lifted up on its own. She stumbled forward in an awkward and painful posture. Mother led her out of the room. The next step landed on a glass bottle; it slid off under Luna’s foot, and she fell on her face.
She tried to instinctively lift her hand to brace the fall, but nothing moved. She knocked her head against the floor, consciousness spinning.
Luna’s arms forced herself up, while her head was still locked in dizziness. She tasted blood. She saw vaguely that she was moving into the bathroom.
Her hands moved to open the lid of their dirty bath basin. “This,” Mother said, her eyes and fingers glowing with that terrible spell, “is what men will do to you!”
Luna submerged her head into the basin, knocking her forehead against its bottom. She breathed her lungs full of bath water, feeling like she was about to pass out, only for her lungs to take more. She couldn’t even cough; Mother’s powers overpowered her body’s defense mechanisms.
“This,” Mother shouted, “is what will happen if you lie to me!”
Luna’s head flung out of the basin, and she tossed herself against the wall. She collided with the ground helplessly, while dirty bath water flowed from her nose and mouth, onto the floor. She still couldn’t breathe.
“This—” Mother kicked her. “—is where you’ll end up if you fall in love. I hope you take this to heart. Good night.”
Violent coughs returned Luna’s body to her control. She vomited water, then continued coughing. She pushed mana into her lungs, desperately trying to drive the pain away.
Mother closed, then locked the door, leaving Luna on the cold bathroom floor, where she cried herself to sleep.
***
I puked all over myself.
The end of the lich sight was the most violent I had ever felt. The unbearable pain in Luna’s lungs remained in memory. The dreadful fear for her life, the utter panic, and the total helplessness she felt locked up in the bathroom—the utter disgust Luna felt for herself as a human.
I wheezed out a sound of anger. It took my all not to scream in rage. I unwrapped the ropes around myself. My butt, toes, and fingers had lost their sense of touch, but that didn’t matter. I ran out of the ditch toward Luna’s door, intending to hit that disgusting, vile excuse of a mother—I was ready to slice an axe through her skull.
Then I stopped myself. What would a feat of anger accomplish? I’d get mind controlled my ass straight back to where I came from.
I had proof now. I needed a smarter approach.
Luna was the one who blew up the cauldron. But I now knew she wasn’t the culprit.
And she needed help.
Comments
Jason Tram (Traminator)
Alright I’m sucked in now. lol
