Coaxing people gently did not co easily to . The best I could do was ntally overlay Jess with an image of Luna from last year, before her increased levels had caused her to mature rapidly, and go from there. When dealing with a child you wanted to raise, harsh and abrupt language didn’t serve you well; it would only cause them to shrink back into themselves. I had a feeling that Jess would react similarly, that any attempt to give her what so might call ‘tough love’ would only force her deeper into her shell, so slow, gentle and steady was the only path forward.
Again, the more I gently coaxed, subtly poked and prodded with the slightest tease in my voice, the more I wondered if I should try my hand at a more direct, magical approach. It would be so simple to smother her worries, to flood her mind with bliss, but that was no long-term solution. Instead, it would probably only make things worse in the long run, similar to an addiction to pain dication.
But didn’t doctors prescribe such dication at the start, to help the body cope with trauma? Wouldn’t a similar logic indicate that giving her so short-term relief might allow her mind to cope with trauma, and negative consequences could be alleviated with care and a asured approach?
“You are looking about to keel over,” I eventually told Jess, making sure to soften anything that might be perceived as harsh in my statent.
“I don’t want to see that again!” She imdiately grew agitated, looking on the verge of tears.
“There might be a way around that,” I kept my voice gentle, “But it depends on your consent.” I paused, taking a deep breath while trying to find the right words to convey what I wanted her to hear, not just the words but, more importantly, the intent behind those words.
“I have so ability in Mind Magic. It allows to assert so control over the Minds and mories of others, though the skill has nurous limits and limitations. Using it, I should be able to blunt the impact those mories have on you, at least for a ti. That way, I can give you a few days of uninterrupted and calm sleep, sothing you desperately need.”
After I finished those words, I imdiately started to wonder if I had misstepped. Soone already traumatised from mind control and brainwashing, partially by way of mory manipulation, would probably react poorly to my suggestion, but I didn’t have a better way to facilitate her rest. And she truly needed that comfortable sleep, or her situation would deteriorate seriously, and soon.
“What are those limits? What could you do to ?” she asked, her voice surprisingly hopeful, though tainted with apprehension.
“That’s difficult to say,” I admitted, “I’ve been hard pressed to practise, there is only so much I can do with my own mind, and I’m obviously not willing to experint with the mind of either of my daughters. And when it cos to so animal out there in the wild, Mind Magic isn’t the tool I’d reach for, though I did try a few compulsions. But if those would work on a sapient mind as they do on so random animal?” I couldn’t help but shrug as I made sure to downplay my abilities and, obviously, avoid any ntion of my previous experints.
“But you think you can help ?” she asked, the hope in her voice overtaking the apprehension.
“It wouldn’t be the first ti I used it to help soone sleep, not even the first ti I helped soone rest after they suffered trauma. My only hesitation stems from your experience with ntal manipulation and a fear that I might trigger so subconscious rejection or sothing like that. You were violated with sothing far too similar to the magic I would use, which can give rise to so unforeseen complications,” I admitted, getting an understanding nod in response. Hopefully, this will prevent any trouble if my actions co to light later, though I should probably give Maggie a heads-up. Just in case.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from . If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“How do we do this?” Jess asked after a few minutes spent mostly in companionable silence as she considered my offer.
“The easiest way would be to move you in with my daughter and . Luna ended up in my bed anyway, so we should be able to give you the other bed, and I can gently put your mind to sleep and keep away the dreams, so you can get a full night of rest,” I mused, already planning out the different steps needed to accomplish that.
For a mont, Jess just stared at , slightly confused. “Why would your daughter share your bed?”
“Sotis, for shared warmth, sotis for simple companionship and human closeness, sotis because she stumbled into the wrong bed after a late-night trip to the bathroom,” I grinned, “Luna carries a few secrets, but they are not mine to share,” I admitted, not willing to go into the whole issue of Luna’s chronological age, and her greatly accelerated physical and ntal maturity. It truly wasn’t my secret to share.
“Okay,” Jess frowned, but accepted my words, clearly hearing that I wouldn’t talk about that further. “Let’s do this,” she added after a mont, rising from her seat, only to stumble on exhausted legs.
I managed to catch her as I quickly got up myself, unwilling to let a pregnant woman fall.
On the way back to town, I stuck a little closer to her, just in case she stumbled again, but nothing happened. I could hear a few animals in the distance, but no beast was foolish enough to challenge , even if they would gladly make a snack out of Jess. Sothing I warned her about, just in case she decided to go on walks without during the night.
Before dropping off Jess at the room Luna and I shared, I quickly filled Maggie in regarding the planned treatnt. Not with too many details, I made sure to respect Jess’ privacy, but I gave her the relevant information and had Jess confirm that she wanted that treatnt. I’d have preferred to speak with Maggie one-on-one, but I also wanted to make sure that everyone was inford and the impacted parties, naly Jess, had given their consent.
Then, we headed back to the room, and I quickly filled in Luna. My dear daughter didn’t mind at all; she imdiately offered her bed before I even managed to get to that point, doing her best to make Jess feel welco.
“Now, make yourself comfortable,” I told Jess, after she had changed into so simple, loose clothing for bed.
Once she was in bed, I gently placed my hands on either side of her head, and, even without any active magic, I could feel the roiling emotions within her mind scream at . The trauma the poor young woman had suffered was quite severe, and was made even worse by Sunna’s wards that had buried the mories, preventing them from being processed, while Jess had been forced to continue on. It was like building sothing new atop a broken foundation, and now the foundation was opening into a sinkhole. If this had gone on longer, the damage would probably be irreparable, unless a miracle occurred.
Gently humming to myself, I started to weave delicate strands of magic, slowly but surely binding the trauma, securing it so it wouldn't rattle through her mind at all tis. I would have to make sure that the bindings wouldn’t keep her from rembering it, or maybe we would have to keep eting, and I would slowly loosen the bindings I was now putting into her mind at a controlled rate, allowing her to process the trauma over ti. Not all at once, as she was currently forced to endure it.
As I worked, I could see her eyes close, and the tension start to drain from her face as she slowly relaxed. It was quite fascinating to watch, especially as I could also sense her thoughts at the sa ti.
Slowly, but surely, she was falling into a deep sleep, aided along by my ntal manipulation, until I was confident that her dreams wouldn’t disturb her during this night’s rest.
Finally, I slowly untangled myself from her mind, leaving the bindings behind as I withdrew, making sure that I didn’t disturb anything on the way out. Then, once I had fully left her mind, I slowly rose from my position at the top of her bed and walked over to my own bed, where Luna was already waiting.
“Do you think you can help?” she asked, compassion clear in her voice.
“Yes, I think so,” I nodded, “And I’m afraid she’ll need all the help she can get, given her circumstances,” I added, still uncertain what to do with that piece of information.
“We’ll find a way,” she asserted, her confidence bringing a small grin to my face. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be the one to shatter that confidence.
User Comments
0 comments from readers