Completed [Mamoru's Cave] What Sorcery Is This?! (Mamoru)

[Soshakuakamamushi]

"Hmm..." Aka smiled, exhuming confidence. She stared at Mamoru's golden eyes, ready for her lesson. He then began with his hand movements, Aka's eyebrow raised ever so slightly, what was he doing? She saw the familiar substance between his hands Rei...mancy? It was most likely res, with the way he could shape it around. "Massster, what are you doing? Aren't we learning hypnotisssm?" She protested, she didn't need lessons in Reimancy from Mamoru, it should be the other way around.

"Wha-?" Aka finally got what he meant, so the res thingy was just to distract her. Fine, Aka tried to ignore his res and focused her attention to Mamoru's eyes once again. Still, she could feel the cool sensation of the liquid between them as it brushed against her pale skin, water... curse them, she was bad with water. They were only good for drinking. Aka found it - very- hard not to ignore the puddle.

"You have to be able to look passssed thiss place, me, the water at your feet and see only your objective."

"Oh fine... fine!" She grumbled, looking up, eyes twitching, obviously trying to resist the compulsion to look down.

*SPLASH!*

"Kyahah?!" Aka instinctively scooted away from the water, quickly shifting to a standing position and hissed like a panther facing flames. "....." She frowned, that was a sneaky trick, really sneaky. "Control myssself? B-but-..." Mamoru was obviously not interested in her protests, keep this up and he could abandon the lesson entirely. Swallowing her pride, Aka sighed in defeat and returned to her original sitting position in front of him.

Mamoru offered an interesting proposal. There was a way to hasten the process? Good, it was definitely better than this cursed water. Not thinking far, she nodded immediately, scoffing off the regretful feeling that came ticks later "Sssure! I'm ready!" She could only hope Mamoru didn't decide to make her do embarrassing things.

[Kalesserimamoru]

"The firsst thing you have to undersstand iss thisss...for me to help you. You have to trusst me. You must let your guard down and follow my lead, only then will any of thisss work."


Mamoru lifted his hands, turning his palm out and resting them on his bent knees where he waited for Aka to place her palms atop his. The Dhani licked his dry lips and continued to stare into her eyes. The trickster was a trickster, but even in tricks and illusions there were some forms of truth..something real and tangible. He waited another moment before he started. Calling upon the djed inside him and willing it forth to focus into his hands, eyes and mouth.


"Now..relax your mind and body, and allow my voice to comfort you and bring you to a peaceful calm. Be in my eyes..."


The trickster started to work his magic now, sending Aka emotional whispers that would allow her to trust him more and to relax in his presences. He would wait for her to respond, to find the place between them where she could meet him half way. The Dhani willed his djed more, sending her another emotional serge, something she might feel if she were in a place with someone that she actually liked.


"Are you ready....? Clossse your eyesss and ressst."

[Soshakuakamamushi]

In normal circumstances, letting her guard down in front of this trickster of a master would be an utterly foolish thing to do. No matter what role Mamoru actually was, he was the most sneakiest constrictor Aka had ever met. Not even the Dhani at the Fence could twist-talk like he did. Putting down one's guard when facing Mamoru was like hanging a big "Humiliate me!" sign above one's head. However, this was not a normal circumstance.

"....U...un..." Nodding slowly, Aka reluctantly accepted his invitation by placing her small palms on top of his big hands. Did she feel her cheeks burning? She was cold-blooded for the gods' sake. At this distance and mood, Aka could see on how handsome the Constrictor look, beneath his smug mug and twisted words, he was actually not bad. If only he could act less... "sneaky".

There was it again, that voice... that alluring voice. Deep inside her mind, Aka's pride resisted it, she was a female, she would not be led by a Dhani male, but... his voice. Aka couldn't keep her gaze off him, it was like her neck and head were locked into place. She didn't nod, but it was clear in her relaxed expression that the Viper was all in Mamoru's whim.

"Are you ready....? Clossse your eyesss and ressst."

It didn't take long, the whispers cut through her mind like a halberd through the puny flesh of a Myrian. Aka's eyelids fluttered before finally closing, hiding her scarlet slits. Her body slowly went limp, she would fall to Mamoru if he didn't hold her. She was not asleep though, but in a state between consciousness and slumber, a hypnotic trance.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru reached out, gently taking the Viper's shoulders and holding her up so that she wouldn't end up face down in the puddle on the floor of his cave. He watched her drift under, going into a state between sleep and awake. Now he could really work his magic, playing on the two levels that he could access now that she was under. First there was plain that she would see, the one that his voice would lead her too. And the next was the true subconscious, the place she couldn't see but the feelings and memories would still be there.


The trickster smiled, his voice still light and friendly as he continued to manipulate his hypnotic powers. "You will find yourself inside a room. There is nothing else there but you Aka. Nothing else besides you and the tall reflective glasss acrosss from where you are."


"Do you see it?" he waited for an answer.


"Then go to it and sit down in front of it. Look into the glasss Aka. Ssee yourself in it'ss reflective image. You musst learn to ssee with your un-lidded eye young viper. You musst ssee beyond your image an into your own djed. Sseparate yoursself, mind and body apart, one plain to the next."


"Concentrate.."


Now he was ready to manipulate his personal plan. Mamoru gently laid the girl onto the floor and released her hands. He pushed his hypnotic powers further now, concentrating on the use of djed to keep her within his grip. "Aka....You will hear me, but you will not respond. You won't remember thesse wordsss...only in your mosst latent ssubconssciousss. From this point on whenever you hear the word thorn you will feel the need to attack and destroy anything or anyone that might appear violent towards me."

"You will...kill them Aka." The trickster offered her more stirring emotions, feelings that she did want to harm and kill anyone that even thought to cross him. Anyone and everyone.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

Aka's body relaxed completely, to the naked eye, she looked like she was sleeping peacefully. She seemed unresponsive to Mamoru's words, but it could be further from the truth for deep in her consciousness, his words drove themselves deep.

In the Mind...

"Uuh..." Aka 'woke up', finding herself to be in a room filled with nothing, no windows, ventilations, not even a door or a some kind of entrance. The Viper was not claustrophobic so she didn't panic, she felt oddly relaxed instead, like she just knew this room was completely safe. The room was also bright with smooth dark brown floors, walls, and ceilings.

Suddenly, a small flash of light and a strange object spawned across her. It was a large piece of glass, reflecting like a mirror. Aka could see herself in it, then she heard a question. It was Mamoru's voice, but she didn't find it odd or question it back, she merely obeyed. "Yesss..." At her answer, her physical body also whispered the same.

Hearing another command, the Viper moved from her position to the mirror and sat down in front of it. She did what she told, staring intently at her own reflection, Aka felt her vision blurring... blurring until all manners of colors and lights filled it. "Ah..." Letting out a soft sigh, Aka let herself be battered with the lights.

Another voice, but it was different this time. This particular voice held took hold of her mind like a vice, the light show stopped and Aka found herself grabbing her head, fear struck her. She tried to close her ears, but the voice did not vanish, it was like it's coming from her own mind. Her eyes shot open, before slowly being glazed, her mouth went slightly ajar.

"......" She sat there in front of the mirror, the voices etching themselves deep into her subconsciousness. Being told not to respond, the Viper's physical body didn't move an inch, but she did feel an overwhelming urge to kill... kill all who opposed the owner of the voice.

Her eyes narrowed to very thin slits, she stared to her own reflection with an expression full of hate, she hissed and launched herself to the mirror. As she launched, her res flowed from her right hand and formed a fireball, then she slammed it into the mirror before exploding it. The mirror broke into million pieces. "Ha... ha..." Inhaling and exhaling, Aka dropped once more to the ground in a kneeling position, all alone in the empty room.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru couldn't see into Aka's mind, he could only lead her and offer her visuals to aid her along. He had no idea that she had attacked and shattered the mirror image in her mind or that she used reicmany in her thoughts either. What he did see was the subtle change in her facial expressions when he told her to kill. He wouldn't have any way of knowing if his target stuck or not until he tested it. For now, he would have to assume that twisted smirk on her face was a good sign.


"Thiss mirror isss only a ssteping sstone, nothing more. It iss there to aid you asss you learn to better usse thiss power. Once you awaken, and attempt thisss ssame technique in front of your own mirror, you won't find it asss taxing. "


The trickster sent her a quick imagine, a flash of the viper sitting in front of a mirror in her own cave. He added an emotional nudge to it, giving her a peaceful calm and relax state. Something that one would need when attempting to meditate to unlock the magic. Mamoru was a snake for sure, but he always held up his end of the bargain. Of course placing Aka into a hypnotic trance wouldn't awaken her hypnotic powers, but the suggestions that he planted in her mind would allow her to undertake the meditation process with out the normal fluster and boredom that one would get when first starting out.


"Your focusss will control your sstrength which controlsss your ssubject. Remember that."


Now it was time for the trickster to have a bit more fun with the girl before he released his hold on her. He held her in his grasp, a flower held under a glass dome, cut of from the world but still able to feel and sense it's touch. The Dhani sat still, very still and his focus remained on the viper as he spoke.


"Now then Aka....tell me. What are you mosst afraid of?"

[Soshakuakamamushi]

In The Mind...

"Yess... Massster..." The Viper whispered, both in her mind and through her physical body. The image of herself facing the very same mirror, the mirror she just shattered into pieces, flashed right before her eyes. "...." For a moment, a tinge of hesitation clouded her eyes, could she really do that? Sitting in front of a mirror for bells, emptying her mind. Aka was, by far, an impulsive and fiery girl, both figuratively and literally. She wasn't fond of staying in one place for more than a few chimes. The art of meditation was completely alien to her that even in a trance, she could doubt herself.

Still, the commands of Mamoru were stronger than her own feelings at the moment, she could only nod and obey. Rubbing the walls of the empty room, the feeling of boredom began creeping in, she wanted to get out of here. That boredom gradually grew into fear, what if she would be stuck here? For all eternity? Being a long-lived Dhani would not be a good thing for this particular case.

"Ha... no..." She started to panic, she wanted to blast the walls open, for her to get back home to... where? She didn't have a home anymore. Her nest was slaughtered, Galbern was dead, and Zinrah? That nest of giants couldn't hardly be called a home. She felt imprisoned, by Myrians, Mamoru, and Constrictors in general.

Mamoru's next question didn't help, he was asking her greatest fears. "H-hi..." Aka held her head again, covering her ears, but as expected, it resulted in futility. She couldn't resist it... at the deep voice, flashes of ghastly memories resurfaced. Three things in particular, the sight of her ruined nest filled with mutilated Dhani corpses, the sight of Galbern burned alive, and finally, her almost drowning in the Priskil's pond.

"I... I..." She struggled to speak, no, she mustn't do it! She mustn't... she... must. "I'm... afraid... I have no nest, I killed my own mentor, a-and... I... hate water... T-they are trying to drown me!" She shouted, her form falling face-first to the ground. She shuddered, the memories were so vivid she felt experiencing each of them all over again.

Reality...

Aka's body shook like she was in a terrible nightmare, mouthing of the words she spoke inside her consciousness. Sweat began tricking at her forehead, for a cold-blood like her sweating meant she was absolutely and utterly afraid, nervous, or angry. In this case? Obviously it was fear.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru listened carefully to her words and the story that she was telling while under hypnosis. He was almost sure that he had heard some of this before, only with less information given. He still found it hard to believe that a Dhani was afraid of water, but he had also seen stranger things. It was interesting and confusing to look into the mind of the viper, but he knew he shouldn't have expect anything but. However, as much fun as he was having, the trickster needed to in it now.


He was already using a lot of djed to keep up the hypnotic trance and with a mind like Aka's it wasn't easy. He was also sensing a soreness around his eyes, and his mouth started to grow dry. Mamoru breathed out, releasing his hold on her. Slowly she would be drawn out of the trance and back to a waking state, or possibly even just asleep. He sighed after it was over and reached up to rubbing at his now irritated eyes.


"Aka? Are you there?"


Standing up, the Dhani stretched his arms and legs to awaken the sleeping muscles after he had sat down for so long. Popping his neck, Mamoru looked down at the viper and waited for her to respond. He was curious to see if his target had stuck and also to if she remembered anything else.

"How do you feel? Are you..awake?"

[Soshakuakamamushi]

"U... uhuk..." Tears started flowing from her scarlet slits, the Viper couldn't take it anymore. It was at times like this her true personality showed itself, all of her arrogance, haughtiness, and lack of empathy were all just a mask to cover her insecurities.

She considered herself as a failure of a female Dhani, she got no nest, she got no family, she killed her own master, and she was under the whims of a male Dhani. Not to mention that she was considered small and undeveloped even for a Viper, cases where her words and opinions were scoffed as mere babbles of a child were not rare. She so wanted to scream at those humans that she was old enough to be their great-grandmother.

"A...ah..." The walls, floors, and ceilings of the room started to distort like waves on the cursed humongous body of water known as the ocean. She felt afraid, she got nowhere to run. She deserved this, Aka knew she had always been running from her problems all this time and now, karma decided to bite her. Hoping it all would be over soon. Aka hugged her knees and buried her face, closing her eyes.

.........

.....

...

"U... uuh..." Her eyes fluttered open, she felt dizzy and weak, her lips dry and throat parched. She heard distorted words, she couldn't make out the meaning but it sounded like Mamoru's voice. "K... *COUGH!*" She gagged and held her mouth, then her body shot itself to a sitting position, convulsing and trembling. Aka coughed and gasped for breath for a chimes before groaning in pain and shook her head.

"M-massster?" She turned her head to face the Constrictor. Exhaustion apparent on her face, not physically, but mentally. He was asking about her well-being, that was odd, the trickster actually cared for her? Or was it just another of his tricks? Aka didn't know, but she appreciated it. Gathering herself together, Aka tried to remember everything about the otherwordly experience.

"U...uhm, well, I remembered about being in a room..." Then she recalled the mirror "facing a mirror... then I heard you telling me to look beyond to my djed, ssseparating my mind and body... then I... I..." She hesitated, she couldn't remember the next part, like it was just a fleeting dream. It was like a hole in her memory, but maybe it was just her imagination. She ignored it and continued on.

"T-then you told me to practice the technique... though I..." She couldn't remember why, but when that part of memory surfaced, the mirror was already in pieces. She shook her head "I... I underssstand, I will practice it later. I can sssee what you meant." She was not really sure but it would be best not to demand too much.

"And then..." She really, really didn't want to tell him about this. "D-did you jussst ask me what I'm mossst afraid of?" A tinge of offense coated her voice, what was the point of him asking that? Just to toy with her? That must be the answer, but it was expected of the trickster. "P-pleassse don't do it again... I don't like it..." She mumbled.

"Now then, I ssshould try to make my firssst attempt then?" Aka would see if Mamoru would give further instructions before actually trying to flow her djed. She intended to leave his cave tonight with at least one successful attempt of hypnotism.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru watched the girl for a moment as she started to awake. It was something of interest to note, seeming as if she had just pulled herself free of water. Had she been drowning? Turning away from her, the trickster found a chair and sat down. Again he reached for his eyes and rubbed them before blinking, a hand reached to the small table close by and pulled from it a tanned mug filled with water.


"Jusst take a deep breath and tell me what you remember, hmm?"


He drank from the mug a few times, then set it back down on the table. Mamoru leaned forward in his seat, eyes focusing on the viper once again as she told him what she remembered. Everything sounded right, her memories were only of what he had said to her in the less deeper subconscious and the rest were locked away in her mind. So far everything had worked out as planned and the viper was clueless.


"That'ss very good Aka, you will find once you try thisss on your own, that it won't sseem asss taxing and your focusss will be sstronger. Maybe you will learn to ussse thiss, maybe you won't...but I have done my part."


Mamoru's expression didn't change from the somewhat blank stare when she asked him about the question that he had asked her while she was under hypnosis. He stared at her directly, his eyes motionless but there was a slight curve tugging upward at the corner of his lips. "I will assk you what ever I want. Don't forget little one, you are in my home, and you came here assking for my help. Don't ever instruct me on what I can and can't do...." He watched her now, seeing if she had more to say before he would continue.


The trickster cackled loudly now, finding her question to be more than humorous. The viper hadn't spent any time on her own meditating, no practice with a real mirror, but she was ready to try her hand at hypnotizing someone. A wicked smirk rose upon his lips then, and the Dhani stood up and moved towards the exit. "Fair enough, sshall we go out and find you ssomeone ssuitble to try it on? Ssome one, oh how can I put thisss? Ssomeone sstupid?"


He turned away and left, knowing that Aka would be right behind him, eager to test out her new powers. The trickster walked for a while, until he had made his way out of the tunnel that lead to his cave and where she could choose her own direction to walk. He would follow her to whatever fool she wanted to try and hypnotize and watch the magic happen.