Illusions and Manipulations

[Loukas Makris]

The last couple weeks had been some of the busiest that Loukas had ever experienced. The holidays were always a hectic time but there was also his budding romance with Sage on top of everything else he’d spent every bit of free time he had honing the skills Shadow had been teaching him. His older sibling had seemed impressed with his skill and Loukas didn’t want to let him down. Every night he could he would sneak off to practice, to try and complete the homework Shadow had left him with; using the mist to produce a teddy bear that could be indistinguishable from the real thing. Loukas, somewhat foolishly thought it wouldn’t be much harder than the flowers but the first few attempts proved how wrong he was. Those early “teddy bears” would probably cause a child to burst into tears if they ever saw them. Some nights he gave up entirely and spent the time making flowers to gain better mastery of the basics. As the nights passed on though small breakthroughs were made and the attempts were better and better each time he practiced.

Shadow must have sensed his improvement because one morning he told Loukas to meet him that night and to be ready. Making his way to their previous training spot he spotted Shadow already there. “Hey! I’m ready for our next session! I’ve been practicing every night just like you told me to.” he said maybe a little too enthusiastically, but he was excited to show off the results of his hard work. Producing a teddy bear he had made before entering the clearing. “It wasn’t easy but the work was rewarding. What do you think?”

[gm rights to Shadow to judge the bear]

@ ★J.C.

[Shadow Moore]

Shadow had watched Loukas over the next couple weeks, while dealing with his own stuff. Having that run in with that girl sage, really stirred things up for Shadow which made him even more nervous and really needing Loukas to get better. Shadow had mention to Loukas to meet him tonight, hoping that it had been a long enough time for him to prefect the Teddy Bear. As the sunset Shadow headed toward the beach, it was a little chilly out so he actually started a real fire this time. He sat down staring into the fire, lost in thought as he awaited Loukas.

Shadow was jerked from his thoughts when his younger brother, came up and very excitedly exclaimed his progress and ready to show off his teddy bear. "Hey there! I had a feeling you might think it was something easy, and take it for granted at first" he said with a smile as he got up and walked over to Loukas, grabbing the teddy bear from his hands. Looking it over, he smirked "Wow! this is a great job! Could use maybe just a little more work on the texture of the fur. But other then that it pass for a cute cuddly bear, a little kid would love." Shadow watched closely at Loukas expression, he couldn't be to sure if he knew what he did to Sage or not, he honestly didn't pay enough attention the first time they met to know if Loukas even knows Sage. For now Loukas doesn't seem to have any type of off put behavior toward him, so that's a good sign. Shadow signed lightly in relief. 

"Now we get to start on the fun part, that might be a little tricky at first. But just like the illusions, we will start small" Shadow comments, and then takes a breath in, letting it out slowly, he smiled at Loukas as he put the thought of a apple into Loukas head. "What are you thinking about right now?" Shadow asked with a small chuckle. "This is what we will be working on, it's a lot harder to manipulate a person mind, but once you get the hang of it, it can been super easy to do things by accident." 

[Loukas Makris]

Loukas had held his breath in as he presented his teddy bear to Shadow. He knew it wasn’t perfect, but it was the final product of tons of hard work and progress. Just as Shadow had guessed, he had taken it for granted at first, but in the end it proved to be a challenge that taught him a lot. As Shadow shared his feedback Loukas took it as overall positive and he finally breathed a sigh of relief grinning ear to ear at his mentor’s praise. Shadow seemed concerned about something, and at first Loukas was worried it had to do with his skills, but the look passed and Shadow seemed satisfied. “Fur texture, got it. I’ll make sure to focus on that in my next attempts” he nodded enthusiastically.

“Fun stuff? Let’s do it! What did you have in mi…” and without knowing it was coming the image of the apple entered his mind taking him aback. The intrusive thought freaked him out at first but once Shadow asked him what he was thinking he quickly pieced it together. “Whaaaaaa, how did you do that??? And…it was an apple. Can you teach me that? I’d love to learn it!” His mind was already racing at the possibilities such abilities could offer him.

“Oh I almost forgot, guess what? Thanks to your lessons I was able to impress my date with flowers I made from the mist! She was quite dazzled. I know you’ve been away from camp awhile but maybe you’ve met her? Her name is Sage. Sooooo I guess in a way, I have you to thank for how well the date went.”

[Shadow Moore]

"Good, I want a Teddy Bear by our next session, this time with the right texture of fur" he said with a smirk, and chuckle. As shadow let the teddy bear disappear, as Loukas' thoughts become about apples, he laughs. The reaction Loukas gave when he realized what had just happened, amused Shadow. "This type of manipulation can be dangerous, so first and foremost you need to understand this. When you get to a point that you are able to do this comfortablely, without effort like I just did, it can become very easy for you to accidently put thoughts into others heads without you purposely trying to do so" Shadow warns with a stern voice. 

Just as Shadow was about to explain what all they would be working on, Loukas told him about his date, and who it was with. Shadow started at Loukas, trying to keep a calm look but his mind started to race, what if that brat told him, if she did though maybe he wouldn't be here right now, or maybe he still came to help her out! His mind was racing with thoughts as he tried to form the right words, and not flip out and panic over something that may not be anything. "Umm, Uh, Sage.. Ya I think I've seen her around camp, don't know her that well though. That's awesome that you made her some flowers, what did she think of them??" he questioned trying to stay calm, and reclaim his own thoughts.

[Loukas Makris]

“I’ll do you one better and make it two bears.” Loukas promised. He had never been an overachiever before in anything, school, sports, relationships, but magic was quickly becoming a passionate pursuit of his. There was something about having a positive older male influence in his life that his subconscious knew he needed and he had found that in Shadow. Hanging on every word his older brother said as he explained the responsibilities of learning this power. “That does sound tricky. Will I learn how I can make sure that doesn’t happen?” Loukas could easily imagine a situation where he mistakenly plants an embarrassing thought in Sage’s head as he’d begun having some serious feelings and desires for her.

Snapping back to the current moment though as Shadow asks him what Sage thought of his attempts to impress her. “Oh it worked like a charm! I made sure to pick out her favorite type of flower, sunflowers that is, and worked really hard getting them just right so that when I did it on the date it came out perfect. She loved it…although, when I told her how we’d been practicing with flowers she made a very weird face. Not really sure what that was about…anyways! What’s the first lesson?” There would be plenty of time for Sage later, right now he was determined to get down to business. 

[Shadow Moore]

"Two bears huh?" Shadow says with a laugh, as he pats his brother on the shoulder. "Don't get to over excited, to much cockiness is how you start to mess up" he says with a smirk. Loukas was very promising, and honestly Shadow didn't really for see Loukas as a cock person, but he had to poke a fun a bit at his little brother. Loukas then asked a really good question about learning to control the mind manipulation power. Shadow walked over to where some of the logs where and sat down, "come sit with me" he says as these lessons were actually more exhausting to their powers, so they really didn't need to be standing. Shadow could remember times when he pushed himself to hard learning this specific power and it would make him dizzy and even sick. 

As Loukas joined Shadow he mentioned how the flowers went, and how Sage made a face, which Shadow rolled his eyes at without loukas noticing, once he joined him on the log Shadow smiled "Well maybe she mad a face because it seemed weird to her that I had you learn how to make flowers" he says with a laugh. Taking a deep breathe Shadow then began to explain more about the power. "So first off what you need to understand is out of all the stuff we can do, this one is the hardest. It can be draining, because this takes a lot of concentration to have it done correctly. When you do this, you are 'physically' messing with someone's mind, you can implant thoughts, you can even make them think they have done something that they never even did, and they will one hundred percent believe that they did whatever that thing was. What makes this dangerous is it's actually not that hard to get the hang of, it's harder to control. Any strong feelings you have toward something or someone, and your guard is down, you could accidently change or even implant thoughts into the person your around or the one your talking with. This power goes along with your emotions, if your upset, or angry then your guard is down. I know this is a lot to take it but are you following me so far?" he ends his statement with a question, knowing he had just laid out a bunch of stuff, and really didn't know if he made the best since of it, he wasn't the best at explaining things to people. Trying to explain a complicated power is even harder for Shadow. "Oh!" Shadow exclaims "The more you use the power in one day, it will cause you less control of it as well, because it wears you out, so remember that."

[Loukas Makris]

Loukas had been accused of being many things since arriving at camp but cocky was never one of them, so he laughed along with his brother at the teasing jab. Shadow had a good point though, even just beginning with the basics like he had been he could see how easily one could get swept up in the power; just like his father had. Unlike his father though he had Shadow, a brother he trusted to guide him through this weird new world. He could tell when Shadow asked him to sit that tonight’s lesson would be of a more serious nature, one with rules and warnings that would need to be adhered to.

As he explained the need to proceed with caution Loukas was intent to pay attention closely. Mist illusions had been very tiring at first, especially once he started to create more complex items like the bear, but over time and practice it hadn’t gotten better. Now with what Shadow was explaining, these next skills would be even more taxiing. Maybe it’d be worth it to start training physically more? He wondered this to himself, he knew his friend MK practiced interval running to help boost her energy levels. Perhaps there was a similar exercise for magic users? Shadow's warnings of the dangers of mind manipulation pulled Loukas back into the current conversation. “I think I understand, it all hinges on the user being able to keep it together, emotions and concentration. Being responsible to use this power only when you’re ready and not allowing the opportunities it provides to corrupt you. Did I miss anything?” Loukas had had plenty of examples in his father and his acolytes to see where unchecked power could end. He was determined not to make the same mistakes. “So how do I get started?”

[Shadow Moore]

Shadow smiled as Loukas was able to make since of all that, even he felt like he wouldn't be able to make since of his own words. He wasn't the best as explaining as he was just showing. So when Loukas asked how to get started, Shadow happily answered by sending another thought into Loukas head. He gave him the thought that he just fell off the log. Just to be funny. Shadow laughed, "did you fall off the log?" he questions him, seeing if he really believes the thought or if he could figure out that, that thought wasn't his. "So it's pretty simple, all you do is figure out what you want to implement into said person head, concentrate on the specific thought, then you just send it over to the person, imagine it like a letter your sending" he laughs again by his metaphor, this was a hard subject to teach, but easy to grasp once you know the basics. 

"So lets say, you want Sage to follow you somewhere, but just to be fun you implement into her mind. Your not going to do telepath and tell her follow me. What you would do is think about the word follow, then clear you mind, and send a statement that would sound like a thought she made herself, like I should follow him. That's it, the hardest part is getting the hang of making it sound like it's their own thoughts and not you just putting something there." Shadow grin ear to ear as he thought about what he had been doing to Lilythe, hoping that its working.

[Loukas Makris]

Loukas had planned to focus in on Shadow’s next words so that he could continue to learn how this magic worked, but what he didn’t plan on was suddenly slipping off his seat entirely! Instinctively he shoved his arms back to try and catch himself, worried at how he could have been so clumsy plus just genuinely embarrassed overall to have slipped in front of his mentor. Only…he never seemed to hit the ground, not like he expected given his slip…wait…was he still on the log or on the floor? His hands gripped either side of his log as if to reassure and ground him back to reality. “I…I did…but I didn’t? Wow this magic is really believable.” He paused, accessing everything he had just learned and experienced.

“A letter? Yea I guess I can see how it would work that way. I journal a lot, maybe I can try and tap into that same kind of mental space?” As he listened to Shadow describe the process, using Sage as an example, he began to imagine what that would be like. Being in a relationship with someone who you could control and implant ideas into. Sure, everything in the relationship would always go your way, but the removal of free will would mean the relationship was never really real in the first place; Loukas grew uneasy. “So while learning this, how do you make sure you also don’t abuse it? Like, take it too far? I can imagine you can use this power to protect people you care about, but it also sounds like a slippery slope too.” Loukas was interested in how Shadow would respond.

[Shadow Moore]

Shadow laughed and smirked at Loukas' reaction. "Exactly! That is what you want, if your really going to manipulate someones mind" he comments, glad that he got his point across. Shadow thought for a moment "That is possible, but a journal your not usually sharing that information, its kept to yourself. And with this power if your wanting to use it, you wouldn't keep the message your trying to send to yourself" he says with a slightly confused looked, as he thought about it some more, trying to make sense of how Loukas is comparing the two things. Leaning back on his hands, he smiles at loukas "Focus on an apple, and try to send the thought into my head, as if I actually came up with the thought myself" he instructs him.

Just as Shadow was starting to relax from finding out that his little brother was going out with Sage, Loukas asked a question that made his eyes go wide. His mind went straight to what he was doing to Lilythe. Looking at Loukas, he tried to read his expression, is he truly just concerned or does he know something thanks to that menace, his thoughts started to mix as he tried to figure out what he should say. Shadow really wasn't the person to be giving that kind of advice, but he would play it the best he can, and hope that his brother wasn't up to anything. After a moment, Shadow sat back up and smiled "It takes a lot of willpower, you need to understand when its an appropriate time to use, and when it's not" he say with a serious tone. Boy was Shadow a hypocrite, he didn't care thought, as long as Loukas didn't start getting suspicious of stuff before Shadow could use him, in his plan.

[Loukas Makris]

Loukas heeded Shadow’s feedback. This mind manipulation was serious business and he wanted to make sure he got it right, he could only imagine the trouble that could come from botching this spell. The repercussions to both the caster and target sounded like they could be deadly. He wasn’t quite sure he understood Shadow, but he’d figure it out soon enough as it was his turn to try and attempt the spell.

Still learning how to tap into the magic Loukas considered combing how he tapped into the mist with some minor adjustments based on everything Shadow had tried to explain to him tonight. Taking a deep breath he then slowly let it out, releasing any negative emotions (frustrations, nerves, confusions) along with it; anything that could cause him to let his guard down. Picturing an apple in his mind, the texture, smell, any and every detail he could think of, just like he had to when he made flowers. Then, he attempted to anchor his emotions, thinking of his affection towards his older brother. His mentor and the reason he could feel brave enough to try and learn magic in the first place. Without Shadow, none of this would have been possible! With the happy emotions keeping him grounded, and the idea of an apple firmly in his mind he sent the idea of an apple in Shadow's direction.

[Shadow Moore]

Shadow watched as the boy concentrated, doing his best to get a feel for the magic. He smiled as a picture of an apple appeared in his mind. Shadow let a slight laugh as he realized he might not have explained what he meant by making the thought, feel like it's the person own thought. "Great! You did really good at putting a picture of an apple into my thoughts, BUT what you did was just paint a picture of one for me to see. Still good, but what you need to work on is making it more like its a thought the person is having. So when you send the thought over from your mind, you need to make it transfer to my mind as if I just happen to think of an apple. Maybe try to focus more on making have the thought of wanting an apple." He tried to explain it the best he could, but this magic was definitely proving to be harder to explain, than he had realized it would be. 

"Try not to think of the apple, as if you would for the mist. I already know what an apple looks and tastes like, ok?" Shadow smiles and gestures toward Loukas, "Try again.". 

[Loukas Makris]

Loukas made a face, his nose and lips twisting slightly in mild annoyance as he contemplated what Shadow had said. This type of magic was certainly proving to be more difficult than he had anticipated but he made sure not to let it dampen his drive to master it. “Got it, so less ‘painting a picture’ and more ‘planting the thought’?” Though it did amuse Loukas a little that his first attempt had somewhat worked, just a little too literally to be successful. “Ok” he said, cracking his fingers as he stretched his arms out, cracking his neck a little to each side, “let’s try this again!” he said with renewed enthusiasm. He was determined to make this next attempt land. Loukas was starting to wonder if there was a reason Shadow had only been teaching him magic that was based around illusions and manipulations, but the only way to find out to what end would be if he proved capable of the spell craft.

Thanking back to everything Shadow had explained so far this night during their lesson together, Loukas tried again, tweaking his approach in the ways Shadow has suggested in his feedback.

[Shadow Moore]

Shadow laughed slightly and smiled big at the enthusiasm his little brother had. As Loukas cracked his fingers and neck, getting serious, it seemed liked. He waited patiently to see if he would be able to do it on his second attempt. As he sat back on his hands and watched Loukas he focused on his task as hand, Shadow started to get the urge to want an apple. At first Shadow just blew his own thought off, well as so he thought. The urge of wanting a juicy red apple persisted in his mind. "I'm getting hungry, an apple sounds pretty good right now" he said just as his eyes went wide and he stood up, with a grin on his face. 

"You did it!" he exclaimed, he was proud and in complete shock, his little brother had to be some type of prodigy. Shadow has never seen any of his other siblings that meddled in the magic he did, catch on this fast. "That was amazing, you about had me fooled! Of course, that would have fooled someone else easily!" he said looking down at Loukas. He felt a since of pride for him, which gave Shadow a hint of remorse for what he had planned for Loukas. 

Shadow walked toward the lake looking over the water, the sun was about to come up. "You have done more than enough for tonight! I'm proud of you! Keep up the amazing work, Loukas" he said with a smile on his face, as he admired the view.

[Loukas Makris]

Loukas could feel the strain of the night’s exertion catching up to him now, but he still gave this final attempt everything he could muster up. He’d either get it right or he’d be too exhausted and have to attempt it again another night. At first he didn’t really notice the looks on Shadow's face as he was too focussed on what he was trying to do. It wasn’t until Shadow spoke that Loukas realized what he had accomplished.

“Haha!” Loukas cried out loud in victory, leaping up along with Shadow and without warning he gave his older brother a big hug. “Oh sorry!” he cried as he let go and jumped back a step “Guess I got a little too excited. It’s just, well I don’t think anyone in my cabin has believed in me quite like you have. This is just fantastic!” he grinned. “I don’t think I’ll ever really be able to repay you for all the help you’ve provided, but if I ever can you just let me know. I owe you a ton!”

Loukas couldn’t wait to share this all with Sage, he just knew she’d be thrilled to learn what he had achieved, though he thought that maybe this time he’d leave out Shadow's name. That seemed to have a weird effect and he wasn’t sure why. He watched Shadow move towards the lake watching the sun rise up. “I sure will!” He promised, “I’ll practice every night and get better and better.” Though for now Loukas would make a beeline back towards his bunk where he’d probably sleep for the next several hours.