Real Hocus Pocus (Anja Aj'Rou)

[Nimue Stormson]

As instructed the Empress tried learning not with her eyes but with her other senses. As she looked she reached out with force, closing her eyes to try and see what Anja was going to do to the servant. She could feel as the witch reached out with the force before what seemed like strings of life-force reached out and entered her mind. From what Nimue could sense it was all part of the deeper magic within that made Anja able to pry out the girl’s deepest fears.​

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Nimue opened her eyes and watched as the girl fell down and collapsed, weeping on the ground. She took another step back before Naja finished with her, the Empress feeling sorry for the poor dear for having to endure this. She’d find a way to make it up to her soon.​

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Then came the hard part where the Empress was told to do the same. As easy as it was the hard part was having to do it to the girl. But she couldn’t risk her screaming get in the way of what she was trying to do. She’d need to help the girl later, try to tell her it was all a bad dream or something. Even though, as the Empress extended her hand and reached out, she felt as though she was putting her through a nightmare.​

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Using the same technique the Empress reached out with the force of magical energy into the girl’s mind and pulled out the fears again. She writhed and wept on the ground, the Empress keeping her eyes closed the whole time as to try and not look. She only did it for a few seconds before breaking away.​

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When she opened her eyes she looked back to Anja, a little cold look in her eyes, before nodding that she’d done it. The girl was done being a puppet for now.​

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[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]​

 

[Boethiah]

"Do you understand, now?", she inquired.

What she was asking about remained a mystery but nonetheless Anja suspected she knew exactly what. Before awaiting a response she looked to the unconscious girl. "It's not harmless, but she'll live. Likely not remember much of it, but it is possible to kill someone this way. Against a force-user it would be a slow, painful death, making a fine tool for interrogation.", she asserted.

The Host Lord's sight wandered back to the Empress.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

When it was done Empress Nimue still felt sick over it. True she'd more mastered an effective ability, but at what cost? Now this girl would need every bit of attention to recover and in the meantime she'd allowed for [member="Anja Aj'Rou"] to set up a base where she could experiment on her people. Power, it seemed, came a a great cost indeed. However the more she thought on it the more the Empress began to see a way that both she and the witch could be benefited without breaking the contract between them. ​

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At mention of using the trick for death the Empress turned and said "No. Not on her. Not on one of my people. I think I understand it enough now, but I won't do that to her." After that she looked back down to the girl, feeling sorry, before back to Anja and saying "Now then, about this deal we have. You say you want to use some of my people, right? I assume it has something to do with thier minds or the like, these experiments you plan to run. What if I offered an alternative to human minds for something else?"​

 

[Boethiah]

Anja glanced to her and then thought about it. "I never said I was interested in their minds, but perhaps -- if this alternative were valuable. I merely wished to show you what magic was capable of, not what I intended to do.", she said to the Empress on the subject.

Anja looked to the girl again before back to the Empress, "Let's hope she doesn't remember.", she quipped.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Realizing how assuming she was the Empress cleared her throat and said “Forgive me. But I do have an alternative means for…whatever it is you’ll need. There are creatures that ae a pestilence on my planet. Dwergi. Man-beasts that dwell in the dark and in caves. I think, if you had to demonstrate on anything, use them. There are a few in the dungeons we use for sport, and there are always hunting parties eager to find more if need be.”​

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After her comment she looked down at the servant girl, passed out, and that guilty feeling came over her again. Such an innocent thing only following orders of her Empress. She reached down, keeling, and rubbed the girl’s head before looking back to Anja.​

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“She’ll not. I’ll make sure of it. This will all be a bad dream by the time she awakens.”​

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[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]​

 

[Boethiah]

Anja nodded to her final statement still thinking on the question.

"We'll see. For now I believe your lessons have been satisfactory. Call on me again if you wish to learn but more importantly, don't forget to practice.", she said before glancing over to the door and then back to the Empress. Her stare was no less piercing as it has always been.

"Unless I'm needed further?", she asked for her leave.

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

Shaking her head the Empress said “No. We’re done here. For now. Thank you…”​

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She waited until the witch was gone before tapping her scepter back on the ground. The guards arrived before Nimue had told them to help the servant girl. She made the excuse that she’d passed out before her guest could ask her a favor, chalking it up to exhaustion.​

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As they took her away the Empress looked back to where Anja had left, a cold look in her eyes. She didn’t know if she fully trusted this woman or not, but she did feel that she was needed. Her skills in magic were obviously great, and if they proved powerful enough to teach to Nimue than they would be exceptional tools. For now she would have to agree to her wishes and hope that when this was over it had all been worth it.​

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[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]​