The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The first thing I see is red. Not Red, but that haunting red glow. Everything is shining with it. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, they all glow the same perfect shade of scarlet. We’re back in the inner sanctum , this time up on the dais where I melted into that pole. Of course, the pole isn’t there now. There’s just a swirling red vortex with similar bolts of energy flashing all around it. None of that really matters. I was expecting that. Her spell isn’t completed yet, which means that she doesn’t have access to all of her power and she hasn’t yet turned my world into another section of her territory.

Red’s back is turned, which is the one thing I can feel hopeful about. Arms and wings spread wide, she is a very formidable presence of pure lust even with my aura fighting against her. Gritting my teeth makes it easier. I won’t fall to a Nesatealia ever again.

From between her legs I can see Quillspawn kneeling from inside of Mourning Frost. Standing behind her are Silhouette, Valerie, Yana . . . and Olivia. If there had been a save point back before the portal I would reset and plan accordingly, but there’s not. This is something that we have to get right on the fly the first time, or it will never happen at all. I look to Sarah and Lida, hoping they’re thinking something close to what I am.

As tempting as it is to plow right into Red, it doesn’t feel smart. Lida said she would use her magic to keep Quillspawn wrapped up. Taking out Red will be impossible if she has a witch, a shadow witch or something, a mist witch, and a golden warrior all on her side. “Save them first, then worry about Red.”

“Got it.” Sarah whispers as quietly as I do. We don’t need to remind Lida what her job is in this. She was the one to suggest it. Lucky for us the magic is causing quite a bit of noise, so I don’t think Red hears us.

It doesn’t matter, she’ll know we’re here in a moment. The glow might have given us away, but maybe not. It must be an intense-whatever. There isn’t any time for thinking now. There’s time for one thing, and one thing only.

Action.

“You take the left. I’ll take the right. Now!” Without hesitation I make my sparks surround me as much as my inner light and fly around Red. Her head whips towards me and then to Sarah. Judging from her expression, she wasn’t aware we’d arrived. Good. We’ve done something right so far. If we can keep it up, then we just might pull through without getting humiliated and dooming the whole world.

Our friends thankfully don’t react. Olivia is the only heavy hitter, but I can take a hit or two before I go down even if Red is quick enough to order an attack. My hands grasp onto Yana’s temples and I shine as much of my light into her head as I can without sucking away my aura. She quivers and groans, her hips rolling as her eyes shine brighter and brighter . . . and then close. After I pull my hands away her eyes flutter, and I can see the cognizance inside of them. “Silver Girl . . . You’re back . . .!”

Now isn’t the time for a snappy quip or I would use one of the millions flooding through my mind. Instead I just nod and move to Aniela who is already turning to face me. Her hands thrust out, and before she can work any of her magic I lace my fingers with hers and flood my light into her body.

The reaction in her this time is much different. Her eyes roll back into her head as her entire body shakes, and the red glow that’s only just started to taint her slowly burns off of her and drips down along every curve before pooling at her feet. It somehow manages not to look like blood even being the perfect color of red, and instead looks like her energy condensed into liquid form much like how it looked when Yanuka’s flower melted away my silver.

Sarah gives me the thumbs up as Valerie blinks her eyes open and I grin. She managed to free her head without getting lost in a spark feedback loop. Good. Aniela pulls her shadow around her tightly as a golden fist slams into my cheek, knocking me onto the floor.

How my jaw isn’t broken, I don’t know. Olivia is glistening with red, every golden inch of her. I have to bring her back to her senses and quick, or she’ll wipe the floor with me. Not a very appealing idea.

She dives down towards me, but I roll to the side just in time before using a little bit of flight to cheat my way back onto my feet again. It might be the most useful part of having such powers. For a second I almost try reasoning with her, but true love doesn’t snap a woman out of mind control. Well, love for my daughter snapped me out of it, but only because of my light. Olivia isn’t likewise gifted. Reasoning with her will do me as much good as if she truly were a statue.

“Sorry ‘Livia honey, but I don’t have time to make this gentle.” She dives at me again, finding it just as easy to get up with her own powers of flight, and I again twist to the side and send as much searing light flowing towards her head as I can. It feels a lot different from directing a ray of silver, and takes a lot more out of me, but if it works it’ll be more than worth it.

Olivia falls to her knees with a weak mewl, clutching her head in her hands. I want to get closer and wrap my arms around her, but I can’t be sure if she’s all the way free of Red’s influence. The red glow is gone from her curvy metallic body, but I can’t be sure how deep it’s had time to worm.

I take a second to rub the bruise that’s already forming on my face and glance quickly to Sarah. I’m not sure how well I can hear her over the loud crackling of magic, but she sounds like she’s screaming something about the others getting the hell out of there. She has a good point – I should have thought of that. The red light is only going to draw them all back in if they stay, they won’t suddenly be immune just because we’re here.

Lida moves into view from behind Red, holding out the Eye as she chants something far too quietly for me to hear. Silver bonds form around Quillspawn’s wrists and ankles, holding her down to the floor before energy begins to crackle all over her body. From this angle I can see Yanuka, but she’s still chained up behind the portal. She won’t cause us any trouble.

Kneeling beside Olivia I slide a hand over her hair with just a little extra light. “Sweetie, are you all better now? You need to get out of here. Sarah and I are going to stop Red, once and for all. It’s not safe for you.”

“I’m not . . . not leaving! I’m not helpless! If you’re staying then I’m staying. I can’t let her turn our world into her personal harem any more than you can . . .!” A quick glance over at the others shows a similar level of cooperation. At least I know that her mind is back in shape. She looks up at me, hands pulling away from her temples, and I kiss her harder than I’ve ever kissed her before. “I love you too Sar . . . Lucia . . .” “Call me whatever you want Olivia . . . I love you more than anything else in the world.” I kiss her again, and try to savor this moment more than I’ve ever savored anything in my entire life. I want to remember this kiss, this moment where I was able to wrap my arms around her after so much getting in the way, forever. I never want to let go but I know that I have to.

Red lets out an unholy scream as the crackle of magic quiets and her aura dims. I must have been fighting off more than I thought, because the second her glow goes away I feel like I’ve finally gotten to drop a ten ton boulder. She looks so much different, still sexy, still perfect, but a lot less . . . divine.

Her curves no longer glisten as if she’s been airbrushed. Every small inch of skin doesn’t look as if it should be worshipped for all of eternity. Her eyes no longer have their perfectly endless depth. Her nipples no longer make my lips ache just at the sight. There are a million other details that I could point out aren’t making me helplessly salivate any longer, but those capture enough. She’s still one of the sexiest women I’ve ever seen, but I’m married. “How could you have escaped?! No one has ever escaped from that room! No magic has ever been able to pierce the enchantment, to even make the hinges shudder! How could you have . . . and then come here . . .” Her whole body shakes as she howls, a scream that sounds orgasmic simply because of who she is, but is a sound of pure frustration. “Fine . . . Fine. Clearly I should have burned your stupid minds out between your legs already a thousand times over. Alas, I was working on a tight schedule and tried to cut some corners . . . now I see that has only caused this. Lovely.” “You can’t fry our minds away like you have so many others!” I stand and hold out my hand, pointing two fingers at her forehead. “We are the light bearers, the chosen of the LaSilvas Legacy! I might not know much about what it means to be a LaSilvas, and I don’t even care, but I am not going to allow your evil to continue! It ends here, Nesatealia. It ends now. My mother has immobilized the last of your ‘daughters’ that posed a threat. Your light seems to have fallen away. Give it up.”

Red screams again, and it sends a shudder along my spine. Sarah might let out a gasp, I can’t tell. Everyone else moans. “So you’re the light bearers, and apparently you had an Eye of Athena with you . . . well what do you call my red light? What do you think that is? Why do you think it’s so insidious, so seductive . . . the very light of truth itself, stained eternally with the red heat of passion . . .”

Instantly the truth slams into my head from a million miles away, and damn was it moving fast. “You . . . You were a light bearer . . .?!” Sarah vocalizes what I’m thinking far better than I can manage.

It would explain the rivalry. It’s a sibling rivalry, not a blood feud caused by one family doing something to enrage the other. This is a matter of Red splitting away and the LaSilvases seeing it as a horrific failing. Somewhere along the ages the truth must have been buried and hidden so deeply away that only Red even knew. She kept her light even as it twisted and corrupted, giving birth to her wings, her tail, and her unearthly radiance. A daughter of Pallas just the same as I am, she could have even been the first to fulfill the Legacy . . .

“The LaSilvas family wanted a goddess! Their prophecies, old already when I was young, told of a girl whose body would turn to silver as she embraced the LaSilvas gift, and in time she would find an inner light. This light could heal any mind functional enough to be saved, could be channeled for such great power, and would lead the family to greatness. It said nothing for what this girl’s fate was to be. They wanted a goddess . . . and they wanted a slave.” Red’s eyes flash a deep, lush red. “And I refused.”

Lida’s expression makes me think that she believes as much as I do that the missing pages of that book tell the tale of how the LaSilvas line splintered into two. Pallas gave birth to the LaSilvas line, which then gave birth to the Nesatealia.

It ends here. No legacy is going to force me to be anything, a goddess, a savior, or a slave. I’m going to stop Red because I’m a heroine, and not because I’m the light bearer. Once this is all over, I won’t be letting this go to my head. I’ll go back to the day to day job of saving the world from the criminal element. I wish I could feel sorry for her, but something tells me there was never much good to see in Red.

“Well we don’t, and you aren’t a goddess!” I run towards her as quick as I can, trying to slam my boot into her face. An inch before it could connect, her hand moves more quickly than I can see and grabs my ankle tight. A sizzle not like electricity but more like fire courses up my leg and I can’t hold back the cry.

I can feel her energy burning into me, not her light, but the heat that her sparks became when they started to be fueled by the same passionate lust. I can only imagine where the oil came from in the family. This doesn’t feel like oil at all. Pure desire and pleasure slides up along my inner thigh and melts past my lips. My body shakes as my clit throbs with pure aching desire. I slam into the floor and try to kick at her hand, but she holds tighter than anything I’ve ever felt before. My leg spasms as my body twists in sensuous rapture. Sparks feel like this, but they make my body tense and shake instead of burn and melt. Instead of feeling like a silver current it feels like a red inferno searing along my nerves. The heat pulses with my heartbeat, filling between my legs and burning at every sensitive nerve to make me feel wetter than I’ve ever felt in my life, my body too slack from pleasure to react as my eyes roll up into my head.

Red flame latches around the base of my spine and I can feel it slowly sliding higher. It climbs higher as if on a spiral staircase, splintering out across my body like spider webs as it goes. “Light bearer . . .? You’re no light bearer . . . You can’t even resist crying out like a stuck pig . . .”

“Just because we like it . . . Doesn’t mean we can’t resist!” My eyes still won’t roll forward for me to see, but after Sarah speaks her cries soon mingle with mine. I need to fight it off, but it’s so . . . so strong!

Her flames lick my curves, and I can feel it nibbling and licking over my ass. So raw, I can feel its teeth nipping at the small of my back and its wet tongue melting into my navel. It climbs higher as I try to fight it off, my sparks only seeming to fuel her flames instead of pushing them back or even holding them at bay. Her flame swells through my breasts, filling them and at the same time sealing over and around. They lick and burn at my nipples more intensely than lips ever could, and the harder she makes them feel the softer the rest of me feels.

Red’s laughter echoes through my head and I shake it as quickly and hard as I can to make it go away. It’s no use. Her flame claws over my back like nails and nips its way up my neck. It won’t be denied. There’s no denying passion or desire, even if you don’t want to feel it, if it’s there, it’s there . . .

That doesn’t mean I need to surrender to it. My sparks don’t work, so I pull them away. My aura doesn’t seem to do a thing, so I make it dissolve back into my mind. The intensity of her flame weakens, but only slightly. This won’t be enough to get myself free, but it’s a start. My defenses won’t work if her offenses are the same as mine evolved through centuries or even millennia.

My eyes finally move forward as I feel her lifting me up from the floor, my body arching as much as it can away from hers which, sadly, isn’t very impressive. The heat pulsing between my thighs starts to slide up over my scalp, and tries to force itself between my eyes. Sarah lets out a loud squeal.

“You light bearers will soon be broken . . . and I will still have plenty of time before moonrise. My red light will shine as clearly as it would have without your petty interference!” My sparks might not be strong enough to actually fight her flame away, but they can still course around it and make my leg spasm enough to kick that pretty red arm of hers. “Gah! A pitiful attempt – that will not change your fate!”

Quite involuntarily from the sound of it, she drops me onto the hard floor and I roll away. She’s holding Sarah by her leg just like she was holding me, and it doesn’t take much effort to send a volley of sparks at her arm. Just as they near Red’s arm, her wing moves from behind her, both pulling Sarah closer and absorbing the blast. She doesn’t seem unaffected, however, and her knees quite noticeably shake. “I don’t have a fate yet, or a destiny, and neither do you. You can posture all you like, but you’re not immune to my silver any more than I’m immune to your red. One thing though—you’re outnumbered.”

Sarah screams from behind Red’s wing, and I frown. How am I supposed to get her out from there? My sparks make her react, but not nearly enough. “Let me help!” Valerie pushes past me and holds out her hands. Just like when Quillspawn was piloting my body, a gust a mist flows right at Red’s offending wing.

Instantly, her wing turns from taut to slack, falling away from Sarah. Red’s face tenses as she tries to resist, but I know just how good a taste of amethyst feels. There’s no fighting it off. It slithers inside of her body, and the wing falls away, soon followed by her arm. Sarah drops with a sharp cry and shakily tries pulling herself back. It’s a pitiful attempt, so Valerie and I dash forward to grab an arm and pull her away. It wasn’t that pitiful, considering how sure I am that being wrapped up in a red wing didn’t help.

“Nnnra . . . Fine . . . Your mist, and your sparks, are powerful . . . I admit. My magic fueled by them will likely have just as much luck . . . But Lucia? That doesn’t mean that I’m giving up either.” Red’s hand that only moments ago was wrapped around my ankle extends towards me. Pure force pulls me off of my feet and tugs me hard. I try to silver up and fly away, but it holds me nearly flush with her body, only a small space of air between us. “I have plenty of tricks left.”

“Yeah well so do—! Mmmm!” Taking me completely by surprise, her tail must have moved between her legs, because it thrusts right through my panties and right into my pussy. The very tip of the triangle presses into my clit and I can feel it everywhere from my scalp to the tips of my toes.

Lust need FUCK pleasure bliss It’s so strong but I surrender relent BURST kneel need to power through it long enough to think of a way to feel fall inhale arch shudder cum or I’ll just turn into a puddle of bliss! There has to be nipples slits wires in your brain sex dripping down your thighs something in my dripping wet pussy so hungry, need to shove your mind in like fingers so it can melt away forever belt! There has to be a drug, a toy you can use to draw your focus to your aching craving slit, needs attention more than anything else ever has a gadget, something!

Her words are sliding into me, they still feel separate, but it’s still hard to think for yourself when all you want to do is cum away your worries focus. I have my palm light, blue dreams, and some desires that are so overwhelming, making your nipples harder than they’ve ever been, need to pinch and twist and pull your thoughts away Icarus Powder, but that is just as likely to fry me away as her.

Held like this, only one choice, surrender, lust, giving in and kneeling down between her legs to be reborn suckling from the fount of lust itself option feels right. Without thinking I let my eyes melt closed and surrender all of my freewill always and forever so that my goddess might rule over all of the world and usher in a new age of mindless obedience reach my hands forward and lace my fingers in Red’s hair.

In shock, her eyes open wide and lock on mine as I force them to focus. “What are you doing . . .?” She actually sounds unsure, and it makes me want to give in all the more, knowing there’s no chance I could ever hope to resist gives me my opening. Before she can pull another trick, I smash my lips into hers.

Whether she thinks this means she’s made me give into lust or not, I don’t know. All I know is that it’s the perfect opportunity, and I bring all of my silver to my lips as she kisses me back. Her body arches hard against mine, and her tail jolts away from me in a spasm. I can feel her nipples so hard through my top as my own sing out in kind. Her spell gives out, so I wrap my legs around her waist. My whole body shines as I grind as close as I can, trying to force my current to link with the source of her flames.

My eyes don’t melt closed in the kiss, but hers do. At least they melt shut at first, but I can see and feel her struggling against it. I can’t tell if my sparks are working or not. Her body certainly feels stiffer, and she keeps trying to moan around and through the kiss, but that sound is not as telling as I want it to be.

Her eyes don’t stay closed for long, and when they open again I’m not surprised. Immediately she tries to send her flame to her lips, but this time I can feel it having to fight against my sparks. Either I’m getting stronger, or she’s getting weaker. Given that when we first met she seemed to be the goddess that my ancestors wanted her to be, the latter seems more likely. I’m definitely no goddess; even giving it my all to shine brighter than I’ve ever shined in my life or even in my dreams.

A kiss is supposed to be intimate, a sign of affection and love – not an assault just as much as a fist – but I don’t see what other options I have. Her body starts to stiffen in a new way, not because of my sparks, but because her flame is coursing through her just like my flame is coursing through me. She’s starting to take this seriously.

I can feel her hips shaking, and I can sense the building pleasure in her body nearing overload. Even being a fount of lust, she can’t resist pleasure forever. I pull a hand out from her hair and take a risk in grabbing at one of her breasts, trying to force a spark right into her nipple.

“Not . . . some weak little LaSilvas . . .!” Red tries to weaken the sound of her cry, but it’s impossible. It’s too primal, just as primal and craving as her flames, and she can’t deny those anymore than I can deny my sparks. Her orgasm tears through her, making every part of her body tense at once before melting her slowly to her knees.

If I stay holding her like this I’ll just pull her down on top of me, so I float back onto my feet and take a slow step back. Her eyes don’t melt shut, and they don’t blank into a serene red, silver, or white. She still has more fight in her. Knowing she’s likely to retaliate in a way I’m unlikely to enjoy in the long run, I step back a little further while keeping a hand held out toward her. This is not good. My silver does affect her, and she wasn’t able to stop my sparks from hitting her wing. Valerie’s mist made her wing slacken. Maybe if we were to send mist and sparks at her in one stream . . .

Red is already trying to stand, shakily, but still trying. Sarah kisses the back of Valerie’s head before I can say or do a thing, and my idea is acting out just like I envisioned it. I was as focused on Red as she was on me, so I wouldn’t have heard them planning even if they were yelling.

Sarah’s arms are around Valerie’s body, and their fingertips are entwined; aiming at Red. Sparks and mist flow from their fingers, but instead of latching together and making them collapse in a befuddled mist, a hazy stream of amethyst and silver begins to wrap itself around our enemy. Like ribbons, it wraps both legs at once, curling around her thighs, tightly grasping between them and only moving higher. I can only imagine it’s moving deeper too.

Arms close around me and I start to scream before seeing they’re gold as I feel the familiar warmth of Olivia. “It’s okay sweetie . . . She’s losing . . . Silhouette and Yana are trying to think of what they can do to help, but for right now you can take a breather. You know, most women would be angry if the love of their life did that in front of them . . .”

Never have I needed to laugh more than right now. My comic relief, my love, my partner, Olivia is always what I need most when I need it most. “I can relax a little . . .” I hug her arms and lean back into her strong body. She might be shorter than I am, but when she’s gold she’s so very much stronger.

Red screams as the glittering mist closes over her breasts and soon after pulls her arms against her sides. Her wings try to move but only grow heavy and slouch as the mist spreads through and over them. Her tail, visible from between her legs, is shaking helplessly. Still, I can see that the core of her, the part of her that we need to make relent, is holding on as strongly as ever. We’re giving her everything that we have, and she is taking it. She’s loving it, though fighting it. She’s more satisfied by it than threatened.

If we keep up like this we’re going to be the ones to tire out first. I don’t know how much longer Valerie can keep up her mist, but I know that Sarah is going to pass out if she keeps sparking for much longer. Passing out is about the worst thing she could do right about now. I wish I could think of something else to do, but my belt is relatively empty. The Eye would only amplify our efforts, and I don’t think it’s power that we need.

We need to do something different. If her powers are the same as mine, then maybe we need to amplify Silhouette’s power somehow. She hasn’t made any offensive moves yet, but I don’t blame her. She’s been through more than enough lately, and things must seem like they’re going well.

“Valerie . . . Valerie we need to stop, it’s not doing anything besides keeping her there! It’s not penetrating past her defenses, not really melting her.” Sarah starts to pull her silver out of the waves, and soon the mist dries up as well. This is going to get very bad very fast if all we can do is slow her down. Eventually we might be able to stop her like this, but we don’t have that kind of time if the spell is still silently working.

Silhouette and Yana step forward beside Sarah and Valerie. “Come on Yana, let’s give it everything we’ve got!” Silhouette’s shadow unfurls from her body and extends toward Red. Yana extends a hand toward Red and the shadows reshape, perfectly conforming and latching to Red’s body.

Red’s moans have only barely stopped, and now they simply start up again. It’s still not right. She’s still resisting. There’s still some part of her that won’t quite break apart. Even with the shadows seeming to dive into her ears, into her open mouth, and up between her legs, she still seems to simply be enjoying the feelings of pleasure while and ignoring their mind melting effects.

Her body does look delightful covered in a layer of shadows almost like a layer of hazy latex, but that’s still not getting us any closer to the victory that we need. No other options are presenting themselves, but I should have known that this would happen after she said that she was a light bearer. If my light can be turned inward to keep my mind protected, why couldn’t hers? That explains why she dropped her aura . . .

“Stop it! She’s not going to fall, not like that. She’s reacting the exact same way Sarah or I would . . . her light is just too strong. We’re not going to be able to break her mind . . .” Of course, that really only leaves one option, but I think I like that even less.

Silhouette’s shadow draws back, and Red starts to laugh. It’s not a good kind of laugh for this situation, a broken, defeated laugh that is only a laughter to hide nervousness or a coming surrender. It’s the laughter of sweet, invincible satisfaction. Her body shakes as she stands, but she’s able to stand and that’s a greater victory than we’re enjoying at the moment. All we’ve done is give her a chance to show her invulnerability. We haven’t even started to slow her down. If I still had my dart gun, I’d fire that off as quickly as possible, but I don’t. I don’t think it would matter, anyway.

Red’s defense isn’t the kind that’s going to be chipped away by just anything, even sparks, mist, and shadows. She didn’t even truly break through mine with her aura . . .

Even making her orgasm didn’t shake her self-control. She’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever faced. A part of me whispers in my mind that I must be on par with her if I’m a light bearer and have been so far this successful against her, but I’m not feeling all that powerful at the moment. I won’t until we can make her kneel and stay knelt.

I pull away from Olivia after hugging her arms again and stand in front of my friends. Olivia follows me, and stands beside me. Quillspawn continues to helplessly shudder on the floor, and though Lida is doing a wonderful job, she doesn’t look any more ecstatic than we do.

“At least two of you understand how helpless a task trying to melt away my mind is. The more you try to make my thoughts melt away in a sea of bliss, the more I steel myself against it. It feels wonderful though, so I was more than willing to allow you to bring me to a second, mayhap even a third peak . . . There would be no difference. I am on a time table, but it is not quite so limited. Besides, you’re conjuring more than enough energy to help bridge the connection.” She sounds so very, very pleased with herself. I can’t say that I much blame her.

“Well you won’t be melting away our wills either, and we won’t let you continue the spell. Try to melt away any of us, and we’ll fix it right up in no time. There might not be a clear path of victory for us, but there’s no path for you.” I’m not entirely sure my words are accurate, but it makes me feel stronger to say them.

Shaking her head, Red holds her hand out towards me much the same as Sarah did not too long ago toward her. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Being the good little heroine that you are, you have certain morals holding you back from the obvious path to victory. I might not be able to melt everyone’s mind with you and your darling self from another time, but I can quite easily remove the two of you from the equation. I had hoped that there would be a way to salvage such beautiful minds . . . but if you will only be pests . . . then sadly, your lives have no value in the new world I am creating. Good bye, Lucia.”

Time seems to stand still, and suddenly I feel trapped in place. I try to speak, but my lips don’t move. I try to dash to the side, to fly, to fall, anything, but I’m frozen. It feels just like what Yanuka did to me in Alice’s office. Red’s lips are moving, but I can’t make out the sounds. All I can hear is my own panicked heartbeat.

A red sparkle forms in the middle of her hand and starts to slowly twirl. It looks so much like one of mine, only enflamed, pulsing with that deep dark lust instead of my bright . . . whatever my sparks are. It starts to move towards me at an impossibly slow speed. I should be able to dodge it, even if I were just moving a one thousandth of my usual speed, but all I can do is stare as it draws closer, and closer. I can feel sweat prickling all over my body, and such a strong desire to move, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

I can feel Olivia pushing against my shoulder with both of her hands, but I’m not moving. The red star grows closer and closer, and normally Olivia pushing me this hard would send me across the room. She’s still golden, still Aureus, I should be . . .

The star is so close I can feel its heat like a bonfire contained within a much smaller shape. It’s a bonfire of lust, but with Red’s words, I can assume that the effect will be far different. I would take a deep breath and close my eyes, but I can’t even do that. I can’t call my light. I can’t make my sparks. All I can do is stand idly as Red’s magic races toward me to tear my world away.

“No!” Olivia’s voice cuts through the magic just as I can feel it right in front of my face, and I feel myself fly into the wall. It hurts to be embedded in stone, but if anything is broken it doesn’t feel like it. Time instantly speeds back to normal, and the next thing I hear is Olivia falling.

She pushed me out of the way just barely in time, and took Red’s blast herself . . .

“Hmm. Impressive. That spell should have quite adequately held you there for my little finisher, but I see that her strength was quite impressive after all. A shame that you had to be saved, or you wouldn’t have ended up with such a sad fate.” Red’s mocking voice rings painfully through my ears, but I try to ignore it. I push away from the wall and stumble to Olivia. Tears are starting to flow past my eyelids in streams, but I can still see well enough to kneel beside Olivia. I put my hands on her forehead and force my silver in to connect to her mind like I did with Yana’s. She’ll be okay. It was just a mind spell. My light can fix anything, even Yanta if I tried. I know it.

Unlike Yanta, I can’t feel a single thing in Olivia’s head. I can’t feel the current of her thoughts. I can’t feel her memories, her mind, her current sizzling away in its own perfect fashion. I can’t feel her at all. All that I can feel is metal. Cold, hard metal is all that there is. “Olivia . . .” “That was meant for you, Lucia. A rather effective little trick, and no, if you’re thinking it’s anything like the fate you gave to poor Yanta you would be quite incorrect. With Yanta, you simply fried away her ability to have conscious thought. Her mind still worked, but her self-guidance was derailed. You probably could have fixed that.” Red steps closer, and the sound makes my body tense as my tears flow faster. “Olivia, however? The gift meant for you that she took away burned out her capacity for thought itself. It burned out everything. There is no more Olivia. I suppose she could make a nice decoration . . .”

She burned out Olivia’s essence. I can’t feel a thing . . . She’s just metal. There’s only Aureus. There’s no Olivia left. No one can bring her back. It’s not just a matter of fixing her mind. She’s gone.

Red stands just over me, and before her hand can stretch towards me again, a boot slams into her head and Sarah stands in front of me. The succubus witch tumbles back, and Sarah very quickly kneels in front of me. “I’m sorry about Olivia . . . and I understand now, why you became Patina. I understand how to beat Red. I have to do it now, before anyone else gets hurt . . . I would ask you to promise me this, but I know that you would. Take care of Sylvia for me.”

“What—?!” Before I can even get all of my words out, her hands clasp over my forehead, and I feel a flash of jumbled images thrust into my mind. It feels like when Lida pulled all of my memories of The Domina out of me, only it feels like Sarah forcing so many of her memories into me. I can see flashes, images of Chronos, of The Argentum Array, of where Lida took her in the other world, but they’re too much to take in. It’s years worth of memories being pushed into my mind all at once, and it’s so dizzying. I can only barely think enough on my own to know why she would be doing this.

None of the memories that she’s giving me overlap with mine. They’re all memories of after Yanta. They’re her memories that I don’t share, every last one.

When her hands pull back, the tears in my eyes stop, and we share the deepest eye contact I’ve ever felt. “I promise. I’ll raise her like my own.”

Sarah barely even nods before she launches herself at Red. Her hands grab around the back of Red’s neck, and I can see their lips melt together. For a moment, a split second, Red thinks she has the upper hand. There’s no way that Sarah could win in a kiss. I already tried that. It even got her off, and she still didn’t really lose anything. Then, she feels what Sarah really has in mind.

The memories that Sarah gave me are still too much for me to understand, but the ones that were formed just before she touched me I understand perfectly. Sarah’s light starts to shine at her lips, and I can see it shining into Red’s mind. Just like she did with me, Sarah is going into Red’s mind to tear down the walls. But if she were to ever leave, then Red could heal, so she has to go in and tear down Red’s mind while she’s still inside. She has to do the same thing that Red did to Olivia.

I can’t see how it’s going, but it seems as good a sign as any when Red slowly starts to fall to her knees. When her hands fall to her sides, and her wings slacken, there’s no doubt: Sarah’s plan is working. It’s something that either of us could have done, but she made a sacrifice so I didn’t have to.

Red collapses forward on top of Sarah, but she doesn’t let go. Sarah doesn’t fall away either, but keeps the hold. Both of them begin to shake, currents of silver and red tracing over both of their bodies faster and faster. I can taste their energy clashing in the air, but I can taste so much more of Sarah’s. I can feel Red’s mind starting to wane, her power slowly starting to weaken and melt away more with every moment. In my mind I can imagine Sarah holding her down inside of that white room, doing the same thing to her that we did to Yanta so long go, only in such a deeper way.

An eternity of whimpers and shuddering flesh later, Red’s body turns limp while Sarah’s hands fall away from her neck. The energy in the air falls dead, and even Lida stops her magic. There will be no red moon rising tonight, but two heroines had to fall so a silver moon could rise instead.

Valerie rushes towards Sarah, but she knows as well as I do that Sarah isn’t not opening her eyes again. She’s gone. Olivia’s gone. I have a new daughter. The world is saved, even if only for another night.

I curl up against Olivia. In awhile, I’ll free Mourning Frost from Quillspawn’s influence. In awhile, we can all go back home and figure out what we need to do next. In awhile, in awhile, in awhile . . . but for right now, all I want to do is feel close to the woman who saved my life. She gave me so much, and then she gave me a longer life.

My eyes burn as my body shakes, and I let out the loudest cry I’ve ever felt in my life. I still have Aurora, and now I have an even bigger responsibility to Sylvia that I will savor every moment of. There’s so much . . . but I don’t need to face it yet. I need to cry, at least for a few minutes. I need to get out some of this grief before I can try finding a way to move her, to get her back home until we can decide the proper arrangements, the best way to send her off . . . “I love you Olivia . . . I . . . I love you . . .”

Lida’s arms reach around me, and it feels good even though it makes me cry harder. She doesn’t say a word, but what matters is that she’s there. I have my mother back. At least one good thing came out of this besides saving the world. Prevention never seems like a big enough victory on its own.

I won’t lessen Olivia by pretending it was my fault. She was a heroine before I ever met her. She loved me before I loved her. She made her choice, and I’ll love her all the more for it, forever.

It’s a lonely choice . . . so I let myself cry, and hope that I can prove to be worth her sacrifice.