Retvik grunted as consciousness returned to him. He couldn’t remember passing out, and was rather shocked to find that he had been tied up to a chair. A rather small, uncomfortable chair.
“Ah, you are finally awake!” Litvir smiled while standing way, way too close. He was practically in Retvik’s face. “Welcome to An Idiot’s Guide to Fighting Mind Control! I will be your teacher today.”
“Uh, where am I?” Retvik asked. “And how long have I been unconscious for?”
“The room behind the buffet area, and about twenty minutes,” another voice answered. It was clearly Relkir, but he was standing somewhere behind Retvik, completely out of view.
“Great…” Retvik sighed. “I assume you have tied me up for a reason.”
Litvir nodded.
“You know I can simply burn through the ropes, right?”
Litvir nodded again. “Mhm. Go ahead and give it a try.”
Retvik snapped his fingers. But to his surprise, nothing happened. Not a single flame.
“Uh.”
“Mind control is fun!” Litvir laughed, before abruptly stopping. “Wake up.”
Retvik’s eyes snapped open. He was no longer tied to a chair, but he was still sitting down.
“You awake?”
“I am not sure.”
“Stand up.”
Retvik suddenly stood up. This surprised him.
“Sit down.”
Retvik didn’t immediately sit down. He concentrated hard on his legs, desperately trying to stand up straight.
“I told you to sit down.”
Retvik grunted loudly. “No.”
“Sit down!”
This time, Retvik did sit down. But only for a moment, before standing up again. Rather than barking an order again, Litvir smiled, a toothy grin.
“Ah yes. You are further ahead than I expected. Now, let us try some verbal tricks.”
“No.”
“Retvik, tell Relkir that he is sexy.”
Retvik glanced around the room, wondering whether his half-brother was even present.
“I do not want to.”
“Go on, tell him.”
“No.”
“Go on. You know you want to. It does not matter that he is your half-sibling. Tell him how beautiful he is.”
Again, Retvik glanced around the room. Relkir was present, he was standing a good few feet behind Retvik.
“I do not need to tell him.”
“Ahhhh!” Litvir laughed. “Trying to circumnavigate my demands, are we? Tell Relkir that you love him and find him sexy.”
“No.”
“Go on.”
“No!”
“Go stand in front of Relkir and tell him he is sexy.”
Retvik immediately sat back down in the chair, crossing his arms dismissively. “No. I am staying here. Telling my sibling that he is sexy is weird and I do not know why you are asking me to do this.”
Litvir smirked, then looked over to where Relkir was standing.
“Is it weird, Relkir?”
“Only when my sibling says it.”
“Good.” With a snap of his fingers, Litvir released his grip on Retvik’s mind. Retvik immediately found himself feeling rather disorientated, but at least he could now thing clearly, as it felt like a heavy cloud has just disappeared from his mind.
“Good?” Retvik spat. “I barely resisted you!”
“You actually did pretty good against standard Rethan Secret-Breaking,” Litvir explained. “You overcame the basic mind control that Kenon originally threw at us. I am surprised that you beat the mental voice control over the basic actions, but we have found a good starting base for you to build upon.”
“I do not understand though!” Retvik was more confused than angry now. “You made me sit down with little resistance.”
“You fought back pretty well, actually!” Relkir had a hint of confidence in his voice. “Especially since Litvir somewhat threw you into the deep end.”
Retvik took a deep breath, then calmed down. “I… I guess…”
Relkir and Litvir both lifted Retvik out of the chair, patting him on the back.
“Do not worry, dear!” Litvir grinned. “Let us get you something to eat, then we can do a bit more training…”