In most areas of magic, I am generally considered to be a very weak wizard…but in one area I am almost peerless. In my specialty area of magic, I am generally considered to be one of the most powerful wizards in the United States. I am woefully unprepared to hurl bolts of lightning around or transform dogs into cats, but when it comes to sensing potentials in people, places and things…I am generally very capable. Because of this talent, I have been highly successful in training some of the most well known magic users in the world.

A bad feeling came over me as I thought about the assignment I had given my current apprentice. His potential was amazing, if I could somehow teach him the wisdom of power as well as how to manipulate it. I gave him his little weekend project in the hopes that he would fail and get burned in a small way so that he would learn to be more careful with the balance of things. When I thought about the assignment, I got the sense that this would be a very important lesson for him…but I also felt troubled for some reason. Karma and fate can be tricky even for someone like me…you could get powerful insight into one thing, but still get blind-sided when random elements are applied.

***

“I’ve done it master, I completed my task as directed”, Sean said proudly as he entered the room, disturbing my train of thought. Trailing behind him, came a woman who could only be described as voluptuous. She was a bit shorter than average height, with the sort of frame that traditionally belongs to porn stars or strippers. She had long silky looking hair, a near perfect complexion, and breasts a bit larger than a pair of grapefruit. She also gave off an aura of overwhelming sexuality. Everything about her seemed design to provoke a reaction in most men, and a good number of women as well. Of course, that’s because she had been designed that way, out of Sean’s unrestrained fantasies. While all of those things caught my eye (I am a man after all), the thing that really drew my attention was the vacant look in her eyes that spoke of a near complete suppression of intelligence and self-control.

I sighed as I resigned myself to losing another apprentice…unfortunately more often than not they fail to listen and wind up in more trouble than they can handle. With an efficiency from decades of practice, I quickly cast an analysis spell to see just how badly my apprentice had messed up. “As I recall, your assignment was to work a minor transformation on a stranger according to the code.” I said grimly. “Not to coerce someone into a permanent soul bonding with you.”

As I examined the snarl of mystical energy wrapped around the girl, I sighed inwardly at the knowledge my apprentice was about to have a very bad day…or at least, he was about to have a major life altering event. “Lets see if I have this right. You cast a low yield coercion spell on your victim to make her (or should I say him) very agreeable with you and highly suggestible. Then based on her consent given under effects of that spell you proceeded to alter her physically into this extremely well endowed young lady. After that I see some higher level spells designed to alter her memories and make her extremely eager to please you. On top of that you worked a soul bonding on her forging an empathic link between you so she would be completely responsive to your desires. And finally, I see you did a major fortification on the spells so that they would become nearly impossible to break. Does that sum things up?”

“Well, the soul bonding works both ways, it gives her an empathic link to my emotions…but it also gives me access to draw on her life force to fuel my spells.” Sean said proudly. “Other than that I guess you have it about right.”

“My god, I told you to find and convince someone to allow a minor transformation…and instead you did a major working. What was going through your head Sean?”

“You keep telling me to go slow, to hold back…minor workings and self castings. I mastered casting high potential spells almost six months ago and you still want me to cure zits and give facials. I wanted to prove that I am ready to be released from this apprenticeship and granted journeyman status.”

“Very well, Sean. I am releasing all claims and responsibilities for you as my apprentice. You are free to pursue whatever usages for your power you deem suitable. Do you accept your release and take responsibility for the consequences of using your power?” I stated formally.

“You’re damn right I do. About time!” Sean said, excitement filling his voice. Internally I heaved a sigh of relief, as his master some of this snarl would likely have caused me some difficulties as well.

“Well teacher, guess I’ll be getting the hell out of this dump then.” Sean said arrogantly not even trying to hide that ever present sense of entitlement I had been trying to eliminate for the last year. Like so many magic users, he had convinced himself that because he had power he was superior to normals.

As he started strolling towards the door, the girl following docilely behind him, he suddenly staggered. As a precaution I took a step back and raised additional protections around myself to prevent any negative effects from the wild magic I could see releasing.

“Master, what is happening?” Sean asked, a sudden panicked look in his eye. “I am not your master any more, but it should be obvious even to you. The spells you cast were flawed and now you are being hit with the backlash as they unravel.”

“But that’s not possible. I had his consent for everything but the suggestibility spell. There should be no karmic debt for my spells!”

“You think that just because he agreed to some things under the fog of a mind altering spell that he gave true consent? Did you even read what I gave you on the subject? Ah well, it doesn’t matter any more. Your career as a wizard is over now.”

“Over? What is that supposed to mean old man?”

“It means just that. You now have no hope of wielding magic in any useful manner, not that you will care much about it in a bit.”

Another wave of wild magic unraveled from around the girl and lashed out at my former apprentice. As I watched, the soul bonding spell suddenly inverted and reversed itself, forging an even deeper bond between the two…just flowing in the opposite direction from the original casting. Seeing the intricacy of the spell I couldn’t help but feel regret. From a strictly technical standard, my former apprentice was truly a genius at crafting spells…had he only listened better he would have become a wizard of the type that legends were made of.

A blissful look filled his face as my apprentice looked at me. “She is so happy” he murmured ecstatically. Looking at the binding I could see that he would essentially feel whatever emotions she was feeling at several times the intensity. Her happiness and satisfaction would be his bliss…but her sorrow and pain would be his hell.

Another wave of magic lashed at him. And suddenly his gaze turned from blissful to lustful in an instant. He was staring at her with a look of such overwhelming bestial desire it was almost frightening. He sank down to his knees in obvious worship as in his eyes she suddenly became his owner, his goddess…to be worshiped and pleased with his every breath.

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

The first words the girl has uttered since entering the room. I watched as the last vestiges of the mental bindings she was under faded away allowing her to act on her own will for the first time in days. My former apprentice began to whimper in empathy as her finely tuned emotional state unraveled into the chaos and confusion that only this level of mental tampering could cause.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU FUCKING DO TO ME!” she screamed. Her voice a mixture of anger and panic.

“Please relax,” I said, “I will try to help you through this if you let me.” With an effort of will, I quickly cast a spell upon the room. As I watched, the panic and rage died down in her eyes…not gone, but somewhat suppressed so she could breath easier for a few moments.

“I just cast a spell to allow a person to calm and focus their thoughts during emotionally trying times. The effects of the spell will fade as soon as you leave this room, though I would ask that you stay here a while longer as the backlash of all the spells he cast on you breaking is still not complete. If you will allow it, I will try to help you find peace with whatever he did to you.”

“All I know is I was hanging out in a local singles bar when this ass-hat came over and started talking to me. The next thing I know I am his eager little bimbo following him around like a puppy dog…and doing THINGS I would never do…loving things I would never love.” With a snarl, she savagely kicked my apprentice in the side. “You fucking bastard you violated me…you destroyed me…”

She went on in that tirade for a while, alternating between anger, rage and despair as she railed at my apprentice as he whimpered on the floor. Occasionally you could hear him begging, “kick me again mistress…kick me again.” Even as she had an almost complete breakdown, I could tell the effects of my spell were working as her emotional control remained on this side of the line of sanity. Given that she had been physically, mentally and spiritually raped the fact that she was holding on was a good thing.

Her tirade abruptly cut off as another wave of wild magic pulsed from her. As I watched, two simultaneous transformations happened. Over the next couple of minutes I watched as her body gradually reshaped itself, transforming from voluptuous woman to what could only be described as your average guy. He was slender and on the short side, with relatively plain features.

On the other hand, Sean was transforming in the other direction. His features became more delicate as his body began to transform into an attractive looking woman. He didn’t blow out to become the next bimbo princess, but rather he was changing to have a girl next door type. Looking deeper I could see the spell was designed to base the physical appearance on the caster’s unconscious “perfect” ideal of sexiness. Under the surface I could see that the spell had designed her new body to be extremely sexual in nature, well into the range of what could only be called nymphomania.

A wave of relief passed over her…no HIS face as he realized he was in his own body again. His emotions were still in turmoil, but the effects of my casting were gradually increasing over time allowing him to remain calm and rational.

“Michael,” He said. “My name is Michael.”

“Hello, Michael. My name is Victor. As you have no doubt surmised, I am what I believe you would call a wizard. And Sean there is my very disappointing former apprentice. I am afraid I am somewhat in your debt as my protege in his foolishness used the skills I taught him to take advantage and violate you in the worst ways imaginable. Unfortunately for him, he was adept at the how of magic, but failed miserably at understanding the when, where and why for its usage.”

Even while under the effects of my calming spell I could tell he was still having an extremely difficult time with what happened over the last few days. Not only was he dealing with all the impacts of the sexual acts, but also of having his entire belief structure challenged. Add to that the fear of what I could or might do to him, or what else might happen.

Almost effortlessly I opened up my gift to the fullest, allowing myself to see the potentials flowing around the two people in front of me. I looked down path after path seeing only darkness and despair for the two as I saw Michael heading down a hundred different likely paths of insanity, vengeance or despair. From everything I could see, the end results of any of the likely paths would result in a level of negative karma that would echo through centuries into the future, spanning not just this life but dozens of reincarnations as well. Grimly pushing more power into my gift, I looked deeper trying to find a better path. Eventually I found one thread, then another, then more where things could have a hope of going positively. I sighed as saw what would have to happen to push things in that direction.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I quickly crafted and cast another spell…this one was extremely potent, yet so intricate it was almost a masterpiece of spell crafting. I felt a twinge of sadness and guilt, because the spell was cast without conscious consent on both of them…and more it was borderline in how it impacts their free will. Technically, they could both reject the spell without much effort, but ultimately it was highly unlikely they would be able to in their current mental states. Since my intent was ultimately benign and the overall spell construction was such that it required some level of unconscious or spiritual consent to work I didn’t think I was at risk of any serious karmic backlash.

Michael suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, shot a scowl at Sean and quickly left the room. Suddenly he just had to get out of here…had to get away…had to find some way to forget everything that happened over the last couple of days. It only took moments after he closed the door for the memories, the pain, the fear to flood back into him nearly overwhelming him with the intensity. It wasn’t just the act, it was all of it the feeling of being twisted and trapped in his own mind as his body betrayed him…it was the memory of spending days as some douche’s bubbly bimbo puppet and loving it. “Oh God, do I wish it would happen again!” Another twisting and he couldn’t help himself as he puked on the carpet. “Oh God! Oh God please help me” He mumbled almost incoherently as he shambled away down the hall.

“I can help you, if you want.” A voice said (his voice said) cutting through all the voices of misery, doubt and fear and loathing. “You have to let me though, I don’t have the power to help if you don’t accept it.” An image formed in Michael’s head, an image of himself as he always wanted to be. Just from a glance he could see that the confidence and happiness radiating off of this vision self…he could sense that this was him, but not him. “All you have to do is reach out to me, and this is what we can become.”

“Who are you? What are you, you aren’t me.” Michael thought at the vision in his mind. “I am your future potential…what you could become if you let yourself. You know how people always say ‘you have so much potential’ well I am the essence, the embodiment of that potential. All you have to do is come to me and I will help you through this pain, and help you to find me within yourself.”

Somehow without any internal decision or thought, Michael found himself drifting towards the other self within his mind. For some reason, he was certain…like he was sure of the sun rising or gravity certain, that this internal voice was being (could only be) 100% honest. Somehow he knew that it was impossible to be deceived in this place in his mind.

“What would I have to do?” Michael asked. And they were suddenly much closer. Michael could feel confidence, satisfaction even joy radiating off of his other self. He also noticed the closer he got to his avatar the more the emotional chaos faded into the background, gradually becoming more muted and distant.

“Just trust me, and accept me. Do that and everything will change. Together we have the power to make all of this just a shadow of a memory.”

It didn’t take much thought. Michael considered the emotional turmoil he had been in and compared it to the image of all he wanted to become. Somehow he knew this was his last, best hope for a happy life. And with that acceptance, the power of the spell locked around him full force.

***

Victor strained against the power of the spells locking onto his former apprentice. He knew that the longer a spell like this worked on a person, the more powerful the spell would become…and while there was no way short of a fully prepared circle with a major artifact to break the spells, if he acted fast he might be able to tweak them enough for his apprentice to have some semblance of self left.

Victor felt a rush of energy as the first circle of the spell locked around Michael. He couldn’t help but to smile, Michael had accepted the first option with virtually no resistance. Instead of trying to base the entire spell on a single acceptance, the spell would continually give the target options and with each acceptance it would grow more potent. Meanwhile, as Michael healed, the stresses on Sean’s mind and soul would be reduced as well.

Victor watched as Sean gasped in relief as the emotional echoes he was getting decreased in intensity. Using the power that flooded back into him from the spell on Michael, Victor erected a powerful mental barrier in Sean’s mind…basically a space where he could think clearly and focus for a bit. With practice born of months of working together Victor sent a pattern for a spell into Sean’s mind instructing him to cast it while he could still think clearly. Sensing the urgency, Sean immediately cast the spell as provided, and felt what could only described as a wall form in his mind.

“That spell will provide a bit of a buffer against the soul link,” Victor said in a weary voice. “It will reduce the effectiveness of the link over distance, and allow you to shut out some of the lower intensity emotional effects. However, it will draw on your magical energy to do so, so any usage of your magic will increase your empathy towards Michael.”

***

“First thing,” his avatar said confidently, “is to lock these memories away until you are ready to handle them. Is that Ok?” Michael nodded slowly. In an instant, he flashed back to the meeting with Sean in the bar. The memory began to play itself over in his mind, only as it moved forward it seemed to fade out… the emotional intensity draining from the memory as quickly as it played through. His thoughts flickered to the next memory, and the next draining all the emotional intensity from each one in a flash. With each memory, he felt the anger, the helplessness, the overwhelming desire, the pleasure all bleed away as he skipped through each memory from the last few days.

In almost no time, his thoughts were back to the present, and while the memories of the weekend were still there they didn’t seem to hold nearly as much force. He flashed back to the first memory again…and watched as his avatar summoned up what appeared to be a huge vault within his mind. Following his avatar’s instruction, he pushed each memory into the vault one by one…and after the last one he imagined the vault slamming shut on them. For a minute the vault just hung there in his mind before fading away…along with the last traces of conscious memories from the weekend.

“The memories are not gone forever,” the avatar said calmly. “Over time they will resurface in dreams or flashbacks as you become emotionally equipped to accept them. You cannot truly heal until you come to terms with everything that happened the good and the bad, and decide how you want to deal with them.”

Michael noticed there was a crackling, intense energy in the air as if he was surrounded by lightning. “We need to deal with all of the energy we drained from those memories now.” The avatar said next. “Will you trust me to handle that?” Michael nodded numbly. He was feeling extremely tired as if he had just run a marathon and while he couldn’t quite remember the details he knew the avatar had saved him.

Suddenly his thoughts drifted back to Friday night. He was sitting alone in the local singles bar when this gorgeous looking lady sat down next to him and started talking. For some reason, something about her…or the night…or just fate… he seemed able to just say all the right things, react in all the right ways. It was like on that night he just had the perfect game because they talked for hours and they clicked so perfectly.

The pulsing energy around him diminished a bit, and the memory imprinted itself deeper into his mind filling him with a sense of confidence and accomplishment.

Flash forward.

They were at her place, making out. God she was beautiful.

Another pulse of energy.

Flash forward.

They were making love…it was the best most intensely pleasureable sex ever.

Flash. Pulse.

Again…and then again.

Sex, cuddling, talking. The best weekend ever.

Michael stumbled as he realized he was daydreaming about his weekend again. What was he thinking, he had to hurry up and get over there to pick Shawna up. As he walked down the hallway towards the apartment, he suddenly felt a flash of deja vu. Pushing aside the thoughts that he had somehow done this before…he raised his hand and knocked sharply on the door.

A moment of confused recognition flashed through his mind and the fading away, as he looked into the face of the older gentleman who answered the door. “Ah, you must be Michael.” The man said smiling. “I am Victor, Shawna’s uncle.”

***

Shawna and Michael had left some time ago, and it looked as if the spells were working splendidly. While he hadn’t been able to remove any of the various spells layered on Sean, he had been able to mute some of them or allow Sean some measure of control over which aspects were in effect at any given time. The end result was that Sean wasn’t quite a raging nymphomaniac any more, but Michael would NEVER have to ask twice. Also, Sean would always be rather submissive to Michael, but he still had some limited self control. In that sense he came out way ahead because had the spells not shattered so spectacularly Michael would have been nothing but a mindless pleasure bunny.

Victor randomly picked up a book from his library and sat down in his favorite chair. Without thinking, he randomly opened the book to a page and began reading.

On Consent:
One of the biggest failings most magic users have is an incomplete or very childlike view of consent. They see it as being black or white. Consent is not something that can can be dealt with as simply as getting someone to agree verbally or sign a contract on. Consent is a belief within the target that says I accept this change, I believe in this change…etc. On several layers of a persons consciousness. A person may agree to something, may even on the surface think they want it…but deep down inside their spirit rejects it so totally it can never come to pass. When casting major transformational magic on a person take however much time is required and make certain to give them time to adjust and accept each change.

Using strong arm tactics such as blackmail or coercion magic is not recommended to obtain consent for transformational spells. The first rule of consent is simply this. Coerced consent is no consent at all.