Catalyst

Chapter 52: Moves and Countermoves

Luna cheerfully raised her fist to knock on the next door, rapping on the wooden frame twice and ignoring the fire that attempted to engulf her arm. The humans she had been visiting had gotten much more paranoid over the last few weeks, but she knew they were just trying to protect themselves against everything else. It was one of the reasons she was doing this in the first place, in order to make sure they never had to worry about their safety again.

Despite her knocking, nobody came to the door. That was a tad rude. Still, Luna wouldn't let it dissuade her. The Swarm needed humans just as much as they needed her. A silly little ward wouldn't stop her from making sure everyone got what they needed. Luna reached for the door again, grasping the handle. A mass of projectiles rose from the yard, launching themselves towards her back. Luna's tentacles waved, trapping the projectiles in a rough arc. She pushed open the door. A man was standing on the other side, grisled and scarred, missing a leg and with what looked to be an artificial eye, darting madly across his face. The poor man, it was so sad to see how the humans struggled without their benefits.

"Hello, I'm-" Luna barely got the first couple words out before the man's wand was blazing, launching off spells left and right. Luna dodged, sighing. This wasn't the first one she'd encountered that refused to listen. With a practiced mind, she dangled the loose wisps of the hivemind into a single point, and directed it towards his gnarled skull. He stopped struggling for a moment, and Luna sat back in order to let him grow accustomed to his new perspective. They were always so understanding after they finished. Luna contented herself to sit back and watch the...mind...work. That was odd. Why were those wisps straining so much? Before she could inspect them closer, the threads burst apart, leaving the human unconstrained.

"Think I can't handle the Imperius?" he spat out in a furious tone. "Who the hell do you think you're dealing with girl?" His wand swung around, spitting out spells at a furious rate. Luna leaped away.

"Why didn't you listen?" Luna demanded, landing on the grass with her limbs splayed out like an octopus. "Everyone else has listened when I let them hear. Why are you so afraid?"

"Are you daft?" the disfigured man asked. Wait, wasn't he her Defense professor from a couple years? What was his name? Mattie? That didn't sound right, but close enough. It was hard to remember a name while trying to dodge near-constant beams of magic.

"Don't be rude, Mattie," Luna chided him. Mattie just looked at her, head tilted while he continued his arcane barrage, but whether it was due to the extensive scarring or simply the ravages of age, Luna found fairly simple to leap around and under the beams of light. The poor man, he had so much that the zerg could fix for him, and he still didn't listen. Maybe she should try again The spells were becoming easier to dodge, so Luna attempted to gather the wisps again. She had to stand still in the grassy blades for a moment to focus, but that wasn't even a bother. It was almost like he wasn't aiming for her at all. Then her tentacles were flayed by the massive explosion behind her. She fell forward.

"If you think people under mind control listen to you on their own, then calling you daft is like calling a wand wooden. Not rude at all," Mattie said as he advanced towards her, whipping his wand around in a longer and presumably more powerful spell. Luna struggled to lift herself, flesh knitting itself together behind her, not quick enough. Her legs and the stumps of her tentacles pushed desperately against the ground, to no avail. The man's scarred lips let out a snort. "Least that explains all the disappearances. Almost disappointing, girl. I thought you'd put up more of a fight."

Luna's mind raced as she lifted herself off the ground as best she could, scrambling backwards on her stumps. He was going to kill her. What did he mean, mind control? She was going to die. They weren't controlled at all, they just chose to join. This was the end. Just like she did, they listened and joined. Right? Of course. Of course they did. She just didn't have any time to think about that right now. Mattie was waving his wand with a distinct sense of finality.