Veritaserum.. .. a potent truth serum so powerful that just mere three drops would have a person spill their innermost secrets for everyone to hear. The potion effectively forced the drinker to answer any questions put to them truthfully.. . .
"Though there are methods of resistance," said Quinn as he saw Dolion, who had his eyes squeezed shut and looked like he was going through a massive struggle, "one can either take an antidote to the potion — but it isn't a vaccine, and thus one will require to take it in a general vicinity of ingestion of Veritaserum.. .. and from the looks of it, you weren't aware that you'll be taking Veritaserum today."
"No — Yes! I took an antidote," said Dolion through gritted teeth — he was trying to resist the Veritaserum.
"The second method to resist Veritaserum is through Occlumency," said Quinn with a beaming smile, "which you're doing now and from the looks of it, you're having fun.. .. I want to give you more, but unfortunately, I do care about your mental health and don't want to overload your brain with Veritaserum.
"But, I can't have you resist the Veritaserum," said Quinn sitting back down on his chair, "I have to say, Dolion, I'm pleased with how the events folded — I had this vial of Veritaserum for a very long time with no meaningful way to use it inside Hogwarts.. .. to be able to finally use it is as exciting as it gets for me.. .. And now with your resistance, I'm going to get a chance to use Hard-Legilimency to loosen you up which I rarely get to use."
Dolion felt his eyelids being pulled to stay open and felt eyeballs jam up to look at the front, where stone-grey eyes were waiting for him. And then he clearly felt a mind probe slam against his shields.
'Heavy!' thought Dolion, experiencing the force of Quinn's Legilimency.
"It always feels pretty good to use Hard-Legilimency.. .. without hiding, with so little restriction and sneaking around," said Quinn, his eyes locked with Dolion and magic flowing.
"Oh, an all-diamond cover," said Quinn looking at Dolion's Occlumency shields — in front of him was a spread of sparkling polished diamond.
In his time as Legilimens, Quinn had seen many Occlumency shields, and he had come to see a pattern — a heavy majority of people had their Occlumency shields in the form of brick walls or steel structures. And while the imaging of the shield layer didn't matter much as the actual strength came from a person's confidence in their shields and hard work, but when people saw bricks being broken or steel being bent with magic, subconsciously, people's faith in their shields would fail. Quinn's hexagonal graphene-based shields weren't actually seen in the natural world, which ensured that his confidence wouldn't fall from seeing his shield material in the real world.
"Diamond is a strong material, a good choice to choose it as a shielding material," said Quinn smiling, which didn't give Dolion any comfort, "your shield is an arrangement of carbon, and mine is an arrangement of carbon.. .. of course, mine is stronger."
Dolion then felt like a hammer had been unleashed on his diamond shield. He could imagine his shields thrumming as the force traveled everywhere.
"This is so much more fun than sneaking around," laughed Quinn. "Tell me, Dolion, how did you protect Nereo's mind!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!. .. continuous blows of Legilimency were making it challenging for Dolion to keep a hold on his tongue.
"I — am — a — nat — NO!" Dolion took control just in time and defied the Veritaserum running through his body.
Quinn sighed in disappointment, "It seems playtime is over.. .. I'm going to shatter your shield in one swoop.. .. don't say I didn't warn you."
He charged up his Legilimency and speared into the diamond. Immediately, cracks appeared on the sparkling surfaces, spreading quickly as Quinn drilled down deeper.
"Alright, just one more second," said Quinn as he could feel the end coming soon.
Shatter!.. .. the diamond layer broke down into million little pieces making Quinn smile, but then his eye narrowed as he felt a sharp mental attack appear out of nowhere.
Occlumency and Legilimency were two sides of the same coin. And just so it happened, when a Legilimens tried to break into a mind, they extended their mind, leaving it open, leaving it vulnerable to the target.. .. and if that target so happened to be a Legilimens, they had a chance to retaliate.
Dolion Abate was a Legilimens, and if he was going to be attacked, he wasn't going down without a fight. He sent out a sharp mental attack, aiming to cause Quinn a lot of pain.
Dolion saw Quinn close his eyes, then a frown appeared between his brows, and finally heard a groan escape his throat. He also felt Quinn's Legilimency attack retreat, making him release a sigh of relief.
"Ha, take tha—"
"That almost hurt!"
Dolion's word died in his throat as he saw Quinn open his eyes with a sigh.
"That's why it is such a pain breaking into Legilimens' mind," said Quinn cracking his neck, "they always, without fail, try to retaliate," then he grinned, "and in doing so, leave their mind open."
Dolion's eyes widened when he realized what he had done. By attacking, he had extended his mind and allowed Quinn to exploit that opening.
"You're a decent Legilimens, Dolion," said Quinn, the corner of his lip raising up, "but — I — am — better.. .. much, much better."
Dolion's world went white as Quinn bombarded his entire mindscape with a mind-numbing detonation of Legilimency probe.
"Now, let's get started.. .. tell me your name."
"Dolion Abate."
"What's your underwear color?"
"White."
"Tighty whities.. .. well, how were you able to protect Nereo's mind from me?"
"Through Legilimency."
"Please elaborate."
"I'm a natural Legilimens.. . ."
Quinn paused for a bit. This was important information; a natural talent was a humongous gift. Dolion being a natural Legilimens, explained how he was able to fool Quinn. To a natural, their magical talent was the same as breathing.
For example, a Metamorphmdagus was a natural talent in transfiguration, making Nymphadora Tonks a natural. Quinn personally knew another natural — he knew a person with two natural talents; an absolute monster of mind magic, his teacher, Alan D. Baddeley, the man with natural talent in Legilimency and Occlumency.
Dolion continued, ".. .. I have developed the ability to intercept and block Legilimency probes. I stopped your soft-probe from reaching Nereo, and that's why you didn't feel a thing.. .. if you go back now, you will be able to read him."
"Why did Nereo help you with the potion?"
"He had been using Rigenerare's money to support his gambling habit and was falsifying the records. I caught him and blackmailed him into owing me."
"What about Antonio? Why is he acting like that?"
"I re-wrote his mind to follow my every command. It's like hypnotism, but unlike hypnotism, he would do things that even if they go against his moral code. It grants me complete control like an Imperius curse does, but Antonio can't escape my control with a strong will.. .. his will doesn't even come into play.. . he's completely subservient."
This was the power of a natural.. .. they could do things that others would take years upon years of hard work to replicate. Quinn could imagine achieving blocking a Legilimency probe for a third after a couple of years of research and experimentation, but he couldn't even believe how he could even get started on turning another person into a puppet without any chance to escape, changing them from the very inside.
"Do you have any other puppets?" asked Quinn; he wasn't going to ask if Dolion's next target was him — that was obvious.
"There are many.. .. but Antonio is my best."
Quinn stared at Dolion and asked after a pause, "What do you mean by best?"
"It took some time and trial and error to improve my puppeteer ability. There were many before Antonio, but they didn't come out of the procedure whole.. .. many lost their minds and became empty vessels.. . vegetables."
Quinn bowed his head down. It wasn't surprising to hear that, but that didn't make it any less horrifying. "How many?" he asked.
When no answer came, Quinn looked up and saw Dolion staring at him. The Veritaserum had run its course, and Dolion wasn't going to answer any more questions.
"That is my last question," said Quinn, "you can answer it, or I scrape it off your mind."
Dolion just glared. All his secrets had been exposed; he wasn't going to answer anymore.
"Your choice," spoke Quinn and then dove in deep, Dolion's eye reddened, and a scream would've escaped him if he hadn't been silenced by Quinn.
The answer that Quinn found was as horrifying as he had thought. Dolion had left six people in vegetative states, seven with paralysis and permanent memory loss, and nine were just a tad bit inferior to Antonio, with the Antonio being the best.
"So much talent, yet you waste it, you're lazy, Dolion." said Quinn, finally giving Dolion some breathing room, "You have such a tremendous talent, and all you created out of it was puppeteering magic; because you wanted some slaves." Dolion's abilities were impressive, but his basic Legilimency skills were sub-par for a natural; Quinn, who was less than half of Dolion's age, was better, a travesty for someone with a natural talent.
"I will kill you," said Dolion, a card snarl in his voice, "I will cripple your mind and turn into an empty vessel.. .. you are nothing in front of me. I can break you down to mere trash!"
Dolion watched to expect a look of anger or fear on Quinn's face, but all he got was a look of pity. "What!" he yelled. "Why are you looking at me like that?!"
"I don't expect every magical to excel magic or even pursue it as a career. People have their own interests, and they shouldn't be tied down with something they had by birth," the look of pity on Quinn's face deepened, "even you, Dolionm, if you didn't explore your talent, I wouldn't have judged you.. .. but you have nothing to replace it.. .. nothing at all, you are a waste of life."
"Fuck you!" he cursed in his mother tongue.
Quinn stood up without replying and walked closer to Dolion. He placed both his hands on Dolion's temples and stared into his eyes.
"What are you doing?!" yelled Dolion in Italian.
"I have been practicing fabricating memories for a while now," stated Quinn, "mostly on myself, and I have progressed to the point that I have been able to fool myself with my own fake memories.. .. I'm going to erase your memories, then plant fake ones deep into your conscious. If I can fool myself, then I will definitely be able someone inferior to me," Dolion growled, "even if you ever start developing your skills, by the time you catch up to the current me, your brain would've assimilated these false memories, classifying them as organically real.. .. You'll never get back what I erase."
Quinn smiled and spoke a final word, "I will miss our little cat-and-mouse chase, Dolion, and some weird way, I will miss you; because the 'you' that will come out of this will be a whole lot different."
Magic flowed, and Quinn connected with Dolion's mind and started to look for every memory relating to puppeteering magic, his victims, his plans to make Quinn into his puppet, and every other memory connected to his evil deeds. It took every bit of Quinn's Occlumency to power his brain for processing the memory and his Legilimency to isolate them, but he was able to reach every corner of Dolion's memories, and in his grasp was every memory he was going to erase and replace.
The fantastic thing about the human brain was that when it lost memories, it would actively replace them on its own to fill in the gaps. All Quinn had to do was let the brain do its work and simply use its powers as a guide to influence the brain so that when the memories formed, they would be to his liking.
"Let's change you from a puppet-creating maniac to a person who will be absolutely hated in Italy." Quinn went on to plant memories in which Dolion disliked pasta, meat, parmesan, garlic, cheek kisses, coffee —thought America was better than Italy — kept to himself — drank cappuccino after breakfast.. .. and threw in always wanted to partake in gardening to keep the new Dolion mellow.
Of course, Quinn knew that these memories had the same chances of changing Dolion's real taste as Quinn leaving magic. Legilimency would have been classified as dark magic a long time ago if it was that easy. But he could do was give Dolion amnesia and make him lose his memories, so when the Abates invite a mind-healer to help Dolion, the memories which would surface will clash with his instinctual tastes and cause chaos on the person known as Dolion. He would start doubting the him before memory loss and reassess his life and hopefully take a new turn.
"If I didn't invite the threat of getting myself identified as my alter ego, I would have taken your hands from you and with it most of your magic," muttered Quinn as he stared at the unconscious Dolion — Tetani Nervum couldn't be connected back to him.
After giving Dolion amnesia by sealing away his memories (obliviation but comparatively easier to reverse) and placing natural-looking memory blocks throughout his mindscape to hinder recovery and make the mind-healer's work more difficult, Quinn dragged Dolion to a window, set him over the ledge before pushing him off.
Dolion's unconscious body fell from the middle floor of Palazzo Abate and landed on his legs, shattering them into pieces on impact.
"Feel lucky that I don't want a war between Abates and Wests because if not, I would've done much, much worse."
"Alright, my work is done here," said Quinn, but then saw Antonio's unconscious body, "ah, I need to dispose of this as well." Quinn simply obliviated Antonio off the plan to turn Quinn into a puppet and dumped him in another room so that Antonio wouldn't point fingers.
.. .
That night, Dolion was found, and he was immediately taken to hospital. The Abates found that Dolion had lost his memory, and the retrievable would be a sure but long process — the mind of a natural Legilimens wasn't something a mind-healer could cruise through; it would require a degree of carefulness to not fear instinctual retaliation.
The following day, Antonio Abate reported his Abate gateway key missing; upon the report, the key was immediately de-activated from the source to avoid exploitation.
Around the same time, Quinn was given the news that Nereo Polo, the manager of Rigenerare on Pisand Row, was brutally maimed last night by an unknown assailant and had turned in his resignation first thing in the morning after he gained consciousness — he had decided that life was too short and was going to spend time with his family.
.
- (Scene Break) -
.
After a day of break from sightseeing, Quinn and Aksel were again traveling and had started their day early with breakfast in a cafe in Venice.
Aksel walked back to their table with their orders to see that Quinn was at another table, chatting it up and laughing with a middle-aged lady.. .. in fluent Italian.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," said Quinn, sitting down across Aksel, "I was just asking that sweet woman about restaurant recommendations in the area."
"You speak Italian," stated Aksel and asked a question.
"Of course, I do.. . it's my mother's mother tongue. What kind of son would I be if I didn't Italian? And I'm half-Italian; I need to honor my blood someway."
"You haven't spoken a word of Italian the entire time we have been in the country. You spoke in English; you made Dolion translate every conversation you had."
"Yes, that's right," smiled Quinn, eating his food.
"Why?"
"No specific reason; it was a whim," replied Quinn. He couldn't say that he was simply following the saying, 'keep friends close, enemies closer' to make sure that Dolion stayed with them and got comfortable with his role as the guide/translator, hoping that he would let something slip in Italian.
"A whim?"
Quinn winked before biting into his sandwich, "This is great stuff!"
He looked at the beautiful city, clear skies, sparkling waters which reflected the sky, the ripples formed by gondolas that rowed passed and smiled,
"Mamma Mia!"
.
-*-*-*-*-*-
.
Quinn West - MC - "Mamma Mia!"
Dolion Abate - Adjusted - In the future was sent away to America after he changed so much.
Antonio Abate - The best puppet - Continuous his life without change.
Nereo Polo - Ex-manager - Beaten to a pulp.
Aksel Thorn - Bodyguard - In the initial drafts, he had assassinated Quinn's parents on a hit paid by Brio Abate.
