The Doll had done many things that she wouldn't typically do since coming to Dreadwood. Yet trekking through the dense forest around Dreadwood was certainly something she never saw herself doing. Furthermore, doing so when someone who could fly was leading her and Lila a few feet ahead bordered on stupidity.
Unfortunately for her, Lila had made her fear of heights evident as soon as they began to float with a plethora of screams.
Typically she would have simply told Malina to fly regardless. However, she already felt pity for the girl who was practically kidnapped from her meal in the dining hall when Malina brazenly walked in and pulled her away. Lila hadn't even attempted to fight it, likely because she had grown as used to Malina's antics as The Doll was by this point.
Looking ahead The Doll thought about where it was. Malina was leading them. Lila had already posed the question before the group entered the forest, but Malina was insistent on keeping it a secret. However, based on the direction they were going, it seemed they were headed to the mana zone the two had visited on their first day.
The only question The Doll still held in her head was:
“Why?”
Heading back to the mana zone seemed like a waste of one of the few days they could dedicate to study. But alas, here she was following Malina in order to not invoke the wrath that would be brought upon her should she not.
There she was, telling herself that same reason once again.
Suddenly a shrill screech echoed throughout the forest that came directly from The Dolls' right, “EEEKKK.” Following this shriek was the sound of a thud and snapping as though someone fell down and broke a few twigs upon landing.
Sighing The Doll turned around and saw Lila, who was rapidly scooting away from something. This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened since the group entered the forest, as evident by the dirt that was stained on Lila's rear.
Looking slightly closer The Doll saw the culprit of Lila's panic. There was a small fuzzy worm-like thing that appeared to be slowly inching towards her. It had a dark shaded fuzz and pitch-black stripes along the sides of it.
It was actually kind of cute.
The Doll heard a giggle as Malina turned and walked towards Lila, stopping short of the bug. Upon reaching it, she leaned down and put out her finger, allowing it to crawl on top of her as she stood back up and brought it to her face.
Letting it crawl around for a bit, she spoke, "It's a mana fuzz.” The Doll had never heard of such a thing, but it seemed Malina would explain it as she continued talking, "They're practically harmless. I used to see them around the garden all the time.” As she spoke, the mana fuzz suddenly started growing in size. “They feast on mana in small, negligible amounts, but if they eat too much, they.” A sudden pop echoed throughout the forest, seemingly finishing Malina's sentence, as the only thing that remained of the creature was a liquid on Malina's hand.
Malina looked at her hand and shrugged, wiping the liquid on the hem of her shirt, adding to the mess that was already on it. Her uniform had various scuffs along it from hitting branches and splotches of dirt that she hadn't made much effort to avoid. By comparison, The Doll's own uniform was in significantly better shape, with the only part having dirt on it being her shoes.
After wiping the liquid off, she reached out and offered her hand to Lila, “See, it's harmless.” She said with a bright smile accompanied by a giggle.
Lila tentatively brought her hand to take Malina's. "Ye-yeah, ha-harmless.” Her voice held the familiar tone of shyness that she had come to know Lila for. After gently pulling Lila up Malina turned around and happily skipped back to the front, allowing a branch to brush along the side of her tunic, scuffing it further.
The Doll could only sigh at the lack of care for maintaining her uniform.
Shortly after this event The Doll saw the light of the sun peering through the point where the trees stopped. Just beyond those trees should be the mana zone, yet Malina suddenly stopped and crouched down, spreading her hands out to signal The Doll and Lila should stop as well.
Looking to her right, she saw Lila looking at her confusedly and making no moves to join Malina. It seemed The Doll would have to take the first step to see whatever caused this sudden stop in their journey.
Crouching down The Doll began to slowly creep towards where Malina stood, careful not to make any noise as she moved. After a short moment she reached her destination and looked towards where it seemed Malina was looking, blinking out the bright sun from her eyes.
Standing over the mana zone was an elderly woman clad in all a stainless black dress with a long black pointed hat.
Madame Octavia.
Wasn't she just with Lukaz? How had she managed to get all the way to the mana zone faster than the three of them did? She supposed it was possible if whatever she discussed with Lukaz ended quickly and she then immediately turned and headed towards the mana zone.
But then how was her dress completely stainless?
Such a long garment would surely get dirtied on the trek through the forest. The Dolls own shoes were an indication of this. Perhaps she could use Fuga?
That was the only plausible explanation.
As she ruminated, she heard Lila quietly shift over to Malina's other side. Once Lila was there, Malina whispered, “Why is that thing here?” A heavy note of suspicion lacing her voice as she spoke.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
This question shocked The Doll; she assumed that this was what Malina had wanted to show the group. While The Doll recovered from her shock, Lila responded, "Wh-why did you call her a thing?” It seemed that Malina hadn't told Lila about her opinion on Madame Octavia.
Malina didn't respond, seemingly hyperfocused on Madame Octavia, so The Doll whispered in her place, "It's complicated.” She simply said, leaving room for interpretation, as she herself wasn't sure what Malina viewed Madame Octavia as.
The Doll formerly would have completely dismissed these suspicions by Malina, but after her encounter with The Strings and her conversation with Cecilia. She felt more inclined to trust Malina's suspicion despite how far-fetched it seemed.
Madame Octavia suddenly moved from her still position, reaching her hand out towards the mana zone. The Doll watched in anticipation, thinking something might happen, but she saw nothing. Madame Octavia simply stood there with her hand outstretched towards the floating island.
As the three awkwardly watched, Madame Octavia Lila whispered once again, “Sh-Should we do something?" Her voice was laced with fear, but The Doll was unsure whether this was a fear of reprimands or something else entirely.
Malina thrust a finger out towards Lila's lips, silencing her as she whispered back, “No, she's doing something; the mana feels weird now.” Malina moved her finger from Lila's lips and began moving her hand around the air as if feeling something.
While this was happening, an eruption from the mana zone triggered as a large burst of water shot up around the island. It was no different from what The Doll saw previously when Malina showed her the mana zone, except for the fact that it seemed to curve around in a circular manner as if it was hitting something.
Then The Doll saw something begin to form around the water.
Or she thought she saw something; it was as if a circle was manifesting around the water. A circle that wasn't there before.
Was Madame Octavia doing this with her magic?
But she hadn't said anything, so a spell that manifests something physical shouldn't be possible, and the Octavia lineage did nothing like this to The Dolls knowledge.
Slowly the circle began to take on a more solid shape, forming what appeared to be a sphere with objects flapping at its side, almost resembling wings but not quite. The Doll knew she should look to her side to see if Malina and Lila saw what she was seeing, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from whatever it was.
As she stared at it, the features became clearer and clearer; what was once a texturless sphere became one covered in scales. Flapping objects that vaguely resemble wings filled with dark feathers. Then, as if completing whatever lay before her, a slit appeared across the middle of the sphere, running from side to side. This slit slowly opened, revealing something that resembled a—
No, I see nothing.
The Doll suddenly felt a piercing pain spread across the top of her head. Instinctively she closed her eyes and brought her hand up to grasp her forehead that felt as if it was on fire. Biting her tongue, she attempted to hold back the scream that threatened to expose their location to Madame Octavia.
A pain that seemed almost negligible to the burning in her head filled her mouth, serving as an ample suppression method. Yet as she bit down on her tongue, she felt a bitter liquid fill her mouth that caused her to let go of her tongue, spitting a dark liquid onto the forest floor. Simultaneously a piercing scream of pain left The Dolls mouth that she could no longer suppress.
Falling to the forest floor, she began writing around, feeling sticks itch into her as she uncontrollably squirmed. Voices spoke, no screamed, but The Doll couldn't make out what they were saying, her own screams drawing out the sound.
In an attempt to escape the pain, she closed her eyes as if such an act would make it go away, attempting to embrace the comfortable darkness.
Yet when her eyes closed, she was not met with comforting darkness but rather a single blue eye instantly overtook her vision, causing her eyes to lurch back open.
I think that should be enough.
As soon as her eyes opened back up, the pain that once consumed her disappeared just as quickly as it came. Over her stood both Lila, who looked over her with great concern, and Malina, who was aggressively shaking The Doll and screaming, “DOLLIEEE!” The Doll felt as though she'd been in pain for at least a minute, yet it seemed as though Malina had just reached her.
The Doll moved to respond, but before she could, a stern voice spoke over Malina's screaming, “What happened here!” Madame Octavia said in a voice that wasn't quite a shout yet held enough command to stop Malina's scream.
I should lie.
The Doll spoke first with a certainty that shocked even her, “I tripped.” The simple declaration replaced the stern look on Madame Octavia's face with one of shock.
Madame Octavia raised her eyebrow and spoke, “You screamed like that because you tripped?” It was clear that she didn't believe The Doll.
The Doll wasn't quite sure how to respond, but telling Madame Octavia what happened didn't feel right for some reason, so thinking fast, she took off her glove and revealed the wound on it to herself. At this point the wound had healed over rather nicely but still held evident scabbing due to its rather recent infliction.
After showing this wound to Madame Octavia, she said, “When I tripped, a branch ran across my hand, and it irritated this rather nasty cut I got from studying.” It was far from a perfect lie, but it was the only thing The Doll could think of at the moment.
Madame Octavia still looked suspicious, but it seemed she would accept this lie, but she wasn't done with the questions. “So the three of you just arrived here?” Madame Octavia's gaze ran across all three of them as she awaited a response.
The three of them simultaneously nodded in an unspoken agreement, passing that they wouldn't mention spying on her, spreading amongst the three of them.
A barely noticeable look of relief spread across her face as Madame Octavia asked her next question, “And why is it that you were out here?” At this point, The Doll had no response prepared, as she herself didn't know the reason.
Fortunately Malina spoke up, “I was showing Lila the mana zone, as she had never seen it before. We would have simply flown, but Lila was afraid of heights.” The half-truth flew from Malina's lips effortlessly.
Madame Octavia shifted her gaze to Lila as if asking for conformation. Shrinking under her gaze, Lila quietly said, “Ye-Yeah.” Offering no further explanation.
The Doll waited in anticipation as Madame Octavia scanned the three as if deciding whether or not she would believe them. Eventually she sighed and said, “While I disapprove, what you students do with your days off is up to you.” Relief filled The Doll’s body as she continued to speak, “However, I will guide you back to campus now. I'm sure Lady Ashencroft would like some rest considering what happened.” The three wordlessly nodded as Madame Octavia walked through the forest back towards Dreadwood.
The three followed as awkward silence filled the air.
The Doll felt Malina's and Lila's gaze resting on her, both of them evidently having questions. Questions: The Doll wasn't quite sure she could answer, but one thing was certain.
That loss of control she felt.
That blue eye.
Both things pointed to one simple fact.
The Strings was back.