The Doll held Malina's hand, her arm still aching from her lesson with Jilkan. In the end The Doll had dropped her sword more than Lila had. The Doll wished she could blame this on the itching of the strings on her arm that hadn't subsided until the end of the lesson. But The Doll knew that she couldn't blame it on anything but her own incompetence.
Clenching her fist The Doll pushed these thoughts aside; she already knew that dealing with this incompetence would be hard. There was no point in dwelling on it. Looking up to face the door to Madame Aziza’s classroom The Doll took a deep breath before moving to push it open.
But before The Doll could complete the action, she felt a tight tug from Malina on her hand, causing her to turn around. Malina was looking at the door with contempt evident in her face. “Do we really have to go in there?” Malina asked before fluttering her eyes to The Doll and saying, “I could just teach you magic, Dollie; it's not that hard, and I'm sure I’m far better than her.” The Doll clenched Malina's hand slightly tighter when she said this. Of course Malina could say that she had more magic than The Doll could imagine.
The Doll felt Lila's gaze on her back, likely worried about her response to Malina's lack of tact. With a sigh The Doll said, “I believe a teacher is more qualified than you, Malina.” As The Doll said this, she loosened her tightened grip. Malina just didn't understand what it was like for The Doll; it was no reason for her to get angry with Malina.
In response, Malina rolled her eyes and said, "But she's so old and weird, and I don't like her or the way she talks.” Malina shuddered after saying this; her voice clearly showing her disgust with the teacher. “You agree too, don't you, Shyla?” Malina added on, shifting her gaze from The Doll to Lila.
Looking away from Malina, The Doll looked to see Lila's response, who slowly and hesitantly nodded her head up and down in affirmation. Malina pointed towards Lila a second after she did this and said, “See, even Shyla doesn't like her.” The Doll took note of the fact that Malina hadn't actually looked at Lila to see her response.
While The Doll couldn't say she disagreed with Malina's or Lila's opinions on Madame Aziza, as she found her methods and demeanor to be highly inappropriate for a teacher. But this didn't matter regardless of her or Malina’s personal opinions; the headmaster had set up these lessons to fix The Doll, and she had to attend them. Even if The Doll was far from trusting of the headmaster, it wasn't as though she could disobey him.
Putting her free hand on her head The Doll tried her best to calmly say, “It doesn't matter what we might think of her; she wouldn't be a teacher if she wasn't qualified to teach.” Opting to leave room for no further conversation The Doll reached her free hand out towards the door once again, intending to open it.
But interrupting The Doll before she could even touch the door was the door swinging open to reveal Madame Aziza’s curvy figure. Madame Aziza wore her typical inappropriate attire with her large amount of makeup, low-cut dark robe that showed an unnecessary amount of cleavage, and pointed hat that The Doll found to be completely unnecessary. However, The Doll noticed over her eyes Madame Aziza wore a pair of small rounded glasses The Doll wasn't aware that she needed.
Looking between the group, Madame Aziza licked her lips and looked towards The Doll. “You are aware that my eyes are up here, right?” Madame Aziza asked with a low and sultry voice that The Doll found displeasing to hear.
The Doll confusedly raised an eyebrow at Madame Aziza's question before saying, "Yes, I believe I am.” The Doll hardly understood why Madame Aziza would ask this question but presumed it may have some form of highly inappropriate undertone that would disgust The Doll if she understood it. Malina taking a slight step forward to obscure The Doll seemed to reinforce The Doll’s suspicion.
Madame Aziza brought her hand up and swatted the air towards Malina while saying, “Oh relax, I'm only joking, Regius. But she was staring.” Madame Aziza winked towards The Doll after saying this, causing her stomach to churn slightly at the accusation.
The Doll hadn't been staring, had she? No, she knew she hadn't been staring; there wasn't even a reason to question if she had been in the first place. The Doll had no reason to have been staring at Madame Aziza; she was completely repulsive to The Doll. Furthermore she was a girl, and The Doll wouldn't have had any reason to stare at anybody, much less a girl.
Malina began speaking, acting as a perfect distraction from The Doll’s thoughts. Though it wasn't as though she needed a distraction from such unnecessary thoughts that could be easily suppressed. The Doll was thinking too much again; she needed to just focus on what Malina was saying: “Back off, old hag. Dollies, mine, not yours.” Malina spat out, pulling The Doll further behind her with a tug.
Malina’s word, which would typically have little effect on The Doll caused that weird warm feeling to rise up in her chest and go so far as to reach her face. The Doll looked away from Malina and Madame Aziza, bringing her gaze down to the floor and attempting to calm herself. Yet despite trying to calm down when The Doll looked at the ground, her mind wandered to the kiss she and Malina had shared last night.
The Doll mentally cursed herself as this memory arose, unable to decipher why she was feeling so irrationally right now, but she didn't like it. The Doll needed to push these feelings down and focus on what was important, but for some reason she was finding that to be more difficult than usual.
While Malina and Madame Aziza glared at each other, The Doll could feel Lila's gaze settle on her as she said, “Per-Perhaps we should head inside.” Looking up from the ground towards Lila The Doll saw that her face had grown significantly darker as she awkwardly pointed towards the open door to Madame Aziza’s classroom.
Truthfully The Doll could think of a better idea right now, so looking towards the door The Doll coughed to compose herself and attempted to calmly say, “I believe that's a good idea; sitting out here arguing is a waste of time.” Framing her words with rationality The Doll walked out from behind Malina and began leading her towards the entrance.
Malina looked towards The Doll as she did this and began giggling manically for a reason she didn't know and didn't care to find out currently. Attempting to pay Malina’s giggling no mind The Doll walked into the classroom, followed by Malina, then by Lila, and lastly by Madame Aziza.
Walking into the classroom The Doll immediately took note of one object that was out of place in the typical classroom. This object was what appeared to be a glass sphere with a wooden base resting on Madame Aziza's usually empty desk that she used more for posing than teaching typically. With the exception of this glass sphere, the rest of the classroom looked the exact same as it had in her earlier lessons, with sunlight peeking through the windows and a row of four chairs for each class of students.
Unsure of what to do next The Doll stopped in front of the seat where she would typically sit. Choosing instead to stand in front of it and await further instruction whilst still attempting to push down that strange feeling from earlier. Next to The Doll she felt Malina jump up onto The Doll's desk to sit atop it, allowing their interlocked hands to fall into her lap.
Still not having fully regained her composure The Doll quickly pulled her hand away from Malina's lap, bringing the now freed hand to her side. The Doll felt Malina staring at The Doll’s hand for a moment before breaking out into yet another fit of giggles.
Slowly this fit of giggles would subside as Lila took her place next to The Doll choosing to stand much like she had. Not far behind Lila was Madame Aziza, who walked to the front of the class with her curled multicolored hair bouncing in an unnatural manner as she did so.
Once she reached the front of the class, Madame Aziza brought her hands out dramatically, showing off just how deep her V-cut ran along her robe. “Welcome to day one of…” Madame Aziza allowed her voice to trail off as she focused on The Doll's wrist, her glasses giving a slight glitter in the sunlight as she did so, “experimenting with Lady Ashencroft.” Following this declaration, Madame Aziza licked her dark-colored lips.
To each of her sides The Doll heard Lila make some of her usual awkward noises, and Malina scoffed as she reached out and grabbed The Doll’s hand once again. Having her hand out of Malina's seemed to help The Doll calm down a bit for some reason, so she made no move to embarrass herself further as Malina gripped her hand again.
Seeing that neither of the three had anything to comment on, Madame Aziza dropped her arms to her side, seemingly disappointed. “This is going to be an awfully boring lesson if you guys don't clap.” Madame Aziza turned around after saying this before cocking her head back to look at the three of them. “It's no matter; I'm sure that I'll find ways to make it entertaining for me at least.” Madame Aziza said, maneuvering to stand behind her desk and subsequently behind the glass sphere that lay atop it.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As Madame Aziza maneuvered around the desk and brought her hands out The Doll felt Malina lean her chin on The Doll’s shoulder and whisper, “Are you really sure you want this old crone to teach you?” Malina's action caused that strange feeling to rise up again, but The Doll did her best to subdue it.
Not wanting to risk speaking in the middle of a lesson The Doll merely nodded her head yes, focusing on Madame Aziza above. In response to The Doll's nod, Malina nuzzled her head into her neck as if trying to get The Doll's attention. But after a moment of nuzzling, Malina settled her head into the Doll’s neck and remained silent.
Madame Aziza narrowed her gaze at The Doll and Malina licking her lips but making no comment on the act; instead, she spread her hands out to emphasize the glass sphere. “This is a very rare and powerful object. Do any of you know what it is?” Madame Aziza asked, looking very pointedly at The Doll as if she should know.
Seeing that The Doll made no action to raise her hand or answer Madame Aziza’s question, Madame Aziza looked over to Lila, who was hesitantly raising her hand up. Recognizing that Madame Aziza was waiting for her answer, Lila put her hand down and quietly said, "It—it's a magic crystal from Gelun heated and formed into a sphere that can measure the amount of magic someone has.” Lila looked down after saying this, waiting for her answer to be confirmed.
Before Madame Aziza could say anything, Malina tiredly muttered, "Yeah, we've got a bunch of them in the castle. I kept breaking all of them when they tried to measure my magic.” Following this, Malina yawned and nuzzled her head further in The Doll causing her to instinctively tense up from the contact.
Madame Aziza nodded and said, "Yes, the crystals used to make this expensive thing form in a mana zone where the temperature of Gelun reaches its coldest.” Madame Aziza crossed her hands just under her chest and shivered. “The combination of the dangerous cold temperatures and intense magic makes ice crystals called glaca crystals that cloud up when interacting with magic. It's a truly beautiful process.” Madame Aziza's voice grew increasingly sultry the more she spoke.
Letting her mind wander The Doll recalled when she was younger how Father and Mother would have her hold clear pieces of ice and activate her magic. They never told her what the purpose was, but every time she did, the crystal would grow an intense color The Doll recalled to be blue. The Doll supposed these must have been glaca crystals. After losing her magic, Father never gave her any more of these crystals.
With a smack of her lips, Madame Aziza brought The Doll’s attention back to her. “This glaca sphere has had hundreds of glaca crystals forged into it and should be able to pick up on even the slightest traces of magic.” Madame Aziza then grabbed the sphere with both her hands and said, “So if Lady Ashencroft has even the smallest amount of magic, this should detect it. Now if you don't mind.” Madame Aziza expectantly looked at The Doll after she said this, clearly indicating that she should walk up and activate her magic into the sphere.
Slowly The Doll unlaced her hand from Malina’s and pushed her head off of her neck before reluctantly walking towards the sphere. After a short moment The Doll stood before the sphere, with Madame Aziza looking at her with unnerving intensity. “Go on, do it; I might even reward you.” Madame Aziza said, leaning in closer to The Doll.
The Doll brought her hands up to the sphere, prompting Madame Aziza to remove hers as The Doll’s replaced them, gripping the sphere. Opening her mouth to speak The Doll began to recite the introduction she used to use to recite her magic: “I am Lady Ash—” The Doll found herself stuttering on her own words for reasons she didn't know. It was simple; all The Doll had to do was state her lineage name and the magic it possessed.
Yet even attempting to say this introduction after so long simply felt wrong.
The words of introduction were foreign to The Doll’s lips after twelve years of having never muttered them.
But if she even could, if the words somehow left The Doll’s lips with no effort—would she even want to utter them? What was the point in even trying it? All that would happen was that the crystal would remain completely clear, identifying The Doll’s lack of ability to use magic makes it plain to see her incompetence for everybody present. Or what if something even worse happened and the strings on her wrist acted up when The Doll introduced herself? These new strings were volatile, and The Doll had no idea how they truly worked.
Sensing The Doll's hesitation, Madame Aziza's expression shifted to one of disappointment as she softly said, “I get it; you must be scared, having never seen one of these before.” Her voice then perked up as she said, "Don't worry, I'm sure Kurath will show you how to do it right?” Madame Aziza shifted her gaze past The Doll to Lila.
Following Madame Aziza’s gaze The Doll looked over her own shoulder to see Lila uncomfortably shift. “I—If Lady Ahencroft needs me to do that, then I will.” Slowly following this declaration, Lila stood from her seat and began walking towards the two at the front of the classroom.
Before Lila could make it very far, Malina spoke up, “I'll gladly show Dollie how to do it.” Looking to Malina, The Doll saw her grinning widely, either excited at the prospect of using the magic sphere on Madame Aziza’s desk or the idea of showing off to The Doll.
Quickly dismissing Malina, Madame Aziza said, "No, you would break the crystal, and I don't have a second one. I would also like to see what Kurath can do.” Madame Aziza predatorily licked her lips after saying this, causing Lila to flinch.
Malina slumped down in her chair and said, "It's not my fault these stupid crystals can't hold my magic.” Malina crossed her arms and pouted as she said this in an action The Doll found oddly endearing.
Why did The Doll find that endearing? The Doll shouldn't find anything Malina did particularly endearing, much less a pout.
Focusing her gaze back on Lila The Doll saw that she was now nervously waiting for The Doll to remove her hands from the sphere. Prying her hands off the sphere The Doll allowed Lila to grab it and recite her introduction. Taking a deep breath Lila muttered, “I—I'm Lila Kurath, and my family's magic is…” Lila's face darkened before she even said the next word, prompting The Doll to cover her ears preemptively. “COTTON,” Lila shouted, her face darkening even further after shouting. Seeing that Lila was done with her declaration The Doll uncovered her ears and stared at the sphere, waiting to see what would happen next.
Almost immediately after Lila's introduction, the spheres' clearness filled up with a dim light that almost resembled the texture of a fluffy cloud. Seeing this caused Lila’s face to darken even further as she quickly pulled her hands away. Strangely The Doll noticed the sphere flash a slightly darker color as Lila ripped her hands away, but she quickly dismissed it as nothing, figuring it was likely typical for these spheres given the fact nobody else commented on it.
With Lila having finished demonstrating, Madame Aziza looked back towards The Doll and said, “Your turn now.” The Doll tensed up with Madame Aziza’s attention back on her. The problem wasn't that The Doll didn't know how to use the crystal, but it's not as though she could admit that to Madame Aziza. Telling her that The Doll didn't want to even attempt to activate her magic because of her own fear was unbecoming.
But what else could The Doll do but admit her own inability to mutter her family name? There was nothing The Doll could do but admit that she was afraid to say her family name.
Unless…
The Doll supposed she could blame it on the string on her wrist.
The Doll glanced down at her wrist, where the strings remained hidden from view. She could blame her hesitation on them. It wouldn't even be a complete lie; The Doll did fear that activating her magic could cause them to lash out again. The Doll didn't understand how they worked, and it would be perfectly reasonable for her to abstain from using the crystal sphere because of this.
Looking down The Doll clenched her fists.
No.
The Doll couldn't use these strings as an excuse to hide from her own shortcomings. This was a chance to help her fix this incompetence of hers, and The Doll couldn't hide from it because she was scared. The Doll needed to fix herself if she intended to even entertain the idea of facing Darius in the duel.
Unclenching her fists The Doll wrapped her hands around the sphere again and took a deep breath before closing her eyes to embrace comforting darkness. “I am Lady Ashencroft, only child and sole heir of the Ashencroft lineage. My magic is that of the never-ending cold that covers the land of Gelun.” The Doll didn't open her eyes after saying this, embracing the absolute silence that immediately followed her declaration.
Interrupting this silence was a sigh from Madame Aziza, who said, “Well, that was awfully anticlimactic; at least you've got a pretty face.” The Doll slowly opened her eyes when Madame Aziza said this to look at the sphere.
As The Doll had expected, the sphere remained crystal clear, showing no sign of magic within. Seeing this sight filled The Doll with a sense of disappointment for reasons she couldn't quite place given that this was the only outcome that could happen. Expecting anything else from this would have been foolish; no matter how many tools Mamdame Aziza used, it would be impossible to see something that was no longer present.
To her side The Doll could feel Lila's look of pity from her side that had become far too common in the short time since Malina had revealed The Doll's inability to use magic to her. In front of her The Doll could plainly see Madame Azizas's look of disappointment that reminded The Doll far too much of Father's own gaze towards her. These reactions were ones The Doll had grown used to seeing in the court of Gelun, yet despite the familiarity of these gazes to The Doll she still felt unnaturally hurt by them.
The Doll began to turn behind her to see what Malina's reaction was to this, but she stopped herself halfway through. The Doll wasn't sure why, but she found herself unable to meet Malina's gaze after making such a disappointing show. It almost felt as though Malina's disappointment would hurt The Doll far more than anybody else's.
In the end The Doll had only confirmed what she already knew to be true.
The Doll was a disappointment.