Months had passed by in a flash. There were a few constants in my life however. Milinda stayed in my life, but I could slowly feel that she was drifting away from me. She didn't smile as much anymore. I didn't know how to make her feel better so I did the best that I could. I gave her hugs, gave her my attention, and offered her on several occasions my greatest treasure; honeyed breads. However, I couldn't make that smile return to her face. Classes became much more challenging requiring me to study in my room after finishing up our training exercises with the Warden. After that first day though he didn't physically abuse any other students. Someone must have complained since he would get angry but never physically touched students. Every time we would come up to training however Milinda's face would naturally get grimmer and more grim. It wasn't until I finally spoke up one day in class to Kris about my situation.
"Milinda seems to be… having a hard time." I simply said to him. He looked at me from off to my right. After he came back to class I expected Kris to avoid me after nearly killing him, but much to my surprise he chose to sit in the seat next to me. Effectively blocking the two girls from being able to engage with me.
"What makes you think she's having a hard time?" He glanced from me to the classwork he had in front of him. Doing something similar to him I tried focusing on my work, but the thought of Milinda having a hard time kept my mind occupied.
"She isn't… smiling anymore." I could feel the pang in my chest at the thought that maybe I had caused something to affect her that way.
What if it was because my grades weren't high enough? Maybe the other maids were bullying her for being a maid to the freak.
I knew that I simply had to figure out the reason for Milinda's distance, but whenever I'd ask her if she was having a hard time she'd put on a fake smile. I felt powerless in my efforts to cheer her up. I could see Kris thinking next to me, and then he let out a decently loud sigh.
"I'll ask Nilhouse. He might know something but no promises ok?" He looked bored and resignated but after these past several months I knew he was someone that I could count on. I let out a defeated sigh and tried to focus on the formula in front of me. Instead of focusing on reading and writing they now had us learning math. This subject out of all of them was most certainly my most challenging. When it came to learning magical formulas Staples always would harp on how important math was to such subjects.
"Class, if you wish to drop a fireball onto an enemy troop that is 100 meters away how much magical energy would you need?" Staples turned to ask the class.
These were the subjects that we were always learning about. If a troop of soldiers were this far out how much energy would be needed to remove the air around them. Poison this area would require this much energy. Frankly these were boring subjects, but we were always informed that we would need to learn this if we wished to succeed. As the questions grew more difficult throughout the day I could feel my brain turning into mush. Kris seemed to not mind the difficult subject enjoying the extra attention from the teacher. Every time Staples would ask us a question Kris always had the right answer. After what felt like an eternity of sitting racking my brain for the correct answers Staples tapped the white board signaling that it was time to eat.
We already knew the way to the Chow Hall and didn't require maids during this time, but I still miss Milinda coming to pick me up. I gathered my supplies and hurried off to get my favorite food. As I left the door I could see Milinda moving down the hallway. She had a purple bruise right there on her face. I instinctively went to call out to her, but saw that she was entering a different room. It looked like she was on the verge of tears. I reminded myself to ask her about it later. I knew that I needed to hurry and eat to give myself enough energy to survive the physical training class. Linette urged me forward so that I could get my honeyed bread.
I could feel Linette getting restless underneath my skin. Lately she had grown more comfortable. She had seeped her way into every section of my body. She wasn't just one or two tendrils anymore, but instead a fully branching tree. I could feel a constant warmth seeping into every section of my body. She was also able to send me her feelings which were difficult to deal with at first. I would all of sudden break out into uncontrollable fits of crying. In some moments I felt uncontrollable anger, but after working on placing my feelings and hers apart things had balanced out a bit better. We still weren't able to communicate with each other like we had that first day, but I had confidence we'd be able to do that again someday.
I rushed off from chow to get to the Warden's class. Even though he didn't physically assault students he could still make our lives a living hell. I ran to the sandpit and realized that I was the first one to make it there. I sighed in relief realizing that maybe I could have eaten more food, but thought it better realizing that I would probably just lose it during our physical training sessions. That's when it hit me. I could hear Milinda's voice somewhere off in the distance. I began to follow the voice realizing that maybe she was busy, but I missed seeing her like I had those first few months. I rounded the corner and saw the Warden's fist clasping her upper arm. He had his face lowered so that his mouth was inches away from her ear. My blood ran cold.
Linette from under my skin was seething with anger. He was hurting one of my people. I could see that she had a tear falling down her face, and charged forward without thinking.
"Milinda!" I called out to her with a smile while waving. The Warden released her arm but first whispered something in her ear. I saw her nod and with a shaking voice called back to me.
"What are you doing here sweetie?" She stepped away from him but kept glancing back at him while walking over. She stepped up to me, clasping her arm where he had been squeezing her. I kept looking behind her glaring daggers at the Warden. He must have noticed because he gave me a wave with that wolffish grin on his face.
"Honey, aren't you supposed to be in physical training? What are you doing here?" I could tell that she knew I was glaring at the Warden.
"Why don't you go on back so that I can finish talking to him?" She gave me another one of her fake smiles. This time though I wasn't going to allow her to leave me. Leave me with that fake smile. It had been killing me. Linette's anger was boiling under my skin, and I could feel my slip on my emotions gradually losing control. The energy was overwhelming. It was seeking something. Images kept flashing into my mind of Linette lashing out causing pain to this human. That was when it dawned on me. He was human. A plain filthy fucking human. One flick of Linette would have him careening through the hall. Linette could charge up the energy to remove the air from his surroundings. Leaving him gasping for air like a fish out of water. He did it to us first.
That wasn't my thought but instead Linette's but I couldn't have agreed more. I took a step around Milinda. My eyes locked onto the Wardens. I could see his grin leave his face, and his eyes darkened.
"What Little Bitch? Wanna have a fucking go?!" He started stepping forward which only fueled Linette's anger. I could feel her energy crackling at my fingertips. He quickened his pace covering distance quicker than I could have imagined. I reached my hands out willing the energy from Linette to end this puny human. Linette in the flash of an eye sucked the air from his surroundings. However he must have suspected this because he looked around him, drawing a big breath and he kept up his pursuit.
"Seph stop it!" I could hear Milinda yelling from behind me causing me to look back. I could see more bruises around her neck. My world went red.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. His gaze turned murderous. He covered the distance of fifteen feet almost instantaneously. I expected this and roasted the air to melting temperatures. The marble at our feet was exploding, launching shards in all sorts of directions. I moved a hand behind me shielding Milinda from the shrapnel and allowed Linette to slap the other pieces away from me. He stopped due to the heat, but thought better and went to grab at my throat.
"Not again this time!" I screamed at him. I could hear a commotion coming from behind me, but I thought better than to give attention to it. I instead kept up my onslaught against the Warden. Linette unleashed a tendril attempting to grasp at his wrist. She caught him but did little more than cause him to pause a few inches away from my throat. He glared at his hand and attempted to move past it. I commanded Linette to send more tendrils downwards grabbing at his ankles effectively locking him in place. I could feel her coil around him, squeezing as she was locking him in place. Then sent a sudden surge of energy towards his heart. The energy seeped rapidly through every place that Linette was grasping him. Even though the fight had only lasted all of three seconds I could see that it was effective. The scariest man on the planet was standing there with sheer surprise on his face. Blood began to pool at his mouth then as if he was a ragdoll went limp in Linette's grasp.
Blood seeped from his eyes, it leaked from his mouth, and then finally his ears. I stood there triumphantly looking down at what I had done. The man who abducted me from my home now lay at my feet with a still beating heart. I could feel Linette roar from within me causing energy to spark around me. I stood there watching the blood begin to pool out around my feet.
"Don't fucking touch my people." I nearly spat at his still corpse. Then the commotion that I had heard behind me began to get reabsorbed into my world. I could hear some of the other students behind me cheering while others were whispering amongst themselves. I was too scared to turn around to face Milinda, and just stared at the blood as I took in a few deep breaths. Slowly, I turned to face the woman I tied to protect.
"I'm sorry Milinda… I didn't like him causing you not to smile anymore." I tried giving her a smile, but could tell by her face that she was scared of me. I really had become a monster in this place. Teachers parted the students like the Red Sea, and saw what I had done. I had killed a teacher and the panic was instantaneous. I could see Staples and Mandi the nurse pushing past students rushing over to Milinda. Mandi was taking Milinda away while Staples rushed over to the Warden and myself. I realized I was still standing in his pool of blood, but thought better than to move suddenly.
However I was shocked by Staples' expression on his face. He stared between the Warden and myself, giving me a wry smile.
"He was kind of a bastard huh?" He lightly chuckled to himself. He then casted a spell to lift up the Warden lifting him off the ground. He still had one shoe that was slightly touching the ground.
"Follow me Sephanie." He then proceeded to walk down the hall. The one shoe was still dragging along the ground. The scrapping was a constant reminder of what I had just done. Instead of the feeling of anger flooding my system it was a weird mixture of guilt and satisfaction. I had spent so many years being terrified of him, but looking into his face, he was truly dead. His eyes were staring at the ceiling forever stuck staring blankly. I trailed behind professor Staples not knowing what was going to happen next.
Are they going to throw me in another cell? Linette sent me reassuring feelings, but I could tell her emotions were just as chaotic as mine. Staples stopped off in a room depositing the Warden on one of the tables and turned back around. He still wasn't speaking to me, but clearly wanted me to still follow him. We walked for quite some time until we arrived at an iron door. He opened it with an elaborate looking key that hung around his neck.
"Please proceed inside Miss Sephanie." Staples stood off next to the door gesturing to me to enter. I peeked inside the room and dread instantly flooded my system. I could see a bed, a toilet, a desk, and then finally no handle on the inside of the room. It was another cell. I began to panic not wanting to be locked up again.
"I'm sorry Staples…!" I wanted to clutch at his collar. I wanted to escape from being put into another cell room. "Please enter Miss Sephanie." He had a determined face, signaling to me that there would be no talking him out of it. I begrudgingly walked into the room. Then with a loud slam the door closed behind me.
Time passed by at a snail's pace. I could practically feel that I was digging a hole from where I was pacing on the floor. Panic was clawing at my throat as I pondered on what they would do to me for killing a teacher. Surely I was going to be going back to the cells permanently. What if they kill us?
Linette sent images to me stating it was worth it to not only protect one of our own, but also get rid of the man who took our voice. I couldn't lie but I did feel partially proud that we had snuffed the life of someone so miserable. I plopped onto the bed trying to will darkness to consume me, but the only thing that consumed me was the anxiety clawing at my chest.
I'm not sure how much time passed, but no one came to get me. I could feel my stomach clawing it's way up my throat. Each rumble sent a wave of pain each worse than the last. I knew due to how hungry I was that a decent amount of time had passed.
After more time crawled along I could faintly hear footsteps on the other side of the door. I sat up in bed hugging my knees to my chest.
I could hear two people outside arguing and then the door swung open. Outside of the door were two guards, one was holding a tray of food while the other held a necklace or bracelet of some kind.
"Take the neck collar and fasten it before eating." He threw the necklace onto the bed. I looked it over and it truly did seem like a simple necklace. I unfastened it and slid it around my neck. Upon clasping the necklace together I could feel all the strength get sapped from my body. The draining energy slid it's way into my bones and even tore at Linette's roots that had built all across my body. Finally the sickening energy stopped around my core essentially cutting off my communication with Linette.
"Here eat your food!" The other guard rudely shoved the food onto the foot of the bed. I gingerly picked at the food which was a small bowl of soup, a stale looking piece of bread, and a small piece of jerky. The guards stood at the edge of the room waiting for me to finish my food I presumed. I quickly ate the food that was on my tray feeling it plop into a completely empty stomach. It gurgled in response and I had to fight the urge to allow the food to come back up.
After fighting the urge to vomit I finished the last piece of bread and went to get up to hand the tray back to the guards. Upon seeing me attempt to stand they rushed into the room and roughly took the tray from my hands.
"Get down!" The guard who had yanked the tray from me yelled inches from my face.
Startled at the sudden loud sound I quickly went back to my position of clutching my knees to my chest. The two guards stomped from the room slamming the door behind them as they left.
It seemed like this process continued for the next couple of weeks. I'd be awakened to the guards doing this. Occasionally a bath would be provided to me by a female maid while the guards would stay outside of the room, but ultimately there was never any Melinda, there was no Kris, there was no Staples, there was just pure loneliness. The most lonely feeling of all though was feeling Linette from within give me reassurance. I could feel her in my core, but barely at that.
After the schedule had repeated for a while longer there was finally a day it had changed. I had a team of maids that entered my room, they fully cleaned me in the room, they put powder on my face, they fed me really nice meals, and then finally dressed me in my original school clothes. However none of the maids would speak with me. That collar still rested upon my neck. That first night I had attempted to take it off, but every time I tried it felt like some type of magic prevented me from even touching the necklace. Nothing I had tried would remove it. Months later I was still wearing the choker on my neck.
After months of sitting there in silence I could feel my voice gradually vanish from me again. The fear that I had when I was a child started suffocating me again. The pain of that squeeze could be felt squeezing the air from my lungs. The maids would come in every day feeding me, cleaning every pore of my body, but still that ever present silence. Until one day instead of the maids it was the Headmaster.
"Hello, Sephanie" The headmaster squeezed himself into the tiny room. He had his hands crossed behind his back. There was no smile in his eyes, instead it was an ever present tenseness. Ah… they view me as a monster now. It was moments like this that I missed the tickle of Linette within me. While this choker remained at my throat however there wasn't even a stirring from her within me.
"What are we to do with you?" He stood there staring at me. I could feel myself shrinking within myself. Every word he said made me feel even more reserved. It felt like I had fallen into a massive ravine. The headmaster seemed further away and clouded in darkness. My breathing came more and more rapidly. I clinched at the pants that were slightly too snug on my calves. I could feel the itchiness of the blanket scratch through my clothes on my bottom. I tried responding to the Headmaster, beg for forgiveness, but nothing came.
My voice was gone. A wisp of air was all that escaped my mouth. I could see the corners of his mouth tighten in annoyance. "You killed a professor…" He took one step forward. I pressed my back further into the back of the wall. I scooted my feet even closer in on myself. At this point I was slowly becoming a ball. If someone had seen me at this moment they could have mistaken me for some sickly kitten.
I earnestly wished to respond to his statement, but yet again nothing came from my throat. Arms still crossed behind his back he leaned slightly forward putting his face alarmingly close. "Normally we'd have put you to death as a risk. However, we shall proceed forward since you are close to graduation. Then from there you'll be the next person's issue." He turned on his heel and proceeded to step forth from the room. At the entry of the door he stopped and turned his head to look at me once more.
"Do not ruin our image." He slammed the door behind him. I sobbed. I sobbed due to loneliness. I sobbed due to not being able to feel Linette any further. Everything felt like it was crashing around me. I clawed at my throat wishing that I could have spoken. Done something to defend myself against killing that pathetic excuse for a human. Could he even be considered human? My nails drew thin red lines of heat along my throat. The pain helped slightly appease the endless abyss within myself. Then finally darkness consumed me.
Further loneliness for what I could only assume had been months. The same routine of maids coming in. It was slightly amusing to see their faces at my obviously torn up throat. I had scratched it enough to warrant bandages, an outfit change, and bedding were replaced. They had replaced the bandages for the next week, but finally even that healed. A part of me wanted to rip at it again, but knew that it would only further increase their work. Then finally I could feel tiredness start to consume me on another uneventful day, until I heard the faintness of knocks upon the door. I shot up from where I was perched.
The door slightly went ajar and I could see that all too familiar black shoe. It was my Melinda! I shot up from bed and went to hug her but stopped cold. I could see her face was clouded by a scowl instead of her normal smile. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. I could tell by her aura that she was most certainly not interested in any sort of affection. I sat back down drawing my knees to my chest again.
"Hello Little One." Melinda said coldly. She stood a few feet apart from me, hands were crossed into her lap, but I could tell that she was upset. I stared up at her hoping that she would give me any sort of affection, but my hopes were misplaced. She sighed and looked me up and down. "At least you look like they're treating you well." She didn't step forward and instead stood there like she couldn't be bothered to comfort me. "I wanted to talk with you and share my side of the story. You've been included in my nightmares and I fear that I wouldn't survive my own conscience if I didn't at least speak with you one more time. She scowled at me and I could feel that tears threatened the back of my eyes.
"It was roughly ten years ago, but I was just like you. I was taken from my home, but unlike you I was rated as a D grade mage. No future hope to become a mage. I know some basic spells but nothing impressive like the S class students. I failed every subject and the fear that I would be killed encroached on my life every day. Maveson or who you know as the Warden was just like myself, but instead of being in fear, the teachers liked that he was good at a very select few skills. He was able to convert his magic to increase his strength and speed. He wasn't talented at converting it into spells like you do, but instead he was much more talented than the everyday knight. There I was looking at the same rank mage as me, but all I could feel was jealousy. Finally I was given a choice by the Headmaster. I could either be submitted to experiments like the grade Fs were, or I could become a maid for this academy." She shuddered while speaking, took a deep breath and continued. "I obviously chose to become a maid instead of… the alternative. I was put through courses on becoming a maid and was finally given the chance to become a maid for students. Due to my age and gender they finally assigned me to you. Maveson used the knowledge that I was essentially grooming you to be sold to blackmail me. That day you walked upon us was the day he decided to be… extra rough with me. I truly enjoyed my time with you, but I didn't want to see your face after graduation. I don't regret any decision I made, but I am sad to see that you'll be leaving. Finally I will also thank you for ending his life. Even though he used to be my friend he truly changed for the worst. Thank you Little One." She looked at me for a second longer then started making her way to the door. I went to stand up, but she quickly turned to look me in my eyes.
"Don't Little One. Just don't."
She quickly left the door leaving me feeling reeling. I finally had no one. I could feel something snap within me. The little bit of life that I had seemed to ebb away from me. The one person I thought that was on my side was in fact just raising me to make it easier to sell me off. Darkness consumed me. Days passed by in a blur. I could tell that people came and went from my room, I could feel that time was passing, but ultimately I had little desire to engage in anything around me. I was finally guided away and brought into a massive room. I could feel stares on me, but I had little desire to give any acknowledgment to anything around me. I was led up to a stage with bright lights blinding me.
People around me were speaking. I could vaguely tell that they were speaking about me. A few words stuck out to me, but I just stood there allowing the darkness to keep me consumed. I was then shuffled off the stage and was brought to a dark room. Maids stripped me of my clothes allowing the cold air to sink into my skin. I just allowed the goose flesh to rise causing every hair to stand on end. Then finally a box was brought to me to open. I just stood there staring at this pure white box with a big red ribbon attached to it. I could feel someone sigh near me and they undid the ribbon. What lay inside stirred something within me. I could see a pure white robe inside. Along the edges of the robe was a vibrant dark blue.
The maids quickly dressed me in my new robe. The clothes seemed perfectly tailored to me. They brushed my pure white hair and left me in the room. I couldn't help but draw my eyes to my profile in the mirror. There lay a girl with no emotion on her face, but instead the pure white hair looked oddly ethereal against the white of the robe. There though beneath that unsmiling face was the exact reason I couldn't speak with Linette. That damned collar lay there as a constant reminder of what I had done. I could hear voices beyond the door of a male I'd never heard before. I could hear voices of maids but still I stared at that black necklace. Then the door bursting open caused me to jump. I whipped my head to stare at the intruder as he entered the room.
A gruff looking younger man in a similar robe stood at the entrance. He crossed into the room looking me up from head to toe. "Wanna leave this fucking dump?" He raised an eyebrow. I could see maids pour into the room behind him. "Sir Henry!" The maids shrilled at the man in front of me. "There are processes for this!" He waved his hand at the several maids behind him barely giving them attention. He let out a low whistle looking me up from head to toe.
"Damn… the outfit looks good on you. I'd say you were born to be with the White Dragon Knights. The guy's are gonna fucking love you." He circled me ignoring the cacophony of maids trying to coral him out of the room. "So we done here or what?" He finally addressed the maids. They gave each other panicked looks trying to determine on how best to proceed with the young man. "Hey I already paid that fucking exorbitant price for her." He took my hand in his and tried to forcibly lead me out of the room. I did little to put up a fight still feeling the darkness attempting to draw me back down. I followed behind my purchaser putting up little resistance.
I could hear yelling and shouting happening behind me. "Sir Henry!" The headmaster hobbled over. His old age caused him to huff as he tried to run over. The man dressed in white looked behind him huffed and tried to step even faster. I could feel my arm get tugged harder while he quickened his pace. I allowed my feet to shuffle behind him. I was oddly amused watching the old Headmaster have to grab his knees in exhaustion.
"There are processes for which you can take her. This will not look good for your father!" The Headmaster yelled after Lord Henry. I just stood there staring between the faces of the Headmaster and Lord Henry. At this I could see Lord Henry's jawline tense in irritation. "As we speak I'm losing parts of our army to the encroaching forces of the demons. The more time we dawdle here the more of my men die. I will be leaving with her in order to bring one more dad home to their kids." At this he turned around and started dragging me back down the hallway.
"Guards!" He yelled while pointing to us as a pair. "Ah fuck…!" He looked behind him. He looked down at my lifeless face. "Excuse me… we really can't delay any further." At this he picked me up into his arms causing me to startle. Then took off in a light jog. I bounced in his arms staring at the guards slowly closing in on us. I did little to resist as he dodged guards trying to tangle him up. Whenever I'd feel magic activate I could faintly hear him whisper something under his breath and the activation of the magic would stop. After losing the initial guards chasing us, did he finally look at me.
"So… you used to this or something?" He looked down at me smiling. I just stared at his face un-answering. He scowled at the lack of reply and took off into a sprint. In a few moments I could hear people yelling in front of us and also behind us. "Man, I already paid, why are they being so difficult?" I could hear the breath come in low whistles as the man sprinted down the hall. The guards in front of us were yelling at the man, but instead he kept running down the hall."
"George!" Henry yelled into the air. I could feel a tendril of magic appear and summon a step of air. The man used this and sent himself flying into the air to launch himself above the guards. He sprinted past the doors and sent us flying into the open night sky. It felt like it had been forever since I saw stars so bright. It was quite the contrast against the fair skin of my savior. I looked behind us as the sight of the school became a speck into the night sky. The man kept me in his arms for a while longer before exhaustion settled into his arms. He came to a slow jog until he stopped running altogether. He set me down onto my feet. I could see beads of sweat drip down from his forehead.
"So Little Mage…" He looked over to me, giving me a once over.
"Hopefully you really are as strong as they say you are. I looked him over, allowing my eyes to settle on his face. Instead of responding I pointed to the choker on my neck. He looked between the choker and my face. I could see puzzlement settle on his face.
"Nice necklace?" He shrugged and I quickly shook my head. I tried to summon my voice but nothing came from my open mouth. I tried to gesture at him to remove it, but instead I could see him staring behind me.
"Fuck they caught up fast. Hopefully you can run." He turned, grabbed my hand and started running off into the woods yet again. I could feel my legs strain to keep pace with him, but also knew that the alternative was going back to that school. I finally had nothing left there. I figured that even Kris hated me at this point. I finally had nothing left in this world now. Except an owner that is.