Melena slid across the tiles before crashing into the wall. The tough stone refused to yield, unlike her bones. She felt the pressure mount on them as they put up a brief resistance, before the force from the impact overcame their feeble defence and they broke. She howled in pain out of habit, but she barely registered it. It was mere physical pain. Significant physical pain, perhaps, but still, it was only her body. She was far too occupied with the situation at hand and the mental anguish that was tormenting every fibre of her being to care for something as minor as broken bones and cuts both large and small.
Footsteps rang through the long hallway as the source of her nightmare was approaching her. Through her dazed eyes she saw him coming. Feng, sole heir to the Dukedom of Avaran, a very wealthy and incredibly powerful nation that rivalled most kingdoms. Or so the man introduced himself at every occasion, even though rank and power were supposed to count for naught in these halls.
She felt how he picked her up by the neck. Not even the clothes, no, he just grabbed her by the neck. She was vaguely aware of the minor annoyance that this meant that she couldn't breathe in properly anymore. Instead, her mouth was wide open as her body desperately gasped for the much needed oxygen. Her hands clawed weakly at his, her body on autopilot as her mind kept panicking.
These halls were supposed to be sacred. One of the core tenets was that, under no circumstances, were students allowed to harm or threaten other students. What the punishment for breaking the rules was, none of the younger students knew. The older students merely shook their head warily when asked and suddenly had to be somewhere else. It had made her feel safe here, for the first time in her entire life. Steadily but surely, under the tender ministrations of the teacher, she had put her past behind, letting her mind bury the scars of abuse beneath the fresh flow of the knowledge she had so desperately craved her entire life. For the first time in her long, long eighteen years, she had felt at home. Safe.
And look where we are now. She wished that part of her head would shut up. It was strange. She had been beside herself with elation. She finally reached the stage where she could split her mind in three separate, yet equally sentient and functioning parts, and then this had happened. She had been on her way to report her success to her teacher, full of pride, the three parts of her mind lulling her into a deep sense of peace with their discordance. Now one part was somehow registering everything and watching events unfold as if they were part of a story, another was busy making snarky remarks, and the last... Well... Panicked screeching and wailing in fear was one way to occupy yourself as your personal history was repeating itself.
Were we always that stupid? came the snarky voice. She could feel the grin behind those words, full of self pity. She didn't dignify it with a response. It wouldn't help anyway. She knew what caused this.
"Bitch!" shouted Feng. "You dare deny me? Me!" he bellowed, his muscles tightening from the force he exerted on her throat. She felt it grow tighter, how her trachea was slowly being crushed. Her body fought against it, but she was no match for him. He growled at her and tossed her again. The two parts of her mind that weren't beyond themselves flinched as her body crashed into the ground, slid across the smooth tiles while leaving a trail of blood behind, before smashing into another wall.
Okay, time to panic now. He's going to kill us!
'Oh really?' she thought back. 'Now we're starting to get worried?' The other part was right though. At first, she thought he'd do the usual. Hit her, beat her to a pulp, rape her, dump her abused body behind somewhere while he went to have a drink and brag about it to his mates. Clearly he had other plans now.
She had really hoped that this place was different. She couldn't help having been born with this body. So many people regarded her as beautiful beyond compare. 'A true gift of the Lord!' the old baron had called her. 'Sent down from Heaven to reward us for our loyalty!' She had felt so happy, at first, when he had told her that. Yet when the baron had come to court her, she had denied him. She was only thirteen after all. A child. The baron hadn't been so courteous after that. The last she saw of her parents was them nodding obediently, receiving a few pennies and a 'thank ye m'lord, you're ever so generous!'
"Well? Nothing to say, wench?" came Feng's voice, pulling her out of her memories. "First you seduce me over and over and over! Flaunting yourself all over me! Winking at me! Playing games with me! And I'm nothing but polite! Courteous! Friendly! And when I finally tire of your games and ask for more, you have the gal to act offended! To be disgusted by me! Me! I'm the heir to the Dukedom of Avaran!" He picked her up by the neck again. "You're a peasant! A nobody! You should be honoured by the fact that I paid attention to you at all! You—" he dropped her.
We're not dead? the snarky part mused in bewilderment. Both sane parts of her mind watched from her dazed eyes as Feng recoiled, as if bitten by a snake. Then he froze in place, ceasing to move all-together. He didn't blink, didn't breathe. As if he had become a statue.
She vaguely became aware of footsteps behind her. Then she felt a large hand softly pressing on her shoulder, where one of the larger cuts was. She gasped as she felt something stir from the wound, extending itself through her entire body as all three fragments were engulfed in something that cut her off entirely from the outside world. It only lasted for a brief moment, but when she regained her consciousness, her mind was one again, the panic gone, and her body healed. That could only mean...
She turned around and was greeted by a warm smile as the hand pulled her to her feet with ease. "Ma—" she began, before he cut her off with a gesture.
He walked past her, towards the still frozen Feng. Without knowing how he did it, the teacher let go of the... not spell. Trick? Illusion? She honestly had no idea how he did what he did. It did result in Feng crashing to the ground though.
"Student Feng. Recite to me the four rules you sworn to obey when you entered here." The voice wasn't cold, nor unpleasant. If anything, it carried a sort of bored acceptance, as if he had seen this play out a thousand times before.
"S-s-sir, I—"
"The rules, Feng," the teacher repeated, his gaze slowly sweeping over the traces of blood that marred the clean halls.
"Sir, you do—" was about as far as he got before he started screaming in pain. The teacher hadn't moved. He stood still, several steps away from the man that was thrashing about on the ground as if he was under torture. He wasn't even looking at Feng.
"The rules," he simply demanded once more.
It took a while before Feng could respond and even then it came in short screams as the pain continued. "Obey you! Don't damage the house! Don't go where we aren't allowed to go! Don't harm other students!" As soon as he finished reciting the rules the torment seemed to stop and his limbs flopped down on the floor.
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The teacher walked over to Feng and knelt down besides him, still showing no emotions. "Do you think you broke one in this situation?"
"Sir, I—" He didn't get very far. The pain resumed instantly.
The teacher turned towards Melena, ignoring the screaming Feng. "Do you think he broke one?" he asked her.
"Yes sir," she replied, her eyes downcast.
She felt his fingers press against her chin, forcing her to look up. "Don't be so down. You've done nothing wrong. As a matter of fact, you've done very well. Split your mind in three? That's a damn rapid pace you're growing at. Congratulations." There was a flicker of life in his eyes again, as he said that. His smile was broad and gentle and voice both warm and heartfelt.
She felt that feeling of safety wash over her again and brightened a little. "Thank you, sir."
"Now then," he started, turning towards a still screaming Feng. "To deal with this mess. Nobody's been stupid enough to break the rules in a lo—ong time," he said. He cut off the flow of pain towards the student, who steadily climbed to his feet. "Well then Feng? Anything to say for yourself?"
"Sir, I—"
"Good!" the teacher interrupted. "Better think well on it. Melena, be a good girl and gather the other students to the debate room, will you? And get your story straight, select your witnesses, who can support your claims. Feng, I'll expect you to do the same. Oh don't worry, it was just a bit of pain, you're physically still perfectly healthy. Now off you two go. Don't make any troubles. I'm expecting to see all of you in the debate hall in about an hour from now."
Melena turned to obey, before pausing. Something bothered her. "Sir..."
"Yes girl?" came the instant reply. The teacher's face was kept carefully neutral, except for a twinkling in his eyes.
"How long were you standing behind me before you interfered?" she asked, unable to keep an accusing glare from leaking out.
The teacher smiled. "Ah, see, this is why I think you're such a promising student. You actually think rather than blindly absorb and mimic!" He leaned against one of the pillars and his eyes turned cold and dispassionate. He made a gesture towards Feng to scurry along, which the young man promptly did. "I was there the entire time. I knew this would happen as well. It's the very reason I let Feng study here in the first place. Stupid twat's worse than useless. Too arrogant and incompetent to realise that he doesn't belong here as well."
"Then wh—"
A sharp glare shut her up and she took a step back. She narrowed her eyes. If he had wanted her to keep quiet, he could've very easily given her enough pain to do so. He hadn't, however. If there was one thing she knew from how he taught then it was that he wanted people to think for themselves. So that's what she did. She slowly split her mind into three fragments again, letting each of them run along a different track of thought as they worked together towards the most probable solution. She felt encouraged by how the teacher was simply standing there, arms folded, patiently waiting.
"You wanted this to happen," she began. He didn't respond. That bit of info he had told her himself, so she continued. "The other students never talk about what happens when someone breaks the rules. They disappear when we ask them. So it is a very heavy punishment. One so horrifying they hesitate to recall it."
"Does that concept bother you?" he asked, taking her off-guard.
She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, it doesn't."
"Why not?" Another weird question that she couldn't place.
"Because..." she hesitated. He waited. "Because of what I've been through. I don't feel pity for someone who has hurt me, and was planning to do so much more."
"Not entirely what I meant. After all, the two of you will still have to debate over who is the guilty party here."
She opened her mouth to protest against that, but fell silent when she spotted his feral grin. He was baiting her! When she noticed that she closed her mouth again, his grin turned into a broad smiled and he nodded encouragingly. "Would be stupid of me to punish the useful student and let the idiot get off without a hitch, wouldn't it? Mind you, if he defends himself better than you..." he left the rest unsaid. "Now, continue."
She was starting to figure it out. The entire purpose of this charade. "You want to set an example. To make sure the rules are enforced. Because..." she ran through her minds, going over countless lectures and books that she read. "Because one example of a person getting punished will hold the rest better in check than countless warnings!"
He clapped his hands. "Spot on! Now why would I let you go through so much pain just for an example?"
That question shook her. She had started figuring it out, though. He gave part of the answers away through his facial expressions. All of them were nothing but an act, she realised that now. He taught. That was all he did. And he really didn't shirk any means to get a lesson across. "Because you don't care," she said, suddenly sure of it. "I'm alive, you undid the damage and you got what you wanted. All of us will have learned something."
"Exactly!" he clapped again, then crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He towered over her, suddenly cold and uncaring. "I teach you. In return you respect my rules. Plenty of lessons are harsh, painful and downright distasteful. But at the end of the day, I do not care for you lot. You are temporary. Gone in a moment. A momentary distraction. I am not here to shelter you from life. Nor do I particularly care if you are happy or not," he whispered.
She felt shivers of fear run across her spine. "But that doesn't make any sense!" she protested. "You teach us and raise us and then you say you don't care for us! That doesn't make any sense at all!" she shouted, anger bubbling to the surface. The next thing she knew she was being tossed into the air while the teacher had a happy grin on his face while she let out another scream.
"See, I knew you were a smart one!" he caught her again, ruffled her hair while laughing, and put her on the ground again. "Never believe things blindly, especially not the crap I spout. Always think for yourself. If you let others decide how your world is defined, you are lost." He winked at her. "Now go fetch the others. I expect to see a beautiful debate. And if you do well, I'll give you a chance for revenge on those who wronged you in the past, if you want it." He walked off, waving at her as he went.
She didn't move until he rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. She left to do what she was instructed, but couldn't shake off the tremendous confusion the teacher had left her with. His promise of vengeance was something she didn't even consider. She had enough on her mind as it was.
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