As soon as Sophie woke up, she heard the ringing voice of her assistant Lulu:
"Good morning."
She was sitting obediently on the edge of the bed. Her body was partially covered with a blanket since after the night incident she was left completely without clothes.
It took Sophie some time to finally recover from her morning drowsiness. And when she was able to get a better look at Lulu, a smile immediately appeared on her face:
"Lulu, good morning."
"I'm glad you think so too."
"Of course, because we survived the attack of the mushroom troll..." Sophia yawned sweetly. "Why aren't you in class yet?"
"I'd like to go, but I don't have any clothes," Lulu replied, embarrassed.
Rising from her seat, Sophie sympathized with her:
"Let's try to solve your problem. I think I have some spare clothes."
Sofia went to the closet and opened it. She began to dig inside, trying to find at least something that could look like student clothes. Lulu tried on several robes, but none of them fit. The difference in height and physique affected because Sophie was much smaller.
"I'm sorry, but this is all I have," she apologized.
"It's okay," Lulu said cheerfully. "I'll try to get to my room, covered with a blanket. I hope I won't meet anyone on the way."
"Check the suitcase," the teddy bear suddenly woke up.
"There's nothing there," Sophie gave the familiar a sidelong glance.
"It should be here! I remember you stuffing that dress in there. It will suit her," Bonbon insisted.
Sophie did not want to part with another memorable thing for her sister, but a sense of guilt took over her. She pulled out a suitcase from under the bed and, indeed, as her familiar said, found a dress in it. This black outfit with lace, a corset, and a full knee-length skirt was decorated with scarlet bows and ribbons. It was intended for soirees, and its velvet fabric was so soft to the touch and light as a feather. Lulu has seen similar luxurious dresses on the shelves of city ateliers. But the prices for them were biting hard, and only members of the royal family, as well as wealthy nobles, could afford to spend a fortune on them.
"No. I can't accept it," Lulu decided to refuse the gift of fate.
"Do you remember that you have to follow my orders?" Sophie reminded her. "I demand that you try it on."
Lulu reluctantly had to put on a dress. It sat on her like a glove, hiding all the flaws of her body and highlighting all her natural beauty. And Sophie could only stare enviously at Lulu with her eyes:
" I would never have thought that it would suit anyone else."
"I knew this dress would suit Lulu," Bonbon said with satisfaction.
"Okay, you can go, Lulu," Sophie waved her to the door.
"Are you sure?" Lulu still couldn't believe her ears. "I will return it to you."
"No, leave it. This is a small gift. The dress is still too big for me."
"A small gift?! You already gave me a magic ring! Maybe you…"
"Lulu, do you want me to kick you out of my room?" Sophie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest in displeasure.
"No, not at all!" Lulu realized that it was time to leave her mentor alone. "Then... then…"
She couldn't just take these things and leave, she wanted to repay Sophie for her kindness with something. And only one thing came to mind:
"I can play you something on the violin. Come to the music class this evening."
"Is there a subject "music" in the academy?"
"There was once, but now there is only an abandoned hall with very good acoustics," Lulu told her. "However, if you don't like music, then I'm not forcing you."
"Music? What nonsense!" Sophie laughed. — Who needs it nowadays?"
These words hurt Lulu, but she could not say anything to her benefactress.
"I'm sorry you feel that way..." she bowed and left Sophie's chambers.
"What did I do wrong again?" Sofia was perplexed.
"You seem to have a gift for bringing suffering to others," the familiar remarked.
"It's their fault! I have nothing to do with it."
"What about someone who could play the piano for hours?" Bonbon said softly. "Such a little girl, crying all alone. Do you remember anything?"
"It's all in the past. I have changed, or rather, my sister has changed me…"
Meanwhile, Lulu was flying through the corridors of the academy like a meteor. At the same time, she had to lift the hem of her dress so as not to stumble on the steps of numerous stairs. And Lulu's thoughts were in a completely different world right now. She remembered how she sported a heavy, bulky, but charming dress at the reception of the king himself. How I stood for three hours waiting for noble persons, how I listened to the sad speeches of noble maidens, how I endured standing in line for the restroom. Why were these unpleasant memories? Was she lucky enough to receive memorable gifts from Sophie? And yet the last words about music stung right into her heart.
Having safely reached her room, Lulu changed into a robe, and Sophie's dress was put away in the closet. Now she has a real treasure that she will keep until the end of time.
"Maybe I should wear it to play the violin? Lulu thought. — Oh, how I want to play! And I don't care what Sophie said about music. Let her think what she wants, but music is everything to me!"
Dreaming about the upcoming evening, Lulu went to class. Today, according to the plan, there was a test on mythical animals, for which she was not particularly well prepared because of the adventures with Sophie. The subject was taught by a shaggy goblin, as old as the academy itself. One-eyed like a pirate, he liked to come to class in a green protective jumpsuit and looked more like an amateur gardener than an expert on magical creatures. His name was Glum, and his full name was Glum-Furry-Belly.
"Good morning, Mr. Glum," the students greeted him.
"It's not a good morning, but a gloomy one," he muttered discontentedly.
Classes were held in a regular study room, from which it was possible to get into a menagerie, where exotic animals lived behind bars.
"Why is it gloomy?" one of the students asked.
"Someone pronounced the final form of the spell -Elum-," — Glum calmly replied.
"And what is it?"
"Quiet. We have a test today, and don't talk my teeth here!" He slammed his fist on the table.
Goblin handed the head of the group a stack of paper, and she began to distribute the sheets to her peers.
"Lulu, do you know anything about Elum?" Nana asked her friend.
"Yes, it's..." Lulu wanted to tell her about what happened yesterday, but, remembering the agreement, bit her tongue. "It must be a very bad spell."
"Probably," Nana sighed. "There's always something they're not telling us as if we're under the Inquisition's thumb here."
Soon they were handed sheets of dough. Fortunately for Lulu, the questions turned out to be a piece of cake. She quickly answered them and even met a question about one creature that almost killed her.
"Lulu, do you know what kind of animal is not afraid of magic?" Nana asked her for help.
"A mushroom troll," she replied confidently.
"Are there such things?"
"Yes, indeed. Very angry and dangerous," Lulu shared her experience with her.
"Stop talking!" the goblin's eye searched for the culprit of the breach of silence, but did not find her.
Glum muttered something under his nose with a wart and started reading the novel again. He was still a lover of books, he could easily forget about the lesson and let the students do their own business.
When the time ran out and the tests were on the teacher's desk, he decided to continue the lesson. And it was about lizards who prefer to live in hot caves of volcanoes.
"A fire salamander!" Glum said loudly and raised his finger. "A special kind of lizard that can tolerate high temperatures due to its strong scales and unusual body structure."
"Can they spew fire from their mouths?" — there was a question from the audience.
"That's a good question," he mused and scratched his nose. "Theoretically— no, but practically, yes."
"And how is this possible?"
"Very simple. I also thought they were stories about fire-breathing lizards until one of them fried my ass… my legs," the goblin sometimes forgot that he was in an educational institution, and could express himself with indecent words.
The students amicably supported him with a fervent laugh, each of them understood what Glum wanted to say. But the laughter stopped because Mrs. Krivda entered the study room.
"My children, do you have everything in place, is no one absent from class?" — followed her question.
"Everything seems to be in place, but what happened?" Glum asked.
"We examined the scene of the accident. According to the size of the funnel and the strength of the residual magic, only an inexperienced student could do it," explained the head of the academy.
"But this is outrageous! Who could teach a girl such a destructive spell?" the goblin growled.
"It's clear that one of the teachers," said Krivda and added: "Lulu, are you here?"
"Yes, mistress," she rose from her seat and bowed.
"At least one stone has fallen from my soul," the head of the academy nodded contentedly. "What did you do yesterday?"
"I brewed potions with my mentor," Lulu had to lie.
"Well, I'm very glad that you found a common language so quickly."
From inner feelings, Lulu's hands were tugging at the edge of her robe, and her cheek was twitching nervously because of a tick. Nana couldn't help but notice her friend's feelings:
"Lulu, are you all right? It's like they put an evil eye on you."
"It's okay," she calmed down a little when Mrs. Krivda left the study room.
"And what kind of mentor have you got?"
"I wanted to deepen my knowledge of brewing potions, so I became Sophie's assistant," Lulu switched to a whisper so as not to attract the attention of Glum, who continued the story about the lizards.
"Is it possible?"
"I'll tell you later…"
After classes, Lulu came with Nana to the living room and told briefly everything that happened to her that night, except for the trip for mushrooms and the battle with the troll, replacing them by stirring boiling water in a cauldron with all sorts of ingredients. At the end of the story, she showed Sophie gifts: a magic ring and a luxurious dress.
"I want that too!" Nana was jealous. "Why did she give you these things?"
"I don't know," Lulu shrugged. "Maybe for the beautiful eyes."
"Or for the breasts," Nana sighed.
"By the way, what time is it now? Lulu glanced at her watch. — Oh, it's time for me to do my favorite thing. Don't you want to listen to my violin?
"No, I promised to help one girl with her lessons."
Lulu puffed out her cheeks:
"Suspicious. And who am I to you?"
"The best friend I've ever had," Nana replied without hesitation. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I'll listen to you any other day."
"Okay, fine."
Lulu took her instrument case out of the closet and checked its integrity. The smooth, lacquered mahogany surface glistened in the light of the lamp. Running her hand over it, Lulu felt a pleasant coolness emanating from the instrument. She loved her violin, but for the strings to produce a melody, she needed a muse. Lulu imagined the image of Sophie with all her good features and smiled contentedly:
"Yes, I'm going to have a wonderful evening tonight. "
After changing into the donated dress, she went to the abandoned wing of the Witches Academy, where there was a music class. For unknown reasons, it was closed a long time ago. And all the corridors in this part of the academy wing were shrouded in thick cobwebs, along which huge spiders crawled. They could easily attack a person and bite off his finger, so Lulu always took a lantern with her to scare them away with light.
This time everything went without incident, and she got to the coveted place without any problems. Opening the creaking door, Lulu entered the high-ceilinged room. It was dark and cold here, but the music class had good acoustics. An antique chandelier hung overhead, and tall candelabra with long-extinguished candles were placed on the walls. Large windows, from which a beautiful view of the forest opened, were covered with dusty purple curtains. The antique parquet creaked pleasantly under her feet. And finally, in the center, there was a piano covered with a cloth.
Lulu put the lantern and the musical instrument case on the piano. Then she opened the curtains so that the moonlight began to penetrate the hall. She took a bow and a violin in her hands and, thinking about her beloved, began to play. From the sounds that flew out from the touch of the bow to the strings, a soft, slightly harsh melody formed, which accelerated, became louder, and brighter. Lulu could not stand still, she began to move from side to side, changing the position of her body, spinning and moving to the beat of the music. She finally went into her world, where there was only her, her violin, and the melody of the soul…
***
"My lady, where are you going?" Bonbon asked.
"I'm going for a walk," Sophie replied, wrapping a scarf around her neck.
Because of the night walk, she caught a cold, so her nose was clogged, and her eyes were constantly watering. She was also given a real interrogation. Mrs. Krivda subjected every person who worked within the walls of the academy to mental torture. And Sophie had to blatantly lie to protect herself. Fortunately, everything went well and her version was confirmed by Lulu.
"How do you like the assistant?" the familiar already mentally addressed her.
"I'm very surprised," Sophie admitted. "She's a really capable girl."
"Didn't you want to keep Lulu?" he chuckled.
"Nonsense," she remembered the kiss and blushed. "But, I must admit, the assistant turned out to be very useful."
Sophie decided to take a walk around the academy. She was interested in exploring this place, finding secret passages, forbidden libraries, and everything that was hidden from prying eyes. And she guessed that the most intimate was in the abandoned wing of the academy, so she went there. Moving through the abandoned rooms, she cleaned them of vile spiders with the help of fire school spells. And she didn't care at all about the fact that most of these spells were banned and persecuted by the holy Inquisition.
"Oh, you'll get caught someday," sighed Bonbon.
"I didn't come here to babysit these girls who still need to play with dolls!" Sophie muttered angrily and fired a fireball straight at the black spider.
"As you wish, my heartless mistress."
At some point, Sophie stopped. She heard something, but she couldn't figure out what it was. It was the sound of a stringed instrument that came from a half-open door at the very end of the corridor.
"There's someone here," Sophie prepared to face a potential opponent.
"Relax. It's just music," Bonbon guessed that it could be Lulu.
"Not just music, but obsessive," she corrected him.
Sophie decided to see for herself. She cautiously approached the door and prepared for an assault, but something stopped her. The invisible wall did not allow it to pass further, someone protected the musician.
"You can't go any further," a hoarse female voice was heard from behind.
"Who's here? " Sophie turned around.
"I am the caretaker of the ancient halls. My name is Margot. Who are you and what are you doing here? " out of the darkness came a hunched old woman with long gray hair up to her waist. Her dry, thin fingers clutched the staff she was leaning on. And how could this elderly woman sneak up unnoticed?
"I'm Sophie Mandragora. The new alchemy teacher. And I intend to stop this sacrilege! the teacher replied rudely."
"Sacrilege?" The old lady looked at Sophie with lifeless eyes. "You don't know much about music."
"No, I understand it very well!"
"Then don't stop the poor girl from playing," Margot put her finger to her lips. "She has a gift for being unhappy, and obsession has nothing to do with it.
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!" Sophie didn't understand.
"Then see for yourself," the old lady removed the protective field and allowed Sophie to enter the room.
Sophie was stunned by what she saw. A girl with blonde hair in a black and red dress was spinning around the dark hall. She was completely absorbed in the game, so she didn't notice how she had two listeners. Sophie and Margot stood quietly at the door and watched this performance.
"The girl's name is Lulu, and she plays the violin superbly," Margot explained.
"Why is she doing this here?" Sophie was surprised. "There's no one here but spiders."
"I don't know, maybe she doesn't have any friends," the old lady shrugged. "Although, if memory serves me right, one young lady with red hair came and listened to her a couple of times."
"She doesn't look unhappy," Sophie said.
"Not now, and in a couple of days, she will cry. And her violin will emit sad motifs."
And after all, Margot was right, the newly minted assistant had a vulnerable, naive soul. At some point, Sophie realized that she couldn't move anymore. The magic of music bound her body and forced her to stand obediently and listen to the endless melody. All the worries and fears were removed by hand. I had to put up with it and silently watch Lulu whirling around the hall.
And time went on and on. Soon the music became rougher, sharper, and heavier. Sweat droplets appeared on the musician's skin from hard work. And then the moment of catharsis came, and Lulu stopped playing. Taking a deep breath and then slowly exhaling, she bowed to the invisible audience and turned to the door where the witches were standing. On the tired, but dreaming with joy face of the student, a smile appeared:
"Mrs. Sophie, you have come to listen to me after all!"
"I... yes," Sophie lied, but she sincerely thanked fate that she was lucky enough to hear this music.
"A lying creature," Bonbon commented, but only his mistress could hear her voice.
"Mrs. Margot, I'm sorry that I occupied this hall without permission," Lulu turned to the old lady and bowed.
"It's okay, my girl. These walls have recognized you, so no creature will dare to touch you," she grinned. "True, someone decided to burn out all the guards."
She looked at Sophie, who was standing next to her, but she pretended that she had nothing to do with it. Shaking her head and coughing, Margot added: "Since you know each other, then I'll leave Lulu to you, Sophie. I won't bother you."
"But you're not bothering us," Sophie wanted to stop her, but the caretaker left the room and slammed the door behind her.
There was a minute of silence, which no one wanted to break. Lulu was looking at her mentor, and she was looking at her.
"Listen… Well... can you play something else?" Sophie finally broke the silence.
"I'm exhausted, but if you do me one favor, then my strength can magically return," a blush appeared on the face of the blonde Lulu.
"And what kind of service is this?"
"That's..." Lulu replied softly. "A kiss."
"Here?" Sophia blushed. "But I can't. This is wrong."
Lulu remembered that she had promised herself to fight for love. I gathered my thoughts and decided to take a desperate step. Putting the instrument on the piano, she went up to her mentor and, clasping her head in her hands, put her lips to hers. This happened unexpectedly for Sophie because she could not have imagined that her assistant would make such a move. Sophie tried to push her away, but Lulu wouldn't let her go. She sucked on it with her lips like a leech. And then the flow of unforgettable feelings did not allow Sophie to resist. And yet she was weak, succumbed to temptation. When the fleeting contact ended, both girls had a residue of the loss of something intimate, something exciting.
"I'm sorry," Lulu apologized. "I lost control of myself for a moment."
"It's okay," she had to say. "Since you got your kiss, now I'm waiting for a new melody."
"As you wish..."