A Heart in Flames #2 (Howl's Moving Castle fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Flawed Perfection

Once a week, Madame Suliman met with each of her prestigious students and trained with them personally. Within the first month, four students had withdrawn their admittance into her academy, though this was not a surprise. She usually had a number of beginning magicians discover they couldn't handle her methods and eventually abandon her training.

By the end of each apprenticeship period, she only allotted royal status to three magicians.

"Do it again."

The boy breathed heavily. Though the task wasn't overbearing physically, she could see that his mentality was breaking with each repetition of the spell. He wiped his shirt over his forehead, leaving a large sweaty stain. She didn't care about how her students dressed or how much knowledge they knew prior to her training. She determined their worth based on how well they obeyed her.

"I don't like repeating myself." Madame Suliman said, her voice sharp.

The boy tried calming his breath. "We've been doing this for hours. I thought individual training only lasted one at most."

Suliman narrowed her eyes. She saw so much potential in this student, yet he was too lazy to see his own worth. She walked with pride toward the young wizard, his eyes staring at her with trepidation.

She bent down to his level, a smile slithering on her face. "We're focusing on your source. This means we practice until it is released."

The boy swallowed hard, his feet begging to step back but a force reeled him closer. He couldn't control himself.

"Howl." Suliman said. "Do it again."

Howl instinctively turned to the dove in the cage, her pristine white feathers glowing in the sun's rays from the large windows. The dove cooed softly as her gaze met Howl's. He watched her with dead eyes as he enacted the spell Madame Suliman had taught him.

The bird convulsed in the cage, the rattling of metal sending shivers down his spine. Howl twisted his hand, the bird following like a voodoo doll. The beautiful white feathers darkened and eventually, her purity was entirely tainted. No longer an innocent dove, a raven cawed and flew around the cage, attacking the bars that confined her.

"Well done." Madame Suliman clapped her hands. "Your source is becoming more prominent. You will soon be able to control it with ease."

"Mother." Howl and Madame Suliman turned to a boy with the fairest blonde hair Howl had seen. He dressed in the typical casual attire for the royals, wearing a white collar shirt and tan trousers. The center of his shirt ruffled, like a crumpled flower. Though he wasn't a student, she spent an equal amount of time training her son, Owen, as she did the others.

However, Howl seemed to take up more and more of his training.

Suliman forced a smile. "Owen, darling. What are you doing here? We're training."

"We were supposed to train two hours ago." Owen glared at Howl, who immediately frowned at the sight.

Madame Suliman held Owen's shoulders. "We'll train when I'm done with Howl."

Owen groaned and shook his shoulders to release his mother's grip. "That's what you always say. You love your prime students more than me."

"Owen, we will train when I say so."

"But it's true!" Owen shouted. He glared up to his mother, though her visage was unmoving. He switched to Howl, his eyes boiling. Owen turned around and stormed out of the glass room, never turning back. A moment later, they heard a door slam shut.

For a minute or so, the room was quiet. Neither Madame Suliman nor her precious student spoke. Howl was the first to break the silence. "I don't mind if we end training today."