"Try it again.", Phoenix said and Raven sighed, reluctantly staring at the flower in front of her.
"Who in their right mind wants to hide a flower behind an illusion anyway...", the young girl murmured and only shrugged at the scolding look Lady Phoenix threw her way.
"Just because you aren't able to do something doesn't mean it has no use, Raven. Every exercise I give you – "
"Has a purpose in the bigger scheme of things and is necessary to teach me how to properly use my seidr, I know.", Raven recited in a sing-sang voice what her seidr-instructor Phoenix preached since... Well. Since Raven tried to cast that damned illusion.
Her best friend Trisha and the other students around her giggled at that, and a strange satisfaction took over her, when she heard the sigh coming from Lady Phoenix.
Once again, Raven focused and blue seidr dropped from her fingertips onto the flower, but nothing changed about it.
"Raven?"
"Yes, Lady Phoenix?"
"Why do you think not everyone masters seidr?"
Raven looked up at her, taking her hand back from the flower, the last drops of blue hidden behind her back now.
The girl thought about that, thought about her mother who never learned how to use it and her father who said it was worth nothing. About Trisha, who could cast illusions as if it was the easiest thing to do and herself, who failed to make a damned flower look like papers.
"Most people are just very lazy and dull.", she shrugged, focusing on the flower again while the rest of her class laughed at her comment again.
"I suggest you stop now, if you don't want to be punished for your behaviour."
Punishment was a big word for what Lady Phoenix forced her to do if she appeared a little too cheeky in her teacher's eyes. Clean the classroom, practice more spells, longer training and except that one time where she made her bind flower crowns – a task Raven and her clumsy fingers definitely weren't made for – she was alright with that sort of 'punishment.'
"Of course, Lady Phoenix. If I could may return to practice now?"
"Answer my question first."
"Control.", Raven sighed, while focusing the flower in front of her. "You have to control your seidr, not the other way around."
"Ah, so you do know.", Phoenix said. "One could easily forget how smart you are underneath your cheap jokes... So, why do you think you fail casting an illusion as simple as this?", Phoenix asked and Raven shrugged again.
Who cared about that damn flower anyway? It made no sense covering it underneath an illusion, and –
"You don't see the use of it, and therefore lack motivation and control. Your seidr won't do anything if you don't deem it necessary, and you will continue to embarrass yourself and fail.", Phoenix explained, and Raven took it as a challenge.
Lady Phoenix wanted her to fail? Only over her corpse, Raven decided.
"Fine. Let's pretend it has some use then.", the girl said, spite taking over her voice.
Control, Raven reminded herself, trying to focus the lines of blue seidr running from her fingertips. It looked more like a dropping well than the fine lines Lady Phoenix expected from them.
The flower in front of her stared at her, and she would laugh at herself for that notion later, but it was definitely judgement coming her way.
"Just keep going.", Trisha whispered at her, the flower in front of her already a slim paper.
YOU ARE READING
The Villain
Fanfiction[second part of The Soldier] Maybe Tessa's place just stays the losing side. Left behind on Midgard, the former soldier has to deal with losing yet another person because she can't reach them in time. Finding no answers to any of her questions rega...
