Sparrow Truman May 16th,20XX

“What is it Ion, have anything to say?”

For a second I thought I saw a look of disgust flash past the goblin’s orange eyes but it vanished just as quickly as it appeared and he was back to the usual blank stares as the other brainwashed goblins. I wasn’t even nearly as diligent in renewing the brainwashing spell as the other witches were, so his true feelings would slip out every once in a while and I would get to see such an interesting expression on his handsome face.

It wouldn’t be too bad as long as I was careful not to let him gain awareness of anything beyond feelings anyways.

“Clean all of this up before I return.”

He shifted his line of vision from my face to the massacre of beast corpses on the table and robotically began to clear it up, separating them into different types and disposing of them in proper ways.

Watching a goblin clean wasn’t all that fun though so I left to the library. One of the benefits of the mind control spell was that affected would always know the position of the caster and be able to come to them. It technically worked both ways but having an entire section of my mind, no matter how small, dedicated to constantly reminding me of a goblin’s location was annoying so I’d left that part out of the spell when I’d cast it.

There was also the fact that I didn’t like looking at him all that much. Yeah, he was handsome but I just got a bad feeling off him. I knew I’d be able to remember the origin of that bad feeling If I looked at him for long enough but I was reluctant. If I’d requested Rubella to seal away my memories then I was sure it was for a reason.

Even just thinking about the memories I potentially sealed away made my head start to hurt and I broke my stride and slowed to a stop while I tried to battle it away.

“Derela Sparrow!”

The title caught my attention before my name did and made me turn around to see a small figure barreling towards me. The small figure had bright blue hair and makeup that made her look like a raccoon, albeit a cute one, had an enthusiastic expression on her face but slowed drastically when she saw the unpleasant expression on my face. She put her head down and visibly contemplated just passing me by but was trapped by her earlier actions of calling me out.

Surely I wasn’t such a scary figure though? I didn’t remember much of my behaviour beyond the past week or so and had personally disposed of most of my memories of the human world to make space for more relevant knowledge but even so. I didn’t think I would have done anything to traumatize the younger witches of the place.

“What is it Dione? Need help with a ritual again?”

A deep purple flush polluted her face as I guessed what she called me out for but she quickly shook it away.

“N-No. I was just wondering- Well, yeah actually I neede- I mean”

Annoying.

Honestly, the only reason I tolerated her hanging around me was that she was the only one of the younger generation that didn’t dive out of my sight whenever they neared me. That in itself was odd though.

I mean the only thing that separated me from the others of my cohort was that I was a redeemed witch from the human world and I was Rubella’s only student. If anything, being her only student, for now, should have encouraged more people to surround me and suck up to me.

Although I was a generally solitary person I sometimes got a vague feeling that It was not always so.

Like when I was practicing one of the many potions that had been shoved into my mind and had been surrounded by witches and bombarded with questions on how to replicate my actions it had been annoying but not unfamiliar.

Once again it seemed like I had accidentally gotten too close to a repressed memory and My mind began to hurt again like someone had taken a rusted axe and was slowly trying to split my skull in half.

“Speak properly Dione. What did I say about coming to me before you knew what you wanted to say and wasting my time?”

My tone was a lot harsher than I usually would have used to my one and only follower but the pain made it hard for me to care.

“Nothing! Sorry for disturbing you!”

The young witch squeaked out and quickly turned around, even going as far as to get on her broom to beat a speedy exit.

I exhaled in frustration and resumed on my path to Rubella’s office, feeling more irritated by her sudden disappearance then I had about her hanging around me.

Honestly, if one was so determined to situate yourself beside someone that everyone else considered to be terrifying then shouldn’t one be a bit braver? To be able to be chased off by a single sentence of mine… perhaps next time I was in a better mood I would teach her how to concoct a courage potion.

Its effects were quite short-lived but I was sure she would benefit from at least experiencing what it felt like to be confident.

Before I could knock on the hard, bright red doors of Rubella’s office they swung open and revealed the heavy atmosphere of the room. I squelched my nose at the offensive scent that drifted around the room but bore with it and approached the witch at her worktable.

From listening to others, I knew that they found the smell in this room extremely pleasant, addictive even, but for some reason, I could never bear with it. Similarly, the décor that others not only loved but even went as far as to imitate was only garish at best to me and hideous at worst.

I was a witch as good as any, better even, but I couldn’t help but feel the disconnect between myself and the others. It was too embarrassing to bring up though so I stayed silent and waited for Rubella to start the lesson.

It's not like being on friendly terms with the other witches was that important anyways. As long as they obeyed my orders when I needed them too then it was okay.