For the "Memories" Event~
Knell started having bigger thoughts after that. She wanted to know more than just historical records, and Bookman wasn't disapproving of this. He taught her medicine and philosophy, chemistry and the theories of magic although neither knew a single spell. One day he sent her away with the Noah with the strange smile, Tyki. He told her it was for an important lesson. Knell agreed because she trusted his judgement now, and Tyki wasn't apt to dress her up in doll clothes. "I'm going to teach you how to use a Teez," he told her, and gave her a butterfly with tiny, vicious fangs.
They walked for a long time with the butterfly perched on Knell's hand, until they were in a forest outside a town. "Watch," he told her, as they neared a man chopping wood. He looked surprised to see them but it didn't last long; from Tyki's hands came two huge, enormously-fanged butterflies that pinned the man to the ground with spiked legs. His screams hurt Knell's ears so she covered them; Tyki thought she was afraid and so he grinned. "Don't stop watching," he said, as a swarm of smaller butterflies emerged from his hand. He gestured subtly with his fingers and they responded by cleanly stripping away the man's skin. The man screamed louder and Knell winced and Tyki scowled. "Are you that afraid?" He snapped, and Knell shook her head flatly.
"He's loud," she responded, and Tyki laughed.
"Fix it, then. That Teez is yours, see the red on its wings? Direct with your hands, tell it what to do." Knell urged the butterfly forward and towards the man; its movements and hers were sporadic and clumsy but eventually she found a way to make it eat away his vocal chords. "Good," Tyki murmured, walking closer to the man. "Now, we're not done yet so keep watching. This group of muscles is called the quadricep, and it works like this..." So he continued to teach her, instructing his Teez (or having Knell instruct hers) to eat away each layer of the man until there was nothing left.
When they finished her Teez was much larger. "It got bigger," she noticed, and held it closer to her face.
"It'll split in two soon, or continue to grow. It's up to you." He smiled (he always smiled) and Knell nodded.
Soon they were back and Tyki returned her to Bookman. He watched her carefully for the rest of the day, as if he was waiting for her to do something. It felt strange but she tried not to alter her behavior from its usual routine. Before she went to sleep she found the Teez folded itself well inside the finger of her glove, so she kept it there. At the end of the day, Bookman met with Tyki. He was none to happy.
“I just did what you told me to, Bookman, no need to be uptight about it.”
The man scowled, careful to keep his voice level and his emotions in check. “She’s still young, Joyd. Participation in violence at a young age has shown to have ill affects on people when they grow up.”
“Ah, but you’re not ‘people’, are you,” Tyki quipped, his Chesire grin widening. “No heart, as you say.”
“I only have one apprentice, I can’t take any risks.”
“You won’t need her in a few years, anyways.” Tyki flicked the brim of his top hat to tilt it slightly. “You’ll be dead just like the rest of us.”
The man’s wording wasn’t lost on Bookman, who glanced at him sideways and raised a skeptical brow.
“Don’t you have work to do?” The Noah asked with sudden irritation.
“Yeah,” Bookman answered, turning to go. “Yeah, I do.”