Duchess fingered the black feather from a few days ago. The feather, which had come from her hair, was a reminder that she could soon be free from being a swan forever after. Duchess smiled at the memory fondly.
"Are you going to sit there all morning, or will you get ready?" asked an unusually awake Lizzie Hearts. Lizzie already was dressed in her red heart-print dress. She had on her crown and a pair of red flats. Duchess groaned.
"Since when are you the morning person?" asked Duchess. Lizzie shrugged and began sifting through a pile of t-shirts for her hedgehog, Shuffle. Duchess stood up from her desk, placing the black feather in it's place in between the pages of her diary and closed the leather-bound book. She was already dressed, and her hair rested on her head in a bun. Pirouette, her pet swan, was fed, and now roaming outside.
It was a mystery to Duchess as to why Lizzie was so eager and ready to go. Pulling on her purple ankle boots, she grabbed her bag. The fabric swished as she smoothed it. Lizzie, who had finally found Shuffle, was bouncing on her toes, and Duchess raised an eyebrow. Lizzie was usually surly and grumpy in the morning.
"Seriously. Why are you so excited?" Duchess asked in slight exasperation. Lizzie pulled Shuffle out of her bag, where Shuffle had been sitting. Shuffle hopped up and down on Lizzie's palms, obviously excited.
"The pet contests are in two days! Aren't you excited?" Lizzie said. Duchess widened her eyes, looking like she had seen a flying pig.
"Oh no, really? I totally forgot. This is fairy, fairy bad. I already got a bad grade in General Villainy, I hope I don't get another one." Duchess fretted. She raced over to the window, gazing over the gardens for a sign of Pirouette. The swan wasn't there, but then again, she was a swan, she could be anywhere.
"You must be stressed. Don't you remember? The contest is purely for bragging rights." said Lizzie in a befuddled tone. Duchess face palmed.
"Oh, yeah." The bell chimed for breakfast, and the two friends raced out.
The Castleteria was bustling with activity and excitement as Lizzie and Duchess made their way to the food line. The trees growing through the roof around the Castleteria were bright and sweet-smelling, apparently prepared by magic for something. The trees often smelled strange, and were nuisances. The line moved in a slow, orderly fashion, and the sound of voices from all over was irritating to both Lizzie and Duchess.
"I command you to go faster! Ooooffff with their heads!" yelled Lizzie. Duchess just stood quietly.
Eventually, they received their breakfast: lumpy porridge. Duchess winced as she was handed the bowl and went to sit down at their usual table. Lizzie joined her, and strangely, so did Maddie. Madeline Hatter came up to the table, standing on her toes.
"Can I join you for our teariffic meal?" asked the daughter of the Mad Hatter. Lizzie nodded, spooning some porridge into her mouth. Duchess tentatively touched her tongue to the spoonful of porridge she had as Maddie sat down. The porridge was burnt as if it had been cooked in a giant's forge. Duchess dropped the spoon back in the bowl and shoved it aside. No need to eat something that bad when she could eat a cinnamon roll instead.
"I'm going for a cinnamon roll. Want one?" asked Duchess.
"YES PLEASE." said Lizzie vigorously. "It would be awesome."
"I'm good, thanks for befuddling." said Maddie confusingly. Duchess got up, pushing her chair back, and went over to the desert stand. She collected two cinnamon rolls and brought them back to the table, passing Lizzie hers. They ate for a few minutes more, before hopping up to go to General Villainy. Duchess was not enthusiastic. Today was the day Sparrow picked his prize from winning Next Top Villain, and Duchess was not excited in the least.
"What do you think Sparrow will choose?" Lizzie asked. She waved her sceptre at a student who was walking too close for Lizzie's liking. Duchess wrinkled her nose.
"Probably the biggest, gaudiest gold item you've ever seen." was her disgusted reply. They made their way down the rat-infested stairs to the dungeon. After a few turns, they reached the excessive heat of the Cauldron Room. Duchess' feather headdress wilted like usual, limply draping itself over her hair.
"What a fairy-fail. This room seriously needs air conditioning." Lizzie noted. It wasn't the first time they had been in the General Villainy classroom, but it seemed to have gotten worse. The heat was like a sauna, and faint pea-green fog filtered through the air, giving off a dank, rotting smell. Like always, three cauldrons hung over a large fire, and Duchess sat on one of the stools in a corner of the room. A blackboard was hanging on a stand in front of the stools, and after closer inspection, Duchess saw that it read; I'm away today, your teacher will be Madame Stepmother. I hexpect you to be on your worst behaviour.
Madame Stepmother was Cinderella's stepmother. She was rude and cruel, and a fairly respected villain. Lizzie told Duchess that the Madame was hextremely mean, and usually made them clean the classroom. Duchess bit her lip. Subs were usually terrible. And this one sounded like no exception.
But the next person to walk in the doors was a huge surprise, bigger than when Duchess had learned she was to be the possible next Evil Queen. Madam Maid Marian.
Hi! I normally do Wings of Fire, so this is new to me! I know my last story was a flop, but I hope this'll be more interesting. I like Duchess and Lizzie a lot, and I thought that they should have more featuring them. This is supposed to be continued off of Next Top Villain, so it begins a few days after it. Thanks,
Winter Kitty