It was a Sunday again, the time of week where her master dedicated an entire duration of twilight to eve for a life's worth of meditation. The great Märchen von Friedhof did this as often as he could, and whenever he did, he'd leave his apprentice with nothing but a day's worth of errands to keep her preoccupied. Mairin thought of it as her mentor's own way of saying 'Shoo, get out of here, you'll only interrupt me.'
She loved her master dearly, but Friedhof had taken the sun out of her Sundays by taking away Octavia and placing her equally beloved baton in the holier-than-thou cabinet of forbidden things. It was an old, decaying wood cabinet buried in the darkness of Friedhof's basement, a lonely place that he knew Mairin would have equally loved to avoid.
With the weight of Octavia gone from her waist, Mairin had been wondering around town with a small aching pain poking at her side. The loss of her partner at hand was a little becoming for the apprentice muse, growing up with the sword attached to the scabbard at her hip. Now there was no Octavia. Whenever she impulsively grabbed at the space at her right, there wasn't the familiar curve of Octavia's handle or the cold metal of the brass bend rounding over her fingers. It was driving her mad with frustration that she would probably mistake a carriage wheeled by horses as the sound of Octavia rattling against the wooden scabbard.
Mairin idly blew a breath against her hair as a few strays wondered over her hair. Much like them, she had eclipsed the entire town with her boredom in a roundabout way. Back over, and back under again. She tried to find new things, but her list errands did not give any permission at all. "Stupid master Märchen." she mumbled, "He'd list the most boring of all boring things as my things-to-do, and abandon me." she kicked away at the invisible dirt sitting close to her boot as she scanned over the folded paper again, trying to mimic envy for her master's handwriting and his elegant prose in place of hating the actual errands.
She read the 4th one out loud, so loud that she could've sworn the women at the cake shop were laughing at her particularly. "The eggs that you've murdered must be replaced. Go to Mrs. Benedict's shop a few minutes before noon to get a discount. Not only will you be able to get a better quantity of eggs for 150 jewels, but you also won't waste any because they deliver their eggs the next day." Mairin nipped at her lips with her teeth in annoyance, "....Easy for you say, it's only 10 A.M and I'm almost done! What am I supposed to do for a whole two hours?!"
Mairin stood there sadly as the sun was ever so warm and inviting behind her. She tilted her head in it's direction before gripping the air that was once Octavia's handle. 'Sunday' she thought, 'Sun. Day.'
She repeated the phrase in her head, spun it over and made acronyms, then stared at the paper in her hands intensely. The fifth one was crossed out by a fierce black line. It taunted her, wanted her to decipher what had irritated her master's mind and made him regret his decision. Spinning a heel, Mairin raised the paper in the direction of the sky, the sun beaming through the black lines.
It was a little sloppy, the letters stopped at each letter as if they were never meant to be written. But it was there. She could read them, clear as day. She opened her lips as the sun rose higher, hotter, and brighter.
"Join...a....faction...?"
It truly, truly was Sunny day.
She loved her master dearly, but Friedhof had taken the sun out of her Sundays by taking away Octavia and placing her equally beloved baton in the holier-than-thou cabinet of forbidden things. It was an old, decaying wood cabinet buried in the darkness of Friedhof's basement, a lonely place that he knew Mairin would have equally loved to avoid.
With the weight of Octavia gone from her waist, Mairin had been wondering around town with a small aching pain poking at her side. The loss of her partner at hand was a little becoming for the apprentice muse, growing up with the sword attached to the scabbard at her hip. Now there was no Octavia. Whenever she impulsively grabbed at the space at her right, there wasn't the familiar curve of Octavia's handle or the cold metal of the brass bend rounding over her fingers. It was driving her mad with frustration that she would probably mistake a carriage wheeled by horses as the sound of Octavia rattling against the wooden scabbard.
Mairin idly blew a breath against her hair as a few strays wondered over her hair. Much like them, she had eclipsed the entire town with her boredom in a roundabout way. Back over, and back under again. She tried to find new things, but her list errands did not give any permission at all. "Stupid master Märchen." she mumbled, "He'd list the most boring of all boring things as my things-to-do, and abandon me." she kicked away at the invisible dirt sitting close to her boot as she scanned over the folded paper again, trying to mimic envy for her master's handwriting and his elegant prose in place of hating the actual errands.
She read the 4th one out loud, so loud that she could've sworn the women at the cake shop were laughing at her particularly. "The eggs that you've murdered must be replaced. Go to Mrs. Benedict's shop a few minutes before noon to get a discount. Not only will you be able to get a better quantity of eggs for 150 jewels, but you also won't waste any because they deliver their eggs the next day." Mairin nipped at her lips with her teeth in annoyance, "....Easy for you say, it's only 10 A.M and I'm almost done! What am I supposed to do for a whole two hours?!"
Mairin stood there sadly as the sun was ever so warm and inviting behind her. She tilted her head in it's direction before gripping the air that was once Octavia's handle. 'Sunday' she thought, 'Sun. Day.'
She repeated the phrase in her head, spun it over and made acronyms, then stared at the paper in her hands intensely. The fifth one was crossed out by a fierce black line. It taunted her, wanted her to decipher what had irritated her master's mind and made him regret his decision. Spinning a heel, Mairin raised the paper in the direction of the sky, the sun beaming through the black lines.
It was a little sloppy, the letters stopped at each letter as if they were never meant to be written. But it was there. She could read them, clear as day. She opened her lips as the sun rose higher, hotter, and brighter.
"Join...a....faction...?"
It truly, truly was Sunny day.
