Lets not do this again[job]

Eclipse was at a loss of words. The broken, distorted structure in front of her could barely be called a house now. The roof were more or less gone and as icing to cake, a giant sentinel tree was on the front porch, spreading its leaves and broken twigs all across the front. It was a battle just to pass it. But the biggest problem was the lack of resources needed for repairing the whole predicament. Her brain already drew up a plan, but without even half of the raw materials needed, even Eclipse was having a hard time figuring things out.

“Mr. Weatherstein,” she walked over to the tall man in his late forties. Standing at a height of 5’8, his raven black hair and moustache barely made him seem above thirty. Serious lines mapped his countenance and Eclipse realized, he was at a loss of what to do as well. The poor man and his wife were expecting everything but their house getting destroyed in the storm and now, everything was in shambles. He didn’t have enough power to repair everything by himself either. His wife was far too ill to help him and they had no children to look out for them.

“What is it, dear?” his seriousness fell when a soft smile spread on his lips. He reminded her of a doting father figure which was quite nice since her father had turned out to be someone or rather something that would never look at her like that. “We need to order some new wood. I can repair the roof and gutters easily but the biggest problem would be to repair the wooden railings and floorboard. We are going to need new wood for it,” she told him but didn’t notice the hard line that spread on his forehead till he was already walking away from her. She wondered if they were having problems financially.

With a shake of her head, Valerie walked around the house. A ladder was already set against it for her to climb on. From under it, Mrs Weatherstein gave her a small apologetic smile. She wondered if they found themselves guilty for having a seventeen year old girl do such a heavy repair work. Facts like she was a mage and could possibly have more power than them both combined didn’t seem to run through their mind after seeing her smaller self. But after giving the kind woman a small smile, Eclipse placed her hands on either side of the ladder and slowly pulled herself up. The ladder’s weak legs trembled under her weight, making Eclipse automatically tighten her grip on it with fear.

The shingles were all either broken or out of order. A few neighbours were already there, trying to help out in their own way. They handed new shingles to her as she took out the broken ones and replaced it. She had to maintain her balance over the sloping structure of the roof, swinging from left and right to make sure she wouldn’t fall. Her quick hands hastily removed all of the unusable shingles and pulled the new ones into its place. Her body leaned forward more and more as one portion of the roof was done. Once all the shingles were in their rightful place, neatly done and strong enough to last through another storm, Eclipse found herself playing games with gravity as she tried to put all the gutters back in its place. The storm had done a savage job on it, bending the metal in a way that it was almost impossible for Eclipse to straighten. But she did it. Almost fell down a few times but she nonetheless got it all done. Making sure it stayed in the right place was her next problem. She used nails and whatever she could find to make sure the gutters were strongly attached to the roof this time, pushing and pulling at them to see if they were wobbling a lot more than they should be.

By the time that job was complete, Eclipse noticed the sky had turned red, indicating the arrival of dusk which would soon be followed by night. She sighed, feeling the winds pick up their pace. Another storm would be coming their way soon. If she didn’t finish the porch before that, the whole house was going to be destroyed. But it was really impossible for them to finish it within that day. The neighbours were already leaving and Eclipse had to admit that she was tired from all the work herself. If luck favoured them, the storm wouldn’t come that night. Her eyes studied the sky with a frown, almost like she was warning it to not create any trouble for them that night.

“You can stay the night here,” Mrs. Wetherstein told her, pulling her inside the house and handing a blanket for her. “We don’t have another bed. I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the couch,” she told her with a weak smile that Eclipse returned with more energy. Lying down on the couch, Eclipse knew not when sleep decided to take over her senses but it came to her as silent as an assassin and disabled her senses, pushing her into a world where nothing but her dreams existed. Stars fell, sun rose and when the light streamed in through the window, Eclipse found herself wide awake, forming plans for the sentinel tree and railings.

She quickly got up, rejecting breakfast other offers before going straight to the tree diagonally placed over the porch, blocking the way in and out. But it wasn’t too bad. It was still something she could fix. Her power rose in her, a soft tune blew from her lips and a storm of roses descended on the broken tree, destroying it, leaving nothing but a few small pieces of broken wood for evidence. As the storm of roses passed and came to rest on Eclipse, the front porch was finally rid of the pesky tree that blocked the path. She asked a few neighbours that arrived to clean it up for her and went to Mr Wetherstein to get the new woods that he had ordered.

Luck was with them last night. No storm or even a hint of one passed. However, it probably wouldn’t last longer than that. She could feel it from the restless voices of the wind that the storm would definitely hit them tonight. She made quick work on the railings, carrying the wood over, cutting them and placing them in order before using nails to fasten them to their place. Her fingers got cut then and now but the pain was nothing Eclipse couldn’t take. The couple watched over her with a smile, occasionally bringing her drinks or snacks. Eclipse accepted them gratefully since her stamina was down from the lack of proper eating habits. But by afternoon, the railings were on their place and she was just adding the final touch, treating them so that the rain won’t damage them. She painted the liquid over them, dragging herself despite the strong pull her aching muscles had on her. Was she that out of shape? She wondered. When did she become so weak? Her body could have taken far more than that. Had she been sitting still, wearing her skills down ever since coming to this realm?

Irritated with herself, she pushed herself harder, determined to get herself back on shape. Her stamina was not something so laughable and she was determined to get herself out of the weakness she felt inside her. The floorboards were done quickly. Compared to the early works, it was far easier for the multicolour haired girl. She replaced the broken ones one after another, moving quickly on her feet and by the time it was evening again, all the repair work was complete. Sweat glistened on her milky white skin and exhaustion was shown on her eyes. She had really pushed herself this time, determined or not and looking at the fixed house now, she plopped down on the ground with a huff. “Finally!” she breathed and stretched, falling back on the ground as sleep took over her. But she pushed it back and got up again. She had spent far too long away from the guild. Sleeping on a couch was everything but comfortable too.

“Thank you,” she heard the voice of the older couple and smiled, giving them a quick nod. “I never thought you would finish it up this quickly,” the man told her as he handed over an envelop covered with the reward she deserved. “It wasn’t too difficult,” she lied, trying to put the two worried people at ease. “Be careful. A storm will definitely hit tonight but the house should hold on. Everyone did a great job with it, after all,” she informed as she waved goodbye to them. That night, when Eclipse snuggled under her blanket, she felt the wind screech outside, reminding her that the storm must be hitting quite hard on Magnolia at that moment. But she was confident the house would stand proudly with its newfound power. After all, she almost completely depleted her stamina on it. But, remind her, she thought to herself, to never take up jobs like that again; even if she was doing a favour for someone in the first place. Couches were too difficult, the thought flashed as she snuggled closer into her blanket on her own bed. Next day will be another adventure as she was going to the museum with her guild master and Chelvaric.

1602/1600