A Rabbit Hood is No Better

There had been a charming little herbal shop at the end of a block in the colorful city of Magnolia, and by chance, the little starling would become attached to it because of the darling store keepers who were working at the time of her visit -an eight year old boy named Jean and his surrogate mother, Olivia Peterson. Their story was at best the most admirable showmanship of human kindness, and to Merrilee's delight, she was fortunate enough to befriend them after an afternoon of tea and errands from Endora ('A sorceress needs her herbs.' as she'd say). Jean was no more than a slave up for auction and Olivia was but a kind, aging woman who had no children, and by the Fates, they'd best their unwarranted misfortunes by meeting each other, where Olivia would vouch to buy him his freedom as her adoptive son, and Jean returning the favor by helping out around the store.

The tea would have been warm, but the atmosphere around their shop was even more, and what else could she do but offer her a portion of her time, every weekend, as a habit of sorts, dilly dallying around tea time and discovering the miracles of herbs as Olivia would teach her, alongside Jean and his teddy bear, General Silver. The Grand Seamstress didn't seem to be bothered by her attachment towards the pair, and has made use of her development through a manner of requesting an array of herbs for various concoctions. That day, in particular, was no different, but Endora was looking for something a bit more powerful than your common day shrub.

"Romiriarez, or the Winter Lily, as the humans liked to call it." she said, retracting a book from the many others that lined her impressive collection of old sorcery labels. The dark-haired woman would set the hard-bound book on the table for her little starling to see, visibly chuckling as a pair of bright blue eyes scanned the opened page eagerly. "It's beautiful, is it not? Its petals seem to glisten with an unearthly crystalline glow, and its stem is as pale as the snow that falls on cold months."

Endora slithered a finger down the page, the text filtered through with a golden sheen as she read them out loud. "It's healing powers are extremely potent, but it only ever grows in a selected portion of the Spooky Forest. But perhaps Olivia may have some in store, no?"

Merrilee's expression visibly lit up with a light that could have been a reminiscent of her days in the Rodea, and it prompted the sorceress to return the smile with a fondness only ever reserved for her apprentice. "Give Olivia and Jean my regards once you've obtained some, at least one bottle of its concentrated essence is all I need." Endora said, producing a bag of coins from her own pocket dimension and plopping several jewels unto the starlings hands.

"Okay!" the girl exclaimed, her excitement only barely contained.

She'd cling to the currency tightly, pocketing them as her master readied a familiar teleport spell. And when the ancient language of the Seamstress was all that she could hear, Merrilee knew that the coat of starlight had devoured her figure completely, simplifying her essence into a white orb, flashing across Magnolia at the speed of light.