I sat down in my room and looked around. Cobwebs, spiders, dust bunnies, more cobwebs…
What sort of correction center was that?
But a part of me wanted to leave it like that. Not to bother to talk to someone about their problems.
As much as I thought I understood people, that was going to be hard work.
And I didn't want to do the hard work yet.
"Come now, Millie," I told myself, as my eyes found the broom. "Just one room."
I couldn't get up.
My life was one big roller coaster of misfortunes. I had no money, no food, and no prospects. This house was my last chance before I gave up on it all and went to live in a cave.
I clapped my hands together. Then I slapped myself.
"Come on!"
I didn't know it, but the curse was beginning to loosen up. The mana in it was growing weaker and weaker, until…
I stood up. Grabbing the broom and beginning to sweep. Little by little, the dust bunnies were swept to their final resting place: the bucket.
Said bucket had a rune on it, but then I blinked.
No magic allowed?
But runes were allowed?
"Huh, a loophole!"
Runes were magic, and yet not. One could best describe them as light, energy, and runic symbols!
It made them easy to use because one could make them into tattoos and then use them even without mana!
"Does that mean I should learn runes?" I asked myself. Nothing happened.
I nodded to myself and looked around. The cobwebs were gone, but the walls needed repainting, and the floor needed new floorboards.
But that all needed money.
I patted my knees once more. Well, it was time to get paid!
I took some aromatic candles and went outside.
The trick to reading the future is to do everything possible to avoid showing that it was all a con. But I didn't mind all that much.
The future was like a flowing river. No one could catch it by the horns and tell it where to go.
I made that clear to all of my clients. They weren't stupid. Most of them wanted a good show and a ray of light wrapped all in one.
"Come one, come all!" I yelled as I lit the candles. "And let me read your fortune!"
A window of a nearby house opened. I smiled up at the old granny, only to see her frowning.
"Get a job!" the lady yelled as she slammed her window shut. I didn't know how the woman hadn't broken it, but something in me broke.
Get a job.
I tried—really tried. I went from shop to shop and from factory to factory. I was a witch, which was bad enough, but I was also a witch who was cursed.
"Miss, are you busy?"
That was a strange question to ask of someone looking at their life's ruins. Still, it made me look up. There was a gnome next to the table. A tiny broken cart was next to him. "I need to get to the stables, but my wheel broke."
I nodded.
"Sure, let me carry you both there!" The trek to the stables was not a big one. Besides, no one stole from a witch. It was not just taboo but also brought a curse on the thieves.
Earthquakes, floods, fire…
People tended to leave my kind alone.
I picked up the gnome and placed him on my shoulder. Then I picked up the cart.
As I began to walk towards the stables, I had an idea! What if the stables needed help? I could bless the animals, heck, I could even muck the stables.
My options were limited. I couldn't be a chooser.
"What do you normally do, miss?" The gnome asked me as the stables came into sight.
I wanted to tell him I was a witch, but the man had been so kind that I didn't have it in me.
"Oh, this and that," I murmured.
"We need someone to help us pick apples."
It was a single sentence, but it was what I wanted to hear! I set the gnome down and began to make plans!
If I used magic, the picking would be done in five minutes, tops!
But…
Magic was frowned upon. It wasn't persecuted, thank the divines, but that didn't mean it was accepted. No, I would need to be sneaky about it all!
"I can help!" I said, as I placed him down as well.
It was to be my first paying job, not that I knew it at the time. The apples needed to be harvested.
And I needed to do the quests to lift the curse!
After three hours of waiting, the cart was finally repaired!
"I think it will be faster if I carry you," I suggested. The gnome nodded.
Soon, he was on my shoulder, and the cart was in my right hand.
"Go down the trail with the blue ribbons," the gnome told me.
"Ok. Sir, what's your name?" It would have been silly if I didn't know the name of my first employer.
"Sebastian," the gnome took hold of my collar. And so, my journey began.
The trail was muddy from the rain, but that was just fine by me. I had runes on my shoes. The trees were closer together the further down the trail we went. Thicker with greener leaves and… fairy dust!
I took my staff in my hands.
Fairies were both good and evil creatures. The problem was that I couldn't harvest them without killing them.
But I would like to scrape off some of the fairy dust for personal use!
An alchemy shop was sure to buy them off me!
"Sebastian, can you please wait a bit?" I asked.
"Ok."
And so, I placed the gnome on the ground and began to scrape off fairy dust.
Until a fairy came out of a burrow.
A flaming sword in her hands.