Chapter 1: One Hectic Morning
"Soft meadows and graves, flowers that wither, trees fall next to the rise of the sun..." She heard a soft voice sing the same song over and over again, as if whispering into her ear, a calm lullaby. Her head rested comfortably on a woman's lap, letting the lady lower her hand and stroke her hair as she hung in between rest and total sleep.
She turned to stare up at the lady with sleepy eyes. It was in the cool of the day, the two were sat across a beautiful meadow, designed with differently coloured flowers and soft green grass. The sun lit graciously behind them, as she felt it wouldn't be long before it would be time for it to set.
Everything seemed so perfectly clear, well... everything, except for one, this being the woman who was singing right there, stroking her hair in the softest manner...a face normally so beautiful and charming, it could set anyone at ease in an instant. Why she was this blurred, she didn't understand...maybe it's because it had been a long while, since she had seen such woman, such a lovely woman that she hoped she would meet once again.
She finally closed her eyes, slumber taking her body captive with a single breath. She whisked through the darkness that carried her, recalling voices that spoke to her ages ago...until she heard some rattling noises, causing her to open her eyes. The first thing she caught sight of was the window above her, from there the sunlight let itself into the room.
She squinted as she raised her hand to block the rays of the morning sun, rubbing her eyes and letting out a deep yawn as she rolled to face the ground. After doing this, she seemed to have noticed her odd surroundings. "Why am I way up here? I should be downstairs with everyone else no?" She glanced around, quickly realizing she was in the loft... Quite confused on how she got there, laying on the cold wooden planks while everyone else rose from their bed downstairs, then it struck her...she finally remembered. "Oh yes!"
The shock of recalation that washed over her, quickly turned into boiling anger when she could finally remember everything that happened the previous night.
She got up and dusted her palms, doing the same to her sleeping gown soon after. She put her shoes on and strutted down in rage, quickly descended the staircase with great worries in her mind, hoping her best not to be caught by the head mistress. Jumping the last steps down, she made a quick beeline to the males second room. Getting aroused by the delicious aroma of pancakes on the way and though strong, wasn't enough to stop her from whatever she was planning to do.
When she had finally reached her destination, she bursts the door open, startling all the young boys inside. "Ack! What're you doing here?! Call the head mistress!" One screamed as they all turned to her shocked, some still halfway through changing into their daily uniforms. She however, seemed unfazed by this and just asked angrily. "Has anyone seen Theo?!"
"And what business do you happen to have with him again?" One asked as he walked towards her and placed his hands on both her shoulders, pushing her back out the door. "No!" She struggled under his firm grip and he struggled to keep her in place, a second after, she caught sight of the boy she was looking for, hidden behind the others in his underwear. "There you are!" Somehow managing to wiggle her small body out of hold, she hurriedly made way through the group of boys and grabbed unto Theo's hand firmly. "O- Olivia!" He stuttered out her name, taken aback by her sudden appearance.
"Where were you last night? I waited forever!" She yelled, which caught the attention of all the boys in the room, what would a young boy such as Theo be doing with a girl like Olivia late at night? The curiosity struck them hard enough to disable them from doing anything, only etching to hear more of the conversation.
"W- well..."
"You promised you'd stay with me up there was it not? Why didn't you come? I was lonely and cold all night!" Olivia glared him down as she let this out, sudden solemnity taking over her facial features. Everyone turned to Theo silently, confused by the little girl's choice of narrative. "Wait! No! That didn't happen!" He protested to her lies, what was she trying to do? Twisting the story like that...
Well of course, that wasn't what had actually occured, Olivia herself had known that. As you should know, the building all these children resided in... was infact an orphanage, Maribelle Orphanage, if we were to go by name. It was a small but comfortable place advertising warm shelter, silk soft clothes and good food to the young ones who lacked parental care. Olivia however, didn't like being contained in this place...she had dreamed of going back outside to search for the woman who had left her here a year ago.
Conniving with Theodore the day prior to this one, they made arrangements where the two would both escape through the attic and make their way out the back gate...but someone didn't even bother coming at all and ditched the whole plan without even telling her. 'I waited for him till I dozed of in that freezing loft! he'll not get away with it!' She stated in her mind, head set on getting Theodore in trouble as payback for leaving her up there.
"What in the world is going on here?!" All heads turned when they heard this lady's voice. To her dismay, a tall woman in her mid fifties stood firmly at the doorway with hands crossed over her chest and a stern expression on her face, I guess her plan might have to wait for another time. "Th-the head mistress..." one of the boys trailed off, slightly backing away from the open door.
The cold glare she had sent their way caused shivers to run down their spine, this causing Theodore to hastily push Olivia a little forward, letting fear overtake his actions and allowing the woman to catch full sight of her. "Olivia?!" She exclaimed in shock, what was she of all people doing in the males room?
"Uh-um... Head mistress-" before the young girl could've even uttered out a full sentence, the wrinkly old woman grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her out. "You're coming with me this instant!"
"A-ah!" She winced in pain as the head mistress dragged her through the passage way, a good distance from the kitchen and even the room which belonged to the girls. The caretakers looked on and shook their heads slowly in disappointment, Olivia was notorious for getting herself into trouble on a daily basis. "There she goes again." One said with a pitiful glance, her hands holding firmly unto a tray of teacups..."and on a day like this one..."
"I- I'm sorry-" once again, the woman did not let the little girl finish what she had to say, as she quickly opened the door that lead to a dusty old storage room and threw her inside, locking the door immediately after that. "You would spend the day here as comeuppance for your misbehaviour!" Was all she said to her before dusting her shirt and walking off, quickly sliding the key into the pocket of her skirt as she let out an uneasy huff. "I can't have your antics upsetting our guests this evening." She muttered this under her breath, annoyance written all over her face.
Olivia's body was covered in dirt, her white coloured sleeping gown smeared with dust as she slowly got up. She dusted her palms, letting out a dry cough soon after...not even bothering to try open the door, the amount of times she's been locked in here has made her become accustomed to this sort of treatment. "I hate this place." She spat out with furrowed brows, her lips curved into a pained frown as she kept her gaze low to the ground, wondering until when the head mistress was going to let her out this time.
"No! Wrong! Everything's a mess!" The head mistress yelled out in frustration, her anger and disatisfaction only adding more stress to the maids who were busy with the preparations for their guest's arrival. "This visit is our saving grace from poverty! Do you want to miss this chance with lowly decor? Start from scratch! We'll turn this shabby old place into a palace if we must!"
"Madam!" Someone called out to her, causing her to glance over her shoulder disturbed. "What?!" It was Mary she had caught stamding there... a beautiful, young maid with blonde hair and hazel coloured eyes. Mary was infact, the youngest worker there as she had just turned fifteen about a month ago. "Uh... I want to know if I should prepare the dessert?"
"Just go! You're presence is a nuisance." She waved her hand dismissively, taking stressed glances at the others still in the middle of preparations and still doing it all wrong. "But ma'am...I need the key for the storage room-
"Get lost!" The woman quickly pulled out the key from her pocket and threw it at her. Mary catching it with ease caused her to let out a small smile relieved. "Thank you." She said, as a token of gratitude before turning around and scurrying off, causing the old lady to roll her eyes irritated.
Olivia could hear all the commotion from the other side of the door but could let out a huff annoyed. "Head mistress is always saying I cause the most trouble around here, meanwhile she's the one everyone's afraid of." She muttered under her breath before heaving out a drawn sigh, her tummy grumbling soon after. She raised her hand to her stomach as she frowned in pain. "I'm hungry..."
Trying to keep her mind off of food, she remembered something she had heard the caretakers discussing yesterday evening right before her bed time. The king has been visiting a lot of houses and foster homes lately, they say he's looking for a kid to take back with him to the palace, the orphanage or home he carries this child from will be rewarded greatly. Honestly, she never really cared about rumors like these. The only thing that Olivia seemed to find interesting about royals was the fact that they, like all who belonged to noble families, could harness mana and possessed magical abilities, anything else about them was none of her concern.
Olivia has only ever been concerned about one thing and that was setting out into the outside world to find her mother and finally ask why she was left all alone here, in this horrid place filled with frustrating people. Now that she thinks about it, she's been living in this orphanage for about a year now and she was eight when she first came here. That means as of now, she should be nine good years of age...or at least she would be soon.
To Be Continued.
