Madam Dorna stood in silence.
“What do you mean?” she added after a while.
“He's not dead.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I had a dream.”
The corners of Madam Dorna’s mouth twitched again.
“Dreams are no credible sources of information.”
Velvet waved a finger in front of her. “Prophecies are a thing, and I’m choosing to believe it.”
Now it was the director’s turn to lay back on the chair, take a deep breath and pinch between her eyes.
“What was the dream about?”
“I saw him, alive.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
Madam Dorna let out a deep breath.
“What do you know?”
“That he is alive, I told you.”
“Velvet Consestella Dobastro.”
She winced.
“Using my full name two times makes it less effective, just so you know.”
“So? Why does him being alive matter now?”
“I don’t know… I just have this feeling that I can find him.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know, I just have this itch that tells me to hurry…” Even if she had taken three years to dare to open the gate, she didn’t feel the urge until those dreams started happening. “Maybe I’m having the… what did you call it? The call of the deep.” She laughed a bit. Madam Dorna didn’t.
“The bear poking instinct. No, the bringing a beehive to a party.”
“I’ve never done that.”
“Yet.”
Velvet didn’t discuss that, after all, she could calm the bees with a few affection spells and do it kinda easily. Of course, she had to pick a party where she didn’t like anyone. Like the doctor's son's birthday party.
“Also I would like to have the option to return in the future, as a wandering magician.”
Both of them kept quiet for a while, then, Madam Dorna sighted and got up, picking up her cane. Seeing her so small and fragile, Velvet realized they may not meet each other again. The director had been old since they knew each other, and it only got more evident the longer she took care of managing the orphanage.
“Then there’s nothing else I can say.” She walked towards the door. “Come, I will give you some things.”
“For what?” Still, she went behind her, picking up her hat.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I don’t know,” Madam Dorna said with sarcasm, before adding. “You can’t go to the city dressed like a villager, you will attract the attention of scammers and criminals. And that’s without talking about the Mergifari.”
You’re blind, how do you even know what I’m wearing… Also, I kinda need someone to try offensive spells…
“I’m taking a boat to Dodon, I’ll wear pants.”
“Just take it as an early birthday gift.”
“Uh, niceee! Though, I’ve never seen you go to the city, how do you even have dresses for that?”
“They were a present for my niece.”
Ah dammit. She bit her tongue, cursing herself.
They went to Madam Dorna’s bedroom. Velvet hadn’t really been there in her life, only catching a glimpse from the window the day she climbed to the roof while playing hide and seek with the other kids, and, to say the truth…
The director was messy! Not in the having stuff on the floor way, but in the everything was… tilted way. Paintings were crooked on the walls, the bed was not straight, and the wardrobe had a broken leg that was fixed with some books, but with more than necessary, making it lean a bit to the left.
Possessed by a righteous cause, Velvet went sneakily towards one of the twisted paintings.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“I’m just fixing it.”
“Did I fix your problem causing tendencies?”
“I am innocent.”
“So are most instigators. Leave. The. Paintings.” Madam Dorna slammed her cane on Velvet’s foot, who squeaked like a rat.
“You can’t even see what is depicted on them!” She complained after being scolded, jumping away from her in one leg.
“Why don't you go and see who painted it?”
Velvet whined a bit more, but in the end she resigned and went to look at the oil painting.
It was a depiction of a coast at night, with a woman in the sand, dressed in summer clothes, and a few rocks away in the sea.
“Ah, wait, that’s the Caroon Beach, the one at the east of Casrey. Then, those two other islands at the distance are Prais and Coris.” Velvet was not interested in art, but her knowledge of the Charlampa Archipelago’s geography was better than most adults.
“The signature.”
“I know, I know.” Written at the bottom right of the painting, in white paint, Ingri Dorna, 332 could be read.
That was 43 years ago. Unless it was from the previous Maquia, which she doubted, then, that meant…
“What is my first name, Velvet?”
“...”
“Velvet.”
“... I don’t know.”
“Didn’t you want to go to the unknown like crazy just now? Go on, take a step in the dark and guess.”
Velvet let out a subtle groan. “Is it Ingri?”
“Wrong.” She hit her foot once again with her cane. “That was my late husband’s name.”
“Auch! You treacherous hag!” She saw Madam Dorna pulling back her cane again and grinning at her.
“I’m just giving you a few late lessons on believing everything you see. Especially if you plan on going to that place.” Madam Dorna stopped messing with her and went to the wardrobe, “Some clues will be fake, and following a false trail can end up worse than a few hits. Especially with magic.” While she was speaking, she was pulling out pieces of clothes and throwing them on the bed. “Go try the ones that are your size.”
“Hm-hm.” Checking on the pile of clothes, she started picking the ones that suit her taste. Still, city clothes were mostly dark colored or brown, to prevent the dust and smoke stains of the streets and factories from being too visible. In the end, she settled for a brown skirt with a white, high collared blouse, black leather boots (Velvet felt the tip and back of the shoes kinda hard, then she realized they had metal inside, probably for self defense), brown leather gloves and a brown capelet with a blue ribbon and inner pockets. Changing her clothes, she stared at her reflection on a cracked mirror (also tilted) and made different poses. The new clothes, coupled with her fair skin, long orange hair and blue eyes, made her easily pass as a middle class citizen. Except…
“No hat?” She asked, after Madam Dorna finished pulling clothes and instead gave her an old suitcase.
“She didn’t like hats.”
“What a bad taste.” Velvet whispered, calculating how much money she could spend to buy one that combined with her new clothes. After a few seconds, she just decided to customize the straw hat she had right now.
A good hat costs good money, after all.
“I would ask you how I look, but you just can’t see how great I am.” She turned toward her hat. “Hyde, tell me how good I look.”
“You look good.” A voice that made Madam Dorna turn around suddenly came from behind the ribbon.
“Who’s there?”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you I summoned a familiar… guess you didn’t know.”
“Velvet.”