“My dearest %&^*&@#%, you may not know me but I have been with you throughout your entire life.” An elderly mage sat on his ‘throne’ located in his personal library. The young girl near the door gazed at the mage in silence. “I might be a little late but happy birthday sweet %&^*&@#%.” The mage promptly placed down a book he was peering at. He turned his focus to the little girl before he stood up and leisurely walked to her. “I hope that you can forgive and old man for all of his wrong doings. I am leaving soon my precious friend.” The girl had a surprised expression and she briskly shook her head yelling, “No, please don’t leave me!” The old mage gave a soft smile as he petted the girl. “I’m sorry truly but one must move on in time. You will learn to forget me and live a happy life.” The air around them trembled slightly before shattering like glass.
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“Ana, wake up!” Ana was violently being shaken by the shoulders. The girl opened her weary eyes and glared at her father. “What do you want?” she was somewhat annoyed by her incompetent father. She had to clean up after her father when her mother passed away but recently she had had enough.
Her father smirked as he said, “Today is the day of the fair!” Ana was overjoyed, today was the day she has been waiting for almost all year. The reason for her excitement, the fair happens once every four year and she missed the last one as well as her quest. Her quest was simple, find a beautiful mask that would make her metal doll seem less like a doll and more like a human.
Ana had actually overslept but her father did not want to wake her. She had been working hard the past week for some pocket change to be able to purchase a mask. Thus he let her sleep until late afternoon.
She pushed her father out of her room and closed the door. She opened her closet and picked out one of her favourite dresses. The dress fit her body almost perfectly. It was decorated by frills that ran diagonally across the dress. The dress was a simple blue colour, it belonged to her mother. As she stared at herself in a body sized mirror she noticed something. Tears ran down her soft white cheeks. She whipped away the tears as she consoled herself, “Ana must stay strong.”
The door to her room creaked as it was opened by a small metal doll. The doll was now almost half as tall as Ana. She had grown quite big but her doll always stayed the same. The doll was dressed in a black suit accompanied by an extravagant fake moustache on its face. The doll held out a pair of light aqua high heel boots. Ana took the boots and swiftly equipped them then followed the doll out into the busy streets. Her father waited patiently for her outside the house, clad in a dark green undershirt, a dark aqua jacket and a pair of black trousers.
Ana and her father held hands as they walked through the streets and gawked at all the stalls. There was one which caught Ana’s attention, the mask stall. Ana pulled her father towards it accompanied by her metal doll.
“Good day young lady, would you like to buy a mask?” The lady who owned the stall asked Ana expectantly. Ana ignored the question and examined all the masks. There was one that caught her attention, a white featureless mask. It had one hole on the left side where your eye would be and a large grass leaf was painted across the mask. It was a peculiar mask; all the other masks had features such as noses or mouths but not this one. Ana had made her choice, “I would like this one please.” She handed the featureless mask to the stall owner. “That will be 30 copper young lady.” Ana was unsure of the price. Other masks cost only 10 coppers each. Reluctantly Ana pulled out three small coins and placed them in the stall owners hand, “Pleasure doing business with you, young lady.” She gave the mask to Ana.
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~Somewhere else~
“Father, may brother take me to the festival in the nearby town?” The girl asked her rather busy father. He was especially busy on this day with a request sent by his old friend. “Sapphire, listen to your father now. You will bring Ana back with you tomorrow as she will study under the court mage as a favour for a friend. If you do that then I shall permit your visit.” The girl, Sapphire, nodded happily and ran out of the room towards her brother’s room.
She barged in on her sleeping brother and shook him awake, “Brother, brother, father said we can go to the festival!” Her brother unwillingly opened his tired eyes, “Payment?” He asked Sapphire. She walked back to the door, bent over and then stood up straight again. She returned with a red stone about the size of an adult’s fist, “As promised I brought you the fire mana stone father gave me.” Her brother opened his eyes wide to clearly view the stone. When he made certain it was the stone he wanted he climbed out of bed and dressed accordingly.
He took the stone and held it in his hand. It was engulfed in a blue flame causing it to melt and form a red layer atop his flesh. It was a magical control device. The device assists a young mage to learn to control his or her abilities. “Let us be off, my little sister.” He strode out of the room closely followed by the enthusiastic Sapphire.
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“Ana please wait here for a bit, daddy is going to prepare something for you.” Ana’s father had taken her into the woods near the town. They were in the middle of a small clearing. Ana sat down on the grass alongside her trusted companion, the doll. Her father went back into the direction of the town. It was the end of the festival which was to be celebrated with fireworks. Ana only knew of the word but she has never seen one in her life.
A few minutes passed after her father disappeared and she could already hear the screams of joy. She could easily see the bright town through the thick trees. A few more moments passed and finally the fireworks were launched. They formed beautiful, colourful flowers in the sky. Ana was so absorbed in the spectacle that she did not even notice the snow falling around her. It was to be a ‘long’ winter this year…