“Well, we have enough money to go to Santiago,” Leo said, a note of cautious optimism in his voice. The last few months had been heavy on his shoulders, and the uncertainty of their future had eaten away hours of sleep from him. Yet now, with some money safely tucked away in his pocket, a glimmer of hope sparked within him.
Maria's brow furrowed, her eyes searching his face for reassurance. "How are we going to get to Völundr?" she asked.
“We will have to find another job and save more money, I guess.”
Leo, clad in a weathered black coat that had seen better days, tightened the scarf around his neck against the chill of the early morning. His blue newsboy cap sat low on his forehead, shielding his eyes from the dim sun that struggled to break through the thick blanket of clouds.
Beside him, Maria donned a similar outfit, her clothes a dull green that seemed to mimic the gloomy sky. Her hands, calloused from hours of assisting a gold miner's wife in the only bakery in town, trembled slightly from the cold. The days had been long and arduous ones, with three months spent under the benevolent roof of the baker and her husband.
After they arrived at that small Chilean town, the old lady who rescued them from dying of cold and hunger, offered them shelter and a means to earn their keep. Her husband was looking for someone to help him find gold, so Leo spent his days either at the gold dredge or gold panning by the riverbank. Just two weeks ago the baker’s husband got a rocker box making the job a little easier.
Now, armed with the fruits of their labor, they were finally ready to set forth on their own.
As the first rays of dawn kissed the horizon, a cold wet breeze swept through the harbor, causing the waves to crash against the shore with unruly force. It was a turbulent morning, mirroring the tumultuous emotions that churned within Leo's heart.
They stood at the edge of the dock, their destination a large steamboat that awaited them. The steamboat's company would be their ticket back to the life they had before being sent here by Joanne. In exchange for the fresh catch and sometimes some of the gold ores from the fishermen and miners in the village, the boat's company would provide them with food and other necessities.
Even though the husband had woken up early to go mining, the lady baker bid them farewell after handing them kneaded bread, tea, and butter. Once on the steamboat and on their way to the big city, Leo's gaze lingered on the vast expanse of the sea, its surface shimmering with an untamed beauty. The shouts of the sailors mingled with the insults, laughter, and shanties that carried on the wind, forming an indiscernible chorus of chaos. Maria, sensing his unease, stepped closer, seeking solace in his presence.
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Her eyes fell upon a glint of shiny metal that peeked out from Leo's coat pocket, catching her attention. She leaned in, her voice soft with curiosity. "What is that brush?" she asked, her words slicing through the silence that had settled between them.
Leo's eyes widened, his mind momentarily blank as he tried to recall the object in question. His fingers instinctively reached into his pocket, grasping the smooth handle of the brush. "Brush? Brush, Brush!" he stammered, his voice betraying a flicker of uncertainty. "A brush?"
“The one you have in your right pocket," she said, facepalming.
"Brushy!" Leo exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across his face. "You see, I lost it when we faced Joanne, but this brush always comes back to me no matter how long it takes, it always does!" With a dramatic flourish, he hurled the brush into the swirling depths of the sea, watching as it disappeared beneath the crashing waves.
To Maria's surprise, the brush materialized once again in Leo's pocket about a minute later, as if defying the laws of reality. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she processed the impossibility before her. "You lost it? Nevertheless, you have had it with you all this time, or at least I think I noticed it about three weeks ago. It's only that I've never asked you about it!"
Leo's eyes sparkled with a mischievous gleam. "Indeed, my dear Maria, with this remarkable brush, we could make a fortune!" His voice carried a hint of excitement, the prospect of endless possibilities looming before them.
"What?" Maria's voice rose in incredulity, her disbelief palpable.
Leo's expression faltered, his enthusiasm dampened by her reaction. "Yes?" he replied tentatively, unsure of how to interpret her reaction.
Without warning, Maria's fist punched Leo's arm although it wasn’t exactly painful. "With my current knowledge of alchemy I can’t create certain things like gold or other minerals we can sell to make money, and yet you have had a tool capable of doing just that all this time, and you never thought to mention it!" Her words spilled out in a breathless rush, her frustration and disappointment pouring forth.
"I'm sorry," Leo sighed. He had never intended to cause her such anguish, and yet he couldn't deny the truth in her words.
Maria's anger simmered beneath the surface, her breaths coming in short, ragged bursts. "Make some money... Now!"
Leo's chuckle caught in his throat, stifled by the intensity of her emotions. "Ah, that's what you meant!" he managed to reply between gasps of laughter. "Unfortunately, I don't have any more of the special ink required to draw and create objects. Without it, the brush is essentially useless."
A heavy sigh escaped Maria's lips, her eyes closing in resignation. The weight of disappointment settled upon her shoulders, the reality of missed opportunities sinking in.