𝐂𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾ㅤㅤㅤ───ㅤㅤㅤ𝗅𝗎𝗉𝗎𝗌 𝗇𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗍
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝖼𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗆 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗆.
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▬▬▬▬▬ㅤ 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒, in fact, looking for her during those last two days. Hisirdoux ratted her out (of course he did) and the entire castle ━or, at least, the people who knew of Sol's existence━ had been paranoid about her disappearance.

ㅤㅤㅤSolaomoni was embarrassed for three reasons; the first one was the fact that she'd been caught ere she even started to plan her escape, the second was because she had been caught by her own mistake of being noisy during her fight with the crow who ate her only friend (rest in peace, ᚳᚨᛋᛕᚨ!), and the third was that she was glad to have been caught because she was fed like never before as soon as Merlin was told how hungry she was.

ㅤㅤㅤHe didn't tell anyone where she had been, instead lying about how she lost herself in the castle while searching for a bathroom and got stuck on the top of one of the towers.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was a stupid, unreasonable lie, but most believed in it, and the ones who didn't did not dare to question Merlin.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux was one of the people who didn't believe it, and he made sure Sol knew of his distrust every time they crossed paths, but not when Merlin was around ━the two-faced apprentice was at least slightly smart, it seemed━. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel offended by his behavior towards her when she had seen him be nice to everyone else.

ㅤㅤㅤBut that wasn't important at the moment; the important thing was that she'd been caught, and there were consequences.

ㅤㅤㅤNow, Sol had to sleep with chains on her left ankle, stuck to her bed by Merlin.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was cruel. So, so cruel.

ㅤㅤㅤNot only had she been denied basic decency, but the only piece of freedom she had was taken from her by her own mistake━ again.

ㅤㅤㅤFrom what Merlin had told her, the king was furious because of her attempt at escaping ━not that she cared, truly, but she did depend on the king's approval to go home, therefore Sol needed to remain on his good side━, and so Merlin had to convince him to let her stay out of the chambers with the reassurance that he would personally check for her all the time, including the time she was to lay down to sleep.

ㅤㅤㅤOutrageous, Sol thought as her eyes burned, but refused to let a single tear fall onto a pillow that was very much more uncomfortable than her own back at home.

ㅤㅤㅤEven after all of that, she was still fearless. Sol would remain fearless, no matter what; she promised herself that.

ㅤㅤㅤ'To show fear is to lose a fight.' she was told by her family. Solaomoni did not like to lose fights.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐓𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃, even if it was a fake apprenticeship. Solaomoni━ well, Solamon had to get used to walking around like a fool because there was just so much to get done.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Go get me this!" Merlin demanded, "Go get me that!" he asked right after, "Go collect me things!" the wizard screamed, "Go clean my tables!" he finished off with a wave of his hand.

ㅤㅤㅤSol was sure she was about to go ballistic.

ㅤㅤㅤThat was the only good explanation for the fact that she was starting to miss the tasks in her home, where the only things asked of her were "Go train your siblings!" and "Stay inside Eriynx forever!".

ㅤㅤㅤAnd don't even get her started on the castle's architecture!

ㅤㅤㅤCircle stairs here, circle stairs there, they were everywhere! Sol despised stairs, truly hated them, because she wasn't used to escalating things as high as those since her wings helped her in situations where she had to go from point A to the higher point B.

ㅤㅤㅤThat brings us to the present, where Merlin had asked Solamon to find him in his workshop; more specifically, the top of one of the towers inside it.

ㅤㅤㅤSol looked up and sighed in exhaustion ━even when she hadn't moved a single bit yet━ at the amount of steps. She would spend the whole evening there, for sure.

ㅤㅤㅤShe gave the first step, then the second ━a bit wobbly━, then the third━ oops, nope. Solamon tripped in her dress and almost fell face-first in the higher step. She put her hands in front of herself ere she could hit her forehead and pushed herself back to stand again, pulling on her skirt to take it out from under her shoes.

ㅤㅤㅤMumbling cuss words towards no one in particular, Sol tried again. Third step, fourth, fifth... she found that counting them helped a bit to concentrate. In the eighth, she was already panting. How did humans not get tired of this?! It would've been much easier if she was allowed to use her wings.

ㅤㅤㅤSol heard laughter from behind her, so she turned her head to watch Hisirdoux go up the stairs skipping two steps at a time, so easily that she frowned in jealousy. His smirk as he even carried two buckets full of blue goo so easily with him made her want to rip his face off.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Trouble using the steps, Milady?" he teased, doing a little dance once he was at the tenth. Not having a single bone in her body that could stand the teasing, Solamon waved a hand in his direction and made him drop one of the buckets he was carrying with a single string of her magic. Its contents spilled down the stairs, right beside Sol, and he gaped at the wasted blue juice before frowning at her. "Hey! That took me hours to collect!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Serves you right for disrespecting a lady. So ungentlemanly." Sol had no idea if that was a real word, but she looked proud of herself as both her hands went to her waist and a smirk slowly made its way to her face.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ugh! You're going to have to help me get another bucket of slorr milk!" he pointed at her, but she only mocked him by mimicking his words in a higher tone of voice. Hisirdoux rolled his eyes. "Oh, very mature of you, Solamon." she did it again, making him roll his eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤAt that, Sol raised her skirt slightly and continued going up the stairs, counting as she went and ignoring Hisirdoux's glare at the back of her head as she passed him.

ㅤㅤㅤIt was hard to ignore him when he pulled her by the collar. She gasped as the harsh pull made her lose her balance on the step she was on and fall onto him, making him fall as well. Rolling down the twelve steps Sol had managed to get up from, the other bucket Hisirdoux was holding went up and down and up and down with them, throwing blue goo all over the steps and the teens.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Oh!" Sol sighed in relief when she felt no pain at all once she had finally managed to stop rolling. The pained groan from underneath her made her hold in a laugh, then stand up with some effort. "Serves you right." she told Hisirdoux, who was covered with blue goo much more than she was.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Me?!" he sat straight, clenching his jaw. "You're the one who threw my bucket down the stairs!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"So that justifies trying to make me fall too?! You maniac!" Sol crossed her arms, turning away from him.

ㅤㅤㅤThe boy seemed to realize his mistake and became red-faced, standing up in a hurry, but almost falling again after his foot slipped on the blue goo.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Listen," he scratched the back of his neck, stuttering in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't think straight. It wasn't my intention to hurt you, I swear."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Your actions mean more than your words." she turned around and raised her chin to look at him with a glint of superiority in her fake brown eyes. "I'd be sure to believe you more if you apologized on your knees."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Now you're just trying to make me look like a fool. I refuse to do such a thing!" he crossed his arms too, losing his patience completely in a mere second.

ㅤㅤㅤSol didn't expect him to obey her, of course not, but it was still worth the try, it would've been funny to see him actually on his knees. Instead, she looked at her own hands and smiled maliciously.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then..." she extended her gloved hand, full of dirt from the ground she had touched when falling down and of blue juice from Hisirdoux's bucket. "Go on."

ㅤㅤㅤ"No." he simply said.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Apologize." she wiggled her fingers, teasing him. "You said you were sorry, were you lying?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Of course not." he shrugged.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Then, I am waiting for an apology." she kept her hand right there, a winner's smile on her face.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux sighed, then took her hand and glanced at her once before giving her a smirk that made her nervous. Before she could even process his suspicious expression, Hisirdoux had taken her glove off and kissed the back of her bare hand.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I apologize, dear lady Solamon Izzet." he said, in such a smooth voice that Sol paused for longer than she would ever let herself.

ㅤㅤㅤThe boy's smile fell to a surprised expression when she turned red and snatched the glove back, fiddling with it instead of putting it back on.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Apology not accepted, Hisirdoux ᚳᚨᛋᛕᚨran." she spoke so fast that Hisirdoux had to take a second to understand what Sol had said, then she climbed up the stairs quickly, tripping over and over again on her way up.

ㅤㅤㅤWhat even was that all about?

ㅤㅤㅤSol must be going crazy, that just about confirmed it.

ㅤㅤㅤFor an entire second ━which was a lot, considering the situation━ she thought Hisirdoux Casperan was actually... charming. Not in an attractive kind of way, never would she even allow herself to have thoughts heading in that direction, but in a way that she had the single thought:

ㅤㅤㅤ'I could get used to him.'

ㅤㅤㅤUsed to him. As if she'd have time for that. Camelot was supposed to be a quick thing, in and out, not a place to get used to things such as the charms of a human boy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Wake up!" Merlin snapped his fingers in front of her face and she shook her head to wave the thoughts away. "Daydreaming while I speak, the audacity..."

ㅤㅤㅤSol rolled her eyes once Merlin started to mumble.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I thought you wanted to speak to me." she interrupted the man, who gave her a dirty look ere he sighed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, yes." he pinched his frown and sighed, Sol could feel his headache from where she stood. "We may have a problem. The king's sister, Morgana, is curious about you━ she does not believe the story of a girl found in the streets stealing food simply because the people in Camelot have not gossiped about it. She trusts the people's mean words more than my own."

ㅤㅤㅤAh, right. Solamon had completely forgotten about the made-up story of how she ended up in the castle as Merlin's "apprentice". It seemed as no one really knew a single thing about her in or outside the castle━ she actually preferred it that way.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I do not see how that is my problem." the fairy shrugged, forcing herself to stay still even as she found herself scared to be underneath Merlin's glare.

ㅤㅤㅤ"It will be your problem when she comes by to check on your progress as my apprentice. I suppose being made of magic helps, but you need to have a few tricks ready in case Morgana wishes for proof." he turned around as he spoke and went to his bookshelf, his fingers ghosting through each title.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I see." Sol frowned, fidgeting with her fingers. Now she was sure to be in trouble.

ㅤㅤㅤThe thing was, Solamon was trained to be a warrior, to protect her people with swords and axes━

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then. Go ahead, show me what you got." Merlin turned back, crossing his arms as he raised his eyebrows as to challenge the fairy.

ㅤㅤㅤ━so even with magic running through her veins━

ㅤㅤㅤ"Of course." her voice cracked. She raised her hands and intertwined her own fingers in front of her face. Glancing at Merlin to see if he was still watching, she took a deep breath and placed her lips in the little gap between her hands to blow in. As soon as she did, little pops of light came out of the other side of her hand, much like fireflies exploding mid air.

ㅤㅤㅤ━Sol was not good with it. At all.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ta-da!" she smiled at Merlin, waving her hands excitedly on each side of her face when her trick was over.

ㅤㅤㅤHe didn't seem very impressed.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That's all? You do not have any grand tricks?" he frowned and sighed in disappointment.

ㅤㅤㅤShe gasped and put her left palm over her own chest as Merlin offended her with no mercy.

ㅤㅤㅤ"That was very grand! Whatever that means." she crossed her arms, clearly embarrassed as her voice got more and more quiet as she spoke. "Besides, my magic isn't focused on tricks, it is focused on damage. I can blind people, if I wish to do so."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Sure you can, but all we need to do is satisfy the woman, not blind her permanently." the old man pinched his frown as he shook his head in a disapproving manner. Sol couldn't help but to think of her ᛗᚨ as he did so. "Can you... create small projections of objects or animals, or any tricks of the sort?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well..." he sighed at her lack of response. "I've never been taught any of those things! What, do you expect me to be born knowing it all?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes! You are made of magic! Entirely made━ of━ it!" he clapped his hands at each word at the end of his phrase to emphasize them, which made Sol roll her eyes. "Ah, don't roll your eyes at me! Girl, do you not know how to treat authority?!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"No. Please, master wizard Merlin, do teach me!" she mocked the man, gesturing around with her hands as she smiled sassily at him. Her composure fell once he smacked her hand with a thin wooden ruler. "Ow! Why would you━"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Respect is the only thing I ask of you for your own good." he pointed at her with the ruler. "Tell me, Solamon Izzet, do you want to stay alive?"

ㅤㅤㅤ"...Obviously━" she narrowed her eyes, looking at the old man as if he were stupid. As she caressed the hand that had been smacked, Merlin smacked the other. "Ah━! Stop it!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"Then, for once in your life, show a little respect to those around you!"

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll show the people around me respect when they earn it!" he went to hit her hand with the ruler again, but Sol took it before it came in contact with her hand and burned it to a crisp. "And that will certainly not happen until 'the people' stop treating me like an animal to be tamed!"

ㅤㅤㅤHe was silent. His deep stare cause Solamon to want to look away, but she forced herself to maintain eye contact until Merlin eventually cleared his throat.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then." he nodded, which surprised the fairy immensely. He was agreeing with her! No adult ever agreed with her. If she'd known that was the reaction she'd get, Sol would have pushed those boundaries way earlier.

ㅤㅤㅤShe didn't stay in Merlin's workshop after that, as he decided to give her a break for now so she could focus on training her reading. The master wizard gave her the notes he had on her language, most of them comparing it to his own, to help her translate the books he'd given her to study.

ㅤㅤㅤShe found out, through those books, that her kind of magic wasn't usual for humans to catch on━ the use of Primal Sources directly connected to the world in magic came more naturally to magical creatures like herself, and those who only had a secondary connection to that nature, like humans, had a harder time letting the magic flow within them.

ㅤㅤㅤThe sun, as a Primal Source itself, was taken as the base for magic such as light and fire, and those were more common types of magic used in human history.

ㅤㅤㅤSol hadn't know of Primal Sources through her basic studies of magic in Eriynx, as magic was so common that no one really bothered to speak of it most of the time, so she felt privileged to have access to so much information, even when most of it had been a nightmare to translate.

ㅤㅤㅤThe sun fairy walked around her new room, staying mostly near the locked window to catch the small bits of sunlight that shone through. One thing that she did not like about that room was the darkness; Solamon felt weak in dark places, and she'd been unfortunate enough to be given a room where the sun set in the opposite direction of the only window.

ㅤㅤㅤAs midday struck, there was no sunlight for Sol to bathe in and she was left leaning on the window while holding her borrowed book and small scattered notes around herself.

ㅤㅤㅤ"This is awful." she told the silhouette of a person in her book, having not even a spider to talk to this time, "Merlin would not mind if I went out just to catch a glimpse of sunlight, would he?"

ㅤㅤㅤThe silhouette stayed silent.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then! I shall go outside just for a few minutes." she smiled, closing the book and stepping over the notes to leave it on top of her bed.

ㅤㅤㅤSol tiptoed to the door to try and glance at the guard who usually stood out guard through the small window on the door. She took a deep breath and opened the door so fast that the guard became startled.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I need sunlight! Or else I'll die!" she proclaimed, wobbling her knees and leaning on the door to seem more convincing.

ㅤㅤㅤThe guard seemed hesitant, he looked inside the room, noticing how the sunlight wasn't reaching it anymore, and clicked his tongue.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I'll stay with you the whole time we're out."

ㅤㅤㅤWell, that was easy.

ㅤㅤㅤShe walked ahead of the guard, who seemed to struggle to catch up, and almost ran when the doors to one of the castle's gardens became closer.

ㅤㅤㅤAs she raised her hand to get the doors, someone rushing through the corridor bumped straight into her, forcing Sol to take a few steps back.

ㅤㅤㅤEre she could control her tongue, the angered words slipped out with ease.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Watch where you walk!" as soon as she saw who it was, Sol sighed internally. Of course. "Hello, you."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Ugh, not you again." Hisirdoux rolled his eyes, kneeling down to get the scrolls of paper that fell from under his left arm.

ㅤㅤㅤHis familiar sat by his side, seemingly unbothered by the mess caused by his friend as he licked his paw and used it to scratch somewhere behind his left ear.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Always a pleasure to see you too, dear colleague." she forced a smile. Sol felt extremely uncomfortable to be talking to the boy again after she'd had those thoughts about him only a few hours before.

ㅤㅤㅤ'I could get used to him.'

ㅤㅤㅤNever. Never in her life!

ㅤㅤㅤBefore he could give a witty response to her rhetorical remark, the guard behind her cleared his throat as if to hurry their interaction up. Sol turned to him with a frown and then went back to Hisirdoux.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Go along, please." she whispered out to the boy before chaining her arms on his free one, "What's that? You are going to give me a tour of the castle? Oh, I do need one! How kind of you."

ㅤㅤㅤShe giggled forcefully and looked back at the guard.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I suppose you are not needed anymore. Don't worry, I'll be back to my room in a moment. Hisirdoux will escort me back, won't you?" she turned to the boy, who had a confused frown on his face.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I never sa━" Solamon shut him up by twisting the skin on his arm. He winced, cleared his throat and smiled. "Of course."

ㅤㅤㅤ"Well, then, let's go!" she pulled him ahead, glancing back to see the guard hesitantly going back to the door to her room.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux's familiar followed behind, a confused look on his face

ㅤㅤㅤ"What was that all about?" the cat mumbled out to her.

ㅤㅤㅤ"I just don't want to go back to my room. And I really do need a tour, the thought of getting lost in this enormous place is quite terrifying." she shivered at the thought.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Getting lost again, you mean." Hisirdoux reminded Sol with a smirk.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, of course." she looked away, trying to cover her lie.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Alright." he sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. "I'll help you this time. But this does not mean I trust you."

ㅤㅤㅤ"I do not expect you to, I am a stranger, after all." she nodded slowly as they walked calmly through the empty corridors. "Though, I would appreciate it if you at least hid that dislike towards me, I truly do not want to spend my time here arguing with someone who is supposed to be my colleague."

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux rolled his eyes, but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

ㅤㅤㅤThey went on, stopping every once in a while as Hisirdoux and Archie showed her different rooms━ she had no idea what on earth the king would need five kitchens for, but, as someone who thought highly of culinary, she respected that decision.

ㅤㅤㅤ"This one is my favorite," the boy detangles himself from Sol to excitedly skip over to the last door on the corridor, Archie shook his head and sighed, already knowing where the door led to. "the court's musicians all keep their instruments here. Do you want to see?"

ㅤㅤㅤIt seemed like more of an excuse for Hisirdoux to see the instruments himself, but Solamon couldn't deny the fact that she was quite curious to see how the humans' instruments would work━ therefore, she nodded.

ㅤㅤㅤThey walked through the wooden door and Sol looked around in curiosity. The room was not very big comparing to others she had been presented moments before, but it still was bigger than her whole house at Eriynx.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Can you play any of these?" she questioned Hisirdoux as they approached some of the instruments abandoned by a corner.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Yes, most of them! But my main instrument is the lute." he grabbed said object and started to play a simple melody, the sound of the lute reminded Solamon of one of her older sisters, Juturna, whose whole passion was music.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Can you play any of them?" he asked, almost desperate to have something to make fun of the girl. A victorious smile grew on Hisirdoux's face upon seeing Solamon look away, scratching her own neck as to hide her embarrassment.

ㅤㅤㅤ"No━ but, in my defense, I never actually tried before!" she crossed her arms, frowning. It was very much true, none of the instruments were even similar to the ones at her home, and even if they were, Solamon couldn't play any of the instruments in Eriynx so well.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Come here, let's see if you can do good with any of these." the boy waved for her to get closer, not expecting much from the girl. Archie smiled to encourage Sol ━a bit of a failed attempt, as the girl still fidgeted with her own fingers━ and sat by his familiar's side.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂! Hell on earth, is how it sounded! Hisirdoux was expecting something bad, but not that bad. Solamon could barely press the strings to do different chords, the sound she made out of them was terrible, being way too harsh on most of the instruments ━in fact, she almost broke the poor vielle with the brute force she was putting on the strings━, the young apprentice was very surprised on how the harp survived her aggressive pulls on every string.

ㅤㅤㅤEven though she was doing terribly, Sol smiled while playing all the instruments and did a happy dance around the room when playing the flute ━which, may I add, was the worst one to hear for the boy━, it felt as though she enjoyed seeing him cover his ears in a failed attempt to block out the sound.

ㅤㅤㅤHisirdoux felt obliged to call this whole thing torture, and Solamon felt good while doing it, considering her genuine smiles.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Okay, I think I've heard enough!" he said when she grabbed the bagpipe. Removing the instrument from her hands, Hisirdoux pulled Sol out of the room, her presence there was an offence to all the musicians of Camelot.

ㅤㅤㅤAs they left, Archie finally stopped hiding from underneath one of the tables in the room and went with them, a perturbed look on his face━ which was, honestly speaking, quite understandable.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Maybe we should do something else. Do you like baking? Painting? Anything else that does not involve sounds?" he pleaded, frowing heavily. The girl sighed, staring at the ground as she though for a moment before she smiled excitedly.

ㅤㅤㅤ"Does Merlin own gunpowder?" was the weirdest phrase Hisirdoux had heard that day.

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i love them sm

next chapter:
MAGIC NERDS BLOW UP CAMELOT (NOT CLICKBAIT)(GONE WRONG)!!!!!

yeah

they're stupid

anyways, sorry for the wait, I'm trying really hard to write longer chapters but IT'S GENUINELY SO HARD!!!

WHO COULD'VE KNOWN HUH 😭😭😭😭

I'm starting to think writing three stories at once wasn't such a good idea teehee

writing this is becoming harder and harder but I stay silly!!!!

IIII LOVE YOU!!!! GOODBYE stAy safe PLS

have a great day/evening/night!!

B!!!BYE!!!!

- beex

posted: July 6th, 2021
rewritten: March 23rd, 2023
edited: not yet!