Early the next morning, Absidae joined her fellow apprentices at the breakfast table. "Late to bed, early to rise; you'll need sleep eventually!" Cedar teased playfully, patting the seat next to her. Sid smiled, sitting down and helping herself to a muffin. Her unruly hair was pulled off her face by a complimentary green kerchief, knotted on top of her head. "How was your first day studying?" Her companion asked through a mouthful of fruit.
"It was nice, I'm glad to be somewhere where people finally understand me," Sid mused, looking at the faces around the table. Everyone was so different, but so alike; they were all so alive with a fierce thirst for knowledge and companionship. Paris, their ever-present and fatherly teacher seemed to beam with pride simply looking at them. Tristan, the senior apprentice-turned-teacher seemed more and more confident in himself. Sinclair and Orion were deep in some kind of debate over which magical creature could beat which in a fight, and even though they looked very different, they seemed as brothers.
Tristan cleared his throat, looking at Absidae. "I'd like you to go out into the garden today, and start putting some of what you took notes over yesterday into practical study; look for a few of the plants you identified, specifically the ones that could be used in a simple burn balm. Once you've done that, come back up to the tower and we'll go over putting it together."
Sid nodded, smiling excitedly. Paris spoke up next; "Cedar, you have a magical assessment today, a private one with me in my office. Sinclair, I'd like you to work on some of your creature identifications, so to the library with you. Orion, please show Absidae around the garden, and if she requires any help I trust you'll be there to assist her," All of the apprentices nodded in turn, and once breakfast was cleaned up, they all went their own way.
Tristan reseeded to the alchemy tower while Paris gently led Cedar towards his office. Sinclair smiled at Absidae and Orion before heading towards the wrought iron stairs and to the library. Sid and Orion were left to themselves in a brief, comfortable silence, contemplating each other, their surroundings, and the likes, before Orion motioned towards the door at the rear of the common living area; the door that opened into the garden.
The first sun was still low in the sky, barely shining over a world that should have been cast in a wintery fog, casting a pale orange gleam over the entirety of the back of the amazing structure in which Paris and his apprentices resided. The garden, Sid noted, was trapped in a perpetual spring; her face was a mask of subdued awe as she took it all in. Everything was so alive, somehow beautiful and peaceful in the magic of it. She turned to Orion, lost for words.
"Is this the first time you've see the garden in daylight?" He asked, a delighted smirk on his lips, his voice playful. Still soaking in the amazing scenery, Absidae nodded thoughtfully. "Paris made it a sanctuary for a small band of fairies that lived in the forest between here and Olkmont. Therefore, it is perpetually spring here. The fairies make most of the magic, except for the tree," Orion gestured towards it. "The spell Paris put on the tree in the center is the key to all of this. Without it, the fairies wouldn't even be drawn here." He explained matter-of-factly.
Absidae marveled at the amount of magic it must take to keep this tree alive, daily, all year, for as long as he had. The perpetualness of the spring made it so that any plant, herb, or root she could possibly need would be constantly at her disposal.
"There's so much I have to learn, but there's one thing I will never understand," she paused, looking up to Orion. "If this much life, this much good is possible from magic, why is there so much evil in the world? I've seen so much of it, the bad. This is just…" Sid shook her head, unable to find the words to truly describe what she was seeing, breaking their eye contact in the process so as not to show him any of the visions in her head, as she had done to Cedar. Orion reached out, laying his hand on her should reassuringly.
Before he was able to verbally respond, a loud pop caused the young woman to yelp, jumping back from his touch. The fairie who was attempting to use her shoulder as a landing spot ended up accidentally landing on Orion's face, causing the frightened young woman to let out a small giggle of relief. "Woah!" the fairie laughed. "Didn't mean to scare ya, new girl! I just wanted to introduce m'self." The fiery haired creature let out another laugh, smiling from ear to pointed ear.
"Get off my face," Orion growled menacingly, causing Noc to glare at him before he snapped his fingers and popped onto his original target; Absidae's shoulder. "Faires," Orion grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Noc stuck his tongue out at the young werebear before turning his attention back to Absidae. "Anyway, all I was gonna say was; you're right; way to much evil in this world! By the way, I'm Noc, you're friendly neighborhood fire fairie."
"Nice to meet you, Noc," Sid said as she reached up and brought the fairie from her shoulder to eye level. He was no bigger than her pointer finger. "I'm Absidae, but my friends call me Sid. What exactly is a fire fairie? What do you do?" She asked, observing the small creature who was now sitting in the palm of her hand.
"Well," he pondered, scratching his head, "us fire fairies keep the boarder fires on the garden burning. Ya know, we keep it warm, make it possible for all these plants to grow, even when it's cold beyond the border. The water fairies, like my sister Diena, keep everything…well...watered. I guess that was self-explanatory, eh?" Absidae nodded, smiling at her new fair friend. It simply amazed her what a big job these tiny creatures did, and how much of a difference it made.
Orion exhaled deeply through his nose. "Speaking of, shouldn't you be working?" Orion questioned, arching one of his eyebrows. Noc nodded, and begrudgingly said his goodbyes before popping away again. "The fairies and I don't get along," Orion stated simply. "Besides, we have work to do. Now, you have some plants to look for, and I believe I owe you your first glimpse at a werebear." Orion smiled at the excitement that Sid couldn't hide, knowing this was necessary if he was to succeed with what his father had asked of him.