"Mia, you little ungrateful wretch! Come out here and explain to me what this is?!" Edgar roared. He stormed into her bedroom, his blue eyes flashed with anger.
The whole cottage shivered in fear.
The little spiders had long escaped into the garden when they learned the disaster Mia had done. The glasses on the shelves trembled. They clinked and clanked against each other. Dust fell from the ceiling. The room shrank, desperate to hide its presence from Edgar.
No one wanted to be around Edgar, not when he's on an outbreak.
"Oh, pumpkin! The Kraken has awakened!" Her eyes wide opened at the sound of her name.
Mia.
It was a beautiful name. The only inheritance she received from her parents, whose whereabouts were unknown. Mia had always loved how her name sounded. But not now.
Not at this moment.
She rolled down and crept under the bed. A pair of legs approached the bed. The wooden floor creaked where he stepped. Shadows trailed behind.
Achoo!
"Damn dust, stay where you are if you still want to live another day, or I'll sweep you clean," Mia whispered. Her itchy nose rebelled against her. The dust giggled at her misery.
"MIA! COME. OUT. NOW! Or you prefer me pulling you out from under the bed?!" Edgar roared. He stood next to the bed and tapped his feet.
Hidden under the bed, Mia was glad that it was his feet she had to stare, not his face. She was positive he had steam fuming out of his ears. Or probably, fire.
Her heart pumped hard. Her breath threatened to leave her. Mia swore she heard the footsteps of her death approaching.
But then again, maybe not.
Edgar's wrath was terrifying that it can drive away even the Grimm. They aren't that crazy as Mia to court death so soon.
"Mia... not he'e. I is not Mia." Said Mia the liar with a hoarse voice. She had cast a voice changing spell on herself.
"If you are not Mia, then who are you?" Said Edgar. The chair screeched against the floor as he grabbed a chair and sat.
"I'm – I'm – I'm the monster under the bed," Her voice quavered with fear.
The dust giggled again, entertained by her lies.
"If you're the monster under the bed, then who is this monster sleeping on the bed?!" Edgar snapped. He reached his pocket for his pocket watch. There were no number or silver hands on the watch, only words that said, 'It's almost time to lose patience.'
He moved his eyes to the black shadow under the quilt. His head was out, exposed. The black monster shivered, black tears rolled down his face. He gripped the quilt tighter and bit the edge of the quilt. There were holes where he bit, and in other places too. An obvious proof that he had done it many times before.
"That's – the monster above the bed…" Mia muttered.
'Damn, I can't believe I forgot the crybaby.'
"I have enough of your nonsense, Mia. You are not six years old, you're sixteen. Come out now before Baddie ruins that quilt with his black tears," Edgar snapped. His eyes fixed on the bed as if it was his mortal enemy. "If you don't come out in a count of three, I will bewitch this bed and let it kick you out."
"No, you can't!" Mia yelled.
"Yes, I can. And I will. One, two –"Edgar smirked as he counted.
"Three! I'm out!" Mia rolled out from under the bed.
Her hair disheveled and covered with spiderweb and dust. She knelt on the floor and hugged Edgar's leg tight as if her life depended on it. She rubbed her head on his leg. His perfect black pants smeared with dust. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry dear Master!"
Fake tears rolled down her face. This wasn't her first time infuriating him. And certainly wasn't the last.
'Almost there.'
"So you know what you did wrong?" Edgar shook his leg, but the girl's grip was tight. His voice was calmer, much more pleasant to hear. Her tears soothed his anger.
"I think – you look great, Master. In fact, you look like the most handsome sorcerer ever alive!" Mia praised the sorcerer whose white blouse dyed in pink.
She knew this moment will come.
She had forecasted it since the day she stood under the stars plotting destiny chart. She had foreseen her fate on the day she gazed at the magical orb.
It was one of her hardest days to past by, living each day in fear like a prisoner waiting for her death sentence.
"Mia, I have always been the most handsome sorcerer ever alive…" Edgar claimed without a doubt. He brushed his hair and touched his face, then he sighed. "…and perhaps the stupidest sorcerer for taking an apprentice like you. But forget about it. We are to discuss my blouse, not my beautiful face. What have you done with my blouse?"
"Didn't you know, pink is the hottest color in trend now?" Mia murmured. She was still glued to his leg, refused to let go.
"Enough! Come down with me," Edgar snapped and shook his leg hard. He turned to Baddie who chewed almost half the third quilt he bought in a month and scolded. "...and you, stop ruining the quilt with your snort and get under the bed!"
When he finally got rid of the hanging Mia on his leg, he stormed back to his room. A while later he appeared in another white blouse.
"See... It's not that you don't have another white blouse…" Mia murmured under her breath and trailed behind him.
"That's my favorite blouse, I look good in it," Edgar fixed his clothes once more before he walked down the stair. "Well, it's not that I can't get another apprentice. And don't you dare to kick me down the stairs, Mia. If I die, I will haunt you every night."
"Hehehe..." Mia let out an awkward giggle and she withdrew her leg.
'I swear by the name of Sir Skeleton, this wicked sorcerer have eyes behind his head.'
"By the time I come back, I want my blouse white." Edgar reached for his staff propped against the fireplace and headed to the front door. He touched the doorknob, turned around, and gave her a warning. "Don't burn down the cottage."
Mia shrugged her shoulder and watched Edgar as he disappeared into thin air. She closed the door and danced to the kitchen.
Soon, the raging morning was replace by her horrible singing. It was way worse than the shrieking siren.
The pot clanked and the eggs sizzled in the pan. Mia smiled at the black, burnt, overcooked eggs. Ah, perfect. Just the way Baddie loved it.
"Baddie, come down for breakfast!!"
It was a beautiful day, she had survived her master's wrath.
Mia tore a piece of bread and fed it to the birds, to the spiders, and the ants on the ground.
"Come and join me in this gratitude breakfast party," she sang and danced around the barren garden she had destroyed.
"Ah, yes. Come and enjoy the sumptuous banquet this beautiful lady has prepared," Mia said to Baddie as he approached the seat. She pulled a chair and invited him to sit.
On the table were bread, bacon, eggs, butter, and jam. The same breakfast they always had since Mia learned to cook. Where is the sumptuous banquet?
Baddie couldn't help but look down underneath. No, there was nothing down here. The ants, too, shook their head in confusion.
Baddie was a monster under the bed who lived with Edgar longer than she had. He used to haunt Edgar until Edgar pulled him out from under the bed. Ah, there goes the reputation of his whole family! Ruined by Edgar's bravery and his cowardice.
Baddie, despite his creepy black appearance and sharp tooth, was Mia's only friend.
Well, she couldn't consider Edgar as her friend, could she?
Edgar was her master, after all. And she was his apprentice he picked up on the street when she was six years old. Oh, if only he knew what blasphemy the girl will bring. He would pack his suitcase and hide in another continent. But it was too late now. Mia clung to his thigh like a koala every time he mentioned his miserable choice and hid around the cottage when she did a horrible mistake.
Meow!
Mia turned to the cat basked under the sun next to the glass window. Ah, yes, she had another friend! A ginger, tabby cat who appeared at their front door one cold night. He carried a small bundle of clothes attached to a stick.
"I'm yours." Said Oyen as he invited himself at that strange stormy night.
Thus since that day, the dwelling of The Wicked Edgar Dendragon the Great Sorcerer had fallen into great misery; Edgar with his daily fuming and outbreak, Mia's pleading for justice, Baddie's crying whenever he was kick out from under the bed, and Oyen hitting Mia's head with a stick when he had enough of her nonsense attitude.
Mia smiled at Baddie who wore a frown on his face as he swallowed down the burnt fried eggs. He hated that. It disgusted him. But poor Baddie never dared to tell her. It was a terrible mistake he did once – It was the first time Mia cooked, and she made burnt eggs. A lifetime suffering hex Mia jinxed on him. Do you like the egg, Baddie? She said.
He nodded.