Starlight School Dropout?

“Apprentice with someone? I wonder if there is anyone out there who could stand me,” Mia replied with a weak laugh. She lifted her chest from her knees and pressed her back against the stone wall behind her. Her red eyes remained distant, staring out at nothing in particular.

“I’ve done some modelling before,” Mia murmured with a shrug. “Maybe I should just jump back into that to get by for a while, and then…I don’t know. Figure something out.”

She let out a long, frustrated groan as she turned her head to look at Ophion.

“Why is this world so fucking difficult?”

“Hmm…” Mia murmured to herself as she rubbed a hand against one of her eyes.

“It’s…complex, yeah. Life is about 90% hating myself, and 10% doing things too simple to be fulfilling. Like modeling, ha…”

She couldn’t help but chuckle slightly because Ophion figured that out right away. It was easy for her—her mom was Aphrodite after all, so why wouldn’t it be? But after using it as a tool to get by for as long as she had been on earth, it was just…boring. Tedious. Definitely unfulfilling. She could force herself to do it again, but did she have to?

“My powers? Well, it’s mostly just this,”

Mia raised her clenched fist, and then opened it to reveal a red flame burning in her palm. It didn’t seem like there was much she could do with her fire powers, as far as she could think. Mia watched the flame flicker in her hand for a moment in silence, weighing something in her mind. She did have another power, but she wasn’t entirely confident that it was even worth mentioning.

But Mia closed her palm and dissipated the flame, deciding to speak up after all.

“I do have another ability, but…I don’t know. I make jewelry and I can put little spells on them,” a little nervous laugh escaped her. She didn’t actually talk about her jewelry making very often; a bit funny, considering she often wore her own jewelry. Just speaking about her own jewelry had made her unconsciously pull her hair back against her ear, exposing the red ruby and silver earrings that she had made herself. Against her left wrist lightly chimed a couple of silver bangle bracelets—also made by her.

“Not really anything impressive, though.”

Well, she could think of a few things that Ophion flexibility would be good for…but they weren’t exactly appropriate to discuss with a teacher’s apprentice. So Mia kept those thoughts to herself.

As for her jewelry-making though, Mia brushed it off with a hand gesture.

“Geez, it’s really not much at all though…”

But when she brought her hand back, Mia glanced down at the bracelets on her wrist.

“I mean…I don’t know,” Mia muttered with a sigh. “They’re just little enchantments. Nothing particularly strong. I never really thought of it as something worth pursuing beyond my own amusement. I mean, yeah, it’s nice to make things that could help other people I guess, but like…it never really seems like enough.”

Mia started picking at one of the bracelets on her wrist. Never enough. Those two words stuck to her.

“You really think so?” Mia asked as she stopped picking at her bracelets. Pushing her hands against the wall behind her, she used it to get back onto her feet.

“You have an awful lot of confidence in someone you just met. You haven't even seen the stuff I make other than these bracelets,” Mia said with a soft giggle as she bent over with her hands on thighs. That moment of teasing Ophion lightly was the first genuine smile she managed to get on her face that entire damn day. It felt nice.

“But…thank you,” Mia murmured as she straightened back up and glanced out at the distance past Ophion, her right hand absentmindedly playing with her hair. There was a pretty damn big island beyond the school…she could stay here, and still find something besides school to pursue, right?

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe there is something there.” Mia glanced down at the bracelets, shifting her wrist a little to make them jangle. It wouldn’t be an instant answer to her problems, and frankly that’s probably why she hadn’t committed to trying at all. When she was in need of money, it was easier to just bat her eyelashes and let someone take pictures of her. Maybe she would still have to do that for a while to get on her feet, but…there was something there, right?

Mia glanced down at the bracelets on her arm, shaking her wrist a little to make them clink together. Good stuff, huh? Mia was constantly judging herself when it came to her jewelry. Not strong enough charm powers, not a good enough design, not pretty enough, not elegant enough, not useful enough. She really did need to chill the hell out a little. Other people always had kind things to say about her work.

“Hah…we’ll see. But, thank you,” Mia replied with a shrug and a smile as she glanced back at Ophion. “You’re one of the few decent people I’ve met at this school.”

Mia looked over toward the stairs to get down the tower.

“I think it’s time for me to get going. I’ve got a lot of shit to figure out,” she laughed. “Thanks for listening to me ramble.”

Indeed, she had a lot to figure out. But at least she was heading into it a bit calmer than she was before. Mia gave Ophion a little wave before heading for the stairs to leave.