"I'll give you 15 silver for two."
Emily looked around in awe as her mother, a short woman with black hair and green eyes, bargained for bread. Mom rarely took her to the marketplace, and every time she did it was different. Different stalls, different people, different buildings. Or at least different decorations. Instead she insisted Emily study at home, on her own. Dad was there sometimes, but he would leave for work for long hours. He told Emily he was in charge of keeping people healthy, that he worked as whatever a street cleaner is. She thought it was noble, keeping the streets clean so people would be healthy.
Emily was
"I see ya brought yer kid with ya Beatrice." The stall owner nodded as he put two loaves of bread in a bag. Emily turned to smile at him, even if he was kind of scary.
"Oh yes. She just wanted to come with me so much today!" Emily's mother ruffled her hair, smiling.
"Say, shouldn't she be in school?" The owner asked, peering at Emily.
"Yes, well, she wanted to come so much I thought she could skip a day." Her mother answered. Emily nodded along as if there were indeed school today. In truth, Emily hadn't been to school in months. She had only been to school regularly about 7 times in her life, all for about 2 months in a "quarter". Whatever that meant.
"Well ain't that cute. Say little girly, what's yer favorite thing tah learn about?" The man asked, giving her mother the bag of bread.
Emily lit up. Above anything, there was one lesson she loved, one topic that could catch her interest like nothing else could. The coolest, most amazing lesson, "Magic!" Emily answered with a burst of pride. Both her mother and the stall owner froze.
"Sh-she's still learning to say magic detection and eradication! You know how they're teaching it now with the new outlaws and bans." Her mother quickly explained, putting her hand over Emily's mouth. Emily huffed. Why would the grown ups ask what she liked and then tell her she liked the opposite? Emily loved magic! From dragons to demons to unicorns and minotaurs! All they taught in school was how to get rid of them or how to report them to the Eradication Guard, but her favorite part was when they showed the biology of the creatures. How unique each and every one of them were.
"Well isn't that sweet? She's going to make a great EG one day." The owner patted Emily's head before her mother took her hand and led them to the next stall.
Her mother leaned down, pulling Emily close. "What have I said about your favorite class?"
"That I should just say MDE instead of saying magic." Emily pouted. Why do grown ups always tell her what she wants to be when she grows up? She showed an interest in magic, and the stall owner automatically assumed she wanted to be an EG. Her mom once told her she should want to be a doctor or high advisor. Her dad once told her she should marry into a rich family if best. Her teacher constantly told the class being an EG is the noblest profession ever, and all of them should want to be one. And her classmates went along with it. When her teacher asked the class what they wanted to be, all answered an EG except Emily. She didn't know what she wanted to be when she grew up. So many people told her to be so many different things. The only recurring profession was an EG. And Emily didn't want that. She didn't want to eradicate any magic.
"We don't need people thinking I'm raising a rulebreaker." Her mother pulled her along to the butcher shop, one of the few buildings in the market place. The inside was cold, colder than the alleyways or home when dad couldn't afford firewood that one time. Emily sighed as her mother bargained for meat. The bad part about going to the market was that her mom was always too busy buying things to play or talk with Emily. She looked out the window out to the marketplace stalls, down the marketplace to the main road. There, Emily could see a crowd forming. Some looked upset, others looked happy. Curiosity burned in her mind.
Emily looked back at her mother, still bargaining for jerky and dried meat. These negotiations usually took forever, a whole 15 minutes! Surely mom wouldn't mind if she took a peek at what was happening. Emily looked at the exit door, frowning. It had a bell. Mom would notice if she left. Her frown lifted into a smile once she saw the doggy door at the bottom. She slowly backed up, crawling through the door. Once she was sure she had made it out undetected, Emily broke into a run towards the crowd. She ducked and weaved through the marketplace, getting to the end of the pathway.
She approached the large crowd, gathered around a platform with a large log sticking up out of the ground. Tied to it was a calm woman dressed in dirty rags. Below her were piles of kindling with EG's pouring oil and alcohol over it, stuffing hay in any crack they missed with the kindling. Emily immediately realized what they were doing. A witches pire. One of the largest threats she was taught in Magic Detection and Eradication was a witch. Rebels who chose to use magic against the ban. Emily was taught they were bloodthirsty and evil. She didn't like them as much. The other creatures had an excuse, they were brainless. But witches came from the Brudora kingdom. They were people, like Emily. And to add, her teachers had proof of what they did. Newspapers announcing witches that murdered hundreds, criminals becoming witches, witches being tried for their crimes.
But there was something weird about this witch. She was calm, incredibly for someone about to be burned alive. Her mouth was gagged and her arms were bound, yet she acted like it was a normal Saturday. "NOBLES, PEASANTS, ALL GATHER ROUND!" An Eradication guard stepped on the platform, shouting out to the crowd. Emily wasn't sure why he announced nobles. This was the poor side of the entire kingdom. "MAY THE WITCH TRIAL COMMENCE! LATE LAST NIGHT THE ERRADICATION GUARDS AMBUSHED THIS MONSTER IN THE BRUNDAI WOODS!"
Gasps rang through the crowd. Emily had heard about the Brundai woods. The magical woods surrounding the Brudora kingdom. They were thick, and anyone who did come back from them spoke of magical creatures deep in it. According to her history class, it had taken 20 years to break that thick layer of the forest, leaving way to see the inside. The inside was spaced out like a normal forest but brimming with magical creatures. The forest went on forever and ever, the deeper you went the more dangerous the magical creatures got. It was strictly forbidden to go in unless given direct access from the Eradication guard or the royal family. "I GIVE YOU CRIMSON THE WITCH!" The guard pointed to the witch with a dramatic flourish. Crimson waved her hand from under the ropes with a smile. "ACCUSED OF DISOBEYING THE BAN OF MAGIC USE, VENTURING INTO THE BRUNDAI WOODS, MURDERING COUNTLESS INNOCENTS-"
"Excuse me!" Emily exclaimed.
"...Um, who said that?" The guard scanned the crowd, confused. Emily moved through the crowd to the bottom of the platform, waving at him.
"Down here! I'm down here!" Emily exclaimed. The guard, along with the entire crowd, looked down to see the waving 7 year old that had interrupted a witch trial.
"Sorry little girl, I don't know where your mother is." The guard tried to dismiss her. "You shouldn't be here, run along."
"No, I have a question!" Emily protested, huffing.
"Oh? What's your question?" He crouched down to get a better look at her.
"How many people did she kill?" Emily asked, looking up at the guard.
The guard sputtered, struggling to come up with an answer. "Uh- Countless. It's, ah, impossible to count! She killed so many!" Crimson tilted her head, studying Emily with curiosity.
"But you can count the entire kingdom, so did she kill more than that?" Emily asked with growing confusion.
"N-no it's- Um- Countless can be a figure of speech! When I say countless, I mean she killed many people. You CAN count them, but, uh, you shouldn't because there are so many!" The guard tried to explain.
"How many did she kill then?" Emily asked again.
"Um- I'm not really the guy who has the numbers, B-but! She severely wounded the guards after her! That should speak of her mindless bloodlusting!" The guard tried to reason.
"But-" "EMILY!" Emily's mother grabbed her arm, pulling Emily to her. "I am so sorry sir, this one slipped away from me!"
"It's alright ma'm. She's got such a… curious spirit." The man forced a smile, nodding. Her mom pulled her out of the crowd, spouting off about how much trouble she would be in and how worried she was, but Emily wasn't listening. She pulled away from her mother, gaze fixated on the trial.
"AND NOW, WE SEND THE WITCH BACK TO HELL FROM WHENCE SHE CAME!" The guard announced, grabbing a piece of kindling and opening the nearby lamp post. He caught the tip on fire, creating a torch as the crowd cheered. He tossed it below Crimson, clearly expecting panic. However Crimson just smirked. "CARE TO SPEAK YOUR LAST WORDS IN YOUR FINAL MOMENTS?" The guard yanked the gag out of her mouth as the fire caught.
"Always ask questions. You never know when you're being lied to." Crimson said calmly to the crowd. Then she began to chant weird words and phrases. Her eyes glowed red as the fire leapt, hitting the oil and alcohol, the aroma of it filling the air. She sped up her incantations as the flame licked her feet, the guards beginning to panic.
"Shut up, shut up!" The guard tried to reach out, maybe to put the gag back in or shut her mouth, but he was burned by the flame which was leaping up, but not touching Crimson. The flame caught onto the rope, burning it off her. Crimson landed on the ground, the crowd screaming. Some ran, others tried to throw things at her.
"Audios Brudora!" Crimson yelled out, dodging a pitchfork. The flames formed a dome around her. Mist erupted from the middle, putting out the fire. And just like that, Crimson was gone. She disappeared into thin air.
"There, you happy?" Emily's mom asked, annoyed. It took Emily a few seconds to realize her mother had bought her an apple, maybe thinking she was pouting because she wanted a snack.
"O-oh. Thanks mom!" Emily smiled up at her before eating the apple, her mind still blown from what just happened.
"Now come along. Let's go home. How do sandwiches sound for dinner?" Her mother pulled her along, back to the small shack they called home.
"Mom?" Emily tugged on her mother's shirt to get her attention.
"Yes dear?"
"I think I know what I want to be when I grow up." Emily walked to the trash can they kept in the corner of the shack.
"Aw, do you want to be an EG?" Her mother asked as she put away the groceries.
"No." Emily shook her head.
Her mother froze, turning around with a look of dread. "...W-what do you want to be then?"
Emily grinned. "A witch."