The small piece of metal stood there, recently cleaned and gleaming. It was next to a pile of the same material, metal wires, metal beads, and then a bunch of robotics stuff that would be too hard to explain. A young child, no more than fourteen, was sitting in front of the piece of metal and scribbling down something into a composition notebook.
"Finally." The young girl murmured, finishing her blueprint and looking at the pieces of metal. With a grin, the brunette cracked her fingers before picking up a random wire and started working on her project.
~O^o^o^o^o^o^O~
My name is Leona Winters, and I just finished my greatest project. I stepped back to admire it, careful not to trip over the many wires running through my room. I really should clean up, but mostly I avoid it. There's probably some wild animal in one of the piles, and I'd rather not get rabies. Or any other disease. Bleh. Sighing at my mess I made with the metal shavings and hot liquid metal drops (burning through my wooden work table gradually), I turned to my project with a smile.
It stood proud, four metal paws gleaming with turquoise-silver claws and light blue metal scales. Two bat-like wings were made with light blue metal, but they had small floral inscriptions and the wing membrane was made of very thin metal sheets I had to hammer down. Four horns, two big and two small, were pointing outward and curled in, also made of same blue-silver metal. Two bright lime green eyes stared back at me, and I could see my own reflection easily. All in all, the figure, no, the dragon, was a piece of art, standing with chin up and a blank glare.
For a moment I thought it smiled. Then I decided the metal shavings were making me delirious. I yawned, taking a rag and polishing the dragon's scaly snout.
"Well then, beautiful, I guess I'm gonna have to sell you." I mumbled with a frown.
"The Scrubbley Annual Craft Fair is opening tomorrow, and I've got to make ends meet. Livin' alone and working for some kind of evil mafia-gang look-alike means you gotta make some kind of money." I said to no one in particular, rubbing the dragon's horns. My "boss" is an old cigar-waving, fat, old man. I work for him as an accountant, as I'm good with numbers and all.
"But I guess I can name you. What's the trouble in that? Someone's gonna buy you and give you a new name anyways." I babbled on.
"…"
"…"
"You're too much like me. Staying quiet until the weird ones go away." I murmured before snapping up.
"Gemina! 'Cause we're like twins and everything! It stands for Gemini, the astrological twin constellation." I said, nodding in approval before putting the dragon on my "Sculpture Shelf".
"Well then, g'night." I murmured, biting my tongue. Freaking accent showing up from nowhere. I side-stepped a pile of who-knows-what before jumping over another pile of the-heck-is-that and landing on my bed. I looked over at the time. Exactly one o'clock, not a minute later. Now I realized why it was so dark outside. From habit, I looked out the window from the apartment room I live in.
The streetlamps of Scrubbley were flickering ever so slightly, with a slight breeze swishing the treetops. Some late-night people still had light on at their houses. There was a small commotion to my left; I decided that it was the usual cat in a garbage can. My eyes decided to sweep over my room instead. I paused and looked at my creations lovingly. A small breeze swept into my room and I laughed quietly as it tousled my dark brown hair. With a sigh, I closed the window, which was conveniently right next to my bed, and lay down, on my side, wishing my mechanical inventions a good night sleep. Why am I so calm in the nights, I'll never know. Hmmm. I'm just tired, I guess. I thought as I gave up resisting the promise of sleep.
~O^o^o^o^o^o^O~
I barely slept. The dreams haunted me again, this time worse. I cried out, calling my beloved sister's name. Why? Why has this happened? And why can't I stop this?
"Aiyana! C'mon! Stop this!" Leona cried out, grabbing her crazed sister's hand.
"Oh! Leona, so nice to see you!" her sister giggled, holding onto the butcher knife even more tightly.
"Mama's gonna be proud! I'm just like her! And I'll be able to see her again!" Aiyana giggled again, her voice high-pitched and blood caking her jeans and tee shirt. Leona noticed the blood.
"Aiyana, please…" Leona whispered. Her eyes widened. Her whole family was…
Grandfather sat in his velvet chair, his throat slit open. Grandmother was currently burning in a fire place, screaming Leona's name over and over again. Her two brothers had their mouths sewed shut and eyes gouged out.
"Leona!" Aiyana screamed. Leona's head snapped up, hazel eyes wide. Everything changed. Now she was crouched in front of her sister, a dagger in her hand. Everything else was fuzzy and grey.
Leona cried out, the dagger was burning her hand. "Aiyana!" Leona screamed , and everything went white.
It was like a scene change. Now Leona was face-to-face with a ten-year-old redhead girl, who was grinning at her. One of her eyes was green; the other was violet.
"Do you like squirrels?"
"The grey ones are nice, and the red kinds are cute." Leona answered automatically, blinking. The ten-year-old smiled and held out her hands, revealing a snowball.
"Thank you?" Leona asked, touching the ice. In a second, everything started to burn. Leona's eyes widened, and set out a silent scream as every fiber of her being set on fire. "Who are-"
WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON'T HURT ME, DON'T HURT ME, NO-
I snapped open my eyes, heart beating a marathon and mind spinning enough to make me dizzy. I glanced aroundand glared at my alarm clock, the very one which was about to become a pile of dust.
After I was done beating the very (nonexistent) soul out of the alarm, I glanced at the clock. Eight in the morning, and I have an hour until the Art Fair. I packed all my trinkets and mechs, before stopping at Gemina.
"Sorry, gal, but I have to." I said sadly, rubbing her snout. Wow, only the second day of having her and I'm already attached to her. I'm pathetic. I put her in her own individual box, before thinking better and stashing her in my purse.
"Enjoy the view." I said with a smile before face palming myself. I, Leona Winters, am talking to a hunk of pretty metal. My therapist was right. I am crazy beyond belief. Or maybe she just made that assumption when I said "therapist" is "the rapist" put together.
I turned to the mirror and laughed at my reflection. Bed hair, puffy eyes, and a loogie up my nose with a feather from my pillow to accompany it. Still laughing, I took one of my famous three-and-a-half showers.
I walked out fully dressed (actual ripped jeans and graffiti T-shirt spelling out "ART") into the small kitchen. What? I only burned something twice. Once because I was angry, and another cause I needed my boss out of my apartment and burning something would drive him away. Tip: it worked. I popped a toaster strudel into the toaster and grabbed the milk from my fridge. Boom. Take notes, people, cause this is breakfast in only two minutes.
*Time Skip because spending every second reading Leona's life is mental torture*
I walked along the road, heading toward the huge sign saying Scrubbley Annual Craft Fair! :D. Why they added a smilie, you'll never know and never want to. My purse was swaying lightly and I was carrying my boxes of stuff, people giving me surprised looks. Wouldn't you be surprised if you saw a fourteen-year-old holding five or six huge boxes of metal while whistling the lyrics to "Kill the Lights" by The Birthday Massacre? Yeah, I thought so.
I walked up to my tent/stall/ whatever it is and started to unpack my items. Slowly I pulled out my masterpiece and gave it a smile. Her metal claws and scales gleamed in the bright morning light, and the light blue color stood out. I sat her on my cherry wood table and started polishing my collection of steam punk necklaces with a soft rag. I glanced at Gemina. Polish. Glance. Polish. Glance. Give up. With a sigh, I picked up the metal figurine.
"Something's missing." I said aloud, not noticing (read: not caring) the strange looks people gave me as I inspected the dragon. The idea hit me. Not literally, because ouch. I picked up a floral necklace; one with a blue diamond glass piece wrapped in metal wires in a floral pattern (Which I named Dreamer for no reason), and slipped it on Gemina. Something's still missing. I added another necklace, almost the same but with a dark blue "gem" and eccentric design (Named Awakened, hehe weird names), and grinned.
"Oh my, madam, you look absolutely stunning!" I complimented in my best gentleman voice, laughing to myself, and again not caring about the people around me. I sighed, putting down the dragon and went back to polishing. I had to admit, the task gets dreadfully boring. After ten minutes or so, I gave up and stood, scribbling a "Closed- Touch my stuff and I'll chop your hands off" sign, putting the trinkets into the table's drawers and leaving, not before hanging the sign up.
*Time Skip because things got violent after Leona grabbed a kitten and ran for no reason*
After I had a close call with the police, who thankfully knew me and let me go, I began walking around the Fair. That is, until I halted right in front of a very interesting stall. Pennykettle Pots and Crafts it read, shining a very noticeable green color. I looked down at the merchandise and my jaw dropped. Yes, there were pots and stuff, but there were dragons as well. They were in many colors, ranging from red to blue to green, with random colors added in. Some were reading, some were skating, others were…well… just plain threatening.
"Um, hello?" I asked, knocking on the wood. A seemingly nice redhead woman turned to me (how the heck did she hide? Am I going blind?)and smiled largely.
"Oh, hello! My name is Elizabeth Pennykettle, but you may call me Liz!" she said with a smaller smile (Thank goodness, that huge smile scared me) and held out her hand. I took it, shaking her hand with matched enthusiasm.
"My name's Leona Phoenix Winters, but most people call me Leah or Leo." I introduced myself, looking around at the awesome sculptures. "May I ask why were you gone?" I asked, tipping my head to one side.
"Oh!" Liz gasped before blushing in embarrassment. "My daughter saw a commotion out in the petting zoo; it was something about someone running away with a kitten screaming 'Join the dark side'." Liz explained and noticed me looking around sheepishly.
"Sorry 'bout that, ma'am." I murmured, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Too much Nutella in my toaster strudel breakfast." I explained and grinned when she started laughing.
"None of the 'ma'am' nonsense, I'm not a fan of that. Shouldn't such an energetic girl be at school or with her parents?" Elizabeth asked, still laughing.
"No parents to get to, no school to accept me." I answered, shrugging and examining a drawing dragon. The silence stretched before Ms. Pennykettle began apologizing profusely.
"Oh, my! I'm sorry, dearie, I didn't know! Are you doing okay, living alone? Who takes care of you? Do you get sufficient knowledge?" Liz began babbling, before I put my finger to my lips to show her to be quiet.
"I work as a metal smith or metal designer or whatever you call it. I have a job that I take willingly, so no child labor and I take weekly trips to the library for books on algebra and literature. Thanks for caring, but I'm doing fine." I finished with a smile. Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully before smiling and asking me a question. Or rather, trying to. She got interrupted by a little girl holding her hand. I nearly jumped out of my skin before I realized she must've come when I was talking.
"Really? Can I see your work!?" the little girl asked, spitting more enthusiasm than Liz.
Liz sighed, face palming herself. " , this is my daughter Lucy. Lucy, meet Miss Leona Phoenix Winters."
"Leah or Leo." I interjected, crouching down so I can be face-to-face with the little girl. I know I've seen her before. But where? I asked myself, tousling her blonde hair.
"Sure thing, kiddo! Wanna piggyback ride?" I asked, grinning at her excited expression and lit-up green eyes.
"Oh, Leah, she's ten. Are you sure you can-" Before Liz could finish, Lucy was holding on tight.
"Ride, pony, ride!" Lucy squealed, and I grinned at Liz.
"Never mind." Liz murmured with a smile.
"To the Metal Pheonix!" I cried out, racing to my stall as Liz tried to keep up.
~O^o^o^o^o^o^O~
Lucy stared, mouth gaping at my inventions.
"You did all this by yourself?" she asked, picking up a steam punk necklace the size and length of my thumb. Liz was also amazed; I can tell by the way she was smiling at my Japanese blossom bronze-wired tree.
"No, a little gnome works for me. He comes every night while I sleep" I teased, setting some metal wired pieces of fruit out. I do pretty much everything and anything out of metal. I even made a giant garnet butterfly, which sold for a hefty seventy five dollars. I set out my collection of metal lady bugs; each one was a different color with glass beads instead of black dots lady bugs would have.
I reached back into the drawer and pulled out Gemina. Her lime green eyes stared back to my own.
"And this is my best creation." I murmured, loud enough for the two Pennykettles to hear. I brought it out completely; the light blue scales reflected the light and lit up the stall.
"Wow!" Lucy cried out, running to the chair I was currently seating in to get a better look.
"She looks just like our dragons, but made of metal!" Lucy cried out, stroking the soft metal wings. Liz came over too, she seemed interested too.
"Leah, when did you finish this?" she asked, smiling at it. The woman smiled at everything I owned, but this time it almost looked like she knew what I would answer.
"I finished her-it yesterday. H-Its name is Gemina. Cause she-it reminds me of myself." I answered, trying not to sound like I was talking about a living thing.
"She's very pretty." Lucy growled, crossing her arms.
"Not it. She." Lucy mumbled.
"Fine, fine" I raised my hands in fake surrender. "She's very pretty, and I won't doubt you, oh great one." I said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Lucy pouted and I had to chuckle. Cause c'mon, a ten-year-old kid pouting is always cute.
"How about we talk later? My stall slash tent is forming a line, and I'm sure yours is too." I recommended to Elizabeth, pointing to the line (Read: angry mob) behind her.
"I would love that! Can you come over later for tea?!" Liz exclaimed enthusiastically. I nodded with a smile.
"Great!" Liz was all smiles and continued. "Bring Gemina with you! Our house is at 42 Wayward Crescent." Liz said the last part more calmly before taking her daughter's hand and walking off.
"Well then, it looks like you're safe." I murmured, rubbing the dra-Gemina's snout with a clean rag. And for a moment, I could've sworn I heard a sigh of relief from…well…everywhere. I simply shook my head and faced the curious/angry line.
