4: In Which Maka is Formally Introduce to Everyone Who Works at Stein and Marie's
The next morning started off awkwardly.
Maka woke up needing to pee. Badly. She was so distracted by her bladder's needs that she'd almost forgotten where she was. Thankfully the events of the day before came back fairly quickly. Maka looked around the dark, dusty room. Nothing had changed about it since last night.
Blair grumbled in her sleep and crawled further under the blankets that had shifted when Maka woke up. The witch apologized and got out of bed.
Maka slipped on her shoes and headed out of the door of the borrowed room. It was early enough in the morning that no one was around. It was quite chilly. Maka shivered, wrapping her nightdress tighter around her before sprinting down the stairs and into the (thankfully unoccupied) bathroom. She did her business, feeling relieved in more than one way.
It was when Maka was about to sneak back upstairs that she sensed someone approaching. She quickly closed the door again. She risked opening it just a crack to see if she could see who was passing by.
A tall man wearing a black turtleneck and slacks came walking out of the main house. Though his hair was grey Maka could tell he wasn't an old man. He was very tall, silver-framed glasses on his face and a lab coat tucked on his arm.
Something about his aura made her feel off. Maka concentrated, seeing if she could use soul perception. It was a skill she inherited from her mother, and one she could barely use, but it proved to be very useful when she did succeed. She was able to make out his soul after a few seconds. It had a very powerful presence that made Maka flinch back a bit. Something about it wasn't quite human.
As if sensing her watching eyes, the man turned towards the door. Maka flinched, but didn't move. There was no way he could see her.
The man's pale eyes were staring straight at her huddled form though. It made Maka even more uneasy. After a long moment the man shrugged and headed into the joint building without a backwards glance.
Maka relaxed, taking a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Something about that man scared Maka. Though he was overall pretty unassuming aside from the weird wavelengths. Except for his face…was that a scar that ran across it? Maka shook her head. It must have been a trick of the light.
She went back upstairs quickly and pulled on the black dress. Blair woke up at some point.
"Maka, what's for breakfast?"
"I'm not sure yet." Maka brushed her hair and quickly tied it back up into her signature pigtails. "I'm going to go back downstairs and talk to Miss Marie. Want to come along?"
Blair shrugged and followed Maka out of the door.
The backdoor to the café was open. Maka slipped in quietly. She was immediately hit by the heat of the large ovens. Both were running at the moment. The entire building smelled like a rich mix of pastries, breads, and cookies. Maka's stomach growled. She headed out of the sweltering room and into the kitchen next door.
Marie was standing at the counter cutting something while humming. She noticed Maka the moment she stepped in.
"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"
Maka curtsied. "Very well, thank you."
"I'm glad to hear it. Help yourself to some milk or juice in the fridge. Same goes for Blair. We're all about to eat breakfast."
We? she thought, but decided not to ask. There were probably more people, like Miss Marie's husband, whom Maka hadn't met yet. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"There's no need—"
"Please? It's the least I can do until I can call Tsubaki."
Nodding, Marie pointed back towards the baking room where the smell of fresh bread and fire wafted from. "If you could go in there, let Harvar know that he doesn't need to put in any more rolls and help Ox carry the cookies out front. I'm almost finished with breakfast."
"Okay."
Marie knelt down where Blair was sitting. "Blair, why don't you stay here. I can get you something to eat right now, okay?"
Blair meowed in agreement.
Maka quickly turned and went back towards the warmer baking room. She dashed around the corner only to barrel headlong into someone. She fell had on the ground. The person above her put down the tray he was carrying (which had miraculously not been knocked from his hands).
"Hey, sorry about that. Are you hurt?"
Maka looked up to see a boy who looked just a bit older than her. He wore glasses and an apron. The boy helped her up after confirming she was indeed okay. As Maka dusted her dress off he stuck out his hand again.
"Harvar."
"Maka," she replied, shaking his hand.
"I didn't mean to run into you. My glasses fogged up, and I couldn't see where I was going."
"It's fine!"
Harvar nodded. The boy's face betrayed no emotion. Still, he was polite.
"Are you new here? Did Miss Marie also hire you?"
Maka shook her head. "No, I just needed a place to stay. Miss Marie was kind enough to lend me the spare room for the night."
"Are you from out of town, then?"
"Yes, from Litenby. It's a very small village up north, about a seven or eight day flight from here."
Harvar's raised his eyebrows slightly, but had no reaction outside of that.
Maka smiled. "Miss Marie wanted me to let you know that you don't need put more rolls in the oven. And that breakfast is almost done."
He nodded.
"Um, I was wondering if there was someone else who works here? Miss Marie wanted me to give them a message too."
Harvar nodded again. He pointed towards the front. "Ox. He's probably finishing the display case right now."
"Thank you. I'll go up there then."
Harvar went back to putting the tray of unbaked rolls away as Maka went to talk to Ox. He ended up being another boy with the thickest glasses Maka had ever seen in her life. He was bald except for the most interesting zigzags on the side of his head that were gelled up. Was city fashion always this weird? He was nice though, and made casual conversation with Maka as she helped him finish up the display case.
"Miss Marie's one of the nicest people on earth, I'm sure of it," he said. "She hired Harvar and me to help her over the summer until she had her baby. The café doesn't open until eight, so we usually finish up the best-selling items before breakfast. Miss Marie always cooks us meals in the morning too. She really oughtn't considering we're getting paid to work here."
"Do you work here full-time?" Maka asked as she slid the ginger snaps in.
Ox shook his head. "Only part-time. Harvar and I take turns working the counter and baking. We're on summer vacation right now. During the school year we can work until breakfast and then come back to help in the busiest time, which is right after school. A lot of people at the secondary schools come here to have a tea or coffee and some pastries."
They finished up and headed back to the kitchen. Harvar was sitting at the set table along with two girls about his age. One had long dark hair tied back into a high ponytail, the other short pink hair. They both looked up as Maka and Ox walked in.
"Ah, good morning Kim!" Ox exclaimed. "You're looking as lovely as always."
The pink-haired girl crossed her arms with a huff and looked away. "Save it Ox. You know I'm not interested. Besides, I look no different than yesterday."
Maka looked over at Ox. He was blushing. Despite being shot down he didn't seem deterred at all. In fact, he smiled even more and sat down in the seat opposite of her. Maka hesitated for a second before choosing the empty seat beside Ox.
The dark-haired girl blinked, surprised. "Ox, who's this?"
"A very nice person Miss Marie allowed to spend the night."
"I'm Maka Albarn," Maka quickly introduced herself.
The pinkette spoke first. "Kimial Diehl, though everyone calls me Kim."
"Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupré," said the dark-haired girl next to her. "It's nice to meet you, Maka."
"It's nice to meet you both."
Kim gave Maka a quick up and down. "If you don't mind me asking, what's with the black dress?"
"I'm a witch!" Maka said. "I'm on my one-year independent study. Well, it's more like training. It's part of the tradition to wear a black dress so people can identify you as a witch-in-training."
"I see…"
Kim turned away from Maka after that. Her friend Jacqueline gave Maka a few more glances, but said nothing. The young witch swallowed. Did she have a bad stigma attached to her for identifying as a witch? Surely not anymore. Witches had cleared their bad name many centuries ago.
Marie spoke up. "I see you've all met each other. That's great! Maka was very helpful yesterday. She flew Mrs. Dovell her son's pacifier after he'd dropped it in the café. I was prepared to walk it all the way to her house last night, but Maka just swept in and offered to do it. Jumped right off the hill on her broom."
Marie carried everything from the counter to the table on a tray. It was laden with sliced bread, marmalades, cheeses, salmon, cold-cut meats, butter, and a bowl of berries. She set it down in the center of the table. Then she sat at the foot of it, by Maka and the empty seat, with a smile.
"Alright kids, you know the drill. Take some and pass it down. If anyone wants tea feel free to put the kettle on. There's coffee in the pot."
"Thank you Miss Marie," the teens chorused before digging in. Maka took her time making marmalade sandwiches with butter. She noticed Blair was sitting in the corner with a fresh slice of salted meats and fish and a dish of water.
"Is the doctor joining us?" Ox asked, breaking her train of thought.
Jacqueline nodded. "He said he needed to finish mixing something before letting it simmer. He'll be here in a couple of minutes."
Maka looked up from her helping of toast. "The doctor?"
"My husband," Miss Marie replied while making an open-faced sandwich with lots of ham. She put it on a new plate. "He owns the building next door. Kim and Jackie are both employed under him."
"Is it a clinic?"
A new voice interrupted her. "An apothecary."
The hairs on the back of Maka's neck stood up. She whipped around to see the tall grey-haired man from that morning leaning in the doorway. He walked in and took a seat in the chair opposite of Maka and next to Kim. Marie smiled and handed him a plate she'd already made for him.
"There you are dear. Coffee's in the pot."
"Thank you, Marie."
The doctor leaned back and stretched. His shoulders popped and his neck cracked. Maka flinched a bit at the sound but gauging the lack of reaction from the other teens this was probably a common occurrence. He sighed after that before taking a big bite of his ham sandwich.
"Are you the new guest Marie's taken in?"
"Y-yes. My name is Maka Albarn. Thank you for having me."
The doctor waved his hand. "You don't have to be so polite. I'm just Dr. Stein, not the mayor. And I doubt you'd have to act any more formal with the mayor, to be perfectly honest." He peered at her. "Something about you seems veeeeery familiar though. I wonder what it could be…"
Maka was shocked. Surely he hadn't recognized her from the bathroom incident earlier. Dr. Stein shook his head and laughed.
"Of course! You're Spirit's daughter, aren't you?"
"Huh?" Maka blinked, then gasped. "Wait, you know my Papa?"
"I lived in Litenby for a spell. He and I were classmates. Quite a player, if I recall. Tell me, whose girl are you?"
Maka gritted her teeth at the fact that her dirty papa was the subject, but she replied, "Kami's."
Dr. Stein grinned. "I see. So he did stay with her. I'm happy. When I first heard Spirit would be getting married, I was honestly worried. I thought there was no way it would work out. But I was the best man at their wedding. I saw how happy they were, and I had a feeling it would work out."
Maka bit her lip awkwardly. "Um…about that…"
"Then I got Kami's letter about leaving a couple of years ago. Said she needed some time away." Dr. Stein gave Maka a sympathetic smile. "Some things can't be helped. Still, I'm glad to have met their daughter. Both Spirit and Kami were good friends of mine before I left to continue school here in the city."
"Did you study medicine then?"
"I did."
He offered no further explanation and went back to chewing on his sandwich. Maka continued to eat, but she kept looking back up at Dr. Stein. He seemed like a nice person. And everyone else was very relaxed around him. But his appearance was a bit jarring.
"You're wondering about my face, aren't you?"
Seeing as lying wouldn't do much good, Maka nodded.
"It's fine. I can understand why you're curious." Dr. Stein stared at Maka with his pale eyes. "It was no accident. They're all self-inflicted. These scars here—"
He traced over the one crossing his face.
"—and here."
Dr. Stein rolled up his sleeves to reveal several incisions along his arms. He rolled the sleeves down once Maka got a good look at them. His fingers ran along his torso as well.
"There are a few larger ones here too."
Maka flinched. "Why did you do that to yourself?"
"Part of my madness. It can't be helped."
She was a bit shocked by such a casual explanation. Miss Marie noticed and smiled. She patted Maka on the arm.
"My husband's not the best at explaining, are you Franken? What he means is that he's actually a warlock."
"A warlock?!" Maka said incredulously.
Warlocks — male witches — were extremely rare. Most were born with keen soul perception and an innate knowledge of healing. Warlocks were once called 'grim reapers' due to their relationship with mortality. From what stories Maka had been read by her mother, warlocks were usually reclusive men. They were known to guide lost souls through their mountain homes, heal the sick when they deemed their character good, and live far longer than normal humans (no one knew the exact age due to their reclusiveness, but there was an estimated 300-year lifespan for the most powerful). As powerful at they were, warlocks had a tendency to be 'unstable' when it came to their magical abilities and thus had a negative stigma attached to them. This instability often manifested into an obsession of some sort, and was called their 'madness.'
Dr. Stein nodded. "Yes, a warlock. Don't worry, I don't plan on dissecting any of you."
Maka bit her lip. She wanted to ask so many questions, but wasn't sure how to say it sensitively. Each question in her mind became ruder and ruder.
How strong is your magic? How old are you? What do you mean by 'dissect?' Have you ever hurt someone? Are you…stable?
Dr. Stein stopped eating his sandwich to stare straight at Maka. She fidgeted in her seat, turning away. He smiled a bit.
"I can practically hear your thoughts. And no," he added quickly, holding up a hand, "I can't read minds. Your soul is pretty exposed. You should work on putting up soul protect. I can say I'm much more stable than I was a few years ago, so don't worry about your safety. I've actually stopped practicing magic."
"You have?"
"Again, I'm much more stable now. I just make potions. They don't require more than a bit of focus. If anything were to happen, Marie would keep me under control."
Marie reached for his hand. She was smiling at her husband warmly.
"I trust Franken. We've been together for four years now. I know my parents were against our union at first. It took over ten months to get their blessing! But here we are, married and expecting. He claims my soul emits some form of healing wave. I don't know the details, but it keeps him grounded.
"A lot of people have even gone so far as to ask if it was safe for me to have his child! I told them the truth, of course. He's not broken. He would never hurt me." She laughed, but Maka didn't miss the way Miss Marie's hand brushed against the eyepatch when tucked her hair behind her ear.
Stein coughed. Was he embarrassed? He was refusing to look at Marie's happy face. He finished his food before detangling his fingers from his wife's and standing.
"I have a painkiller I need to finish for Mr. Almquist."
"Alright dear. Lunch will be at 12:30."
Dr. Stein poured himself a black coffee before taking the mug with him out to back door, presumably to his store.
The rest of the meal finished in relative silence. There were a few friendly exchanges, but Maka was hardly paying attention. She met one of her papa's old friends—the best man at his wedding! Not to mention he was also a warlock. And if his madness involved self-inflicted harm, then it was quite a formidable power.
"Maka?"
Miss Marie's voice got Maka to finally look up from her food. The woman was giving the witch a curious look. She had all the empty plates loaded back onto the tray, which was against her hip.
"Are you done eating?"
"Oh!" Maka quickly glanced down at her plate. There was still quite a bit of food on it. "No…I'll wash up the dishes when I'm done. Thank you."
Marie smiled and went to the sink. Maka continued to eat, much more focused now. The other teens were still seated.
"So Maka," Jacqueline began, "what are your plans here in Dödenstad? Are you going to be doing your training here?"
"I had plans to stay with a friend who lives here, Tsubaki. But I haven't been able to get a hold of her since arriving."
"Tsubaki?" the group of teens asked in unison.
Maka looked at them, shocked. "You know her?"
"Yes," Harvar said. "She's dating Kilik's best friend, Black*Star."
"She's dating?!"
"Oh!" Ox exclaimed. "Maka. That's why that name sounds so familiar. Tsubaki mentioned she had a friend from back home who was a witch. I can't believe it didn't click until now."
"Um, do you know where she lives? I was hoping to see her."
Kim nodded. "But you won't have much luck now. Tsubaki's in Japan visiting her grandparents right now. She won't be back until the end of next week."
That wasn't for several more days. "Oh, I see."
The conversation ended as the clock chimed eight. Miss Marie, who had just finished the dishes, clapped her hand.
"Eight o'clock! Back to work!"
The four teenagers stood up began getting ready for work. Maka said goodbye to all of them. Kim continued to ignore her, which made Maka deflate a bit.
"Don't worry about it," Jackie whispered. "It takes her a bit of time to warm up to new people. I'm sure she'll come around."
With that Jacqueline followed Kim out the back door. Harvar nodded to Maka and stepped back into the kitchen. Ox also bid her good day and went to the front of the store with Miss Marie. They left Maka with her food. Blair hopped up onto the table after they all left the room.
"What now?" she asked.
Maka stood up, determined. "Now we'll wait. I'm going to ask Miss Marie if I can intrude until Tsubaki returns. Until then, we'll make do with what we have."
マカの宅急便
Maka decided to go shopping with Blair soon after breakfast. Aside from the few things she'd brought she didn't have anywhere near enough to survive. Not to mention that she didn't want to waste what little money she did have on restaurant food.
Miss Marie had been very understanding. "Stay as long as you have to," she had said. Then she gave Maka directions to the nearest general store, which ended up being so wrong that Ox chased Maka out of the store to tell her the correct way to go. Maka grabbed her wallet and headed down the street with Blair.
The store was only a leisurely fifteen-minute walk away. Despite being a weekday morning it was surprisingly crowded. Definitely different from the country. Maka grabbed a cart and weaved her way through the throng of gossiping mothers and elderly people to the kitchen aisle.
Blair hopped up onto the shelf to walk beside Maka's head. Some people gave them odd looks as they spoke. No doubt they didn't know Maka was a witch and that Blair was her familiar. Maka had been expecting this. She paid them no mind.
"What about this?" Blair asked, pointing to a large knife.
"I don't think I'll need that. I doubt I'll be cutting any meat."
"But I like meat. And fish."
The witch shook her head. "Both are expensive. We're on a budget here until I get a job. I'm only buying the essentials today. Like this."
Maka picked up a cast iron frying pan. Her papa had several of these he used.
"Cast iron's expensive. Spirit complained about that," Blair stated. "And they rust easily if you're not careful. Maka should get a normal frying pan. Then she can soak it."
Sighing, Maka put down the heavy pan and picked up a much lighter one. She did a few experimental flips with it. The handle was attached well and the frying pan was quite big. Deeming the skillet to be good, Maka turned it over to check the price. She flinched at the number. Everything was so expensive in the city!
Blair was watching her witch carefully. Maka placed the pan in the cart.
"Let's go," she said quietly as yet another person stared at Blair. "We need food too."
Maka ended up filling the shopping cart with things she hadn't considered necessary before. Things like a whisk, spatula, mugs and glasses, plates, utensils, and little jars of spices. Living alone was already proving to be more difficult than she'd anticipated.
"Do we really need to buy all of this?" Blair asked.
"We do. Otherwise I'll have to keep taking from Miss Marie and her husband. That's hardly fair, especially considering they're not asking for any rent. And I can always bring anything left with me when Tsubaki gets back." Maka placed the skillet into her cart and pushed it forward. "Let's see what's for sale."
Maka tried to ignore how much she ended up spending that day. She and Blair left the store with two large grocery bags full of food and kitchen equipment, and a coin purse significantly thinner than before.
"I hope you're okay with eating pancakes for a while," she said to Blair as they headed back. The mix had been on a huge sale, so Maka had taken the opportunity. Better than spending money she didn't have. This money would have to last for god knew how long.
"I don't mind. I like pancakes. And Miss Marie gives Blair meat, so she's happy."
At least Blair wasn't hard to please. Maka smiled as she adjusted the bags in her arms.
"Yeah? Thank goodness I like pancakes too."
Again, ignore the fact that young teens are employed. This is a nice world where I can make my children work if I want to. Also, the lore of witches and warlocks will be explored more in the rest of the story, so don't worry if all the stuff is a bit overwhelming. I did my best to break it down in the next few chapters.
Next chapter: We meet some more familiar faces.