Submission (#2126) Approved

When Mama had mentioned she had an important delivery to do in Silveil, Lucia had almost immediately jumped at the chance to be allowed to come along. Although it was currently miasma season, Pasca, Lucia’s mama, would sometimes be called upon to deliver batches of potions and herbs to the other cities; usually, Lucia would stay home, delegated with the task of watching her siblings. This time, however, Mama had a much larger amount to deliver than she could on her own, not without the help of her pomu, anyway; that was one of the many unfortunate things about miasma season, aside from not being able to wander as far- everyone’s pomus went into ‘hibernation’, as Mama explained, and turned into anima crystals that floated behind their owners.

Something Mama had also taught her about was a tradition where everyone made lanterns to house their pomu crystals, a tradition that was said to be very special, as the light of the lanterns were said to be symbolic of banishing the gloomy darkness of the winter months. Since then, Lucia took special care each winter to craft and decorate the prettiest, most sparkliest lantern she could think of, and help her siblings with theirs, writing down their wishes for the future to attach to their lanterns. Of course, as pretty as the lanterns were, their pomus were surely missed, especially in times like this.

Together with her mama and siblings all piled together in a warded caravan, along with all of the potions and pouches of herbs that were to be delivered to the client, Lucia eagerly looked forward to their arrival in Silveil City. Her good friend, Hypnos, worked as an apothecary as well, and it was how the two actually met, during one of the occasions that the other elnin had been visiting Enmir at the same time that Lucia and her Mama had been.

It was incidentally the shop Hynpos worked at, Starlight Mortar, that had hired Mama this time around, and the main reason Lucia had begged to be allowed to tag along. She wanted to see the kind of place Hypnos worked at, after hearing her new friend talk about her line of work in the letters they had exchanged since their first meeting. Mama did not have a physical shop of her own, instead working from the cottage the little family lived in in Faerindell, when she wasn't out personally making deliveries herself. It did have a fancy name of sorts of its own, though- Atelier Pasca- but it wasn't exactly a proper business of any sorts, at least not compared to the kind of place Hynpos worked at, in Lucia's opinion. What fortune that the opportunity would present itself, in the form of Mama having a delivery requested of her, that this would finally be the day she would get to see it for herself!

As the caravan arrived in Silveil City proper, Lucia couldn't help but be fascinated at all the bright lights and hanging lanterns, illuminating the perpetually night sky, a far cry from Faerindell's pink blossoms and open fields. It was all very lively in nature, almost like the city was preparing for a festival, even, and the starry nin would have stood there forever, gawking at everything like a lost tourist, if her Mama hadn't nudged her along. Oh, right, the delivery,  Lucia realized; it still had yet to be actually made. She would have to explore later, after work was done... provided she could get out of kittom minding, that was.

The visit to the shop was relatively uneventful, at least in regards to anything happening along the way, compared to anything Lucia might had thought it would have been. Jars lined the shelfs, each carefully labeled with the name of the herbs and assorted materials within. Hypnos had explained to her before that her shop specialized in sleep aids and tea blends, compared to the potions Pasca usually made. Well, in a way, the two things overlapped, as they were broad enough categories, but it seemed that Hypos' shop had a specific thing it specialized it in comparison to Mama's assortment. When Lucia had last met Hynpos, the smaller nin had been gathering herbs together with her pomu, named Octavian, but with miasma season upon them, it must have been difficult to do any major work without the help of her pomu. After all, Mama herself had trouble during the season.

"Hi, Hypnos!" Lucia greeted, as the small family piled into the shop, bringing with them the promised supplies they were delivering, "I'm so happy to finally see you again! So this is your shop?"

"Hello, Lucia," Hynpos responded, with a kind smile; her own pomu lantern floated alongside her, a starry pattern that matched her dress, "It's good to see you as well. Thank you for coming all this way- I really appreciate it."

"Oh, it's no problem!" Lucia chirped, as Hypos looked over the delivery, inspecting to make certain nothing had been damaged in transit, "I always like to help Mama out with her work, and I was really looking forward to getting to see you, too!"

The two continued to chat for awhile, catching up on things that had happened in their lives in the time since they had last met. Lucia talked about the garden that she and her sisters had started, with seeds they had been gathering during their trips. Hypnos talked about business, and interesting clients of note she had encountered at her shop. If it weren't for the clock chime informing them of the time, Lucia could have hung around forever and a day, just to talk. The endlessly starry skies made it hard to tell how late it had was, and Pasca and her sisters had already finished making their deliver and left the two to their conversation while they retired to their hotel rooms. The starry nin frowned; she had been having such a good time, and saying goodbye, even if momentary, wasn't exactly something she was very fond of doing.

"Hey, Hypnos? Do you think we can meet again later? Like... when you're not working?" Lucia wanted to get a chance to explore some of Silveil's famed scenery together with her friend, especially the forests with its glowing mushrooms, but also even just a visit to the region's eldertree. After all, who better than a Silveil native (and a very good friend) to give a tour of the place? While Lucia didn't express this sentiment outloud, it seemed that she didn't need to, for Hypnos had managed to catch on to the inferred meaning behind her words.

"Of course we can," the small nin replied in a soft voice, "I'd like that very much."

"Great! So... then, I'll see you later, Hypnos!" Lucia said, as she got ready to depart and rejoin her family at the hotel. As excited as she was for getting to hang out with her friend later, Lucia couldn't help but still take her time in making her way out the door. Still, she did ultimately finally make her way out, waving her goodbyes as she left the shop, "IBye-bye now!"

Exiting the shop with a spring in her step, Lucia hummed a cheery little tune to herself on her way out. This was going to be such a fun trip!