It was a rainy day and Athena had been studying in the castle library for a while, she had always loved this library, and she spent a good deal of her days there. She found it very relaxing and peaceful, unlike the rest of the castle. This was the only place she could escape from her noisy, loud, immature friends, as well as her responsibilities.
The lively fire beside her flared up as she threw another log into it. She slowly sunk into the soft seat cushion, feeling fully at peace. She knew that soon she would have to get up and make her way back to her workplace, the mage room, as you can probably guess, they call it that because that's where the castle mages work. Athena never like the mage room, she found it cramped and messy, as the other mages were usually too busy to clean up after themselves. She had always made it her job to clean up in there, instead of researching like the other mages.
She yawned, still tired from not sleeping much the night before. She had been kept up by her youngest sibling, Artemis. She and Artemis never really got along well, as there was a 6-year age gap between them, they were never able to do things like play games, laugh about boys or gossip about the other kids in the castle. Athena had always been jealous of her best friend, Blair, as she had a twin sister. She always saw Blair laughing and playing with her sister, while all Athena could do was run from Artemis, trying to escape the pure chaos her little sister dragged with her everywhere.
She'd quietly shut her book and stand up, stretching. She'd flip her long burgundy hair behind her and dust off her uniform, every kid in the castle got one, but they differed depending on what your job was. She got a cream-collared button-up with a black jacket, a blue plaid pleated skirt, paired with a blue plaid tie. She'd slip on her black platform boots over her black knee-high socks.
The sound of her shoes echoed in the long halls of the castle, although it usually seems empty and abandoned, this castle is bustling with people and creatures alike. The rats scurried in the walls, chasing the smell of food, while the children scurried in the yard, chasing each other.
She has always loved this castle, she had always felt at home here, even if her home wasn't particularly in the castle, she still spent most of her time there.
She was abruptly stopped in her tracks by a scream, it had been coming from the kitchen. She assumed that it was merely a rat who had been tempted by the smell of all the food. She sprinted towards the kitchen, the poor chefs in the kitchen were probably terrified of the 20-billionth rat they had seen that month. A while ago she had told the CRC (Castle Rat Control) that if they let even one rat run around the castle it would turn into a huge problem for everyone.
As she had predicted, they did let one rat run stray, and that one rat did cause a very large problem.
She'd open the door to the kitchen and stare at the multiple chefs, maids, servers, and others, run around. A few of the cooks had been standing on stools, ladders, and any surface they were allowed to stand on, attempting to escape the rat. Multiple people were screaming at once and it was almost as chaotic as when her little sister had brought a poisonous snake home. She'd stand and stare in astonishment. How had they not gotten used to this yet? It had happened about every other day, after all. She had gotten used to the rats long ago, though it did help that she had been hanging around the castle for most of her life.
A lady around her age burst into the room, running past Athena. The girl was wearing a beige collared shirt with a brown plaid dress on top. Her soft black hair was in a half ponytail, with a long cream ribbon tying it in place. Her brown loafers clicked against the marble floor as she ran over to a small cabinet in the corner. She grabbed a nearby glove and slid it on, making sure there were no holes in it. The girl then reached behind the cabinet and searched around for a bit. As the girl was searching, a tall man approached Athena, sighing. "These rats will never leave us alone, will they?" He'd say. "By this point, Blair is doing a better job of catching the rats than the actual rat control." He'd shake his head and cross his arms. Athena would look over at the girl and agree, Blair, the princess of their kingdom, was more cat than human. When they were younger, Blair had always been very energetic and she loved running around, chasing things. Whether that be string, rats, roaches, or any other moving object in the castle.
Blair searched behind the cabinet for a few moments longer, before suddenly grabbing something and yanking her hand from the cabinet. She retreated to the middle of the kitchen, where they had been keeping a rat cage for when they caught it. She tossed the rat in the cage and quickly shut and locked the door. Blair would then pick up the cage and walk back over to the door, where Athena and their friend, Alonso, had been watching her. She'd promptly give the cage to Athena and walk off, dragging Alonso with her.
Athena stared at them walking off, as she held the cage tight. Why did she have to dispose of the rat? This wasn't her job, if anything, Blair should be the one doing it. Athena wasn't very surprised though, as this happened often. Blair had made a habit of forcing her responsibilities onto Athena, while she went to go have fun instead.
She'd sigh and walk off towards the mage room, she never liked having rats go in there to be killed, but it was the only safe place they could store the rat poison, so it was necessary.
She'd burst into the mage room, startling the other mages that were working. "Calm down a bit would you?" One mage would scold. She'd mutter an apology and make her way to a corner of the room. She'd set the cage on a small stool and pick up a small bottle from on top of a counter.
She'd pour some on the rat, the rat would immediately start to scream. She almost felt bad for the rat, as this wasn't normal rat poison that you'd find in the town, no, this was special rat poison, made by legendary castle mages. The potions made by the castle mages were said to be some of the most powerful potions ever created.
She'd put the poison on a nearby counter and turn back to the rat. The rat had stopped screaming and just sat there, staring up at her, as if it knew what she was trying to do to it. 'Why hasn't it died yet?' She asked herself. She walked up to another mage and tapped them on the shoulder. "The rat poison is broken." She said abruptly. The mage looked down at her and sighed. "Did you put the poison on the rat?" The mage would respond. Athena gasped dramatically and sarcastically retorted. "Noo, I didn't think of doing that!" She stared at the mage. The mage would then sigh and walk over to the perfectly fine rat, after examining it for a minute, they poured some more poison on it. The rat screamed and the mage put the bottle of poison back. "See? I don't know what you did wrong, but I don't think it was the poison that was broken." The mage started walking back to her station before stopping in her tracks. The rat had stopped screaming, again. Athena would snort and stare at the mage "I told you." Although the rat did look exhausted, it was nowhere near death.
The mage stared in confusion at the rat. It really should have died already, so why hadn't it?
The mage grabbed the bottle of rat poison and shook it up, small sparks glittered in the bottle.
"What in the...." The mage was abruptly stopped by someone frantically bursting through the door.
