Eclipsis: Water

Chapter 18

When Ondine awoke the next day, the water in the bathtub was still warm. She wondered if it had been bewitched to stay the same temperature. Suddenly remembering where exactly she was, she jumped out of it, splattering water onto the floor, and half-slipped, half-ran to the windows. It was definitely the only time in a very long time that she hadn't reluctantly gotten up.

She pulled open the curtains rather aggressively, which only made her wince at the morning light that had been absent from the room's darkness. She closed her eyes to try to recover from the colourful spots currently dancing around in her vision, and blinked to clear them, one periwinkle hand reaching up to open the window.

The weather was barely any warmer than it had been during the nighttime, the sun hardly making an effort to shine through the endless amount of grey clouds covering the equally dismal sky. Ondine stuck her head out of the window once more to look down at the wall, her teeth chattering from the wind that brushed over her wet skin and hair. The only thing that lifted her dampened mood was that there were in fact foot and hand holds. They weren't placed there intentionally, as the holes didn't look deliberate enough, but she could see countless grooves of different depths and sizes all along the wall, probably due to the castle's age. If she could fashion some sort of rope to hold onto while she climbed down from a lower floor, she could have a chance at escaping.

Ondine shut the window so that no one suspected her intentions, determination filling her as she turned back to the room.

What time did Junto say he was getting me for breakfast? She wondered, trying to think back to the earlier conversation with the kappa. I'm not even sure that he mentioned a time.

At that moment, she spotted a large, navy envelope sitting just in front of the door; it had been pushed through the gap at the bottom while she was sleeping. She walked over to it, intrigued, and picked it up, leaving wet fingerprints on the paper as she turned it over. It was completely blank - no writing on it or anything else for that matter, but it had been sealed. She tore it open, pulling a letter out from within it.

It was small and silver, and only had three words written on it: Breakfast at 9. She whipped her head around the room, seeing if there was a clock that she had missed beforehand, and there was. The time now was 7:07am, which gave her plenty to get ready. She flipped the letter over, checking to see if there was anything else on the other side. 5 more words were written on the back: Wear the thin, purple cloak.

She frowned, confused as to why she was being told what to wear, but she walked over to the wardrobe anyway to see what the letter-writer was referring to. After an excessively long amount of time searching for it amongst all the hangers, Ondine found the cloak, pulling it out. Like the letter had said, it was thin and deep purple, made of a sheer material that felt like air on her shoulders. It flowed elegantly all the way to the floor, trailing behind her, and had a small silver clasp to stop it from falling off, as it was sleeveless.

She had wanted to not wear it, as she didn't like the idea of a Moon telling her what to do, but it was beautiful against the colours of her skin. Whoever had suggested it must've taken these into account. She looked for other garments she could pair with it, and when she was happy with her choices, she showered and changed into them. It felt strange, to be wearing clothes that didn't belong to her, but she knew she couldn't wear her old clothes any more. She wondered if there was somewhere to do laundry.

At exactly 9 o'clock, there was a knock on the mahogany door. It made her jump a little, for she had not expected Moons to be so punctual, but she smoothed down her dress and turned the crescent doorknob to answer it. The door opened to reveal 5 foot-tall Junto, who bowed his head at once upon seeing her. She waited awkwardly for him to stand back up, not particularly wanting to engage in conversation with him, but he spoke regardless.