MADAMOISELLE

“Alvah!” Charlie shouts out as she throws off the sword that she managed to grab from the bushes.

They were in the renaissance period, fighting off a swindler who was just escaping from the group of medieval soldiers.

Alvah catches the sword and swings it right into the swindlers stomach.

Charlie blew off some of the hair that’s gotten out of her bun. She thought of how ironic things have turned out right now. She recalled how she used to be the one being chased. Now, she’s the one chasing them.

The medieval guards started swarming towards the swindler and thanked Alvah for the help.

Charlie stood up and walked along with Alvah. She reached for her back, trying to ease an itch because of what they were wearing.

“I honestly think my generation is the best. These clothes are going to kill me.”

“Well, these clothes are way better than the older generations. Luckily, we can move in these ones.”

“Well, I can’t imagine living with these clothes every day. No wonder women in this generation are so passionate about art.”

“What does it have to do with the clothes they wear?”

“The clothes we wear is a good way for us to express ourselves. It’s a part of art. Expressive. I think these clothes are a definition of how women have been constricted with their right to express. Therefore, they chose words, art and books to be able to expound their thoughts.”

“Well, that’s a good thought.”

“Why are we here by the way?”

“Well, this is where you will be acquiring your next wish.”

“Here? In the past?” she was feeling a little rattled.

“Yes.”

“Why in the past?”

Alvah grabbed a parasol and opened it.

“There were wishes in the past that needed to be collected. They were unaccomplished wishes from previous Jinni’s. As part of your training, you’ll need to go back and pick up a few pieces of those wishes.”

“I just noticed something. We keep going back to the past. Has any Jinni’s ever traveled to the future?”

Alvah chuckled.

“No. That is a principal rule. No Jinni’s will ever be able to travel to the future. Even when you travel to the past, you can’t change anything.”

“But isn’t going back to the past to collect these wishes a way of some sort in changing it?”

They stopped in front of a huge brick castle.

“Wait, where are we?” Charlie looked up at the huge house they were standing in.

“Welcome to Château du Clos Lucé.”

Charlie suddenly gasped at the name that Alvah mentioned.

“Oh God. Are we where I think we are?”

She simply nodded. As soon as she knocked, someone opened the door and smiled.

“Bienvenue.“

“Bienvenue.” She folded the parasol and placed it in a corner near the door, “This is Leonardo da Vinci’s castle.”

And just as the entire hall of his house has amused her, a man walked up to both of them clad in a fancy cloak, almost naked.

“Ohhh.” She squealed as she sees him confidently opening his arms wide open and gave Alvah a hug.

“My friend! Its you again. Welcome back. Your timing is perfect. I painted something new. You are taking my memory away from me always.” He talked in this Italian accent and pulled Alvah into his salon.

Charlie is still flabbergasted with what’s happening but took her time to enjoy all the things she’s seeing around her. The architecture is awesome, and she could not be anymore excited with everything that she’s seeing.

“Looks amazing, doesn’t it?”

She turned to where the voice was coming from. He eyes squinted as his face was unclear due to the rays of the sun covering his silhouette.

Charlie covered her eyes temporarily, still trying to follow him as he walked towards her chuckling.

He grabbed her by the arms and hugged her tightly.

“Mademoiselle, welcome to our castle. I heard you accompanied Alvah in this travel?”

She chuckled, “I am her companion yes.” The man looked rather ravishing for her. A very typical man that women would certainly swoon over.

“Salai.” He held his hand towards Charlie.

She reached out for it as she said, “Charlie. My name’s Charlie.”

“Isn’t that a man’s name? Charlie?” he smiled, amused with what he just heard.

He started to lead her towards the salon where Alvah and Leonardo went.

“This place is amazing! It’s breathtaking.”

“It’s okay.” He smiled as he handed her a cup of coffee.

“Thank you!”

She sees Alvah now sitting in front of Leonardo as he started drawing her silhouette. The handwork made her mind think of every possibility she has to create a wonderful fiction. Something that she’s been having a hard time making all this time.

“What are you thinking?” she hears him whisper closely to her ears.

“I am thinking of my next story.”

“Story? Are you a writer?”

She nodded shyly.

“Isn’t it a beautiful puzzle? How we all have things we like or love no matter how complicated the world is. How we are constantly gifted with things that we often think we don’t deserve.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because people often think that when they ran out of ideas for a certain thing, they no longer deserve to be an artist or a creator. But that is not true. The brain is just resting, observing. Working out something that could make things better.”

“Does it happen to you?”

“Of course.”

“And what do you do to reset?”

“Not for your ears.”

“Alright. I’m sorry.”

She heard Alvah chuckle suddenly. The painting is almost done.

“They are such good friends, aren’t they?”

“He adores her. To him she’s, his muse. Someone who could just turn his mind around.”

“What happens when she’s not around?”

“He has me.”

Her brows furrowed as she tries to figure out what it meant. She knew that there were stories of Leo and his gender. But she didn’t want to think of it differently.

She chose to disregard what he said and continued looking at how Leonardo was painting Alvah right at that moment.

Soon, the painting became clearer. He captured her face so well that she’d admit it took her breath away.

“Oh Leo, you have always been amazing. I love it.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

The next thing Charlie knew was them gathered in the middle of his huge lawn, rounding up this table and sharing the best meal she ever had. It was filled with wine, bread, and pasta.

Once the night has begun, Leo and Salai asked them to join in on this dance that they were doing in the middle of the hall.

In her mind, she thought, who knew this is how carefree they were?

They were led to the guest rooms separately. She looks out at how Alvah and Leo were in the garden arm to arm laughung about something.

"They look so happy don't they?" his hoarse voice in Italian startled her.

She wonderz why they'd say Italian men's accent are sexy when it startled the hell out of her.

"Can you try not being a creep maybe." she giggled as he places his arms around her.

Surprisingly, she didn't feel offended about it. Instead, she felt comfortable.

"They must have known each other for so long. She doesn't seem to be this warm to everyone."

"Sometimes, people are good at hiding the good in them. They often choose to be the worst people just to avoid getting hurt."

What he said made a lot of sense. She doesn't know Alvah that much. But she knows for a fact that something in her just seems easy to the eye. That she may act tough, but saving her that night when she had no one was just one of the many things that she could think of as her good parts.

She started feeling chills in her skin and Salai noticed.

"Would you like to take a rest now?"

Charlie nodded and decided to leave Alvah with Leo.

"You were very good dancers tonight Madame Charlie. I hope you will all stay a little longer."

"Hmm why is that?"

"The castle feels different when we have guests. It makes Leo really happy."

"Don't you two dance when you're alone together?"

She saw the sudden loneliness in his eyes.

"Well, I'll leave you be."

As soon as he left, she closed the door and took a deep breath. She started taking down her clorhes heave a heavy sigh as she dumped her body on top of the bed.

This is a wonderful day.

But which lonely soul does she need to grant a wish?

How does it even work?

Her first wisher was a ghost which obviously shocked her.

What could this year have for her?

Those were the thoughts that filled her mins before she closed her eyes completely.