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 Did Sam mention how much she hates her partner apprentice? Because she Hates her with a capital H.

H as in Henrietta, the witch who their apprenticeship was under. H also stood for Hell, they were in a lot of trouble now.

“If you want to keep your apprenticeship, girls, I suggest you keep your Hands. To. Yourselves. “ she stated, deathly quiet, her face a mask of forced calm over rage.

Sam reluctantly took her hands away from Felicity’s collar and looked away sheepishly. She couldn’t afford to lose her temper like that again. It was a hard struggle, getting the apprenticeship in the first place, due to her different background. 

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Today, Sam learnt a new word from Henrietta: odium. And if she had to use it in a sentence, she would say that all her odium was directed towards Felicity. All of her Odium, with a capital O. 

O as in Octopus, which was the familiar she managed to summon today, which had to be kept in a glass water tank all the time. Sam wanted a dragon or something cool, but nope. A jiggly, tentacled, aquatic thing was what her soul was connected to. 

Felicity got a dragon. A fire-breathing one.

O also stood for Oxygen, something she might be losing soon if she stayed in the water tank training with her familiar for too long.

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Felicity is a Menace. With a capital M. Who else would tie all of her familiar’s tentacles together with rope, so that it couldn’t move?

M stood for Maybe she isn’t so bad after all. On one of their errands today, the apprentices had to get pig feet from the local butcher, who was currently bullying the newspaper boy for not bringing papers thick enough to securely wrap meat in without drippage.

M also stood for Mischief, which was what Felicity was conducting when she made the butcher do one of the most acclaimed dances of all time with a simple twist of her fingers.

M could also stand for May the gods curse you, which was what the butcher yelled between his claps, wing flapping, and butt wiggling.

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Tonight, Sam was elated. Elated with a capital E. This was a new emotion, something she hadn’t felt ever since she left her family’s hut in the valley.

E as in Ending, which was how her rivalry with Felicity was going. Yesterday, they talked over their issues and found out that maybe, the other person wasn’t as bad as they thought she was.

Sitting at the dining table with her master and Felicity, who was currently mimicking the butcher and his chicken dance through giggles, she realized that these were her friends. 

Sam remembered something her mother said. Friends are the people who are not related to you by blood, but are part of your family.

Looking at her two friends laughing at the image of the butcher yelling curses, while going bawk bawk bawk made her realize that she may not be in her family’s hut, but she was home.