Work Text:
AGATHA
I had not expected to enjoy the type of work I was doing. It has been about a month since I started volunteering at this shelter for displaced magical creatures. This one in particular has an outstanding number of unicorns. I enjoy it very much. I already love spending time with normal horses with my Normal friends, and I consider unicorns to be horses who could talk to you. They are magnificent, and the shelter is a place for them to be free.
Amongst the magician elite, unicorn is considered a delicacy. I would never admit it to the clientele here, but I had tried one when I was younger. It was during one of my parents’ soirees. I had been quite young when it happened and when Helen told me what I ate, I spent the next few days in tears. My mother thought I was being overdramatic, but since then, I have insisted on solely eating Normal food.
Bugger to the magician social ladder!
Since coming back to England, I’ve had a bit of a struggle to figure out just what I wanted to be and where I wanted to place myself when it came to the world around me. I had not meant to stay back home for more than a week. But life never does turn out how you expect it to, does it? So a week turned into a month, and a month turned into six months. By Christmas, I had called Ginger back in San Diego, to tell her that I was not coming back. It was a good thing that Ginger had fallen in love with Lucy and decided to keep her.
I realized that perhaps running away from my problems was not really the best option. I am a magician. I am a strong magician (I had saved both myself and Penelope Bunce from a horde of techie-bro vampires). For once in my life, I was not the damsel in distress. And I was happy about it. It felt good to take matters into my own hands and decide my own destiny. So while back home, I’ve been trying to find something that would make me feel that way again.
Six months later, and I had not gotten close.
My father had noticed that I was floundering, trying a different job every week. So he suggested that I spend some time at the shelter. He was friends with the owner, an older magician named Sophie; Sophie McGill. She is an odd one; She often dresses as if she took all of her style advice from Janis Joplin’s ghost. Long skirts, beaded vests and peasant shirts. But she is well off and that allows her to open up and manage the shelter without the aid of anyone else. She has a large plot of land to her name, where she keeps the creatures. Some of them are there purely for rehabilitation purposes, but others, who cannot be rehabilitated, are given a permanent place to stay. Sophie does not have much help at the shelter and, at the time, she was looking for someone to help with the creatures. She took me in immediately and put me to work right away.
Within the month, I have seen a phoenix die and reincarnate, I have helped a baby dragon hatch from its egg, and received hair remedies from a very talkative mermaid. Every week or so, new arrivals would show up to the shelter and I have gotten quite good at triaging their needs and either setting up a plan for rehabilitation, or arranging for alternative options. I have been considering making this into a career. My father will most likely approve, being that he is a magical doctor himself. My mother is another story. I really don’t care to think about the inevitable disappointment my mother will have upon learning of her daughter’s future path.
I begin my days visiting the unicorns. There are quite a few of them. Sophie has a soft spot for them, seeing as they are the national animal of her native Scotland and all (I have to laugh at that. Sophie’s branch of her family has not lived in Scotland for a couple of generations). Sophie is very active in collecting unicorns from breeders who intend to sell them for food. They are kept in the stables for the morning, and then they are given time to roam the grounds. They are intelligent enough to know to come back by the end of the day.
That morning starts off just like all the others. I am refilling the troughs in each individual stable, ensuring that the unicorns have food to eat for the day. I stop at the stable of one of my more favourite charges, a young unicorn filly named Helga. I was there when Helga arrived and the little one took to me straight away. I laugh as Helga gives me a little jump, her silver hair shining.
“Agatha! Agatha! Hello! How are you today!? I’m doing very well!”
“Good morning Helga. I am doing very well, thank you.” I hold out my hand and wait for Helga to approach me. No matter how friendly I am with the animals, I am always mindful of their personal boundaries. Helga trots towards me and nuzzles my hand. I scratch her behind her ears. I place my bag of emergency supplies on the ground beside the stable. I never carry much, just a few medical supplies, a mobile to contact Sophie in case something happened, a few snacks for myself, as well as some water. I then enter the stable.
“Agatha! I saw a rather lovely butterfly the other day. Now, I can’t remember if it had bluish purple wings, or purplish blue wings!” The little unicorn hops in excitement.
“I am pretty sure those are the same thing, Helga.”
“Perhaps. But it was very lovely.”
“I’m sure it was.” I pick up a brush by the stable door and proceed to brush Helga’s mane. Helga nuzzles my shoulder. I reach up and gently touch the horn on Helga’s head. I have grown to treasure the friendship we have. As much as I wish to spend the day there, I have other duties to attend to. I finish up brushing Helga’s mane and exit her stable.
“Goodbye Agatha!
“See you later, Helga.”
I finish up my morning routine of caring for the unicorns. I then open up the stables, in order to give them some time to run amongst the grounds.
I grab my backpack and move onto my next task that involves caring for the merfolk. The shelter has access to a pool of water that, through a series of rivers, eventually leads to the Atlantic Ocean. The merfolk are free to come and go as they choose. My duties involve bringing supplies and food to the opening of the pool. Typically, if the merfolk need anything, they will just show up, and I will be there to offer assistance if I can. There is a small building next to the pool of water in case of emergencies which holds water tanks and supplies for charges who need to be monitored overnight.
Today, as I arrive to the pool’s entrance, I notice a large gathering of merfolk. This is a pretty good indication that something is very wrong. A mermaid that I had befriended, Rhiannon, waves me down. She is perched on one of the rocks, with a terrified look on her beautiful face. In her arms, is a severely injured merman. Rhiannon’s hands are trying to put pressure on a gaping wound in the merman’s chest. The merman himself seems to be drifting in and out of consciousness. I rip off my backpack and begin to search through it for some gauze and my mobile.
“Rhiannon! What happened?”
“Blasted fishermen! We were just swimming! I think we got too close to the surface! Some humans saw us and I think they thought we were giant fish! Next thing I know, Dylan’s got a slash in his chest and I’m trying to swim away with him as deep as I could go.” Rhiannon begins to shake Dylan as the young merman drifts off again. “Oh! Dylan! Stay with me!”
I quickly get to work. I take out some herbs and lotions, as well as a mortar and pestle. I proceed to mix the ingredients into a paste. Sophie had shown me how to make some basic healing concoctions during my first week. It is good enough to keep most of the creatures at bay if they are injured, so that Sophie can get to them and administer proper care. I meticulously apply the paste to Dylan’s wound. I pack the wound with some gauze and wrap it up. I pull out my mobile and call Sophie. It does not take many rings before the older woman answers the phone. Her raspy voice booms through the line:
“What’s happened, Agatha?” Sophie never says hello, preferring instead to get right to the point. While I understand her curtness, a little courtesy will not kill her.
“Young merman got slashed up pretty bad. I’ve administered the healing paste and bandaged up the wound, but it looks pretty concerning. He may need more care.”
“I’ll be there soon. Monitor him closely. Keep the crowd at bay.” I look towards the gathering of merfolk -- some appear concerned, but most look at me in apprehension.
“Yeah. Thank you.” I hang up the phone and turn back to Rhiannon. “Think you can help me to get him onto the shore? Sophie will be here soon.” Rhiannon nods. She carefully grabs Dylan’s tail, while I grab his torso, being extra careful so as to not disturb the bandaged wound. A few of the other merfolk join up to help us. It isn’t an easy feat, but we eventually manage to get Dylan on land.
Rhiannon perches herself next to Dylan and cradles his head in her arms. She softly runs her fingers through his long ashy blond hair. I tie my own long golden hair into a high messy bun. I try to disperse the merfolk crowd in the small pool. Most of them leave at my insistence, but some of the other more dubious folk decide to remain behind. As much as it irritates me, I understand their lack of trust. Merfolk and humans have a contentious relationship at best, and while they trust Sophie whole-heartedly, I am still a novice.
I settle down next to Rhiannon, and lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. Dylan is starting to get a little colour back, but I fear that I am being too hopeful. I place two fingers on the side of his neck and time his heart beat. As far as I can tell, it sounds stable. I just wish Sophie would get here soon.
As if Merlin above grants my wish, Sophie appears from beyond the fields. All bright smiles and unruly grey hair flowing in the wind. Her lengthy brown skirts shifting as she runs towards us. She carries a large duffle bag, filled with more medical supplies. She shifts the scarf used to push her hair back as she kneels beside the small group.
“Alright. Is this him then? Oh my! That looks quite nasty then, doesn’t it?! Excellent work on the bandaging Agatha!” Sophie is one of those folk who can speak a dozen words a minute. It was difficult to comprehend her when I first met her, but the more I spent time with her, the easier it was for me to follow her speech. Sophie carefully undoes my wrapping and begins to inspect the wound. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that the paste has begun to work its magic. The bleeding has stopped and the edges of the wound are slowly beginning to close.
“Oh Agatha dear! You’ve done a wonderful job! You didn’t need me here, at all. I can see that you’ve treated him very well yourself! Do I detect some aloe vera in your concoction? I wouldn’t have thought to use that myself, but it is certainly aiding the calendula! Now, I would try to keep this wound out of water, at least for the next 24 hours. I know it’s difficult for you merfolk. We can bring him inside and keep the rest of him well hydrated while he heals. But I would say he should make a full recovery!” Poor Rhiannon shakes her head as she tries to follow the torrent of words coming out of Sophie’s mouth. I grab her hand and speak to her in a calm reassuring voice.
“Dylan is going to be fine. We need to monitor his recovery for the next 24 hours. But we have a space for him and for you. We’ll make sure he remains properly hydrated. I’ll make sure he remains properly hydrated.”
Rhiannon nods and grabs me in a desperate embrace: “Thank you. Thank you, Agatha!”
I smile and slowly get up. Carefully, Sophie and I carry Dylan into the small care building. We set him up on one of the beds. I move the bed close to the water tank we keep inside. We then go back for Rhiannon. We carry her inside as well and gently lift her into the tank, so that she may remain with Dylan. I am about to place a compress on Dylan’s head, when Sophie beckons me to come outside. I dutifully follow, worried that I have done something wrong.
“Agatha. I just wanted to let you know that you did a marvelous job back there!” Sophie is beaming at me, like a proud parent watching their child graduate with honours. It isn’t a look that I was used to seeing. It feels nice. I blush awkwardly and tug the sleeves of my pink hoodie.
“Oh. Thank you, Sophie.” Sophie grabs my shoulder and pushes me to look up at her.
“Agatha, I think you have a natural talent with these creatures. I think you should consider the care of them as a career for yourself. Now, it isn’t posh like what you’re used to and the field is painfully underserviced and ever changing. But you could help a lot of members of the magical community. Members who often do not get a voice of their own.”
That final line is what does it for me. Helping those who do not have a voice of their own. Yes. That’s perfect! After years of being seen as someone’s “reward” or as “the damsel in distress”, helping those more vulnerable members of the community sounds fantastic to me. I grab Sophie in a tight embrace and whisper to her: “Thank you. For a very long time, I’ve wanted to find a way to make a difference. I feel in my heart that this is my place.” Sophie smiles and pats me on the back. She slowly pulls away and nods back to the building.
“Now, now. There will be plenty of time to talk more about this. For now, maybe you should keep an eye on your patient.” Sophie turns and walks away. I wipe the tears that have fallen from my face, as I walk back to the building.
Agatha Wellbelove, caretaker of magical creatures. Yes, that sounds very good to me indeed.