Alice stood among the discussion between Hana, Matt and Revan. They were discussing which one of them would be the one to take down the mysterious assailant. The doctor couldn't lie to herself; the man was dangerous and the thought of him being so close to a young member of our guild at this very moment sent a shiver up her spine. Yet at the same time, she was against violence; especially against someone as young as the man in question. Clearing her throat, Alice contributed to the conversation as Hana spoke of ending him swiftly if any harm came to Taka.
"
If Taka has decided to entertain him for today, then perhaps the girl is able to see something in him that our more experienced eyes cannot. I've never been one for ignoring the opinion of the youth. When Taka returns, I suggest we involve her in this discussion since it seems that she will be in more of a position to assess this stranger than any of us." Alice may have sounded naive there, willing to put her trust in this man if Taka agreed it was right to do so. Yet she had this strange feeling that the young man truly meant no harm to her. She felt malice and evil in his magic, and she could hear the incomprehensible whispers of the angels foretelling destruction, but she trusted a member of the guild more than her own intuition and entities of the divine.
She wasn't able to dwell on the thought too much, as both Hana and Revan seemed to be occupying themselves with James. The young boy had met so many new people at once and Alice could see that the exposure was starting to do him good. He still stood close to Alice, but his stance had opened up and he no longer clung to her in fear. Although that didn't stop him from shaking as Revan knelt down close to him, giving his standard warning. Swallowing his fear, young James nodded his head at the demons words.
"Y-Yes Mister!" James stood up straight, pushing his shoulders back to try and seem more adult. Yet when Hana leaned in and began playfully pinching the young boys cheeks, his serious demeanor softened at her touch and he began to giggle.
"
The last time I examined him, which was recent," Alice began answering Hana's question about James' magic power as the young boy listened in curiously, "
He has latent power; quite a lot for someone so young. At the moment he hasn't had any outbursts of magic, but keep in mind that both my and my husbands families were not mage families. I didn't begin practicing magic until I was eighteen, so it's possible that James will be a later bloomer as well." Of coarse, all of this was all theory, and James could easily surprise her. The young boy stood there, his mouth wide open and his eyes glistening with delight.
"Can I be a mage one day? Like everyone here?" It was hard for him to hide his excitement, and he began jumping up and down with his tiny fists in the air. "I'm gonna work hard and help people just like Mommy and her friends!" Alice patted her son on the head gently. The thought of him entering the world of magic was scary, but also exciting, for she had seen both the good and the bad that it had to offer.
Turning towards Isshum as he answered her question, Alice was as excited as he was to get started. His comment about James falling asleep made the young boy pout, and he began following Isshum through the guild with a determined look in your eyes.
"I'm gonna stay up all day! I won't fall asleep!" The thought was quite amusing to Alice, since she predicted that the kid would be taking his nap around lunch time. Her finger gently traced a couple of the scars along her arm, and her mood shifted from happy to uncertain. She was truly terrified of James entering this world, but she refused to hold him back from pursuing the path he wanted. It was his life, and to restrict him would be to go against everything she stood for.
After Alice had spent a good while retrieving Isshum and James and redirecting them to the infirmary where her office actually was, she sighed as she was presented with the empty room. A pile of her equipment and possessions lay in the middle of the room. The walls were a plain white color, and the floors were made from the same wooden planks as all the other floors in the guild hall. The room had been kept quite clean by one of the other doctors. The young man was still in the room, wearing a similar lab coat to Alice's and measuring the space for her desk.
"
Thank you for your help, I greatly appreciate it.". The man smiled at her, finishing up the last measurement and giving her the 'okay' for everything.
"It was my pleasure, Provost Alice." The man bowed respectfully to her, and Alice responded by placing a hand gently on his shoulder. The exchange was a simple one of respect between two healers, and without another word the man left to go and return to his job.
Turning to the pile of stuff, Alice began to sort through her boxes of paperwork, transferring them to the correct spot in the filing cabinet. The paperwork involved a lot of personal files of every guild member regarding their medical conditions. They were sealed with a powerful magic that only allowed the medical staff of the guild to read them, as there had been cases of sneaky young mages stealing them to try and get intimate details of their female companions. She turned to James and Isshum.
"
Everything is already assembled, you just have to move it around a bit. Also if you could sort those vials into those two cabinets over there. I would like one cabinet to hold the medicine, and the other my collection of poison samples. The poisonous vials have a red lid, and the medicine has a green lid. I should warn you, if you drop one of the poison vials and it breaks, we could die, so let's avoid that." She mostly made that comment as a joke, yet despite that she could see James taking a step away from the box filled with poison. Instead of working with the medicine, James instead made himself in charge of setting up Alice's desk with an assortment of colorful things that would remind her of home.
While sorting through files, Alice came across a few portraits. In one, a tired looking Alice sat in a hospital bed with a newborn James in her arms. She looked awful. Her hair was a mess and she was as pale as anything. At the time she hated Ebisu for taking a picture of her in that state, but it turns out that capturing the first memories with James proved to be the right idea. Another photo showed Alice and Ebisu together at the alter. Alice was crying in this picture, but she was also smiling. There was a photo of Alice receiving her Diploma from Provost Nicolas all those years ago. Her scars ached upon seeing the mans face, and she couldn't help but touch them. The man had caused her so much pain, but she'd be a fool if she tried to act as if she didn't owe everything to him. There was even a photo of Alice at the opening ceremony of her academy. She remembered how happy she was that day. Before she could dwell on the memories, the last photo caused her to gasp; catching the attention of those in the room.
"
When did this..." She stared in disbelief. It was a black and white photo if Alice and her family when she was only 16. It was taken before her brother passed away. She could still remember the day clearly. It was supposed to be a nice family photo, but Alice and James decided to pull silly faces together which caused their parents to be angry at first. However upon seeing how much fun their children were having, they paid for an additional photo where all four of them were making a wide variety of wacky expressions. She stared at her brothers face, smiling as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"
You look so much like your Uncle, James. If you end up growing to look like him then you should consider yourself fortunate, he was very popular with the girls in our town." James began to blush at those words, covering his face in embarrassment.
"Stop it Mom! Don't say stuff like that!" Alice laughed, hanging the photos up on her wall. She turned to Isshum.
"
I can't wait to fill up this wall with more memories."
@j8cob@Raijinslayer@Renny@LmpkioApril impatiently tapped her foot at the arrogance of the woman in front of her. It pissed her off that she was implying that April should be thankful for her showing up at the last minute to claim the glory. How did she even find her anyway? The whole ordeal seemed sketchy to April. She took a step back from her, Iris still aimed at the puppet master.
"
Your presence caused me to escape? That is the biggest, steaming pile of bullshi-" April was interrupted by the woman once again, warning her of an upcoming danger. With an annoyed groan, April turned to face the group of adversaries that had flooded into the room. "
If you hadn't distracted me I'd be long gone by now you swine!" Bracing for a battle, April held out Iris in front of her and began pulsing with magic. However when the mysterious masked man stepped forward, April found her magic power lowering in his presence. Was this fear? She trembled at his words, especially when he threatened to damage her. However when he talked about her handing over Iris, April's body went still. So that was what they were after. Anger rose within the girl, followed by an eerie calm. With a cocky smile, April poked her tongue out at the man and entered a battle stance.
"
You think I was born yesterday, maggot? If you just wanted my weapon then you wouldn't have put me in prison. You're as dumb as you look if you think I'm gonna believe that you'll just let me go you twat!" A large magic circle appeared underneath April, sending a wave of technicolor magic along her skin. She stared back at the puppet master, who was lounging carelessly on a chair while her angels armed themselves. With an annoyed 'tsk' she began to shift the form of Iris into that of a large, ornate rose.
"
Like I give a damn if you're impressed or not. Quit talking to me as if I care why you're here! Make yourself useful or leave!"
The young womans clothes began to change color before the eyes of everyone, swapping through a multitude of various effects before settling on a white and blue attire; even her hair had turned strawberry blonde. In her hands, Iris released Magic Power from the tip of the rose.
"
Color Switch! Rainbow Boom!" She held Iris into the air, and from the tip of the rose, many seed shaped objects began flying out and scattering themselves out among the cult members. Many of them dodged out of the way, but some weren't fast enough and were met with a large explosion as the seeds reached their feet. If they were to look at the seeds, they would find that they weren't actual seeds; rather just bombs shaped to look that way. Some of them even had a pair of legs and arms and were chasing after cult members that had evaded them before exploding. Despite the effort she'd put into the attack, April had barely dented the numbers. She wasn't the strongest of mages, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she'd be relying on Beatrix to assist her with this fight.
@Kitsune