(6th moon 10th day, 459 Lu)
Alphonse sat at the table and set the scroll, ready for use as Sarah wrote a few characters and their meanings for Alphonse to copy. {If you feel on edge around her, then why do you let her teach you?} Prism asked.
'Simple. I was told to. You should know by now that I follow orders, I gave up on defying them a long time ago, well, for the most part.' Alphonse responded.
"Alphonse. You wrote that one wrong. Why do you seem so distracted?" Sarah asked as she pointed to the kanji for light.
"Nothing important... I just have to get my access crystal later..." Alphonse responded.
"Okay, don't forget to practice on your own after you get your crystal later." Sarah said. Alphonse nodded as he continued practicing. "You've improved a lot lately, but it's still not enough to get by in most situations." Sarah whispered to herself.
An hour passed and Sarah left. 'I should probably get my access crystal from the delivery department.' Alphonse thought to himself.
{That is a good idea, with the crystal you will be allowed to enter specific training spots that would otherwise not be open to people.} Prism stated. Alphonse left and walked towards the delivery department. After around thirty minutes, he reached his destination.
Alphonse entered the building and saw several queues, a few of them were empty and others had short lines. Alphonse walked up to one of the desks without a line. "What do you need?" The woman at the desk asked.
"I am looking for my access crystal, I did not receive mine due to... Circumstances." Alphonse said.
"Yellow." Alphonse said.
"You mean orange?" The girl asked.
"Was I not clear enough in what I said? I said yellow." Alphonse said with an apathetic tone.
"There's no way a kid like you got a yellow stone, especially not an outer sect disciple." She said.
"You'd best believe he got a yellow gem." Min Li said from behind Alphonse. She walked in front of Alphonse and crouched down. "So you were listening?" She asked. The woman behind the desk walked off to get the gem.
"As much as I wanted you to go away you kept blabbering." Alphonse said with a cold voice.
"Yeah, yeah. What was up with you anyway?" She asked.
"I... Would rather no-" Alphonse started.
"Not talk about it? Always the same." Min Li said. "You're not the only one with a dark past. I watched my entire family get massacred... No.. It wasn't just my family..." min Li said as she drifted into thought.
"People talk when they are ready." Alphonse said monotonously.
"That's fair... I guess it's still fresh for you. Just talk when you're ready, I wouldn't mind listening. Maybe we could share our stories." Min Li said. "I was like that for the first two years..." She mumbled as her expression became slightly gloomy. "Well, I'd best be on my way!" She said as her expression became light and happy.
Min Li turned around as she began to walk towards the door; her red hair glistening a bit from the surrounding light.
{She seems to have quite the traumatic past.} Prism stated. Alphonse nodded.
'I think I truly stopped trusting when Cedra died...' Alphonse thought to himself melancholically.