4 - Alice
"Mommy, where are we going?"
The sun shone bright on my face as I was dragged by my mother out into the streets. The air smelt fresh as could be, but something wasn't right. I just had this feeling that Mother wasn't going to take me to the ice cream parlor or the store. I noticed that her whole mood had almost shifted as well, instead of her usual airy personality she was quite tense, almost angry. We dashed through the streets, my mother holding tight onto my hand. Of course, six year old me had no idea what was going on at the time, it was just your average day.
The clouds were as fluffy and white as could be, the sun was shining and I could hear all the familiar sounds of vendors making sales on the streets. I remember back when I was a little girl I used to run around delivering papers so I could scrounge up enough cash to go and buy an ice cream from the parlor on the corner of my street.
As we continued at a faster pace through the streets, all I could remember was my mother—through her sobbing—saying:
"It's going to be alright Alice, it's going to be alright."
After a few minutes, we came to a screeching halt. We were in front of a big, black mansion. Dead vines coiled around the spire at the top of the building and the shade from another larger building on the dark brick made it seem like it was shifting like an eerie mirage. My mom dragged me inside the large oak doors sobbing, her eyes full of pain and tears. Once we were inside, she pulled me into a dark room with a leather chair, scratched and worn, and that's where my nightmares began.
The boy I had met earlier—an avemium—was sitting on one of the chairs looking at me in awe. He immediately stood up to meet me, a nervous but charming twinkle in his eyes.
"Hey!" He said, "Have we met? If I'm not mistaken, I ran into you on the eastern docks the earlier."
"Yeah..." I replied embarrassed, "That was me."
Julian butted in, "You two... Know each other?" I could sense a hint of jealousy in the way he said it.
Rico looked even more nervous when he talked to Julian, "Oh uh, yeah we met on the harbour this morning."
Julian turned around and sat down swiftly like the big ol' grump he is, the leather cushion releasing a poomph of dust as he slammed into the chair.
"Hey," Corra snipped, "Easy on the furniture, do we look like we're made of money?"
"Gee, I never would've guessed." He replied sassily.
If you can't tell, Julian's not the nicest person to hang out with. I was first recruited by Cornelius around two years ago. I had nothing, I was living on the streets, struggling to stay alive, scrounging for scraps and warmth. Cornelius had found me, fed me, and nurtured me back to health. After about two weeks of recovery, Cornelius had taught me the ways of magic and how to defend myself from the people who would try to use and hurt me. Nobody knows I possess the abilities of magic as it is strictly forbidden. Even Cornelius' trusted and closest apprentice and one of my dearest friends, Julian doesn't know.
Julian doesn't know about my dark past either. Although I may seem like I have a really bubbly personality, I'm actually quite scared of, well, most people, especially humans. As I sat there in one of the chairs, I was pretty intimidated by all the new faces. I felt like I just wanted to curl up into a little ball and disappear as I saw all of the new people looking at me. Especially that tigris guy, he seemed mean.
"Well, now that we're all here," The cat guy had started to speak, "I think we should get moving."
"Not a chance!" Cornelius had butted in, "Why doesn't everyone introduce themselves?"
Rico chirped, "Alright, I guess I'll go first. The name's Rico, people around here call me…" He looked over to Corra looking for an answer but she merely shrugged, "Um… I have this gun and uh… yeah." He finished sheepishly.
I giggled. I probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist.
The mixed girl slapped Rico upside the face, "Cut it our Rico! You're never going to get anywhere in life if all you do is ask others for answers and flirt with girls!"
At first when I saw the mixed girl I thought that she would be a really nice person by the way she looks. But now that I've seen her in action, there's no way I'll make that mistake again. Oh well, if I was living twenty four seven with two dudes I guess I'd be a little cranky too.
"I guess it's my turn." She said, "I'm Corra, and if you can't tell already, my job around here is to pick up after these boys messes. That's all for me, and no I won't talk about anything else."
Conelius butted in, "Now, we've already been introduced to Julian, so how about you come up and introduce yourself Alice!"
I stood up from the chair. I don't know why, but my heart was pounding. "Hi!" I said, "I'm Alice as I mentioned earlier! I'm really looking forward to working with..." I started to feel a sense of anxiety and dread creep up on me as I looked over the mass of people. I sat back down in my chair awkwardly, my racing heart beginning to slow as I took a few silent breaths as the others gave me a concerned look. So much for a good first impression, and to make it even worse my face was redder than the strawberries that mother used to buy me in the marketplace.
I stuttered, "Um, I mean, I'm really looking forward to working with all of you!"
Cornelius was looking at me very concerned in the corner of the room. Gosh, why was I so awkward?
Corra noticed my wings, "So, you're a human but you have wings. So you're mixed like me?"
"Uh, well yeah I guess so."
"What do you mean I—"
"How about you come up and share about yourself Ray?" Cornelius asked abruptly, interrupting me.
"I'll pass. They don't need to know anything about me, or my life. We're not children sitting around a campfire telling each other our favourite animals and colours. We're thugs, thieves," He paused, "marauders. So let's just get this job done and go home. "
Cornelius was quite taken aback, "V-very well." He stuttered, "You five will each have a week to prepare. We'll travel overseas to Zleigh by next Thursday. You will all be staying here for now as Ray has generously agreed."
Ray immediately jumped up, anger was seething in his eyes but he somehow still kept a cool composure, "Cornelius, that was never part of the deal. You know I never spoke of such a thing."
But it was too late. Everyone had already gone upstairs to unpack their luggage. It was just me, Ray, and Cornelius now.
Cornelius pulled me aside, "Alice, I know you're struggling, but give these guys a chance alright? I don't know why, I probably never will, but I saw something special in those three. Just keep that in mind in case you come across something that doesn't tickle your fancy. Now, go unpack your stuff upstairs and then we'll have dinner."
I nodded and then headed upstairs to my room. Cornelius told me that the old bar had multiple rooms but I could only see four.
"Perfect." I muttered, "Guess' I'm going to have to share with Julian."
As I walked down the hallway, trying to scout out another room that I might have missed, I noticed Julian was leaning against one of the far walls, his eyes closed.
"Julian?" I asked, "Is everything alright?"
His bright yellow eyes fluttered open, "What is it Alice?" He said sternly, "I'm trying to relax here."
"You're relaxing by leaning against a wall?" I chuckled.
"Of course I am. How else am I supposed to relax?"
I sighed, "Nevermind."
Despite living with Julian for the past ten years, I still don't understand him. He always frowned upon my more, positive mindsets. He's always saying things like: "Bah, I hate everything!" or "I can't wait to taste the bitter taste of my enemy's blood!" Not really my thing.
As I started to walk away Julian called, "Hey, where's your room?"
"Oh I don't think I have one. Do you think we could maybe, share?"
"Nonsense, I'm sure Cornelius said we'd each have separate rooms. Here, follow me."
He hit an off colour brick on the wall with his hand and the wall opened, revealing steps that lead down into darkness.
Astonished, I asked him, "Julian, how did you know this secret passageway was here?"
"You didn't know Alice? This is where our rooms are. You didn't think we'd be stuck with those boring rooms up there?"
"Um, yeah kinda."
"Well, we're not. Cornelius wanted to have us down here in case anyone came in looking for jobs. Can't have anyone finding us and have the mission being compromised."
We headed down the cold steps. The cold stone made my feet numb and my spine tingle. At the bottom of the stairs, was a large hallway with six rooms. The high oak walls were lined with all sorts of weapons, brandished with steel and gold. As I was admiring the wall Julian led me to one of the empty rooms. It was a medium sized room, the walls were barren and colourless. Not even the slightest bit of colour. Well, I guess I'll have to change that.
Julian was already heading out the door, "Just unpack your things alright? I'll come back to check on you later."
After around an hour of unpacking, I had finally set up everything. My bed was nicely made, and I had hung up some of my favourite posters to make the walls less drab. After a long time of lying on my bed thinking of how we were supposed to kill a literal titan, I decided to go and check the other rooms. I didn't know which room to pick so I just decided to go into the nearest room, the one nearest to mine. I opened the door and was immediately hit with a sense of tension. Like walking in on two people squabbling and not knowing what to do. The room was mostly empty, only the essentials filled the barren, colour ridden space like a bed, dresser, and a wall full of gloves? Amidst it all was a very annoyed Corra who immediately got up from her bed and started to walk towards me.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, fire burning in her eyes.
I stumbled back, "Uh, I was just, uh—"
"Look, I get that you're new around here but you can't just barge into peoples rooms without asking."
"Oh, uh, I—"
Corra put her hand on my shoulder, her pale eyes cutting through me like a knife, "Do you want to talk to me about… Rico?"
My face went completely red, "No! Of course not!" I stumbled around the words, like my brain was trying to embarrass me more.
She rolled her eyes, "Give me a break, why else would you want me?"
I nervously shuffled my feet, "I… was bored?"
She sat back down, "Listen… Alice was it? I just want to let you know something. Don't, and I mean don't, make this mistake again. I don't know about your friend Julian, but if you had walked in on Ray, well gods help you because I don't want to clean up your remains."
I wanted to say some witty remark like, "I'd give you a nasty look, but you've already got one," or, "I'd slap you but I don't want to make your face look any better." But all that came out was a little squeak.
"Look, I think it's time for dinner. Come on, I'll show you around while we head upstairs, and don't think I'm trying to be nice to you."
I was about to refuse, but I remembered that it would probably be wise to get to know all the new faces since I'd be spending quite a bit of time with them. Considering this, I nodded and went upstairs. The first room Corra showed me was the bar, it was just a simple room with black walls and wood flooring, with a bar counter off to left and four chairs seated around a coffee table to the right. It was nice, but it could use some colour.
"This is where most of our mission briefings and meetings." She reached over the counter and pulled out a bottle of beer, "Drink?"
"Oh, uh I don't drink sorry."
"Your loss." She popped the cap and chugged the entire bottle, unfazed.
"So, if you don't like beer what do you even drink? Wine?"
"Well," I beamed sheepishly, "I do tend to indulge on a nice glass of orange juice now and then."
Corra sighed and clapped me on the back, "You do you I guess, wanna see the kitchen then?"
"Sure" I gawked.
We went through a wooden door at the end of the bar, on the other side was the kitchen. It was again, black with wooden flooring with cobweb ridden cabinets lining the walls. It was more of a pantry really.
"As you can probably see," She flipped open a door on one of the cupboards to reveal a mere apple, "We're a little low on food, we always are. Hopefully this job will help turn that around."
Corra grabbed a spoon and started fiddling with it, the metal turning brown and peeling away like it was being stroked by a potato peeler.
"How do you do that?"
"This? It's my morte, I can corrode any metal until it turns brown and peels away, leaving nothing but a pile of rust. How bout' you? You have a morte?"
"Uh, I do actually!" I held out my hand and focused. Everything slowed down as I steadied my breathing and focused on the center of my palm. As my breathing slowed, I focused all my energy onto the center of my hand as the temperature in the room dropped and a gust of wind shot out of my hand, hitting the roof with a whoosh.
"Geez!" Corra said, staring at the hole in the roof.
"I call it razor wind!" I beamed, "If I focus hard enough I can suck up all the hot air in the room and blast at my enemies so fast it cuts right through them!"
"Interesting."
"Yeah, it was pretty hard to master, but now I can do it as long as I can concentrate and not be interrupted."
We talked for a little while until Cornelius called us all to the entryway for dinner. As I walked into the room, the pleasant aroma of freshly baked bread and freshly picked fruit hit me in the face. Cornelius was sitting down in one of the four lounge chairs that were seated around a small wooden table with two baskets full of fresh food atop it. Cornelius noticed us walking in and immediately perked up, "Ah, girls! You're lucky! You're the first ones to come down for dinner!"
"Thankfully," Corra added, "I don't know about Julian but Rico and Ray would finish all of this in ten seconds flat." She grabbed a loaf of bread and took a huge bite into it.
I took a bite into another loaf of fresh bread. The flavours swirled in my mouth as I felt all my worries melt away. All I could think of was how amazing the bread tasted, "Yeah," I said, my mouth full, "Julian isn't really a big eater, but if he's hungry enough he could eat four baskets of this stuff. Speaking of, what is this stuff? It doesn't taste like any bread I've ever eaten."
"Well my dear, it's a special type of bread I've had developed for a long time now. I call it cibus, it's a special type of food that can fill you up for an entire day with a single bite! It also comes in many forms! Not just bread, but it can come as fruit, or even drink if you want it too!"
Corra took a second bite, "Strange, how do you make it?"'
"I'd tell you if i could, but I'm afraid I don't have the authority to share the recipe."
"Hey! I smell food!" Rico had ran into the room at full speed and immediately shoved an entire loaf in his beak.
"Rico!" We all yelled in unison.
Corra smacked him upside the head, "That was Cornelius' special bread!"
"Oh, sorry Cornelius." He said, mouth full of cibus.
Cornelius sighed, "It's alright, I'll just get more prepared before we depart."
"Hey, where's Ray?" I asked.
"I dunno. Probably in his room."
"I'll go check on him." Corra huffed.
Rico gave her a playful punch on the shoulder, "Don't take too long you lovebirds!"
Corra spat on him and stomped up the stairs, I could almost see the smoke coming off of her head.
Cornelius let loose a sigh, "So, other than being the team clown, what can you do Rico?"
Rico winked, "I don't think of myself as a clown, more like so unbearably handsome that people find me annoying."
I snickered and Cornelius gave me a funny look.
"But in all seriousness," Rico continued, "I'm our sniper," He patted the sniper rifle that was slung on his back. It was quite a cool looking firearm, gold and green, with a matte finish. A jet black raven was painted on the side of the rifle, wings stretched like it was about to strike its prey. I could tell Rico cared an awful lot about his gun. Maybe a little too much.
"I see," Cornelius muttered, "Do you have a morte?"
"No sir."
"Alright," Cornelius muttered to himself, "Just be careful out there Rico, I predict there shall be many points along our journey where having a sniper will turn the tides of battle."
Rico did a little solute, "Sir, yes sir!"
"So Rico," I asked, "Tell us a little about yourself! I'm sure you've had many accomplishments!"
"Well," Rico sputtered, "There was this one time—"
Corra came running down the stairs at top speed, panting.
"Woah hold on," Rico said, "What's wrong Corra?
"It's Ray," She panted, "He's gone."