The only thing on Alicia's mind now was to return to Trinketshore until the Grandmaster of the Magisterium brought her more news. Eidyn Metropolitan was no longer her interest. All She wished was to walk for some fresh air, out of everything that was weighing on her mind at the time, but the townspeople never tired approaching the girl as if she was a god in someone's cult.
Coming to think of it, this was actually an irony for her. Back in the day, being adored and recognised for an accomplishment were dreams she always brought down to her slumber. She finally earned them, with being unable to defecate peacefully in a public restroom as the reward. How could the people identify the figure of Alicia Crimsonmane? Newspapers did not carry her nerd face. The telemedia did not even show her being carried by other mages like a landslide victim. But how could anyone see her moping up as she walked by and yelled, "Hey, look, that's her! The wielder of Divine Grace, Alicia Crimsonmane! Let's ask her for a blessing!" Did such a wistful girl look suitable as the holder of the universe's most potent magic? If so, then what they should get was nothing but a divine curse.
Perhaps Alicia had forgotten, her natural crimson hair was the only conspicuous physical trait of a Crimsonmane. And yet again, Alicia was the only member of the extended family who looks like a bespectacled bookworm with an introverted personality, crawling through the academy library halls. Wait, she actually did.
"Alicia! Let's out for a ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ!" Nadine coaxed Alicia, who had her Personal Listeners plugged in her ears, playing classic pop in the living room. "Show us some interesting places, please! Tourist attractions, shopping centres, restaurants, whatever!"
"Nadine, I am pure done being outside," her voice was soft. "I came to the grocery store in front of the flat ๐ง๐ถ๐ณ some ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด and in an instant, the whole shop burst into snatching me! After all, Leith has gone around Eidyn more often than me to the point it made him ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ. Just take him."
Leith was also lying on the sofa while playing with his portable console, chiding his older sister. "Ye already know I'm bored with Eidyn, yet ye still ask me to leave, ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท."
"Gah, Leith isnae fun to walk with," uttered Gilmore. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐จ ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ was still struggling with the snacks Alicia bought; snacks that were actually intended for the girl alone. "If he's nae allowed to nag along the way, he'll have a tantrum on the pavement!"
"Tantrum, my arse! Ye think ye really ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ fun to walk with?" Leith objected, "Yer an absolute uncouth, slow, tacky plebeian. No one wants to walk with you!"
Gilmore's nose snorted from the residual carbon. "Aye, right. ๐๐ข๐ฆ wonder you ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ๐ข๐ฆ have mates other than yer engine plank, ye petty carper. Be grateful in life ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ in a while, pal!"
"I have more friends than the amount of yer intelligence quotient."
"What a ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ฏ!"
"What a ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ!"
The bickering of the two men further ruined the Gibb Brothers' melody that was singing in her ears. Not a suitable musical composition. Alicia was annoyed and shouted at them, "Mates, please. I just want peace!"
"If you want peace, how come are ye still here? Ye have a room. This is my steid; my birthright. If ye dinnae like it, bolt!" said the younger brother.
Alicia, stifled by the boredom of being trapped in her father's flat, made both friends impatient. Nadine immediately grabbed Alicia's white shirt and dragged her outside.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Alicia was surprised due to Nadine dragging her.
"You'll find your peace at Trinketshore, hen," said Nadine, "We even barely celebrated your victory yesterday. We do that now with a ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ!"
Gilmore got excited and immediately pushed the glasses girl. Alicia screamed for help from the lying Leith, but the younger brother only responded with a hand wave.
Like it or not, Alicia has to serve them to explore Eidyn whose atmosphere will never go out. Nadine took them to the largest department store in Eidyn. After that, Gilmore dragged the two girls to the famous of the chippersโthe fish-n-chips stallโat Eidyn, recommended by Alicia, just to sample a box of Cigar BarโA Caledonian snack in the form of chocolate with a mixture of spices, coated with flour and then fried. One thing was for sure; Gilmore did not leave the restaurant without a generous portion of protein inside his stomach.
Gradually, Alicia showed her enthusiasm. Back in the day, her mind was full of difficulties as she stepped onto the land of Eidyn, to the point that she forgot for a long time, she had not been home. Enjoying the fried sweets brought back old memoriesโwhen she was secretly treated by his servant, Whucksmire, to the same meal. At that time, her mother certainly would not allow her to eat a snack that could make a little child trapped in a sugar rush.
Nadine knew how fond Alicia was of anything regarding magic, so she also invited Alicia to explore the recently renovated Magi National Museum. The Crimsonmane girl's lethargic impression disappeared straightaway. Her uncanny love for magic smoldered once more, marked by her constant raving about every magical display to her best pals.
"I told you, my disguise would work," Nadine said to Alicia who was now wearing a red plaid beret to hide part of her tied red mane, along with a mouth covering and teamed it with her white shirt and light red jacket. Her bookworm impression was barely noticeable.
"Awright, awright. You won this time, Nadine." Alicia relented. "But can we go back to the flat? Honestly, I can't stay outside for long right now."
After half a day of walking around Eidyn, it was four in the afternoon. They decided to return to the flat. The triplet walked into a dead city district while conversing. It was at that moment Alicia noticed something odd.
"Alicia? Why did you stop?" Gilmore turned around as Alicia observed her surroundings with a curious face. There was no traffic in this part of the city. In fact, the only source of the sound was themselves. She saw an abandoned and half-collapsed building, with a large cross that read "You Are Entering Hamstagg District".
"I don't remember there being such a thing as the Hamstagg district in Eidyn," she said, "and we shouldn't have come this way."
"Uh, maybe you just don't know about it. You haven't been here in a long time, have you?" said Nadine.
Gilmore, on the other hand, responded with another response, "Dinnae tell me we're lost, Alicia."
"What? No way. I remember the way to the flatโฆ or, maybe, we got a little lost." Alicia twirled her neck again, looking for clues. "Look, the Eidyn monument is still there," she pointed at the tall tower full of ancient gothic carvings, "Let's go back to the monument and trace our way back from there."
They walked again, returning to their habitual talk again. It was natural for friends to exchange ideas with each other, to the point that they lost track of time. It took Alicia a long moment to realize that they had not yet reached the monument, even though it was less than two kilometers from them.
Alicia's eyes widened only to see that they were exactly where they were, at the same spot as before. The very same sign that read "You Are Entering Hamstagg District" crossed their vision as well, but this time, from the opposite direction.
Nadine was starting to feel bad too. "Did we just walk in circles?"
Gilmore shuddered as well.
Alicia reached into her bag and saw Orb inside. She nodded and told the others, "No mistake, this is an act of magic. Prepare your weaponsโ"
A magic shot came from the top of the building, aiming for Alicia's head! Gilmore quickly caught her and they hit the ground!
A group of people in black ran from nowhere with swords and bludgeons, ambushing the triad from all directions.
One of them was about to hit Gilmore's head with a bludgeon. Luckily, Gilmore ducked on time and smacked him in the jaw with a lariat move. He immediately snatched the club from the enemy's hand.
"Too bad, there isnae anything like a pocket-fitting knife, or a handcrafted sword, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด." Gilmore drew closer to his two mates while chasing away the group of strangers.
Alicia still had time to joke with The Big Yin. "I thought you have yon scout knife with ye?"
"๐๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ?"
Foreign wizards also appeared from the roofs of buildings, meeting the ground with their magic brooms.
All of them were wearing black leather jackets with gold patterns. Their faces were covered by golden masks shaping like human faces with carvings and magic inscriptions, completed with dark gatsby caps to increase their aesthetics. As for the magicians, their heads were shrouded by black and gold hooded masks. Googles screened their eye holes.
Gilmore whispered to Alicia beside her, "Since we're ๐ซ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ข๐ฆ the magic museum, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ who they are? The witches from your chattering that I ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฆ notice, maybe?"
"Judging from their appearance, definitely not any crooks," she said. Alicia asked the group of strangers a question. "Who are you? What do you want, making three juveniles go round and round in the dead alleys?"
The one in front approached them. The triumvirate immediately stepped back, Orb becoming brighter in Alicia's hand.
"Who we are, is the least matter. Hand us the pure Arcane orb, and this will be the first and last time we meet," said the masked man. His voice was heavy and hoarse as if it were made up to disguise himself.
Alicia just rolled her eyes and sighed in tedium. "Another Orb this, another Orb that. I was just about to have an excellent day at Eidyn, and now you ruin it!"
"Give me the magic sphere now, and maybe we won't ruin your day any further, lady," he responded again with a hint of intimidation.
"I beg your pardon, sir. You have to be scarier than the necromancer I fought not too long ago if you want to make us truly obedient!"
Alicia instantly coated Nadine and Gilmore with divine power. "We'll take down some mages, and then we bolt!"
Nadine and Gilmore straight rushed to defeat the crooks from each side. Alicia shot the masked human who spoke earlier, then fired another Arcane might up into the sky. The force broke into small projectiles and rained down on the band of rogues, knocking their formation apart!
Each of the hooded evil wizards took out a black stone the size of a fist; a Protos particle! They inhaled a sublime stone, and their bodies became epileptic, filled with a purple aura that shuddered Alicia's nape hair and soul as she stared at them with wide eyes. It seemed the magicians had not decided to surrender after the Arcane mortars rained down on them. They instantly cast all forms of potent dark magic toward the triumvirate. Gilmore and Nadine nearly knocked out all the magicless rogues, but when the wizards barraged their Khaos' magic, things got a little more complicated. They were both overthrown by vile curses. The force of Khaos rubbed against the sheath of Divine Grace, sending aches all over their bodies! Luckily with the remnants of Arcane still flowing in their veins, they were able to awaken in no time; albeit such holy power had to fade as a result of colliding with Khaos. Each of them swerved back and beat the magicians one by one in nimble motions.
One example of a lousy mage trait: Not mastering close combat.
Alicia could probably be grateful for this. With a little help from Gilmore and Nadine back in the day, Alicia's fate was luckier than that of a bunch of mysterious masked crooks. Coupled with her advantages as a mage, Alicia could dodge and destroy incoming curses with Orb's magic. She then blasted a magical shockwave at one of the magicians, sending him flying free through the horizon and trapped in the shimmering stars!
No, not that grand. Just being knocked a few metres away was enough to make his nerves go into a state of shock. But still, poor wizard. Alicia did the same with the rest of the magicians and troops, and to her surprise, it worked.
It was very surprising indeed. The seemingly helpless Alicia could not believe it either. Their plan was only to defeat a few personnel until they could find an opening to escape. But in reality, they were too caught up in the match, and without knowing, managed to knock them all out, barely a scratch. These mysterious men were weaker than they looked. One could guess they were amateur mages and soldiers who had just graduated from the academy. But instead of working in a government agency, they chose to go out of their way to create a false cult, then claim a district with an atmosphere as deplorable as theirs, their headquarters.
"Alright, this is our chance to escape," said Nadine.
However, there was one masked mage who was not willing to submit.
He was the same person who voiced to Alicia. He held the magic wand with both fingertips. From his mouth, muttered a spell.
"๐๐ข๐ค๐ถ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ด!"
The spell emitted a long metal blade similar to the one that Grand Magus Haddock had cast. The most striking difference was the blade did not glow white but rather, jet black with a violet bloomโa sword of nothingness.
The wizard then jumped, about to stab the bookworm! After a series of slashing attempts, the girl thrust Orb at the tip of the sword, which easily shattered the blade. Alicia controlled a woodblock from the road and hit the mage in the face with it!
Alicia laid him a warning. "Let us pass, don't make things worse!"
The mage fell with his back to the bespectacled girl. When he turned to Alicia, his cloth hood was almost torn. His google glass cracked along with his mask. From there, the wizard's face was unveiled, and Alicia froze, startled. She backed away. Her friends were puzzled. "Alicia, what's wrong? You know that person?"
"H-heโฆ!"
Alicia stammered.
"Spencer Crimsonmane?"
The person called Spencer was still sitting. He immediately pointed his wand at an old building and threw it at the triplet!
"Alicia, watch out!" cried her other pal.
Alicia who quickly came to her senses, formed an Arcane force field, protecting them from the telekinesis impact of the building that turned into floating rubbles.
The other crooks were hit by severe suffocation, before reviving themselves with the power of Protos particle. Some of them had their masks broken too, showing familiar countenances that made Alicia even more confused. Her petty feeling turned to fear.
The same faces who once stared at Alicia viciously at the feast at Alasdair's villa a few days ago. A few with the same red hair as hers.
Alicia's own family.
"Spencer? Doyle? Uncle John? Aunt Aimee? And others? W-what's the meaning of this?"
"Oh, Crimsonmane bastard." Spencer slowly rose to his feet. "You should have agreed to Grandpa's offer when you had the chance." []