The brilliant sun emerged once again, warming the landscape with its soft glow.
It was the perfect end to a highly entertaining day.
At least, for most of them it was all over. But for Angelia and Alex, it was only just beginning. As soon as she stepped off the small stage, a surge of assistants from her team beseiged her on all sides. Their anxiousness was understandable. They also wanted to know how she had managed to pull that off. And also, why she had decided to keep that last juicy bit from them.
But Angelia ignored them completely and walked straight to the young man in dark clothes standing a few feet away.
Any other mage would have been too afraid to approach Alex after witnessing something of that nature. But Angelia was a different breed entirely. Having gone through high school and college looking like a twelve year old girl, she had made it her mantra to never be intimidated. She never allowed her small stature get in the way of her dealings with people. That made her extra bold, and so she often went places that regular people were afraid to go.
This was one of those moments. Without a shred of fear, she marched up to the stranger and said in a somewhat commanding tone;
"COME WITH ME."
Alex was taken aback. She was definitely a fiesty one.
Without even waiting for a reply, she turned and headed towards her dressing room, confident that he would definitely follow. Of course, he did. Along the way, people tried to stop her to congratulate, or to book her for the future. Two fathers who had brought their children for the show, tried to get her to give them her contact for a 'private show.'
But Angelia ignored them all. Alex shadowed her till they arrived at the large road vehicle that doubled as her tour bus, and her changing room. She held the door open for him to step in. As soon as he did, she slammed the door behind her and looked at the stranger squarely.
The young man who stood before her looked every inch like a normal guy. In fact, everyone would walk right past him and not think twice about him, not knowing that this regular joe had the power to alter the weather completely. And perhaps, that was merely the starting point of whatever he could do. He was definitely one of them. And that was why she did not think twice before addressing him in a serious tone;
"Look here, I don't know what you've been told, but I already cut ties with the organization a long time ago! I've been totally off the grid, and I have caused no ripples whatsoever. So, you can go back and tell your superiors at the organization that I'm don---"
"Hold on..." He cut her midsentence. "What are you talking about? What organization?"
She lowered her eyes and replied him sarcastically;
"Nice try. I know you're trying to be incognito, but I'm not in the mood for games right now. I know you're a member of the organization. After that stunt you just pulled, it's a little too late to deny it now."
She lifted her water bottle to her mouth to take a sip, but dropped it back down almost immediately;
"By the way, what the hell was that? Were you trying to set me up or something?" She shook her head, as she took a sip. "Typical, very typical..."
She had said enough for Alex to know that she had him dubbed as some kind of errand boy for an organization. But that could not have been any further from the truth.
"You're not listening lady, I said I am not a member of any force or organization. I'm just here to ask you a couple of questions that's all."
Angelia stared at him like she was trying to determine if he was still playing double agent or something else entirely. She would not put it past the organization to try to send in someone to try and ensnare her into giving away information. She had to be careful.
So, she replied him warily;
"Alright then, I'll bite. What is it exactly that you want?"
"I think you know already."
"Do I look like a psychic? Indulge me." she answered guardedly.
Alex wanted to remind her that she should not make jokes about being a psychic seeing that she made a living as a magician. But he ended up pivoting to the issue at hand;
"The god killer miss Angelia. I sensed it. It drew me here. I want to know everything there is to know about it."
Instinctively, she blurted out without restraint; "I have no idea what you're talking about."
But Alex was also not in the mood to be toyed with. Undeterred, he took a step forward in an almost menacing like manner. He himself was barely five foot ten. But in the compact space of the road vehicle, standing before the skinny form of the five foot two mage, he might have as well been a giant. There was also the fact that his aura had suddenly become overbearingly serious;
"I don't have the time for this lady. If I sensed it and somehow managed to trace it to you, how long do you think the real guys you seem to be scared of will come looking???"
Angelia swallowed. "Is that a threat? Are you threatening me sir?"
Alex maintained his firm gaze, as she matched his energy word for word;
"First, you come in, hijack my show, and put me in the impossible position of not being able to recreate the raindrops bit again. Then you come in here, demanding that I give you information without even as much as an introduction??? Are you really that arrogant?!!!"
A knock came on the door from one of her assistants. The poor fellow was met with an angry rebuke from the visibly riled Angelia;
"NOT NOW PHILIP!!!"
Alex took a step back to review the situation. Truly, things had escalated really quickly and that had not been his intention at all. Normally, he handled situations without the 'rush-rush' factor. But the god killer was making him a little on edge. He looked at the mage witholding information from him and realized that he had come on a little too strong here.
If he was being totally objective, she was actually right. He had hijacked her show and had cornered her with questions about a sensitive subject without even giving her anything in the first place. He eased up a bit on the solemness and introduced himself properly;
"You're right. It looks like I came on a little too strong there. The name's Alex, and I don't belong to any kind of organization. I'm just looking for some answers about a potentially deadly weapon."
She continued to stare at him suspiciously;
"Well, mister Alex, I don't know why you've come all this way for it or what your motives are, but word of advice; leave this matter alone. Trust me you don't want to go down this road."
"You don't understand. I have to---"
She shook her head firmly and took a step closer; "No. It is you who does not understand. Only fools willingly get involved in the New Order's affairs. This is not a threshold you want to cross. Curiosity always kills the cat."
Alex replied her with a witty remark; "Maybe this time, the cat will actually kill the curious thing in the bag."
It was a clever reply that was meant to diffuse an already tense conversation. But it proved counter productive and backfired completely. Instead of being impressed, Angelia got even more annoyed. Here she was, trying to save this young man's life, and here he was, playing with words like this was some kind of game.
"You may be skilled, but you're certainly not bright at all!"
Hissing like a desert serpent, she stormed right past him and reached for the door behind him;
"Leave my changing room now! And don't ever come back!!"
Alex was shocked for a moment. Was she really kicking him out? Her high pitched voice called him back to earth and completely rolled away all remaining doubts;
"I SAID GET OUT!!!"
Alex shuffled his feet on the floorboard of the dressing room and exited the road vehicle.