Of course, Alice wasn't going to leave the Fire Clan yet. First, she needed to get stronger, faster, smarter.
She needed to be able to win against an opponent capable of making even Eloy afraid. She needed to kill something that was potentially stronger than Brandon.
Of course, she wasn't forced to do it alone, but getting the help of the Fire Clan on that one seemed really hard.
So, Alice decided to take things slow.
The most important thing for now was to learn more.
And that's how Alice found herself listening to Grimm while Eloy was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, there was some kind of squabble beetween two of the Clan's warriors, and he went to fix this issue.
Alice didn't really care.
However, she did care about what Grimm was saying:
"There are four Clans in the jungle, our Fire Clan, the Wind Clan, the Water Clan and the Earth Clan. Each Clan has its own village and territory. Usally, there is not a lot of conflict beetween Clans."
"Why ?"
"The jungle is already a rather dangerous place... If I remember correctly, you encountered one of the Two-Headed upon arrival, so you can understand how scary it can be. Having said that, wars do happens beetween Clans, but it's rare."
"Yeah... By the way, I always wanted to ask you... what happened to your hand ?"
Of course, Alice already knew why Grimm's hand looked the way it did. But asking him about it was a good way to make him like her more.
Grimm's tone became proud.
"Ah, that... I am one of the very few people capable of using the Power of the Sun, which is why I was able to create the mask I gave you. But you know Alice... the sun burn."
What Grimm said was kind of cryptic, but it was the truth, in a way.
Alice knew that the humans of this Room, or at least of this Clan, worshipped the sun like it was some kind of god.
An interesting fact Alice also noticed was that the sun was always in the same spot in the sky; the night here simply didn't exist, and the people here slept at rather random hours. There was not a single moment in the day where everybody was asleep, but also not a single moment in the day where everybosy was awake.
It was pretty easy to lose track of time in that context, but that wasn't a problem for Alice and her Sixth Sense. She knew exactly how close she was from becoming like Brandon, and how close she was to being able to break the invisible wall again.
"It must felt so good, to have such a power... even if it is killing you. You're so amazing. I am sure you're very important for the Fire Clan, Grimm."
Alice wondered if she flattered Grimm to much, but the young boy did not notice anything wrong.
"Yeah, in fact, I am important. I can even defy Eloy's decisions !"
"You can what ?"
"If at least four out of the five people most important persons in the Fire Clan after the leader want it, then, they can oppose one of the leader's choice. These five people can also choose to demote the leader if they all agree to it, but that kind of thing never happened. Why are you so interested in..."
"Who are these people, Grimm ?"
The shaman hesitated, but said it anyway. After all, it was pretty much just public information.
"The shaman of the Clan, the bravest fighter of the Clan, and the Three Elders."
Alice stayed silent.
What Grimm said wasn't really that useful for her, honestly. What would she gain by creating chaos in the Fire Clan ?
"Grimm... How does one became the leader of the Clan ?"
"The oldest son of the previous leader become the new leader."
"Son ? Not daughter ?"
"A woman can't become the leader of the Clan. You may think this is unfair, but there is a good reason for that."
"What is that reason ?"
"In the past, a long time ago, the Fire Clan was lead by a woman named Atlacoya. Atlacoya was a powerful woman, and it is said that her affinity with the Sun was better than any mortal, better than even those born from it.
Atlacoya became the leader of the Clan at the age of twelve, despite being a girl, and not being related to anyone important. Apparently, she just killed the previous leader and took his place.
It was then speculated by the Elders that the burn she recieved from using the Power of the Sun was a severe loss of sanity, but a lot of people still believe her madness had nothing to do with the Sun.
In any cases, Atlacoya's reign was a short but terrifying one. Humans sacrifice were made in her name, and a lot of other Clans, like the Thunder Clan were destroyed by her alone. Every Clan was fighting against the Fire Clan, and even some people from the Fire Clan left to go to other Clans, despite such a thing being taboo. Everyone wanted to kill Atlacoya, but nobody was strong enough to do it.
Atlacoya's own father tried to stop her, and was executed for his foolishness.
According to some sources, Atlacoya might even have fought against the Four-Headed Beast during this time, and managed to somehow make him flee."
"How did she die then ? Who killed her ?"
"The Sun. She used his power so much that, the day of her thirteen birthday, she died. After her death, it became forbidden for any woman to become the leader of the Clan."
So, Atlacoya died because she used soul selling way too much...
"She died at thirteen ?"
"Yeah... normally, people like me or her can survive until twenty or even twenty five years old if we use our powers carefully, but Atlacoya used the Power of the Sun all of the time. It's not surprisong that she died so quickly."
Alice wasn't that surprise. She already knew that soul selling could kill way earlier than twenty because of Mirror. What mattered wasn't the age of the soul seller, but how much they used this dangerous form of magic, and how large and... valuable ? their souls was.
Alice knew it: if a soul seller never used soul selling, he or she could live as long as a person who couldn't use it.
"So, you understand why a woman can't become the leader of the Fire Clan, Alice ?"
The young girl smiled, and lied:
"Yeah, I think that was a clever choice."
At this moment, someone approached them.
It was Sarah.
"Alice ! Grimm finally finished the mask ? That's amazing !"