Is There An End?

I am not nervous..

She bit her lip. Why her parents had dropped her in a populated area with so many buildings and people she could harm Alex had no idea. It had been almost six months since then, and she'd only learned two things:

1. Avoid everyone. No one is your friend.
   
2. The outbursts come with fear. See number one to prevent an outburst.
   

But with almost a month between her and its last appearance Alexia had gained confidence... too much confidence. She had gradually transitioned from being a night owl and only going out into view when absolutely necessary to someone who ventured out in the daylight.

I am not afraid...

The Fourth of July. An important day to Americans, as she vaguely recalled. It was supposedly day of celebration where everyone was friendly and overly-helpful. Alexia felt this a good time, as all the bad people of DC would be hiding indoors away from the celebrations. She'd found her way to a college campus and was drifting aimlessly amongst people her age. Not one of them had cared to say hi. Yet on her way out the door she ran into a tall man, someone with a sweet yet sadistic smile, and he'd pulled her aside.

There is nothing to be afraid of....

So here they were, at the back of a crowd watching the parade go by. But the man wasn't watching the parade, he was watching her with lustful eyes. Though he'd seemed nice enough (and he was) something about him sent chills down her spine.
Metallic blood started to drip into her mouth. Once again she'd chewed on her lip just a little too hard and it had started to bleed. Her eyes teared as she felt it coming. Giving a half mumbled excuse to her new friend she turned and started running. She didn't want to hurt these people.

Oh please go away... I know I'm safe!  

Tears streamed down her face. She ran into a vacant building, running to the back. An unoccupied dormitory. It arrived two flights of stairs later, a blinding blue light coming from her hands and shooting out. The door down the hall caught fire. Another shot, another small fire. And another. This time the kitchenette was hit and the microwave went up in flames.
"Make it stop!" she screamed. The bolts of blue light came faster, sapping her of energy and bringing her to her knees. Red and orange flames blazed everywhere as she choked on the rising smoke. Then everything went quiet. The building blazed, a fire truck could be heard in the distance. But she had no more energy, lost in the inferno there was little chance of freedom. Her eyes closed and the world faded.

I deserve this.

A small group of high-ranking administrators looked on in amusement as Aletta Silverbreeze, Archmage of the Shadow Court and the chief authority on magic education, studied a smudge on the floor from her vantage point on her hands and knees a foot away. Someone had to do it, and these administrators were too oblivious to see what was under their very noses. She stood up, brushing herself off, and turned to them. "Can any one of you tell me what this is?" At the tone of her voice, they moved closer to look at it, and one of them declared it dirt, while another mentioned that the cleaning staff had been lax in their duties. She turned to the latter. "From what I've seen of your school, it isn't the cleaning staff that's been lax in their duties. Since every one of you is so blind, I'll spell it out for you. That's blood, and if you connect the remaining marks, you'll find a five pointed star inscribed in a circle. Do you still require further explanation?" She had their complete attention now, and every one of them was clearly trying to avoid her gaze. "I expect a full report detailing the extent of this student's dabbling in the dark arts, including what disciplinary actions were taken, since this school is clearly unable to conduct its own affairs safely. I will personally be inspecting this school regularly until I have seen that it can." She turned towards the headmaster. "Otherwise a change in administration may be required."

Shouts came from the hallway, one voice growing closer. A young boy calling for the headmaster. He burst into the room, panting. "Magic fire, sir. Student housing." The headmaster, still completely thrown off by Aletta’s threat, looked to her for direction.

“You don’t expect the fire department to deal with magefire, do you? Where’s student housing?” Aletta followed the headmaster to the apartments for students. It wasn’t difficult to find once they were outside; the entire third and fourth floors of one of the apartment buildings were on fire. Fortunately, the professors here seemed to be much more competent than the administrators, and were already working together to control the blaze. Shielded mages, so much more efficient than the firemen, brought out one unconscious student and two more who appeared to have suffered from only minor burns, in addition to the one that was already on a stretcher and surrounded by healers. Since it was the middle of the day, there didn’t appear to be any more students in the building, and a quick mental probe confirmed that.

Aletta left the bewildered headmaster and the gawking administrators and went to check with the healers. There was certainly nothing wrong with the faculty at this college, but it was definitely time for a change in administration. She’d have to find out who coordinated this rescue and recommend him for a promotion. According to the healers, the unconscious girl on the stretcher had been rescued by the firemen, close to the stairwell on the third floor. She had burn marks on her hands, and witnesses saw her running towards the building before the fire started. No one from the university recognized her. The girl was clearly the source of the fire. Aletta followed while they brought her to the infirmary and treated her burns, warning them to find iron cuffs to block her magic and shackle the girl to the cot until they learned more. From there, there was nothing left to do but wait for her to wake up.

Why am I breathing? I should be dead.

Alexia's eyes fought to open; her chest heaved still under the impression the air was filled with smoke. Like a child waking up after a nightmare she screamed, jerking up. Thanks to the shackles though, she was sent crashing back down onto the bed. Tears started in her eyes. Before the waterworks could claim her vision she scanned the room in a jerky fashion, more trying to affirm she hadn't been sent to death row for something she couldn't control, but hated nonetheless.

Someone had found her, which meant someone had seen the fire... and someone had seen it. Now, just like her parents had before, that someone would think her dangerous. Not that she was, sporadic and destructive firings aside. And if they were cold like those that her parents sometimes hired in times of tension, they would hate her. Something in her mind wondered why she wasn't dead, or at the very least not in a hospital. After all, she must have caused considerable damage to the dormitory.
She found herself unable to remember anything about why she ran to the dormitory, other than that she knew it was coming. Possibly because at the time she'd thought the dormitory was empty, but any good college student would have known that dormitories are never empty. Or maybe it was so that she could get to the roof away from everyone else; away from people she could hurt. But for whatever reason she decided to enter the dormitory, she'd only made it halfway up.
Obviously someone was hurt, besides just her; not that anyone would care about her being hurt. For the love of God, she'd just torched a populated building!

"I'm sorry.." it came out as a whisper, her rising panic causing both a loss of breath and a shower of tears with accompanying sobs. "Please. I didn't mean to hurt anyone! It just happens!" Lip quivering she remembered the basic protection method that everyone was taught as a child: get as small as possible. Without much thought she brought her knees up to her chest and lay on her side, crying and sniffling softly. Scared was a large understatement when it came to describing her at this moment. Petrified, horror-filled, and extremely frightened were better descriptions of her terror.

As she had requested, a healer came to find her as soon as girl woke up, but she hadn't gone far. When Aletta walked back in and pulled the curtain around the cot aside, she heard the girl babbling apologizes. No need to determine guilt, then. She left the curtain pulled aside so the girl could see where she was. In her usual, businesslike tone that worked wonders on the panicked and confused, she began explaining the situation. "You're in the infirmary of the Mages' College in Washington D.C.. It's 10 o'clock in the evening. You've been unconscious most of the day. Your hands were severely burned, but will heal fully and quickly thanks to the skill of the healers here. The shackles--an archaic, but effective method of suppressing magic--will be removed once we can ascertain that you pose no further threat to the school or its students. At this moment, you have two choices. If you feel in need of it, you can rest more. Otherwise, you'll be wanting your freedom again at some point, and the first step towards making that happen is telling me anything you can remember about this morning."

It occurred to her that she hadn't introduced herself; it was rare given her status and duties that she met anyone who didn't know who she was already. Deciding it would be easier if the girl didn't know she was the High Mage of the Shadow Court, she simply introduced herself as Aletta.

Alexia bit down on her tongue when she saw the woman-- obviously someone of class and importance as noted my her many adornments. Possibly a high ranking Mage of sorts, but she wasn't sure. The woman stood and spoke, giving no threats nor hints of kindness (not that Alexia deserved any). Tears froze in her eyes, burning and blurring her vision but not quite slipping down her fair cheeks any more.
So there were two options: tell or sleep. She sent a panicked glance at the shackles and sighed deeply, trying not to burst into another bought if hysterical tears in front of the lady known as Aletta. Giving her wrists a slight twist inside the old iron shackles she drew a sharp breath, a alight tinge of blood now evident in her mouth. Yet again she'd made herself bleed.
Ashamed, embarrassed, and scared silly she did her best to cover up the little amount if blood and started, her voice quiet and shaky. "I'm Alexia. It's morning I woke up in my..." she hesitated. Aletta probably didn't want to know that her bed consisted of a blanket and a park bench, so Alexia wondered what to call it. "In my bed as the sun rose, packed a small bag and headed out for breakfast." In truth she hadn't had key breakfast, a point her stomach made known to her and her questioner at this time. She gulped, trying to swallow the fear rising in her throat. "Somehow I got swept in with the parade crowd, and I have a fear of large crowds, so I went to take a walk and try and find lunch." Not exactly the truth, but close enough, right?
"I... Well, sometimes I just get random firings of... Whatever that blue stuff is, and I can't control it. I figured that because of the parade no one would be in the building and if I could make it to the roof the... Stuff would be able to discharge without hurting people." She drew a quiet and unsure breath. "I swear it was an accident. I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

Aletta drew in a long breath and sighed. The girl--Alexia--had calmed down, but only slightly. The way her breathing had changed indicated that she wasn't telling the truth--or at least not the whole truth--about the parade; however, Aletta believed that her intentions were as she said. That was good enough to let the girl eat, which she clearly needed to do. After assuring Alexia that she would be back, she went to fetch some food, quickly returning with a plate a student worker had already made up. Taking the keys to the shackles from the pocket of her dress, she informed Alexia of the conditions to being released. The girl still seemed scared enough to bolt, which wouldn't be problematic; she wouldn't get far. The only issue might stem from another flare of the girl's magic. The infirmary was the last place anyone wanted to burn down. However, Aletta was convinced from the girl's state that she would be too weak to create any significant blaze again without further rest. Certainly nothing Aletta couldn't contain on her own. After this pause for a brief internal debate, Aletta set the food on the table beside the cot, and sat down in the chair beside it, symbolically putting herself on Alexia's level in a further attempt to calm her.

She held up the key. "I know you're hungry, and probably have other needs to take care of as well, but I can't unlock these until I have your word that you won't run off on me. If you begin to feel another outburst coming on, you don't run. You let me or any one of the healers here know. We'll talk more about your long-term options after you've eaten, but in the meantime you're restricted to this infirmary." She consciously ignored the girl's question about anyone she had hurt to avoid scaring her further with the news of the boy who, while he would live, would have his entire body scarred for life without expensive reconstructive surgery.

A feeling of inferiority consumed Alexia as she lay in the hospital bed talking to Aletta. Then, of all things to do, she left! Had Alexia just doomed herself to a lifetime in jail? Tears pricked her eyes and threatened slipping again as she stared emptily at the door. A minute or so later and the door opened to reveal Aletta and a tray of food. The older woman went to the table and chair at her bedside and sat down. After having heard the ferocious roar her stomach had given, why in the world would Aletta have even considered eating in front of her?!?
She stared longingly at the food left to sit there as the woman rambled on. Then Aletta mentioned something about eating, and finally getting out of those nasty shackles. Alexia perked up and listened, nodding where appropriate. "I swear i wont run! And i can almost completely promise you it won't happen any time soon," she said eagerly. Just as long as no men enter the room, and you don't threaten me.
Her eyes darted from the shackles to Aletta's hands to the food in a weird and misshapen triangle, a desperate and begging look hiding behind her excitement.

Aletta almost laughed seeing how the girl wasn't paying attention to anything but food, but when she repeated the appropriate phrases, Aletta knew that she at least vaguely understood, and unlocked the shackles, propping the her up on some pillows and placing the tray of food on her lap. To avoid making Alexia feel uncomfortable, she left, telling her she would be back in half an hour and anyone in the infirmary could direct her to the restrooms or anything else she needed. The entire staff was aware that this firestarter wasn't to leave without Aletta's express permission, and there was always someone there powerful enough to ensure that didn't happen.

Aletta went to find the administrators to talk to them about Alexia. They apparently intended to hold a trial for her in the morning. Ridiculous. Accidents were bound to happen anywhere young, untrained mages gathered. What the girl needed was training, not legal and financial problems. However, the administration refused to relent. Yes, of course accidents happen, they would admit. But this accident was too expensive for them to overlook. They wanted to sue to cover the damages, though what good suing a poor girl without the money they wanted would do was beyond Aletta. This informal trial would determine what course of action the school would take, and depending on the outcome, they may take it up with the courts of Washington D.C.. She sighed in frustration and returned to the infirmary to check on Alexia.

The faint red rings around her wrists were somewhat alarming but Alexis didn't care. With a sigh she sat up slowly, eyeing the food more intently. Her stomach did flips and announced its state of starvation once more before Aletta left. The woman's leaving gave Alexia both relief and stress. Relieved because she could then wolf down the food without having to worry about being proper but stress because for some reason Aletta made her feel safe.
She took a deep breath and glanced at the plate once more before picking up the utensils and digging in. Once upon a time cafeteria food, and hospital food especially, had been so far beneath her that it hadn't even seemed fathomable she would ever lay eyes on it, though now the food made her so happy words could not express her feelings.
All of the food was gone within 10 minutes, and though her stomach complained slightly she felt much better. Glad to be able to move around she went to the bathroom for the heck of it and soon found herself playing with the water in an attempt to clean up.
Keeping a close eye on the time she was siting in the chair next to the hospital bed when Aletta said she'd return, and she didn't seem like a woman to be late. Alexia watched the door in nervous anticipation, wondering what her so called 'options' were. Hopefully whoever was in charge of that would be feeling forgiving.

Upon returning to the infirmary, Aletta discovered a significantly cleaner-looking Alexia sitting next to a thoroughly cleaned tray. Her being up and about meant that she probably wouldn't need to stay here long. All she really needed now was rest, which would be better had in a less hospital-like environment, in Aletta's experience. Carefully examining Alexia's hands, she confirmed that the healers had done their job well, and while her hands--and wrists--might be sensitive for a few days, there would be no lasting damage. Aletta was still a fully qualified healer, even though it had never been her primary function, and informed the staff that she was checking Alexia out now.

Returning to Alexia, she informed her briefly of the situation. "I don't believe anyone has informed you of the extent of the damages caused by your outburst. Two floors of one of the student housing buildings have been destroyed. Two students escaped with only minor burns. One more is suffering from third degree burns across most of his body, but he will survive. He's been sent elsewhere for more intensive treatment. As you may have feared, this was a very expensive accident, and the college intends to sue for damages." Aletta paused, letting that sink in. "You're free to leave here now if you wish, but I doubt you'd get very far. If you come with me, we can work on finding you a way out of this mess, otherwise, I leave you to the mercy of the American legal system."

Aletta turned as if to leave. This was the deciding moment. Alexia had to trust her, and she didn't seem overly willing to, from the holes left in her story earlier. On the other hand, she hardly had a choice, when the other options were legal troubles or a life on the run.

Alexia let her look over her hands, but just barely as already riddled in minor scars from earlier outbursts, but looking significantly better. As soon as she appeared to finish she pulled her hands back and protectively hid them behind her back.

Weary eyes darted around the room but always stayed focused lower than Aletta's head as she spoke, giving details on her impending doom with the American legal system, not t mention what they might do if they knew she was an illegal alien hiding from her parents in said foreign country.

Tears once again pricked her eyes as panic rose. If they did indeed sue her it would be highly unlikely that her parents would even receive a phone from her, much less give her who know how much bloody money the school wanted. If they did sue her, which they likely would, she'd have no chance of escape, or at earning her parents' affections again.

Her chest heaved with the deep breaths she was taking in attempt to control her fear as Aletta mentioned a way out, but only by trusting. Though the woman had given her no reason to trust her, she hasn't exactly given Alexia a reason not to trust her either. If anything she was playing with pretty dangerous stuff here-- trying to free a criminal right before a case. As she turned and looked like she was about to leave something rose in her stomach saying 'do or die'. With a gulp she hesitantly stood and tried to melt into Aletta's shadow, wondering for a second if she really wanted her to follow or not.

"I'm with you," her voice finally managed to whisper against her will.

Aletta led the terrified girl to the office she had been given for the duration of her stay--which, come to think of it, was due to end tomorrow. Settling down behind the desk and gesturing for Alexia to sit opposite her, she retrieved a pen and paper from the desk. "I'm going to need to know more about you, but first, I never introduced myself properly, and you're probably wondering. I don't actually work for the school. I'm Aletta Silverbreeze, High Mage of the Shadow Court. I was here on an inspection when news of the fire reached me. It's rare that someone your age hasn't yet learned basic control over their magical abilities, and I would much rather see you properly educated than locked away. Now, I'll need your full name, address, contact information for your parents or guardians, the usual." Alexia seemed young enough that even if it wasn't legally required, her parents should still be informed of her predicament. Next came the much more important questions. "I'll also need to know about any training you've had with your magic so far, who it was with, how old you were, the results, etc." Aletta decided to wait until she had all these answers before asking Alexia to fill in the blanks in her story earlier.

Alexia sat there with her spine straight and her hands folded in her lap, but she was chewing on her lip, a tell tale that she was beyond nervous listening to Aletta's list of demands. The more she sat there and listened to the list the more unnerved she felt. Taking several seconds after she'd finished talking to process she felt her throat tighten. "My- my parents?" she fumbled. Quick, find a distraction!  

"Magic? None of what you're saying is making sense." Good thinking, maybe she'll forget to ask about parents. "I've seen magic before, but it isn't blue. I'm quite sure someone would've noticed that it was magic before now, if it happened to be magic. But it's not, because it's blue," she affirmed, hoping to avoid all questions that may have longer drawn out explanations than she'd like to give. Such as the fact that she happened to have royal blood, and knew what the cooperation Aletta came from did. Heck, she'd even had the pleasure of seeing their leader... What was her name? Jacquelyn? Yeah, Jacquelyn. She'd caught glimpses of Jacquelyn before. Or the fact she's been disowned and was slumming it just like every other homeless, government-less, parentless kid out there.

Alexia was clearly uncomfortable sharing this information, especially about her parents. That could come later, though. Naturally, no child would want their parents to receive a call saying they had just burned down half of a college dorm building. It would be less stressful for everyone involved if that call didn’t happen until some solution was found. Aletta decided to let that go for now.

Alexia’s next words left her dumbfounded. She had expected minimal training, but how could someone her age not know she had magic? And refusing to believe what she had was magic simply because it was blue? While blue might not be the most common color, magic came in every color. How could anyone overlook clearly magical lightning bolts because of their color alone? She’d definitely have to have a conversation with the girl’s parents now. Aletta had thought it was common sense to have anyone such strange occurrences happened around tested for magic. It had been clear from Alexia’s apologies and statement that “it just happens” that this wasn’t the first time.

For a moment she didn’t know how to respond. Finally, sighting a prism that happened to be on the desk, she picked it up and tilted it until it caught the light and scattered it across the desk. “Magic comes in every color of the rainbow.” She paused to replace the prism on the edge of the desk. “I think it’s clear what your next step is. You need to develop some control over your abilities, and that means some very basic training is in order. There are several options for this. You could enroll in the college here, or a different college. I’m sure being here as a student wouldn’t be easy after that incident. Alternatively, I could take you on as a student until we learn the full extent of your abilities and I can find you an appropriate tutor.” It had been a long time since Aletta had worked with beginners, but someone Alexia’s age should progress fairly quickly. She was still young enough to not be set in her ways, but old enough to understand instructions. “However, I’ll be leaving the country in a day or two. You’d either have to come with me, or I could try to find you a tutor before I leave. With my lack of connections here, that may turn out to be private lessons from a professor here. It’s your choice. College, here or elsewhere, or a tutor, either me temporarily or a professor here. I know you don’t seem to want to talk to your parents, but if you choose college, you may need to contact them about the costs if money is an issue for your family. I can leave the room if you need to call them. I'm sure they're worried about you.” Aletta gestured to the phone on the desk.

The constriction in her throat rose, coming to a point where Alexia couldn't breathe when Aletta decided to mention calling her parents for money. It took a strong mind to resist blurting out 'I can't do that!' many times. Instead she strung her fingers together and clenched them tightly, buying the inside of her cheek to make sure she wasn't saying anything while she waited for the High Mage of the Shadow Courts to finish listing her options.

Her lungs were on fire by the time Aletta finally finished. She took in a deep breath as tears pricked at her eyes, a harsh reminder of why she couldn't call home. It was a minute or so before Alexia could recompose herself, and even then she wasn't back up to speed yet. "Well... Getting money from my parents might present a very large problem, and right about now I'd like to get as far from here as possible, with them waiting to sue me and all," she paused, hoping Aletta would see her reasoning as solid, and not hastily thrown together. "I'd like to train under you, even for a little bit."

She bit her lip, chewing on it and fidgeting subconsciously as she waited for Aletta's feedback on her decision. Would she even want an apprentice? Was she just offering to be nice? Would she press for the other options? Would she make Alexia call home....?

Aletta narrowed her eyes. It made sense that Alexia wouldn’t want someone else to call her parents, but she wouldn’t either? The girl was probably a runaway, then, and possibly running from the law, as well as her parents. This would need to be dealt with sooner or later, but Aletta placed a higher priority on training her, at least to the point where the girl could prevent such outbursts. At that point, Aletta could determine the appropriate course of action. “Alright. Your initial lessons, until you have basic control of your abilities, will be with me. If you choose to continue to study, I could find you an apprenticeship under a mage in the Shadow Court suited to training someone of your abilities—whatever they may be. You would work for your keep.”

In the meantime, she’d need another plane ticket, and Alexia might need a visa. Considering the way she acted whenever her parents were mentioned, Alexia probably wouldn’t want to go home tonight, either. “For tonight, I’ll arrange for you to stay here.” Preferably not in the temporary shelter set up for the displaced students of that half-destroyed dorm building. “Well, it looks like we both have a tedious day of paperwork ahead of us tomorrow. You have until 10:00 tomorrow to change your mind.”

((OOC: I'm okay with ending this thread here if you don't have anything else to add.))

Squirming under Aletta's glare made it hard for her to focus, but she did manage to gather the gist of everything. Tomorrow by noon she'd be on a plane headed back to Europe, and sometime within the next 24 hours the High Mage, with all her European connections, would know who she was and more importantly what she was running from. She sat there for a moment thinking, and then eventually came to a painstaking decision.

"You need my passport, don't you?"

Alexia sighed. "I have one that's about a year old, if you'll give me a half hour or so to go get it," she offered, hoping that in exchange for a full night's sleep not having to worry over plane tickets and passports was worth the gamble it must have seemed to let her go back and get her few remaining belongings and a passport. Then Aletta would be spared the research and the shock of finding out who she was and why she was there.

((OOC: we can end it here, or in a few more posts.))

While Aletta could have gotten her on the flight without one—it would only have taken a few phone calls to the right people—it was convenient that Alexia had a passport; however, Aletta would be keeping her under close watch at least until they were back home. Well, it was Aletta’s home, at least. It may be a while before she learned the true story of where Aleixa came from. Seeing that passport would definitely be helpful, but that would have to wait.

"Don't worry about that. I'm sure you have other things you'll want to bring, too. I'll send someone with you to pick up your passport and whatever else you need tomorrow." The girl would undoubtedly bolt as soon as she was out of sight of the college. While even a temporary apprenticeship to the High Mage might be something young mages dreamed of, and out of reach for all but a select few, Alexia clearly had reasons to stay out of the public eye. Being around the highest ranking mage of the Shadow Court certainly wouldn’t help that cause, but while she might be in plain view of the public, no one would dare touch her there.