Our tale begins with a young lady called Alice Libra, she is 16 years old and the daughter of Horus and Emily Libra. It would be a joke to say she is normal, she is far from that. Alice was born with this mysterious ability that many call 'Magic'. All know the power of magic and what it is capable of. Many envy her powers, while many fear them.
"Alice! Come on down! It's dinner time!" Emily called from downstairs, Alice was laying on the floor of her room, reading through books of famous mages through history. Perhaps finding the proof that magic was good could free her from her prison. "Alice? Sweetie?" She kept digging into her book, struggling to find anything.
"Grrr..." Alice closed the book and grabbed another one, she rolled upside down and opened the book up, flipping through many pages quickly. She was so focused on her books, she didn't notice her mother standing in the doorframe, watching her. Alicia started to lose her patience and threw her book across the room.
"Alice?" Her mother called out gently, Alice looked into her mothers eyes and stared at them for a few seconds, she then rolled over again and stood up.
"Yes?" she said. Her heart was racing, hoping that her mother didn't ask her about anything serious.
"It's time for dinner, I called your name a few times downstairs but you didn't respond?" Emily smiled and walked towards Alice.
"Oh! Sorry! I was really into these books." Alice smiled, as did Emily. They both left Alice's room and went downstairs towards the table. Horus was in the kitchen, cleaning up the soup pot.
"Dear, you don't have to do that right now" Emily said, she went towards her husband while Alice went towards the table and seated herself on the side of the small, rectangular table.
"You had to fetch Alice, so I thought I'd make a head start." Emily grabbed Horus and brought him to the table, where they both sat opposite each other.
"It's carrot and coriander soup. I know you like it Alice so I decided to make us it!" Emily said, smiling with her words.
"Thank you..." Alice said, she grabbed a spoon and started to eat her soup at a slower pace than her parents. Horus and Emily were discussing how their day went, while Alice was daydreaming. All she wanted to do was to go outside the house and see what their village was like, her parents wouldn't let her outside because of her magic.
"Alice, are you alright?" Horus asked, he was concerned about her eating slower than usual.
"Dad..." Alice said, she looked up towards him. "Why can't I go see the village like normal people my age?" She kept her eyes locked onto his, while he just stared back.
"Uh... well..." Horus struggled to respond, unable to figure out the nice way of telling Alice why she can't leave.
"Alice, dear." Emily said, taking her attention off of Horus. "There are bad people out there who would use you for your... abilities."
"You mean my magic?" Alice looked down at her soup again, stirring it with her spoon.
"Yes, your magic." Horus replied, getting his words back. "People in our village aren't used to seeing someone with magic, the fact that you posses it is worrying enough."
"There are people who would hurt others to get hold of magic users, this is why we keep you here." Emily said, she gently grabbed Alice's shoulder. "I hope you understand, we just want you safe."
"But can't I just go outside once? like to get bread?"
"No! That can't happen!" Horus said, he turned his head back towards the soup. "It's too dangerous out there Alice, if anything happened to you... We wouldn't know what to do!"
"I'm sorry baby, but we can't risk it. That's why we kept you in the house your whole life." Emily let go of Alice's shoulder and went back to eating the soup, the table was quiet for the rest of the meal.
Alice laid in her bed, thinking about her parents words from dinner. They wouldn't escape her head, it wasn't fair! She didn't ask to be born with magic, she just wants to be like any other teenager. She finally came to a conclusion. She got out of bed and went towards the window. She looked at the metal lock that kept the window from opening too wide. She closed her eyes and held the lock, focusing on it as hard as she could. Her hands started to feel warm and her grip on the lock was getting weaker and weaker. She opened her eyes to see the lock melting off the window. She grabbed the window and slid it wide open. She felt the night breeze hit her face, relaxing her body entirely. She grabbed some bed sheets and tied a rope, throwing it out the window. She put one leg through the window, then her body, then her other leg. Soon her entire body was outside the window and she was hanging off the ledge. She quietly made her way down onto the stone rock pavement and walked away from home. She took various turns, unaware of where they lead, she didn't care either way. Alice was in love with the view of the town, the night sky let off a blue glow that improved the scenery. Alice wanted to see what it would be like in day, but she wouldn't expect to see that anytime soon. As she was walking around, she heard some scuttling from an alleyway. She stopped walking and looked towards it.
"Hello?" She called out, expecting a reply. Instead, she got nothing. She walked down the alley slowly and carefully, she saw what looked like a leant boot coming from behind a wooden shed. She went past the shed to see a young man laying on the floor. He was wearing what looked like black, leather armour. Leather gloves, trousers and boots, he also sported a hood over his head, she could make out that he was similar in age to her. She quickly dashed back in fear, before taking a proper look at the boy. He slowly looked up at her, his eyes were crystal blue with a pale face. He looked at her, but didn't move. She walked slowly to him. "Who are you?"
"None of your business." He snapped at her, he tried to push himself up but fell down again, wincing at the pain in his leg.
"Are you okay?" She asked, getting closer. He kept his eyes locked onto hers as she approached. He tried to push himself towards the wall, but his left leg was dragging behind. She stopped approaching and looked towards his left leg. There was a small, horizontal cut on the trousers above his knee, and what looked to be blood slowly seeping through. "You're hurt mister!" She quickly went to the leg and kneeled down, she looked at him again, as if asking for permission to check his wound. He didn't move. She rested her left hand underneath, then slowly and gently, used her right hand to move the trousers up a bit. He winced slightly, but didn't stop her from taking a look at his wound.
"Trust me girl, you don't want to help me. People don't like me, they'll hate you if you help me."
"I'm sorry mister, but I can't just let a hurt person stay hurt." She looked into his eyes, and saw that he was looking at her outfit. She figured that he was scanning her, trying to get a general idea of the kind of person she is.
"Something isn't right about you..." He said, he exhaled a breath and she looked at him. "You're not like anyone else I've seen... There's something about you..." She looked back at his leg. She placed her right hand on his wound, ignoring the blood staining her hand. She closed her eyes and started to focus. She filled her thoughts with light, innocence, purity. The boy did his best to hold onto the pain he got from her pressure, until it suddenly went away. His eyes started to dart rapidly between his leg and her, and his breathing sped up. Alice started to glow white faintly, her hair moving as if the wind was hitting her. The boy started to feel better, and stronger than he was minutes before. After a few seconds, the bright light died down and Alice opened her eyes. She moved her hands away from the boys leg, and he brought his leg back to himself. He put his hands over where his wound was and frantically touched it. He looked back at her. The girl was standing up already and looking at him. He quickly pounced up. "How did you...?! What did you do to me?!" The boy was completely shocked, unsure as to what just happened.
"You're welcome... So, who are you?" She smiled, looking at the boy.
A horde of footsteps were vaguely heard. The boy looked out the alley and saw a small light slowly approaching. He leaped up on top of the shed and climbed onto the roof of the house. Alice watched him do that and stepped back.
"You didn't answer my question! Who are you?"
"I can't tell you! I don't have time!... Thank you." The boy ran across the roof, out of Alice's sight. Alice stood there for a moment, before she turned towards the alley exit. She saw two men holding torches. Her eyes were drawn to the fire of the torches, the men approached her.
"What are you doing outside at this time young lady? It's dangerous!" The first man said, he was dressed in a light green shirt and dark blue trousers. The second man, who wore a similar setup, looked at her bloodied hand.
"Why is there blood on your hand?"
"Oh..." Alice said quietly, she looked at the blood on her hand. "I uh... cut myself on the pavement..."
"Oh, let's get that looked at." The first man said. "What's your name?"
"Uh, my name is... Alice Libra." Both the men stood still for a moment, they looked towards each other then back at Alice.
"Come with us, we'll take you to a doctor." The men walked out the alley, Alice felt anxious towards them but decided to follow them. She was thinking, her father said people are dangerous, but nobody seemed to be attacking her. She then thought about the boy, he was wounded and she used magic to heal him. He didn't attack her or anything, was her parents lying about the outside? The men turned a corner and Alice followed. They approached a brick wall, and Alice stopped.
"Where are we?" Alice asked, curious as to her new location.
"Alice..." The first man said, they both turned around and walked behind her.
"You're Horus' girl aren't ya? The witch." The second man said, both men stepped forward, and Alice backed away slowly.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Alice said, she suddenly realised what her parents meant, these people were bad people. They kept advancing as she kept backing away.
"We've been looking for that young witch for a long time now, and now we've finally found her." The first man said, he smiled creepily towards Alice, who was terrified.
"Our boss will pay us big for bringing you to him" The second man said, he tried to grab Alice, but she jumped out of the way.
"What are you doing? Get away from me!" Alice didn't want to hurt the men, that'd only prove to them that she has magic.
"Witches don't deserve to live! They're monsters! We... clean them up." The first man said, Alice was almost at the brick wall, she'd have nowhere else to run. She closed her eyes in fear. Before the men could grab her, a stone came from above, pelting the second man in the head.
"What the hell!?" The second man stepped back, he looked around, trying to figure out where the pebble came from. He looked up to see a silhouette, the silhouette jumped down above the first man, landing on him directly. The man fell head first onto the ground, and the figure stabbed the man in the leg. The second man unsheathed a sword and prepared to swing, but before he could, the figure threw a knife at his arm, forcing the man to drop the sword. The figure then pounced onto him, knocking him down before knocking him out with a punch to the head. The figure stood up and looked towards Alice, who was still covering her eyes, shaking in fear. The figure approached her, it gently grabbed her arm and took it away from her eyes. She looked up at the figure to see the boy from earlier in front of her.
"Are you okay?" He asked, checking to see if she was hurt.
"Yeah... I'm... fine..." She replied, still shaking from what she witnessed. The boy slid his hand from her arm onto her hand and held tightly.
"Come with me, let's get you home."
The sun was rising, the light peaking over the rooftops. Alice and the boy approached the window Alice climbed out of. She looked up at her room, somewhat missing the safety that it provided.
"Is this your house?" The boy asked, he looked behind him, making sure they weren't being followed.
"Yes, thank you for bringing me back." She said, she slid her hand from his and started climbing the rope ladder back up. Upon reaching her room, she felt safe again. She looked out the window to see the boy still standing there, she smiled at him. "Stay safe!" She called out quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. She began to close the window.
"Wait!" The boy called out, she stopped closing the window and leant out. "Umbra, you can call me Umbra." The boy said, he started to back away before making a u-turn and sprinting. Alice smiled to herself.
"Umbra, hm..." She looked at the sunrise for a moment, then grabbed her makeshift rope and pulled it up. She closed the window and hid the rope under her bed. She laid on her bed and started to think about what happened. From meeting the boy to being attacked by those men. She was still thinking about what her parents said, it is dangerous out there, but there's also nice people. She heard a knock on the door.
"Alice? Are you up?" Emily's voice could be heard, Alice started to panic. She quickly slid into her bed.
"Yeah! I'm awake!" Her mother opened the door and walked in. She looked at Alice.
"I heard some noise, you're up early."
"I know, I'm not that tired." Emily smiled, she gently stroked Alice's cheek before standing up and going to the door.
"I'll be downstairs if you need me." Emily closed the door and walked away. Alice sighed and got out of bed again. She went downstairs, hiding her bloodied hand. Her mother was too busy at the kitchen preparing a morning meal for Alice. She crept towards the bathroom and started to wash her hand. She managed to get all the blood off it. She smiled at herself in the mirror. 'Umbra' she kept thinking.
"He was kind of cute..." She whispered to herself, she nudged her hair away from her face and went upstairs into her room. She picked up a book, but before she could start reading she heard a knock from the front door. She put the book down and laid on the floor, preparing to eavesdrop on the conversation below. She heard her mother open the door, Alice's heart stopped when she heard a familiar voice from below, the voice of the man from yesterday. She heard her father's footstep pass her door and walk downstairs. She then heard some banging and yelling, footsteps rushed upstairs while the banging continued. Emily burst through the door and closed it. She pushed a drawer in front of it.
"Alice!"
"What's going on??" Alice asked, scared of what she was hearing.
"We need to get you out of here!" Emily ran towards the window, Alice's heart jumped when she forgot about the melted lock, but Emily didn't seem to notice. Emily threw the window open. She turned towards Alice. "Get out the window and run. Go anywhere but here. Don't return!" Emily grabbed Alice and brought her to the window, Alice climbed out of the window and hung on the ledge once more.
"What's going on?"
"We'll be fine baby, just keep yourself safe! Don't let them catch you!" Emily shut the window and pushed Alice's bookshelf in front of it. Alice sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what happened. She quickly climbed down onto the ground and ran, she used her memory to her best and ran to where she met Umbra. 'Whats going on?' she keeps asking herself as she ran, 'what do they want?' 'Are my family okay?' All these questions that will be left unanswered. She reached the alleyway, she quickly dashes down it and sat where Umbra once was, she noticed the small blood splatter of where his wound dripped on the ground. She closed her eyes and tried to relax for a minute, trying to recollect her thoughts and come up with a plan. The sound of footsteps appeared, approaching her. She quickly backed behind the shed to hide, hoping that the figure doesn't find her. But it failed, the figure found her.
"Is it true what they said? That you're... Alice Libra?" Alice looked up upon recognising his voice, it was Umbra.
"Yes, that's my name." She replied, still backing towards the wall.
"Those people have been looking for a 'Witch' for a very long time, but that's a harsh word. I would call them 'Mages'." Umbra extended his arm to Alice, she remained still in her corner. "Don't worry, I have no intention of letting those monsters have you, I saw what happened. I know where you can hide." Alice looked up at Umbra, she could see the faintest of a smile from underneath his hood.
"Thank you, Umbra." she said, she took his hand and he pulled her up.
"Don't mention it, I owed you anyway." He said, he looked towards a sewer grate at the end off the alleyway. "We'll go through the sewers... Don't worry, we Thieves make sure it's tolerable." He approached the grate and lifted the plate. "Ladies first." Alice went and looked down the grate, if this was any other situation she'd refuse to go down there but, there's no other option. She started to make her way down, Umbra followed, closing the grate behind him.
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to the Thieves Guild in Purgatory."
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