Alice, Maybe

[Rika]

Rika decided to head to the forests in Ianne on her day off to search for various herbs and plants to replenish her supply. She loved exploring and searching for supplies rather than buying her supplies from someone else.

As Rika was wandering the forest, she spotted some unique looking mushrooms. She pulled her bag forward as she crouched in front of the mushrooms. She took out her knife and dug up the mushrooms. She slid the mushrooms into a plastic bag in her messenger bag. "I'll have to look these up later." Rika quietly spoke to herself with a smile.

As Rika stood up, she lost her footing and stumbled to the side a bit. Her foot then caught onto the root of a nearby tree and Rika, unable to balance herself, fell into a 4 foot deep hole that was dug out near the tree. Rika let out a scream of surprise as she fell into the hole. Her head collided with the wall of the hole as she landed and she passed out from the impact.

A few hours later, Rika slowly regained consciousness. She felt a bit dizzy as she began to open her eyes. She slowly pulled herself up with a hand against the side of her head as it throbbed. she could feel a good bump had formed on her head from the impact. There were a few scrapes and bruises on her body and a bit of dried blood that appeared to have come from the large bump on her head. As Rika tried to look around herself, it appeared to her as though she woke up in a completely different forest.

"Where... am I?" She quietly asked to no one as she took in the new visuals around her. Wincing slightly at the still throbbing pain in her head, Rika moved to pull herself out of the hole she'd fallen into earlier. It was a bit of a struggle, but she managed to climb out. She sat on the edge of the hole as she laid down, clutching her head. Her left hand began to reach for her messenger bag to find herbs to help her head when she suddenly heard a voice. Rika's hand paused as she looked towards the owner of the voice in surprise.

[Tag Sy]

[Sy]

The days that followed after Sylvester had sworn his life to a young woman by the name of Muri were, quite frankly, exhausting. He complained to her, of course, but in the end, what he needs is a time off from her, at least for one night. So, after making sure she had fallen asleep, Sy sneaked out. At first, he wasn't quite sure where he's heading, he just needed a walk to think things through.

Sy had his head down as he strolls, not realizing the forest he's entering, nor the mist that seeps out his body as he silently contemplate the time he spent so far and how the near future would seem like. He enjoyed Muri's company, and he can tell the journey wouldn't bore him. Her family's peculiar as well. His mother seems like she has other plans in store, and Sy's vacant frown deepens. As he thought about things, Sy inattentively sits on a fallen tree trunk, brings a leg up over the other and rests his elbow on it while his fingers are cradling his chin. Sy himself isn't quite sure what about his situation to have pulled his mind off like this. He feels...restless, like something big is about to happen.

"Hm?" The vacant look in his eyes disappears as he finally took into account of his surroundings. "Ah." Mist is spreading everywhere, the leaves from the trees are gone, the ground is dry with drops of black and viscous liquid scattered randomly in the area around him, and he's pretty sure the area of effect is much, much wider than he can originally control. "Great.." He gestured his arms exasperatedly up as if to ask whatever entity up there to take the wheel. He's not in the right mood to make this fun like he normally would.

Suddenly, he heard a sound.

Sy slowly turned his head towards a lone hole a bit behind him, a few meters away. He kept his eyes there steadily, expecting some kind of wild animal about to leap out. The silver-haired is inwardly surprised that he's actually excited if a wild animal would put him out of his misery right at this spot. Then he wouldn't need to worry about these silly things anymore.

His eyes caught sight of something emerging from the hole. An arm, another arm, a head, a body.
Sy stayed static as he passively and disappointingly watch this young woman struggles out of the hole. There goes his fantasy of being attacked to death.
She didn't seem to notice him with all these mist that's beginning to fog up the area around him though. He took the chance to observe her for a while.

It's only after Sy realizes the girl is hurt that he made his presence known, "..I'll help." He said it with a sigh in his voice, as if he's reluctant to do what he said he would, and finally stood up from his seat. He made his way towards her languidly at first, before his steps got firmer and quicker once he remembers they're temporarily trapped in this illusion he couldn't quite control.

Once he's closer, he can finally see how badly wounded she is. "Poor thing," he whispered, while his arm materializes a long white staff in his grip. With a single wave of it, the bruises that he can see around her arms closes up cleanly. Sy gets down on one knee near this woman and helped her to sit up. "Are you alright? Where does it hurt?" He tries his best to sound polite, but his voice ended up sounding tired instead.

[Rika]

Laying on the ground, Rika stared in surprise at this stranger. She almost seemed mesmerized for a moment. The first thing she noticed, of course, was his white hair. She couldn't help but think of Zephel at first because of the hair colour. It was also strange to randomly run into anyone in the forest since it was rather spacious. The strange atmosphere around them didn't help either.

At the sight of a staff suddenly materializing in his hand, Rika finally snapped out of her daze and looked in surprise at the staff instead. "Wh? Ah? Eh?" She mindlessly uttered sounds as she watched him wave the staff. "Magician...?" She quietly thought outloud.

Her cheeks flushed slightly as he knelt down and started to help her sit up. As she sat up, her eyes glanced down and noticed her arms clear of bruises. "Eh? Ah! A healer?!" Rika exclaimed before whipping her head back up to face the man with a wide, beaming smile. The sudden movement of her head, however, caused the bump on her head to hurt a bit. "Ittete" She uttered with a small grimace as her right hand moved back up to the bump on her head.

"Ahhh hahaha~" Rika chuckled to herself sheepishly then smiled at the man again. "I guess I was knocked unconscious by the fall earlier. I'm kind of clumsy~ Heh~" Rika said, her head still a bit fuzzy about what happened when she fell earlier. As Rika called herself clumsy, she lightly tapped the side of her head just under the bump with a sheepish grin and a chuckle.

"It.. kind of hurts a bit everywhere." Rika answered him with a sheepish grin, then held both hands in front of herself in a reassuring manner as a look of surprise crossed her face. "Ah! But! I'm used to getting hurt like this at times, so I'm okay!" Rika smiled brightly at the stranger, attempting to ignore the throbbing in her head.

Throb. Throb. Rika winced slightly after a moment and held her head with her right hand again. "Itai... Heh~ I guess I hit my head pretty hard, though~" There was a bit of dried blood against the side of her head and a fair sized bump. Rika tried to continue to smile reassuringly despite wincing at the pain in her head.

[Sy]

Sylvester's dead-like eyes flickered up once he heard the word 'magician'. He looked at this girl in genuine surprise. It certainly has been a while since anyone referred to him as that. His lips curved into a smile once he helped her sat up, and then it grows into a grin when she recognized he's a healer. With a dainty nod, he confirmed with a smile.

He noticed she's holding her head, so Sy moved a gloved hand near her hair. "Excuse me," he warned first before gently smoothing her hair a bit away from the bump so he can see it. He tipped his staff with his other hand, then slowly released her hair. "It'll most likely stop throbbing in a few minutes. Hang in there, alright?" There's a smooth gentle tune in his voice that's pleasant to hear, he made sure to sound pleasing due to his healing role. Sy looked back at this woman as she chuckled and explained what happened. His expression was a mix of bewilderment and disappointment, inwardly wondering who in the right mind would be that clumsy.

His faced changed into that of slight worry once she said she's hurt everywhere and that is a normal thing for her. "Well then, I'm glad you're okay but I need you to be better than okay, at least for tonight." He sports that gentlemanly smile to her as he helped her up on her feet with the help of his staff for support. Sy is highly aware that there was no tree behind him before but it's there now. They need to move, but he couldn't exactly drag this girl if her legs are hurt also.

"Can you walk? Or better yet, can you run?"

[Rika]

When this stranger touched her hair and tipped his staff towards her, she just looked at his staff with a glint of wonder in her eyes. "Alright~ Thank you~", she replied with a cheerful smile after he presumably healed her head. She already had complete confidence in his healing abilities without even knowing him yet.

She giggled when he expressed concern over how she felt, not even remotely assuming that there could be anything potentially dangerous about to happen. "Hm? Rika uttered when he suddenly asked if she was capable of walking or running, not picking up on his phrasing potentially being concerning and just smiled cheerfully at him. "Sure I can walk~ Or run if I need to~" She replied with a cheerful giggle.

[Sy]

A pleasing yet tight smile stayed on Sy's face as he nods over at this girl's rather cheerful attitude to his pressing question on whether she can run. "Excellent. Because we need to run. We are in danger." The smile never left his face as he said so, even his voice sounded completely calm.

Just as he guides her away from the area, the ground around them began to shake. Sy's eyes are locked on something over Ria's shoulder, a few ways behind her. His face finally showed concern as a huge shadow began looming over the both of them.



A greenish ghostly color permeates around the outline of a gigantic tree, nearly the size of a house, commanding presence against the harsh glow of the moon up above. The greenish colors were mainly due to the creepy lantern-like lights hanging down from some of its thorny branches.

"Ugh." Sy released a sigh, seeming to recognize this creature. "Why are you always here during full m-" Before he could even finish his complaint, one of the roots of the trees snapped over to him like a whip from below. Sy's form exploded into a thick cloud of mist at the impact, completely disappearing from sight.

This leaves Rika alone, with the giant tree looming against her tiny frame.

"By the way, you may call me Sy." A disembodied voice could be heard, and ghostly image of a grin was formed behind Rika. The cloud of mist reformed again, and Sy's solid body is slowly restored. His grin stayed as he continued his words, "I'm a butler, and I command the mist." Then, he opened his hand for her to accept, "Don't be afraid. It feeds on your fears." His striking blue eyes then darts over the giant ghostly tree.

"However, let us run now." He took the first sprint, with Rika's hand in his. His little advice to Rika was actually more to himself, his mist has gone haywire because he lost track of his thoughts and feelings. It keeps happening more and more frequently, he really needed to consult Muri regarding this.

As they ran, the tree behind them is gone from sight and the two stopped after a while to catch their breath. "I'm so sorry." He started after looking back to check whether they're in danger of being pursued. "My mist works as illusions. It gets out of my control sometimes, and the more we believe the things we see, the more real it becomes." He hopes his short explanation works within this girl's thinking capacity.

"What can I call you as?"

[Rika]

Rika smiled as she listened to what the stranger said, not immediately registering that they're actually in danger because of how calm and pleasant his attitude was. As he began to guide her away, Rika slowly started to register what he actually said. "What?" She began to look at him with an almost surprised expression just as the ground began to shake. "Whoa! Earthquake!" She exclaimed, as she suddenly stopped moving to steady herself, knowing that she'd probably just trip and fall again if she kept walking.

As she looked back up at the stranger's face, she suddenly realized he was looking behind her with a look of concern. Rika suddenly turned around to see what he was looking at. Her eyes widened considerably with a look of shock and awe. "Wooowwww... What kind of tree is THAT?" She asked, assuming it was just some new species of tree she'd never seen before.

Rika stared in awe of the tree, only finally breaking her sight of it when the stranger behind her began to talk as though he recognized something. As she turned to look back at him, very quickly she saw him suddenly burst into mist as something whipped through him. Her eyes were suddenly completely wide as her voice caught in her throat, standing there frozen.

As the shadow of the tree seemed to loom bigger to her than she realized before, she suddenly heard the stranger's voice telling her to call him Sy. Hearing his voice, she suddenly snapped out of her frozen state and began to look around for him, finally seeing a grin behind her just as it began to slowly form back into the stranger she now knew as Sy. She gasped with wide eyes then smiled with relief. "You're alive!" Having been genuinely worried that someone had suddenly died right in front of her.

"The mist?" She questioned, trying to understand as she thought of how he'd disappeared in a burst of mist then reappeared almost as suddenly. "Another magical ability?" She questioned, not really expecting an answer as it was more of an assumption.

When she noticed he held his hand out for her, she slowly placed hers in his, still trusting this complete stranger who she thought had almost died in front of her. She looked back up at him as he spoke. "It?" She followed his eyesight to the large and strange tree, not really understanding how a tree could be something sentient and dangerous.

She looked back at Sy as he suggested they should run now and suddenly felt herself being pulled by him. Realizing he was trying to lead her away somewhere, Rika instinctively started moving to follow along with him, not wanting to be a burden when it came to running at least. She wasn't the best runner, but she enjoyed walking and moving around a lot, so she was at least a decent runner.

When Sy finally let them stop to catch their breath, Rika let herself drop to her knees with a big exhale to rest her legs a moment as well as she sat on the ground now with her legs bent on either side of her. She looked up at him as he finally began to explain how his mist works. Her expression slowly grew into wide eyed amazement as a smile slowly began to form along with it. "Wow! So you ARE a magician!" She exclaimed suddenly in excitement as she realized the strange things she's seen so far were because of him, not fully realizing what he meant about losing control of them or what that could mean for them.

When he finally asked her name, Rika suddenly realized she never gave it. "Oh!" She exclaimed then laughed sheepishly. "I'm Rika!" She said, smiling up at him, suddenly seeming completely unconcerned about anything around them.

[Sy]

There's a small part in Sy that hopes this girl can digest his words properly. Though as he watches her facial expression grew more excited rather than the solemnity he expected, the butler closes his eyes and smiles slightly in self-mockery. Her loud energetic cry caused him to flinch a bit, but his smile and posture remains ever polite, thoroughly surrendering himself to tonight's chaos and possible death.

Though then, as she introduces herself as Rika, with the same amount of vigor and complete indifference to the danger that looms in this now very lethal forest, Sy opens his eyes in realization of something. His pale blue eyes studies her cheerful demeanor, and an utterly amusing idea pops in his head. "But of course I'm a magician!" He changes his tune quickly, springing up with a bounce of his heels, as if invigorated. Sy mirrors Rika's energy and smiles just as bright to her. "Miss Rika." He spoke her name, rests one forearm on his stomach before taking a great bow towards her, as if she's royalty. When he raises his body back up, a wide cheshire grin is on his face.

"Have you read the tales of Alice in Wonderland?" He has no idea where this woman hails from and whether fairy tales are told there. "It is a story of a little girl who's trapped in Wonderland. Her experiences in Wonderland challenge her understanding of reality and encourage her to question what she thought she knew." Sy got just a tad bit closer to Rika, a gloved hand raised above her head to pull a stray leaf stuck on her hair. "The story highlights the importance of imagination and creativity in our daily lives." Sy then holds the small leaf upright, in between both of their faces. He blows into it, and it dissipates into mist.

"Why don't you become the Alice to my Wonderland?"