A Picture Worth A Thousand Words [Closed]

“Mmm... Mmmmm...”

Although a very cute girl when you look at her, a grown woman whining like an upset puppy while walking down the street was not an every day sight. Alison Chase was both beautiful and cute. Her tyrian purple colored eyes were unique in color. Her brown hair was well taken care of, soft to look at. Her clothing consisted of a strapless white dress with a green skirt over the bottom half and a brown corset that pulled the entire thing together, including that busty upper half. She had a frilly gold and white headband with flowers to the sides, with white ribbons that fell through her silky hair. She had small sleeve-like decorative wraps around her upper arms that were not connected to the dress and wore nice brown sandals to bring the outfit together. Needless to say, the woman had a fashion sense that not all would care for, but those who did would love her for it. And around her neck was a beautifully ornate pendant that most noticed before anything else, excluding that upper bod of hers.

Unfortunately, on this day, cute little Alison Chase was walking solemnly along the town. For now, she was in a small village in Arcadia. She stopped here because she found the scenery gorgeous. She had picked up a new hobby and thought this place would be perfect, but something was missing. She stared sadly down at the camera in her hands. She bought it from Zakat before she came here. Yes, her new hobby was taking pictures, photography at it's finest. She just couldn't get the perfect shot. One thing about Alison was that if she wanted to do something, she wanted to do it right. She looked around for something to catch her eye. A new scene, a new background, a child, a woman, a man. She needed something that was just... “Perfect...” she said when she saw him. He was the perfect man. He just passed her by, not even taking a second look at her, but she could not help but stare. And of course, with her new found hobby and determination toward that hobby, she followed him.

Alison could be called a stalker at this point. She watched the way he walked, every turn he made. His movement was fluid. Each step he took held purpose. It was as if he was on a mission. She had to meet him. Alison hurried up, her sandals smacking along the floor. “Excuse me!” she called out toward him, repeating until she made it to his side or he stopped to allow her to speak to him. The moment she'd be able to, she stand in front of him and look him up and down with this look of awe. It would be as if she had just found the holy grail of men. “You... are gorgeous!” she said with anime stars shining in her eyes, “How is it possible that a man as perfect as you exists in this world?!” What makes this even funnier is that she was not joking. She meant every complimenting word she said toward this god of men. “Your body is as if it was sculpted by the gods... Your hair looks as if it were brushed by angels. Your eyes as strong and piercing as the sharpest and finest of swords.... Eeeehehehe. Can I photograph you?”

And then she dropped the bomb...

Alison was taken aback by his replies, but they weren't as surprising to her as it would be to some. She just immediately realized he was thinker, unlike so many other men who would be easily swayed by the compliments, no matter how exaggerated, she had given them. The only disappointing thing was that she wasn't exaggerating. She spoke exactly what she thought. "Photograph me? Why? What would you gain by photographing me?" he said in a manner that she couldn't understand fully. There was little to no emotion behind it. He didn't speak like a monotone robot, but there was something that felt extremely distant about his words. "I need to capture the perfect picture." she said as bluntly as she could, hoping her honest tone would help him understand, "I want it to be a picture of both beauty and meaning, a picture that speaks to me. I haven't been able to do it. Something always comes up missing, so I thought if I had an actual person in the photo, not just nice scenery, it might speak louder than what I've been getting..." She looked down to her camera while speaking and fiddled with a few settings before looking back up to him. She was being honest, that much he should be able to tell about her.

"And for the record..." he spoke up again, his words still hitting a note she couldn't place. She gave him her attention though, giggling at a few of the things he said. "No, my body was not sculpted by any deities, it was natual biology and genetics. Any adjustments were caused my physical exertion. My hair has not been brushed by angelic beings. It is washed, conditioned, and combed every morning by me alone. And eyes can not be piercing—they have no sharp edges. Any damage done by them would be blunt-force trauma." Alison shook her head a couple times. She was about to speak and correct him in as polite a way possible, but he spoke up once more. "However, yes, I do have strong vision—20/15 in my right eye and 20/20 in my left. However, I do not know how you were able to tell such a thing." Alison found herself glancing off with a small smile. "No, no, no. I obviously don't mean literally. They were ways of me expressing exactly how attractive I thought you were." she explained to him, her eyes brow raised at how literal this man was. She liked it.

"You are a literal and very straight forward man. I like that." Alison hung her camera over her neck from a long strap she had attached to it, "It's rare to meet someone so honest. And by the way, I am as honest as you. I don't give false compliments. If I find you attractive, then I find you attractive. Don't think I'm just spewing shit I heard from some cheesy love novel at you; that'd be rude. So when I do say something nice, a thank you is fine. I'm not interested in tossing you down on my bed, so no throwing me in with the idiotic girls that you likely run into on a day to day basis." Alison talked with her hands a lot, waving them around in ways that sort of went with what she was saying. She put her hands on her hips and smiled up at him. She was a fun character. "So can I photograph you? I'll even pay you, if you like. I have a small studio set up and everything; it's just on the other side of town. Come ooonnn." she began to beg a little bit, "What do you have to lose? I'm not going to put you in some horrible pose or bad clothing and, as I said, I'll pay you! ... Please, please, pleeaase?"

"Please, lead the way." Alison smiled. She took in a deep breath and let out a relaxed sigh. "Thank you so much." she spoke sincerely. Alison turned from him and began leading the way, "Follow me, please." The town they were in was quite nice. The people were kind and helpful, but didn't seem to like strangers. As the two of them walked along, a child saw Alison and waved at her. She waved back. This happened quite a few times with people around the town as they walked along. Men, women, and children all greeted her cheerfully. You'd think she was a local. "So..." she spoke up as they turned a corner, heading up a dirt path toward a few residential buildings, "My name's Alison Chase. What's yours?" She'd hold out her hand to him. If he'd take it, she'd shake. Her hands would be exceptionally soft, as if she took very good care of them or never did a hard days work in her life, which the second it not true. Alison was a hard worker. She just liked being a woman a bit more than getting down and dirty, and not in the naughty sense either. She liked that part of life and considered that being a woman and getting down and dirty.

"It's just up ahead here, in that two story building. We're in one of the top apartments." Alison pointed toward it, using we quite lightly. It sounded as if she was inviting him home with her. "So what brings a man such as yourself to a small town like this? Do you travel often?" she asked, stopping so he could answer (if he would answer). She wasn't entirely sure what she could expect from him. She half-expected to get stabbed in the back the moment they were out of public eye. They made it to the apartment building and Alison opened the door for her guest. Once they were through, she lead him up the stairs and down a long hallway toward the largest apartment in the building. She pulled out her keys, unlocked the door, and stepped inside, once again holding the door open for him. The main room, which is what they're in now, was obviously the studio. There was no normal furniture and everything was camera equipment, props, and backgrounds. Some would think that Alison had been here for quite some time. Wrong. She's only been here a week. She's just very quick at set up and prefers to do things faster than most.

"Okay, so... Would you like to get started immediately or are there any questions you have to ask?" Alison asked. She waited for a moment, ready to answer anything he questioned to the best of her abilities, but then she had a few questions of her own. "Now, I need to know if there is anything you don't like." she sat down on a stool after pulling a second one up for him to sit on, "What I mean is... Do you care if I brushed your hair a different way? I wouldn't, it's perfect, but things like that, you know? Are you okay with props? How much skin are you willing to show? Are their poses that are a big no for you? Anything you can think of that would make you feel uncomfortable, I want to know. Also... Price." Alison had a feeling she was going to be paying a lot of money for him to do this. It was okay. She had a nice amount saved up, so she figured she could cover any price that he threw at her. "Oh... and before I forget," she spoke up before he could answer, "Please understand that I don't take pictures to sell to other's. The art I create with you is not going to be out on display for just anyone to poke their grubby noses up at."

Alison wrote down on a small piece of paper the things he didn't want done. This was a very simple list in her opinion. It seems he wouldn't care too much if she doused him in chocolate. It was a good thing she wasn't into that type of stuff. There was no beauty in chocolate. There was no beauty in being covered in brown muck. Gross. "Alright then. All of that written down an-..." "As for price, I estimate a relatively fair price would be two-thousand gold for the full session." Ow. Alison froze in position for a few moments and then raised her hand in front of her face. She mumbled and whispered something about numbers before looking a little worried. "One moment." she put a finger up and then hopped off the stool, stepping over to her purse and beginning to look through. "If that is not satisfactory, I will take my leave. If it is, when should we begin?" "No, no. I'm sure I have enough." she said confidently. Alison found quite a few gold pieces and then hurried to the other side of the room. She had a large sack of gold in a safe. She knew the exact amount in there and with adding what she had found.

"Ha! I knew I had enough." Alison said without a worry, even though this was actually going to almost bankrupt her. She dropped the extra gold in the sack, tossed it back into the safe after showing him it was there, and then closed it up. She even had a little bit for food until she got some more money in. "Alright. We can begin!" she said as she pulled a large light-weight sheet off of a massive set. She made sure everything was in place. "This is the most simple one I've wanted to capture. Scene's just don'tn work without a good model." Alison smiled to the scene and then to him, "Come sit here." She pointed to a hammock and waited for him to sit down. The entire scene was of a grassy yard with a flower garden behind it. There was even a very convincing artificial tree that hung over the hammock to create a shadow. "Watch your eyes." she said pointing toward a light above him. She waited for him to not be looking at it and turned it on. It lit the place up like they were in the sun. The only issue was that the light was going to get hot and quick. She set up the camera and then stepped back over to his side.

"I want this picture to capture something... that makes you feel relaxed, like there's nothing in this world that could bother you, nothing that could hurt you. You're safe." she explained to him, "I don't know how you are at acting, but if you need any help, I'll try. Just lie really well, I guess." Alison giggled at her comment and then went to place her hand on his shoulder. "I need you to lay back and here..." she reached toward a book and handed it to him, "Use this how you feel you should... I'd prefer it to look like you were reading it and then your wife or kids called your name, so you'd look toward the camera. I've also seen it placed over a chest and you'd be sleeping. It's up to you. What fits you best." Alison went over to the camera and adjusted a few settings. "Alright. When you're ready... Go." The moment he started, she'd begin snapping pictures over and over again. "Go ahead and change positions. Move around, smile a bit... Remember, you're safe here and there's nothing more relaxing than just sitting outside, reading a book, and now... with a breeze." Alison clicked a button and a fan began blowing toward him. There was always something more beautiful about a picture when the model's hair moved.

This was astonishing. Every click of the camera caught something new, something eye catching. It wasn't what she had imagined. It wasn't her perfect picture. It was something entirely different, something she wasn't able to place her finger on just yet. He had this uncanny way of sending chills shooting up her spine. Alison didn't understan-, no she couldn't understand his eyes. How could they look through her like that? She felt like a ghost; it wasn't a comfortable feeling. She asked him to change his position and still this was not her perfect picture. She was definitely capturing gold here; people would love to see these pictures. Many would love to dissect his expressions, the placement of his body, ever edge of shadow that ran along his clothing, his face, and even in his eyes. She continued for a few more seconds and finally stopped. The clicking stopped and she stood up straight, no longer bending behind the camera. She stared at him, her heart racing for some unknown reason, and her expression of both confusion and wonder.

"I... uh..." she shook her head and fiddled with her fingers a bit as she walked around the camera and back toward him, "I was right about you bringing something new to my photos... I wasn't expecting that though." Alison placed her hand over her chest and took a deep breath. She was trying to calm down. "What was that?" she asked him, truly curious, "I mean... You said your eyes can't pierce, wrong. If they were a literal sword, I'd be dead right now." Alison couldn't look him in the eye. When she spoke to him, she kept her gaze on his forehead, lips, nose, ears, anything but his eyes. Those soul cutting eyes could not make contact with her own, not yet. She wouldn't know how to handle it. "Please do not take this in any offense, but you looked as if nothing was there. I didn't want you to look as if you were seeing me, that you did very well, but you looked as if you saw nothing. I asked you to pretend as if your wife or kids were calling your name... did you?" she asked hesitating for a moment.

"You've... never been in love before, have you?" she asked. Alison got an idea. Instead of making him pretend, maybe she should bring him to something that was actually there. "Yeah, that might work." she said out loud, excited by her own thoughts, "You're a straight forward guy, so something that's actually there and in front of you would probably be better than playing pretend. I'm sorry, I can't believe I didn't realize that before." Alison giggled cheerfully, knowing the perfect spot. She knelt down next to the chair, putting herself at eye level with him. "I know this beautiful place. It's just a ten minute walk out of town. I think that if you're able to look at something beautiful, you might be able to express it a little better. Would you go there with me? Please?" Alison asked him quite sweetly, with a nice smile on her face. She was paying him, so it'd be odd for him to say no and it was part of the session. She doubted he was a liar, so she assumed he'd come, but it was always nice to make sure.

"I see... I suppose it is a good thing they are not swords. I rather like seeing." Alison mentally face-palmed at that. She stared blankly at him for a moment and then giggled. "So you do have a cute side. I'd call it humor, but something tells me you were one hundred percent serious." she told him and then went on to explain what she meant by his eyes. "I did. There was nothing to pretend, therefore I pretended as though 'nothing' was calling me." Alison looked at him surprised. She felt like his interpretation of what she asked what an accomplishment in itself. His way of thinking was so out there. She wasn't entirely sure how she could reply to that, and then she dropped a question she thought would be offensive or hard to answer. Apparently it wasn't. He shook his head immediately, as if there was nothing to think about. "Not to my recollection, no." Alison nodded in understanding. She had never been in love before, but she had loved. When she thought of his answer, she felt like it was meaning toward the entire meaning of love, not just one of a woman. It made her want to question his life. She wanted to know more about him already. She wanted to ask about his past, his family, his travels, his friends. This man was absolutely fascinating to her and that could be seen in her eyes.

That wasn't the issue for now. She would get to know him later, if he chose to stick around for a bit. She had her goal for now and the perfect photograph was it. She had an idea and presented it rather excitedly to him. He went silent and even closed his eyes. Alison had this strong itch at the back of her mind to lean in toward him, just to see how close she could get without him realizing she was right there. Luckily, she was smarter than that and just waited in silence for him to answer. "Hmm. That might work. If I can actually see that which is to be my focus, it might help remove the problems you have with my eyes." She smiled. "Wonderful." she replied and stood up, "Let's get going then." If allowed to, she'd reach for his hand and begin pulling him along. She still had her portable camera hanging from her neck, so she was all ready to go. Stepping out the door, she'd close it behind them and continue down the stairs until they were out the front and on their way toward a forest less than half a mile away. "It's over there." she pointed toward the forest, giving him a general idea of which direction they would be traveling for now. Alison lead him along a path until they got in to the forest. She stepped along, counting up to thirty three out loud and then stopped, turning left.

"You know... You've got one of the oddest personalities I've ever come across, especially in a man like yourself." she said as she began walking into the forest. They'd continue for four minutes before coming to a thick bunch of branches. As they got closer to this place, the sound of falling water could be heard beyond the branches. "I don't even know if the town's people know about this place." she said as she grabbed as many of the branches as she could and pulled them aside so he could step in first. Once he did, she'd struggle to get her way through. The branches suddenly snapping back into place and throwing her toward him. Refusing to make contact with him, she'd alter her falling area and collapse next to him with camera safe in hand. "Ow..." she said standing up, dusting herself off, and then pointing toward what they had come to, "Beautiful, isn't it? There's no fish in the water either, so that makes it all the better." Alison stepped toward the water and removed her sandals, stepping into a shallow part. "Ha, warm. Good. I don't know why, but it always is." Alison smiled and motioned him to come toward her. The area was surrounded by forest. In front of them was a swimming pool sized lake with a waterfall. The water hitting the bottom created a comfortable mist that couldn't be beat.

"You said you were okay with partial nudity, right?" she said glancing back to him, "Do you mind taking off your shirt and sitting on one of the rocks? The mist will make it hard, but don't get your hair wet... yet." Alison made sure to add the yet to make sure he understood that he would be getting a little deeper into the water. The rock she pointed to was half submerged. He'd be able to sit down and have half of his legs hit the surprisingly sandy bottom. And like before, once he'd do that, she'd start her taking pictures. "Look around at everything here. It's beautiful, so try to express that. Look relaxed, as if you're on the perfect vacation and nothing could bother you..."

"I can understand that. In all of my travels, that same thing keeps coming up. Granted, I, too, have never met someone like myself."

Alison raised an eyebrow at him. "I can't tell if that is ego or honesty talking." she thought before they arrived where she wanted to be. She didn't really get a reaction out of him, but that was okay. He wasn't the expressive type anyway. If he got googly eyed at the scenery here, she'd not be as comfortable with him as she currently is. Either way, it was time for the two of them to get started again and she asked him to sit on a certain rock. She waited for him to move, but he didn't head toward the rock. "Hmm. I do not think this rock will work." "Oh, I'm sorry." she replied and then looked around for a different angle. "Let me improvise my pose myself. I do believe I have an idea." Alison looked back toward him and tilted her head in curiosity. Alison gladly took his shirt, but wasn't sure what to do about it. She blinked a couple times, smiled, set down her camera, and then put his shirt on. As she slipped it on over her dress, she wiggled her shoulders playfully, as if she were snuggling herself into something warm, which she was. There was nothing cold about wrapping herself in this man's shirt.

Alison brought her camera back up and watched him move along. She even snapped a couple of shots of him getting into position. He was moving like a natural, so even those pictures were going to turn out quite nice. She saw where he went to sit and had a perfect idea for this. Alison took a step forward and into the water, but never actually touched the surface. A movement of air wrapped itself gently around her body, twirling around her so quickly that it created a hover effect, though she will always call it flying. While doing this, she moved a bit out onto the water and lowered herself to get a good angle of him. She didn't know what he was concentrated on, but his expression was beautiful. She snapped around twenty shots at different angles until finally she came up in front of him; the best angle. She snapped the finally shot and with the click of the camera she felt as if something had been completed. "I got it..." she mumbled, "I actually got the picture!" She smiled with a single tear of happiness falling down her cheek.

"Thank you so much, Mikhail!" she flew back over to the shore and turned off the camera. This hobby was complete; it was time to find a new one. She looked toward Mikhail. "We can go back now if you want. It is relaxing, so if you'd like to take a swim, I'll join you. Otherwise, let's get back into town, so you can get your money and I won't bother you anymore." Alison stuck her tongue out at him, obviously just trying to be playful, but her eye was caught again. She brought her camera up and caught a final picture and turned it right back off. "I wonder what he'd do if I didn't give his shirt back..."

"The humidity is too great here, the insects are about to start to bite, and I did not bring a change of clothing—I will be fine with returning now." Alison nodded and turned back toward the path that they had come from. She forgot for a brief moment that she was wearing his shirt. "I would like my shirt back now." Alison was in mid-step. She froze, lifted her body from the ground using her powers, turned back toward him, and walked again. "Sorry, sorry." she said as she removed his shirt from her body and handed it to him, "Didn't know what else to do with it. I doubted you wanted it wet or dirty, so I put it on." Alison waited for him to be ready and then turned back toward the path again. Like before, she pushed the branches from his path and then the two of them were heading back.

It took a couple of minutes, but they got back to the main road. Everything was quiet. Alison was hugging her camera to her chest with a bright smile. "Once I get these developed, would you like a copy of them?" she asked. Normally she wouldn't offer a copy, especially since she was paying him for this. She really just wanted a reason to keep in touch with him. He was the perfect model and if she ever took up photography, painting, sketching, or sculpting, she'd have the best subject ever. Alison's thoughts were interrupted when she heard what sounded like an angry mob coming form the village. She looked up and saw a large group of people gathered around at the edge of town. "... Wonder what happened?" she asked out loud when a young boy hurried up toward the two of them. 

"Hey Lady! You need to come quick!" the boy said, pointing behind him, "The place where you live got messed up bad." "What?" Alison blinked in surprise and looked back to Mikhail. "Yeah! Someone heard a lotta bangin', but by the time anyone got there everything was broken." Alison looked up toward her apartment, able to see a broken window from here. She didn't even have to see it; the money was gone. She hurried her way toward the apartment, up the stairs, and to her place. The door was half open. She stepped up and pushed the door open, horrified by what happened inside. She didn't even show it on her face. She couldn't show everything that she felt right now. That'd be impossible. She went over to her safe and sat down in front of it, pushing the small door closed. It was gone; his money was gone.

"We were gone less than an hour... How could they do all of this?"

"Based on the markings... I'd say it was not a rushed job. They may have come here before to simply scout it out, see where certain things would be... as well as to prepare a device to prevent the door from locking fully." Alison was immediately disturbed by what he just said. She looked over ot him with wide eyes and then around the destroyed room in disgust, "The destruction here is random, only meaning to look like it was a ransack. It is entirely possible this was done in a span of ten to fifteen minutes. I imagine their target was your safe, which most likely has been emptied." "Yeah, it's empty..." she spoke, her tone a little shaky, "They were watching me?" Alison hugged herself, feeling a little more than violated. She stepped up to her windows and looked out, wondering what places that could have been done from. There were actually quite a few and enough that would make it impossible to narrow down and find, unless they got very lucky.

"Mmm...." she whined a little and hugged herself tighter, "I walk half-naked around here every now and then. They could have seen me; this is so disturbing... Nice way to make a girl feel violated." Alison sat down on the floor again, leaning her back against the wall. "As unfortunate of a time this may be for you, this does not change our arrangement." "Oh, I already figured that. It's the only reason this is such a big deal." Alison stood right back up and stepped passed him, "It's obvious you're not the type of guy seeing someone who actually needs a little bit of help and out of the kindness of your heart, give it." "Well, it does not change its premise. You will simply have more time to pay me." "Well, it was either give me more time or try and kill me, so the second one sounds like the smarter idea, don't ya think?" Alison glared at him and continued down a small hallway to a room at the end.

"You can't be serious!?" she yelled, stomping her foot to the ground. She stepped into her room and saw that they had actually taken a knife to her bed. It was completely destroyed. She hurried toward her closet and opened it up. Upon seeing nothing there, she dropped to the floor, grabbed her head, and just cried. "They couldn't have left something for me to wear?! To sleep on!?" she said through her tears, "This is ridiculous!" The only possession she still had was the camera she took with her to film Mikhail. "I'm probably going to have to sell the camera..." she sighed, wiping tears from her face. She stood up again and walked out of the entire apartment. She couldn't be there right now. She already knew Mikhail would follow, probably assuming she'd bolt the moment she got the chance. Alison decided to avoid the people in the front and took the back way out and made her way to a small clearing just to sit.

"This sucks..."

It was quiet for a bit. Alison was able to think for a while. She didn't have Mikhail staring down at her, so she didn't feel like she was being pressured or anything. She laid back into the grass and closed her eyes, thinking on her next move. Because of his uncaring attitude, Alison did think about running off and never seeing him again.  He could say he'd find her, but she doubted that highly. Something told her he didn't have the ability to fly over an ocean and she did. The thought of it was funny, but she wasn't that type of woman. She'd keep her word, so she was stuck with him until he no longer cared about the money or she paid him back. It took her two months to save all of that up, so she had a feeling the two of them were going to get real close. "How frustrating..." she thought. She couldn't help but s mile at it. When he walked up, like she figured he would, she sat back up and was surprisingly greeted with a smile. "Hey..." she waved to him before he spoke up about what he had found in her apartment.

"I have found something in your apartment. It may lead to the suspect, or at least it will narrow the suspect list." Alison tilted her head a bit, "What do you mean?" "It seems as though someone has been sleeping in your closet. Have you noticed any food going missing or strange noises at night? It seems as though this person had a habit of placing their feet on the wall." Alison looked toward the town and tried to think. She couldn't think of any food that had gone missing. She didn't pay very much attention to anything that wasn't her photography when she got into this town. She laughed a bit at herself. "I was told a long time ago that I needed to learn to pay attention to my own surroundings, but I never really cared enough to do so..." Alison shook her head, "No, I didn't notice anything and that's stupid because it probably happened too. I was probably getting robbed this entire time and never noticed a thing." Alison sighed and stood back up, brushing her skirt off.

"Can I ask you something?" she crossed her arms along her chest and looked to the ground, kicking at something that wasn't there, "You want your money, I get that. I'll pay you back, but it's going to take time. I wasn't expecting to be robbed, otherwise you'd have it and be on your way... So, since I'm pretty sure you're not leaving my side until you get it, can you at least pretend to be my friend? Just pretend to have a heart behind that cold exterior of yours and act like you care. And no, I'm not paying you for that too. I'm asking as a human being to another human being. If you're going to be around me for any decent amount of time, I'd rather not feel like you're disgusted with my very presence." Alison stared straight into his eyes, her own pleading with him to just say yes. Even an "I'll attempt" would have been nice at this point. She didn't have anyone who cared about her, so something on the fake side wouldn't bother her. As she stood there for his answer, she had a short flashback to something.

"That sneaky little bitch." Alison turned back toward the town with an amount of anger in her eyes that she hadn't had for a very long time. She clenched her fist and looked back toward Mikhail. "I think I have an idea on who might have taken the money... Do you trust me?" she said, holding her hand out to him. She didn't have time to explain. If they were going to get there, she had to get there fast. It was on the opposite side of town as well and she didn't want to go alone. If he actually took her hand, she'd smile and activate one of her abilities to allow the both of them to fly. Then, she'd take him over the town toward the exact opposite side, landing in front of a small house. "Wasn't so bad, was it?" she said, smiling toward him and then pointing to the house, "If it's who I think it is... he's in there." Alison stepped up to the door and went to open it. When she realized it wasn't locked, she stepped inside. Everything was silent. She couldn't hear anyone in the house, but she continued quietly in to the house.

"Would it not be preferable that I become your friend rather than pretend I am?" "Yes, actually it would, but..." she looked away, sort of embarrassed by her answer, "I'm weird and once people realize that, they don't want to be around me, so I haven't really ever had a someone stick around, at least not long enough to call us friends. I just assumed you'd not want to be my friend. You don't exactly seem to like me." "If my demeanor makes you think I do not like you, please understand that is not so. I have known you for nearly one hour now. I can not say that I can entirely trust you for that very reason. I do believe I am being polite with that in mind." While he was speaking, she got the idea of who might have stolen her money. With this realization and knowing they were likely too late, she began to rush. Holding her hand out to him and asking a question she already knew the answer to, she was surprised he took her hand. It may have meant little to him, but to her it was a sign of trust. 

Upon arriving at their new destination, she saw him rubbing a small red spot on his face. "Oh, no. That doesn't normally happen." Alison looked concerned at him, "Sorry... Anyways." She pointed to the door and the two of them went inside. "If you are planning on trying to murder me to get out of our deal, please do understand it will not be easy. But based upon previous discussion, I do not believe that to be the case." Alison looked back to him and stared for a couple of seconds before poking his nose lightly. "Believe it or not, I kinda like you. I don't want you hurt, so be careful while walking through this place..." Alison said and turned back into the house, slowly making her way to the kitchen, whispering slightly, "I never trusted this bastard." Alison slowly looked around the corner and saw nothing but an empty dining room and kitchen. Alison turned back toward Mikhail and shook her head. Alison looked up, her eyes widened at the man they were looking for floating above them.

The man had a cross bow and was aiming right at Mikhail's back. "Look out!" she screamed in a panic. Out of pure reflex, Alison used her abilities with air to send Mikhail's body out of the path of two bolts as they was fired. With no extra time to save herself, Alison felt two very sharp pains hit her lower stomach. The pressure behind the bolts were strong enough to push her off her feet and send her tumbling backwards. "Don't kill him. I want your money back." Alison said, rolling off to the side so she wouldn't immediately be shot for a third time. By Mikhail's earlier statement, he was confident enough in his abilities that Alison could assume he could take care of himself as long as he wasn't being sneak attacked. This bastard lost that advantage, so Mikhail should of had the upper hand. Either way, since it's two against one, the man dropped down to the floor after firing an arrow and attempted to run up the stairs to get away from the two of them while he reloaded his weapon. "I don't have your fucking money!"

Alison was extremely unfortunate to have not been able to see the performance that had just been put on by her new friend, Mikhail. From around the corner, she could only sense the movement of energy. She could feel the precise execution of Arcana followed by outstanding aim and a marvelous force that not many could possibly comprehend. She pushed herself up, using the wall behind her back as leverage. She heard the collision of metal on bone and glanced around the corner. The man was hit and tumbled down the stairs less graceful than a sack of potatoes. Alison blinked in surprise and watched Mikhail move over to the man. The man was about to get up and attempt to do something, though he knew it'd be a stupid idea. "Kneel." she heard that single word. The man did not move. She stepped around the corner, still using the wall as leverage. She was unsure whether she could walk with these bolts sticking out of her stomach. She place her hand over them, holding them as still as she could since with every movement more pain was caused. Mikhail stepped over to her and she looked to him with a pained expression.

"Thank you for that. Though, how deep are those?" he spoke and his tone hinted something she had not heard from him in the few hours they had known each other. Was it concern? Was it sincerity? She looked surprised at him and then pushed a weak smile up. "Honestly, I'm not sure. They hurt like hell though." Alison looked down to the bolts and was about to pull them straight out of her gut. She took a deep breath, and another, and then held. She gripped both of the bolts, and ripped them out of her skin and dress. She tossed them to the side and placed her hand over the wounds in her stomach that were now bleeding out quite badly. "Shit." she mumbled, realizing that was a very bad idea. She wasn't exactly good with first aid, so she didn't realize that pulling them out would cause more problems. "That's not good is it?" she said with a glance toward Mikhail. She had this look of accepted dispair on her face, like she knew she made a huge mistake and was going to pay for it with her life. She just had one thing left to do and that's where this pathetic thief came in. She walked over to him and gabbed onto his shirt.

"Where is the gold you stole from me, Jiro." Alison asked him, her fists beginning to spark with electricity. Jiro looked frightened at her. Alison was extremely angry with him. "I... I don't have your money!!" Jiro exclaimed and Alison pushed his back up against the wall. "Now you listen to me you slimy piece of shit." Alison told him, gritting her teeth through the pain, "You either tell me where the gold is or I swear our last hours are going to be filled with a hell of a lot of pain." "I swear, Alison! I don't have it!" Jiro explained as he began cowering, trying to get away from Alison's grip, "I-I-I... owed this guy some money. A lot of it. He was gonna kill me. I had to get it some how." "So you stole it from me?!" Alison yelled at him, "I need that money back you bastard! I owe someone too, except I didn't get the debt because of stupid gambling habits!! Who did you give it to?! Where do I find him!?" "G-Grandview! That's where he'd be headed." Alison's eyes widened. That was half way across the fucking country. "His name is Anton, Anton Vincent." Alison let go of Jiro's shirt and fell backwards, her breathing quite labored.

"Grandview..." Alison laughed and put an arm over her eyes, "Of course... Grandview." Anyone who knew anything about Arcadia's Mid-Western cities new that Grandview was not a fun place to be, so ignore the name. It was a nice place to be until pirates took it over and now it's full of crime. People have fought and died in the streets. It was full of crime lords and mob bosses, pirates, escaped prisoners, murderers, bounty hunters, and anything else that could be called dangerous. The only reason the city had become well-known enough to be called a city of Arcadia is because 1) it's in the country's borders and 2) it had gotten so bad that minimal guard is posted there. It cost more Arcadian Citizen Lives than the Queen liked when she tried retaking the place. It has officially been abandoned by Arcadian Knights and five years ago every Arcadian citizen was warned not to enter the city because of it. Anyone who went there and died was left there. It's gotten that bad. "I... don't know what to do." Alison glanced up to him from her place on the floor with a weak smile, her hand sitting over her wound to try to slow the blood down.

"I'm so sorry..."

As Alison went and almost made a horrible mistake, she was stopped. Mikhail batted her hand away from the bolts. She looked up to him for an explanation. "Moving them or even removing them is a terrible idea. Right now, they are acting as an artificial clot to prevent you from bleeding out." She looked down to the bolts and realized that he was right. She could tell upon closer inspection that they really were acting as some sort of clot. She agreed and went on to deal with Jiro. The man had been scared of her before, even if he was trying and failing at flirting, so it wasn't a shock that he practically melted when she was actually angry with him. The bolts made it quite difficult to move, but she was able to manage. It was luck that she didn't injure herself anymore than she already was. Alison was still upset though. She had realized that she was going to have to pay Mikhail back in another way. She hated being in debt to someone, especially to a man she had literally just met. She felt like some sort of fraud.

"It should be obvious what to do. You get healed and restart your business." "Restart my business?" Alison questioned. "But first, you must get healed." Alison watched Mikhail knock Jiro out and laughed at it. She wanted to punch the guy too. He then came to her and helped her back to her feet. "Thank you." she said, knowing she needed the help. She tried walking on her own, but it hurt, so Mikhail was kind enough to help her over to the couch. She laid down on it as he began walking away. "Keep pressure on that. I shall return shortly." "Huh? Wait. N-..." and he was gone. She stared at the door in horror, wondering if he would actually return. A few minutes passed and Alison heard someone coming. She looked to the door and saw Mikhail walk in with another person. Alison didn't pay that much attention to the second man because she was truly shocked that Mikhail returned. She was expecting him to be off hunting his money or not wanting to bother with someone like her anymore. She was a lot of trouble.

"Ahem, I will need you to hold still, little lady. And bite on this." Alison was pulled from her thoughts and looked toward the man who was apparently a doctor. She was handed a wooden stick. She figured what was about to happen was going to be painful if she needed this. "This will not be a permanent fix, but it will be enough to stabilize you until we can get you more proper treatment." And then it began. The first part was removing the bolts. She was told to bite down and she did. Tears welled up in her eyes and it took all she had not to punch the doctor out of pure reflex. She bit down harder as the second was removed. Soon after came the cleaning, the medicine, and the stitching up. By the end, Alison felt like she had been drained of every ounce of energy she had. She laid there, her breathing heavy as the doctor wrapped her stomach in bandages. When the doctor removed the stick from her mouth, he was surprised to find that it had cracked in multiple places.

"The doctor's cart should be here soon. From there, we will take you to a more trained doctor." Mikhail said. Alison giggled a little and reached out, grabbing Mikhail hand. "Thank you." she said sweetly and then turned to the doctor, "And thank you as well." She had seen the glare the Doc had given and could only smile about it. She didn't think Mikhail meant to insult the man, but it happened, so she made sure to thank him anyway. A few moments later, he was done wrapping her up and said he'd wait outside for the cart. Alison looked up to Mikhail, "When you walked out so suddenly, I really didn't think you'd come back. I figured you'd go after your money and not have to deal with me anymore." It should have been obvious by now that Alison either didn't think much of herself or just assumed everyone thought she was something they didn't need to bother with. "Thank you for not leaving me here." she told him as sincerely as he could and then let go of his hand, doubting he wanted her holding it.

"I don't think I need to go to another doctor, do you?" Alison asked Mikhail, knowing the cart was going to show up soon. It was always possible for her to get infected in some way. Magical treatment would have been better than the normal, but she did trust in Hughes' methods. "I need to get back to work... and figure out what I can do to pay you back..." Alison glanced away, "I don't have a shop or a business... I saved all of that money up by making things for people and doing odd jobs in the towns that I travel to... It took me months to get that much. I don't know how I'm going to be able to pay you back, Mikhail. I know I can't any time soon, but if you're willing to deal with me for a while, we can maybe travel together? I'd enjoy some company on my travels." Alison smiled to him, wondering what his answer was going to be. If he also did insist on her seeing another doctor, she would not argue with him. She'd do as instructed and be taken to where she needed to be taken to. If not though, she'd want to head to Aria.

"There, I can get the pictures developed and sell the camera for a little bit of cash, what do you think?"