"Yes, I am Francis Aeouli! Though, it is quite notable that you managed to figure that out from just my voice? Are perhaps a fan of mine?" The light drained from Alisa's eyes. Her worst fears had just come to light. Alix's words were true, the person that attacked her and took Mo had indeed been Francis Aeouli!
For so long on this day Alisa had been hoping that Alix made a mistake. That she was wrong about the person that attacked her. That some sort of grave error had been made in Alix's judgment of the situation. 'Wait, that could still be the case!' Alisa's eye regained a bit of their light as a hope had formed within her.
'If she's been ordered to do this by some sort of criminal organization then there's nothing to worry about! That way, Mom isn't wrong about who attacked her but I still have a woman worthy of my respect as my idol!' This was genius! Alisa had just found a silver lining in an otherwise, mind-breaking situation.
"Excuse me, child? Are you at a lost for words? I didn't believe that I had enough fame to make anyone lose track of their thoughts?" Alisa shook her head and looked back to Francis with newfound invigoration.
"Ms. Aeouli!" Alisa shouted.
"Yes?"
Alisa stretched her arm out as much as she could to point at Francis. "Who are you working for?" Francis tilted her head to the side.
"Why do you want to know?" The woman asked truly perplexed by the sudden question.
"The why doesn't matter!" Alisa screamed. "I just need to know who you work for! Oh, and if it's willingly or not?"
"What was that?" Francis asked with a dark undertone. Nasak and Denver also noticed Alisa's interaction with this masked individual at this point and decided that it was for the best if they joined her.
"Oh, was that not clear? What I meant to say was, is there any reason for you to be caught in with a group of criminals or are you just doing it to do it? You could also be doing it to save someone's life like a fan that you got too close too and now they're in danger because of your work and the only way to keep them safe is to sell all of your hard work to no good low lives that are threatening you! By the way, why do we call criminals low lives when they end up getting more rich than anybody in the world? Shouldn't they be called the low that climbed high or the lowest get lower, but at least they got some money?"
Alisa finally finished talking when she noticed that Francis, who had said nothing the entire time that Alisa was talking, was shaking. Alisa felt validation from the sight. "You must be so distraught about your fan's situation that even just hearing about it is making you sad!" Alisa smiled brightly. She had just cracked this entire case wide open like a professional.
"What are you smiling about?" Francis growled.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I was being so insensitive! I was just happy that I proved that you weren't a bad person like my mom thought you were. You know my mom by the way! She's Alix, the girl that you got the fish from! Well, she's not really my mom but I call her my mom because my real mom-"
"YOU THINK I CARE ABOUT YOUR WEIRD FAMILY DYNAMICS!!" Francis shouted startling Alisa.
"W-wait, why are mad? Did I do something wrong?"
"Did you do something wrong? Hmmm, let me think? Oh, I've got it!" Francis held up her finger like she'd had a cartoonish epiphany. Her face then turned stone cold as she stared into Alisa's eyes. "You made the mistake of trying to comprehend the life of a person that's so far out of your league that you couldn't even attempt to understand the reason that I breathe!" Mana moved in the air in front of Francis as she stomped her foot on the ground.
Alisa watched as the color of the mana in the air shifted. The mana changed from the red of fire mana to the blue of water mana.
"I-I don't unders-
"What? You suddenly can't understand what's going on? Well let me clue you in my dear fan!" In front of Francis a group of mana merged and took the form of a flask but made entirely of water. " I am Francis Aeouli, a decent mage and damn good alchemist! I've made potions using materials that others can only dream of possessing and I've made strides in the medium of alchemy that no one else could possibly comprehend! I am the woman that took one of her grandest achievements, Tranquil-Blaze, and turned it into the most efficient cash grab operation in all of Pesinwok! I mean, who would have thought that my creation was such an amazing drug!" Alisa's eyes went round as Francis continued to arrogantly talk about her vile acts like they were noble achievements.
"So you see child, I am no 'good person' like you so desperately wanted to believe. I've long casted away any dreams that I had of being a respectable alchemist. Now I only covet my own happiness. That happiness being obtaining money and knowledge through any means necessary. Even if it means, killing a few monsters or fans in the process." Francis flicked her fingers out and sent the "Water Flask" spell flying at Alisa who was too stunned to dodge.
Nasak jumped in front of the girl and blocked the attack, which had much more power than he expected, while Denver moved in and pulled Alisa to the side. "Aww, look at that! You two care about that stupid, hopeful girl!" Francis smiled warmly but her eyes were frozen.
"That's soo NICE!!" she grunted as she stomped twice more and summoned two more water flasks to attack Nasak. He was pushed back by the force of the two spells but he was still standing. Luckily, he hadn't really had the chance to conclude his battle earlier though even if he had, he was quite confident that he would have won. That didn't matter anymore though!
"Hey, Den! How is she?" Nasak asked over his shoulder.
"She seems to be more shaken up than Jack and Jill rolling down the hill!"
"Dude, seriously! Can't you just talk normally for once?!" Nasak used his sword to block yet another flask however, this one shattered like glass and a shard flew past his guard, cutting into his cheek.
"Gah!" Nasak grabbed his cheek as he winced from the pain. "Is there anybody that can help us fight this lady!?" Denver did a quick cursory glance even though he knew the answer.
"Not as the battlefield stands currently. Our allies and enemies alike have been caught within these flames that are consuming the entire city. Our dear comrade Alisa has been shaken by the terrible revelation that her angel was but a devil in disguise. I am sad to say that we, Nasak, are more alone than a mortal trapped on a deserted island."
"A simple no would have sufficed!" Nasak leapt to the side, dodging another water flask. He then charged toward the woman and swung his sword at her. She moved before he even swung, her hands clapped together then she pushed her right hand up her left. The movement summoned a thick wall of water in front of her. Nasak's attack bounced off of the "Water Wall" which then left him open for the woman to pull a real flask, that held a smoking, purple liquid within, out of her satchel and toss it at Nasak's face.
The glass shattered against the boy's face and he started to scream in pain as the liquid sizzled on his face and the glass dug into his skin. "AGH! Denver! I need help!" Nasak screamed for Denver's help just before Francis picked up a wooden plank from the remains of the Pirate's Worst Nightmare tavern and hit Nasak with it. He fell to the ground as the woman then stood over him and continued trying to bludgeon the boy with the plank. Nasak used his arms to block the attacks as best as he could without eye sight but each hit still hurt.
Denver saw the urgency of the situation and frowned. He turned back to Alisa. "Alisa, I understand why you are shaken more than a small country town during an earthquake. You've just come to the realization that your idol his a devil and that has ruined your memory of her. However, Nasak is in trouble and I can not just stand here trying to wake you from this mental breakdown. I'm going to go help our fellow fool! I only hope that you wake up to help us fight." Denver looked Alisa in the eyes but her eyes didn't stare back.
Denver wavered for a moment as he saw that his words didn't seem to help but he knew he couldn't stay with her. He stood up and reluctantly rushed to Nasak's side to attempt to aid him.
As Nasak and Denver engaged Francis Aeouli in battle on behalf of Alisa the large green firebid continued to wreak havoc all across the city.
Even effecting Marconix University.
"Headmaster! We should go help the city, most of us are ex-royal knights and magisters after all. We have the best chance of defeating that monster!" Principle Vance shouted.
"Vance, our current priority above all else is to defend the students in the event of any emergency! Let our leaders handle that monster." Headmaster Noslen stated however he was just as worried as Vance and the rest of the principles in his office.
"Surely we can at least use the excuse of defending the parents of the students to fight that thing off!" Ex-Magister Isabelle Chancy reasoned but the headmaster simply shook his head.
"Say I do let you all go? What if while you are all out saving people and helping citizens get to safety that monster happens to launch an attack here! While I do not doubt the power of the rest of my staff I hope you all understand that you are my strongest pillars as I myself am in no condition to do battle with anything! I refuse to let anything happen to my students on my title as headmaster! And should any of you disobey my orders the safety of the city shall be the least of your worries!" The principles stood in silence as they took in the headmaster's threat.
Just then, the door to the headmaster's office burst open and Dandelion Howard rushed in. "Headmaster! Sir Vance!" The girl was breathing heavily. She had clearly been in quite the rush to get here.
"What is it, Dandelion?" Vance asked. "Has something happened?" Dandelion tried to catch her breath but felt she had no time.
"Yes! I mean, no-ugh I don't know!" She exclaimed. "All I know is that Colson left with Nasak, Denver and one other kid to go to the Port of Filth earlier!"
"WHAT!" All of the adults in the room shouted in a mix of shock and panic.
"When did this happen?" Vance questioned.
"Just before Blaze disappeared from the sky!"
"Why did you not inform any of us earlier!?" Isabelle asked with fury in her voice.
"I-I didn't think they would get into any trouble. Then that monster appeared and I realized they could be in real trouble now!"
"Headmaster!" Vance slammed his hands on the old man's desk. "Now the lives of not one but three of our students are at risk! You must let at least one of us go to the Port of Filth to find them!" The headmaster stood in silence for a moment before nodding reluctantly.
"Very well. Vance! Seeing as Colson and Nasak are both your students I think that it'd be for the best if you were the one to go. Take instructor Bizen with you, we know nothing about the nature of this monster. For all we know, it is in the Nightmare category and not even you could handle something like that alone." Vance backed away from Edgar Noslen's desk and nodded thankfully.
"Of course! Dandelion, come with me!" Vance and Dandelion rushed out of the headmaster's office. Leaving only Isabelle and Marko, the vocational university principle, in the room.
"Do you truly believe that this monster could be of the Nightmare category? I thought those types of monsters only appeared within secluded regions?" Marko questioned. Edgar solemnly shook his head.
"I have no idea what that monster is? All I know is that we can not take it lightly. Let us all hope that the gods defend Vance on his mission." The two principles nodded in agreement, lowered their heads and closed their eyes along with the headmaster in prayer.
"Let the all encompassing glory of our creators guide us toward the path of least casualty."