Third time's the charm

Spoiler:

They say that the third time's the charm, so under that impression, Ai took the day off from taking missions and went to the Rose Garden. Apparently Count Sparrow and the Magic Council have reopened Fiore's borders to outsiders, and in turn, have opened the borders too Seven, Bosco, and Minstrel as a show of peace. And it seemed like it was a huge success for a lot of people had taken the opportunity as well since normally, getting a passport was quite hard due to the strict restrictions imposed by the neighboring countries. And since there were a lot of people with different personalities, it couldn't be helped if tension rise.

"Hey watch it creep!" shouted a large burly man wearing white shirt with blues stripes. His face was as red as a beat and beads of sweat ran down his cheeks when ever he moves. "Or what?"  replied the man who bumped the other man. The man was not as big or tall as the other one, but just by looking at the man's arm, one could tell that her work out or at least use to carrying heavy loads. The burly man lost his temper and his face ever got redder. The other man after seeing the look on the other man's face thought that the other was backing down, but he was wrong. As soon as he turned around, a small thud was heard and the man dropped flat on the street. It seems the other man used the chair he was sitting on to whack the man. Rune knights soon flocked the seen so they can pacify the situation.

Ai just watched as the knights rushed in.  "Men..."

The lady in front of her must have have heard her for  she turned around and looked at her. "Why hello there dearie. Did you mean old mommy and daddy leave you to watch the line so they can go and frolic around the rose garden?" The lady was old, like old old, her wrinkled skin flapped around when ever she made hand gestures when she spoke. Her white hair was nicely tied up into a but, but Ai suspects that is was just a wig. But overall the lady looked friendly so she decided to humor her. "Actually im all alone, and the passport is for me." she said in a matter of fact tone. The lady giggled at what she said, well Ai did look younger than her age and frankly she looks like she had not even reached her teen years. "Right..." she said as she tugged on her shirt a bit so the bare skin on her left shoulder would be visible.

And there it was, the mark of the lamia scale. The lady opened her mouth to say something  but no words came out, she was speechless. She turned around to face front for the line moved. She fidgeted with her fingers as  if something was bothering her. Finally, unable to contain herself she turned around again to talk with Ai. "Look dearie, I didnt mean to offend, but you really look young. Im so sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Its just the line is so long and not being able to talk with anyone is so exasperating. The man infront of me keeps on ignoring me, all he does is grunt if I try to talk to him." There was a slight pause, the old woman was out of breath from talking to fast. Ai smiled at the old lady, what she told  her was the truth...she did look young. "Its ok granny, and you are right. Time passes more quickly when you're distracted."

And just as Ai had said, time seemed to pass so fast. Without realizing it the old lady was already in front of the officer who was in charge of processing passports. The lady was in her forties, curly hair and chubby, and from the thickness of her glasses, one can assume that she had poor eyesight. The officer processed the older ladies papers, took her photo trough the magic lacyma, imprinted her thumbprint with signature and with the final touches, the old lady got her passport. The old lady smiled at her an waved the newly acquired passport. Feeling a bit mischievous, she grabbed the old ladies arm before she could walk away and said "By the way, im already 900 years old." the old lady giggled then said "900 years old...." but before long confusion replaced her once giggling face as she walked on her way.

"Next!" Ai stepped up to the officer, she smiled at her and said . "So where is your mommy and daddy?" Ai just force a fake smile as she said "The passport is for me, see..." and she then tugged at her shrt again to show the lady her mark. "You could have just said your a mage in the first place." the lady retorted somewhat dismayed. After going through the same process the old lady went trough, she was handed her very own passport. "Enjoy your passport!"

Finally after all the wait, she had her very own passport. Not far ahead, she saw the old lady sitting by a bench. She waved at her and smiled. It seems like she'll be staying a little longer at the park after all.