"What's your name, dearie?" a kindly woman with wrinkles (the type at the corners of one's mouth and eyes that came from smiling too much) asked Leah as she put an arm around the redhead's shoulders. The mage had to resist the urge to flinch away, but she managed it and replied that of course her name was Lise Ansem, distinguished mage. Unfortunately, it seemed that the elder hadn't heard of her name before (no matter, that was the point) but she agreed to hire her anyways. "Of course, and Lise dear, you're sure that you'll be able to save my adorable little Lissie? Come to think of it, your names are so similar that I'm sure it must be fate!"
The mage's jaw tightened just barely at the comparison. 'Lees' and 'Liss-ee' hardly sounded the same, but this was a paying client, so there was no need to get her... her jacket in a bunch. "That's amazing, m'am. Now your grandson is the one whose daughter is missing, correct?" Maybe if she could deal with him he'd be less overbearing (was that the right word? The old lady was frightful but not in an intimidating sort of way). After all, the man didn't even bother to meet with the person who was supposed to rescue his daughter. "Oh no dear, my Reynolds is very busy, very busy indeed. I am well prepared to give you all the details of this mission that you should need, though, of course!" With that, the woman smiled expectantly at the emerald eyed girl, who offered a strained smile. The mage reached for the milkshake that she had picked up on the way here. Although she had decided not to drink it during the initial meeting between herself and the client, there wasn't exactly a reason not to now. So with that in mind, the girl drank the mixture of apple and toffee flavoring contentedly until the wrinkled old lady burst into a sudden fit of screaming.
"GET OUT! Get out of my house right this instant young lady! I'll report you to the Magic Council if you don't get going right now! And don't even think about using force in this mission, do you think you're going to get my little Lissie killed? No m'am! I want espionage, and only espionage until she's safe and nothing can touch her! Don't think you can cheat me, I know how you youngsters work these days!" And with that, she shoved the redhead rudely out the door, causing her to spill her milkshake on the way out (and not even have time to apologize, clean up, or even grab the now mostly empty cup). When the slab of wood slammed behind her, the emerald eyed mage blew her hair out of her face and glared darkly at the door. "Where was this island again?" she wondered out loud as she set off down the street, requipping her clothes as she walked. Of course, the splattered dessert wouldn't automatically disappear since the garments weren't magical, but it would prevent staining until she could put them directly into a wash or something. "Is it even an island?" Leah grumbled as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Is this gonna be like the Sky Tower and absolutely impossible to find?"
"Little lady, have you praised the sun today?" a voice interrupted the redhead's complaints as she sauntered down the sidewalk. Huh? The girl turned to meet eye to eye with a smiling man dressed in white and gold robes, clutching a stack of pamphlets to his chest. "The Sunny Tower welcomes all newcomers! You'll be surprised at what can be revealed to you and unlocked through the studies available here. Praise the sun!" he announced before handing her one of the booklets and continuing on his way, walking in the opposite direction. With a dubious expression on her face (though not at an angle where the stranger could see it) the mage rifled through the pages. Is this how they dragged Liss- Melissa into this mess? she wondered before snorting and tossing the brochure like thing over her shoulder towards the ground. She did requip it before the item could be lost (after all, it had been free and furthermore, could be both a source of information and an excuse to enter the tower. Speaking of which, the girl paused for a moment to recall what had been on the front page of the informational handout. Walk until you feel a magnetic pull due east, then continue until you witness our beautiful research center. Shaped like an ancient tower and over fifty stories tall, this structure stretches towards the sun so as to better educate our disciples in the mystical ways of improving life. Leah felt like spitting on the ground at the very thought, but it bothered her how vague the instructions were. But if Melissa could find the tower (a ten something year old girl, right?) she could too.
Basically, all she did was literally follow the directions, and they did indeed lead her where she wanted to go. The Sunny Tower, hulking and dark against the orangey sky (why it wasn't blue despite the fact that it was midday without sunset, she had no idea). Just as Leah was about to walk straight inside, somehow feeling the tug of magic at her core, she caught a flash of green hair that seemed oddly out of place here among the white and golden robes. Her curiosity piqued, the girl turned to her left and headed in the direction of what she had thought at least to be turquoiseish hair; it'd had the right texture and hue, but maybe it was just vines after all... nope! It was Itsu! The girl's mouth quirked up into a half smile when she saw the woman, but then a pair of white and gold robed figures strode up behind her and demanded that she halt. Because of the interruption, the mage lost track of her former job partner, but she supposed they could eventually meet again if things turned out that way.
"You there! What business do you have here?" one of the robes asked, and the redhead smiled beatifically.
"I've heard about the wonders of the sun and I seek to learn more," she murmured before casting her eyes down. The girl was thankful that she had chosen a simple, pale yellow dress to put on instead of trading her leather for more leather earlier. At least that spill had been good for something. Although they tried to be discreet, the two strangers traded looks and one mouthed something like, 'Another one for the archmage,' before the other nodded slightly and turned to Leah. "Follow us," he announced before turning sharply on his toe and leading her up the path and into the tower.
1145/4250 Words.