Chute First, Ask Later {Solo || Job}

Althea Eventide ❆ Fairy Tail ❆ D-Rank

Althea stared at the cartoonishly long line with disbelief, it spanned from the office where passports were given out to the entrance of Hargeon.  Managing to grasp the situation after a few heartbeats, she continued to stare blankly at the line.  I guess I should get to waiting then.  She thought, joining those in line.  As she waited, Althea played around with her magic, summoning glittering snowflakes that she just kind of blew around to others in line with light breezes.  The boredom was nearly unbearable, but at least she practiced control a bit, it was good to make sure you didn’t go overboard with things.  Slowly, two hours passed.

The wizard sighed, bored with just messing around with people and her magic.  How long have I been waiting in line?  4 hours?  3 months?  But, Althea then spotted a small group of people heading out of Hargeon, their heads lowered yieldingly.  “Hey,”  the young girl said to an elderly lady holding a few bags in front of her, “Where are those guys going?”  She pointed to the group exiting and the lady shook her head in disappointment.
“They’re giving up, well I guess not everyone has patience for a line like this.  But we’ve only been in line for about two hours, I didn’t think people would already be giving up.”  Only?  Althea couldn’t help but think.  Her patience was beginning to run dry, but the thought of the line shortening through people leaving it kept her grounded.  Steadily, another hour passed.

Althea let out a heavy sigh, sitting down with a thud.  “Ugh, hungry.  Very hungry.”  She turned the elderly woman once again, “Could you, er, save my spot in line while I eat, old lady?”  In response, the lady chuckled good-humoredly, nodding chrisply.
But, a small child standing behind Althea spoke up, “Hey!  You can’t save spots!”
Althea whipped around, she wasn’t about to forfeit her food because someone said she couldn’t reclaim her place in line once she’s left it.  “Oh yeah?  What are you going to do about it?”
“What do you mean ‘what’?  I’ll call security, that’s what!”  Suddenly, a few tears fell down their face, “P-Please lady, I just want to get my passport and-”  But Althea simply disregarded the child, nearly taking a step out of line.
The child immediately stopped, a stoic expression on their face.  “Heartless.”
“Am not!”  She exclaimed, stopping in her tracks.  The two went for each other's throats, the disagreement quickly exploding into a kinetic argument.  They went at it for about an hour before the child’s mother showed up, stating that they were too young to receive a passport without her and taking them home.

Althea was really bored now, having actually spent about four hours in an only moderately moving line.  The elderly woman who stood in front of her since the beginning sighed deeply, her eyes angled downwards.  The young girl tapped the woman lightly on her shoulder, “Hey, you need help with your bags?  I’ve noticed you’ve been carrying them for awhile.
Slightly surprised by a stranger offering such a thing, the old woman shrigged, handing the bags over to the wizard.  “Thank you. I wanted to go back to my home country as soon as word got out, but it turned out that many of the old passports were terminated.”  she said, not realizing Althea half did it for herself.  If she hadn’t, the wizard would’ve gone insane from the apprehension.  But the next few hours passed in a flash compared to the prior ones.

Althea let out a loud sigh of relief as she and the elderly woman finally reached the office desk.  As the woman received her official passport, Althea promptly giving her back her bags.  “Have a nice day, old lady.”  As a response, the woman chuckled, simply waving to the young girl.
Focusing her attention to the desk clerk, Althea pushed forward her identification and a picture at herself, beaming at the clerk.  Sighing, they skillfully looked through the paperwork, pausing once she got to Althea’s magic license.  “Wait, you’re a wizard?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
The clerk sighed once again, “You did realize that there was a separate, shorter line for you, right?”
Stricken with shock, Althea just kind of stared at the clerk for a while before slamming an unsteady hand onto the desk.
“J-Just give me my passport, please.”  She murmured.