Once upon a time, in a dark and dreary place, filled to the brim with a cascade of thick fog. A dark and mysterious figure appears suddenly, as if rising from the ground itself, casting a jagged and malevolent shadow upon the cobblestones. As the being nears the bright, blue light of the street lamps on either side, their features soften, the shadows lift. A curtain of long, bright blue hair falls against their features, obscuring their face. They quickly stride through the light, being cast into sharp contrast at the sudden change in brightness. All that is visible of the being is their bright, piercing, sapphire eyes, glinting with pure intelligence.
As the being nears their destination, they quicken their pace, breaking into a light jog as they near the door. They suddenly stop, as if they ran into a wall of solid air suddenly stopping. They glance behind them, regretting this decision as swiftly as it was made. The fog had began collecting behind them, forming into a roughly human shape. The form soon solidifies, revealing the features of a young man, purpose in his eyes. The wraith walks forward, bringing the scent of cold iron nearer, stronger with every stride. He strides forward, much to the dismay of the being, still obscured by the barrier. They quickly drop to the ground, madly scribbling at the concrete with what appears to be chalk. The wraith suddenly comes to a halt. The being has just finished their symbol, moments later clapping their hands over the design, prompting a bright, iridescent blue and red light to shine from the rune. The cobblestones appears to melt away, moments later reforming in the shape of a great, grey golem.
The being silently points to the wraith with a strangely metallic hand. The golem belts towards the wraith, not noticing his own form of defense (expand?). Immediately, a large stone glaive burst from the ground, showering the wraith in chunks of concrete and stone. He takes a quick step back and slashes at the golem, not used to fighting an opponent this big. The golem shirks away from the blow and grasps the glaive, just above the handle. The wraith quickly lets go, the weapon forming into a large snake. The man breaks into a sprint landing blow after blow on the golem, knocking great chunks loose. With a final blow, the golem is tossed aside, pieces showering the being and the man indiscriminately. He takes three long strides forward and seizes the being by the throat, briefly lifting them from the ground. The wraith finally speaks, in a voice as strong as a hurricane and as gentle as the mist he formed from. " where is the stone, alice?"
He roughly shakes the being, the hood now being thrown back to reveal a delicate, if scarred, face, partly obscured by the curtain of hair. The woman struggles against the wraith, his skin a light taupe color, briefly breaking his grip. "I'm not alice dammit!"
The wraith rips away her jacket revealing the secret she so desperately hoped to hide. Her arm has been modified, now including many gears, levers, pistons and symbols. Further solidifying her guilt as alice is the large, purple cat merrily winding its way around her neck and the wraith's arm. She quickly gives up struggling and reaches into her pocket, and produces a small brown bean. She tosses it into her mouth with her free hand, instantly disappearing, much to the man's displeasure.
Moments later, she re-materializes in a field outside a large, grey cottage. She silently sneaks her way inside, not bothering with the door, choosing instead the open window to the side. She makes it three steps inside before a dingy, yellow light is flicked on. The man standing before her is gargantuan, muscles bulging through the shirt. He looks her up and down and opens his mouth to speak. Before the first word has left his mouth, the purple cat is thrown to the man, leaping to catch it. Alice quickly draws a symbol in the adjacent wall, when the intruder yells a hasty and muffled WAIT. She hesitates briefly, waiting to hear what the man says. Now that she can observe him more closely, she notices the blue and white trenchcoat, the large blonde mustache, and the black slacks. The man quickly says "WAIT! I am captain armstrong of the guard. General Quaritch has asked me to retrieve you. He says he wants to know whether a ministry job as a court alchemist might interest you!" Alice, perking up at these words, gets a thoughtful look. Then in a hushed voice says "Cheshire. Here."
The cat, hearing it's name, quickly hovers to Alice's shoulder, lightly perching itself there. Alice looks thoughtfully at Armstrong, contemplating what she could possibly have done to afford the notice of General Quaritch, easily the best alchemist this side of silvermoon. Surely nothing she has (legally) done has been worth his notice. All she has been doing is search for the Stone Of Life. Her exploits tonight had merely been a dead end in her search of the stone. Suddenly, she caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and reacted on instinct. Suddenly a small silver knife was embedded in the wood on the side of armstrong's hand, causing him to pull back out of sheer shock. He had been going for the cup of water on the nightstand, breaking Alice out of her contemplation. She immediately runs to his side, passing him the water and putting the silver knife in the small compartment on her steel arm, locking it into place with a flick of her wrist. Captain Armstrong looks from the water to his hand, then finally retrieves the cup of water, deciding it was safe to move. Alice looks at him with a mixture of pride and shame, proud at having caught not only a ministry official unawares, but the fact that he is the captain of the royal guard makes her small victory all the sweeter. He finally addresses Alice directly, asking her if she has thought over the general's offer to be court alchemists. A sudden thought strikes her brain and she blurts out " Can i bring Absalom!"
The General flushes at the sudden outburst, hastily asking who Absalom is. As if in response to the question, the small tungsten dragon in the corner hastily uncoils and lopes across the house, coming to a stop at Alice's feet. Suddenly in a breathy, metallic sounding voice, he quickly introduces himself to Armstrong, the general taking it in stride. In an inquisitive voice, he asks "So Absalom. Can you breath fire like a real dragon?" in response, Absalom rears up and breaths a small bolt of lightning, the tips of his fangs glowing as bright as any lightbulb. Armstrong shields his eyes, prompting Absalom to remark "SORRY MISTER ARMSTRONG!" Armstrong gives a hearty chuckle and remarks that that skill may be useful. Alice gives a slight smirk, causing Armstrong to flush and be seized by a sudden bout of nervousness. Alice looks at Absalom and nods slightly, then extends her normal hand out to Armstrong. Expecting a blow, Armstrong flinches slightly, bringing a mischievous grin to Alice and Absalom's faces. Armstrong hastily shakes and offers to accompany the duo to the capitol, remarking that there may be bandits in the journey ahead. Alice smirks, but says that his accompaniment will not be necessary, going so far as to offer Armstrong to use their shortcut with them. He stops and looks highly skeptical, but accepts just to humor them. Both Absalom and Alice stand up and approach the mirror, beckoning Armstrong along the way. She quickly grasps Armstrong's hand, stepping forward towards the mirror, and breathes on it, remarking that Armstrong is going down the rabbit hole. She draws a small symbol on the glass and is instantly sucked into the mirror as if by a vortex. Absalom hops at the last second gleefully screaming along the way as he is sucked in. Armstrong has time to attempt to let go of her hand, but she has him in an iron grip, her hand tightening like a vise. He is then quickly sucked into the looking glass, feeling as if he is being squeezed in all direction, iron bands tightening on his chest, his lungs feeling flattened. Then suddenly, just when he was sure he would suffocate, he is standing on solid ground. He quickly runs to the side of the alleyway they just appeared in and promptly vomits. Alice looks behind her, thoroughly disgusted, and snidely remarks "Ameteur." Armstrong rejoins them minutes later, wiping his mouth and hastily gulping down lungfuls of air. "A little bit of warning next time, please." Alice mutters a shallow apology, then taps Absalom's side gently with her toe. Moments later, a small cache opens from his side, containing water, biscuits, and nausea pills. Alice takes two out of the cache and hands them to Armstrong. The water follows moments later. Armstrong quickly gulps down the pills with the water, then begins nibbling on a biscuit, wonderfully provided by Alice. He quickly asks whether the minister knows about this passageway. Alice gives a small laugh, and says "No, but Quaritch does." Armstrong then blushes and thinks to himself the reason the General did not dain to share this information with him. They quickly stride to the front of the Ministry, passing many shocked guards and pedestrians along the way. They finally arrive at the gates, only to be stopped by a young guard, not nearly human. Covered in white fur, large floppy ears and paws, he nods at Absalom, then asks Alice a question. "What is my name, lovely?" he says not even bothering to hide his insinuation and blush. Alice glances at him and whispers in his ear. "Asriel Dreemur. Meet me at Bloodhavens later" she says, causing the guard to blush even harder and hastily move aside, but not before getting a cat call in. A sudden yelp indicates that Absalom gave him his greeting: a swift, light bite on the tip of his tail. Armstrong asks what Alice's history is with trash like him, getting him a hasty answer with a fist to the gut. Alice looks at him, disdainfully, and adds "Be careful who you insult." she says under a heavy blush, prompting Absalom to apologize and say he should have warned the captain. Alice and her two companions, Armstrong now keeping a respectful distance away, quickly proceed to the lift that will take them to the Minister's throne room. Armstrong offers to stay behind, but is quickly dragged along by Alice and Absalom, Armstrong protesting all the way, but unable to match the strength of the young woman and small dragon. They all step into the lift, Alice quickly pressing the only button, Promising Absalom that he can do it next time, in response to his pout and whimpers. The Minister is a short portly man, covered in fur like the guard outside, greedily tearing into a leg of mutton, the smoke still clinging to it. Alice quickly proceeds to the foot of the throne, bowing respectfully. The Minister, now just noticing Alice and Absalom, nearly chokes in his attempt to hide his dinner. Absalom, already seeing the mutton, quickly ascends to the throne and snatches the mutton out of his hand, speedily storing it in his body. The Minister sighs sadly, but welcomes Alice with a light bow. Alice looks at the Minister disdainfully, and says "So, Asgore. What is it that brings me here this time?"