1.

The night was young and ripe, a bright full moon shining above to prove this. The camp was bustling with movement, as usual. A bright orange glow emitted from the camp sight, a traveler could see this even if they were in a long distance from the forest. There was the occasional laugh as well, and the clinking of glass. It was a cheerful and relaxing atmosphere.

All the while, a pair of watchful hazel eyes looked down at her camp, balancing herself from a branch from the highest tree she could find. Her expression was warm, but careful. When she would spot someone stray from the camp site, she would watch him attentively, before whoever it would be would come back to the camp once again, much to her satisfaction and relief.

This was the normal night-time routine for the young run-away. She paused to think about that sentence. Would she consider herself as one of her peers? She let a bitter smile cross her features. A run-away, escaping from a dark past she refused to follow?

Well, not exactly…

The teen then smiled woefully at the night sky that spread across her, thinking back at her strange past.

It was only fourteen years ago that she had been found by a nervous couple who had heard the noise, crying inside a mysterious basket case that only held the necessaries for a baby, her name, a necklace, and instructions.

Her name is Mikan. My little tangerine. Please take care of her.

That was what the letter said, her foster parents had told her. And when she took a look at it herself, it was true. No explanations as to who set her there, or what her story was. The handwriting was elegant, in cursive, but it was obvious that it had been written quickly, she some lines and letters strayed.

But ever since then, she had been taken in by the lovely couple, who were beaming, not believing their luck of how now that they had a wonderful child to finally take care of.

Ever since then, she had been raised in these exact woods, following the traditions of her known home and happily playing around with her friends she had known since childhood.

Of course, she kept the locket to herself. The stone that hung from golden chains was a brilliant orange, which matched her name perfectly. When she felt nervous or insecure, she would unconsciously grip the orange stone at the end of the necklace, and a burst of strength would come back right at her.

She didn't know why she felt so secure when she gripped the necklace. It was a silly tick she had, and many people had teased her about it. Maybe it was reassure of her past guardians caring for her enough to at least give her a parting gift.

However, there was always a strange feeling of uneasiness that always stirred inside of her as she thought of these things.

She didn't exactly hate how she was brought up. In fact, she loved it! She was raised happily and humbly, she had great friends, and through many years of survival in the woods, she had learned to be a great fighter in the wild.

But… there were times were she would suddenly stop and think back at would could've been if whoever her parents where didn't just abandon her. It was obvious that things would be different then. Where would she live then, she would wonder, like as she wondered right now. The people she would meet would be different. Maybe even her personality, likes, dislikes, they would all be different.

Maybe she would have turned into a snob, with an always following air of superiority, looking down at people who were lower than her, and glaring at those who dared to reach her level. Her hair would be longer, and more well-kept, unlike her current state, and she would judge everyone harshly before letting them have the luck to talk to her.

Maybe she would have turned out to be cold, always distancing myself from everyone in an arm's length, even my closest family and friends, afraid at what would happen if she let someone close with her lack of experience. She would stutter her words, and constantly hid herself behind a book she always carried.

Maybe she would end up being an extremely clumsy, idiotic girl, childishly screaming at every thought that came to her and sticking her tongue out at those who annoyed her even a little bit. She would have a best friend, perhaps, and her blood would always boil at the thought of someone who always teased her to a point where she would see red.

Gripping the trunk of the oak true tightly, the brunette felt her heart clench more and more as her mind continued to run away with these rebelling thoughts.

Stop this, she chided herself. Things are as they are, and no one can change that, Mikan. Things happen for a reason, you know? Remember? Uncle told you this.

Uncle Kazu. Well, not really 'uncle'. Apparently, he was a visitor to the camp site, and he had helped her foster parents take care of her for a while. Because of this, he and her foster parents became great friends, and he would sometimes visit her.

She remembered. There was one time when she was six, when he visited. Mikan suddenly felt bitter about her past guardians abandoning her and she complained about this to him, him being silent and expressionless the whole time. At the end of it, he just simply sighed, but he gave her a smile.

'Mikan, things are as they are, and no one can change that,' he told her, experience clear in his words. The six-year-old Mikan was looking down at the wooden planked floor, refusing to look at anyone but her shoes as her eyes suddenly teared up.

'I don't know why they did that to you, but they probably did it for a good cause. Now eat your lunch, okay? I spent time catching that fish.'

With these more relaxing thoughts, Mikan felt her heart calm down to its natural state, and her hand had stopped gripping the oak tree like it was her lifeline. She felt the sweat on her forehead cool with the chilly, night air. She didn't even realize she was sweating.

Looking down at her camp site, she grimaced. I can't even handle myself with my own stupid and depressing thoughts, she thought to herself bitterly, almost scoffing.

How is she supposed to handle a whole village in the middle of the deep woods where anything could happen, where it was practically vulnerable?

As if proving her whole point, a sudden explosion and a small scream resounded from just above and at the left side of the camp site, causing Mikan's breath to hitch and her terrified eyes to widen, and within a flash, she was gone from the same branch she was once on before.

Not a single trace showed that she was there in the first place.

/

"Why the hell did you do that, Hyuuga?" Steely amethyst eyes dangerously glared at a slightly lean backside, its features being highlighted by the fire just in front of them. However, he simply shrugged nonchalantly, a small flame flickering just an inch above his palm.

"As you just saw, he was threatening us."

"And were you not aware of the gunpowder just behind you, idiot?" she hissed at him, her blood boiling at his foolish actions. Before the man could lash out an insult at her, another male teen, almost as tall as the first, stepped in between them.

"Natsume, we have to deal with the small fire first," he muttered loud enough for both of them to hear. "We're in a middle of the forest, remember? It'll spread. And we're already attracted much attention enough. Isn't this supposed to be a stealth mission?"

The first male teen – Natsume, it seems – clenched his jaw, but didn't argue. He was right, as always. This was supposed to be a stealth mission.

"I already have water with me," the other teen – a female, with raven hair cut extremely short to a pixie cut and purple eyes like gems – stated to her partners coolly. She had a remote control in her hand. In cue, a strange mechanism approached them. It looked like a baby elephant, except it was obvious that it was a fake. Curiously, it held a water bucket with its trunk.

Its design was sleek and minimalistic, its eyes and surface shining against the moonlight. The inventor had graduated from immature and colorful designs years ago, ditching the tradition the day she left elementary.

In a nonchalant press of a button, the robotic elephant placed the water bucket down and started to suck up the water with its nose, and it started spewing out the water back into the small fire.

Next, a caw suddenly escaped from above them, and they all looked up to see a murder of crows circling above them, carrying leaves that spilled with fresh water. The other male teen - a blond with blue eyes with a Western beauty - smiled at the sight of them, waving slightly in greeting. When an unfortunate flame-caster managed to get wet by one of the stupid spills, he let his annoyance known very clearly by sputtering out a lot and a lot of curse words.

It was ignored, however, as the crows the swooped down on the fire and spilled more and more water on it individually. Eventually, the fire was put out, leaving nothing but smoldering ground and a whimpering drunkard who was still there to take in the scene. It was now clear who these strange people were.

Alices.

The other male teen bowed thankfully at the birds. "Thank you for your help, Crow-kun!" In response, they all bowed as well (a silly sight, let me tell you), then flapped their wings and flew away, leaving a few black feathers in their wake.

The girl snorted at the sight, crouching down to pick up a feather and inspect it. "Show-off."

"Ooh! You guys are Alices, huh?"

They greeted the new voice with snaps of their neck towards their newcomer. A girl, around the same age as they were, was sitting Indian-style casually at a branch from a tree. The said tree was half-smoldering, being slightly caught in the fire. She didn't seem to mind this however, only focusing her attention more at the three.

They were… new. And strange. That's all she could describe them. By the time she had flashed her way towards the sound of the explosion, all she had seen was the sight of smoldering ash and a strange animal-like contraption, dismissing the strangers. Anyway, she had never seen them before, she was sure about it. And they all wore strange uniforms, a type of clothing she had never laid her eyes on before. All she was familiar with was cotton clothes that her camp site – or village, if anything – usually wore, and different degrees of armor.

"Who are you?" Natsume couldn't hold himself back from asking such a rude question. This girl that they were looking at right now… Even though he wouldn't admit it, she was pretty. He could feel him internally scowl at himself at even thinking such a stupid and cheesy thing. But it was true.

Her brown, almost noticeably copper hair if held against the moonlight was tied up into a secure ponytail, but that didn't limit its ability to fall in majestic waves around her shoulders. Her skin was pale, almost glowing because of the full moon, but visibly soft. She had lean shoulders, which was often dismissed as a flaw among women, but it was gave her a look of being easily capable. Her hazel, almost golden eyes under the moonlight inspected them, and they shone in such a way that Natsume held back a shudder, feeling her gaze bore through his soul and past it.

He immediately looked away, deciding not to let his strange thoughts stray any longer than that. They were on a mission, after all.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking such a question?" Her tone was playful, but threatening at the same time. Hotaru stared back at her as she stood up, not letting her cold gaze fall from the stranger. Ruka ran a nervous hand through his hair, evidently nervous.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss, but now's not the right time to tell you."

Mikan blinked stupidly at the blondie. Ah... Secretive types. She let a sigh escape her lips. She understood now - she's dealt with them before. With that, she pushed herself up and stood up on the branch, still not getting down from the tree.

"Then what were you doin…?" Her voice faltered as her gaze traveled back to the whimpering drunk. Did you forget about him? Well, he was still there, and as a non-Alice user… Truth be told, he was petrified.

In their world, people were separated. If you didn't have an Alice, you were normal, just the ordinary type, whatever. Boring.

However, being born with an Alice gave you power, both in a literal sense and in a social sense… Back in the past eras and even before them, Non-Alice users were terrified of such power, and truthfully, even with more knowledge of them, they still were. Because of this, they were usually nobles, or at least respectable people.

However, they would always warn you about the golden-eyed girl. She never showed any signs of any Alices after all this time she stayed here, but they would tell you about her aura. Like she was above us. And technically, she was! She was the adopted kid of the mayor of the village. Not only that, but she was trained, and skilled with her weapons as well. She could drag you to the ground and make you stay there if you so much reached for her neck.

She was sweet and apparently kind, but who knew what would happen if they provoked her. That's why they never dared to.

Her gaze softened at the sight of him. He was quaking all over, close to dirtying his pants even more. The poor old* man.

"Anasaki, you can go now," she told him. He jumped, surprised to hear that she knew his name. Her voice was gentle as to not scare away the poor guy, but the intention was clear. It was a command.

'Leave.'

Immediately, he ran for the hills.

Mikan smiled at the sight, amused. "Jeez. What did you do to him?"

The blondie frowned. "He threatened us," he defended. He felt Natsume's dangerous gaze on his backside, but he swiftly ignored it. "This guy here," he gestured towards the brooding-type teen, "just did self-defense. That's all."

The mentioned guy grunted. Whether it was agreement or not, they weren't so sure.

Hotaru couldn't handle it anymore. The tense air around them was getting ridiculous, and they were wasting time.

"Now that's out of the way… We'll be leaving now," she stated as-a-matter-of-factly to the stranger, and she saw her eyes focus on her instead. "Please do not mind our presence here. We are simply here to stay for the night. After that, we will be moving on with our travels."

Mikan's mouth left out a single 'ah' of understanding, and she nodded. They were travelers. A simple enough explanation enough... Finally, she jumped down, brushing imaginary dirt off herself, and she stretched her limbs for a bit. "Should I accompany you around, then, since you're new?"

For some reason, all three of them had stiffened, which she frowned at as she stretched her arms. Did they not like her?

Simultaneously, they looked at each other, thinking the same thing.

When the strange girl – Natsume's decided to call her Amber for now, as reference to her eyes – jumped from the tree to the ground (he was not shocked, he had done it himself plenty of times), a necklace with an orange stone hanging off it was clear in midair. And when she stretched her body (he decided to quickly ignore the skin that peeked when her black shirt stretched as she did), a golden chain was easily visible, leading towards the stone that hid under her scarf. And a familiar one, at that.

"Black Cat, Usagi, Swan Lake," a brooding voice greeted them as they entered his office professionally, like they were merely professional businessmen and not his students. A white mask covered his eyes, and spiky hair that looked like needles, this man was Persona, the teacher of the Dangerous Ability Type class.

Although Usagi and Swan Lake were not part of the class, they still had people important to them, which was the reason he's managed to have all of them tied around his manicured finger. They're Alices were innocent, but not if used properly.

Without any more time, he pushed a photograph towards the three. They looked at it. It was a picture of a brilliant orange Alice stone, being used as a necklace with the intricate gold designs and chains that surrounded it.

"Your mission is to find this stone at once," Persona told the three students clearly, making sure every word sunk to their skulls and stayed there. "We have managed to locate three discreet locations of where it could've been hiding these past years. All the information will be in this manila envelope."

He tossed the enveloped towards them, and Black Cat caught it midair, already used to this process. The blonde beside him, however, didn't look so well. This was the first mission they were having that they had to leave the boundaries of the school, and he wasn't sure he was ready.

Unfortunately, Persona is not the type to wait for someone to be ready.

Hotaru was distracted. She stared at the picture critically. "The Nullification Alice…" she murmured, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Ruka snapped his head towards her. Natsume gazed towards her curiously.

Persona grinned; a sinister sight. "Ah, that's right! A rare Alice, the only known existence of it being on myths and legends that circulated around the blue blood… Its effects were not descriptive from the story books, but it's said that it cancels out an Alice from being used."

This spiked interests in the three of the young students.

Persona's eyes hardened however, before they could ask further questions. "Now go. Don't waste your limited time. I want that necklace back to this academy in at least three months, you hear me?"

With that warning, they immediately left, putting on their masks as they did. The Black Cat, with a black mask that covered his whole face with cat-like designs; Usagi, with a white mask with two ears protruding at the top and three red strokes at each side; and the Swan Lake, with a black and white that blended in feather-like patterns.

"Do whatever you must to get that stone."

As the three stared at each other with mutual understanding in their eyes, Mikan was starting to get anxious, and it showed, as she shifted her weight awkwardly. The silence was killing her, and personally, she did not like to wait.

Mikan pursed her lips, done with her stretching. "Well?" she demanded at the three as she crossed her arms across her chest, slightly annoyed at their silence. "Am I going to help you guys around or not?"

They snapped back at her with a seemingly new light in their eyes.

"Please do."

Ah… Yeah, a bit of a cliffhanger, sorry.

So! A few explanations. Yes, they're all 14 years old in this one. I like staying around that range of age, as it's the one I'm most familiar with. And yes, Mikan is kinda OOC… Sorry! I just like her having this badass vibe, especially in fanfics.

*Anasaki, the guy who almost pissed himself at seeing the weird Alice people, isn't actually an old man. He's mid-twenties, for goodness sake. But Mikan just calls anyone past twenty years old 'old man'. Another weird trait of hers.

Another important thing to note, is that this is sort of a Medieval AU. It's not in the Modern Era, that's for sure... Kinda like a time where there would be elves and Dungeons and Dragons stuff, especially since all their clothes and surroundings and all that will be based off that, except it's nothing but the Alice world instead of fighting off goblins and evil witches or whatever.

That's all I can say for now! Please note that I'm also working on my other stories as well, so please be patient.

- V.