In this chapter we get characterization! Huzzah! Next time, we'll finally fucking get somewhere!

Alice heard footsteps quickly approaching the tree, and was able to register the voice of Yggdrasil speaking to her one last time (though her hearing was spotty at best).

...Alice, Celestrian and Guardian... Return once more to the mortal realm, and... you shall retrieve what has been lost... Both the fyggs, and your missing half...

...Please do this for the salvation of all mankind, Alice...

Alice growls under her breath, extremely resentful of the voice. It tears her other half away, and then asks her to "save mortal-kind"? That is blackmail!

Apus Major came hurrying up the stairs as best an old man could. "Alice, are you alright?!"

Alice slowly got up off the ground, almost falling over from the loss of feeling in her left side. She flexed her left arm, and wiggled her toes, but she wasn't able to feel it. Alice stared at her hand flexing open and closed several times before she realized something, and clasped her hand over her left eye. Upon touching it, her eyelid caved immediately; her left eye was no longer there.

Okay, so at the very least, she has the ability to see.

Alice looked back at Apus Major, and grinned. "...I'm alright. No wings or halo, but I'm okay."

Apus Major got closer to her, and patted his hands on both sides of her head. "What? Despite your most earnest prayers, Yggdrasil did not respond to her most dedicated child?" He sighed, his head sagging like a deflated balloon. "...My sincerest sympathies, Alice. It would seem that you must be strong, and endure this undivine state for a prolonged period of time."

Alice waved it off, "That's fine, Apus. It's not like I haven't been wingless before. And even if I didn't get my holy appendages back, I did get an odd dream." A dream that makes me want to cut Yggdrasil in two, but a dream nonetheless.

"What?! Really?! What did you see?! I want every last detail!" Alice suspected that Apus didn't get out much during these past few weeks.

"Fine. Firstly. . ."

. . .

Alice took deep breaths, recovering from how much talking she had to do. She didn't appreciate speaking for long periods of time, and the fact that half of her was taken away was taking its toll on her stamina. That's going to take some time to get used to.

"I see... An odd dream indeed. One who would destroy the world, and another who would sacrifice themselves to save it..." Apus Major stroked his white beard, "...Hmmm. I fear that, unbeknownst to us, a terrible feud may be brewing."

Alice shrugged, and Apus continued to speak. "...As tragic as losing your wings and halo are, Alice, I cannot help but think that there might be a hidden meaning in your misfortune. After all, you have the ability to ride the Starflight Express, and the mortals can see you. I myself believe that your dream may have been a blessed message from the Grand Architect Himself."

Alice inwardly grimaced at the mention of the Almighty. He's never done anything or even spoken to me before, and now he suddenly tells me that everything hinges on my success? But I thought...

But, Apus was still talking, "If the voice of the Almighty has commanded that you must gather the fallen fyggs, then off to gather fyggs you shall go! Fyggs harbor the holy power of Yggdrasil, and may indeed be the key of salvation for both the Protectorate and the Observatory alike. If they have fallen towards the Protectorate, then you must collect them with haste. If a human were to consume one... I shudder at the very thought of what might happen. Do you understand what I'm saying, young one?"

"Yes, Apus. And will you stop calling me 'young one'? I'm not THAT young. Just let me go locate my companions, and I'll leave immediately."

The lady Celestrian from before appeared before them, a reminder of the three Celestrians who always follow Apus Major around for safety precautions. The two of them had completely forgotten!

"Your companions are awaiting you back in your living quarters, Alice." Alice cocked a single eyebrow at the lady, who flinched slightly, before taking off down the stairs, her left leg limping slightly from the inability to fully gauge how it was moving.

Meanwhile, back with the girls...

All of the girls had fallen asleep, due to waiting for so long, and from the long journey it took to get up to the Observatory in the first place (not to mention the nerves that were wrecked from Stella's terrible flying). They were having nice, lofty dreams though.

A four-year-old Marine looked around her village. It was a nice, peaceful little band of people that didn't want to fit into terrible cities with corrupt governments. They lived off the land like REAL mortals. The village was peaceful today, just like every other day... except...

Marine looked around anxiously. She couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Where did my brother go?

She jogged out of the village gates, and looked around the long stretch of wild grass. The group lived on the plains, and it was a nice spot, but there were so many monsters roaming about. They didn't have a guardian, either, because they didn't know anything about religion back then. They only made a statue after Marine's mother died, hopeful that the Celestrians would guide their leader's wife to the great gates of the Almighty.

A group of men in iron armor (Gleebian soldiers, Marine realized) were marching across the plains, coming out from the dark forests to the east. They were dragging something behind them. Marine, a curious little girl, crept closer to them, hiding behind some bushes. The closer they got to Marine's hiding spot, the more her face contorted in absolute anger once she realized what they were dragging.

They were dragging MEMBERS OF HER TRIBE. Some of them even appeared to be horribly injured, or dead! A cry from the very back caught Marine's attention. My brother!

Her younger twin brother was the only child in the group, and it looked like the soldiers were starting to get rough with him for not cooperating. They punched the kid in the side of the head, and pulled his hair (Marine had to wonder why the hell her father allowed him to grow it that long). The cries of her younger sibling reached Marine's ears loud and clear, setting her into the rampage-mindset.

She tore out of the bushes, and kicked the soldier in the vital organs with all her might (her people were quite strong). After the soldier's grip loosened, Marine yanked her brother out of his reach, and hurled him as far as she could. Her brother landed quite a distance away, and let out a pained grunt upon impact.

"Run!" Marine screamed at him as the soldiers dragged her away, deciding that the King would much rather have a strong, feisty servant, rather than a weak one.

"The King will love this group. They'll make a lovely gift for his niece."

A nine-year-old Iris rolled her eyes as her younger, more serious friend worked furiously on her paperwork. It was incredibly boring work, but Marine seemed to enjoy it. Much better than dealing with the Princess, I suppose.

It had been around four years since Marine had first arrived, filthy from the journey (not to mention the various cuts and bruises. Iris didn't have to ask to know what happened). Iris taught her everything she knew, and Marine held Iris in high regard for doing so. Sure, the situation they were in was not ideal, but it wasn't that bad. Marine worked under the General of the Gleebian Army (why they trusted a child that they kidnapped, Iris would never know), and Iris kind of just sat around, occasionally helping Marine out. Sometimes she'd give Marine lessons on "how to be a lady", because she found Marine's etiquette severely lacking, but Marine never seemed to improve.

"Miss Marine, why are you still doing paperwork? We are supposed to be packing for our stay at the Academy." The two of them had earned a completely free scholarship at the notorious Swinedimples Academy, much to the pleasure of the King. He was most pleased that the two of them had been accepted into the Academy, even though his own daughter had been rejected.

"First of all, I said to stop calling me Miss! It pisses me off. Secondly, I'm just signing this last few damn stacks of papers that the stupid fucker gave to me. It's like he doesn't want me to be able to escape this hell-hole! Fucking bastard..." Marine grumbled incoherently, no doubt cursing the General to death. Iris leaned over, grabbed a pen and stamp, and took half of the papers for herself.

"I suppose I will lend you my assistance, if it will make our expedition move along quicker. I would like to leave as soon as possible." Marine looked up at Iris, staring at her suspiciously.

"Why?"

Iris smiled gently, giving Marine a creepy feeling (she had never seen Iris smile like that). "I have a friend who is attending the school already. I am quite sure the three of us will get along most well."

Marine sighed, and went back to work. "Whatever..."

A small, five-year-old Sheila held the letter tight between her tiny hands, gazing at it with a sense of wonder. It was a letter from her dear pen pal, whom Sheila admired greatly. She ran her eyes over the letter once more, still thinking that her eyes were deceiving her.

Dearest Miss Sheila,

It appears that Marine and I will be attending the Academy in about a week, give or take a few days. First we have to complete some last-minute paperwork that Marine's boss has assigned to her. It is quite heartwarming, seeing the usually gruff General try and keep his younger officer from leaving. It is like when a father tries to stop his daughter from leaving once she reaches adulthood.

Anyway, by the time you receive this, we may already be well on our way across the sea. I will be sure to bring you a gift from Gleeba.

Fondest of wishes,

Iris

Sheila ran her eyes over the letter over and over, getting increasingly more excited. Her pen pal was going to attend school with her! Sheila would be able to see Iris, touch her, hear her voice... maybe even have a sleepover! Sheila had never had a sleepover before, because none of the other girls would invite her. They didn't like how Sheila had skipped ahead a few grades because she was amazingly intelligent. They thought she was stuck up.

Sheila turned around, and scampered back into her dorm room to get herself ready for their arrival. She couldn't wait!

With Iris here, things will surely be tons of fun!

...Oh, and Marine too.

Alice stared confusedly at her companions, who were just sleeping together in a huddle. Iris was at the center of it all, with Marine sleeping on her shoulder, slightly drooling. Sheila was curled up in a ball, using Marine and Iris as a bed. Sighing, Alice kicked Marine in the side, and jumped over the other side of the bed to avoid Marine's divine wrath.

Just as expected, Marine got up shouting at air for inflicting pain on her. She turned to Iris, and smacked her upside the head with all the force she could muster. Iris was knocked to the ground, waking her up, and Sheila's head had bumped into the ground the moment Marine got back up. Now that they were all grumpy and awake, Alice got up on her bed, and started jumping up and down, holding the doll that was almost her size tightly in her arms. None of the others noticed her in their heated debate of who was at fault for waking them up, but it stopped once they noticed the creaking sound the bed was making. They looked over at Alice, who stared at them with her one remaining eye, her free left hand covering the left eye.

"...Alice what are you doing?" Marine stared at her.

"Waiting for you guys to stop fighting. C'mon, we have to go get back to the Protectorate." Alice hopped off the bed, and skipped towards the door, gesturing for the others to follow. Marine, Iris, and Sheila shared a look, shrugged, and followed Alice, not knowing what they were signing up for.

"So where are we going?" Marine watched their "leader" walk in front of them cheerily, clutching the doll to her body tightly. She could tell that there was something... different about Alice, but Marine couldn't figure out was it was for the life of her.

"First, we have to go talk to Stella and get us a ride back down to the Protectorate." Alice took one leap forward, and fell flat on her face, because she had made the mistake of using her left leg as the support when she landed. Not to mention the fact that her eyesight was no longer working without her left eye being there, so she couldn't tell where she was going. If only my right eye was enchanted as well. *sigh*

"...As much I enjoy watching the look of a dead body, shouldn't we be moving along, Miss Alice?" Iris inwardly chuckled as she picked Alice up, and set her back on her feet, patting Alice on the head.

"...Uh, yeah..." Alice mumbled, and reached over to Marine (but actually grabbing Sheila), tore off a long strip of her skirt (despite the protests of said owner of clothing), and wrapped it around her head so that it covered her left eye. After making sure it was in place, Alice opened her remaining eye, and blinked several times to get used to the feeling of having her eye open. "...There we go. Let's get moving now."

Alice turned around, and started moving much quicker than before, making the others have to jog to keep up with her (Alice still has shorter legs, after all).

Alice leaped into the Starflight Express first, so that she could sweet talk Stella into giving them another ride. Upon opening the door, she nearly got a face-full of fairy wings, courtesy of Stella, who was pacing up and down the engine.

"...Where the flap has old fatguts gotten off to? I was sure as rain that I'd find him if we managed to get back up here, but...ugh!" Stella yanked two strands of her hair, "He must've fallen down to the Protectorate along with those other saps when the light beams struck! Looks like I'll have to go hunt the old bastard down if I ever want to get my next paycheck..."

Just as Stella was about to make another round up the pace-path, she suddenly took notice of Alice, the one-eyed wonder. "Oh flap, Alice! You surprised me. Didn't expect to see you again so soon. The flap happened to your eye?"

"Uh, it's a really long story, and I'd rather not bother."

"Yeah, I don't have time for pleasantries either, I'm afraid. Looks like I've got one hell of an annoying errand to run. Got to go and look for old fatguts, it seems."

"Well, if you're going down to the Protectorate anyway, do you mind if the gals and I tag along? We need to go gather the holy fyggs." And I have a missing person to find, Alice added mentally.

Stella grinned, and flew back up to the control station in a flash. "Well, isn't that a turn-out for the books! The five of us can go together!" Marine, Iris, and Sheila quickly made their way into the passenger's section of the train, not wanting to be in the same cabin as Stella. As soon as they were given the go-ahead, Stella excitedly held up one of her hands.

"Alright! Let's... GOOOO!"