An Alleyway Approach [Alice, Ragecano]

She wasn't exactly sure why she was still in Rose Garden. She should've been on her way back to Galuna after the simple job was done. Maybe it was the calming setting of the city or the resort she checked into last night as Blair Rouge. It was a nice place, the spas that made her sleep in the comfy chair they had. Maybe she just wanted a small break. Whatever the reason, Alice slowly strolled along the sidewalk carrying the small notepad with the gathered information in her hand. Head tilted slightly down, she read over the information. Some mage was wandering from city to city, looking for information relating to a former legal guild. This was the last place they were seen, though it seemed they left the day before she had arrived.

The girl had only managed to gather a few details on the mage - no visible tattoos, female, quiet. But they were restricted with what they handed out. She was, after all, some girl they had never seen and not any part of the law. They were just thinking the best for their guest. She stopped walking, leaning at the entrance to the nearby alleyway. She sighed, dropping her hands to her side. The fact that she had just missed the mage was getting on her nerve, and that she had gathered so little information was just adding salt to the wound.

"Damn," she mumbled, feeling as if her younger personality had just kicked her in the shin for cursing in their body. But this Alice didn't care, not while her mind was still on the target she had come after. "If I had come a day sooner, I might have been able to get them..."

After a brief while of standing at the alley's entrance, trying to think of other possible ways to figure out about her target, Alice's thoughts were interrupted. A male, quite a bit taller than herself, passed by her without a word. As such, they shouldn't have to encounter again, right? It was just another person on the street. Unfortunately for her own outlook, however, he managed to catch the attention of one part of her mind.

'Go talk to him!'
'Are you insane? It's a random guy. And I doubt he even noticed us. Confrontation would just prove to be awkward.'
'But we've never seen him, and I wanna know... Plus, maybe he knows something about that mage.'
She stayed mentally silent, uncertain of how to respond to herself. She really didn't want to spend time with a random person when she could be pinpointing the place her target had gone.
'Please? Just long enough to figure out why he was in the alley?'

Curse the that personality. Such a fool, she was. Hadn't anyone taught her not to talk to strangers walking out of alleyways? Alice rolled her eyes, sighing softly. She really didn't understand why strangers fascinated the younger personality. However, figuring it beneficial for her own mind's sake, she'd better follow the minor wishes of the mind. She stuffed the notepad in the pocket of her coat and pushed herself off the wall of the building she leaned against. Approaching the man who had already stopped walking along his path for whatever reason, she would start with a simple, "Hello, sir," just to catch his attention. From there, she'd begin the actual conversation, "I noticed you leaving the alley there. Since they can be a fairly dangerous place in new areas, I'm just curious as to how long you've been in this city."

“Oh. That makes sense.” Alice nodded, understanding. Well, that was that. All she really needed to know to hold the other mentality to her offer, wrapped up in a box and tied with a ribbon. How long he’s been there, why he was in the alley, and even the faint smell that had caught onto his clothes. She could easily just walk off right now, but what would that do? It would only make the encounter awkward. Plus, two things clung to her mind.

The first, whether he had seen that mage recently.
The second being the small feeling she got from him. Something darker was there beneath who showed to be, but it was rather difficult to isolate. Perhaps it was just the fact that he was an unknown to her.

It was probably her imagination.

She swayed forward and backward a few times, heel to toe, as she thought about where to take the conversation. He had mentioned a bit extra, which she had noted before speaking once again, “So you said you’ve been here for a week, and are staying in an apartment. Do you travel, or have you moved here recently?” She had decided it would be best to know the stranger a little bit before asking questions about her target. Not only would he be more likely to open up after a sense of trust was formed, but it would give opportunity to understand whether this man would prove a potential enemy in the future. Even if he weren’t a mage, it was best to be safe than sorry. At least, as much so as she could be in this situation.

A couple of days?
How did it turn into a week? The pleasure of this town?
And how did a traveler have enough money for a week? Was this man rich?

Perhaps he was lying about something?

These were the questions flowing through Alice’s head - a part of both her curious and observant sides. She wanted to pry for more information, to skip straight to the topic of her target. But would that seem too obvious?

Whether any of this showed in her eyes, she didn't know. Her focus wasn't on that. It was soon caught by the arrival of darkness to her mind, probably slipping through the minor cracks of her questioning conflict. Her shoulder started to sting, barely but still there. She heard a small snicker in the back of her head, as if it knew something she didn't in the presence of the man before her. As if it could tell something about him, or suspected something in the least. What, she had no clue. And that... She didn't like it. Raising a hand up to her left shoulder, she rubbed it trying to make it go away, the feeling fading as the creature in the back of her mind faded back into nothingness.

Alice brought herself back to the topic at hand. A week would give enough time for the man to have some knowledge on newcomers and outgoers. Should she ask? “Sir, you wouldn't mind if I asked you some more questions, would you?” Yes. Yes she should. “I know it's seems to be out of nowhere, asking permission, but I’m here on the matters of research… Of a mage.”

"Yeah, I'll answer some questions."

Alice gave a sigh of relief. It was good knowing he wasn't questioning why just yet. Otherwise, well, she wasn't entirely certain what she'd do. She could only guess it'd lead to a lie - perhaps a twisted truth. She really didn't want to deal with keeping track of them at the moment - but she would if she had to.

Her mind still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the stranger. He agreed to answer and has been fairly nice thus far, but it was still unnerving, the chuckles of it in her head. It made her spine chill. But for the moment, she figured him trustworthy. She had to now that she brought important matters to the table. Now came the issue of what to ask.

Well, she might as well start with the basics, build up from there.

"Thank you, sir," Alice took out her notepad, the few words written on it still taunting her. She glared at it, knowing it wouldn't do any good. Pulling out a pen, she began with the questioning. "Starting off with a simple question, have you seen a mage recently here? She was meant to leave town yesterday, apparently, and has been described to be quiet. I assume she's guildless from what I've gathered so far, if that helps you differentiate."

She sighed. Not that wasn't expecting a straight answer as her description wasn't very clear to start with, but it would've made this a bit easier if the man did know. She had little to nothing to go off of anyways. It was but a minor issue, one that might be able to be glossed over if she explained a bit more.

"Right..." Alice shook her head, resting the pen on its side against the paper. She looked up, continuing. "Let me add a bit more to maybe help jog your memory. She might have mentioned something about a mage guild, Caduceus Scale. After some research of my own, I managed to uncover that it was the name of some former light guild that was disbanded some thirty-something years ago."

And there goes a bit of old info on the guild. There's much more than that as Alice would know, but if you were to look at public records, books, and whatnot, those are simply the basics. And although she didn't overly fond of the guild's origins, that was basically all of the information she could use. If that failed, of course, there's one more tidbit she could use. After that, it was either give up or, perhaps, violence?

'No, no violence. That's merely the demon's thoughts. Unprovoked violence would cause a scene. Then I'd have to deal with the law on my tail, and-'
'You have a tail?'
'... No. We don't have a tail, Alice.'