It was only when the new location appeared that Lucia began wandering about the twisted crystalline landscapes with a curious and musing expression. Ylandia after all was a place that she couldn't merely avoid after becoming a necromancer, her prized Thrall was an Elf woman after all. Sylvanas might only be a moving corpse puppet now, but it wouldn't always be the case; someday Sylvanas would be a powerful undead, Lucia hadn't yet rebuilt her completely. She spent time lingering along the crystals idly poking, lazily chipping away at them. She hadn't had a direct objective in mind when coming outside of some vague research. This land was naturally blighted it seemed with the spreading crystals, but it wasn't like the blight she was capable of spreading. It made her think as she scratched portions off here or there, would this be something she was capable of? Was this something that she could be capable of with some practice or ingenuity? She used a small hunting knife to try and shave portions off, but Sylvanas was different. The Elven corpse stood not far from Lucia in silence, it's frame was warped from decay, a portion of it's face and head missing from rot and damage done that had caused it to die in the first place. The trauma was clear, it was missing an eye, a portion of it's skull and it's face was weathered and worn. It only had one milky unseeing eye left and what remained of it's hair was dirty and dusty. It's one remaining ear was tilted up, as if it was meant to be pointed, but it was damaged, as if bitten or burned off the damage was unclean. Unlike Lucia's meticulous scraping, the elf was stabbing a withered spear into crystals trying to shatter them. Completely breaking them up seemed impossible, every strike would only produce dust, as if there were no difference between fiercely stabbing or delicately shaving. Lucia only sighed heavily knowing that this wasn't something she was capable of at all. This kind of blight came from a very different place, after all, there was no taint or corruption it seemed? It wasn't something that she was capable of, a different kind of corruption, one that, while she was interested, no doubt wasn't meant for her. Perhaps if she learned Geomancy or Hydromancy she could be capable of something like this. Instead though it did make her think-- corruption through different venues, different kind of dark powers that weren't necessarily Malefic in nature; weren't necessarily evil even. If she could create a blight out of Illumancy? A blight out of something else, what would it be like....
_____She was not in the forest anymore… That became clear as Alice hopped back snapping out of her trance at the feeling of cold against her bare feet. Looking down before her eyes sparkled with light reflecting from the crystals. The place was so pretty that she forgot to close her mouth as she admired it before running across it and hopping awkwardly due to the cold once again getting to her. Hopping her way to some dirt as she opened her UI and got her cloth boots out before spinning on the crystals. _____After a couple of moments with her running around randomly she froze at the sight. Not far from her was a scary looking creature and someone Alice faintly recalled from the first time she had logged into the game a few months back. Worry setting in her mind as she looked around for anything she could use to help or get the monster to chase her and leave Lucia alone. Picking up a small chunk of crystal before she tossed it at the undead and stuck her tongue out trying to provoke it further. _____Alice was not fully aware that the undead was Lucia’s but in her mind that was not crossing, the girl was nice and sweet and did not seem like someone to use dark magic. Picking up another crystal and throwing it again, her aim way off as it skirted the ground and lightly tapped Lucia’s boots. Alice however seemed determined to hit the undead unless the confusion was cleared up soon. Alice would have used her magic, but with the area mostly crystallized she could not make any plants strong enough to break the surface, talk about being truly useless.
Lucia kept her focus on the crystals for a long while, she was still eagerly trying to figure out the nature of the corruption to further her own skills and abilities. With a sigh she nodded firmly finally able to acquire a decent enough amount of dust before leaning back to check up on the corpse's proress. Sylvanas had made almost no change in the surface of the crystal's hard exterior. Despite her best efforts, it didn't seem to change at all, Lucia could only resign herself to a lack of understanding. Despite her best hopes, she probably wouldn't be able to recreate this corruption without master class power. It was only when provoked that Sylvanas would stop thrusting her weapon into the crystal. The corpse jerking from sudden outside stimulus, it's head bent almost unnaturally to catch sight of Alice with it's one remaining milky eye. It's gaze frosty, it's intentions ruthless as it took a step towards Alice clearly intending to harm her. Lucia felt the first few crystals, distracted by research she finally noticed when Sylvanas took measures to try and defend itself. "Sylvanas, stop, leave that one alone." Lucia murmured causing the corpse to freeze mid throw, as if stopped in time, the puppet didn't move a speck without the puppeteer's say so. Instead, Lucia smiled and slowly walked around the stalled corpse towards Alice reaching a gentle hand out towards her. "Hehe, you were worried about me I guess. Don't worry though, she might look scary but Sylvanas is very nice and helpful." Lucia advocated with a gentle smile. She lifted a hand to pet the girl's head reassuringly, she didn't remember much about this poor girl, in their first encounter though she'd been as friendly as possible. With a mellow chuckle she tried teasing her with a warm expression. "It's been a whlie since I've seen you though. How about it, comfortable enough to give me your panties yet?" She teased with a gentle gaze knowing the poor girl couldn't speak, Lucia tried not to say anything that couldn't be answered with a nod or shake of the head.
_____Alice hummed happily when Lucia pet her head, her frame moving slightly before she turned bright red at Lucia’s question to giver her panties again. But after a moment she smiled and started to laugh, the light sound escaping her lips as she spun around allowing her dress to rise a bit to show she was wearing pants under. Stopping after her third spin as she looked a bit dizzy but smiled happily. ”I don’t wear them~ Always feel all stiff and hard to move with.” _____Alice chimed out happily as she ran over to hug Lucia happily but tried to stay a bit away from the undead. After a few moments she would hop backwards and look towards the undead with a but of unease but bowed her head. ”Sorry Sylvanas I thought you had been a scary undead that attacked people.” Alice chimed out slightly heartbroken for throwing rocks without getting all the information beforehand. Turning back to Lucia she had not even give her an explanation yet. ”Sorry… When we first met I thought my damaged throat in real life would not allow me to speak and I never spoke before that so talking was not in my nature… It took a monster to almost crush me to get me to scream out to prove me wrong.” _____Her voice sounded so pure and innocent, the young little tones within it made it seem like she was just a little kid and Alice never touched her voice leaving it as normal. It was how she would sound in real life, and while at times it made her sad she was just happy she could speak to others. Hopping her way to hug Lucia again before she looked up during the hug, her sky blue eyes filled with happiness and life. ”So what brings you out to a scary place like this? Oh, I mean scary like how everything is crystal but so breath taking in the right light… Sorry I forgot some things I want to say before other thing and mumbled and rant… You must think I was better off not talking...”
Lucia chuckled shaking her head still gesturing at the girl coyly. "I'll take the pants then and call it even~" She still teased, surprised the girl could talk, but not put off by it. After all, wasn't it better if she could communicate properly? There was no harm in it at the very least. She still only reached out to pet the girl's head with a soft smile. "Don't worry so much though, Sylvanas is a thrall, no matter what happens she won't get hurt too easy, specially with me looking after her right?" She said with a wink of reassurance. Lucia was someone who was adept in Illumancy as well as an Expert in Necromancy after all, her undead soldiers wouldn't die from even the most brutal of confrontations let alone. Between their nature as undead, and the healing from the blessings they were born from, Lucia wasn't too worried about Sylvanas's safety. Hearing the poor girl's story though made Lucia sympathetic. It seemed she'd been through a lot as well. Lucia naturally understood that there were twists and turns to life that might not be all that easy to take and absorb. Seeing that this girl had no doubt suffered, Lucia tried to reassure her with soft strokes of her hair, her affectionate touch careful and tender as she spoke. "Well, it's good you found out at least, now we can talk about things, and I can finally tease you a little. Ultimately though it is good to have you back." She spoke through a kind and serene expression as if nothing bad could happen. After all, the cute girls Lucia liked were her treasures, if this girl became one of them, she'd no doubt take care of her as well. Then asked about the crystal fields though, Lucia only shook her head, with a hand gesture the corpse turned to continue it's duty of testing the stress limits of the crystal as a material. She continued petting the girl that continued hugging her while talking. "Well, I was curious about the blight~ I'm trying to make my own kind of corruption too after all, I was wondering if it would be helpful as a learning material. In the end though I'm afraid it's far too different though, it's not like a plague or radiation I could ever understand at a glance. It would take a lot more work to try and figure it out." She explained with a soft smile before crouching down to meet Alice at her level. Trying to hug the girl back gently and stroke her back tenderly. She spoke in a soft voice as she shook her head back not wanting her to get discouraged. "Whether you can talk or not, I like you just the way you are, okay?" She reassured softly hoping the girl wouldn't be too dispirited.
______Alice would blink for a few moments, Opening her UI to get out a second pair of pants to equip before offering her previously worn pants to Lucia still unsure why the girl wanted them, they would not fit her or the thrall. However to Alice she was happy to give something if she could spare it herself, and pants she had a few pairs of as well as some shorts. Alice seemed fully happy to be hugged, her small fox taking the chance to run over to Lucia’s shoulders before trying to jumping up to the girl’s head and sitting down. ”Kitsy I said stop doing that… You never listen, do I have to take away your play time?” _____Kitsy did not seem to like the idea of losing her play time and jumped back to Alice curling herself back around the faerin’s neck and looking at Lucia with her white eyes. Alice could only blush lightly noticing how close they had been before she nervously stepped back tapping her fingers. Her cheeks puffed up as she listen to Lucia explain her reason to be out here. The small girl walking over and trying to lightly chop the girl’s head. ”Why would you want to make something bad for others… That’s mean to do…” _____Alice still had her cheeks puffed out as she kept speaking to Lucia over the matter. ”Even if the world can be a bad and scary place sometimes you don’t need to go and add to the badness of it! You got to try to make it better, if everyone did in small bits it could be such a better place!” Alice waved her hands slightly from habit, but also to try and make sure her point as clear. She did not like the idea of Lucia doing something like this or worse to the world. ”Sorry… that is just what I think… I don’t wanna hear stories, bad stories about one of my friends… Not to mention one I gave my pants to… And I can’t help but wonder… why did you want them ?”
Lucia only chuckled a little receiving them, she reached down to pet the girl's head nodding contently. "Now, don't replace them, at least not now." She teased seeing Alice so willing was different, a nice change of pace, one Lucia wouldn't turn away. The small fox though was a little interesting, Lucia considered being a beast tamer as well for a while, taming undead beasties but as a Necromancer, it might not be the most useful since she could just make them herself. She reached a hand up to the creature trying to give it a soft pet before it jumped off, though it didn't make it in time making Lucia sigh a little. She just wasn't as agile as others. The girl trying to bop her made her chuckle a little, shaking her head. Making a blight might sound bad but at the same time it had it's benefits. Mulling over exactly how she should explain she hummed before gesturing with a hand for the girl to pay attention. "A blight isn't always bad, it's a matter of perspective in a lot of ways. A rat tide is a blight, as well as pirates and thieves, a large swarm of insects as well-- But does that mean they should all die?" She asked with a small smile, reaching a hand out towards the girl's head to softly stroke her hair. Trying to be reassuring and supportive as she instructed her. "Not everyone is the same, our fresh air, warm sunlight and clean water is toxic to some, to them this would be a blight, unhealthy and hazardous. I want to make a blight for them, something that would support their lifestyles without necessarily killing humans and other races in the crossfire. That's why I need to do a lot of research, to find that healthy in between place." She explained. No doubt her blight would be harmful for humans, but it wouldn't be deadly which was what she was hoping for. She wanted to make a place where the dead and humans could associate and meet as equals. To do that she'd need to make a tainted land for them to survive in peace first. "It's alright though, a lot of people misunderstand the undead, have prejudice and hate for them. Truly it's sad that they can't survive in this harsh world, people hate them, the world tries to reject them. All some of them want to do is live in peace." She said with a heavy sigh, feeling bad for the group she identified with, but she would work harder. Someday Sylvanas would be a grand general of her undead kingdom, perhaps even it's queen if she couldn't transform herself. If she wanted a place for them to be safe and without risk of invasion though she would have to do something about their image in the eyes of the public first.
_____Alice was not someone who liked to worry about the bigger picture, she just wanted to make sure each piece was well detailed and clear to her at a time and take things slowly. So when Lucia started to give a small speech Alice seemed far too lost by all the words the girl had said to fully understand anything. The only bits she got was Lucia was trying to help a different group that most did not. ”Not to be mean, but I think the undead are very scary in appearance… no offense… Not to mention in all the shows I was allowed to watch in the hospital they ate brains and people and that’s not nice!” _____Alice did not want to say sorry to the undead as she nervously kept her distance some more now recalling those shows. It was not that she did not trust the undead, if it wanted to eat her it had plenty of chances already to do such. However fear was a powerful force to Alice and anything she feared she chose to stay away from as best she could, eventually ending up opposite of the undead with Lucia between them. ”Not to mention the undead have already died, I feel it’s rude to reawaken them and keep them from moving on, and anyone that knew them can’t fully move on knowing they are walking around again.” _____Alice kept her focus down, she got a feeling that the undead across from her was someone Lucia had known and felt rude to say something like that. But at the same time she wanted to make sure her friend did not stay hung over the past. She was not the best friend for others, mostly because she did not know many ways to help Lucia and she barely even knew the problems the girl might have if any at all.
Lucia couldn't help cocking her head to one side at the reference of television zombies. It was silly, cute even to Lucia who saw the Undead as a whole, there were a myriad of different kinds and classifying them as 'all the same' was a tad rude in her eyes. Shaking her head, she thought to try to clear up the misunderstanding in the smoothest way possible, but looking at Alice who didn't seem to follow her last sermon, she tried to put a bit more thought in. "That's right, but did you know monkeys will rip off each other's private parts in a disagreement? But Humans don't scare you right?" She spoke with a small smile, thinking this was the best way to explain it. "Zombies are the same, they eat brains when they find something not like them, but why should the Undead as a whole scare you because of that? They evolve to become intelligent and more compared to their more savage and unrefined relatives." She explained with a gentle gesture hoping this would be a good enough explanation. Undeads like Sylvanas who was a thrall were different from simple minded creatures. Sylvanas maintained the intelligence and thoughts she had in life. Even if she despised being undead. Hearing Alice talk about 'rest' and such though, Lucia felt that was a harder thing to explain. Alice didn't seem good at listening to details or larger pictures, how could Lucia properly explain the details of an Undead's life path? It was difficult for someone who couldn't follow the train of thought. With a hand on her chin, she began as slowly as she could while trying to think of how best to approach the topic. "There are a lot of different kinds of undead; One like Sylvanas is just the body, some are just the soul-- Some can be both even. Once they change like this though, they aren't the same." She paused knowing that detailed description might not go well. "Like a butterfly, dead things are the caterpillars, most might just be caterpillars for ever but some like Sylvanas become cocoons which are Thralls, Zombies, Spectors and Ghosts. It's a transitional period to become a 'real' undead, which is it's own creature, different from human, Elf, Faerin they might have been born from." Lucia tried to explain but no doubt she thought Alice would have been lost from the 'different kinds' portion. "They seem scary, sure, and while the original might fight the process, it's a natural facet of life and death in it's own way. There's no reason to be so terrified purely because of those reasons right? No scarier then some guy in a mask, no more or less cruel then hunting to eat meat." She tried to explain reaching out to stroke the girl's head reassuringly. It was a circle of life and death, there was no reason to turn away from one end purely because the change was so extreme.
______Alice truly seemed like a helpless cause as she blinked blankly at Lucia after she had finished speaking. ”So you won’t change your mind… Just make sure not many get hurt when you do it… I don’t want people to see you as evil…” Moving to her tiptoes to kiss Lucia on the cheek before she blushed and hopped away slightly nervously fumbling her fingers. She had no idea what had come over her, but as she kept stepping away she eventually ended up tripping over a rock and falling on her back. _____Kitsy not going down with Alice as the fox hopped about half way down and sat watching Alice as she struggled to get up rubbing her head. The small fox squeaking lightly in alert as Alice looked to see some blood on her hand from the impact against the crystal. Alice started to cry as she tried to stop the bleeding by covering it with her hand. It was nothing extremely serious but to her it hurt alot and seeing blood always scared her in real life. _____Kitsy would be keeping her distance and if Lucia tried to get close the small fox would turn to hiss loudly at the girl. Alice was unpredictable when she was seeing blood, and the last time Kitsy got close the little fox was sent flying because of roots Alice summoned in her freak out. The Fox was watching Alice, trying to figure out how she would be acting to approach her correctly. As more tears fell Kitsy began to carefully approach trying to lick the tears off Alice’s face slowly getting the girl to calm down. ”Blood is bad, it hurts, and it’s scary looking… No more bleeding… I don’t like it…” _____Kitsy could not do anything about the bleeding, all the small fox could do was look to Lucia, for this moment it seemed like she was ok with the girl getting near Alice, and as she returned to trying to calm Alice down she seemed to keep an eye on Lucia still not trusting the women fully yet.
Seeing Alice's anxiety with blood, Lucia couldn't help sighing. Though in truth she hadn't planned to harm innocent people, she wasn't one who would create plague and famine just to harm the innocent. Instead, her only desire was to make a haven for the undead to thrive, a place that might punish the living for intruding or other such things. She wanted something that would be able to protect those who she supported, a natural blight that would act as the bastion, castle walls and keep instead of natural defenses or mechanical marvels. She was trying to create something unique. Though thinking back and seeing the girl so distressed by blood, Lucia gestured with a hand. Gentle lavender light creating a symbol in air that glowed gently. If Alice didn't fight too hard, the same symbol would appear on her body where Lucia's eyes were gazing branding the girl with a gentle lit mark. That light would grow weaker as Alice's wounds began to heal, though she couldn't get rid of any remaining blood she could at least get rid of the pain and injury. "Silly girl, Blood is important and necessary for life-- at least for the living." She said with a low chuckle, making it clear that undead didn't need blood and for that reason they might be better then some living things. Though she teased in that respect, she didn't hesitate to close the gap regardless. Whatever this poor girl threw at her, Lucia would no doubt have a good enough response to counter it. She was a player who had been around since the game first started after all, a Veteran. "There there, don't stress, it's okay." She whispered reaching out to try and stroke the girl's hair softly with a kind smile. Trying to bring Alice down from whatever flustered panic she was in, she didn't want her to suffer or for her companion to freak out either. Trying to calm her down with gentleness, she tried to wait patiently for the girl to come back to herself.
______Alice would take a few extra moments to calm back down after the pain had gone away, Kitsy starting to lick the blood away from her hand as Alice was petted. A few more moments and her hand was clean of blood and Alice was back to normal, a few tears in her eyes as Kitsy squeaked a few times before curling around the girl’s neck and falling back asleep for the moment as Alice rose to stand up fully. ”Just because it is needed does not mean we need to see it… Last time I saw it on my hand was when I cut it. It was me desperately trying to see my parents who only looked at me through glass… I got what I wanted but nearly died because of my wound, just a small cut was all it took for my life to be on the verge of ending in reality…” _____Alice had her fair share of darkness in her, if you could call it that as her mind always seemed to want to connect with others, her life in solitude keeping her from that because she was born differently. Moving back towards the way she had come Alice wanted to get out of the scary crystal place, she wanted to be able to feel the grass under her toes again. Quickly opening her UI and sending a friend request to Lucia before turning with a small smile hiding her pain as best she could. ”I need to go find some forest area… I don’t do well anywhere else… They always remind me of my reality…” _____Alice would start walking away from the area, if Lucia wanted to follow Alice would not try running to avoid her, but she needed to get away from the solid ground. Every few moments her focus would turn it into white tiles and white walled room that was all she really knew. Hands holding her head for a few moments before she got a alert in her UI, the doctors calling her back for some medical and routine check, just not her day it seemed.
Lucia only shook her head slowly, a soft longing sigh coming from her lips as she considered Alice's problem. Lucia would have traded in a heart beat. The world is cruel, the outside is tragic, drab and boring, it was bland as she was. There was no value, no importance, it was a place where there was nothing; it was bleak and colorless. She had no end to complaints about reality, as a normal person, reality was a cruel and inescapable prison she felt dwarfed the poor girl's real literal prison. "I envy you a little, your parents must have spent a lot of time with you. It must have been nice to have people care and notice you huh?" She whispered with a small smile. After all, no matter how bad it was to live life the way Alice described, she imagined her parents would be filled with concern, visit her often, care about her. Though when Alice talked about going to a forest again for relief, Lucia couldn't help chuckling a little. She had Sylvanas pick up her things, including the crystal dust and her bags and such before approaching Alice with a gentle hand. Touching the girl's head she spoke in a soft tone. "Well, you don't have to worry, I'll always be here to play with you right?" She teased, trying to pick the little girl up like a princess. Aware of the girl's lack of pants, she playfully tried to stroke her legs as she carried her. "My home happens to be in the woods anyway, we can just head back there." She explained with a mellow smile trying to walk back while clinging to the girl closely.
_____Before Alice even knew what was holding on Lucia had picked her up and was treating her like a princess causing the Faerin to blush several shades of red. She did not even try to get free, her embarrassment a bit to high as she felt Lucia rubbing her leg only make her tense up and cling more to the girl as she was held over the ground. Kitsy had at some point moved spots to sit on Lucia’s head and chose to hiss at the undead every few moments. _____Alice did not even know what to say as she looked to her chest and could only imagine her heart that was racing would burst out at any moment because she was so mixed in her emotions. Part of her was nervous, part of her was happy to be so close to Lucia, and another part she just could not describe. Mumbling a bit to herself as she tried to cuddle closer to Lucia not fully wanting to be set down at all anymore as her blushes started to fade to a small redness of her cheeks unless the girl did something else to the faerin.
Lucia chuckled, carrying the small girl back to the place she'd usually set up camp. A musing expression on her face as she continued to play with the girl's bare legs. Seeing her grow so quiet once more though, Lucia couldn't help flashing a small smile. "Now this is the little girl I remember." She teased a little commenting on Alice's silence before continuing onwards towards the woods. With the girl in arms, Lucia tried not to get too close to Sylvanas knowing that the poor girl seemed to have some sort of aversion to her. Instead, she glanced up at the creature that rested itself upon her head with a soft chuckle, knowing that it wasn't such a bad thing. As long as it didn't do something silly as mess her hair with something unsavory, she was fine with it tagging along as a passenger. "You should always try your best to practice too though, to learn the limits and stretch and expand your horizons. In this world, our masteries are very special and unique, they aren't just like any other skills from other games. There is always unexplored territory and particulars we won't be able to understand no doubt; like the craziness of our reality, there are mysteries we won't learn without investigating." Lucia started to explain. No doubt Alice wouldn't be able to understand a word of that talk, but Lucia still felt it was important to mention. Glancing down at the girl in her arms, if her expression was too vacant or glazed, she'd give the girl's forehead a quick kiss to make her more alert. "You also have the power to make something that can change a people, even the world maybe; you only need to practice and learn how." She spoke thinking that was the simplest way she could explain.
