Vitcity

Nora

Alice asks whether you're fine with the same rules as your last match, best two of three.  You agree, and start playing.

The first match is even for a while, but Alice manages to move into her final few plays a few rounds before you were ready.  You manage to drag it out and regain a bit of ground, but finally can't stall anymore.  "Well!  First match is mine.  And you know what that means..." Alice reminds you, grinning as she begins.

Right at the start of the second match, Alice makes a mistake.  A glaringly obvious one.  At first you think it's a trap, but you can't see how and decide to try to take the advantage.  Alice's eyes grow wide as you make your move, then she swears to herself.  You manage to box in her king for a checkmate with only four pieces captured between both of you.  Alice sighs and rubs her face.  "That was... humiliating.  I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake.  Oh, well.  Tickle away.  And you better enjoy it, because I don't intend to lose the third round."

The third match drags on until the board is nearly empty.  You manage to gain a small advantage.  Alice hesitates, observing the board.  "Ah, what to do...  You do have the advantage.  But I could still be a little shit, run around, force a tie, and waste both our time..."  She glances at her watch, then sighs.  "Alright, alright.  Very well.  I concede.  Time for my execution, I suppose...  Shall I fetch the duster?"

Nora

"Oh, do I? I beg to differ. Yours is much cuter." Alice's confident smile returns. "Of course, if you want to up the ante with a kiss, I don't mind going 3 of 5."

Nora

"Oh, I have something in mind...  Set the board while I sneak over to the custodian closet?"  Alice disappears for a few minutes, then returns.

The next match doesn't take very long.  Alice manages to establish a strong position, but once again makes a glaring mistake.  This time she manages to stop you from bringing a quick end to the match, but she's not able to recover her momentum.  After a few rounds, Alice shakes her head and sighs.  "No point letting my loyal troops die for nothing over my stupid mistake.  I present my sword to you."  She hands over the duster, then stands up and moves to the couch.  "Sorry I couldn't work up much of a match today...  I guess I'm more tired than I thought.  Yesterday was my first time fighting in a few days."  She sighs again, longer this time.  "Right...  You had some questions.  How about we do that first?  Get the dull stuff out of the way first."

Nora

"Getting right to the difficult questions, are we?" Alice rubs her chin. "Well... I had my suspicions about a few things for a long while, but the first I learned anything of substance was a few months ago. I stumbled upon a few documents about Soul Keys lying around... and out of curiosity I decided to sneak into one of the research labs one night and see if I couldn't re-create the design. I remember the documents were all theoretical and there hadn't been any successes, but I managed to make it work. Somehow." Alice pauses and stares into space for a moment. "I remember not being surprised by any of it... and not when I found my first portal, either. And I picked up using the key rather quickly, if I do say so myself. After I'd gotten the hang of it, I made another for Tom... then a few others just in case. One of our students went missing about the time I learned about the keys. It's my theory she was in the Otherworld during that time. I'm not sure if that's when she first found out about it, or how she got out... and I wasn't able to help her on my own. But I wanted to be ready in case it happened again. That's - that was my duty as the student body president, after all." Alice bites her lip, then turns away from you. "I was right, y'know. Some of our students went to the Otherworld tied to the Mall and ended up being turned to stone! Me, Tom, and two others who had to leave the school because of... things that happened in the Otherworld... all went together to go rescue them. But we ran into a few other students there, as well. As for when or how all the others found out about all of this... I have no idea."

Nora

A scowl crosses Alice's face at the mention of Mattea, then she looks away so you can't see her face.  "If she and the others want to be idiots, that's their prerogative.  And not my problem."  By the time she looks back, she's re-composed herself.  "Right, others...  You saw myself and Tom, Buttons, Natsumi, Leia, Freya, and Raine... Sam, Kiran...  Mattea and Tai, Tia and Grant.  Speaking of Grant and Tia, they come from the Otherworld.  Grant, specifically from the place we were yesterday.  Which is why you got a look at Grant's true form.  Tia's form is a bit more... inhuman, so don't panick when you see her.  Ugh...  Tia...  If I'd just let her be, I wouldn't have lost the election.  But, no, I just had to help her.  Just had to make sure she'd be properly enrolled.  Just had to..."  Alice stops mid-sentence, puts a hand on her face, then shakes her head.  "I'm sorry, dear.  What was the question, again?  Ah, yes...  Others.  Fox, Katie, and Floyd.  Somnis.  Dewey.  I strongly suspect Mareena knows, but trying to get a straight answer out of her when she doesn't want to give one is... utterly infuriating.  Laura - another that was born in the Otherworld.  Ah, and one other person I've yet to identify.  There could be others, as well, and perhaps not all on our side.  So use discretion when you speak about it.  There is... one idiot, one absolute idiot who found out about the Otherworld who completely fails to grasp this concept.  It's his fault they found out about me, found out about Laura...  Karl.  Stay away from him.  Don't let him know who you are."

Alice rubs her face for a bit, then groans and stretches.  Once she finishes, she nods at the duster.  "I'm sure you have some more questions, but how about a short break, then we can continue?"

Nora

Alice sighs. "'De-stressing,' huh. Is that what we're calling it now?" A small smile appears on her face as she takes a seat. "Just don't be too rough with me, OK? I'm still not completely recovered."

As Nora begins, Alice remains perfectly still, giving her a defiant grin. This lasts for about five seconds before she starts giggling. Within a minute Nora's having trouble keeping hold of her through all the squirming and twisting as she goes from giggling to laughing with the occasional squeak.

Nora

Alice is surprised at first, then takes advantage of being in Nora's lap to push back against her and stop her from pulling away when she tries. After she backs off, she smirks a bit. "Oh? Exploit your target's weakness, back off, wait for them to let their guard down to rally, then strike again... I see you're just as dangerous at this sort of thing."

Nora smiles widely, beaming. "Of course. I always play for keeps. That's just who I am. But it makes life fun, hm?"

"...So? What now?"

Nora thinks for a moment, content to have Alice stay in her lap. "Well, I suppose there are things we should still talk about... Mareena for one. But just staying like this would be nice... So how about we do both, hm? We can talk about the other world more, and you can stay right here in my arms."

"Alright, go ahead and ask your next question... but why don't you just set that aside for now?" She makes herself comfortable and nods at the duster.

Nora sets the duster aside and starts idly playing with Alice's hair. "Now, where was I... Ah, yes. Mareena. Two questions here, but very much related, I assure you. How much do you know about Mareena and how much do you know about the other world in relation to ours? Do you know if it has any effect on our world?"

"Mareena... She's one of a handful of people who transferred into our school last year. She's always been a bit... dramatic, but never to the point I bothered poking around through her files or anything. Her opening that fortune telling... hut, as she calls it. That's a new development. And not-so-subtly asking for Otherworld materials in exchange for her services. It's suspicious, to say the least. I don't think she has any hostile intentions... but she does seem to know much more than she's letting on, and she's letting on quite a bit." Alice stops and adjusts her position.

"Can the Otherworld impact our own, huh...? I've found pockets of aether around portals before, but never enough to be worrisome. If you'd asked me a week ago, I'd have said that no, the Otherworld can barely impact our world. But I'd say that's been proven wrong rather dramatically, hasn't it? A large injection of wind aether... caused all of this, and that was with the worst of it deflected away from the city. I hate to admit it, but if that damned angel hadn't shielded us, the damage to the city would've been... much, much worse. And at that range, I'm not sure we'd have survived the blast, Soul Key or no."