Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XXIII: Letters

When Luce woke up the next morning, she was being shaken gently by Helena. "Luce?" Helena asked softly.

Luce rubbed at her eyes and slowly sat up. "What's going on?" she grumbled, still breaking through the remnants of sleep clouding her senses. "Why are you waking me up so early? Isn't it a weekend?"

Helena nodded slowly. "It is... Everyone's leaving for break tomorrow, but we need to talk before then. A letter was slipped under our door this morning," she explained.

Luce managed to push herself from the comfort of her mattress despite her body pleading with her to go back to sleep. She was generally an early riser, which meant the others were up prematurely to beat out her schedule that normally had her awake an hour before them at least.

When they got out to the main room, Luce saw S.M. holding a piece of paper while everyone in the group except Tanith gathered around her to look at it. "What's going on?" Luce asked with a frown, taking a seat on the edge of the couch.

"We got this letter this morning," Carys said. "It's a note from the Possession Master."

"Possession Master?" Luce echoed.

"That's what we're calling the hooded figure from now on," Iris told her. "I mean, when I got my Isolis, and when S.M. got hers, for that matter, there were two hooded men, so we gave the boss, or at least who we think is the boss, that nickname."

"He wants to meet with us to finish business before the break," Sylvia continued. Luce had to admit, she was surprised to see her awake so early given her typical routine. Now she knew something was serious.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Sophia asked. "I mean, this could very easily be a trap... And we haven't done anything to strike back successfully yet. We can't handle him on our own. The one time we tried as a group, he beat us so easily..."

"We didn't have six Isolis at our disposal at the time. That changes everything. We can handle him now," Carys announced in determination. "If it's just him against us, we can take him on. Plus, we've had a quarter year of practice in physical and magical combat that will help us to take him on."

"I don't think this is such a good idea," Iris admitted. "I mean, we might have more experience now, but that doesn't mean we're ready for this yet. Luce still can't control her magic properly. Luce and I are the only ones who can use a physical weapon. Carys doesn't have Isolis, and neither does Tanith. Granted, Tanith having it wouldn't do us much good given that she's still stuck here at Alitia."

"Speaking of Tanith, does anybody know where she is?" Luce questioned.

"I have no idea. I woke up first, and she was already gone by then. I guess she wanted to take care of a few things before the day officially began. Headmistress Satim is still here, so I doubt she's run off to start her break yet," S.M. replied.

"We need to act now. We can't wait around for her just because she decided to run off at the last minute," Carys declared, crossing her arms. "This is a chance to get them off our backs once and for all."

"This is going to be difficult if we decide to do it... I have a bad feeling about it," Iris murmured with a shake of her head. "All in favor?"

"I'm in," Carys said firmly before anyone could speak up.

"I-I just want this to be over," Sylvia whispered, nodding her head.

"We've been through enough as it is. I say we take him on and save any worries for later," S.M. agreed.

"All who oppose?" Iris questioned.

"I don't think it's a good idea. This is a dangerous criminal we're talking about. We can't put ourselves in danger more than we already have. I don't want to get hurt today. Break is about to start. I don't want to go home in bits and pieces," Sophia frowned.