ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 101 The Delegation Circus

Chapter 101

The Delegation Circus

Tuesday

The motorcade made its way towards the hospital, just like they had for the past three Tuesdays in a row, though this time things were different. Alexa could all but feel the growing tension in the oversized vehicle that was being used to pull both her and her parents.

As they drove, there was an obvious tension between her parents. Judy, who was clearly dawning her Judge outfit seemed to be bubbling with excitement and untapped mirth. Her father, Jim, dressed in his Warder outfit, looked slightly paler. His uniform that had been getting tight on his retired frame now looked to almost be loose, a testament to how much weight he had lost in the past week.

Doing a quick scan with her magic, Alexa found that everything was fine. His heart was healthy, his biometrics were stable, but still there seemed to be something that caused the large man to seem off. Alexa was terrible at reading clues, even with her system assisted Perception Attributes she could see that things were off, but not how they were off. She still had a hard time understanding the causality of events. What could make it so a partner pair like Judge and Warder could have such seemingly different outcomes over the course of a week. There was something there, but for the life of her, Alexa couldn’t figure out what. Were they cheating? No, there would be anger, also it would be hard to tell who was cheating. Could it be extortion? Was someone trying to extort her father, and her mother was just blissfully unaware? No that also seemed to be a bit farfetched. If anyone tried to extort Warder, they would get a punch to the face. No the only way extortion would work, would be to target mother, she was the one least likely to seek outside help. So many different thoughts and analytical factors played out in Alexa’s mind, her analytical properties working overtime to try to make heads or tails of what she was seeing.

Alexa thought about asking, the old her would have, but her skills were telling her that would only cause more tension. While she wasn’t the best at reading people’s underlying emotions, up until now she had relied on her brother, who of course changed classes. Granted his class was a much better fit for him, but Alexa now had a huge blind spot. If this persisted she would have to get Gina to try to ferret out the details, her new class meant she would be able to understand what was causing the random tension.

On the bright side this was good, as it meant she could feel the underlying tension between the two. On the other hand it meant she was now just aware that there was underlying tension, which only gave her more variables to deal with, for today.

“I have been informed that no less than seven delegations of elves will be present.” Ms. Peacock, the Dawning Light school principal said.

At that, Alexa paused, her momentary thoughts of the marital problems between her parents momentarily dismissed.

Alexa wanted to ask but couldn’t quite formulate the exact question to ask without tipping any possible secrets, fortunately her father seemed to be there for her.

“Do you know why?” Warder asked.

“Yes, it seems they have all gathered to find out which faction our Aru’ka might be a part of. Apparently, there is a lot that can be gained by observing the way one uses magic.” Ms. Peacock answered.

Alexa nodded in understanding.

In a way, Alexa was happy for the announcement, it let her realize two things. First she was going to be evaluated, each organization present would undoubtedly try to see who trained her, and then either claim her for their own, or attempt to learn from her. No doubt there were retellings and airings of her imparting her knowledge to the little girl from last week. Unfortunately that was a necessary evil, as she knew that was the best way possible to gain the attention of more people she wished to pull over to her side. She was doing a lot, working so hard to maneuver pieces into place, steal assets that had been assigned elsewhere. Yet, today would likely be another reminder that despite all her plans, she would was still running short on time, for her personal goals.

“Just one week left until Thanksgiving.” Judge all but beamed with excitement. “Are you ready?”

Hearing that Alexa nodded to herself.

She knew the day was getting closer and closer. She had nine days to make three trials, all so she could finally unlock her final trial next week. Tonight she had it planned that she would go immediately into stage seven of the trials right after school. This meant that she either had to cram in two more stages this weekend or do two over Thanksgiving break.

“I am.” Alexa responded.

“You got any plans?” Judge asked, a note of excitement filling her voice.

“Yes.”

“You going home?” Judge asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you intend to do anything fun?” Judge asked, a slightly glowing look to her eyes as her mouth filled with her dazzling smile.

Alexa thought about the question, then realizing she likely felt more alive and comfortable inside a dungeon, paused. She wanted to answer yes, but that would likely confuse her mother, who by her own right was getting close to crossing the lines of Super hero etiquette. “I plan on doing some spelunking.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Judge said in a tone that said it was anything but.

Alexa just nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

After that an awkward silence filled the vehicle. During this time Alexa went through her own timetable. Stage seven tonight, stage eight on Friday, stage nine next Tuesday after my next hospital visit. Then Stage ten over Thanksgiving holiday. I will likely have to go immediately after Thanksgiving dinner, but that will still give me three and a half days to complete the last trial.

“Oh, and we are here.” Ms. Peacock said excitedly as the awkward tension that had been filling the vehicle stopped.

Warder just let out a breath and an awkward shake of his head as he exited the vehicle, did a cursory scan of the area. Then when he found that the coast was clear, he turned back to the vehicle and tapped on the roof of the vehicle, letting Alexa know it was safe to move out.

The minute Alexa emerged from the vehicle fully dressed in her Aru’ka outfit media and photographers alike began snapping images of her.  By now Alexa paid the camera little to no attention at all, instead following her detail in their slow methodical pace forward.

When she arrived, she was once again greeted by a stage of people. An older person she took to be the Hospital manager as always came forward and bowed but was not allowed to be too near the supers. Instead, they immediately stepped in and cut off the approach of cameramen who attempted to enter the building.

“I am sorry, but we are nearing maximum capacity for this building and would ask that those of you who have not received a screening pass wait outside. That said, I will be more than happy to answer any and all questions you might have today.” The manager began, then began moving forward, almost pushing the reporters back with their sheer will alone.

This of course was done so that the other delegations of elves could be seen waiting in the hallway.

Among the seven elven factions that were present, two were already known to Alexa. The first was Wilken who represented the Tulpa party, the other was Yolandara who represented the Eclipsion party, both of whom now sported bodyguards on each side of them. As for the other five factions, most only had one or two representatives on hand, while one was just an elderly female who seemed to be the lone representative for her own faction.

“A pleasure to meet…” Wilken said, as his eyes went wide with recognition at the sight of Alexa. Granted she had her distinguishable top knot of golden hair covered but there were very few females who had Alexa’s proportions and size that attended Dawning Light Academy. “You…” He said, his voice in recognition.

Yolandara seeing this peered at Alexa, but it was clear that she was unable to see through the simple disguise. That or she might have fallen into the camp of elves that believes that all humans are either lesser beings, all look alike, or aren’t worth distinguishing between. Regardless of the reason, it was clear that Yolandara had no clue about Aru’ka’s true identity.

From a certain standpoint Alexa could completely agree with the gesture. If it wasn’t for the system constantly telling her who certain people were, she herself would have no clue who any of the elves were, let alone their factions that they were associated with.

Alexa for her part, tried to not pay the elven delegations any heed at all.

“An entire family of supers.” The old elf who had up until this point been the sole representative of her own faction, the Viranian party, said as she took a few steps forward.

Alexa held up a finger in warning, then shook it back.

“It is bad form to speak of those doing civic duties. The uniform implies a separation of personal and public matters.” Alexa said, her voice enchantingly fluid as she seemed to sing her response back in elven.

Hearing that, all of the party members paused, in shock. Even the reporters who had been stopped by the manager and security all paused to listen to the sing-song cadence that Alexa spoke. Hearing her speak the language so fluently any final doubts of where she had learned the sacred elven arts of Healing magic were assuaged. Now, they all had just one question left.

“Tell me child, with which faction have you sworn your allegiance?” The elderly matron asked.

Hearing the question, Alexa just paused and shook her head. “Surely admitting such an allegiance here would all but demand that I have no less than six sets of daggers aiming for my back.” Once again, her voice was pure and sweet as she deftly tried to avoid answering any questions.

In this, Alexa was glad she had merged memories with the dwarven mage Arthur during stage five of her trials. From the combined memories she was able to witness many of Arthur’s courtly etiquette dances that were made. Using Arthur’s own memories of court and politics, she felt she had a good grasp of true elven society and ways to circumvent being caught in political machinations of others. While it could have almost been seen as a loss on her part at the time, especially seeing as the one set of magic she wished to learn, Water magic, she could have already Created, the lessons learned were seemingly able to pay off in other more profound ways.

Hearing her deft response, the old elf nodded in satisfaction. “Very well spoken. I retract my statement and wish to amend them with the well wishes of my people.”

Hearing that, and the obvious trappings, Alexa once again deflected. “I wish you the best, as I would all people.”

Scoff.

The trap of course, was getting Alexa to admit that she had no ties to the elven diplomat’s faction. The crest, a red dragon being slain by a woman in shining armor was fairly distinct and easy to notice. If Alexa had gone along with the statement, giving back a similar greeting, it would have all but confirmed the truth that Alexa was not a member of this woman’s faction. Now, the ambassador had to act as if she was both a member of the faction, and a high ranking delegate from an opposing faction.

Hearing this Yolandara seemed to be anxious, it was clear that she was missing a few things and her posture all but showed her apprehension over missing such vital aspects.

“Oh great sage, would you please tell us whom you are beholden to?” Yolandara asked, a pleading note to her voice.

“Knowledge.” Alexa replied.

Chuckles.

A few of the other elven delegations who had watched the whole interaction chuckled at the extreme events. Going so far as to openly mock the Eclipsion party delegate who clearly got out played.

“What are you laughing at?” Yolandara snapped at the loudest of the gathered delegates, this was a female from the Illustran party, a party well known for illusion magic and pranks.

“You my dear. You saw the way she deftly side stepped the heavenly matron of the Viranian Party, a party well known for slaying dragons. Yet, despite seeing that, you come in like a sledgehammer when a fencing master got riposted handily. Of course, we would laugh, such an act is the height of foolishness, something we thought we had monopoly on.” The Illustran party delegate said.

Laughter.

With the Illustran party’s comments, the remainder of the delegates assembled all began laughing their voices carrying like a chorus of ringing bells, soft and light in the open entryway.

Alexa of course chose the moment that Yolandara turned her attention to the Illustran party delegate to continue making her way forward. For the most part, everyone stayed. Well, everyone but the old Dragon Slayer of Viranian,who also used the moment to fall in line behind the Supers that made up Alexa’s protection detail.

“Well they seemed nice.” Judge said, clearly not having understood a word the elves said.

Alexa nodded, not wanting to speak her mind with an elven delegate right behind them.

“So what was that about?” Warder asked.

“Politics.” Alexa said.

At that Warder just nodded and decided not to ask any further questions.

Finally the group made their way to the second floor where dozens of children and terminally ill patients alike had come.

Seeing the sick and injured, Alexa made her way forward and instantly started Healing everyone present. The young, the old, the terminally ill, everyone was treated. With her recent increases to her rank and titles, the use of magic was easy. Before the biggest drain would be her energy levels, there was no gauge on how much mana she had. Instead she had to listen to her body to have her body let her know when she had pushed herself too far.

This time, Alexa did not have such an issue. This time, she didn’t have to worry about pushing herself through her limits or resting. This time she was able to move about freely the entire time, no longer needing to sit on the gaudy throne, she made sure to move about her patients.

Then when she was done, she made sure to spend a few moments talking to the children.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you.”

Alexa felt sort of sad that the little girl she had healed last time was not here, though it would mean she had failed at her job if the girl was back. No, this time it was a whole new set of children, all of whom were now smiling brightly. Many of whom had been immobile for so long that they got up and began playing an impromptu game of tag, darting in between and around supers.

In under two hours, the hundreds of people and even additional people that had been waiting in the auxiliary wings were all healed.

“You do good work.” The Viranian delegate said from Alexa’s side, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Of course, Alexa had been tracking her movement the entire time. The energy this elf was using all but screamed to her class of its unique power structure. Her class all but demanding that she take the energy from the elf right here and now. Still she easily managed to squash such thoughts, especially as this was her rational mind at work, allowing her to see the problems that such an act would have.

“From one such as you, this is far too great of a compliment for me to accept.” Alexa said, once again going to the flowery elven words.

“You know such humility on one so young and as accomplished as yourself is unbecoming. You are one of your planet’s elites, having killed multiple dragons.” The elven woman, Ryelifa, said. At least Ryelifa was the name that appeared when Alexa analyzed the elven diplomat.

Elder Elven Delegate (Ryelifa Dragon Slayer): Level 143: Status: Healthy, Disposition: Inquisitive

Seeing the marker, it was clear that this old elf had questions. Also judging by the glow in her eyes, that was similar to the same energy Mr. Mackie used when scanning her, Alexa assumed this woman had a way of seeing more than just the initial aspects that she could.

Silence.

When it was clear that Alexa was not going to speak the elderly matron smiled and spoke once more, “I have to say, I am impressed. It takes a long time for most to learn to use silence as a weapon the way you do.”

Alexa once again just nodded and stared.

Finally after another long pause where Alexa said nothing, the elderly elf let a slight smile crest her lips. “I have a proposed alliance.”

Alexa just stared, speaking now would all but guarantee either the woman could catch Alexa in a lie about her true allegiances, or worse speaking could show the elderly matron that Alexa was in fact a Countess for a different faction, other than the Viranian party.

“The alliance is simple. Know that my faction, unlike others does not care for politics or courtly drama, instead we care about one thing, the eradication of dragons.”

At that Alexa nodded. “As does mine.”

Hearing the noncommittal answer, Ryelifa just smiled coyly.

“So, I gathered with your titles. This is why I propose a mutual partnership.”

Hearing that, Alexa thought about the proposal for a second, then shook her head, “no.”

At that, Ryelifa paused to stare at Alexa.

“No?”

Alexa nodded, “I assume this is a request that I team up with you as our faction already have the same stated goal. If it is the former then I will need to decline, as you are an unknown quantity. If it is the latter, then it is already so. Either way, I will have to decline.”

Hearing that Ryelifa just nodded in understanding.

“Very well. Know that I will be heading to your Eng-a-land here shortly.” Ryelifa said in elven, having a hard time with the harsher syllables of the English language. “If you wish to come then let me know.”  With that, the old elf took out a modified power crystal.

Looking at it, Alexa could all but feel the power radiating from it.

“This is a one-time use crystal. Apply mana to it, and you will be able to reach me. I plan to head out in two days’ time.” Ryelifa said.

Hearing that, different thoughts went through Alexa’s mind as she began contemplating different aspects of what could happen. Yet, there was one question that was bothering her.

“Why?”

“You mean why you?” Ryelifa asked.

Alexa nodded.

“Why would I want arguably a skilled dragon hunter who has titles proving that she has killed twenty different dragons and managed to make five others flee? Why would I want the best human hunter of dragons on my team?”

“Yes, that isn’t everything.” Alexa said, as she realized her rank 0 class meant she was more of a liability than anything. At least that was how most would likely view her accomplishments.

“You are perceptive. Your coming along would be two-fold. First you would hang out in the back as a healer. Clearly you are capable of doing that much.” Ryelifa said, gesturing to the healed people around. “Secondly, it will start getting people used to the idea of working with us.”

Hearing that, Alexa nodded as the pieces finally fell into place in her mind. She was to go along with the elves, sit back in the back and let the elves take the glory for slaying the dragon, even if she did a lot of heavy lifting. This would likely be filmed and shown in some way that would prove to the people that even one of the best up and coming supers would take a back seat to the elves.

Still, Alexa could use this to her benefit.

With her going to England, she could use that as a cover to complete yet another stage of her Trials of Ascension, particularly with her expected to stay in the back for healing.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Alexa nodded, “yes. I agree.”

“Very well then. Keep that handy, and I will let you know when we will go through our relay network.”

Hearing about the elven relay network did sound interesting. At the very least it would be nice to know where the elves set up their networks, but that was a side issue.

“That will not be necessary. Just tell me a location and time and I will be there.”

“In London England? From here?”

Alexa nodded.

The old matron looked at Alexa, then asked. “Do you by chance happen to have Teleportation magic as well?”

At that Alexa just smirked at the question.