A message from a Friend

[Lance]

Alicia grit her teeth for a moment, before exhaling through her nose. "I'd find him...and if anyone hurt him...they'd need a goddamn DNA test to identify the remains...SIR." Alicia's tone made it clear that 'Anderson' was walking a fine line, her temper was peaking dangerously close to the point of exploding.

Before anyone could speak further, two voices sounded from the outside the Gym, echoing through a small hallway that led to the latrines. The first voice was a young man's, obviously a newbie who was stuck with the task of cleaning the latrines and basically ferrying around messages to officers. "Staff Sergeant, Sir! I have a report for Lieutenant Colonel Anderson!" An old, gruff voice answered, "What is it Airman?" "He requested today's food supply for the mess hall in case we needed more. But I couldn't find him before I had latrine duty sir." The old man's voice became irritated, "He's in the officer's quarters speaking with the Base Commander, Airman. You'll have to wait for him to finish, he should be done in about an hour..." There was the sound of heavy boots on wood flooring, a door opening and shutting further off, and then silence.

Alicia was silent for a moment, giving away nothing with her actions, before suddenly exploding into motion, she spun around and kicked the heavy bag, producing enough force to send it swinging right at 'Anderson's' face before lunging at the impostor, trying to grab him around the waist and tackle him.

[Arin]

The bag collided close enough to give the illusion that it knocked 'Anderson' a couple of steps to the right. But before Alicia could tackle him, he thrust his hand outward and Alicia was brought to a wooded area. The only sign that she was still near the air base was the fact that the sounds of fighter jets taking off was still in the distance, but she was a good couple of miles away from help.

'Anderson walked through the portal not too soon after, but his formal demeanor was gone, and he was speaking more freely, almost cheerfully "He did warn that you were a bit hot headed. You and Lance are a couple of peas in a pod."

[Lance]

Alicia got to her feet, punching the ground and charging 'Anderson', roaring angrily as she did, she lashed out at his head, only to feel like the air was made of gelatin when her fist got close to his head, slipping past the man's head and making her stumble forward for a moment before whipping backward and trying to drive her elbow into 'Anderson's' eye.

[Arin]

'Anderson' just stood there, watching as Alicia was berserkly attacking her, and failing to hit due to the barrier surrounding him. He waited for Alicia to try and calm down, but even then, it was likely obvious that this wasn't going to end too soon, knowing this woman's stamina and strength.

"...Try and remain calm, Miss Ferris, I'm not the enemy here." When the elbow came at his face, he calmly lifted his hand up and it felt like her entire arm was caught in an invisible cement cast "In fact, the very reason I'm here is because your friend sent me."

[Lance]

Alicia growled angrily, rearing her head back and trying to headbutt the imposter, only for that damned wall to negate her attack. "FUCK YOU, YOU LYING SACK OF SHIT!" Alicia swung her arm against the magical field, trying to hit 'Anderson' with it, and dislocating her arm in the process. "ARGH!!!" Alicia dropped to one knee, charging him again, blinded by anger and numb to the pain in her arm.

[Arin]

'Anderson' sighed and sidestepped Alica's rush attack, holding her arms out and freezing her completely this time, everything but her injured arm. With Alicia immobilized, with NOTHING keeping her from moving but the very space around her, reaching forth and placing his hand on her head was a simple task.

Then, everything was a blur in Alicia's mind. Her vision was blinded by visions of an odd looking world, almost renaissance in design, but every vision had an encounter with Lance in the foreground, as if he were speaking to Alicia. Each time one vision came to conclusion, it immediately changed to a new one; out in a valley trail, around strange and unusual individuals, and even seeing him having friendly conversations with two others that were quite frequent in these visions, a boy, and a dark skinned, pointy eared woman with silver hair. Occasionally, her attention would be pulled away by a small girl, and the vision would shift elsewhere, now to a pier, where everyone was saying good bye, and they were having a heart to heart.

Eventually, Alicia would realize these weren't visions, they were memories. And in each memory, the same woman's voice was speaking through Alicia's point of view. Eventually, her vision started to white out again, and Rather than Lieutenant colonel Anderson walking around to in front of her, a white haired woman, looking to be in her mid 20s, was now facing Alicia, a calm gaze and a friendly smile on her face, and the very same voice from the memories she witnessed came from this woman "Still think I'm a 'lying sack of shit' dear? I'd rather not deliver Lance's message to you under these circumstances, but I do have someone waiting for me back home. Can I release you, or are you going to attack me again?"

[Lance]

Alicia breathed heavily, her head pounding painfully as the memories surged in her brain, every single one of them about Lance. Then she saw 'Anderson' turn into a woman with white hair, and Alicia had to admit, she was kinda cute..."Who...w-what the fuck are you?" Alicia sounded exhausted, her mind overtaxed from the memory flashes, and her body burning with pain from the dislocated arm. She wouldn't be a threat in her state, even if she tried to attack her.

[Arin]

Aria noticed Alicia's dislocated arm and sighed softly, positioning her hand over the joint and focusing "I'll explain in a bit, for now, lets get this arm taken care of..." With a swift tug and a pop, Aria realigned Alicia's arm joints back into place, before her hand started glowing and the sharp, sudden pain started to just fade away "To put it in terms that aren't too difficult to translate, I'm a witch. I jump between your realm and mine, searching for creatures that still exist here and leading them home."

[Lance]

Alicia let out a hiss when Aria fixed her arm, sighing slightly when the pain faded thanks to the woman's magic. "A witch? Realms, magic creatures? Fucking hell, what did Lance get into this time?"

[Arin]

Aria smiled and stepped back, releasing Alicia when she saw that the woman was no longer hostile "He's perfectly safe dear. He's traveling with my son to get better acclimated to his new home, his mother and father as well. But despite having the friendship of my son and his soon to be wife, he is still missing something in his life that he's very selective about...Tell me Alicia, what is Lance to you exactly?"

[Lance]

Alicia was silent for a moment, rolling her shoulder to work the kinks out as she listened to Aria. "What the hell kind of question is that? He's like my goddamn brother...through thick or thin, hell or high water, me and him have had each other's back...typical that the ONE time we're separated, the bastard gets roped into some insane, Lord of the Rings bullshit."
She looked at Aria, her expression confused. "What, you wanna jump his bones and asking permission or something...fucker's lucky if that's the case, won't lie."

[Arin]

Aria giggled when Alicia said she was giving her permission to 'jump his bones' if she wanted to "No no, it's nothing like that, he doesn't seem too interested in that kind of activity anyway. Though, he did tell me that if he were to pair with a woman, you would be the only one he would accept. He trusts you like family, and given what I've seen today, I think he might have a bit of an amazon fetish when it comes to his taste in women."

She was silent for a moment, thinking over this option one more time, but she saw no other alternative if it would bring Lance some form of happiness in his new home "So, if it meant being with Lance, making sure he was safe and happy, would you leave everything else behind for him? Because once you make the leap into our world, the only way back is to master the same spell I have, and very little people have knowledge of the spell itself, or how it works."

[Lance]

Alicia smirked when Aira remarked on what Lance had said. "Heh, in an ideal world, yeah...I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with him, after all...the trust is mutual." Alicia's smirk widened just a bit, "Problem is, we both know each other too well, it's like I said, he's a brother to me...becoming lovers...it's too much, it'd feel weird, and we both agree on that."

When Aria asked her if she had anything she'd have to leave behind, she scoffed. "He didn't tell you, did he? I'm a child of the system, my parents were arrested for drug charges, and I was put in foster care...not that I was mistreated, I even had a bunch of friends too. But, any family, any loved ones? No, I've always been a loner, it's suited me."

Alicia chuckled, "Probably why he didn't tell you, figured you'd cast pity on me or something. If it means keeping my wingman safe, I'll brave anything lady...that reminds me, you've never given me your name."

[Arin]

Aria smiled and opened a portal, leading overseas to the east coast of florida "I would still strongly consider that you two at least try and see where things would go. He only trusts you enough for that role in his life, I would at least want him to be happy with his best friend by his side for eternity. My name is Aria by the way." She stepped aside, letting Alicia take the first step into the obscure, distortion in space

"And if you truly have nothing to leave behind, then step forward, and I'll lead you to where we will enter the realm your 'wingman' resides. I will have to discourage you being with him for too long, however, due to the dangerous territory he will be going to. But I will at least let you see him long enough to confirm you are both in the same world. She laughed softly at an interesting thought "Who knows, Lance might even have thought of a way to brave the land he'll be exploring with my son, it's not the best land to be in when the sun goes down."

[Lance]

Alicia chuckled when Aria suggested that they give it a try. "Who says we haven't Aria...we didn't give a fuck about fraternizing, it just...heh, we were too similar, you'll understand when we meet up..."


When Aria told her that she probably wouldn't be able to speak with Lance for long, "That's fine Aria. I only need a moment, we're not big on speeches." With that, Alicia stepped through the portal, exiting on a pier in Florida, she looked around, a bit confused. "Huh, this other realm looks a LOT like Florida...smells like it too, cheap beer, tanning oil and sea salt..."