Abyssal Awakening

Without knocking on the door, Erick opened the door and stepped into the office to see Rosalyn with a cold expression.

"How many times do I have to say this Mr Zenia, please have the common courtesy of at least knocking on the door to announce your presence." Rosalyn frowned before pausing briefly at the sight of Alice.

\'Why the hell is she here???\'

Trying her best to ignore Alice\'s presence, Rosalyn maintained her cold demeanour.

"I would if you hadn\'t noticed my presence approaching already. Or perhaps you were trying to hide something before I appeared?" Erick let out a laugh as he sat on the sofa and rested his legs on the table.

Gesturing pulling Alice to sit next to him, he rested his arm on her shoulder.

"Everyone desires a speck of privacy and I do wish you would respect that desire. Knocking on the door is a basic etiquette that even children know. Mr Zenia, are you suggesting that you are below children?"

Her retort caused Erick\'s smile to twitch for a moment before he composed himself.

"Regardless, if you have nothing to hide, I don\'t see a need for me to knock. Especially considering the fact that you have eyes all over this Academy right? You noticed us the moment we stepped onto Academy grounds."

"Courtesy is courtesy. Now let me ask you Mr Zenia, what brings you and your entourage to my office today? I believe I made it rather clear in the multiple meetings that we\'ve had, that the Zenias will not be given free access to the Inverted World. The Academy is fully capable of protecting the entrance and the safety of students." Rosalyn narrowed her eyes as killing intent wrapped around the room.

In return, Selen took a step forward, countering Rosalyn\'s show of hostility.

"Now now, let\'s not get aggressive here. Despite your claim for safety, haven\'t there been quite a few incidents surrounding the Academy these days? It would be quite a shame if more were to suddenly appear, wouldn\'t it? There are already whispers of discontent no?" Erick waved his hand dismissively.

Taking a step back, Selen returned her to a neutral state while Rosalyn furrowed her brows.

"Mr Zenia, I hope that the implications of your words are with the intention of goodwill. Because I assure you, any intruders within Academy grounds will be killed without mercy. I would rather shut down the Inverted World than to have it fall into the wrong hands."

Upon hearing this, Erick glared at Rosalyn who glared back.

He wasn\'t sure if it was a bluff or not. However, considering the fact that she had been principal of the Academy for quite a few years by this point, it wouldn\'t be surprising for her to indeed have a method to shut down the Inverted World.

"Either way, the Zenia\'s will be more than happy to keep up the public safety with our Guards. Even though we may be a family centred around Abyss Blood, we do not neglect the strength of our guards."

Standing up, Erick made his way out of the room.

"Have a good day principal." He smiled as Alice followed behind him.

After leaving the Academy, Alice managed to convince Erick that she\'d give him her answer in two days so that she could deal with some personal matters.

Once separated from the group, Alice made her way back to the Academy as she could tell the principal wanted to talk to her.

Just as she was about to knock on the principal\'s door, it swung open with the principal showing a forced smile towards Alice.

"Yo~ Seems like you\'ve melded yourself pretty deep into their group haven\'t you?" Rosalyn flicked her finger and closed the door before locking it.

Dispelling her disguise, Alice slumped onto the sofa.

"Just a little."

"I didn\'t take you for someone that\'ll allow a piece of trash like him to lay a hand on you though. I was surprised you didn\'t explode when he wrapped his arm over your shoulder." Rosalyn laughed, throwing a flask of mead to Alice since Kaden mentioned that Alice was a mead addict.

Pulling out a drink for herself, she sat on the table.

"Don\'t even remind me. The mother*cker kept touching my face too. If it wasn\'t for the disguise, I would\'ve torn off his arm and shoved it up his ass already." Alice made a throwing up motion before opening the flask.

Her eyes glistened the moment she noticed that it was mead.

"So what are you planning then? Sticking so close to them." Rosalyn asked as she leaned back.

"Well… Let\'s just say I found myself an unlikely ally. Not a great fan of the Zenia\'s either. We haven\'t hammered out the key points of the plan yet but I think I have to avoid showing up as myself for a bit and stick with this identity of Kale Grani." Alice waved her hand, activating her Sigil and threw her hat into the air.

"Don\'t you think they\'re going to make the connection between your sealed right eye and the blind one?"

"It\'ll be fine. But seems like Erick wants to cause some casualties on Academy grounds. Do you think you can handle it? Or is the Zenia\'s getting access unavoidable?" Alice asked while Rosalyn tapped her chin.

"They\'re definitely a stubborn bunch that don\'t take no for an answer. Despite the countless reasons I\'ve given them, they\'re still holding on tight. And if things are to continue like this… I think I might have to think of a way to close the entrance to the Inverted World instead." Rosalyn sighed, glancing out her window and towards the orb that hovered above the Academy.

The damage done by getting rid of this entrance would be big but far better than letting the Zenias have access to it.

"It wouldn\'t be the worst idea. If they succeed in getting access and do what they\'re planning to do, I can say with certainty that the world will suffer. Imagine having an army of mini me\'s with the same regeneration rate and the violet flame ability." Alice explained, glancing up at Rosalyn while not moving from the sofa.

"A f*cking nightmare then. My wyverns are still livid at you for killing one of them even though I brought him back." Rosalyn massaged her forehead.

While closing the Inverted World is a choice, the consequences of doing so were going to be a pain in the neck. Especially since they\'ll send inquisitors to ask about the reason. With the standing of the Zenia family, anything she says without sufficient evidence would just sound like a conspiracy theory.

To get rid of something with so much value like the Inverted World over a theory would warrant her death.

Sitting up, Alice finished the mead before throwing the flask back at Rosalyn who caught it with ease.

"Regardless, it\'s our last resort. I\'ll see if I can figure out anything with my new friend and we\'ll work out a plan." Alice smiled, adjusting the hat on her head and left the room. But right before leaving, Rosalyn stopped her.

"Try not to meet me after this otherwise it\'ll expose your identity. Erick tried to have his guards put eyes inside the Academy earlier. If I didn\'t take care of that, they would\'ve found out."

Nodding her head, Alice left the room.

###

"Erick wants me to kill you before the next meeting." Selen explained as the two of them gathered by the docks once more.

Choking on her drink, Alice raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"He wants me to take care of your… other identity. While there are two suspects, you have the biggest chance of killing Jyn and Rita. He is correct and thus, he wants me to assassinate you. I do hope you have an ability that can fake your own death." Selen crossed her arms.

"Unfortunately I don\'t. But I haven\'t appeared as Alice Agnelia for a day or so, if I keep this up it should be fine right?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Selen shrugged.

"Depends on how much of an importance he places on your death. He doesn\'t want me entering the Academy just yet since our \'eyes\' were taken care of earlier.

"If I force it, the principal will have the justification of pushing him away which he doesn\'t want. He\'s ordering me to keep an eye on the entrance of the Academy for when you take a step out."

\'Pretty funny considering the target he\'s looking for is right next to him.\' Alyss chuckled while Alice nodded her head.

"I know I said I\'ll give him my answer in two days but any ideas on how to take care of him without Zenia\'s sending more people to this city?" Alice asked, causing Selen to furrow her brows.

"Originally, I was hoping you\'d serve as a distraction. But that can\'t be done anymore. Let me think about it, I\'ll give you some details tomorrow." Selen shook her head as she didn\'t wait for Alice to respond before leaving the area.

\'Well sh*t. We can\'t kill him inside the Inverted World nor can we kill him outside of it since both methods bring more Zenia\'s to us. The principal doesn\'t want us to make a move until she convinces him to step down. I\'m starting to think I should\'ve told him to give me a week rather than two days.\' Alice thought with a deep sigh.

She could only hope that the principal could convince Erick in time.

###

"Pardon?" Alice blinked her eyes, unsure as to whether or not she heard Erick clearly.

"We\'re going to go into the Inverted World early." Erick smiled.