Chapter Text
“Good Morning, Alice!” the pink-haired volunteer called out cheerily.
The sleeping girl woke up startled, forgetting that she had just signed up to be this quaint town’s newest ranger in exchange for room and board. “Um... Priscilla. Good morning!” Alice said, trying to match the other girl’s energy.
The rest of Alice’s day consisted of farming lessons and uniform fittings. There was one point where a case popped up regarding an older lady’s glasses going missing, but when the blonde volunteer, Lucy, returned, she informed Alice that they were, in fact, on her head the whole time. Perhaps, this new life in Rigbarth wouldn’t be too bad if that’s the biggest case you see around these parts.
By the end of the day, she was exhausted but satisfied that she was earning her keep. After parting ways with Priscilla to report to the boss, Alice’s new captain told her she would need to rest tonight and introduce herself to everyone in town tomorrow. Before exiting the Captain's Office, Alice glanced at the soul sphere she was asked to touch earlier that day to prove if she was worthy of staying here in Rigbarth. Everyone’s reaction to her reading put her on edge, after all, she had no memories and was a complete stranger to everyone in this town, yet they were still allowing her to stay here?
“Don’t worry,” Captain Livia spoke as if reading Alice’s thoughts, “I’ve already forged your records and sent them to headquarters.”
Alice stood there feeling uneasy, then turned her attention to the small captain sitting at her desk. “Why did it glow so brightly? Do you know? I can’t remember anything about myself but my name; was my reading that abnormal?” Alice’s gaze fell to the ground.
“You sure ask a lot of questions, huh?” Captain Livia sighed, “Go ahead and get some rest. I’m sure word of your arrival has already reached everyone, so I need you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed during your introductions tomorrow.” The captain motioned with her hand for Alice to head on out, returning her gaze to the wanted poster in her hand. “Now, Good Night, ranger.”
Alice made her way up the stairs to her loft, waving to Lucy and Priscilla as they left to go home for the evening. With each step, she thought about how her new normal started tomorrow; her nerves were slowly easing as she considered the possibilities ahead of her. Though she didn’t know who she was before Rigbarth and the Silo, maybe she could find out along the way or just forge a new path forward.
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Alice was fulfilling her newest “mission”; introducing herself to the town. The prickliest encounters so far consisted of two boys who looked only a few years older than her. One was a blacksmith apprentice named Martin; though he did show her how to use a forge to craft tools, he was definitely in a rush to get her out of the shop so his mentor, Darroch, could work in peace. Then there was the carpenter’s apprentice, Ryker. When Alice first arrived at Studio Palmo, she was greeted rather enthusiastically by the master carpenter, Palmo. He even showed Alice his blueprints for a new design. However, his apprentice was woken up from his nap in the excitement, not even acknowledging her at first. When he did, Ryker simply made a snide remark about her being “SEED’s newest flunkie.” So she just left and figured he didn’t want to be bothered to begin with.
She wound up running into Lucy out at the Great Tree Plaza. She seemed to be slowly warming up to Alice and challenged her to a race to find Lucy’s kid brother, Julian. Alice also met with Murakumo, the owner of the Blue Moon Inn; she had met him once before when she regained consciousness after being lugged to the Silo from the Whispering Woods by the very sweet little girl she saved, Hina, who happened to be his niece. Murakumo offered Alice 5 complimentary visits to the Hot Springs so she could relax after a day of work and voiced his gratitude for what she did once more.
Alice continued visiting around town, meeting Heinz, who was quite a buffoon for being the owner of the Crystalabra. The Sweet Hearth’s loving couple, Yuki and Randolph, offered a welcoming smile and a place to have a friendly chat. She met with Simone, who is the mayor/doctor of Rigbarth. On her way back to the outpost, she spotted a young boy thinking it may have been Julian. When she went to tell him that his sister was looking for her, she paused. “Maybe a stranger talking to a kid out and about by himself isn’t a good idea.” Before she could think of her next move, she noticed Hina was on the other side of the circular arena-like pavement. Alice couldn’t make out what the two kids were talking about, but suddenly they were running full speed at each other, fists pulled back. Alice took off running towards them, then stopped as Lucy grabbed her arm. Much to Alice’s embarrassment, she almost interrupted a fair fight that Lucy said was viewed as honorable to citizens of Rigbarth.
The fight ended with Hina declared the winner; Lucy and Julian ran off to their home, Lucy yelling about having a tie-breaker with Alice later. This left only Hina and Alice at the festival grounds, so Alice escorted Hina back to her Uncle’s inn, but the hyper child she saw earlier with Julian was now quiet. Her facial expressions held a sadness. Though she felt the need to help the young girl, she figured it’d be best to get her home safe and sound first; she was still a new ranger and only seemed to get in trouble when she pried into this town’s business. With a wave goodbye to Hina and Murakumo, she made her way back to the Silo, exhausted.
It was now 5:45 pm, and from what she could tell, all the shops she visited were beginning to close up. That’s when she noticed a small general store near the northbridge leading back to the outpost. If she had known it was so close, Alice would have visited there first, she thought a bit irritated with the circle around town she was making. Taking a peek at the sign, she noticed they were also closing within the next 15 minutes, so she quickly opened the door, hoping to make her introduction quick and get home.
“I’m on the case!” BAM.
Before Alice could even get her foot through the door, a pink-haired boy about her height ran into her, causing them both to stumble back from the impact. Alice felt fine, but on instinct, she reached out her hand to check on the other person involved in the accident. “Oh, it’s you again!” he said cheerily before she had a chance to ask if he was okay. He thankfully looked unharmed, “Just as I deduced, you must be Alice!”
“You know my name?” Alice was a little taken aback by how enthusiastic he was, but so far, no one in town knew her name till she introduced herself; she was just the new ranger. So hearing someone say her name upon first meeting was a little surprising. Taking a closer look at him, this was the same “boy detective” who ran in to report Granny Yuki’s glasses missing yesterday.
“Yep! Mr. Terry clued me in!” He raised his finger excitedly as if a thought had just come to him. “A stranger with no memory of the past appearing out of nowhere. Now THAT’S a real mystery! I had to see it with my own eyes!”
A loud cough caught the attention of Alice and the animated boy in front of her. “Cecil. Have some respect. This young lady’s predicament is nothing to get excited about.” The lethargic man walked over from where he was positioned at the foot of the stairs to meet them.
Before Alice could interject to say she didn’t mind, Cecil was already apologizing while a blush of embarrassment crept across his facial features, “Oh, gosh, my apologies.”
“I apologize as well. It’s my own fault for riling him up with this new ‘incident,’” the older man spoke again.
“It’s fine. Please don’t worry about it.” Alice assured him, taking notice that Cecil seemed less tense, hearing he was already forgiven. She turned her attention to the taller man, “So I assume you must be Mr. Terry.”
“And you would be correct, though it’s not much of a riddle,” Terry chuckled, holding his finger up in a similar fashion as Cecil did earlier. “I own this store, but I also work with SEED a lot on the side.” He lowered his hand to extend it to Alice for a handshake, “Here’s to the start of a beautiful friendship!”
As Alice shook Terry’s hand, she happily smiled, “Likewise, I look forward to working with you.”
Cecil suddenly spoke up, “Um, Excuse me.” Alice released the handshake with Terry, turning her attention to Cecil, his blue eyes glistening, “Can I also be your friend?” his voice slightly shaking as if he was afraid of being rejected.
Alice couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from forming a huge smile, just who asks that kind of stuff? She chuckled to herself, “Of course, Cecil! The more, the merrier.”
Cecil’s face immediately brightened, “Awesome! Thank you, Alice!”
“Well, this went better than expected.” Alice thought, feeling a lot less tired than she did earlier.
“Well, Cecil,” Terry cut in, “Everything is pretty much handled here. Go ahead and head on home.” He turned to Alice, “Actually, Cecil lives right near the outpost, so I guess you both are heading the same way.”
Without missing a beat, Cecil was already excitedly talking to Alice, “Come on, let’s walk home together! I’ll show you the best fishing spot; it’s right off the bridge by the waterfall!”
Before she could even respond to his invite, he was out the door yelling for her to follow. “Um, thank you for your time, Mr. Terry,” Alice said to the store owner before leaving to follow her new rambunctious friend.
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Alice and Cecil crossed over the northbridge, where Cecil eagerly talked about the time Lucy caught a giant Rainbow Trout in the very spot they were standing in. Once they made it to the other side of the river, Alice recognized the Smithy and the Silo tower coming into view to her left. “My house is actually right there. We’re neighbors!” Cecil said with a big grin, pointing to the house directly parallel to the Silo.
“Wow! We are pretty much neighbors.” Alice agreed, genuinely happy for such a positive conversation with someone her age.
“Cecil! How was work?” Alice and Cecil turned in the direction of the voice. It was the apprentice blacksmith leaving the Smithy.
“Martin! It was great! I helped Granny Yuki find her glasses, but you wouldn’t believe where they were!”
“On her head?” Martin answered before Cecil could continue.
“Wow, Martin! That was amazing deduction skills!”
“No, I heard from Lucy when she ran in looking for Julian.” Martin crossed his arms and sighed, “I meant the work you’re supposed to be doing at the Serendipity.”
“Well, that was fine, I guess.” Cecil smiled. “Oh! Have you met Alice? She’s our new neighbor!”
“Yes, we met earlier.” Martin nodded to Alice again, his expression seeming much softer while speaking with Cecil.
“Yea, he taught me how to use the forge at the Smithy,” Alice explained to Cecil while pointing to the True Strike Smithy right next door to Cecil’s house; “Martin must be living with his mentor.”
“That’s great!” Cecil smiled big, looking at the blacksmith, “Martin will be a master blacksmith someday, and I’ll be a great detective!” Cecil looks away and straightens his cap nervously, “Well, we better get going. I need to get dinner started.”
Cecil started walking to his house, Martin following behind. “Um. Sorry to ask. You both live together?” Alice’s curiosity slipped through.
Cecil started laughing as he turned around to face her again, “Well, yea, Martin’s my older brother.” Alice was a little surprised to hear this, given the extreme difference in personality, but Cecil didn’t seem to notice the confused look on her face, “Well, good night Alice! I hope we see you tomorrow.”
Martin nodded to her and slipped through the door of his house without another word. Cecil waved goodbye excitedly to Alice as she walked down the hill and past the SEED field to the 2nd-floor loft’s stairs. When she turned back, Cecil was already inside, the lights of their house flickering on.