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Scarlett: “Not how it was reported, right? Surprising, isn\'t it.” She said with fake confidence, trying to cover up her sadness.

Cid: “No, that\'s not it. It\'s just awful. I don\'t know how else to say it.” He said sympathetically.

Scarlett gazed at Cid. A deep sense of melancholy could be felt from her eyes.

Scarlett: “Well, that was a better response than what I got from people I thought were my friends.”

Cid: “Really?”

Scarlett: “They threw every accusation at me. Said I was a liar, a monster, or some crazy person pretending to be me. They didn’t want to hear what I had to say, instead they chose to believe Rana and my other former disciples. Tell me Cid, what is the official story they teach at that college of what happened.”

Cid: “They…They say you went to the Wildlands with your eight disciples and were intending to sacrifice them. You had discovered some ritual to empower yourself, but it required human sacrifice at the top of that mysterious structure. You managed to sacrifice two of your disciples before your six other disciples stopped you. They interrupted the ritual and the structure exploded with you in it. You were thought dead for a few years after that, until you appeared again. T-that is the basics of what I read.“

Scarlett: “A lie to obfuscate the truth, created by Rana. It is what they told the university and everyone else about what happened. Thus, I was branded a criminal and monster to the rest of the world.”

Cid: “If that is true, then you didn’t murder your students.”

Scarlett: “No. If you knew Jere and Chelsie, neither of them would have gone along with Rana\'s plan. So, they needed to be silenced. They didn’t think I had survived, so it was easy to frame me for their murder.”

Cid: “I… how. How could they bring themselves to murder their friends and colleagues?”

Scarlett: “I-I don’t know. I thought I knew them, but I never imagined they would…could do something like that.”

Cid: “What was it even all for?”

Scarlett: “I… have my suspicions. Do you know what happened to my former disciples after they returned?”

Cid shook his head.

Scarlett: “Three of them become incredibly powerful high class mages, whose power was just below that of an archmage. The other three became actual archmages. They became the youngest arch mages in modern history, earning them the title of the Tri-mages.”

Cid: “They became the three prodigies!!!” he yelled out in surprise.

Cid had heard about them. They were incredibly young archmages that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Their mastery of the arcane was incredible for their age. They had talent that only appeared once in a generation. So, for three of them to appear at once was truly considered extraordinary. As their fame grew, people started calling them the three prodigies, or the Tri-mages.

Scarlet let out a deep sigh.

Scarlett: “Yup. They changed their names when they became archmages, so no one knows that they were once my disciples. They poisoned my reputation so much that they themselves didn’t want to be associated with me. But, don’t you find it strange? All of them became so powerful suddenly after what happened in the Wildlands.”

Cid closed his eyes briefly and thought about what Scarlett was saying. It wasn\'t too hard for him to piece the information together and understand what Scarlett was implying.

Cid: “So, that part about a sacrificial ritual to empower oneself might be real. Except, you were the sacrifice instead of your former disciples.”

Scarlett: “Exactly. I don’t know how they discovered such a ritual, but it would explain the sudden increase in power. However, it is just a theory. I have no hard evidence to support it, just correlations and odd circumstances.”

Cid: “It does sound plausible with everything you told me. There is however one detail you left out. There was a two year gap after that event. You disappeared and everyone thought you were dead. What were you exactly doing for those two years before you appeared again?”

Scarlett: “Hmm. Not much to say about that. Let me answer your question with another. Do I look like an ancient hag who had their life force ripped out of them?”

Cid did another look over of Scarlett. Her face had sharp features and looked gorgeous. He recalled that she was supposedly almost pushing sixty in her age, but she looked like she was in her thirties. Even before she was labeled as a criminal, she was known for her exceptional beauty. If she wasn\'t such a powerful mage, she could have easily become a famous model.

Cid: “No, but that doesn\'t mean you can\'t use something like a glamor to hide your real appearance.”

Scarlett: “I assure you that there are no illusions on me. What you see is what I am.”

Cid had a moment of doubt to Scarlett\'s honesty. It didn’t make sense to him that she could look so young without illusions. It was not an unheard of practice for mages to hide the signs of aging with magic, but for her to hide that fact in this instance called into question her sincerity. In the end, Cid didn’t push back too hard about this. It wouldn’t have been the first time an older person lied about their age to him.

Cid: “Are you trying to imply that you spent those two years undoing the effects of that ritual?”

Scarlett: “That is exactly what I\'m saying. After I managed to crawl my way back to civilization from the Wildlands which, by the way, was so much fun without my magic.” She said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. “I spent those two years in hiding from my former friends and workers that backstabbed me, trying to undo the damage done to me. All while those traitors spread lies about what happened.”

Cid: “That… If what you say did happen, how do you even recover from something like that?”

Scarlett: “A lot of research and trial and error, then after two years of failure, you\'re left completely despondent. It was then and there that I found a solution to my problem.”

Cid: “And what was it?”

There was a pause as Scarlett was in deep thought. She eventually responded after a few seconds.

Scarlett: “He helped me. Like he helped you.”

Cid: “John…” he absent mindlessly blurted out.

Cid had only a single interaction with John, but from that single interaction, he couldn’t even begin to comprehend the depth of John\'s ability. If there was anyone who could possibly help her, he believed it would be him.

Scarlett: “That’s right. It was John that saved me. He was the only one there when I needed someone the most. The only one who stood by me and cared, even as the whole world abandoned me. There is nothing that I can say or do to ever repay what he’s done for me.”

“She was just like me.” Cid thought to himself.

Her story sounded very relatable to Cid. The journey they took may have been different between the two of them, but the destination they ended at was the same. Right at John’s doorstep, burdened by the hopelessness of the world and their situation.

Scarlett: “Now, you know my life story and everything about me. I don’t think there is anything left to say. Any secrets I have left, I only keep them from you because they\'re not mine to share.”

Cid: “You told me these stories to help work through your trauma. Did it help at all?”

Stolen story; please report.

Scarlett: “I… don’t know. Honestly, I didn\'t know what I expected. No, that’s wrong. I was somehow hoping that miraculously the past wouldn’t bother me anymore, and that I could start trusting and relying on people other than John. Too bad it couldn\'t be that simple.” She said with a pained smile.

Cid: “It’s never simple, but I get it. You don’t wanna get hurt again. Who’d blame you. It’s why you push people away, but I think you already know that.”

Scarlett: “Yeah…”

Cid: “I can’t speak for others that you work with, but I can promise here and now. I will never betray or harm you. So, you can at least trust me.”

He declared, trying to ease some of Scarlett\'s anxieties

Scarlett: “I-I just can’t.” She said as her voice trembled.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Scarlett clenched her fist until her knuckles were white while her lower lip quivered. She was trembling and trying to hold back her emotions, and was failing to do so.

Scarlett

: “I don’t want it to happen again. Cid, I don’t know what hurts more. Being betrayed by the people I care about, or letting the ones I love die.” She said as tears rolled down her face, ruining her makeup and mascara.

Whatever image he previously had or was developing of Scarlet, there was one thing Cid was sure about. He didn’t want this person to cry.

Cid: “Please, Ms Scarlett, don’t cry! I\'m sorry for upsetting you.” he said in a panic.

Scarlett was too upset to respond to what Cid was saying. She tried to wipe the tears off her face with the sleeves of her clothing, but more tears came. There was nothing that Cid could say or do, he could only wait anxiously while Scarlett cried.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Some time had gone by before Scarlett had calmed down enough to speak.

Scarlett: “I-Im sorry for showing you that. You shouldn’t have to deal with me when I\'m like that.”

Cid: “No, that’s OK, but is there anything I can do to make you OK with trusting me?”

Scarlett: “Just… give me some time. Maybe a month, or how about after you graduate. Then you can start working with me fully.”

Cid: “That\'s…”

Scarlett: “Don’t worry, I’ll still pay you. In the meantime, every week on this day you will come here and have tea with me and chat. It will help me get more comfortable about making you my disciple.”

Cid: “Ok, we can take it slow…wait. Did you say disciple?”

Scarlett: “I did. I know it\'s a bit more than just a helper, but John asked me to and I\'m not one to refuse him.”

If Cid was to become Scarlett\'s disciple, it meant her teaching him and looking out for his well being. Becoming a disciple was not a simple thing. In the magic world it meant working and learning under a more powerful mage. It was really only archmages that took on disciples, as everyone wanted to learn under them.There was a degree of prestige of being an archmage\'s disciple. However, Scarlett wasn\'t currently a conventional archmage. Cid would likely receive more infamy than prestige by being her disciple.

Cid: “Did he really? I thought I was going to be just a helper, not a disciple.”

Cid was beginning to see why Scarlett was so upset a little while ago. A disciple would be a hell lot more intimate than just a simple cleaner.

Scarlett: “He did. Now you see why I\'m having such a hard time. I was betrayed by my disciples, and now he wants me to take you on as a disciple.”

Cid: “Y-you don’t have to make me your disciple.”

Scarlett: “No, I do. He asked me to do so.”

Cid: “Why? Why would he ask you to make me a disciple?”

Scarlett just shrugged.

Scarlett: “Who knows. Maybe it was to help me, or maybe it was for your benefit. Maybe, he sees something in you that neither of us can. He can be mysterious like that.“

Cid was speechless. He didn’t know how to properly respond. There was a point in his life that he dreamed of becoming an archmage\'s disciple, but now that it was happening, he wasn\'t entirely happy about it. The amount of attention that it would attract to him would be dangerous. Right now all Cid wanted was to fly under the radar and complete his degree. It would become extremely difficult to do so if he became known as the scarlet witch’s disciple.

“Then again, if it was found out that I was just working for the scarlet witch, not even as a disciple, it would be just as troublesome. Maybe I\'ve already gone off the deep end at this point.” Cid thought to himself.

Cid: “I take it I can\'t refuse to be your disciple, if that\'s the case, can we at least keep that a secret. I don’t think I could handle the heat.”

Scarlett: “Well, it\'s not like I was going to announce this meeting to the world. Everything that was said between us will be confidential.”

Cid: “Good. I don’t know what I\'d do if you were to announce to the world about making me your disciple.”

Scarlett: “You do realize I\'ve not been an official archmage for a while now. I don’t announce things like that to the public anymore.”

Cid: “Well, I don\'t know how it works in the criminal world. Maybe you’ll announce it to the criminal underworld that you got a new disciple.”

Scarlett: “I guess technically I will have to tell a few of my colleagues about you, but no. There’s no grand announcement about the scarlet witch getting a new disciple.”

Cid: “Who exactly are you revealing my existence too?”

Scarlett: “I’ll introduce you to them at a later time. Anyways, here take this.” She said as she pushed a small rectangular piece of paper towards Cid.

Cid picked up the paper he was offered and gave it a quick look over. He was surprised by what it was. It was a blank check signed by someone named "Bruce Wayne".

Cid: “What’s this?”

Scarlett: “It’s your payment. Put whatever number you want on it and deposit it into your bank account. Keep in mind, It’s only good for up to a hundred thousand Glint. Anything above and the banks won’t process it.”

Cid: “No, I mean… Where did you get this? Who’s Bruce Wayne?”

Scarlett: “Did you really think I would give you a check with my name on it? No, it\'s a fake name I created to allow me to move money through the banking system. So, don’t worry about it. Just put down the amount for your tuition and any other stuff you’ll need. Also, be generous with the amount. I\'m not going to be giving you these checks regularly, so max it out if you want, I don\'t care.”

Cid hesitated for a moment. He wanted to ask more questions about this, worried about attracting the suspicion of the bank, but he relented and decided to just do as he was told. Scarlett was a wanted criminal. She had avoided arrest for over a decade, so he reasoned that Scarlett knew what she was doing and that he could just deposit the money without trouble.

This however made Cid feel weird. He originally didn’t want to receive such a large lump sum from John, but now was receiving it instead from Scarlett. If he wanted to avoid being dragged into such a dangerous world, he should have taken John\'s original offer of paying for his school, but now he was going to be linked to the scarlet witch.

“I guess fate can be weird like this. You can’t stop it when things start moving.” He thought to himself.

Cid: “OK, I understand.” He said as he filled in the blank check with the max amount of a hundred thousand Glint.

Scarlett: “Good. Also, if you have any special abilities, I suggest you hide them. Believe me, if the university finds out, they won’t easily let you go at best, at worst some of the bastards might try to dissect you.”

Cid: “Not saying that I have anything like that, but if I did, I wouldn’t just be casually showing it off. I\'m trying not to attract any more attention than I need to, so you don’t need to scare me with warnings of dissections.”

Scarlett: “Trust me. If you knew half the shit they do behind closed doors, being dissected would be half of your worries, but that\'s good to know you\'re trying to lay low. Oh, and it goes without saying, but for the love of light, don’t show anyone anything you get from John.”

Upon hearing that, Cid instinctively moved his arm to try and feel the book he had hidden under his clothing. It was still there, secured in a secret pocket he had made. The book he had hidden was the very same book that he had received from John a week ago. It contained profound secrets and knowledge. Cid knew that it would be extremely dangerous if it was to fall into someone else’s hands

Cid: “Yeah…you don’t need to tell me that.”

Scarlet started intensely at Cid before she let out a long sigh.

Scarlett: “In case you get into any trouble, take this.” She said as she took out what looked like a white porcelain bell and slid it across the table towards Cid.

Cid picked up the bell that was passed to him and examined it. At first glance it looked to be made of porcelain, but it didn’t feel like it was porcelain. It wasn\'t cool to the touch and was too light. Upon closer inspection, Cid felt that it might actually be made of bone.

Cid: “What is this?”

Scarlett: “If you get into any danger, channel some aether into it and ring the bell. I’ll come running to help you out.”

Cid nodded. He immediately understood that the bell was some sort of device that could somehow contact Scarlett. He then pocketed the strange bell.

Scarlett: “With that, I guess we\'re done here for today.”

Cid: “Oh, OK. See you next week, I guess.”

Cid said his goodbyes and then awkwardly took his leave.

There was nobody to help guide him back, so he needed to retrace his way back from memory. It was a good thing that it was just a straight line from where he was to where he descended from. Once he got to the stairwell, it took a few minutes for him to figure out how to open the secret door. He found a lever that was just out of sight and flipped it. When he did, the door at the top of the stairs opened.

He ascended the stairs and was making his way back to the front of the store. As he was about to enter the main store floor, he took a deep breath. He was expecting to be stared down by the staff and questioned, especially by that Lise girl.

As soon as he entered, he was met by the sight of a familiar red eyed individual talking to Lise.

John: “Oh, if it isn\'t Cid. I didn\'t know you came here.” he said with a smile that somehow made Cid feel nervous.

This was the last person he expected to meet here.

Cid was starting to come around to Scarlett\'s point of view when it came to John. It couldn\'t be just coincidence.