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[X] Alice
[X] Well she can probably stay, it couldn't be all bad.

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"Magic Sign, 「Artful Chanter」!"

Grimnír doesn't have time to avoid the attack. He raises his hands and quickly chants a barrier spell. As he is bombarded by explosions, he focuses his mind on reinforcing the spell shield. Every second passes painfully as he blocks the attack. At any moment, the barrier can break.

The last time she broke through his shield, he spent two weeks recovering at Eientei. While she is usually calm, Master Alice can become exceptionally dangerous at times. And it seems like this is one of those moments.

After a few minutes, her barrage ends. He sighs in relief as he catches his breath. The normally timid dollmaker changes into a completely different person in battle. But it isn't necessarily a bad thing. If his life wasn't in jeopardy, he would probably admit that he finds this Alice quite attractive as well.

"W-what the hell, Alice? Are you trying to kill me again?" he cries out.

"Do you think so? What makes you think that?" she replies coldly.

Alice frowns at his puzzled expression. It lasts for only a moment, but her eyes glance at the firefly girl watching below. Then, he remembers. Master always trains him in secluded, quiet places, away from prying eyes. The noisy and energetic Wriggle Nightbug is the perfect foil to her visit.

"Damn it, Wriggle!" he whispers under his breath.

At first he thought, "Well, she could probably stay". While a little nosy, she is far more well-behaved than the stupid ice fairy or the darkness youkai. She and Alice seem to be civil enough around each other. It couldn't be all bad. What could possibly go wrong?

"You can do it, Grim!" cries Wriggle suddenly. "She isn't that tough! The black-white could do better than that!"

"Ahahaha..." he mumbles uneasily.

Alice smiles grows wider at her words. Her left eye seems to be twitching slightly. Oh wow, Wriggle. Is that bug really trying to get him killed? By the looks of it, he'll be looking at another trip to the hospital. Or worse. He better try to get Alice to calm down before she starts going spell card crazy.

"Hey Master," he says, as calmly as possible. "You said earlier that you wanted me to try another kind of magic?"

"So you were listening?" she replies. "I couldn't tell because of a certain uninvited guest."

"What did you mean when you said, 'use your own magic'?" he asks, ignoring the comment.

"I meant it exactly as I said it, 'Grim'," returns Alice. "Focus on your own unique powers. I've seen you do it before."

"B-but you said that it's too dangerous to use," he argues. "You told me never to use it."

"Your awareness and control has greatly improved," she says. "You should be able to imbue the magic into a spell card this time."

Grimnír pauses. He always wondered about how to use his powers, but is this the right time to try it? He doesn't even fully understand how they work, and he almost got himself killed last time.

"Like I explained earlier, you seem to have the ability to alter materials in ways that go beyond known magic. Patchouli said that your skill with the elements was far greater than that of most magicians. Even that Black-White said that you could dodge her spark attacks even when there is no possible direction of escape. You can cause subtle changes between planes, with unexpectedly powerful results."

"But I almost got killed last time," argues Grimnír. "And I only succeeded because I was trapped and cornered!"

Alice only smiles at him. A cold and calculating expression, this only makes him shudder. She can't possibly be thinking...

"I'm tired of waiting," she says. "You are going to learn how to use that power, or die trying. Slowly and painfully, if you choose the latter."

Before he can think of anything else, his eyes are drawn to the spell card in her hands.

"War Command, 「Doll's War」!" cries Alice.

... What the hell is she so pissed about anyway?
[ ] Create a new possibility.
[ ] Manipulate an existing possibility.
[ ] Destroy a future possibility.