Evangeline stopped a couple of steps away from the fruits vendor. Hargeon’s market that morning was already buzzing loud with the sound of people prepping for another day. Everyone with their own shops were setting them up, some were moving new things in, and some, with lesser customers, where simply staring other shops down. Among them, the chatter of housewives rose promptly when a group settled in next to the grocery shop. They arrived with their own shopping bags and long lists, determination to get the best deals of the day alive on their face. A few shops were already open and accepting customers. A wide variety of faces greeted each other as they passed by, some quickly bought whatever they wanted and left while some slowly walked down each aisle of the market in an attempt to get a glimpse of everything. Eva noticed, in the middle of the busy crowd, a very few amount of people that chose the vegetables and fruits very carefully, twisting and turning each item in their hands, sometimes tapping on them, and sometimes squeezing them for gauging the freshness of each item. Chefs, she figured, that had their restaurants set up closer to the market came in earlier than others to look for the best ingredients.

“Do you need anything, young lady?” the fruit vendor finally spoke up. He noticed the pretty young girl that stood next to his shop, but neither did she looked at anything nor did she say a word. She was tall and pretty, and she didn’t look like she belonged in the market area of Hargeon at all. He noticed, through curious eyes, the white silk skirt she wore along with a pale baby blue, long-sleeved shirt. Her hair was up in a pretty pony tail but several loose strands fell out and framed her heart shaped face. When the light reflected off her platinum blonde hair, it made a soft glow around her who stood with upright with two sharp eyes now trained on him. She had a gentle smile playing at her lips but for some reason, the old man found, it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m sorry if I bothered you,” Eva broke the man out of his thoughts, knowing very well that he was already trying to figure her out. “But, I was wondering…how much do those plums cost?” her eyes pointed to the row of red plums right above the bright green apples. They looked as delectable as ever. In fact, if she had actually gotten her daily dose of plums early in the morning, she wouldn’t have even been there at the market. The last minute order her manager initially gave for a box of plums was sadly cancelled since the seller wasn’t able to deliver it at the time that it was demanded on –which is to say was 4:30 AM. Thus, her morning demanded her to fake smiles at her manager and the rest of the crew gathered in Hargeon for an annual photo-shoot at the beach. She had to play extra nice for them to let her go out, too.

“Oh dear! Only 50 J for each, child,” the man beamed, already reaching over to grab a small plastic bag from the side of his store. “How many do you want?” his hands hovered over the plums as his eyes fell excitedly on hers. Eva smiled in return –though annoyed by his messy movements- and said, “Just five, please”. He quickly began counting five of the bigger ones before putting them all into the neat plastic bag. And as she waited, her eyes quickly skimmed over the other shops again, half amused by the amount of people gathered and half disgusted by the lack of manners they displayed. As soon as the bag was thrust towards her, she quickly put down a 500J bill and spun around, intended to get back to the photo-shoot before it began.

Truly, Alisa loved the summer. But why though, why would a pale skinned beauty from the North enjoy such heat; the kind of weather she was so clearly not built to thrive in?

This was the only time of the year when flaunting her body such could be deemed acceptable, elegant even. After all, she had to run, fight, lift, sweating gallons over several years before she got this figure... Even longer than that before she realized she had every reason to feel proud of it...

Blue Pegasus made her feel beautiful like no other place in this world since the loss of her parents - helped her understand it's importance too, how beauty and art could help mend a wounded soul - and she had them to thank for that realization.

Cue two years later, an Alisa without all that unsightly hatred straining her look.

A sheer aquamarine dress and classy black bikini made up her wardrobe for yet another photoshoot, her first summer themed one this year. Alisa modelled as a hobby rather than a job - albeit a rather well paid hobby -  relishing the chance to be so eagerly admired, and most importantly, admire. Her gorgeous fellow models definitely deserved it... Yet she was on her break right now.

She fanned herself, shielding her eyes from the sun's rays kissing her skin so, walking out of the beach on a quest for a mid morning snack. Getting the photographer to give her a five minute break was as easy as flashing a seductive smile.

But then, she wouldn't stay out for long.

This early in the morning, the crowd was still at a manageable size, yet the aloof, secretly paranoid Alisa hardly found it agreeable: She loathed being surrounded by more people than her senses could track.

She wound up picking the nearest fruit stall, with the added bonus of having one of her colleagues already there buying plums, "I'll have this apple please.", she asked, handing the vendor a couple of Jewels

As for the girl, she was a rather attractive platinum blonde, and unlike most of the other models someone Alisa had never seen before.

In the end, curiosity got the better of her, "Hmmm, you're a new face around this parts...", rather, these photoshoots, "...are you not?", Inquired the sculptress with her coolest, friendliest smile, "I'm Alisa."

Wine red eyes would shine a welcoming look on the mysterious girl's if and when she turned to face Alisa. Meanwhile she casually nibbled a small chunk of apple, fan carefully angled to gracefully cover her mouth as she ate...

Eva forcefully pulled herself back before she could crash into the raven haired beauty that suddenly appeared beside her when she was about to go back. One of her hands had to find support on the stall while the other tightened its grip on the bag of plums. She was taken aback but quickly composed herself and plastered a smile on her face while her inner self screamed at the woman that decided to make an appearance out of nowhere. She was nibbling on an apple as if she hadn’t just startled a person, too. The inner Eva sighed in annoyance.

This woman was definitely beautiful –another thing that made a vein pop on Evangeline. She wore an aquamarine dress along with what seemed to Eva as a bikini from the black fabric that peeked through the dress. Another one of the models, she guessed with inner Eva going berserk. She was beyond annoyed at the revelation. The wind magician knew that they had more models coming in for the photo shoot and she had even met most of them already. But, the thing about all of those models was that they were all of the same type. All that they had going for them was their body and she quickly understood, from a very few conversations with them, that they had nothing to display for a brain. And, that’s exactly what she expected from the other ones that would come in later. However, this woman next to her felt different. Eva couldn’t see exactly what made her so special but she could tell that this one wasn’t like the others. The fact quickly irritated her and yet lifted her spirits at the same time. This meant that she had at least one person to talk to but also to be jealous over. Eva felt that her presence might take away attention from herself.

The soft brush of a shriveled up hand jolted Eva awake from her thoughts. She realized that she was staring when the fruits vendor quickly reached over to grab another plastic bag. “Hello,” Eva began with one of the best of her smiles up front. “You’re right, I’m from Era. I came for the photo shoot down at the beach. It’s Evangeline, by the way,” she spoke with amber eyes fixed on two red ones that looked back at her. “Did the photo shoot start already? I was hoping to get away from the heat for a while. I can’t work if I can’t have plums, you see,” she laughed, lying carefully, but making small talk with the girl. She didn’t leave the photo shoot to get away from the sun but to get away from the people there and for her precious plums that were denied that morning thanks to her manager’s incompetence.

By that time, the fruits shop was starting to get crowded with more people, too. There were mostly housewives trying to get the better fruits and one of them carelessly fell on Eva’s back, pushing her aside to look at the dragon fruits. To say Eva was beyond angry would have been an understatement but, again, Eva was a master at faking smiles and being as graceful as a swan. She put a hand in front of her to indicate she was ok while tilting her head to the side with a warm smile.

“I think we should get back now,” Eva turned to walk away, fishing for a plum inside her bag for her to eat.  She groaned at the thought of working again but the promise of a long vacation after this made her just want to get this over with; not that she would ever tell anyone this.

Apparently the woman was so absorbed in her purchase she didn't even see her coming. Though on the other hand it was partly Alisa's fault for not announcing herself so she'd carry her share of the blame, "Did I startle you? My apologies.", she'd say with a soft, apologetic chuckle, cool but gentle, flipping some of her raven hair behind her shoulder  with the back of her wrist... Even this breeze had a way of sending it fluttering around in tresses, "Pleasure to meet you, Evangeline."

Saying the name out loud, half to remember it and half to feel how it rolled off her tongue, Alisa commited this girl to memory in her entirety.

She was a bit shorter and slimmer than the crystal sculptress, yet just as elegant. Of course, there was a reason why she also fit in with this crowd, for this photoshoot, nobody would doubt that for a second. Her fashion sense was spot on too, the white of her skirt matching the brightness in her hair and eyes, her top blue like the overhead skies. Truly she didn't belong in this market, but in the Blue Pegasus Guild Hall. But what truly caught Alisa's attention, what she sensed behind all that gorgeousness was something else entirely: Something interesting... More than just admiring her stunning, angelic visage, the Pegasus sensed other dimensions behind all that, along with a keen yearning, a desire to confirm her instincts were true.

That said, the girl seemed rather interested in her own appearance judging from how hard she looked, enough for the Crystal mage to shift her weight to one leg, a discreet, laid back pose accompanied by an elegant, cursory glance into the distance, as if inviting her to look all she wanted. For a girl like Alisa, the thought Eva might actually be jealous didn't cross her mind for a single moment. Why would she when she looked like that? In that case, this meant the mysterious blonde found her just as eye pleasing as she did her. Alisa might be proud of her appearance to the point of narcissism, but nothing beat this feeling, this mutual admiration - a thrilling thought strong enough to get a brighter look out of her...

Even when she completely misunderstood it as such...

"Era, hmm...? Well, you picked a good time to visit. The weather is lovely and the Photographer is great to work with.", she smiled and nodded, "He usually does the photoshoots for Blue Pegasus callendars too.", Alisa met the woman's pearlescent amber gaze without flinching, partly lost in their beauty but mostly confident it would help her learn more about this girl. Like when she talked about plums. Truly her sweetness could very well be an act - Alisa herself was no stranger to those - but when she mentioned Plums she all but lit up like a christmas tree. There's no faking that, earing a hearty but elegant laughter from the tall mage in turn, "Well, they are quite tasty~. A mid morning snack goes a long way for these photoshoots...", the model for fun shook her head but winked playfully, "It didn't start yet, but you can get some photos taken to pass the time. You just have to ask, really..."

That was, until somebody ruined their pleasant small talk with a rather rude shove. Alisa moved by sheer reflex - a fast, sudden motion only an experienced, well trained fighter could have pulled off - touching the girl's arm in preparation to break her fall should she stumble too far forward.

She didn't.

But this served as a wake up call, a reminder of where they were. Evangeline pointed it out first, how they should go elsewhere. Alisa nodded: "Yeah, that's probably a good idea.", another chuckle, yet this time one of cleverly concealed unease, fanning herself a bit faster. People were gathering... Crowding on her... She hated it, one of the few things she still truly hated and openly acknowledged to herself. Inside the guild hall, even her fan club new better than gathering by the dozen around her. But though she was still in Hargeon, she wasn't in Blue Pegasus. Most importantly than everything else, she had an image to maintain...

As such she manouvered away from the crowd, discarding her now finished apple on a nearby bin before climbing the stairs back down onto the warm, welcoming sand. Some more models had arrived now, so the shoot was likely to start soon, "So, how long have you been modelling?", asked the curious Alisa, heading towards the lounge chair Litwick was guarding.

Since nobody in their right mind would sit on a lit candle, this was as close to a reservation as a girl might get in here. Fortunately, there was an empty one for Eva too if wanted to wait laying down rather than standing. The air was lovely at the beach... Down here under this warm, comforting sun, it was as if her senses stretched out to the horizon. Inhale... Exhale... Alisa felt this envoiroment she so loved with every bit of sensory acuity in her, its sight, it's scent, it's sound... The sand gently enveloping her bare feet, the salty breeze kissing her soft skin.

The sun however, could be as harsh as it was warm: She'd need to put on sunscreen at this rate...

Evangeline was proud of a lot of things. But there were two things, other than her dancing skills, that she was a lot more proud of. One of them wasn’t important in this context but the other, her observation skills, was. Just one glance at Alisa was enough for Eva to tell that she wasn’t pleased to be around a big crowd. It wasn’t a difficult feat either since the difference between her posture outside a crowd and within one was easy to spot. And Eva could empathize with her, too. Despite being a model and a dancer, Eva hated it when people crowded around her. Of course she never showed it or said a word out of line but the irritable feeling was there when people fawned over her without even understanding the real Evangeline. Eva loved attention, but not to the extent that she often got.

“Hmm, I suppose it has been three or four years,” she answered as they both walked down to the beach. The humid wind enveloped her, brushed past her and whispered a good day. Eva was aware that she hadn’t been using the contract as much as usual these days. In fact, she had been slacking off from going on missions, too. The wind spirits were as friendly to her as they always were but it had been a while since she saw the wise face of Anemoi.

She spotted a chubby lit candle before she saw the lounge chair. That was an odd thing to be in a beach but she guessed it was Alisa’s companion from the way it was just there next to her. On the empty chair beside it she found her own bag, probably left there by her manager in an attempt to save a spot for her –she guessed that he was reflecting on his inability to bring Eva her plums that morning.

The photo shoot hadn’t begun yet but she could see that they had set the equipment down and created a large circle barrier around where they would be shooting, forcing the other people to either go around it or just stay in one side of the beach. There were models hanging around here and there, a few of them playing in the waters while another few had their photos taken, smiling and getting more familiar then they should with the photographer. Eva sat down with another plum in her hand. She had seen this happen many times and it never surprised her anymore. The more they kissed up to the photographer, the more chance they had with taking a lot of photos.

“This seems to happen all the time,” she sighed, untied her hair and laid down on the chair. She had to consciously direct her long hair to one side before they fell over the chair and down to the sand. The sun rays fell on her and Eva took a deep breath before turning and lying on her side, facing Alisa. “You said I was a new face here. Then, do you live here? You mentioned the Blue Pegasus guild too”. Eva wouldn’t be surprised even if the woman next to her disclosed that she was from the Blue Pegasus guild. They were famous for having really beautiful people taking up a major part of the guild. She was pretty sure that most of them had either become the cover for sorcerer’s magazine or had their articles published in other ones, too.

“Oh! I’m part of the Rune Knights by the way,” Eva pulled down the top of her shirt to reveal the Rune Knight symbol below her collarbone. “I’m a page, though. I haven’t been concentrating on my Rune Knight’s duties lately. I’m either called in for modelling or I have my dance shows,” she smiled. Eva usually followed a tight schedule and went to bed as tired as she would wake up the next day. But on all those occasions, she was happier than she would ever be if she sat in her home doing nothing. There was a sweet pleasure to the pain of hard work that Eva loved.

"Twice as long as I have huh...", observed Alisa, looking off into the horizon as she laid down face up on her lounge chair. For a girl so young, Alisa truly got lost in reminiscence easily enough: Oddly enough since she preferred living the present. Blue Pegasus had been responsible for that drastic change from, turning the aloof avenger into a truly elegant martial artist.

The Photoshoot was just about ready to begin, no doubt they were only waiting for the last of the models to arrive. Alisa spared a cursory admiration to some of the girls frolicking around the beach, while others fawned over the Photographer. She'd met some of these girls before, and contrary to popular belief, not all of them were completely vapid and shallow (even if a few of them were). Yet even some of the smarter ones showered the guy with self-seeking affection. He was used to it of course... But little did they know they didn't actually need to so readily throw themselves at the guy, he was nice enough to indulge in a few warm up shots if only they asked nicely.

"It does... And some are the usual suspects.", Alisa chuckled and nodded towards three particularly frisky girls, two blondes and a brunette, who she'd seen do that time after time. Yet with with such an interesting beauty this close to her, the sculptress could only look at the other three for so long. She nodded at her sharp question: The girl was half right. Alisa spent plenty of time in Hargeon, but she didn't actually live there, "I wouldn't say I live here, but Hargeon is my home...", With this, she started pulling up her dress, arching her hips and then her back in a single undulating motion, letting the fabric slide gracefully underneath her. Once it passed her toned midriff, Eva would easily spot the Guild stamp beside her navel, "Indeed, I'm a Mage of Blue Pegasus. That obvious~?", she'd ask, a playful chuckle escaping her lips.

Alisa had been told she was quite the stereotypical Pegasus on more than one occasion, but considering their high standards, she saw that as a compliment rather than an insult, even if it was a gross simplification...

Once the dress was off completely, Alisa placed it inside her bag, and ran her hands around her neck, gathering her hair in a long tress and laying it down gracefully beside her, then finally running her fingers under the edges of her bikini, adjusting that too. Alisa really was careful about her appearance, even when lazing under the sun... Only once she was satsified did she fully rest her head on one arm and turned towards Evangeline in earnest.

Her introduction as a Rune Knight visibly piqued the Pegasus' interest, if that raising brow was anything to go by. Show me yours and I'll show you mine, Evangeline too revealed the insignia above her breast, "Rune knight huh... So you hunt dark mages for a living.", Alisa's smile widened with empathetic appreciation, carefully hiding how she kind of did that as well. You shouldn't really tell a cop about your side job as a vigilante... Instead, she focused primarily on the other piece of information:

"So you dance too, huh...? A woman of many talents, I see.", praised Alisa, her faint smile widening into an intrigued smirk, wine red eyes not leaving Evangeline's amber for a single second. Even as she blindly reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of sunscreen, and started applying it to her long legs, and inquired on her favorite dance, "Can you Tango?"

So Eva’s hunch had been right. Alisa did belong to Blue Pegasus, after all. The cyan colored symbol of a Pegasus with its wings going up on either side was clearly visible on the woman’s right side of Alisa’s waist. It was a beautiful symbol and although Eva would never admit it out loud in front of others, she personally preferred the symbols of many other guilds to her own Rune Knight’s somewhat of an ankh symbol. Moreover, she never figured what it stood for. She read a bit on it when she got curious but nothing noteworthy caught her eyes except for the history of how it came to be and that was a boring path to venture into altogether.

When the conversation shifted to her dance skills, Eva couldn’t help but let her eyes lit up in pride and adoration. It was the one thing that she lived for, and the only reason why she ever agreed to modeling in the first place. She was starting to run out of funds to support her dance lessons and occasional shows when her manager subtly introduced her into modeling. Somehow, that road opened many other possibilities even though Eva kept herself in check, to never let herself lose in that glamorous world where one step out of path could make everything go spiraling down a rabbit hole of doom. Instead, she had kept her principles tighter to herself than usual, refused when she didn’t want to represent something, and carefully chose to associate with only those people she knew she could tolerate in the long run. Needless to say, she made quite a lot of enemies and just as many…acquaintances.

“Tango, yes,” she drawled, going back to lying down on her back. “I know how to do it, and I have done it on a few occasions, too. But, I won’t say it’s my favorite,” she replied with a thoughtful look on her face. She was clearly having a rush of unpleasant memories because while her pleasant features kept being pleasant, her eyes took on a dangerous shade of amber. She remembered when she first tried the dance form in one of her classes at the academy once. While the dance itself was amazing with its swift footing and heated rhythm, she found that it could become an unbelievably sickening experience if not performed with the right person. If your partner turned out to be a pervert that couldn’t keep their hands to where they should, Eva learned that the best way to frighten the bloke into never dancing again would be by stepping on their feet with your 9 inch pointed heels more than once.

“Evangeline-san! Alisa-san!” a shrill, high pitched voice made Eva almost jump as they came near to where she and Alisa where resting. “Joel-san said we are ready to start the photo shoot now!” she said with a well pronounced spring in her steps. The girl was a few feet smaller than her with dark seaweed colored hair kept in a perm and equally green eyes. Eva remembered her as one of the models that she felt she could probably tolerate despite the woman’s voice that annoyed her greatly.

Eva gave her a swift nod and a smile before turning to Alisa. “I think we are up soon,” she notified her and got up. Stretching her limbs, Eva quickly patted her hair back into place before going over to a where the majority of models now gathered around. They quietly parted when Eva came through and right in the middle were two models, already in their best posture, looking confidently into the camera that Joel now administered with a professional ease. “Alright! Evangeline-san or Alisa-san should be next!”

Somehow, Eva wasn’t surprised that Alisa had gotten paired up with her. With their work experience and look, they were both as good as it could get and Eva could already see the profit clock ticking away in Joel’s head. She wasn’t going to complain. If she absolutely had to go through this blasted photo shoot, she would rather do it with someone she could stand rather than the others that Eva had already thrown together in her ‘people to forget’ list. It made everything much easier when your partner knew what they were doing, too. Eva could easily adjust herself and she just knew that Alisa could do the same. Still, she was the more experienced one out of the two and Eva took that to account as she maneuvered both of them to a place where the light could hit them the best.

As Alisa had her hand around Eva, she had her body turned a little to the left with her legs crossed over one another. The tip of her right foot stood vertical in front of the left one that was placed firmly on the sand. Afterwards, Eva slowly leaned back to rest a very little of her weight on Alisa before facing the camera with a look of defiance and confidence mixed. Her left hand rested on her left thigh while the other laid free on her side. In the end, Eva managed to make the pose look almost effortless and simply natural with the help of Alisa. The Blue Pegasus mage had the build of a natural model, Eva noted. While it was arguable that Eva was the same, she knew her body wasn’t always like this. In fact, her body only developed through her obsessive dance routines, and it wasn’t completely –she cast a quick, disappointed glance to her chest- developed either.

“Wonderful!” Joel cheered between the rapid clicking of his camera. Bright flashes fell on Eva and Alisa as they once again changed their positions. This time, Eva faced the taller girl’s side and had her hands come up to rest on Alisa’s almost bare shoulder. With her back straight and head slightly thrown back, Eva once again faced the camera, this time with a simple smile.

And soon, time rushed past the two girls with them trying out countless poses with the camera flashing away nonstop. Eva even took a couple of single shots before they decided it was time to wrap things up with the two of them. The other models had begun to get impatient until they asked for a switch. Despite being irritated, Eva was actually fine with the change. She was starting to get tired from having to twist and turn her body in different directions under the heated glare of the sun.

“Well, that went well. I think this will be wrapped up soon,” Eva said as she walked back to her chair. She could see her manager from the corner of her eyes. He was starting to get water bottles out for Eva which she silently thanked him for. This probably meant that her part in this show was over. Eva already had plans of how to spend the rest of her time in Hargeon. She would want to do a few quests, go sight-seeing and then probably travel to Marigold or Magnolia; wherever she wanted to go. “Well, it was great meeting you today, Alisa. Maybe we should meet up again and complete a few quests. You can show me around Hargeon while we are at it,” she spoke, sincerely for once, as she looked back at the raven haired beauty.