It was raining today, the cold mist hanging all over the ground. Julia hid underneath Rex's coat, shielded from the frosty water. They rushed inside the bar catching their breath as they sat at a table. Rex wrenched the ends of his coat causing a little waterfall to exceed to the bar floor.

"Master Rex... I'm sorry that... you had to cover me like that. I..."

Dr. Rex waved his hand and gave a small smile.

"Don't worry about it Julia, I'd prefer to be the one getting wet over you. I don't want you to rust." he said laughing a little.

That was a foolish thing to say

Despite the bad joke his real concern was that if she we're to get sick she could transform involuntarily. If that were to happen he wouldn't be able to diagnose and cure her. Plus if she transformed into a weapon they could end up in trouble

Julia gave a weak smile and closed her hands together on top of the table.

"I understand."

They both had traveled a long way together, in search of a second Alchemy book. Rex had acquired information regarding some nearby ruins and pondered whether there would be a clue of sorts that would hasten the search. But even then, it appeared the two would remain in town for awhile.

"I'm going to go and see about getting a room. Please wait for me" said Dr. Rex

"Yes Master"

Julia didn't want to admit it to herself but she was enjoying all the alone time she was getting with her master. She always admired him in all that he did and looked up to him as a mentor. Traveling together made her feel that they were getting closer.

Rex returned with a slight grim expression on his face.

"I'm sorry Julia but it seems they only have one room left."

"Oh! Well that isn't really a problem Master I don't..."

"It only has one bed..."

"Oh... I see..."

Her heart began to race at the thought of sharing a single bed with the Doctor. Usually they end up in different rooms whenever they stayed at an inn, and if they had to share a room it would always have separate beds.

"It's alright Julia I can sleep on the floor, I don't mind at all."

"umm but you don't have to on my account Master Rex."

"I insist, its the least I can do."

For all that I've put you through with my carelessness

Julia couldn't deny that she felt a little disappointed, but she knew it wouldn't have been appropriate for them to share the same bed. But to have him have to endure the rain, and then sleep on the cold floor? That wasn't right...

"Master please... I can sleep on the floor, it won't bother me if I transf..."

"No!"

Rex had almost yelled it out loud so that the whole room could hear. He looked around a little embarrassed and regained his composure.

"I will sleep on the floor alright Julia? Please don't argue with me about this, I want you to sleep comfortably tonight."

She gave a deep sigh, "Yes Master"

"Thank you, I will check us in then and please stop calling me master. You are not my slave you are my assistant."

"Do assistants pick up dry cleaning, wash dishes, prepare meals, clean ba..."

"Ok! We're not at home anymore so you don't have to do those things. Besides I hired you because you seemed to have great organizing skills... and I was right. Also no one makes you wash dishes."

She smiled, "The maids do a poor job."

"No kidding, I will reserve our room then."

"Yes doctor."

Rex walked away once more, leaving Julia alone.

The rain hit Lilith at a weird angle which made it very difficult for her to keep herself dry. She figured that the longer she stayed out in the rain, the fouler her mood would become, so she pushed open the bar door and rushed inside.

It was warm inside, which was welcoming. Lilith's demeanour improved, the frown lines on her forehead lessening. She took a moment to shake the water still dripping from her hair, and to wring out her shirt sleeves before proceeding.

Lilith apporahced the bar, slipping some coins from her pocket onto the counter. She was a regular customer at this inn, so the bartender already knew what drink she wished. When he returned, Lilith downed her shot of whiskey, loving the warm feeling that spread throughout her torso.

Her red eyes inspected each person in the bar individually. Eventually they came to rest on two people whose faces were unknown to her. Lilith flinched slightly when the male's voice exceeded her preferred volume, but it was a bar, and noise was expected. She waited until the male had left before approaching the woman.

"If you don't mind me asking...well more or less stating...I haven't seen you or your partner around here before. May I ask where you come from?" Lilith asked, remaining on her feet until directed otherwise.

Julia fumbled her hands nervously suddenly getting the feeling that she was being watched. The doctor had left her alone to make the reservations but she was certain nothing could happen to her in the bar.....

She almost jumped in her seat when the woman approached her suddenly.

"Ummm"

The woman was so direct it was almost as strange as her eyes, she never seen such red eyes before. She pondered whether they might have been contacts, but taking a closer note, she concluded that they were real.

"Y-yes we're not from here," she shifted in her seat a little. "Won't you please sit down?"

Her face almost turned cheery red when the woman used the word 'partner'.

"Oh no! You're mistaken he's not my husband or anything, no it isn't like that at all, we've never even been on a date... oh my..." she covered her face with both her hands.

When she regained herself she put both hands on her knees and looked down, "I'm his personal assistant" she looked back towards the woman.

"We just arrived to this place from a city in the northern region of this continent. We're..... on a trip to study medicine, my employer is a doctor of medical chemistry."

She looked over to see if Rex was done with the reservations yet, she wasn't good at dealing with strangers. Also there was something about her that seemed odd, and that says a lot seeing as Julia herself is quite odd.

Lilith smiled and took the chair that had been offered to her. Her eyes inspected the woman in front of her more carefully now that she was closer. She took note of the woman's reaction to how she had referred to them as partners.

"Forgive me, I only assumed..." she bit her lip at the woman's obvious embarassment.

Lilith's attention was seized at the mention of the north.

"The north? I don't think I have ever travelled up that way, unless of course I have in a past life and can't remember," she said shrugging.

For a while, Lilith spaced out. The shadows around her began moving, swirling around her, as if embracing her. Then, she returned to reality and the shadows returned to their original places.

Her heart began to race, Julia didn't even know if what she was seeing was real or not. She looked up at the ceiling to see if any of the lamps were moving but they weren't. The shadows were indeed moving around her.

Julia only became more afraid when the shadows returned to their original place.

Who...who is this woman?!

Unable to control her nerves, her middle finger on her right hand began to slowly change. The skin was turning into a shiny gray and becoming thin like a razor. Julia was now beginning to panic and couldn't control her transforming reflex.

Suddenly she looked up and the finger returned to normal. She smiled in relief.

"Hello," Rex said from behind the woman. He moved over to her side and faced her, "My name is Dr. Rex Crescent, its a pleasure to meet you miss." he stuck out his hand for a shake.

"Thank you for entertaining my Julia while I was away." he faced Julia. "I managed to get our room, we can go in at anytime, but first I'd like to get to know you" he said facing the other woman again.

"May I know your name miss?"

Lilith slowly turned to face the owner of the voice. It was the male she had seen before. She shook his hand politely and leant back in her chair.

"I wouldn't call it entertaining, I was just getting a bit of background knowledge. I enjoy meeting new people," she shrugged, playing with a ring on one of her fingers. Her crimson eyes looked back up.

"Lilith is my given name and if I had a surname I would tell you. But I belong to no family," she said.

"Julia, was it? She was telling me that you both came from the north on a medicine trip? Why come here? What do you intend to find?"

Around Lilith, the shadows began swirling again, as if out of their own free will. She couldn't really help it, it seemed to happen unconsciously.

"Lilith, a pleasure"

He took a seat down next to Julia. Rex didn't want to note it but as he was returning to the table he also noticed the abnormal shadow movements. Looking into her red eyes, it would seem that Lilith was the one who caused or it or at least was the target of something else strange.

"Yes I'm traveling to study different remedies and potions for all sorts of medicines. I am hoping to obtain information for combating strong infections from this area, precisely the college library."

He learned that the college nearby did have a library, but couldn't care less if it had medical journals, he was more interested in finding intel on the ruins where he hoped to find a second alchemy book.

The shadows began to move on their own again, and Julia noticed too. She unintentionally grabbed Rex's coat, most probably as a nervous reaction. Rex could see the shadows moving around her but didn't make it appear like he did. This woman seemed to be highly gifted with magic, but her intentions were still unsure to Rex. Perhaps she really is just hoping to get acquainted with new people?

Julia still had a hand on Rex's coat and couldn't help but follow the shadows in their strange pattern. In order to see whether she was controlling the shadows or not, he decided to do a quick simple test.

"Lilith, can I buy you a drink?"

"Hmmm?" Lilith's eyes refocused as did her attention. The shadows slowly slunk back to their original positions. Lilith frowned. Had she been moving them again?

"Oh no. One a night is usually all I have," Lilith replied quickly, hoping no one had noticed her apparent connection with the shadows. She didn't really want to be judged right now. She knew how it usually began. Confusion, then realisation, judgement, then fear. She sighed when she noticed Julia's body language.

"Forgive me if my talents have startled you in any way," she said bowing her head in both their directions.

She bit her lip, wondering how it must feel to see one such as herself.

So when she focuses the shadows are controlled thought Rex

The question was simply meant to get her to decide and change topic in her mind. She only seemed to move shadows when she wandered in her thoughts.

Julia looked up at her away from the shadows when Lilith made her apology. She shouldn't have been afraid, she herself was strange in more ways than one. Also Dr. Rex has talents in magic as well so it shouldn't have frightened her so much. But still... the power to control shadows, that's something you don't see everyday not even with average mages.

"You don't have to apologize Lilith," said Rex. "I too am...talented."

Rex put his right hand on the table under, erupting from the tips of his fingers a scorch trail scarred the table and the lines made their way to Lilith. In front of her the scorch marks formed "Rex + Julia".

Julia was watching the little display and ended up blushing bright red when she saw the end result, Rex knew she would do so and it was fun to watch. She looked down at the table and had both her hands on her lap. When she recovered Julia looked up at Lilith and smiled.

"I'm sorry for being startled. I shouldn't have it was very rude of me."

Rex smiled at Julia who in turn blushed again and looked away, he turned his attention to Lilith once more.

"Where are you from Lilith? Most people I know don't bow when they apologize except for butlers and maids. You must of been brought up in a well mannered home."

Lilith flinched back, startled slightly at the sudden appearance of scorch marks on the previously unmarked wood. She was impressed at this show of talented magic. She noticed Julia's blush at what the Doctor had scorched into the table top.

"It's okay, I understand," Lilith replied, smiling back at Julia knowingly.

Lilith was slightly hesistant about answering the next question. Not only because it was off-putting to most members of the general public but because there were still some of the details about her past that Lilith was still slightly unsure of herself.

So she just smiled sadly and said, "It's a long story."