There was once a time when Nat was carefree. A time were she didn't have to worry about magic and attacks from the the king's men. Back before the time of the air dragon, the town guard was more then enough to deal with any riffraff. When Nat was ten years old, she didn't have to worry about working as the town librarian or trying to convince people that she is a woman.
No. Back then then, Nat was simply known as Nathan. The girl with a boy's name. A girl who wants to play ball or practice sword fighting with the boys, but every time she tries to play with them, they simply say "But you're a girl! You can't play with us!"
Her constant attempt to play with the boys has earned her the nickname, "Nat" due to how much she "annoys" the boys with her questions.
At least the girls lets Nathan play with them. But sadly, Nathan quickly found herself bored of the constant tea partys and dress up games.
Eventually, she found herself drifting away from everybody and sticking her nose into books in the town library. On her free time, she would go to the library and start reading any book she could get her hands on. More specifically, books about magic. Magic is a force that can defy the forces of nature. For some reason, the idea of magic excites her. If there is a fantasy book or theoretical book lying around that involves magic, she would read it. The town librarian at the time was immensely impressed by how fast Nat was going through the books that she eventually offered the little girl a position as assistant librarian. Since she liked staying in the Library so much, she agreed easily. Sure, she has to spend time stacking and sorting books, but she still finds time to read some books.
Since Pegasus Shoe Town was peaceful at the time, Nat's parents had no problem with letting Nat visit the library everyday.
But things gotten more interesting for Nat when Mary came into the picture...
...
Alicia was sitting on the ground next to Nat's body. One hand was casting a special moistening/healing spell meant for cloud people and the other hand was holding the oracle hand mirror in front of Alicia's face. Thanks to the hand mirror's power, Alicia was able to watch and listen to Isaac's, Mary's and Slar's whereabouts. The only reason she let them run amuck in her mansion is because she wanted to know what kind of people they are. Sure, she could just make them speak their intentions with her magic. Heck, she can even read their minds if she wanted to. But unfortunately, she can't keep tabs on them forever, and there's no telling what they might do in the future. Actions speaks louder then words and it may reveal their true nature. These individuals interests Alicia, and letting them lose in her mansion is a test to see if she can trust them in the future. If they fail the test, she can simply erase their memories of ever meeting her and entering her mansion. And she should be able to clean up whatever messes they might make while they're in there.
Isaac in particular intrigues her. That floating Metal Halo above his head looks similar to Crawnav's Ring of Purity. The Halo even has the same seals and engraving on it's sides. Alicia didn't expect the ring to change shape and size, but if that's really the ring of purity, then it's possible that it chosen Isaac... which is a interesting choice indeed. The red gem on the halo does look identical to the soul gem on the ring of purity... In addition, Isaac's confession to Mary about how much he fears his corrupt body made Alicia even more interested in the strange paladin...
And then there's Slar. She originally wrote him off as a shameless theif and murderer, but he pleasantly surprised her. He has a bad habit of blabbing away his secrets and he was a lot more kind hearted then she expected. He shouldn't have run away from the person he's trying to protect though. That's just plain reckless and foolish. But even when he had the chance to loot everything in sight, he left Alicia's possesions alone. It's as if he's looking for something specific...hmm...
Alicia looked down at Nat. She witnessed her battle with the bandits and her noble sacrifice to save her companion from behind the shadows of the trees and bushes. She has indeed proved herself worthy of being chosen. And even though Alicia hadn't have a apprentice in awhile, she couldn't help but see the magical potential in this cloud girl. Maybe she should give the girl some pointers when she wakes up?
...but that can wait.
Alica looked back at her oracle hand mirror. For now, she just needs to observe her strange guests and intervene when necessary.
As Nat's body healed, she stirred in her sleep. She must be having a interesting dream...