Base of Operations: Silver Eagles

[Apollymi]

"Junon's mom..." Sibylla thought about this her eyes widened just a tad and then simply shook her head. "Hai, that sounds about right..." she said not bothering with further explanation. After all, the Witch Queen was one of the people in the world with abilities scary enough for Sibylla to think the woman a great feat to potentially overcome. Beyond all this, what the boy had heard, help him come to terms with all that he knew about his family which was about all anyone would ask. As they moved along with this conversation, it seemed that Dior had gotten a promotion for his trouble, this made Sibylla chuckle as she thought about it. "Arthur handing out promotions for sharing credit. That's pretty sweet of him..." she said with a smile on her face only to think about it a bit more and look towards Asher and Junon. "Wait?! You two got promotions? Really? Congratulations to both of you," Sibylla said it was beyond admirable for the pair of teens to get promotions. "Or rather all of you. You don't think you did much, but you could have which is what's important, Dio." Sibylla said dismissing the idea that he got one for basically nothing. For the first time in a while, Junon spoke up. She'd mostly been just taking in the sights and the mini-battle between Asher and his elder sister. "Arigatou Gozaimasu, Danchou!~" she chimed.

[Bloodedge]

Something was strange about the way Sibylla accepted his words. Asher didn't think too much about this, moving on instead to the matter which had not been mentioned until Dior did so: their promotions. In the midst of everything, Asher had actually forgotten about the entire thing until now. As such, he seemed a bit bashful when congratulated. "Arigatou gozaimasu!" he said regardless. What's more, since he was already thanking someone, he flew toward Junon and perched next to her. A bright smile was upon his face as he looked toward Sibylla and Dior, speaking to the pink-haired witch. "You too. Arigatou."

During this exchange, Dior continued speaking with Sibylla. "Say that all you like, but it doesn't make things any different. I'll still gladly accept any promotion. I just prefer the idea of actually doing something."

[Apollymi]

Sibylla noted the bashful look on Asher's face as he accepted his praise and returned it with thanks. Then the lad moved away without any hesitation towards Junon. The pink haired girl's eyes widened as the lad came up to her, offering her thanks as well for the part she played in his day. She managed to look stunned again for the second time today and waved it off with a bashful tint spreading across her face. "Iie, no need to thank me. I'm glad I could help, and you look a lot less distracted now~" she said happily. She'd figured the family situation he was dealing with had been getting to him, she thought to help him out a bit. She was pleased that he'd made peace with everyone and she could do nothing but be happy for him, and she definitely couldn't take any responsibility.

While this happened Sibylla had a glance over at her little brother interacting with the pink haired witch from the forest with a small smirk on her face. But she did this while still managing to listen to Dior. "I understand, it's okay. I'm sure you'll get yourself a nice busy mission. I even found a good one for Hawks and Kajun the other day," she said calmly. Though in the return of that pair of individuals she knew she was also supposed to be sending Asher out again in two days time. She was quite surprised by the amount of work that her youngest brother kept finding himself with, but she did say she'd find him a large number of other things to do if she could. She just didn't expect them all to happen so closely together.

[Bloodedge]

"I am," Asher said about his distractions being cleared. More importantly, Junon rejected the idea of being thanked by him for how she'd been of assistance. Asher, on the other hand, had to insist. "No way. Like I said, it means a lot. I'll repay you somehow... someday. That's a promise," he said. Without this girl's words, Asher had no earthly idea what he would do about this family situation he found himself in. With that said, Asher rose from his perch and looked toward Junon again. Seeing the blush on her face once more, he found himself oddly transfixed yet again, still without an idea as to why. Suddenly, his eyes widened just a tad. "I uhh... think I should catch up on sleeping. I hardly got a wink last night," he added. Since the previous day, Asher had been so bothered by Sibylla's claims that he'd lost multiple hours of bed rest. However, this claim was more intended to be a change in topic, as Asher actually managed to realize his fixed gaze this time around.

[Apollymi]

Junon was quite happy with the lad's current happiness, but as she blushed through trying not to be thanked for what she'd done, she found that Asher was most insistent about returning the favor at some point in time. The look on the lad's face as he promised that he'd make it up to her someday made her eyes widen to their largest possible. As she stared at Asher, she felt an exceeding warmth in her chest, but couldn't be forced to look away. "Well, I mean if you're so set on it. I guess I'll hold you to it!~" she chimed seeming to have a good general disposition about this. She could almost say the lad's gaze was just as transfixed as her own, but she had no idea why he might be looking at her too long. Soon enough though there was the mention that he'd should probably catch up on his sleep because he had spent most of the night awake. "Sou ka, me too. Though for different reasons..." she mused finding it in herself to finally shift her gaze. "The older girls on my side of the Tower spent all night scaring me with ghost stories about a haunted mirror in the base. It gave me the creeps but it was pretty fun, I couldn't fall asleep after though... and then I overslept this morning too..." she said, remembering that she'd always overslept when she was trying to do things, including the day she'd met Asher and their Captain.

[Bloodedge]

Junon's claim that she'd hold him to his promise was met by the widening of Asher's grin. "No need! Once I say I'll do something, I'll do it. If that's what you want to do though, I can't be mad," he claimed as his own gaze lingered yet. Even though he'd come to realize what he was doing, he didn't look away until several seconds after Junon did. In fact, his stare only intensified in the short time he maintained it while she looked away. It seemed Junon's sleep pattern was also thrown off the previous night, for reasons very different than Asher's. She had ghost stories on her mind while his was busy with family issues, and after hearing why she'd lost sleep, he couldn't resist the sudden laugh which followed. "Haha, really? No way; you're made of way tougher stuff than that. I doubt you could really be scared by a ghost."

[Apollymi]

"Hai!" Junon said to the idea that he was fine with her making sure he kept his promise. Strangely enough, she thought she likely didn't have enforce such a thing. In fact, she was almost certain when she looked at Asher, he'd do exactly what he said, and she had no reason to believe this, but she did deep down in her heart. Beyond this point it seemed Asher found funny the girl's lack of sleep which pertained to the haunted mirror she'd been told about. She knew it was silly even so, she couldn't help but feel that it was weird as an idea. "I mean sure, I am plenty able to be tough in the face of explainable things, but can you really imagine standing in front of a mirror and not seeing yourself. Or leaving a plateful of food in a room and having it disappear in a short amount of time for no reason..." she said leaning in with great intensity. "Or creepy laughter in the distance from no foreseeable source!" she had her hands up in the air fingers moving maniacally as she explained this a bit of evil laughter at the end just for effect. This was all done before she burst into regular laughter. "I know its silly but the other girls were super serious. I think they were just teasing, but still something like that would be pretty outlandish," she commented after the fact. As she thought about this more, Sibylla probably had the final say on this particular ghost story, but Junon wasn't sure she was ready for the mystery of it to be cleared up. "Anyway, wanna get something to eat before that catching up on sleep for the day?" she asked of the lad, now content to have another meal before she tried to sleep.

[Bloodedge]

Asher thought about the idea Junon suggested. Considering how he'd grown up, he could easily explain away everything bar the lack of a reflection in a mirror, but he felt there was something more to it than that in the case of this story. "Well... where I grew up, the food was liable to disappear from your plate the second you looked away anyways. The reflection thing is weird, though," he stated, though even with that, he found himself glancing in the direction of their Captain. Asher had plenty of evidence to say there could have been some form of truth to this ghost story, but even that evidence was just assumption on top of assumption. Moving on, Junon's tale became more and more of a jest-filled horror, in which she leaned toward Asher while comically mimicking some spooky apparition. In this moment, he looked at her with widening eyes and a growing tint in his face, though his gaze soon averted. "Eheh... yeah. Those girls are pretty crazy," was his retort. Before they parted ways, the witch suggested a meal before bed - something Asher was also lacking on since the previous day. The mere mention of food actually caused his stomach to growl audibly, and it seemed to be visually rippling as it did so. "Actually, I don't think I've eaten in a couple of days. I could use a bite," he said, certainly content to fill himself before turning in early for the night.

[Apollymi]

Asher had some relatively good explanations for why food could go missing. And Junon herself had decided that mirror itself probably wasn't actually haunted and that it was likely connected to the magic of their Captain. Beyond all this though, he agreed with her about the other girls she'd met since coming to this particular squad. "They are... but, I think it's all in good fun. I am pretty used to stuff like that anyways, there are only women where I am from," she said of the Witches Forest. That entire thing was funny to her after the fact, and now they were discussing food and the audible sound of Asher's stomach made the young woman shake her head. "Yep, definitely time for food... Let's go!" she said willingly accompanying this lad for a meal. At some point the pair would eat and then separate for the day. But the next day would be full of separate adventures for this pair. Junon overslept and remained in bed for quite some time, but something different would happen with Asher.

Sibylla waited in her office for Asher. Strangely enough the woman had breakfast tea set up on her desk before her, including a cup for the person she aimed to have sitting across from her. As she waited she knew she was about to send the lad out on a strange adventure, and it was likely due to the fact that he'd grown up in the Forsaken Region and wasn't recognizable as a royal or Magic Knight. 'I know he'll be fine, but I wish I didn't have to send him...' she thought absently, full of anxiety for her little brother. And beyond all that excitement shown in her silvery eyes of this particular Captain because she had faith that her brother would rise to any occasion.

[Bloodedge]

And so, the pair of young Magic Knights departed from their senior and Captain to find themselves something to eat before retiring for the night. Late the next morning, Asher was awake once more. He had also overslept, racking up more hours than he could have really needed as far as sleep was concerned. Now, the young man ran toward Sibylla's office with a slice of bread hanging from his mouth, and his grimoire bag held in his left hand instead of being attached to his waist. When he entered the Captain's office, he paused and leaned over to huff until his breath was caught enough for speaking. "Huff... huff... I'm here," he said upon pulling the bread slice from his mouth. "You wanted to see me?"

[Apollymi]

Soon enough Sibylla heard the rushing of steps towards her very own office and soon enough her younger brother appeared before. He was winded, in a state of disarray with a slice of bread hanging from his mouth. While he was a tad late for this particular meeting, this current hurried state wasn't at all call for. She looked on with surprise and amusement as she chuckled through is explanation. "Good morning Asher, I assume you actually slept well last night~" she mused. Still the woman's eyes held a strange warmth towards this young man, which was always present. "Hai I do need to see you, but there isn't so much a need to rush. You have to be briefed, and it will take a little while. You can have tea with me if you'd like while I explain," she said gesturing to the seat across from her and sipping her own tea while waiting. It was such a strange new feeling to have this particular younger brother in her presence she still didn't really like the idea of sending him off. But, she'd made him a promise and she had her duty as a Magic Knight as well, and as such she would do her best to be fair to him and his known abilities.

[Bloodedge]

Soon enough, Asher's breathing was something closer to normal. He nodded a response to Sibylla about his past night's sleep. "Yeah, but I slept way longer than I thought I would. I guess I've just been missing a lot of sleep since the entrance exam," he clarified. Once he was certain he wouldn't be huffing all over the place, he stepped forward and took a seat across from the Captain. In doing so, his attention was brought to the already-prepared tea she had in wait. "Oh... arigatou gozaimasu," he said while organizing himself to be capable of holding his bread and teacup simultaneously. Once his grimoire was properly secured, Asher held the bread slice in his left hand, and the tea in his right hand while alternating between bites and sips. "Alright. I'm ready."

[Apollymi]

It seemed the boy had been missing out on sleep, as Sibylla figured this was the case, she was sure he'd be fine as he adjusted to a more proper schedule. As it stood, he took a few moments to settle himself before taking a seat and having tea with his slice of bread while awaiting the conversation. He even managed to thank her for to which Sibylla only shook her head after lowering her tea cup. "I always serve tea at briefings and debriefings, and pastries for special occasions. I can't have people leaving or coming back and being dehydrated," said the white haired woman thoughtfully. Truthfully she enjoyed these moments and it gave her peace which she hadn't gotten to know initially while being a Magic Knight. Sibylla had a look at the lad, and wondered if it was simply his upbringing that made him keep a hand on his food at all times. Regardless she soon sat down her own tea cup for a little while so she could speak. "There is a mission for you and it comes straight from the office of Matouhei-sama. Usually he gives the jobs to us Captains and we decide who in our groups would be best suited for them. Your first mission was like that," she stated rather calmly. "This one is a bit different, it is likely meant to be cooperative between our Squad and another, and as such, Matouhei-sama, requested a specific Magic Knight from the Silver Eagles... you. And you'll be teamed with another Magic Knight from another squad for a special mission," she finished this calmly and waited just a few more seconds. Though she had no need to worry about the lad she still didn't like how much he was being forced to do so early.

[Bloodedge]

Following his claim to preparation, Asher continued eating and drinking in wait of Sibylla's debriefing. It became apparent as she spoke that there was a mission assigned specially to him from the Magic Emperor himself. As surprising as this was in its own right, there was hardly a reason given for it. Still, Asher took a moment to let the bread hang from his teeth again. Not only was he requested by the Magic Emperor to take on a mission, but he was also meant to carry on with said mission in the company of someone from a different squad. He'd at least expected a mission which was to be done with other members of the Silver Eagle squad, perhaps even Junon. At the same time, he expected this to be something Sibylla chose him for, not someone even higher on the proverbial totem pole than the Captain herself. "So I'm working with another squad today... I hoped I'd be able to become better acquainted with everyone here, but I guess a job's a job. Why me specifically?" he asked, wondering why the Magic Emperor would demand his presence in particular.

[Apollymi]

Sibylla had more tea while watching the lad after explaining the first leg of her debrief. As she did this she got the feeling the lad might have wanted to participate in a mission with his established friend. His words confirmed this and made a smile spread across the white haired woman's face. "Not to worry there will be plenty of time for that, but you're needed for this particular mission along with your partner because you two are the only ones who can do it," she said. "I should explain first that Hawks and Kajun the latter of whom you've met, were out on a mission the other day to clear out a theft ring. It turns out that there is likely more to that theft ring than the single side of it they found. The issue is that they need someone to go to the Black Market and find the other branches of the ring," she said giving a bit of pause. "But most Magic Knights are nobles and would stand out in such a situation. And the Magic Knights that are commoners are a bit of a liability for being able to face the kind of individuals that Hawks and Kajun had to face in their mission," she said calmly. "So you and the person going with you were chosen because you are both unrecognizable and capable of taking care of yourselves, if an altercation breaks out," she said rather calmly. She was still rather upset about this, but she understood the decision. She couldn't say she would have made a different one if she'd been the one to make it, even so she didn't like it. "It is apparently the plan that you and your partner not wear anything identifying you as Magic Knights and wander around the Black Market searching for things which are... 'sketchier' than normal..." she said, the word 'sketchy' wasn't one which Sibylla would have used, and when she did it, she made quotation marks with her fingers.