Will it finally work today? [Melody & Gwyn]

''Okay Gwyn, remember to take deep breaths and visualize like your instructors keep telling you to do.'' That last part probably hadn’t been too wise to tell herself, but the remark just slipped past her lips. She sighed, shaking her head in an attempt to empty it of all thoughts and took a few deep breaths. Shifting her butt a bit so she would be a bit more comfortable cross-legged, Gwyn laid her hands palms up on her knees. In her mind’s eye she visualized a teensy tiny flower to bloom on the palm of her hand. She had lost count about how many times she had tried to visualize the flower in the past few hours. Being sat in the greenery she had hoped it would stimulate her but alas, so far so fucking nothing. Her ass was basically numb from sitting on the ground for so long. Sneaking a peek at her opened hand, Gwyn found the same result as she had ever since she started at this university. A failure. A groan escaped her lips and Gwyn threw her hands in the air, utterly done and fed up.

‘’Why won’t it just fucking work already?’’ She muttered to herself. She did everything right, so she thought. Every single fucking detail her instructors drilled into her for the past month, she had applied and yet still no results. She didn’t even know what her affinity was. What she did know is that if she could have prevented all of this, she would have somehow. It sucked, all of it. Where just half a year ago Gwyn had lived her best life as a young adult, she was now at a place she never thought of going to. Apparently, she was a Kirsha. Whooptiedoo! Good for her, though she would give everything just to be human again, if she even was one to begin with… The fact that her powers had manifested this late, baffled not just her but other people as well, leading to the fact that she was half a life behind with training and honing any skill she might possess.

The only reason she decided to practice by herself today was because campus was utterly abandoned, and would be so for the next week. Now no one would be able to witness her failures even more than they already had to during class. People were either at the cathedral, or in front of the television to watch the funeral on national tv. It was sad what had happened to the crown prince but Gwyn felt even more sorry for his now widowed pregnant wife. What would become of her now? In general, Gwyn cared little for the royal family because other than looking pretty for their currency and postage stamps she never really saw them do anything that was remotely useful. They were just a symbol of power without actually having any power, in her mind. Just like her. Someone who should have power but shows none of it. Cramps started to form in her legs and Gwyn groaned while stretching her legs out in front of her and massaged her thighs. How could it just be like this? How could that power of hers, that had manifested in some weird way in front of quite a few people, refuse to make an appearance when she wanted it to? Was it because she wasn’t really nice to it? Kept on calling it useless and a life wrecker? Thinking back to that day months ago, Gwyn tried to remember what she had felt at that exact moment. Which was a lot, but also very little. It was all very hazy. One moment she was having fun with her friends at a party where she might or might not have had a little wee bit too much to drink, the next moment there was chaos with Gwyn in the middle of it. No one really could recall what had caused the chaos, but they all agreed it had been kind of elemental. So the next day she had some visitors standing at her door, unwelcome visitors. With a raging hangover Gwyn had been dragged to some sort of testing facility where they determined that she was indeed a warlock but they failed to find out what kind of warlock, bunch of whacks. However they just decided to dub her a Kirsha because of witness accounts. Case closed and shipped off to uni once again to spend her days with useless exercises that have not helped her one bit. For a second Gwyn let her mind wander off, which she liked to do more than she cared to admit. The only good thing that had come from the fact that she was lowkey forced to attend this university, was that she had met Idés Chapmann. Even thinking about him gave her major butterflies nowadays. She couldn’t even remember the moment when she started taking a fancy on him but she did remember the first time she’d seen him. It was during her orientation tour over campus. The handsome young man that was so engrossed in whatever he had been reading while walking had snagged her attention and her mind had started up conjuring endless meet-cute scenarios. Bogus, she knows but somehow she had run into him again the next day in the labs. Turns out he worked there, score! Not being able to get him out of her mind, Gwyn went by the labs every day after her classes just to get a peek of Idés and at one point someone started asking her if she had an interest in science because she came by every day. In a panicky moment Gwyn had somehow agreed to becoming a lab assistant. She didn’t really like science, but it had brought her closer to Idés, they were even friends now! Well… Friends as in she did most of the talking between them and he mostly listened, but that did not stop her from overthinking, daydreaming and developing a huge crush on him. The more she thought about Idés, the more vivid her daydreams would become. She thought of the day that her feelings would be returned (very unlikely) and one thing led to another and Gwyn was full on daydreaming, way longer than she had planned on. The familiar ping of her phone pulled her out of it but now besides being frustrated about her magic refusing to manifest, she was also frustrated. She could hardly recall the last time she had actual sex. Her poor satisfyer had been overused ever since her first glimpse of Idés. It was a pity that Gwyn didn’t do meaningless flings, because otherwise she would have taken care of that itch more often. Determined to give it one more try Gwyn jumped up, only to forget that she had been sitting underneath a low hanging plank full of pots and thus bumping her head against it and managing to crash one or two pots on the ground.

‘’Shit, shit, SHIT!’’ Gwyn shouted while rubbing her head. Fuck that one last try, she was done. It was time to go back to her dorm room and gorge on that pint of macadamia brittle ice cream she had bought the other day.

It was weird to be at the University Campus. Melody had been there a few times before, mostly just to get a peek of what went on in there. The world full of young, ambitious people, preparing for their future jobs that would be considered ordinary compared to the job of a Godia Warrior. Melody had never been part of that world, having been a Godia Warrior in training since the age of 11. She didn't care for ordinary, really, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious about a whole other aspect of adolescence, that she would never experience. It was like walking into one of those college movies, she had seen with her friends, with students chatting on the Campus ground, carrying books from the library in their arms. To a person who had only seen such scene in a film, it could even look a set-up. But Melody knew better than that; she had seen a real set-up, and this was much realer than that.

It was only a few days after the funeral, but the Godia Warriors were done with mourning and ready to investigate. Crying over the crown prince didn't help when his murderer was still on the loose. Melody did have her suspicions about who could have done it - the Rebel group that for several years had spoiled their tasks as Warriors of the State - a suspicion she shared with most of her colleagues. But they barely had any information about the Rebels so they had to start somewhere and that somewhere was the IUC. Right next to the woods in which Prince Theodore's body - or parts of it at least - was found.
Melody wasn't the only Godia Warrior on Campus this day, but they were a smaller group than usual. Ilomar City was fragile after the brutal murder, so it was best not to cause a commotion when all they had to do was ask a few questions and have a look around. Hester, Melody's mentee, wasn't even on shift today. It was best to let the more experienced Warriors do the job.

Melody wandered around the Campus training grounds, mostly admiring the surroundings. They really had gone out of their way to accommodate the Kirsha Warlocks of the school. The training grounds were almost as large as the training grounds for the Godia Warlocks. Very impressive, Melody thought, a faint smile resting on her lips as she examined a fountain where the water constantly drizzled down and down. All that energy buzzing in the air, tingling her senses. She had to grab a bit of it just to let go of the energy overflowing inside of her. If not, she knew the night terror would punish her later. So, calmly and with a smooth move with her hand through the air, she caught a few of the drizzling drops, that froze in the middle of their movement. The drops found each other in the air, growing in size to a ball of liquid, the size of a tennis ball. Melody's smile grew with the size of the water, and for a second she forgot why she was here - not to play with magic, but to do her job. Luckily, she was quickly reminded of that. Loud noises of something crashing down, followed by curse words, caught Melody's attention. She quickly let go of the water, the drops collapsing back into the fountain, and turned her head towards the green house. With a curious frown on her face, she decided to do her job - to investigate.

She entered to the greenhouse to see a girl her age, probably a student, very frustrated rubbing her head. Melody was quick to put two and two together to figure out what had happened here, and she had to remind herself not to giggle at the person she was about to interrogate. The girl didn't seem to have noticed her, so she had time to put on a professional facade, before properly entering the greenhouse, walking towards her.
"Excuse me," she said, getting to girl to notice her. Then she smiled at her, politely. "Sorry to interrupt your training. My name's Melody Rhodes, I'm a Godia Warrior, guard of the Royals."
She knew that her titles would bring her immediate respect or at least intimidate people enough to cooperate. However, she didn't act as if she was better or above the girl. She spoke politely, even friendly. Melody had never been a girl to act as if she was better than others. That rarely got her anywhere good.
"I'm sure you've heard of the tragedy our nation is facing right now," she continued, knowing that she didn't have to go in anymore detail, "You're a student here at the university, right? Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"
She asked as if the girl had any choice. As if she could ever allow her to say no.

While vigorously rubbing the sore spot on her head, which would surely become a bump or a bruise, Gwyn kicked the pots away that had fallen on the ground. Stupid planks, stupid pots. Who even hangs those damn things that low? It’s a given that people will bump into them and Gwyn wasn’t even that tall! For a second she thought that a nice complaint letter to the keeper of the greenery would be the best way to write off some of her frustrations and while she was thinking about every ounce of venom she could put into that letter,  she hadn’t noticed someone else entering the greenery. Only when that person started talking to her, Gwyn finally  noticed. She must have looked comical to the person when she looked up with big round eyes of surprise. Before her in the greenery stood a woman her age, with ebony skin and a uniform that looked somewhat familiar but very official at the same time and when she introduced herself the uniform made a lot more sense.

‘’Gwyndolyn Auden.’’ She muttered in reply, eyeing the girl once more. How did someone so young looking end up as a guard of the royals? She must be a really powerful warlock to be able to get a position as a guard. Still, Gwyn did get a good vibe from her at first glance. She seemed friendly enough for someone with such a position. Gwyn felt parts of awe, but also a tiny morsel of resentment towards her which was totally unjustified but still there. When she started talking about what the girl called a tragedy, Gwyn just nodded. She wouldn’t call it a tragedy per se but she guessed someone working for the royals wouldn’t call it otherwise. Could people in the palace lose their jobs if they weren’t grieving? Like there must be someone working there that thought they were pompous and useless. Gwyn certainly knew she thought so but found it best to keep those thoughts to herself, lest they were looking for a scapegoat. No, thanks.

‘’Yes, I am a student at IUC,’’ Gwyn confirmed  and then shrugged, ‘’and sure, go ahead.’’ Letting her arms drop to her sides. Somehow she got a feeling that saying yes was the only answer that was acceptable, unless she wanted to be taken into custody for obstruction and brought downtown for questioning. She wondered what kind of questions she would ask Gwyn, besides the obvious ones like ‘where were you the night before he was found?’ or ‘are you a royalist or against the royals?’. Well the first one she could honestly answer, the second one she might need to phrase carefully as she wasn’t a royalist in the slightest. Neither was she totally against them, let’s just say she was neutral but leaning towards not caring much.

Melody noted the girl's name in her mind. Gwyndolyn Auden. It was important to remember for the file she had to write later this day, reporting the information she hopefully would receive during today's interviews. And then, when the student agreed to the questioning - which Melody assumed she would - the Godia Warrior stuck her hand in the pocket of her uniform jacket and pullet out a Zeal - a recording Zeal, with the looks of a modern, pencil-thin tape recorder, commonly used by journalists, detectives and other people who needed to restore the words spoken by others. She didn't ask for permission to turn it on and let go of it, so it floated in the air between them. It was by law that Godia Warriors were allowed to use such recorders on their job without having to ask for consent, as long as the person they questioned were made away of the recording.
"So," she might as well get right through it, going through the standard introduction before starting the questioning, "Gwyndolyn Auden, student at IUC. You're being questioned in regards to the murder of former crown prince Theodore Armani of Ilomar. Your role for the time being is undefined."
She paused briefly, giving the student time to protest, knowing that she wouldn't do that. Her demeanor had changed after turning on the recorder Zeal, that still floated in the air. She acted less casual and more professionel and serious. Knowing that she wouldn't be the only one to listen to this tape, she unintentionally put on an even more professionel facade, a habit most people had experiences with of themself.
After the brief pause, she asked Gwyndolyn: "Where were you at the estimated time of Armani's murder?"
It wasn't a suspicious or accusing question. It seemed more as a procedure. That didn't make it less intimidating - Melody knew herself how scary it could be to be interrogated - so Melody tried her best to not appear frightening. The Godia Warrior uniform and the flying recorder Zeal probably didn't help in that regard.

Gwyn raised an eyebrow when the Godia warrior took something out from the inside of her jacket… A pencil? She furrowed and tried to take a closer look at it but the girl pushed a button and the thing started to float in the air. Gwyn was momentarily baffled and plainly stared at it. This was something she had never seen before, but she’d be sure to ask Idés about what this might have been when she saw him again, texting him wasn’t something she did unless it was related to the lab or when he – by miracle – texted her first and even then it was always work related.
The Godia warrior began talking again, stating her name and that she was a student when it hit Gwyn what that floating thing was. A recorder. She was recording their conversation. It somehow surprised her but also not. Still Gwyn did not stop herself for asking.

‘’Sorry is it even allowed to record a conversation without consent? What about privacy rights?’’ She crossed her arms in front of her chest. This seemed less and less like a friendly conversation about if she knew anything and more like an interrogation. ‘Your role for the time being is undefined?! What kind of bullshit is that?’ is what she would have loved to say, but she kept her mouth shut. Being defiant against such a person probably wouldn’t do her any good. So she kept her mouth shut, for now.

The welcoming vibe she had gotten before was gone, and now there was an iron soldier in front of her. The question she was being asked wasn’t an unlikely one. If she were a cop investigating a murder this would be the first question she had been asking too. The thing was, she had a bit of trouble remembering which day it was since her usual schedule had been thrown into the wind because His Royal Highness had to be murdered. Gwyn quickly took her phone out of the pocket of her hoodie to check the date and backtrack to when the prince had been murdered. It had been an uneventful day and she hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. It did strike her that the Godia did not use any of the titles that belonged to the late crown prince, odd.

‘’I had lectures from nine  in the morning until around three in the afternoon, afterwards I went to the training grounds for magical practice by myself for an hour or something and after that I went to the labs to help with research. When I was finished I went by the grocery store before I got home. Hadn’t been close to the woods, if that’s what you wanna ask.’’ She curtly ended her answer before nodding towards the recorder. ‘’Anything else you wanna ask, or is that it?’’

It wasn't surprising that Gwyndolyn turned defensive when the recorder was pulled out. Melody would probably be suspicious as well. However, her asking so directly about it was surprising. Most people wouldn't think of confronting a Godia Warrior about the ethics of their job. The Godia Warrior did what they had to do to get results, to protect, and that was respected by the nation and its people. So Melody did seem a bit confused over her question before actually answering it.
"It is allowed, yes. A Godia Warrior is allowed to record a questioning as long as the respondent is made aware of the recording. Which you have been."
The last sentence was said with a bit more sass, the words leaving Melody more slowly than necessary as if she's trying to help Gwyndolyn understand what she's saying. It was however said with a faint smile. Melody wasn't trying to be mean, she simply had a teasing sense of humor and when a person asked a - in Melody's opinion - dumb question, she had to respond with a teasing answer.

The first question had been asked and Gwyndolyn took out her phone, which Melody kept an eye out on. Just making sure she wasn't texting someone to make sure their stories added up. She didn't really suspect the student of anything but she always had to be on the look-out. Especially because of how the girl reacted to the recording. Was there something she didn't want the Godia Warriors to put in their files?
Melody nodded along while the girl answered her question. It seemed to be the truth, but then again she nodded towards the recorder, showing an obvious dislike towards it.
Melody smiled at her, forbearingly. "Just a few more questions. I'll be quick," she said before asking: "Have you been near the woods before or after the murder? If so, is there anything to report that in hindsight might have been suspect in any way?"

Gwyn scoffed as the Godia warrior said it was within her right to record their conversation as long as she had been made aware –with words, in her opinion– but this one forgot to mention that to her so technically, if she hadn’t had put one and one together, this conversation was not to be recorded. Gwyn couldn’t keep her next remark to herself. Too annoyed by the way the Godia was doing this, she let the words slip out.
‘’Could’ve told me that beforehand, don’t you think? It was not very nice of you to just get your recorder out without letting me know you were going to record this conversation. Don’t they teach you some people skills over there? Most people don’t do well to being recorded and told afterwards.’’ Quite proud of her response but not pleased with the tone or way the Godia warrior had spoken to her, Gwyn wanted to cut this interrogation short and just leave. Hopefully she’d never have to interact with another Godia again after this. She did feel insignificant on a daily basis, but this was probably feeling insignificant on a whole new level for her. Talking to her like she was some dumb human, too stupid to understand how an investigation might work. It started to boil her blood just a little bit. If she wanted to play like this, Gwyn could do that too.

‘’Well, let’s see. What would a warlock like me ever do in the woods? Gee, I don’t know. Take a walk usually but have I been there lately? No, I haven’t. So that also instantly answers your other question, doesn’t it?’’ She gave her a faux innocent smile, that might just have dripped into sarcasm. She also made little effort to keep the daggers she figuratively wanted to throw at the Godia warrior from her eyes. ‘’Next question?’’ Right now, Gwyn felt proud of herself somewhat standing up to this person, tonight however, she might feel a shit ton of regret about her behavior and eat her weight in ice cream just to cope. Whatever happened to being reasonable?

Gwyndolyn had turned out to be quite the bother to interview. Getting defensive and trying to bicker with Melody. Melody considered arguing against her, telling her that she actually was the first person, Melody had experienced having an issue with the recording. Or at least the first one saying something about it. Most people wouldn't dare to talk back at a Godia Warrior. It could mean that the girl was so innocent, that she didn't even consider how suspect it looked. Or it could be that she had a dislike towards Godia Warriors and then the question was: Why did she have that?

Because of that suspicion Melody didn't argue back but simply went on with the questioning. Not that that really helped - Gwyndolyn was still talking back, being  rude and showing great dislike towards Melody, even sending her a sarcastic smile while she was at it. Melody was done with this and that was clearly shown by the way her smile was completely gone and how she couldn't help herself but glare at the girl in front of her for a few seconds before moving on.
The next question was direct, sharp and reprimanding. "Do you have an alibi? Any witnesses to confirm your whereabouts as you've described them in your answers?"
There was a hint of a threat in Melody's tone of voice. A warning that she was one to be respected - that the student better watch her mouth. Melody was done trying to play into the 'good cop' role.

A small voice in the back of her head said that she had probably crossed the line of safety, but it was small enough to easily ignore. Right now she felt like she was on roll, getting on the Godia’s skin and it gave her quite a triumphant feeling. So much for your fancy ass training, Gwyn thought. If the Godia couldn’t muster up the proper manner to inform her of their conversation being recorded then Gwyn could also leave some of her own manners behind. Her grandmother would have her head if she saw Gwyn speaking like this, even if the person in question deserved it. Mentally yeeting the thought of her grandmother out of her head, Gwyn focused on the next question that was being asked and quite possibly also the last. She might just cut it off after that one, because she had other --more important-- places to be. It was clear to Gwyn that questioning her about the murder was fruitless because she didn’t know a damn thing about it. It wasn’t like she could look into a Zeal that showed her the past and tell the Godia.

‘’As I have mentioned before, I trained by myself so there hasn’t been anyone to my knowledge that can confirm me being on the training grounds. Though you can always check the cameras. Pretty sure I’ll be seen on tape during the time frame that you’re looking for. Either at the training grounds, the labs or at the dorms.’’ Pretty pleased that she came up with the cameras, while they clearly didn’t since she was being asked for someone to verify her alibi, Gwyn started to pack up her totebag and hung it on her shoulder. ‘’It was lovely chatting with you, a true pleasure indeed, but I have an appointment to be at. If you want to verify, you can call the hospital and ask for dr. Patel. She’s my OB-GYN.’’ When Gwyn had been looking at her calendar on her phone to check the date, she had seen that she had an appointment that day with dr. Patel, which she had totally forgotten about somehow. She nodded the Godia warrior goodbye and made to leave the greenery and towards the shuttle bus stop. Her gorging on ice cream and regretting the whole interaction with the Godia warrior had to wait for a few more hours. She was suddenly quite thankful for her mother for insisting to get an OB-GYN when she started college, it just became her most legit reason to leave.

Gwyndolyn had no alibi, which made it even more bold of her to speak so confidently and rudely against a Godia Warrior like Melody. Melody frowned by the mentioning of cameras.
"I'll be sure to check those out," she said and there was a hint of a threat in that. Gwyndolyn had better be telling the truth. Or else they had this recording to prove her lying.
Suddenly Gwyndolyn wanted to leave, which she was allowed to - Melody would have to arrest her if she wanted her to stay and even with her suspicion towards her, she had no reason to do so. But before she could go, Melody turned towards her and said: "Wait. One final question. For the report."
Since the student was already ready to leave, Melody made sure to ask the question as soon as she had caught her attention again: "I assume you're a warlock since you're at the training grounds. If that's so, then please tell me your affinity." She added, knowing Gwyndolyn would be defensive enough to ask: "Just a matter of procedure. To make a profile on the respondents."

Just when she wanted to grab the handle of the door, the Godia warrior told her that she had one last question. It better be the last, Gwyn thought because she wanted to shower before going to the hospital. Gwyn was high on personal hygiene and even though she had showered just this morning, she wanted to shower again so she felt cleaner when she was at dr. Patel’s office. She turned towards the Godia and nodded, an unspoken way of telling to shoot her question so Gwyn could be done with it.

Well that’s a shocker Sherlock, Gwyn raised her eyebrow but felt her heart sink a bit when the Godia asked her about her affinity. She kept her face as empty as possible, there was no need to stress over such a question, even though she didn’t know her own affinity.. She could just answer and then leave. Though she doubted that they’d make a profile of her because she was a respondent, somehow. Gwyn grabbed the knob of the door and opened it before answering.
‘’I’m a Kirsha.’’ This was the first time she ever said those words with –somewhat false– confidence. She wasn’t sure herself, yet because she hadn’t shown any response to the elements so far but if she faked her believing to be Kirsha, maybe the Godia would believe her too. With those words, Gwyn parted with the Godia warrior and started her way towards her apartment. Ready for a shower and maybe try to forget this meeting had ever happened.