//------------------------------//
// A Word With Alvi 
// Story: Metal Ringing 
// by 1000Fights 
//------------------------------//

Alvi briskly walked down the hall with an old song a bard taught her on her lips. Her step was rather lively and it made her auburn hair bounce and sway. Even though her brown dress had some restrictions to it, she still found room to do a slight dance routine after she checked that the guards were not looking. As she strolled she heard something that made her ears perk up. Mumbling. Faint, as if it was in the distance but as she rounded the curvature of the hallway she soon found where the noise came from. Ignatius silently walked towards him. The only sound she heard were when his blue jeans sometimes grinded against itself. His shoes and feet hit the ground without a sound. This sent shivers up and down her spine. His face was set like stone in the most menacing scowl, with narrow eyes that seemed to drill into her soul and beyond. His lips barely parted but she could still hear faint words. His arms were pulsing as he flexed them. She didn't know if it was an intimidation factor, or if it was a way to spot that he was experiencing a great amount of stress. Even though it intrigued her, she still did not want to know. His icy stare and his silent steps told her that if she stayed in the spot she was in for too long she would either be shoved to the side or killed as a way to relieve some of his stress. So she stepped aside from the obviously dangerous man, giving him a respectfully wide berth. Ignatius didn't even look her way when he passed her. He mumbled something indecipherable again. Alvi's instincts for survival told her to run. Run far and run fast, putting as much distance between herself and that man. However, she had another voice run through her head and into her heart. It told her that she should speak to him. Get him to talk about his problems. Alvi didn't usually, well actually never, talked to anyone about anything except for royal business, but she saw a hint of pain in the scowl at one point, and that is what made that voice speak that much louder. This voice eventually won out and she quickened her walking pace and eventually had to start jogging in order to catch up with Ignatius' enraged stride. His long legs covering the same distance Alvi would cover in two strides in just one. She eventually caught up to him and was almost at his side. She went to grab his arm gently, but when she almost made contact, her wrist was nearly ripped from the rest of the arm when Ignatius turned around held her in position that set the woman off her balance as she was forced to lean backwards. She let out a squeal when she gazed into the man's eyes. Her own soul slapped her more than a couple of times for not following her initial instincts. She felt so cold that she thought the man holding her was actually a lich. Alvi's heart nearly beat out of her chest when her brain registered that at this point in time she would most likely die. 
Ignatius held her with an extreme amount of rage. His heart rate was climbing as it was, and when he heard her footsteps, that number jumped from 80 to about 100 beats per minute. When she was about to grab him, his warrior instincts kicked in. If he didn't have the discipline that he had, she would have already been dead. It pained more than a few muscles to not be used to strike a killing blow to her neck at this point. He fought off the urge however, and decided to interrogate her instead. "What the fuck do you want?" he said with a breath so cold that Alvi's own breath could be seen. She was so terrified, she couldn't speak. 
Ignatius twisted her arm a bit more, which sent shock waves up Alvi's arm. She mustered enough concentration at the means of motivation to utter the words. "I was going to ask you what was the matter?" If Ignatius had let go at that moment, Alvi would still be in that awkward pose. The dangerous man's gaze locked her in place with a gaze that Medusa herself would be too afraid to look into. He eventually let her go after his mental playback of her words came up negative as he scanned for any signs of deceit. As stated, Alvi did keep the stance. Her eyes fixated on the blue orbs that were set in the stone face before her. 
"Well." he said. "Ask." His tone was demanding and stern. Alvi recovered from her position and rubbed her wrist.
When she regained her composure she said. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked in a rather concerned tone. She stood timidly, not knowing if she would be assaulted again. She then took a couple of steps back when no answer came. 
Ignatius soon answered. "If you ask 'what isn't the problem', you won't get a two day long explanation. 
Alvi pondered the words carefully. She got a hint that something deeper was at work here. "What isn't the matter?" she asked with more than a hint of concern in her voice. She truly became concerned for this man. His demeanor and his character were almost impossible to decipher. All she got from him was anger. An emotion she herself let take over at certain moments. However, her anger stemmed from the frustration and stress of being Princess Celestia's steward. Ignatius' anger and rage, from Alvi's stand point, sourced from a deeper, more interior battle. This is what she wanted to find out. Where does the rage come from?
"Well" Ignatius began. "I'm fed, clothed, warm, and hydrated with a place to sleep alongside my brother who also has the essentials that I have." Ignatius' venomous words leaked out and made a small pool as he spoke the words. Alvi's eyes looked to the floor and then back up to Ignatius. She didn't know what it was, but she just wanted to know more about this man. 
"Ignatius?" Alvi said. Her mind told her to back off and run, but her heart made her say the words. "I see that you are in a lot of pain. I don't know where it comes from, but I would like to know." Her thinking mind almost exploded! This is so unlike her. She never expressed any sort of care or interest in anyone. Even Princess Celestia found herself at the end of a cold shoulder or silent treatment in these matters. This man was different though. After her initial encounter with the brothers in the throne room earlier that day, she was absolutely entranced by Ignatius. She saw her death in his eyes, but she also saw a man in death's shadow. It was a conundrum that she was fully trapped by.
Ignatius was never one for speaking about feelings. Although, he did like conversations about understanding. If that is what she was getting at, then he would be happy to oblige. If her inquiry was towards the former she would have to learn to operate without pinky fingers. He didn't like letting anyone in. Letting people in was the one way that he knew he would be left open for attack. His motto always was 'Leave the door open too long and flies get in.' This little motto kept him out of regrettable situations, but also kept him from experiencing certain things that one should experience. To Ignatius, someone got gypt, and it wasn't him. The sacrifice of happiness was minor compared to the position he had elevated himself to. 
Alvi centered herself and her thoughts. She knew that if she was going to get anything out of him, she would have to be both compassionate and calculating. She might as well try to spin plates on her nose and juggle while also computing complex equations. The latter being the easier task. The more she thought about it , the more it seemed like she would be way in over her head, but she at least had to try. "Would you like to have this conversation in your suite?" her tone was level, showing that her intentions were purely set on business. Ignatius only nodded, turned around and walked towards the room where he and his brother were staying. Alvi followed. The length of the walk made her feel like she was on death row. When the pair reached the suite Ignatius opened the door and invited Alvi inside. She kindly accepted his offer and stepped in. Alvi took a seat closest to the door. Ignatius saw that she did as a precaution in case she had to make a quick escape. 
'People are just earning points like crazy today'
When Ignatius took his seat, Alvi positioned her legs so that they looked comfortably placed but in reality they were strategically placed so that she could move quickly.
Ignatius smirked at this. To any other onlooker, she could fool them, however he was not the ordinary onlooker. He looked for things like this when encountering people and found it rather amusing that she would try such things on him. He shook his head and said "You can relax, Alvi." He leaned back in his chair comfortably. He tried to make it seem like he was not a threat, but in fact it was the way he relaxed that was the threat. He could thrust his hips and arc his back in one swift move and be on his feet in a fighting stance in less than a second. Alvi didn't pick up on this, but she was surprised he picked up on her movements. She was always so subtle when it came to things like this. She sighed in defeat and relaxed. If she was going to die at the hands of her opposite, she would at least die without strained and tired muscles.
"So." Ignatius began the conversation. "What, specifically, do you want to discuss?"
Alvi chose each word carefully. "I would like to know what pains you so." her tone shook when she said pain. She thought that that word above all would best describe his feelings.
Ignatius internally sighed. "What do you mean by pain?" His question was to make her understand that she was have to be very precise in her questions or she would get very cryptic answers. 
Alvi picked up on this rather quickly. "What has been done to you that makes you treat situations with a sense of dominant cruelty?" Better question.
"There are many things that have happened to me in the course of my life that could cause such a thing." Ignatius let her have a bit of string to play with. "Too many to name or blame." 
Alvi digested the answer and came up with a question that she knew he couldn't defend against. "What is the latest event that was the metaphorical straw that broke the camel's back?"
Ignatius smirked again. He could see that he was getting his way. "When I was betrayed." The smirk broke into a serious expression. 
Alvi knew that at this point she was treading on unstable ground. One wrong conjunction and she could end up dead. Her mind told her to duck and run now. There was no point in digging any deeper, but her heart wouldn't let her listen to that. 'What is it about this man that made you so interested? Do you want to lay with him? Do you want him to marry you? WHAT IS IT?' Her mind assaulted itself again and again with similar questions. She couldn't help herself. 
"How so?" She said without thinking.
Ignatius was hesitant to speak at first. He analyzed Alvi's demeanor. She was sweating and he could see that she here breathing was labored. She was scared. Frightened even. That is what he saw on the outside, but what was running through her head? What could he not see? He could tell that her instincts told her to get the fuck out of there. Yet she stayed. This intrigued him greatly. Ignatius decided to reward her bravery.
"It was when I was still part of my country's Air Force." Ignatius began. As soon as he said that, Alvi's breath seemed to be instantly released. Her face seemed to relax and her muscles followed. He knew that doing this meant revealing something from his past she could use against him in the long run, but if he knew she had this information, he could at least counter whatever she was planning. So with that in mind, he continued. "We, as a force, were the dominant air power in the world. Considering that we were a young country, it said something about us. It said we are the best and everyone knew it. I was part of Civil Engineering portion. I built and maintained roads and airfields. I got pretty good after about a year and a half." his boasting earned him another ear from Alvi. She would have more questions for him later, he knew. "I took some leave to go hunting one November day. When I made it to my tree stand, I saw that I was not the first to arrive there. I saw a woman with a rope standing in my tree stand. I sauntered over there in curiosity. I asked her what she was doing, and she said she was going to hang herself. Her life was no longer worth living she said. She put her head in the noose after she secured the rope and was about to jump when she stopped and said to me, 'when I die, just leave my body for the wolves to eat. I don't want anyone to find me'. She hesitated again and said, 'but please put me farther away from the hunting grounds. I don't want to scare the deer from you hunters'. I laughed a little. I said, 'you're not going to do it'. She gave me a look and I said 'if you were going to do it with the amount of resolve a person in a situation with no way out would do, you would have done it already and not cared about where you were buried or found. She looked down and stared at it for about five painful minutes and stepped back from the edge after she removed her head from the noose and wept. I climbed the tree stand and sat on the edge. She sat in the seat and kept crying. I allowed her some time to let it out and asked her what was the matter. She told me her family disowned her and her boyfriend, who caused the problem in the first place, left her. She soon lost her job and her apartment. So her only choice, so she says, was to end her life." Ignatius smiled and laughed. Alvi joined, finally relaxed enough to do so. "I told her how stupid that was. I told her that she lost everything. I told her that her world ended." Alvi looked at him in confusion, but her answer was quickly given. "She had the chance to start all over. Become a whole new person. It was a chance that only about five or six people in a few decades get. I told her she was the luckiest girl in the world. She smiled and shook her head. I told her it was true, and I told her that I could show her. We ended up falling in love and dated for about six months, and I knew that she was the one for me. I gained up the courage to propose to her." Alvi's eyes lit up and her face beamed. It all disappeared when Ignatius said. "However, I went down to her workplace to do so and she wasn't there. I asked her boss if she was in today and he said she left. She transferred to another store. I thought he was just fucking with me, but he showed me the letter he got from the corporate office. It didn't specifically have her name on it, and I expressed that. He told me they were looking for volunteers to go and she was the first to do so. I learned from her co-workers that a month prior, she got into contact with her ex and their relationship rekindled. She left me without so much as a note."
Alvi's eyes widened in disbelief. "Was there something wrong with your relationship?"
Ignatius shook his head. "We were textbook. Never fought and if we had a disagreement on something, it was resolved as soon as it started. We were the perfect couple. She just decided that she wanted to be with the person who caused her all her pain instead of the person who took it away." 
Alvi's eyes sunk to the floor and a lump in her throat formed. She never thought that anyone would betray someone like him like that. "What happened after that?" 
"A week later, some people from the Department of Defense were looking for crossovers into other branches. I took the opportunity to become a Marine. Within five days after my advanced training, our country went to war again. We won." 
Alvi was scared to ask this next question. "What was your job as a Marine?"
Ignatius smiled with dangerous eyes. "To kill. All Marines are killers, and as Infantry I am no exception. After our commander-in-chief issued total war, we were able to win in less than two years."
"Total war?"
"Combatants and civilians alike were fair game. Half of my kills are civilians. They hid well, but as anyone back in the Corps can tell you, you can't run or hide from the Wolf."
Alvi was intrigued by the last word, so much she took her eyes from the floor. "The Wolf?"
Ignatius shook his head. "That will be another story for another time." 
Alvi nodded. "Well, I think that answered my question. I thank you for taking the time to speak with me and help me understand who Princess Celestia and I are dealing with." She got up and bowed slightly before going towards the door. When she reached for the knob her hand was grabbed by Ignatius' own. She couldn't believe how fast this man could move. Nonetheless how silently. He gave her a look that she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life. A stone face with intense eyes. They were not wide with anger, nor narrow with rage. They were just there. She also notice something in his eyes. The shade of blue they were before had almost paled. They looked as if his own soul had left his body, only leaving behind a hollow shell. His expressionless face made her blood feel like tundra water. He let her free of his grip and free of his gaze. He turned his entire body around and walking back to his desk with only a single tome and two sheets of paper on it. Even though he was no longer interested in her, she still stood there. Her body was twice if not thrice as frozen as it was back out in the hall. Alvi was finally able to free herself after what felt like hours to her. Ignatius ignored her completely and flipped another page in the history book he was reading. She exited the room in complete shock. Her face was still in horror at what she saw. When she made it to her room, she closed the door and locked it behind her. The only thing she remembered after that was the feeling of velvet carpeting slamming into her face. 
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Ignatius coughed when he heard the door close as Alvi left. He looked around and found a bottle of wine in a bucket with half melted ice encasing it. He completely disregarded the glasses and pulled the cork off with his mouth. He spit it out and took a deep chug of the alcohol. He internally sighed and spoke to the room. "I don't think I will ever forget the taste of duct tape."
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Author's note-Please give criticism. I need feedback! I don't think I did as good as I thought I could on this one. I hope to do better later. If you favorited, please tell me why in the comments. 
1000Fights