The embarrassment immediately showed on Alissa's face. The blush only became deeper as she fought to hide it, leaving her face only a few shades away from blood itself. However, the blush quickly disappeared once her attention was shifted from self-beration back to the meeting.

[i]A spy?[/i]

She had been wanting a way to prove herself to her new family, but she hadn't counted on it being such a dangerous job. Nor had she expected the opportunity to arrive so soon after she joined, for that matter. Bastian seemed to have more faith in her than she'd believed, and that meant a lot to Alissa. She wouldn't let him down. She [i]couldn't[/i] let him down.

Hector turned to her and began to speak, but before he could finish the world erupted. Explosions sounded from all around. Terror took hold of Alissa, only to be muscled away by something else - years and years of school drilling. Immediately, Alissa began to move for the emergency exit, stopping only to help Mario to his feet on her way. Throughout this, spikes of pain reached Alissa's head briefly, before being snuffed out by her body's repair mechanisms.

It wasn't until she managed to get to the stairwell that she realized she hadn't let go of Mario's hand, and had in fact dragged him out of immediate danger. She dropped the man's hand before turning back to see if she was needed to assist in the escape.