Of Cats and Bones

Panic. That was a pretty decent word that could be used to describe a man running back from the woods with a strange looking stone in his hands. He was near a camp which was also his goal. As such, it only took a few more seconds before he finally crossed the border beyond which he knew that he would be perfectly safe and fell to his knees, breathing heavily. It was probably today that he found out just how tiring running for your life could be. And yet, it didn’t look like anything was actually following behind him. In any case, more of the camp members started gathering around him. And from this crowd, a smaller white-haired figure would make her way to the man. Taking the stone from him, she would squeeze it and her eyes turned crimson red from the ocean blue for the next few seconds. Standing perfectly still, everyone around would observe the girl in anticipation, as if something was supposed to happen any second. But her eyes only turned back to their original color as she narrowed her gaze. Squeezing the stone even tighter, she would suddenly wave her hand to the side and start yelling out orders, every man and woman present quickly running about the camp and preparing. What she held in her hand was a vision stone, something that allowed for recording of an image through magic and then showing it to another by projecting the scene right into their eyes. And what Leila saw might have been quite the issue.

A few days later, all legal and neutral guilds of Fiore would be visited by a man in a red hooded jacket who apparently looked rather irritated and was saturated with magical power. An SS-ranked mage without a doubt. But he had no more business with any of the guilds than to put a contract on their job board like any other person who wished to hire a mage. Disappearing without any words and only annoyed grunts, he certainly left an impression that lured many mages to the newly posted job. It was asking for an S-ranked mage to arrive at the Wakusei Portals. The objective of their mission - escort with a possibility of extreme and unknown danger. Rather vague as far as jobs normally go. Which is why many instantly turned away and left. Especially since there were not that many S-ranked mages to begin with. It was a point at which person starts becoming a living legend in the world. Of course, they would have many different and more urgent sounding problems than helping escort someone on a job that sounded as shady as this. But the reward did probably sound rather alluring to some. A powerful artifact that could be used for offensive purposes or sold to a merchant for high profit. The Floating Continent had no shortage of riches for a treasure hunter like Leila, so she thankfully had no problem saving something for rewards if she ever needed to hire more muscle like right now.

Whoever would actually take on this job would then have to travel to the famed portals to other worlds. At one of them, a designated person was already waiting. An average human male dressed in a similar style to how one would expect a bandit to look like. But without any actual weapons or the attitude required for such livelihood. He was already on a lookout for a powerful looking magic. And someone with enough power to be classed as S-rank was probably hard to miss too. So once they would arrive, he would greet them and confirm that they were indeed here for the job, followed by making sure that they were of an appropriate rank, standing within a guild and so on. It might have been somewhat time-wasting and annoying for both parties, but Leila grew rather cautious after Ikuchi showed up in her Camp and decided to ruin her little expedition to the west, the one that kinda ended up in her own death. One tended to become a little bit more careful after experiencing that. Once everything was in order, the man would walk up to the side of the portal and slot something into its frame, making the veil of magic change into a rainbow-colored mess with an image of many different floating pieces of land on the other side. The mage in question would be then invited in. A transportation to a different world… it was probably a good mood setter for this job.

On the other side was The landing. A circular stone structure in the ground that was the other end of the teleportation gate. Straight from there it was between two rocks, a narrow path that would squeeze just about one person at a time. Not the most comfortable way of reaching a place, but it was the only option. And on the other end of it, a vast camp of many tents and structures currently under construction. People running like crazy with boxes and sacks in their hands. And if the mage had good eyes, they could probably also spot another group putting up defensive wooden walls on the outskirts of this place, trying to secure it in a rather makeshift way. From the midst of these people, a young female with white hair and animal body parts emerged and waved at the new arrival, not even really looking at them as she tried to observe the entirety of the camp at once to ensure nothing bad was happening. A rather difficult thing to do for someone with only one pair of eyes.

“Greetings! You’re here to answer our call about escorting someone, yes? Welcome to the- Miss Nassar?!”

Finally lying her eyes on the green-haired female, Leila realized who it was. Someone she had met a while ago in Bosco during that dangerous mission about celestial beings. They had not spoken all that much back then, but she still remembered her fellow Celestial mage. Trying to compose herself a little bit more in front of someone she already knew, the Eden’s Caretaker would cough out into her fist and narrow her body before speaking out once more.

“I might look somewhat different, but it’s Leila Vergious. We’ve met in Bosco a few weeks back, along with Kaori. Perhaps you still remember?”

Unsure, she waited for the reply before they would even move on to explain what was happening here. It was quite reassuring to the girl that she had found someone who she already knew was at least decently trust-worthy.

Leila's appearance:

As the girl noticed Samira holding her iLac and using it to presumably take pictures of this place, which was rather rare and actually the first time she had seen someone use that device ever since she got it herself, she would scratch the back of her head and smile while looking a little bit worried. As one could easily guess, there was a reason for the security at the gate to be so tight. Taking pictures and then releasing them into the wild was something that had the potential of making it necessary to make that security even greater than it was right now. But in any case, Leila was glad that she was still remembered by this lady. Since they have only met once prior to today, she was a little bit worried that maybe she was forgotten. Though it was probably kinda hard to forget the events that took place in Bosco. And what happened to her. Just being reminded of it kinda dampened her mood, the fact she was completely useless during the fight. It was one of the two reasons why her temporary alliance with Kaori fell into pieces well before it was supposed two. The other one being her falling out with Ikuchi. The other summoner also apologized for not trying to make contact with the Eden’s caretaker, to which she started waving her hands in the air as a gesture that it was just fine. She had never expected that someone else would try to contact her. And even if they did, it would probably be quite difficult with how much she traveled.

“It’s fine, it’s fine~. You were in Bosco along with your friend and guildmate, right? I was just someone extra in there to help out the best I was able to. You needn’t bother yourself with the support characters! Though I hope to be of more use today then of how much I was back then.” She would say it all with a big smile plastered on her face. Her nature was a carefree one, most assuredly so. Leila didn’t want to create any conflict, nor be rude to others or make them feel uncomfortable. So she always took everything easy or at least tried to. “And thank you. It was super unexpected, the Council just kinda chose me to be one. Probably because I always worked very closely with them. That aside, I noticed you using your iLac before. You won’t get any reception in this world, but I will allow you to take pictures and records. But only if you can promise me that you will use them only for yourself and won’t spread them to the wide public. We already have our share of problems here and it would not help if someone was to set their eyes on us and try to raid this place.” Hopefully, her acquaintance would understand this. There was no shortage of baddies out there and they all had to be as careful as they could possibly be.

And with that out of the way, it was time to start explaining. Leila would beckon her to follow as she started walking through the camp. There was someone they had to meet and she was able to explain everything on the way. “Allow me to officially welcome you to the Floating Continent. It’s a world I discovered by chance and as far as we’re aware, no humans were here before us. A land in the skies above an endless sea with no clear bottom. But as long as you don’t fall over the edge, you’ll be just fine! Now, to the job… I hope Midou didn’t cause any trouble?” She was referring to the man in a red hoodie who placed the contract in Lamia Scale’s Guildhall. A member of this camp and the one who was ordered to spread the news. “He can be a handful, but his loyalty is strong. So I’m glad that he did accomplish this task just fine. There is indeed an escort we’ll be performing. While I said that no humans were to this place before I discovered it, there was something else. Species native to this place that evolved from… well, whatever they evolved from and eventually gained intelligence. They are the natives here and we’re invading. When we learned of their presence, we figured out it was best to establish a peace that would allow us to continue exploring this land without having to fight them.”

This land was not hers, nor anyone else’s. What was driving Leila forward was the curiosity and want to travel this new land. But she didn’t want that to be at the expense of other creatures that were here for far longer than she has. She was not here to conquer the land, just explore it. And possibly take few of its hidden riches while she was at it. After all, she was a treasure hunter still. They would reach the end of the camp where an unusual figure was already standing. The upper body of a woman, but lower body of a snake, or something akin to it. Dressed in a white dress, almost resembling a bride ready to be wed at any moment and a strange mask with a symbol of an eye covering her actual sight. And while it wasn’t particularly strong, there was a magical energy coming from her. She was a mage of some kind and another member of the core team that was running this entire camp. As if sensing them, she would turn toward the approaching due and brush through her magenta-colored hair with one of her hands while smiling warmly, almost alluringly. A basilisk. That is what she was. A species partly human and partly beast with inherited magical powers that could turn people into stone if they were to look into their eyes. Something that explained the mask, at least if Samira knew of them beforehand.

Seraph:

“Meet Seraph, our communicator mage and a friend of mine. She is the one we’ll be escorting. This is Samira Nassar, she will be helping us on our mission.” At Leila’s words, Seraph would chuckle and her body slithered a little bit closer. Hopefully, the celestial mage also wasn’t scared of such creatures. “Good day, miss Nassar. My full name is Seraph Alterra. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Letting the two to face one another, the Eden’s caretaker stepped aside and allowed them to do their introductions if they wanted to something anything more. “Seraph’s magic allows for communication over long distances and translation. She is capable of even decoding an unknown language and translating it common tongue in real time. Now you can see the link, right? Her magic is not suitable for combat at all, so we have to escort her to the natives and ensure her safety. Now, the details of this job were vague for a reason… we don’t know what to expect. Anything could attack us on the way. And the negotiations could very well fail as well, making the natives attack us instead of accepting peace. I’m sorry to ask you to work with so many unknowns, but I can’t provide anything better. Will you still help us, please? Midou is powerful enough to help as well,
but... his magic is... not very environment-friendly. And his temper is also... just... please!”

Leila scratched the back of her head and laughed nervously when she heard Samira mention that Midou had delivered the request no problem. Knowing him, she almost expected there to be some problems but had no one else who could get around the different guilds as fast as him. It appeared that they all got lucky, the people present here and bystanders in the guild when he was around alike. “Ahaha, that’s good… I was really worried that someone would try to get in his way because of his attitude. But I’m glad no one was reduced to nothing more than ashes and cinders, that is very good.” She really needed to find a better messenger before someone would get hurt. But that was an ordeal for a different time it seemed. Seraph, on the other hand, seemed much more relaxed even as she noticed the summoner in front of her pull something out of her attire. With the mask, she was unable to see anything at all. But she was still very much aware of what was happening around her and recognized that something was going on. Though when Samira asked if she could take few photos, the basilisk beamed with a light blush. “Take a picture? Of me?! Oh my, dear! Yes, please go ahead! Take as many as you need to! Oh, but I’m not taking my mask off even for someone as lovely as you, we don’t want to go through the ordeal of turning you back into proper human form, fufu~.”

Confirming the other girl’s worry, Seraph would also go ahead and start posing for the photos. Something surely not exactly necessary, but the girl liked her attention. People were usually staring at her with the opposite emotions to those that the green-haired girl had inside of her, so being adorned like this was a breath of fresh air. Of course, everyone in the camp here accepted her just fine. But that was very few people to what one would encounter at any street in any major city of Earthland. Non-humans were generally pretty accepted throughout the land, but the problem was her outer appearance. Especially the mask. To some, it would surely be rather scary looking. Not to mention that bridal style of dressing. She always looked like this. Her large body also took up much more space than any regular human and even most monster-like species that were still humanoid. It was the struggle of those not completely human alright. Leila fell into that category herself, but her appearance was close enough to be perfectly accepted by others. Not to mention her high status as a mage and Wizard Saint. In certain corners of the world, she was actually seen as a real hero who was making a real difference and saving others simply because it was right and not for the profit of it. Something that was her goal, really. But now was not the time to think about that.

It was time to think about what was going on here. Samira actually accepted the offer to accompany them on their journey, which made Leila extremely happy. Wiping out the tiny tears that she had in the corners of her eyes, she would smile at her comrade and nod. “Thank you greatly. Trust me that I truly appreciate this. Saying that it is difficult to find good allies in my current state is an understatement. It might sound complicated or just plain stupid, but that’s how it is. There are things I want to do, for my own selfish sake. But I can’t do them alone. So since you asked, allow me to fill you on everything that we know about these natives. I'm certain that you’ve at least heard of exceeds? Smaller cat-like creatures capable of flight and speech, they originated in a different world to Earthland called Edolas and usually can be found in a company of slayers. Though they have been seen playing the role of a companion to mages with more regular types of magic as well. We’ve confirmed that what we’re dealing with here are not exceeds, but they are quite similar. At least in their looks. Magic is naturally present in their bodies, but we’ve not seen them use any spells at all so far. They are fairly small in their size and use simple weaponry, mainly spears and shields. They have also been seen hunting for both meat and fruits around the Island.”

Pausing for a moment, Leila would shoot a look at Seraph to see if she was ready before resuming her surge of information. “We did not engage with them directly yet. But I am convinced that they already know of us as well. I suppose neither of the parties was confident enough to make the first move until today.” But one of them had to do so if they wished to avoid conflict down the line. And so this contract was put in place with hopes of establishing peace. The sooner they would try to do this, the better. But they had to be prepared as much as possible in order to increase the chance of success to it’s absolutely highest point. If they would somehow aggravate these cat-folk, then it would make everything harder and possibly even force them out of this land entirely. Something that would surely be of a great shame. And honestly, the girl was tired of failing… she wanted something to finally go in her favor for once. And she was determined to do everything in her power to make that actually happen. Looking at Samira with a serious expression, she would finally ask. “Are you ready to head out then? If there is any preparation you need to finish them, do so now. I’d like to head out as soon as possible.” Because once she would get an okay from everyone, they would be on their way. And it would be a while for them to get back, as there would be little space for a break on the path.

At first, it appeared that Samira was perfectly ready and prepared for the three of them to depart and start their little journey toward the home of the cant people. Though that was only at first, as she quickly paused and suddenly asked for a little bit of time to get ready. Naturally, Leila wanted her to be as prepared as possible for anything that could happen along the way as well as at their destination. With an affirmative nod, she would look around to see if everything was running smoothly. She expected her partner to maybe run off somewhere to do her preparations, maybe ask where the toilet was… but she actually remained in place and instead asked another question. Perhaps it was supposed to be quite obvious, but at first, the Eden’s Caretaker had thought that her question about a bow was directed at her and Seraph, since they were the ones nearby. “Oh, um… I’m sure there is at least one back over at the… um…?” Looking over her shoulder, she would point at one of the tents which held a good amount of basic weaponry. But the way Samira was acting, it suddenly became obvious that she wasn’t actually talking to Leila, nor was she asking for a bow that could be possibly present in the camp. Now, she talked to her spirits and asked one of them for such weapon and if she could borrow it. Well, that probably worked just as well as asking those in the camp if they had one.

Regular people would probably still be rather confused, but Leila was a summoning mage herself. Since they were both celestial wizards, they were probably able to understand one another a little bit better than most, even if they didn’t know one another all too well yet. Realizing what was happening, the silver-haired maiden would just chuckle and observe the entire scene happening in front of her happily. It was strangely comforting to know that others had voices in their head as well. Made her seem a little bit less insane in comparison. But oh well, being crazy probably haven’t meant something negative in the context of this world anyway! And as the arrows suddenly shot out and scattered all around the ground, she would scratch the back of her head and kneel down as well, helping Samira gather them all. She wasn’t about to just stand there and watch it all go down if she could help at least a little bit. That’d be just cruel. And Seraph was a bit of an exception from that because she wouldn’t be able to see all the arrows on the ground anyway. Once they were done, the green-haired girl announced that she was now ready and they could all head out. “Alright. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but you look pretty human-ish? Me and Seraph both have a little bit more powerful senses thanks to our traits. So if anything starts heading our way, we’ll let you know!”

Giving her some comfort information that it would be very difficult for them to get ambushed even by wild predators, Leila would start marching toward a fork in the road just outside of the camp. Seraph slithered right next to her and Samira was free to assume any position in their little formation she thought most appropriate. In front of them was one way to the left that seemed to lead into a jungle of sorts and a way to the right that started going up instead. Without really saying anything, Leila would start walking to the right and hoping they would all follow her. This whole place was still somewhat confusing, but at least she managed to memorize the main paths and where they would get her. After a short incline, they would find themselves on top of the smaller mountains, an open path leading them toward the center of this specific floating Island. And while the view on both sides was quite amazing, the one on the right was outright breathtaking. At least to some anyway. For at the moment, they were fairly close to the edge of the Island and the view of an endless sea could only be broken by the horizon ahead. Leila had seen it many times before already, but she low-key hoped that Samira would like it as well. They were on an important mission here, and that could get quite stressful for some people.
So the girl wanted to give her more than just bad memories of how they had to be careful and everything. Something pleasant, something more than just those pictures in her iLac. An actual experience of seeing the beauty of this world with her own eyes. But it was up to the green-haired girl to enjoy this. Leila would stop walking if Samira would too, but they would slowly inch closer toward their goal. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be going wrong on the way there either, which was a plus. There was an occasional rustle of nearby bushes as perhaps few wolves tried to stalk them, but nothing actually attacked them. The local fauna was starting to learn that the humanoid creatures were not ones they wanted to toy with recklessly. Eventually, the road would start taking them back down again and slowly start disappearing into a smaller forest. And once through it, a number of structures would be revealed in the distance. Wooden spikes forming barriers and blockades protected tents that looked a little like the ones in the camp but mostly made out of natural resources from this place rather than leather and fabric. It was a fairly small village. And just beyond it seemed to be a beach to some body of water present on this Island. With their small feet, many creatures hidden in colorful ponchos were moving around in this place. There were also many standing guard with shields and spears at the ready.
“Well, we made it here. Now the hard part I suppose. Seraph will have to go first, but we need to be ready to move in front of her if anything happens. Or me, rather. My body is pretty sturdy. I trust you can provide support if anything goes down, Samira?” Smiling at her companion, she would tap Seraph’s shoulder who nodded. In her usual snake-like manner, she would move out from the bushes and trees to head toward the village as she moved her hands in front of her. A small golden orb of magical energy started forming between her two palms, one made out of many strange symbols that only she could understand. The moment she was spotted by the cat-folk, they would jump up and down as they bore their shields high and the spears aimed directly at the approaching individuals. During all this, they would all start making many odd cat-like sounds that meant absolutely nothing to Leila and probably Samira as well. “They are mostly screaming at us to stop where we are and state our business. Alright, here goes…
Fear not, friends! We do not come with any intentions of harming you. Please, allow us to state our business and discuss them with you in peace!
As her magic became active, her words would sound much more powerful and slightly distorted as her tongue was instantly translated into those confusing cat noises.

It was clearly something they did not expect, as they stopped making any and all sounds, only looking at each other in disbelief. From behind the walls, a single powerful and yet soothing cat screech sounded and at its command, the guards would point their spears at the skies once more, stepping to the side. “Looks like it worked?” “Their leader spoke from behind the door. Seems like they want to speak to us? As long as we don’t cause any trouble the moment we’re in that is.” And so they were free to enter the village for now. Beyond the wooden gate were both small and large tents in fairly large numbers with the cat people all around, most of them looking at these invaders rather curiously. They were pretty adorable, that much had to be handed to them. And while they would stay a good distance from them for now, the trio was pretty free to look around during their way to toward the main shack that housed the leader of this tribe.

Leila did notice that something behind her changed, an additional magical energy came into the world rather suddenly. It did make her look over her shoulder as they walked, but that was about it. She spotted the spirit sitting on Samira’s shoulder and simply smiled, disregarding it all and starting to pay attention to what was in front of her again. She had a spirit like that too, a young dragon girl named Yuki. Sometimes, she would just appear and play the role of a companion to the Eden’s Caretaker for seemingly to reason at all. Perhaps out of her own loneliness, or maybe after sensing that her summoner could use the presence of someone she could trust. So it was but a natural assumption that just about every summoner that treated their spirits well had one such creature. And from what she saw back in Bosco, the green-haired witch was most certainly on good terms with her spirits. There was really a no good reason to interrupt the two. And considering the distance they stayed back, it also made Leila interpret it as if they maybe wanted some privacy before they reached the village. She gave it to them and caught nothing but distant noise from their conversation. Though she herself felt it… something little bit off. But far too faint to be of any actual concern right now. After all, they had a completely different mission they had to focus on right now. Once peace would be established, then they could go hunting for strange energies all they wanted.

Samira also wasn’t the only one who dearly wanted to explore the inside of this native village, along with the natives themselves. Leila was greatly interested in their anatomy and if they were perhaps somehow related to exceeds after all. But all that obviously had to wait till they would be on friendly terms rather than the neutral ground that could break into just about anything. Seraph kept the magical ball of energy between her palms active, so she understood at least most of the words that were uttered around them. Though there were little too many for her to just recite it all in real time. The main gist of things was that the two members of the great party were to go inside and meet the Elder while the one who was helping them was to remain outside. Leila wasn’t about to fight that decision of whoever this older cat woman was, though she did look over her shoulder and tossed an apologetic expression at Samira, hoping that she would not be too bummed about the result of things. She was clearly showing her interest in all this but had less access than the rest of their diplomatic party, it didn’t seem fair. Not much they could have done right now though. First would go the Eden’s caretaker, having to bend her body forward a little to not hit the top frame of the door with her head. Seraph did the same, though instead of bending forward, she just moved her snake part to lower the human one.

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The inside was obviously small, something that could have been judged from the outer look of the building. Though still much larger than most living spaces here it seemed. What made it truly packed was a large amount of different furniture and trinkets scattered all about, leaving only a small hallway of space toward a bigger wooden chair. There sat a much older looking male cat with a white and gray fur, a long staff resting by the side of his throne. Two more guards were on the inside by the entrance, as well as a very unusual cat person. While looking exactly the same as the rest of his kind, he was huge! Actually way bigger than Leila and Seraph in size, the creature would easily be over 2 meters tall and held a solid iron mace in its hand. Most likely the tribe’s finest warrior, or something along those lines. It was honestly little difficult to focus on one single thing, as there was just so much to observe here. Especially the number of magical trinkets that would be hanging from the ceiling, similar to dream catchers, and statues along with blankets and fabrics stacked erratically in baskets all around. Shelves packed with parchments and blueprints, some wooden staffs and much more. Though the Elder solved the problem by beckoning the two visitors, wanting them to come closer.

With a nod and careful step, they would make their way to about half-way before they stopped and bowed. Well, Leila did. Seraph had to experience a slight tug on her outfit from her companion before she would realize that she was standing in front of authority and had to express politeness and respect. The orb between her palms suddenly expanded and covered the entire room. It was to make sure that everyone present would understand everything that was said. Though it alarmed the guards and the big guy, the Elder quickly moved his hand in a gesture that nothing was happening and they could remain calm. He clearly knew what sort of magic was at play here and did not fear it in the slightest. Whether that was because he was foolish or because he was experienced was unknown. And finally, he opened his small mouth, revealing all the sharp teeth inside as he spoke. “The tall ones cometh… were ye send by Asteroth? Speak your words in the tongue of truth!” Despite being a cat, his voice sounded rough and very mature. A true Elder one could say. Or perhaps that was just the effect of Seraph’s magic. Narrowing from their bows, the two girls would look at each other in slight confusion. The name uttered meant nothing to them and if that was a good or bad thing, they had no idea. But as he asked, they did not have any intentions of lying to the old cat.

“We do not know anyone by that name, sir. We come from our own will as members and Representatives of the Pack that activated a warp gate leading to this land. We are humans and non-humans walking hand in hand and all we desire is to see the beauty of this world. As such, we come here to ask you for a treaty of peace, a promise of harmony that will surely aid us both.” Trying to present her ideals and goals as best as she could, Leila even used a proper body language while speaking her mind. She was never all that good with formal chats, so she hoped her message got across clearly without having any unfortunate or undesired side effects. The elder cat moved his paw to his chin and stroked it several times, looking to the side and clearly thinking about something while leaving the two girls with a bated breath. “So it is… the prophecy spoke of ye, strangers! Those who shall come through the gate of time and worlds shall be faced with the wrath of Asteroth. To free this land from his domination. Mysterio, our world… it would be but beginning for this terror. But ye… to face him and to defeat him, you can. So says the prophecy.” Now, this was something they did not expect. Prophecy? Fight? Suddenly, the meeting was interrupted by a dark green mist seeping in through the closed doors.

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Since Samira wasn’t exactly allowed inside, she had to endure the continued stares of the villagers surrounding her pretty much from all the sides. Not to mention the guards that were at the ready if she were to suddenly turn hostile, along with archers that had bows and arrows at ready. They might have been small and cute, but in such numbers, they were probably a considerable force to face. However, the Catheim were hardly what anyone should be worried about right now. Something was coming and right now, just about everyone could feel it. The horde of villagers started to slowly grow thin as a number of them headed back to their homes and all the armed poncho-wearing cats quickly started returning to their regular posts. The weather was perfectly clear until now, just a warmly shining sun with little to no clouds that would have the potential of covering it. However, as if a dangerous storm was coming, pitch-black and gray clouds swiftly moved in from the far north, the portion of Floating Continent that no one from the camp had a chance of exploring yet. Not only that, the view of a giant lake right next to the village turned pale as well. The water almost black in its color and the air suddenly feeling heavy. It was not long before a strange green fog started raising from the ground. It did not smell like anything, nor did it feel like anything. It was just… unsettling.

Many of the guards quickly started meowing at each other, their words still very likely meaning nothing to the summoner. It was noisy before, but now it was even worse. Until it wasn’t. All of the noise suddenly ceased to be. And the slowly darkening world turned into shades of blue. Literally everything froze including the natives, flags that were dancing in the winds and even flames of a nearby bonfire. The entire world became ‘stuck’ in a single moment with the exception of Samira who appeared to be unaffected. And despite there not being any additional magical energy, a boy’s voice suddenly sounded from top of the Elder’s hut. “Oh, oh, oh?!! Don’t tell me… is it truly possible… did my Queen bring someone other than the black mutt along to help her? Aahaha, that’s amazing! I had thought she was completely and utterly useless without her. But here I am, witness to how much my Queen grew while I wasn’t looking. Ahaha~” It was a young boy, no older than 15 years old from the general shape of his body. But upon closer inspection, he was nothing short of a demon. A strange staff in his hand and blood pouring out of his covered eyes, along with a grin from one ear to another that would break apart a regular man’s face for good.  Not to mention a very unnatural feeling that came along with him.


“Now, I’m sure you must be wondering… who is this handsome boy? Well, dear Miss Samira Nassar, that’s a secret~. I’m one of Leila’s spirits. Or at least that’s what I told her at the start, ahaha~. We’re very good friends, you see? At such good terms that I even canceled the deal where I was supposed to get her soul and torment it forever! And because we’re such good friends, I’ve come to, uh… fix! Yes, fix few mistakes she had made. But I see you two will be a little busy in a moment, so I’ll leave it for later. Toodles~” And with that, not really providing any real explanation to anything, he vanish. And along with him gone, the world return back to motion where everything quickly started growing darker. A sudden green lightning formed in the black clouds and hit the body of water near them, creating a sort of a black portal from which a stone monolith rose into the air. And while it floated there, a dark magic filled the area as reanimated skeletons suddenly started raising from the ground all around the village. Ones that resembled humans but with sharp vampire-like teeth as a bonus. It seemed that Samira was finally getting another one of those missions where everything goes wrong in a split of a second. Kicking the door open, Leila rushed outside to her side too. “What’s happening?! There was this sudden rush of magic and… oh… oooh!”

Yes, the floating black monolith with many strange symbols and dark necromancy magic literally pulsating from it along with an army of undead skeletons could most certainly be considered as an unexpected issue. In fact, this was even beyond anything that Leila imagined they could face today. She even planned for the seemingly worst case scenario where the Catheim would attack them and gain the upper hand. But an army of skeleton warriors was truly something unexpected to the silver-haired maiden. And while she was trying to process all that new information presented to her, Seraph would poke her head out from the hut behind them as well. She still had her mask on, so there was no way she could see what was really happening here. But she sure as the day could sense it all. The entire area now reeked of dark magic creeping into every corner of the village and the forest that surrounded it. “Well, this certainly looks like trouble, doesn’t it? Aah, I’m in such luck, having a reliable escort to protect me on a day like this. Good luck~” Clearly not wanting to get involved at all, she would hide back inside and that was most likely the last they would see of her until the battle was over. While completely expected due to her lack of combat abilities, the way she said those words still managed to irk the Eden’s Caretaker a bit who narrowed her gaze at the skeletons she would soon have to face at a much closer distance.

“Even normal weaponry can be effective against this type of enemy if used correctly, but I agree that it will be much less effective than magic and blessed weaponry. Thankfully…” Extending her right hand to the side, a blue discus suddenly appeared behind the female and illuminated the nearby area in a mysterious azure blue hue. Suddenly breaking apart into many different uneven parts, they would travel in front of Leila and reassemble once again only to send out a burst of celestial energy forth. To a celestial summoner like Samira, it might have looked similar to a celestial dress. A veil of celestial magic layered itself atop Leila’s physical form and imbued her with a new power that would strengthen both her and the weapon she summoned. Yes, her summoning magic surely wasn’t anywhere near the scale of Samira’s, but the girl used more than just her keys as part of that magic. She had several celestial tools that were almost part of her body. It all made sense if one were to know what Leila really was. Because it most certainly wasn’t human. In any case, the assembled discuss started rotating at a much rapid rate and moved over to floating just next to its owner’s elbow. And with her stance, she was ready to dash forward and start cutting her foes apart. While it was no holy magic, celestial energy had the properties of altering the reality itself in order to open gates.


And something like that could very well be enough to ensure that the skeleton’s are affected to the point where they could not come back. But before she could actually engage in combat, another figure leaped out of the Elder’s hut. It was the huge Catheim she noticed before, one who stood much taller than both  Leila and Samira or any of their summons. A positive reinforcement that wasn’t afraid of the incoming threat as much as the rest of the cat-folk. And with his trusty mace in hand, he would charge right at the skeletons, smashing one into the ground with enough force to turn its skull into dust and have the rest of its bones crack restlessly. Despite them being nothing more than a pile of some creature’s remains, that display of power still somehow managed to look rather gruesome to Leila. But even as her companion took the bow and tested it out on the monolith only for it to send out a wave of energy that started reanimating already fallen enemies, the crushed one stayed down. That was at least one ray of hope they had in the middle of it all. It also made the girl notice something that she started focusing on, approaching the destroyed undead as the large Catheim started swinging his weapon to all sides, forcing the rest of the army to back away temporarily. This at least gave the Caretaker enough time to properly examine the pile of bones left behind and the magic coursing through it.


“I knew there was something weird about these… this type of necromancy is…” Her train of thought was quickly interrupted by a sword headed straight at her in an attempt the split her own skull open like a gory piñata. From her elbow, the discus moved right in front of the weapon and its rotating motion managed to force the iron blade to slide to a side, creating an easy opening for Leila put gently put her hand onto the skeleton’s ribs as they suddenly started turning green. “All life returns to Earth eventually. And the undead are much closer than anyone else to that. Unfortunately for you, ‘Earth’ is my magic.” Hopping away, several vines and roots would quickly start forming on the skeleton and slowly rip him into pieces. And as those pieces fell to the ground, they would start quickly decomposing and return to the grass and dirt, hopefully never to return as they became one with nature. “Didn’t need a holy weapon after all. Wasn’t sure this would work, but the gamble paid off.” Saying those words to no one but herself, she would quickly start retreating back into the village along with the giant Catheim as the barrier from one of Samira’s spirits started forming to protect them all. It wouldn’t be very nice to get stuck outside because of it.

She returned to Samira’s side and looked at her with a determined expression. “I took a closer look at one of them and discovered something. This is not a normal type of necromancy. Usually, a mage would try to return into a body a soul that was inside of it while the body was alive. But these are different. It seems the mage in question created completely new souls instead. Putting them into dead bodies, he was able to make them move again… I suppose it’s almost more puppetry magic than actual necromancy when you think about it. At least we don’t have to feel bad about fighting them, the souls present in these dead bodies feel no torment. We can go all out!” Of course, there was already a good chance that the green-haired female was already going all out from the very start. After all, she summoned two powerful spirits that were doing a good job holding the enemy forces back. Turning toward the one that was creating the barrier, Leila smiled and started shouting back at her words. “If your barrier has only so much it can take, then all we have to do is reinforce it, right? Give me a second!” With a reply like that, the female pulled out a key that Samira was already familiar with. A beautiful, golden one.


Answering the call right away was one of Leila’s more powerful spirits, one of the mighty Zodiacs. A golden gate opened up right in front of the summoner as the beautiful ebony-skinned female moved out, already holding her katana firmly in hand and ready to enter the fray. However, her main role would be more supportive rather than offensive. “Give them my all?” “Every last drop of it!” A simple exchange between the two girls made them both smirk with confidence as the golden spirit flew into the air without any wings to carry her, quickly taking a spot next to Athena. “I hope you don’t mind my presence, dear?” She would ask her fellow spirit with a friendly tone as she extended her empty hand forward and in that very moment, all of the undead outside the barrier started being pushed back. The spirit’s magic was gravity. She was able to freely manipulate it and direct it. In this case, it was not too hard to make it much harder for the enemy to reach their destination. Not to mention, that was only the start of the Spirit's power. With the katana in hand, she would start swinging wildly in the air, each attack causing a wave of condensed gravity to shoot out beyond the barrier and create explosions of air that pushed and ripped apart large groups of enemies.

Though just how Samira observed herself, the horde seemed to be almost endless. They probably really had to start focusing on the monolith and destroy it first, as that appeared to be the source of the dark magic and what was feeding all of those moving bones. Biting her lip nervously, Leila turned toward Samira again. “I can try to unleash my strongest attack on it, but… well, if you have any abilities or spirits that could create additional mass, that would help greatly. Any extra disposable land will help!” And with that, the girl started to channel her magical energy in much greater amounts. However, they were all soon interrupted in a rather rude manner. What they faced until now were mindless bones sloppily put together. But there were few among them that were more than just that. Clad in dark cloaks and with dark jewels adorning their bleached bones, there were also undead mages. Skeletons just like the rest, but the moment they raised their staffs, the whole situation got much worse. A black and purple mist started forming around them, opening a warp gate that started instantly transporting groups of skeletons directly inside the village and inside the barrier where they could move freely and attack.

Thankfully, the Catheim themselves were more than willing to defend their homes when it came down to it. Especially the big guy who didn’t want to move out after the barrier was erected. But now that the enemies moved to him, he could start crushing them with his mace once more. He even grabbed several with his bare paws and started tossing them about like they were projectiles meant to be used this way. And his bravery in the face of these overwhelming numbers inspired the normal guards as well! While their weapons might have not been much, they also had numbers and coordination on their side. As they would move in groups of three, two cats would always use the spears to force the skeleton down as the third jumped on top of it and started flailing until the enemy stopped moving. Even the archers were accurate enough to hit the skulls of the transported enemies, at least slowing them down if not downing them. Though of course, the skeletons kept on coming back unless they were completely crushed and just destroyed in some manner. The real problem were still the skeleton mages who were staying outside the barrier and in the back behind the main forces. Their dark arts would start creating black ethereal swords in the air, slashing away at everything that would move as well as forming orbs of black mass that would slowly expand and then explode into a wave of energy that made everything around decay.

It was not a pleasant situation by any means, but if nothing else, they were at least not outright losing to the enemies. And Leila started to be ready to unleash her combination attack in an attempt to destroy the monolith. Of course, she had no idea if it would actually be enough to break it into pieces judging by the barrier that protected it. So all other attacks from Samira and her summons were appreciated in order to weaken it first, as well as her request from before. The more mass she could use from around here, the better. Of course, worst case scenario she could rip apart the forest around them. But just how she mentioned before they even started walking out of the camp, she was hoping for allies that would be a little bit more environmentally friendly than her powerful friend in a red hoodie who was easily capable of burning this entire place to the ground in mere seconds. And taking a chunk of this land for her attack would make Leila not all that different to what she desired to avoid. She would do it if necessary but hoped that there was a better alternative. At least her own magic could create some extra land that could be used before it all too. Libra was in the same mindset of preparing. Leila’s ultimate victory card was not something she could ever do alone. It was a combination attack of herself and several of her spirits. With a combined strength of them all and her own magical energy, many spectacular feats were possible. And it was all a very clear sign of the powerful bonds this summoner had with her spirits. And they were not hesitant to show that power to anyone if they were forced to. After all, they did it a number of times in the past already. And it was a sight to behold each of those times alright!

Even in the middle of an important battle, Leila took the time to stop for a second and look at her companion, showing an expressive and warm smile at her question. “Is it really so strange? Well, I don’t plan to change it regardless. I don’t wish to harm anyone who does not deserve it and I don’t want to take a life of anyone who could grow to be a better individual. If we were faced with a normal necromancy, then I would just do my very best to free the imprisoned souls and give them their deserved peace!” She said it so confidently that no one could possibly question her resolve to stand by those words. A Wizard Saint who had never truly killed anyone, yet went through countless perils and still emerged not only alive but also victorious. Was such resolve truly rare? Maybe. Maybe not. Leila didn’t really know. She just had her own way of looking at this world, just like everyone else. And she would stand by her words, her actions defining her as a person. Perhaps it was all just because of who she was, a creature not of this world but one from the Void between dimensions. She grew to love Earthland more than anything. And as such, she wanted only the best for the world and those in it. Eventually, that way of thinking became completely normal to her and started being applied no matter where the girl actually was. The Caretaker simply just wished for everyone to be happy and acted upon that wish.

And yet, she still possessed at least some power that could be used to harm and destroy. One that she would be showcasing just in a bit. Samira, unfortunately, wasn’t able to really provide any extra juice for her combination attack, but that was fine. It just meant that she would have to focus a little bit more and perhaps call forth an extra spirit of her own. One that had the potential of being quite troublesome, but hopefully would not be. As soon as she had the luxury of not being engaged in direct combat, she would crouch and start focusing. That was a signal for Libra as well, for she was the key component in all this. Slowly, Leila’s body would start changing. Samira wondered why the girl didn’t use her take-over forms. That was because she no longer wanted to be just tossing them around unless she had to. Now was that time, as the girl gained several dragon-like traits and her magical energy started rapidly increasing. Not only that, she would also start quietly chanting.

Take-over & Aurora:

With that, yet another light would appear in the darkened skies as a ball of white started quickly descending to the ground. And once it would hit, a spirit emerged from it. One with brown hair, also possessing fox-like features similar to the basic form of her summoner. Though in addition to that, she also had several pairs of wings and a very holy aura to it all. That was Aurora, the mightiest of Leila’s spirits. And even much more than just her summon, the two of them were one. Two pieces of one soul, their situation was a rather complex one. In any case, the goddess would use her wings to take place next to Libra without any words, realizing that saying anything right now would only interrupt her summoner’s concentration. As everyone around was fighting, a dragon skull made out of purple crystals started forming behind Leila and slowly started gathering magical energy. With the formation of summoned spirits and the skull appearing, perhaps some people around already started realizing what exactly the girl wanted to do. And as the attack finally became ready, she would open her eyes and fixate them on the monolith, staring directly at the crack now adorning its surface. That was now a weak point, a place they had to focus all their power on!

“Two-way deadlock: Planetary collapse, go!” All around the Caretaker, many tall trees started growing. That was her magic, the power to control nature and summon nature already present in her world, Eden. At the same time, Libra flew off like a bullet and with her sword clashed into the monolith. An action that had little to no effect visible. But there was an invisible one. By touching the object, the spirit was able to use her magic and transform the black stone into a center of a gravitational field. “Everyone, please hold on to something as much as you can!” And with the spirit’s warning, it began. A powerful force started drawing everything to the monolith and trees around the village slowly started being torn out of the ground. Loose rocks becoming bullets and the trees and other nature that Leila summoned only being added to it. Aurora, who was part of Leila, had the same magic as well. Three different magical circles appeared behind her as stones and trees started appearing out of them. Only seconds later, the entire construct of dark magic was encased in a layer of dirt and stone, slowly getting packed together by the gravity’s force. And as each second went by, the sphere in the skies started growing and growing until it was around 80 meters in diameter. Little small to be actually called ‘planet’, but still a giant ball floating in the air and crushing whatever was at its core.

Seeing this, transformed Leila used her wings to take into the skies along with the skull and aimed it at the ball. She remembered exactly where the crack was and aimed right at it, the crystal skull starting to gather magical energy into a focused gem inside of the maw. And suddenly, it fired a thin laser that easily pierced the newly formed planet and went straight through it. And in the process, the entire floating construction started falling apart. A sudden explosion from the core tore the packed ground apart, a green tint to the entire spectacle. It was certainly a colossal attack and pieces of the planet started crashing all around the village. Thankfully, all of it would become part of nature with some time again. The transformation quickly started to wear off as the Eden’s caretaker fell to the ground and her spirits vanished right away. Landing fairly smoothly, she looked at the slowly fading cloud from the explosion and sighed with satisfaction. “Alright, looks like we managed to destroy it with that…” Indeed, the monolith was nowhere to be found. And the skeletons started falling apart one after another as the entire area reclaimed its regular visage rather than one engulfed in darkness. But as the Sun started shining through the slowly dissipating clouds, something happened. A pure white barrier was suddenly erected all around Leila, but it didn’t feel like magic at all. It just… didn’t feel like anything.

“As impressive as always, my Queen. I am truly sorry to crash the party, but now that the cats are safe, I’m afraid I will have to take you away for a bit. You are my Queen and your power is what will set me free. But you went down the wrong way… Dreamland is waiting, dear. I’m sorry.” Suddenly appearing right in front of her was the demonic boy from before. But the world was not frozen. Only the barrier that could not be pierced by any attack. His hand rested on Leila’s chest before she could even move and something akin to a giant clock suddenly appeared right behind her back. Though perhaps it looked more like a magic circle with a single giant clock hand. Moving an hour with each click, it quickly started ticking down as the boy instantly vanished again. “Unknown?! What did you… what did you do? Wait, come back!” But there was no time left for anything. Regardless of if Samira tried to interfere or not, the clock hand returned back to the position of 12 and with a loud sound of a bell ringing, the entire world would be engulfed in a white light. Suddenly, Samira flew back out of the Wakusei portal and probably land on the ground rather harshly. All her spirits were forcefully returned back to their realm and she would probably notice that the gate was completely turned off. No way to return back to the Floating Continent. Even the man who activated it for her before was gone. Though there was a small box next to her, containing a random artifact that was promised her as the reward. The only question left was what happened to Leila and everyone else in that world after the boy’s clock finished its countdown.