Meeting Under A Lucky Star

Leila Vergious  ❃  S-rank  ❃  Guildless

It has now been a while since an event that shook the very foundations of Leila’s life. She had never thought she could get so attacked to certain concepts, but the world proved her wrong. And it happened in the most cruel of ways. As the world slowly descended into chaos due to a Nightmare from the world called Dreamland, the silver-haired maiden was called forth by the magic council. As one of their most trusted associates, she was to bring this danger down and restore the order. And with a little bit of help from an old demon and a young girl, she succeeded.

She had managed quite literally save the world. But she had never celebrated this. For when she returned, she discovered something most ghastly. Her guild, Golden Phoenix, has been destroyed in her absence. She was too busy confronting the Nightmare’s king and could not defend the one place she considered her home after coming to Fiore. With the absence of its guild master and strongest mages, it was an easy target for one of the dark guilds. And so, one of the legal guilds has been wiped out completely, leaving the girl emotionally unstable and devoid of words.

Her history with the guild ran all the way to the few first weeks after its creation, when she met Elyx. He was the first guild master and it was because of him that she joined. With time, she grew very fond of the guild and started seeing it as her family of sorts, one that she never truly had. She even promoted to an Ace at one point, a position that stayed with her until the very end. When she learned all of this, he renewed magic activated on its own, as the spirits of Eden forcefully pushed Leila Vergious back into her own realm for the sake of everyone around her.

Since then, at least few months passed. The girl eventually calmed down and started accepting the truth, though mostly distracting herself from it by any means available. In all of that time, she did not set a foot on Earthland once. She did not want to. She could not bear facing that world yet. And while Gardens of Eden were her world, one where she truly belonged, all of her spirits agreed on the fact that she should still warp to other places so that she would not lose touch with everything. While not exactly ecstatic about it all, she did agree in the end.

Though she always ended up in mostly empty worlds where nature was the ruler. Right now, she was in a world known as Terasu. A beautiful place where it always seemed to be night, yet trillions of small majestic stars would adorn and fall from the skies. It was also the first world she visited after returning from Eden that was not completely desolate. Apparently, plenty of couples would frequently come to here and admire the view. That said, Leila was alone. She had even Melon stay behind in the Gardens, as she required some time to herself.

After wandering about for a good while, she found herself far off the beaten path. A place where no one would normally go. Many different animals were running around, thankfully, none of them appearing to be hostile at all. There was a small forest she encountered here and promptly entered. Though the girl quickly discovered that trees were present only at the edge of this spot, as most of what she saw in front of her was a shallow lake with water glowing in the planet’s darkness. Testing that it was not harmful to touch, the girl shrugged and disrobed slowly.

Since the chance presented itself, she might have as well tried to relax a bit. As she neatly folded her attire on the grass-covered ground next to the body of water, she also slid a small bottle of an unknown liquid out. While it appeared as something that would not hold much inside, it was actually a magical item connected to the Gardens of Eden. A bottle that would warp any liquid from the Gardens to wherever she was. With it, she also had a pair of shallow plates, one usually used to consume sake. And sure enough, she intended to warp in some manner of alcohol as well.

Slipping into the warm water, she allowed the liquid to consume her body as a sigh managed to escape between her lips. Her body was so tense for the past few months that these moments felt like she was being reborn. Even the wolven tail she had would wag a little from the sensation. Pouring herself a bit of the special liquid - a crystal clear liquor that some of her spirits produced in the Gardens, she took a sip and looked straight up at the immeasurable amount of starts. It was a beauty to behold indeed… it almost made her wish that there would be someone else to share it with.

@Kitalpha Aurence 

Leila Vergious  ❃  S-rank  ❃  Guildless

The wolf girl was completely absorbed in the night sky. Or was it even night? If no day existed on this planet, then perhaps it would be incorrect to say that there even was such a thing as night and day. All there could be was an absence of light, seemingly accommodated for by the stars up above. Some static, some moving. Regardless, they all had their beauty and they were more than willing to share the view with everyone who rested down below. In this instance, Leila was happy that she came to this place. It was her very first visit to this one, and so far, she did not regret a thing.

Her animal-like ears twitched few times as several sounds carried themselves through the trees around. For a single moment, those very sounds seemed as something unnatural, produced by a force that was not quite meant to be here, much like Leila herself. But she paid it little attention, as it was far too easy to write these sounds off as animal moving about, perhaps even carrying some objects brought by humans visiting this world into their nests. Whenever she managed to find a moment for herself and started relaxing like this, she would make herself most vulnerable.

And finally, the moment when she almost regretted that came to pass. The water’s surface would twist, small waves going out from another source swimming in the lake alongside the Eden’s guardian. Those small echoes in the water finally managed to wake the dreamy mage up, her deep blue peepers turning from the sky above to whatever was happening in front of her. Beautiful indeed. She almost replied on instinct alone, but before then, another portion of her body reacted first. A quick and sudden movement jerked her whole body, as she pressed her back against the end of the lake.

Her hands up, one in front of her chest and the other in front of her head. A defensive stance assumed as means to oppose this new force that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. This place could have had any manner of predators, it was beyond stupidity to leave herself open like that. And yet, no attack or direct confrontation happened. And so she slowly lowered her hands, only to see another female standing not too far away from her. Ah, now she’s done it. She wished not to meet another person from Earthland. Not until she was ready. But here she was.

Normally, she entered these words and transformed to appear like a feral wolf, one filled with magic and connected to nature around. But this time, she did not do so. Especially once she discovered this place, as it would be more difficult to relax in the water while covered in a thick layer of fur that was meant to isolate temperature from her bare body. If there was any comfort to be taken in this meeting, it was the fact that whoever this was, they did not know Leila. And she did not know them. There was no need to explain anything that had happened.

No need to talk about how she disappeared for months without a single word, how she fell apart after discovering that her guild fell into ruin, nothing of that was required… or so she hoped. Her status as a Wizard Saint was still pretty widely knows, but there were people who cared not for such things. And so she was left with only one option - hope that this blond-haired girl was such individual. Or if she did know, that she would not poke into the matters that Leila was running away from at this very moment. Regardless, she still stayed a bit more cautious.

Her ears perked up and tail stationary behind her lower back, she regulated her breathed and fixated her gaze on the newcomer. “Yes, beautiful beyond words. This is the nature that was not yet tainted by anyone.” From her own Gardens of Eden, she knew full well just how bad could humanity corrupt the natural beauty. Thankfully, the only humans here seemed to be wanting to enjoy the view as well. For now, anyway. Surely, some troublemakers would show up eventually. And when that would happen, Leila would be here to defend what this world still had.

And looking at the situation a bit more carefully now, she was quite surprised by the female in front of her. While she appeared human, her skin had almost no imperfections aside from those tattoos. And if she knew her magic right, then they were formed by non-natural means. Though she would not poke for information, she never did. In fact, she herself had such things on her own body. It was probably not quite visible beneath the water’s surface, and Eden’s mark also nearly disappeared after the ascension of her magic. But it was still present in places, that gray bark-like skin.

Her left hand on the elbow, just below her right shoulder, the left side of her waist and right thigh. Those were all the places where the corruption of Eden was still present and visible. Especially now when her body was covered by nothing more than the thin transparent veil of water. Actually, it was just now that the girl stopped being so distracted by everything that she properly realized what she was staring at. Her cheeks grew a rosy red in an instant as she turned her head away, so not to stare at the bare-chested woman in front of her.

She was not even submerged enough to hide the top half of her body, making Leila a bit anxious. Even after all this time, the silver-haired maiden was just that. A maiden. Inexperienced in the matters that would be considered adult. It was like her one weakness next to flames that would rather easily consume her nature-based magic. A slight sigh escaped her as she splashed some of the water on her face and shook her head, trying to cool herself down enough to speak out again. One thing that was important to ask - “And you are..?”

@Kitalpha Aurence 

Leila Vergious  ❃  S-rank  ❃  Guildless

Narrowed eyes and an unpleasant gaze was the reward for Kitalpha’s action of moving even closer into Leila’s personal space. Right now, the silver-haired maiden was much more jumpy than ever due to the events that took place in her life, still far too fresh and hurting in her heart. And the fact that her question was not answered in the way she wanted ticked her off even more. Despite her head being turned somewhat away from the other female, a clicking sound escaped her as she ground her teeth against one another in mild frustration. “You’re avoiding the question!”

It was quite rare for this girl to sound so aggressive. If one were to normally describe here, they would probably say that she was almost overly friendly and getting along with just about anyone. But the timing was rather poor, and the wolf girl had little to no patience in this very instant. Which, as one could probably guess, did not translate over well when the unknown female started being a little too curious for her own good. That said, Leila definitely did not expect her hand to be grabbed in such matter, her body pulled nearly into an embrace out of nowhere.

“Wha-” Her cheeks would quickly transform from the rosy red to straight up tomato color. Instinctively, she tried to pull away, but it seemed that appearances were deceiving and the other girl possessed quite a bit of strength. The worst was yet to come, however. The moment Kitalpha touched the lower part of Leila’s body, the atmosphere in the air changed completely to the point where she could probably feel her skin almost freezing, despite the warm water they were in. And in the very next instant, Leila was no longer there, being held by her.

The girl’s body turned and dissolved into a black and blue light, re-appearing in the air above the shore, her hands touching the ground first and grabbing her weapon before the rest of her body fell down. The wind picked up and the trees around shook in a menacing manner, suddenly twisting and warping. Not even a second later, they would all grow and start circling around that one spot in the water. Kitalpha would find herself surrounded by circles of tree trunks, coiling closer and closer as if their goal was to eventually crush her. And along with that, another loud click sound.

But this time, it was the girl’s weapon. With a simple motion, she transformed the blade inside of its sheath into a bow and was already prepared to release a magical arrow that would hit the other girl square in the chest. “Enough games. You will tell me who you are and what you want from me this instant, lest this day will become much more painful for you than you could handle. I am angry..!” And she quite meant that. Her blood was boiling after someone so carelessly violated her personal space and decided to use her vulnerability.

Not one person in the past got this close and did something like this. Even her best friend, Jiyu Kazehime. Paired with her emotional state right now, it just wasn’t looking very good for the other female. The difference in their power was probably rather clear right now, as Leila’s magical energy started radiating from her body, a power of an S-ranked mage. Power that would turn this entire forest, and perhaps even the lake itself, against her opponent if one were to show up. Despite everything, the girl was actually quite powerful. And she was confident in that power, ready to use it.

@Kitalpha Aurence 

Leila Vergious  ❃  S-rank  ❃  Guildless

The wind played a dreadful tune to the situation at hand, two individuals with their wills clashing as they stared at one another. The prison of coiling trees was but a warning for the blond female, Leila’s warning sign that she was not someone weak. She wielded power greater than one wielded by most mages of Fiore, after all. And she was in a bad mood, all things considered. The destruction of Golden Phoenix weighed heavy on her heart still, cutting her patience greatly as her pristine blue eyes pierced the tattooed woman with a menacing gaze.

But she did not actually attack as Leila had initially predicted. Instead, she would try to retaliate with words. And they were poorly chosen ones in the grand scheme of it all. “Shoot me then.” It resonated within the silver-haired maiden, the gray spots on her body suddenly growing darker and spreading ever so slightly across the rest of her still wet skin, glistening as the droplets of water reflected the star glow falling down onto them. Her eyes were almost shining in the dimness of this place as her hold on the bow grew stronger and more confident.

There was but a single point to this all. This strange woman quickly broke Leila’s personal space and even assaulted her body in a way no one else did before. Naturally, that was something she did not like in the slightest. And instead of an apology, she got those words. Words of a woman that might have thought herself above everyone else in this world. Was that truly so? Well… one thing was for certain. There would be no fight today. It was beyond clear who had the upper hand in this situation and the wolf girl intended to take everything she had in order to win.

“Very well.” The moment those words escaped her mouth, her magical energy grew even stronger. In that very instant, she had merged herself with one of her spirits, Harpae. The blind spirit who, despite her terrible condition, was able to handle her bow as a true master. Despite this merge, there was no real change to Leila’s physical body. But the magical power inside of her certainly showed that her magic activated. The wind around them would stop all at once, as did the trees. A perfect stillness, a perfect silence. It embraced them for but a second.

Small, perhaps even tiny, magical circles would appear one after another in front of the bow until there were five or so. And the magical arrow the girl was holding started shining a brilliant blue. Despite being quite modest, there was one thing Leila never appreciated. And that was complete strangers trying to test her, regardless of what they aimed at. Her goals, methods or even having ‘guts’ to do something. As unfortunate as it was, Kitalpha had brought this on herself. If she had chosen her words differently, this would not have happened.

In a single instant, Leila released the projectile. With each circle it moved through, it’s speed increased greatly. And before any one of them could even blink, the arrow was traveling faster than a released bullet. It pierced the other girl square in the chest and continued behind her, forcing the surface of the water to divide into two separate parts for a brief moment before a curve forced the projectile up into the skies, into which it disappeared. The shockwave left behind this arrow made the wind rage once more, nearly falling the trees around them and moving a good bit of water outside of the small lake.

However, despite hitting her directly, Kitalpha would not find herself dead. Or even really injured. Instead, she would find herself without any power, having only just about enough to keep herself standing left in her body. Leila never carried regular arrows with herself, as she was against killing. She never wished to take another sentients’ life. But she knew very well that force was often required to resolve the conflict. That was why she learned how to create these magical arrows out of her own pure ethernano particles. They were projectiles that did not hurt one’s body.

Instead, they would target whatever was inside of a person. In this case, it was the blonde’s inner magical structure and stamina. As far as research went, there was something called an origin and second origin within living beings. This was a place where they could store their magical energy and use it to perform feats of magic. And it was precisely what Leila had targeted. Hitting this very specific part of Kitalpha’s body scattered all of her stored magical energy around the place, leaving her only with the just above the minimum required to survive.

Like this, Leila had assured that she did not actually harm her target at all while also making sure that she could not be attacked for pretty much the entire length of this encounter. And finally, all of the pent-up anger from just mere moments ago started slowly disappearing. But the gray marks did not shrink back to their original size. They remained ever so slightly bigger than they were before, which might have been a sign of concern to the Eden’s guardian. But not something she had the luxury of worrying about right now. It had to wait for after this was all over.

Still staring at the other girl rather intently, she would now stand up from her kneeling position and have the bow along with her hands rest alongside her taller body. “I ask again. Who are you and what do you want with me?” Her voice was… tired. If this unknown individual in front of her really had no intentions of answering, then she would probably just leave through her warping ability. It was not like she could be followed, given the state she put this stranger in. But as curious as she was, she just couldn’t handle this right now.

Her body might have even started shaking a little bit. The cold wind was not the most pleasant for her bare body that was still in the warm water only moments back. And her mental state, well… it seemed to be all over the place, especially after that influx of anger that was anything but normal for Leila. It seemed that this whole thing was affecting her more than she cared to admit, both to herself and her spirits. She would also release her merge with Harpae, considering there was no longer an option of a real fight. The weapon in her hand would start folding again until it formed a sheathed blade that it was originally.

@Kitalpha Aurence