No Day At The Beach

A week after successfully completing the Haunted Castle mission, Leona made good on her pledge to do something other than fight and scheduled a three-day stay at Crescent Island's famous hotel. After taking the boat to Crescent Island, Leona stepped off the boat and onto the gangplank. The midday sun beat down on her because she was wearing her familiar green-and-gold outfit and had her backpack on. Her Nightshade Machete and knife were put away in the backpack so that she did not frighten the beachgoers as much. She walked onto the paved pathway to the hotel and was met by security officers of the resort.

"Miss Jarnefeldt, we understand that you have weapons with you?" A security officer politely asked her.

"Yes. In my backpack." Leona told them truthfully. She had no reason to lie to them. Everyone who knew her name knew that she carried at least one weapon at all times.

"We understand that you're a mage and a former Rising Star and you need to be ready for anything. Just don't draw them unless there's a crisis, OK?" An officer requested of her. It was a reasonable request, one that the blonde had no problem complying with.

"OK. I won't pull them out unless there's a crisis, like a pirate attack or mutant crabs scuttling on shore or something like that." Leona assured the officers. She hoped that she could have a peaceful three-day vacation without something going wrong.

"That's all we want. We don't want to scare away the tourists because it'll ruin the island's economy." The officers explained before escorting her into the hotel. Leona wanted a low-key visit, but that hope was soon dashed. People recognized her as a former Rising Star and the mage who had won her duel during the Fairy Tail Festival. Getting checked in and getting to her luxury resort room was a trying experience.

-Inside Leona's hotel room-

Leona swiped the keycard on her door's card reader and finally entered her hotel room. It was a large and spacious one with soft gray carpet and a 60" television screen and a large bed with white sheets. The shower was large enough to stand in without her arms touching the walls and had a slanted floor with a drain so that the water could run into it without splashing everywhere. All of this was hers and hers alone for the next three days.

She set her backpack in a chair and wondered what to do with herself for the next three days. There were no enemies to fight. No zombies. No werewolves. No ghosts.

Leona unzipped her backpack and brought out her black one-piece bathing suit and her desert camouflage shorts. It had been a long time since she had worn either article of clothing ever since she had become a Guild Master. Her green-and-gold outfit had more or less become her go-to outfit because it looked like something a Guild Master would wear. Today she might take a stroll on the beach while wearing the camouflage shorts over the bottom of the bathing suit.

[Word Count: 516]
[Total Word Count: 516/7,000]

-On the beach-

Wearing her black one-piece bathing suit and desert camouflage shorts, Leona also wore her backpack which contained her weapons and Argent Gloves. Even though the Argent Gloves had no direct offensive capability, she did not want to alarm people by wearing armor when there was not a fight about to happen. She walked onto the beach and felt the warm sand shift beneath her feet as she walked without a goal in mind.

It was strange to not have a preset destination in mind. Normally Leona was busy running a job and had to reach her destination as quickly as possible. For the next three days she did not have to be anywhere in a certain time frame, not unless she wanted a half-price margarita during Happy Hour at the tiki bar. Leona did not drink alcohol, so Happy Hour was of no interest to her.

Leona meandered on the beach, feeling the sun on her skin. Maybe she should have applied a bit more sunscreen before leaving the hotel room. She did not know because she seldom used sunscreen. Having grown up in the desert, she never had any use for it because she was used to the sun and did not even know it existed until she visited the Tri-Council city for the first time when she was sixteen.

Leona paused when she heard high-pitched screaming and turned her head towards its source, expecting some threat to have come crawling out of the surf. To her relief, it was only a group of children playing tag near the water. Leona started walking again and slowly made her way down the beach and towards a lighthouse she saw in the distance. She was in no particular hurry to get there... the lighthouse could not possibly move on its own.

She had forgotten what it was like to just walk for the sake of it and not have to hurry to a job. There was no danger, no world-shaking threat to dispatch, no cult to fight. Today it was her and what she wanted to do. It felt irresponsible to take a vacation when Silver Wolf needed her. However, the guild staff repeatedly assured her that Eero and Leila could handle things in her absence, so Leona went on the trip.

Leona had reached the halfway point when someone tapped her on the shoulder. The individual was a hotel security officer. He was younger than the two Leona had met earlier... he must have been a rookie.

"I hate to interrupt your vacation, Miss Jarnefeldt, but we... we need your help. A business seminar from Motor City is set to start in thirty minutes, but we're short-staffed in the security department. The management would feel a lot better if you were to... you know, help out. Because you're the strongest person on the island and anyone who's smart would think twice before messing with you." The officer explained the situation awkwardly.

"OK, tell me what I need to do." Leona said to him, following the young officer back to the hotel. She wondered what kind of reputation she really had among the people of Earthland. Judging from the officer's words, Leona was regarded with a mixture of respect and fear. She was seen as a powerful ally and a deadly enemy. She was not sure what to think about people being afraid of her, but it was the cost of doing business as a mage who was in the public eye.

[Word Count: 584]
[Total Word Count: 1,100/7,000]

-Hotel conference room, one hour later-

Leona was dressed in her green-and-gold outfit and standing in the corner of the hotel conference room, which was a well-appointed conference room equipped with the latest audio-visual equipment and wired with top-grade speakers for the microphone and the lacrima player. There was a projector screen and numerous wall-mounted televisions for disseminating information to all the viewers, of which there were at least one hundred businessmen and businesswomen sitting in the room. They were all from a company in Motor City that made automobiles, which still enjoyed a strong following among the non-mage population of Earthland. They also had something of a following among mages because of their stylish designs.

Leona did her best to remain inconspicuous and let the employees focus on the company CEO rattle off names, numbers, and business concepts that the blonde did not really understand. All she could gather was that the company's sales numbers were starting to improve and that their newest design was going to revolutionize the market and push those numbers even higher. After that the CEO spoke in code words, probably to keep the details of the new design secret from outsiders and corporate spies alike. Leona did not care. She flew where she needed to go a lot faster than she could ever travel by car.

Standing watch over the meeting was dull but easy work. Leona liked to do easy work every once in awhile. After the grueling fight in Haunted Castle, this was likely as good as it was going to get. She endured the hours-long meeting until they ended the meeting for the night. Once the employees and company brass had dispersed, the young security officer from earlier approached Leona.

"Great job, Miss Jarnefeldt. The company liked your style and wants you to watch over them again. You only have two more days of this to go. Keep up the good work!" The rookie officer complimented her. Leona was surprised. Two more days of guarding a meeting? She was only here for three days. That was her entire vacation.

Leona kept quiet and walked back to her room to take a shower and try to sleep a little before the meeting started again the next day. It was going to start around 8:00 A.M. the next morning and last until 8:00 P.M. the next evening. Leona did not have too much time to sleep.

-8:00 A.M., the next morning-

Leona slipped into the room and took her place in the corner while the employees filed in with notebooks and pencils in hand. Today they were going to discuss new business practices and learn new corporate buzzwords like "fast synergy" and "quick liase" and "speed management" that were going to streamline office paperwork and make for more efficient work. Supposedly. It was not Leona's place to judge how a company ran its business, but she thought that throwing buzzwords at employees without effecting any meaningful change was just a waste of time and effort. She stood in the corner and let the seminar commence.

"OK, today we're going to discuss how fast synergy can quickly energize a business and help employee morale by making a bond between management and employees..." The boss of the company, a bald man with black-rimmed glasses and a gray three-piece business suit with a red-and-white striped tie, started off a long-winded speech about "fast synergy", whatever that was supposed to be. The lights dimmed and a StrongIdea slide presentation commenced. Her eyes widened when she saw the number of slides in the presentation. 200 slides. 200.

How could any rational human being sit through so many slides? Keeping a job had a lot to do with it. Leona could understand that reason for enduring so much. She had to put up with a lot as a mage, including numerous threats that most people were ill-equipped to deal with. She also had to work nights and weekends and be ready to work at a moment's notice.

Leona watched in disbelief as the slideshow dragged on. They were only on Slide 30 of 200. The blonde was already having a hard time staying awake because of the unrelenting monotony of the presentation. She had ten more hours of it before she was finished for the day. Then it began anew the next day.

[Word Count: 724]
[Total Word Count: 1,824/7,000]

-1:30 P.M., the same day-

After an hour-long break for lunch, the meeting resumed with renewed enthusiasm. Leona did not get a lunch break because someone had to stay behind to protect the meeting room and its valuable equipment. To be fair to the management, she chose to do that so the other security staff could get a break because they had to be there at 4:00 A.M. to make sure no one planted listening devices in the room or otherwise tried to tamper with the equipment. Leona did not know that so much prep work went into protecting corporate seminars. She hated to see what meetings were like back at the business' headquarters... they probably brought in Rune Knight protection to guard against magic-using spies.

Thankfully nothing bad happened while Leona was watching over the room. One look at her was enough to convince anyone curious enough to peek inside that the room was off-limits to anyone who was not security or who did not work for the company. The rookie security officer was right. Her presence alone was enough to ward off the curious because they knew who she was and what she was capable of. The blonde was not sure that was an entirely good thing because she wanted to bring hope to people, not fear.

"Now that we discussed the ins and outs of fast synergy, we'll go over the concept of quick liaising." The boss said in a monotone, tapping a button on his hand-held remote and moving to Slide Number 80, where the meeting was paused for the lunch break. The employees watched the slide show with rapt attention. Leona halfway listened as the boss droned on and on about "quick liaising", which was a practice that supposed to build business connections advantageous to the company by engaging parts suppliers and other outside entities and making them feel liked valued contributors to the company's work. Unfortunately he never quite got around to explaining it in layman's terms, instead liberally employing buzzwords and business argot that the blonde did not comprehend. She continued to watch over the meeting from her place in the bottom-right corner of the room.

-8:00 P.M., after the meeting-

Once the meeting had ended for the evening, Leona let everyone file out before leaving herself. She wanted to see if there was anything at the buffet table she could eat before going to sleep. Her plan was dashed when she was met outside the room by the same security officer who had asked for her help a day ago.

"We need your help again, Miss Jarnefeldt. We've gotten reports that a robber has been robbing female guests of the resort at gunpoint and they're on edge. We'd like you to escort them to their rooms." He requested of her. Leona was kind of hungry and really tired. During the meeting she had to stand away from the wall so that she was not tempted to lean on it. Leaning on it would have made her in particular and the security staff in general look lazy, so she kept away from the wall to avoid temptation.

"OK, where do I go to find this person?" Leona asked him. The buffet table would have to wait. Her help was needed... again.

"There's no one place the robber stakes out. We've gotten reports of robberies at gunpoint from all over the resort, so you'll just have to keep your eyes open. I wish we had more to tell you, but we don't." He regretfully informed her. Leona would take the job anyway. If she was on temporary security detail, she would do everything they did.

"OK. Who needs my help first?" Leona asked.

"There's a group of businesswomen waiting in the lobby. They're waiting for you." He answered factually.

"OK. I'd better not keep them waiting then." Leona said before she started for the stairwell that would take her to the lobby.

"Hold on a moment, Miss Jarnefeldt. Since you're temporary security and you're going up against someone confirmed to be carrying a gun, you're cleared to wear any armor on premises without penalty. Also, you're cleared to use force to stop the suspect, but please don't use lethal force unless it's unavoidable." He informed her while handing her a badge so that her temporary title was official in the eyes of the law. Leona would keep those things in mind while escorting the group. She quickly set her backpack on the floor, donned her Argent Gloves, hoisted the backpack to her shoulders, and went for the stairwell.

"One more thing, Miss Jarnefeldt!" The young man interjected as Leona took six steps away from him.

"Yes?" Leona asked.

"You can take the elevator, you know. It's quicker that way." He reminded her, pointing towards one right down the hall to her right. The blonde blushed. She sheepishly faced the elevator with a burning face.

"OK. Thanks." Leona said before walking for the elevator. She punched the buttons and was soon on her way to the first floor. Hopefully she did not take too long to get there.

[Word Count: 853]
[Total Word Count: 2,677/7,000]

-In the lobby-

The elevator dinged and Leona stepped off of it. She spotted a group of women still dressed in office attire and clutching folders and purses. That had to be them. Leona stepped up to the group and introduced herself.

"Hi there. I'm Leona-" Leona started but was abruptly cut off by an older woman in a black jacket with black knee-length skirt and black shoes. On her lapel was a "30" in gold numerals.

"We know who you are. We've only seen you the past two days!" She snapped. Leona was taken aback by the curt behavior. The blonde was hungry and tired and thus not in the mood to deal with such flagrant disrespect, but as a temporary security employee, she had to grin and bear it. Skipping the introduction, Leona started to take the lead but the older woman beat her to it.

"Come along, ladies. It took Miss Jarnefeldt so long to get here that we could have walked there ourselves by now!" The older woman ordered. The flock of eight younger woman fell in right behind the leader. Leona scrambled to keep up.

-On the hotel grounds-

The group was walking down a trail lit by false old-fashioned lamps that were powered by electricity. The trail was a paved one that snaked by both a large outdoor swimming pool with a fountain in the middle and an artificial pond that kayakers could use to practice their sport and three of them were currently using the pond. Leona walked just ahead of the group to keep a watch out for danger because the robber had no one particular spot he camped out at but instead roamed the hotel grounds in search of prey. Maybe his greed would lead him to attack someone who could actually fight back.

Leona made sure not to outpace the group in case the robber intentionally let her pass before jumping out and holding up the businesswomen. The blonde took advantage of her natural night vision to peer into areas that were not illuminated by the "lamps" on poles that provided most of the lighting. So far there was nothing out of the ordinary. The older woman was regaling her followers with a tale of a business deal from twenty years ago that she closed despite opposition from her opposite number in a competitor's company.

"...And that's how you close a deal!" The older woman told her younger associates. Whether the younger women were her mentees or her sycophants was unknown, but they paid her their undivided attention. Leona did not pay much attention because she was supposed to escort them, not take part in an impromptu business seminar.

"But remember ladies, in the business world you're only as good as your last deal. You can't get complacent because someone's always waiting to take your place if you fall. Never forget that!" The older woman lectured them. Leona found that such advice applied to the mage world as well because there were plenty of ambitious young mages looking to make a name for themselves and the established mages could not sit back and coast off of past successes if they wanted to stay relevant. That was true for the Wizard Saints as well. There were always mages looking to get into their honored ranks and win everlasting fame for themselves as living symbols of magical power. Leona herself had once considered attempting to join their ranks, but recent events led her to question whether she ever deserved such a high honor.

She was far from the most powerful mage... Samira Nassar held that distinction. Sorano Granon and Johann Von Weiss were also a lot stronger than her. They all had a lot less blood on their hands than she did. Leona was more than a little unhappy about that, but it was an unpleasant reality. She might as well learn to live with that fact.

[Word Count: 655]
[Total Word Count: 3,312/7,000]

The group was almost to the hotel rooms without incident when they rounded a corner and a man in all black jumped out while holding a pistol. The women shrieked as Leona sprung into action. She instinctively nailed him in the chest with a Mach Straight, knocking him into a wall that he slid down before slumping over to the ground. Leona went to check to make sure she had not killed the person she was trying to apprehend alive. Thankfully the robber was only unconscious but alive, which meant that he would be tried for his crimes in a court of law.

Security officers suddenly showed up to take the man into custody. Leona was surprised that the confrontation with the robber was over so quickly. Then again, she was an experienced mage facing off against mundane people who did not have magic. At least he was apprehended without too much difficulty. He had also been apprehended without any property damage, which was a big plus.

"Thanks Miss Jarnefeldt. You did us a big favor by stopping that man before anyone else got hurt." The older woman said appreciatively. Leona was surprised by the woman's sudden change of heart. Earlier she had all but dismissed the blonde as irrelevant for showing up a little late for her liking. Now she was praising Leona for stepping up and defeating a robber with only one magically augmented punch.

"It's my job." Leona said to the woman. It was her job as both a temporary security employee and as a mage to stand up for people who could not defend themselves. That was what she did.

"It's no wonder that you were brought on as additional security. I'll be honest with you about something. At first I thought it was nothing but a cheap publicity stunt for management to have you do security work, but you proved me wrong when you stopped that man with one swift punch before he could even make a demand. You must have a lot of fight experience to be able to react so quickly." The woman continued.

"You can say that." Leona answered. She really did not want to discuss that if she could help it. It was something of a sore point for her because she was trying to find something she was good at other than fighting.

"I read that you were from Desierto. Is that true, Leona?" One of the young women, a redhead in a black outfit, asked the mage.

"Yes." Leona replied succinctly. The young women chatted excitedly.

"I read you've got to be pretty tough to make it out there. How hard is it?" Another one, a brunette in a black outfit with her hair in a bun, asked.

"You have to work hard every day just to break even. If you want to prosper, you have to work even harder." Leona answered politely. More questions were about to be asked when the older woman intervened.

"We really should let Miss Jarnefeldt get going. We have a meeting early tomorrow and she has to work as security for it." The older woman suggested. The younger women quickly agreed and dispersed to their rooms under the watchful eye of their mentor and the mage. Once they were all gone, the pair spoke again.

"Thanks again, Miss Jarnefeldt. Hopefully we won't have any more problems with robbers. If we do, you'll be the first one I call for." The woman said appreciatively before going into her room and shutting the door. Leona turned away and walked back towards the lobby. She was glad that the robberies had been halted... maybe she could get some food and some sleep before the last day of the meeting.

[Word Count: 623]
[Total Word Count: 3,935/7,000]

-Hotel Lobby, 9:30 P.M.-

Leona re-entered the hotel lobby and tried to get to the buffet table, but to her immense displeasure it was empty. The staff had taken up all the food for the night. Everything. Leona sighed, called the elevator, and went back to her room to try and sleep, but even that simple pleasure would be denied to her.

-Leona's Room, 10:30 P.M.-

Leona tossed and turned on her bed because she could not get any sleep. The couple next door were arguing as loudly as two people's voices could argue. They were a newlywed young couple from Capital Crocus who had come here on a honeymoon, but the new husband had a wandering eye and had apparently looked at another woman who was wearing a skimpy bikini on the beach. That was enough to start the arguing match that was keeping Leona awake with all the screaming, name-calling and the occasional thrown object hitting the wall. This was getting annoying very fast.

"I HATE YOU!" The young woman screeched.

"YOU'RE SO POSSESSIVE AND INSECURE! I ONLY LOOKED AT HER! I ONLY LOOKED!" The young man argued back. Leona groaned and turned over on her left side, facing a window blocked by curtains. Why did people always pick the middle of the night to have dramatic arguments like this? The blonde tried to block it all out, but with no success. Every time she covered her ears, the arguing only got louder as if to spite her.

-12:30 A.M., the next morning-

Leona was dying. The couple had been arguing for two hours. TWO HOURS. The blonde was ready to either jump out of her hotel window or go next door and have a "chat" with the not-so-friendly neighbors. She was not sure which option would be the more appealing one to take.

Leona did not want to cause a scene, so she just suffered in silence. She prayed to whatever cosmic force was listening that the couple would stop arguing over whatever it was that they were arguing over. The argument had long since lost its original purpose and was now just hurling insults at one another about music preferences, choice of clothing, or anything else to keep the conflict going. That marriage was not going to last very long.

-8:00 A.M.-

Donning her green-and-gold outfit, a fully dressed Leona slowly and painfully dragged herself into the meeting room for the third and final day of the business seminar. This time she wore her Argent Gloves because she had been cleared to do so yesterday. While the gloves may have been excellent protection from physical and magical attacks, they did nothing to protect Leona from the effects of exhaustion and hunger. Leona managed to wolf down a few dry bagels before the seminar started, but they alone would not be enough to get her through the day.

"For our final day, we discuss the concept of speed management. What is speed management, you might ask? Simple. It's where management and employees work together as one to make a difference in the way a company is run." The boss started off before launching into yet another rambling speech about working together that really did not clarify what he meant by "speed management." Leona was dying inside. She had to endure twelve hours of this before her suffering would come to an end. At least her life was not in danger from bandits. If she could make it through the next twelve hours, she would get easy pay for three days of work.

The challenge would be making it through the last day without losing her grip on sanity. The boss droned on and on with no break in sight. He must have loved to hear himself talk because he went on for minutes at a time repeating the same buzzwords over and over.

"Speed management"

"Quick Liaise"

"Efficiency"

"Productivity"

Leona kept calm the best she could and focused on the little bit of vacation she might get to enjoy before she had to go back to fighting the forces of evil again. Then she realized something. She would not get any real vacation time because working security had consumed it all. The blonde kept quiet and suffered through the interminable seminar. She would persevere through everything and go back to Silver Wolf with yet another job completion to her name.

[Word Count: 733]
[Total Word Count: 4,668/7,000]

-8:00 P.M.-

The three-day seminar had finally ended. The employees had dispersed for the last time and Leona let them leave ahead of her for the last time. Finally. Maybe she could hit the buffet line while food was still there. Maybe she could even get some sleep tonight.

Leona waited until everyone left before she made an attempt to go for the buffet table and eat whatever was left over, but the security officer who she had been working with for the past three days asked for her help again. Of course it was too good to be true. Leona stifled her unhappiness and listened to the officer.

"We need your help tonight. More of our staff called in sick, so we need someone to work security on the docks. It'll be simple. All you need to do is walk the docks and make sure our guests get to the hotel safely." He requested. Leona was dying on the inside and wanted to eat and sleep, but she would help. She had overcome all the obstacles this far, so she might as well go all the way and help them one last time.

"OK. I'll help." Leona affirmed despite feeling positively awful. She just wanted this day to end so that she could get some food and pass out for a few hours before she had to return to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and get back to work. The guild was not going to run itself and the world was not going to save itself.

-On the docks, 10:30 P.M.-

Leona walked the docks, where the wind and the change of scenery actually helped keep her awake despite not having slept for the past fourteen hours. She had an easy job walking the docks and making sure nothing happened to guests between arrival and entering the hotel. Since she had dealt with the robber last night, everything should go smoothly. The next boat disgorged yet more passengers gripping luggage and they filed off the boat and onto the paved path, where they followed the lighted path to the hotel. It was a short path that only took three minutes to walk, so she could observe everyone from the relative comfort of the dock.

Aside from a few inebriated passengers swaying as they walked off the boat, everything was proceeding without a hitch. There were no fights, no robberies, and no criminal behavior. It was just guests arriving at night to get a start on their vacation. Leona watched as another boatload of passengers disembarked and started making their way down the lighted path without incident. This was as easy as her temporary security duties had been and much less boring than listening to business buzzwords being thrown about without anything actually being discussed.

-8:00 A.M.-

After a thankfully uneventful night of working dock security, Leona finally shambled into her room and took off her outfit top, draping it over a chair before faceplanting onto the bed. She took off her boots and neatly placed them on the floor. She then took off her skirt and neatly placed it over the green-and-gold outfit top. She really needed to see about getting them laundered before heading back home. She put on her desert camouflage shorts and a white t-shirt because she did not want room service to walk in on her undressed.

She faceplanted onto the bed and passed out for the next two hours. She had to be out of the room by 11:00 A.M. if she got up at 10:00 A.M., she had an hour to take a shower and pack her things. It was not nearly long enough, but it was the only time she had.

-10:00 A.M.-

The alarm clock screeched in Leona's ear as she rolled over and slapped it into silence. She was not ready for this. She was nowhere near ready to return from her "vacation," but she had to because her guild needed her. The blonde forced herself up to get a shower. Maybe she should have scheduled a seven-day vacation instead.

After thirty minutes, the blonde had showered and changed into her white t-shirt and desert camouflage shorts with tan boots. It was not the most professional outfit, but she really needed to wash her green-and-gold outfit. It would do for traveling from Crescent Island because no one was really going to call her out for dressing like a tourist if she came from there.

Leona slung her backpack onto her shoulders and rode the elevator down to the first floor to turn in her room key. She had not seen much of her room for the past three days, but it had been hers. She appreciated getting a luxury suite all to herself during her stay. She attributed that solely to who she was. The door dinged open and the blonde stepped into the lobby, which was full of new guests trying to check into their rooms.

[Word Count: 826]
[Total Word Count: 5,494/7,000]

-In the lobby-

Leona got in line behind a trio of guests and patiently waited for her turn to check out, which took no longer than fifteen minutes. She had ten minutes left to check out. A young woman in a blue uniform spoke to her.

"How did you enjoy your stay?" She asked in a pleasant, well-rehearsed tone.

"It was pretty good. I liked everything about the hotel." Leona said truthfully while handing over her keycard. Aside from the arguing couple the night before last, everything about the hotel had been great. The place was kept clean, there was almost no delay between checking in and getting to her room, her room had been cleaned punctually and none of her possessions had gone missing, and the guest facilities were all in good repair.

The young woman swiped the card and was in the process of checking her out when she spotted something on her computer screen. Leona did not like the look on her face. Was it something on Leona's end? What did she do wrong?

"It says that you have one more day left on your stay." The young woman spoke up. Leona was puzzled. She had not paid for another day. She had only paid for three days.

"I'm getting a manager." The young woman said, picking up a tan telephone and calling for a manager. Soon a middle-aged man in a blue business suit arrived. Leona was not liking this at all.

"What seems to be the problem?" The manager asked the clerk.

"It reads here that Miss Jarnefeldt has an extra day. She paid for a three-day stay." The clerk reported. The manager smiled knowingly.

"Miss Jarnefeldt has been working as temporary security for us. She spent her entire vacation helping us, so we decided to give her a day on us." The manager reported.

"Really?" Leona interjected before she even realized what she had said.

"Yes. You have a day on us. It is the least we can do after everything you have done for us." The manager assured her. Leona was so happy that she might finally be able to sleep before the return trip. The card was reswiped and handed back to her... she was getting the same room that she had stayed in the past three days. The excited blonde quickly made her way back to the elevator and climbed on board with a dozen other passengers. She was so happy that she did not even care that half of them smelled like alcohol.

-Leona's room, 11:00 A.M.-

Leona swiped the card through the reader and opened her door. Except for clean sheets quickly thrown on the bed and some new bath cloths and towels in the bathroom, her room was exactly as she had left it. That was fine with her because the blonde was too tired to care. She simply wanted sleep.

Leona took off her shoes and faceplanted onto the bed again without setting an alarm. Even if she slept the free day away, she did not care. Sleep was what the blonde needed the most.

-Leona's Room, 5:00 P.M.-

After sleeping for six hours, Leona felt a lot better than she did before going to sleep. She felt like she could focus better than she could before, which was saying quite a bit. Leona got into the shower, took a shower, and put on her black one-piece bathing suit and desert camouflage shorts in order to take a leisurely stroll on the beach before daylight was completely gone.

-The beach, 5:30 P.M.-

Walking on the beach with no shoes on, Leona was happy to finally have a bit of time where she was not working security or fighting robbers. There were still a few people on the beach, but daylight was fading fast and most of the beach-goers had either already left or were making their way back to the hotel. That was fine with her because that meant having to avoid fewer people on the walk. Her aim was to just meander without any goal in mind. The blonde started on her walk and just set out with no goal in mind.

Leona was going to go wherever her feet took her. She might end up at the lighthouse she tried to get to on the first day of her interrupted vacation. She might end up at a seafood restaurant built to resemble a boathouse overlooking the beach. She might even end up on the other side of the island. Who knew?

With no particular goal in mind, the blonde started walking on the beach and started her long-delayed vacation.

[Word Count: 774]
[Total Word Count: 6,268/7,000]

-The lighthouse, 6:00 P.M.-

After thirty minutes of leisurely strolling, Leona finally made her way up to the base of the lighthouse and marveled at the structure before her. It was something to behold for someone from the desert. It reminded her a bit of the sultan's palace as far as having a shiny top to it, but unlike the dome of gold atop the palace, the lighthouse had a bright beam of light that shot out into the distance and helped guide vessels in... so the bronze plaque at the base of the structure claimed. The lighthouse was closed and Leona was not inclined to climb it, so she decided to just head back to the hotel and hit the buffet line.

On her way back, she walked on the beach and found a good stopping point, then turned around and watched the lighthouse's light shine brightly and turn. It was something that she had never seen before venturing into the world. She wondered what it was like to sail on an ancient fishing vessel without benefit of modern technology, where getting lost could easily be a death sentence for everyone on board if supplies were lost in an accident or simply ran out. The blonde then decided that she was glad to live in this era and kept walking back to the hotel. She had one last chance to visit the buffet line, so she was going to take it.

-The hotel buffet line, 7:15 P.M.-

Going back to her room and getting her boots cost Leona fifteen minutes, but it was worth it to finally get a chance at the buffet line's wide offering of food. She took a ceramic plate and grabbed a few pieces of fish, a baked potato, and some salad, then grabbed a glass of tea from the bar and sat at a small two-person table in a lightly populated dining area. Leona then began eating the food she had picked up in the buffet line. It was not the best of the best, but after not really having had anything to eat for almost a full day, it was surprisingly good. She went back and got seconds of the same foods and some more tea and consumed that in roughly ten minutes.

After having eaten what she wanted, Leona cleaned up her place and went back to her room to sleep again. Today had been a good mini-vacation. The next time she came here, she hoped that she would get the full three-day vacation to relax without having to run security or do other tasks. Still, she had fulfilled her obligation to the staff and then some. She was glad to have stuck it out and not complained aloud.

-The next day, 11:00 A.M.-

It was checkout time. Leona had managed to get her green-and-gold outfit cleaned by a friendly staff member, so she was wearing it and her backpack. She handed over her keycard to the same clerk from yesterday, was officially checked out and left the lobby. She waited patiently to board the boat that took her back to the Fiore mainland because it was part of the experience. Rather than having to fly everywhere, someone else would be transporting the mage... while it was slower than flying, it was nice to not have to worry about transportation for a change.

When the boat discharged its passengers and sounded the call to take on new ones, Leona slowly made her way on board and took a place near the railing at the back of the boat. She would soon be back at Silver Wolf Guild Hall to start a new job and keep the ball rolling on her mage career. The blonde had a guild to run and evil to fight.

She watched the boat slowly pull away from the dock and set out to sea. She would be back to Crescent Island one day, hopefully for a less stressful vacation than the one she had just left. It would be on a day far in the future because there was a lot of work to be done in the meantime.

-6:00 P.M., Silver Wolf Guild Hall-

Leona reentered the guild hall and was greeted by staff members who had paperwork for her to examine. The blonde knew that taking a vacation might have been a bad idea because paperwork inevitably piled up in her absence. It was fine... the guild hall was still here and so were its staff and members. That was how Leona liked things... she wanted everyone to be alive and the guild hall to still be standing. Leona set out for her office with the staff members following her like the trail of a comet.

Once in the office, Leona took a glance at the stack of papers. Practically all of it was administrivia, but administrivia was what kept the lights on and kept the services going. With her faithful staff members nearby to assist, the blonde began to fight her toughest enemy yet... bureaucracy.

[Word Count: 840]
[Total Word Count: 7,108/7,000]