Nature Walk, Supply Run

So in the end, it appeared that her presence was indeed desired. At least to some level. But even if it was just Leona being polite, the silver-haired maiden figured she should use this situation to her advantage and try to break whatever barriers were between herself and her new guild master. After all, the rank difference was not as important as many would think. And for the working of the guild itself, it was important that she would keep a good and healthy relationship with the one in charge now.

“Then, if you’ll have me…” Leila smiled and clapped her hands together. She didn’t even bother mentioning and offering the use of her warp magic, as this job sounded… well, far from what an individual of Leona’s rank should be doing. Which meant that she probably wanted the peaceful adventure and not just blow this all off in few minutes by utilizing such tools. Leila herself could understand that very well, as still had that heart of an adventurer. And indeed, participating in such a ‘walk’ would surely do her some good.

And so the maiden had joined her new lead and remained silent for a bit. Though as they would reach the exit of the building, she would look up at the snow-painted skies high above. “Someone else being the Guild Master of a guild that I have created while I still live in this realm… it’s certainly something I didn’t expect and will have to get used to.” Her voice was calm and fluent, followed by a small wink at the other girl. Leila held absolutely no ill will towards Leona. Quite the opposite, really. She was glad that the guild as being cared for.

At the end of the day, Leila had failed, in a sense. She left for Eden to sort out her personal business, leaving Silver Wolf behind. With that view and a strict mindset, she didn’t deserve to continue holding the position of power. She just wanted to make it clear, that all she wanted was for the guild to prosper, no matter who was considered the master. “I… hope you’re not too upset with me. It was never my intent to leave without notice and for so long. It felt like few mere days for me…”

The Shatter. An event that whisked Leila away. She wasn’t even sure what all transpired during it. But she knew that it was essential for her very being. It even completely changed the Gardens of Eden. But that was not here, nor there. Right now, it was all about Leona and Leila, together in this small and peaceful adventure. So she would let the other girl talk and show her feelings as well, only hoping that she would be able to accept them without any problems.

“I see, I see. So you have been part of that incident as well. And yes, it is always nice to have someone else with you on an adventure.” Leila had to admit that much. Despite her many solo adventures in the past, the path always seemed just that bit easier and more cheerful if it was being shared with another eager traveler. Though in this case, they were merely going to the Serene Cliffs which was not that much of an adventure. Still, it was a good chance to talk and share some things with one another.

“Jobs like that are an unfortunate byproduct of growing in power. Very few will call for a high-ranked mage to do their daily chores, after all. And not many outside of our ranks can deal with true threats. But worry not, I’m sure you will follow in my footsteps and be facing off with giant dragons the size of a city without any problems in no time!” Half jesting and half serious, Leila chuckled a bit along with her own words. Those fights could be devastating, yes. But sometimes also a bit fun.

“Still, a peaceful job as always a nice one. Gives you the chance to relax and reflect on everything around you. To think clearly.” In fact, most of what Leila used to do before she came to Fiore lacked combat of any kind. But then again, she also wasn’t exactly a proper mage back then. Her father was also able to always protect her from anything that could cause harm. Ah, those days were so much more simple than what she had to be dealing with now. But wasn’t it always like that, for everyone? The feeling that the past was so much more simple.

The girl listened to her guild master’s words, processing them slowly. It spoke about a few things, the fact that Leila herself was replaced and perhaps even considered permanently gone after she had been missing for what appeared to be only a few months. On the other hand, Leona said she could not hold it against her. Hold what against her? The fact that she unwillingly abandoned them all? Ah, yes, that was another way to look at this situation with. She had unwillingly left everyone behind without even really realizing it, because of things out of her own control. That was… frustrating, to say the least.

“But past is in the past indeed. Though, seeing you in charge of a guild I created… I figured you might be interested in the full story of how and why I created Silver Wolf. After all, only my spirits and father know. No human does, yet.” Turning to the side and looking down at the smaller female, she smiled. “Only if you want to, of course.” The story was somewhat personal, but also important to understand her own motivations. And the origins of everything they had right now.

“And seeing how this is your job and I’m merely helping, I will also let you lead the way.” Stopping momentarily and extending her hand to the side in a gesture for Leona to take the charge was of metaphorical importance to the caretaker of Eden. There were many things she had to get used to, this being one of them. And she wanted to believe that everything would be okay. Plenty of beings in this world were far better than she herself. Leona could surely be one of them, too. The young guild master was doing quite well so far, after all.

It seemed that Leona was the same as always. A little too formal for Leila’s liking and lovingly talking about others. But such was this girl’s personality it seemed. Honestly, it might have even been a nice change of pace. Most mages and adventurers these days could not talk about anything other than themselves and their own amazing powers. Not that this new guild master would not talk about her own ventures at all, they were most certainly present. And it was all the nicer to see that she was doing her very best to help the guild out as much as she could.

Although the goddess in disguise couldn’t quite help herself and cringe just a tiny bit as she heard those words. Ready to hear it whenever you are. The pained expression tried to convey that she was planning about telling the tale now, but who knew if Leona was actually able to read such expression. Not that it mattered, really. Even if it would not be told right now, there was plenty of time in the future. Especially for someone like Leila. It made her wonder if there ever would be anyone who would want to listen to all of her interesting tales.

All that aside, the two girls came to a sudden halt with a question of how they should approach this little walk of theirs. “Hm? Do you have some practical means of actually flying there?” It brought up a sad memory of how Leila was unable to actually execute her original idea for  Silver Wolf. An evermoving guild hall in the form of a giant flying ship. The sole idea of having a city on top of an airborne vehicle got the girl excited. Alas, constructing something like that was a bit out of the goddess’ budget.

“If you have some means of comfortable flight for us, then sure. We can arrive there through the skies. But I don’t mind walking either if that’s what we end up with. Regardless, we will have plenty of time to tell one another whatever comes to mind.” A smile was directed at the blonde. There was a part of Leila that wanted to see what the lioness would do now. What exactly was she hiding up her sleeves? Because Leila could always fly with her own wings, but that was not always the most impressive of ways to travel.

There was also always the option of calling Melon, who was somewhere in the guild hall currently. The wolf was able to grow to any size required and sprout wings at command. Truly a majestic beast that Leila had the privilege of calling her own. Leona just had to say the word and the goddess would call her loyal guardian for this task that it would follow through with absolutely no problem at all. It was kinda amusing how far she had come with all of these options when in the past she had to get an ordinary horse all the time.

“A winged lion summon… so you’re a summoner as well, huh…” Somehow, Leila did not quite expect that. Which only showed how little she knew about her former guild member, now a guild master. Shameful on her, really. Wherever were the days when she was able to completely memorize the member roster of Golden Phoenix so that she would not have any problems acting as the newest Ace? Far in the past was the answer to that question. But still, a ‘winged lion’ seemed rather appropriate for the girl, which made Leila chuckle just a bit as she followed her outside.

She didn’t exactly have any business left to finish here, so why would she stay behind. But letting Leona have her space, the goddess leaned against one of the walls of the Wolf’s Den as she observed. Rather than celestial summoning, it appeared to be the more common familiar type one. Not that it was worse in any way. Honestly, summoning as a whole was a bit rarer in Leila’s experience. The people she worked with often excelled in destructive magics that came directly from their bodies. It also painfully reminded her of her own state at this point in time.

Despite being a grand celestial summoner, she was unable to bring forth her spirits at all. Well… there were two exceptions to that, as two of her spirits were so powerful that they could invade Earthland through their own will and have enough magical energy of their own to sustain their manifested forms for extended periods of time. Which still didn’t improve the fact that Leila’s summoning was not working. As far as she discovered, it might have been related to her not possessing Libra’s key anymore. It disappeared somewhere when the girl was returned to Eden for those few months she was absent from Earthland.

In the end, that involuntary trip cost her much more than she could have ever imagined. Thankfully, she was already well on her way to find that key and reclaim it. Looking for something so small in a world this big was not easy, but that was where her prior experience came in. As ashamed as she was of that fact, she had lost the key before once already. Though to be perfectly fair, that was because of her own death. Well… ‘death’ in Leila’s language, as her spiritual form was well and truly immortal.

No, she had tried to sacrifice herself for someone. Attempting to convert every fiber of her being into pure magic to cast an extremely powerful barrier to erase and seal magic from this another person who had lost control of their own divine powers. But who in the world it was, she could not remember. Her memory was very hazy in that area ever since she returned here. But she was sure that all of her questions would be answered in time. For now, there was only one thing to focus on and that was helping Leona.

Walking over to the winged beast, she eyed it a bit before leaning in with a smile. “Oh my, what a powerful summon. You’ve certainly grown a lot, Leona. And you, mister Lion, nice to meet you and please, take good care of me!” Essentially saying that she was okay with the mount and attempting to praise them both as well. Once everything was settled and she would be allowed to hop on, she would turn 180 degrees and hop onto the Lion’s back right behind Leona, having both of her legs on one side as she sat comfortably with no fear of possibly falling off. “Shall we take off then?”

Wind summon magic… that too sounded oddly familiar to Leila, invoking some mild headache that quickly came to pass. If this memory problem of hers were to be solved soon, she should start trying to actually resolve it as soon as she was done with this little errand. Or rather, keeping company to Leona who was actually the one doing the job. Really, the goddess here was just to tag along and talk a bit, not much more. It has been a while since she had done something like that… calmed down for a moment in this hectic and quickly moving world.

Thankfully such moments of uncertainty and confusion did not prevent her from chuckling, even laughing out loud a bit as she listened more to her new guild master and to how she came about with this magic. They were in a world where feats of magic were commonplace, something that often leads to some form of disillusionment. Because even then, there were clearly some places in this world that were more magical than others. In this case the Serene Cliffs. Looking at Leona with a wide smile, Leila could not help herself but feel a bit embarrassed as she remembered her own summoning training.

“I don’t know whether to see that as a coincidence or something of greater power, but Serene Cliffs is also where I was able to manifest my first celestial key for summoning.” Her celestial magic worked a bit different than the one you could see out in the world. Due to the nature of Leila’s very existence, she was part of the Gardens of Eden. A paradise-like world that was home to more than just her. Many different spirits existed there as well, originally created by Aurora, Leila’s past self that now existed as her own entity.

Because of that, the keys to summon the spirits of Eden were manifested by Leila when she was ready for them, rather than found in the world. So the fact that both of the girls were able to learn their summoning magic in the same place was truly amusing to the goddess. Perhaps there really was something about it. Maybe even the person they were delivering things to could give them some insight once they would arrive. It was not very likely, but Leila always enjoyed thinking about all the possibilities and theories of the world around her.

“I should also say that while it is good to always try to improve, you do not need to feel like you are required to have the power to protect the guild alone. There are many people who stand behind you and Silver Wolf. And relying on others is not as bad as many would have you believe.” She had learned that during her time as a mage many times. Sometimes there were obstacles simply far too large for one single person to overcome them without any help. And there was no shame in asking for that help.

When the harpies were summoned, the girl was quite surprised. It was often unusual to see this many spirits in one place, especially brought forth by a single summoner. She was also able to provide any and all aerial escort services required with her powers pretty much fully back. But alas, she once again bowed to greet the harpies. Though the mention of the potential romantic relationship being present made her avert her eyes in a brief moment of embarrassment. “Greetings, it is quite a pleasure to meet more of the spirits that are bonded to Leona.”

Though the introduction was quite brief, Leona wanted to take off as soon as possible, or so it seemed. Seating herself on the back of the lion, Leila had no problem with this. In fact, she decided to give a little help as soon as they lifted into the sky. Aiming her open palm toward the storm right in front of them, her guild mark started shining as a sudden tear opened up. As if something invisible forced a tunnel open in the barrier, the lion now could easily fly off the Silver Wolf’s territory without having to experience the cold blizzard.

Naturally, the barrier had closed up right behind them again, ensuring that the guild remained fully protected. An aspect of a story that the girl was about to tell now that they had plenty of time to spend doing anything at all until they would arrive at their destination. Frankly, it was a story that not many mortals knew. Not even because Leila would be unwilling to tell it, but rather that no one ever seemed to care enough to listen. After all, she was just another lonesome girl wandering Earthland. There were many mages with far more interesting stories than her.

Leona had the right idea, but she was a little bit off on her terminology. Leila could not blame her for this, as if she was not a celestial mage herself, then she would probably see all the different keys as the same herself. So she would smile and look around them as they flew over the beautiful scenery. “Indeed. However, those are Golden Zodiac Keys. They are a special variant that allows the mage to forge a bond with a being that represents one of the most famous constellations up above. Celestial keys by themselves are usually silver in color and fairly common, all things considered.”

Though once again, Leila’s keys were a bit special. Aside from the one golden Zodiac Key, she was the owner of, the rest of her keys were wooden ones, created from the unbending wood of the Guardian Tree from her Gardens of Eden. “The Golden Zodiac Keys are also special in more ways than just one. As if the spirits summoned by them could affect them from their celestial world, they ensure that these keys fall only into the hands of those who can actually use them. This is why you don’t see them locked up in some museum or something.”

Because it appeared to be simply impossible. If one attempted to do such a thing, they would be deemed unworthy by the key’s spirit and the key itself would soon disappear, only to reappear in the hands of someone actually capable of taking care of it. And speaking about taking care of things, the topic quickly shifted to the Alliance forged between the three guilds. Leila was still wrapping her head around it and there were some things that didn’t quite add up completely. But she was not in the lead of Silver Wolf so it was not like she had any word in it all.

It forced Leila into deep thought for a few seconds, almost completely missing the remark that she was one of the strongest mages in the world. To that, she would shake her head. “There are plenty of beings far stronger than me. Though I think I have a certain power over most. Regardless of that, I will be here to help. Even if it is because I have a hard time letting go of who I was when I created the guild itself.”

There were certain rules that governed the universe. And one of them was that no matter how strong one could get, there would always be someone better, no matter what. It sounded like a paradox, for surely there would have to be someone at the top. Many would mention Samira Nassar. But even that girl was but an insect in the face of certain beings out there. Things that humans could not even comprehend or dream of. Such was the nature of being, of existence. Scary in its own right, but also begging for adventures to discover it all.

“The girl could never be bound. She had gained everything she could ever want and then had lost it all. Many of the things she had lost were lost for good, never to be obtained again. It is a shame, but that is how the world is. Even a guild cannot bind her to one place. She will continue exploring the world and beyond, just like she did before finding Golden Phoenix.” That was her plan. She was no longer the guild master, which made her disappointed and even bitter at times. But it also made her all the freer, like she used to be. It was… strange…