[Job] Effluent Eternity (Akeya/Leila Vergious)

Job Details:

As Akeya looked out over the land spreading out beneath her she realized that she'd never been to Seven before, and had to admit that this was a bit of a waste. While it wasn't like she'd missed out on the opportunity it couldn't be denied that Seven was a beautiful place, and one worth visiting especially if you yourself were a magical creature which could appreciate the magic flowing from practically every single rock and tree. Humans might find it enchanting and all that but for a dragon it was like a lizard who'd found a nice rock to sunbathe on, showered with warmth and energy. Akeya wasn't someone to be easily distracted by the beauty of nature but she wasn't ignorant of it either, and Seven also appealed to her personal preferences by being wild and untamed like an ancient jungle pulled straight from myth and legend rather than some carefully laid out park. While Akeya found control and restraint important she didn't think nature should be bothering with that, and the mortal races shouldn't be interfering with it. For the largest part nature could balance itself quite well, so it could be as exuberant as it wanted to be and if it took something too far it'd be reigned back in eventually.

Praise for the country aside, she had been genuinely surprised when the details of the job were revealed to her. Like practically everyone else she had heard of the legend of the fountain of eternal youth, a source of water said to grant the imbiber youth and longevity if they drank from it. It was a classic, most likely a result of people in olden times being aware that fresh water was vital for most creatures and promptly exaggerated the importance of water into this idea that there was special water which could go above and beyond in keeping you alive and healthy.

Although the fact that there were water sources with lesser restorative properties would definitely also encourage the story of a source of ultimate healthy water.

But for all her knowledge about the myth she had never received confirmation of its existence, let alone the fact that its location was known. It wasn't necessarily hard to believe but it kind of killed the mystique if you were casually informed that people had long since found it. It also begged the question why its waters weren't constantly being exported: Akeya hadn't heard of anything like a large trade in youth-restoring water, at least not anything which turned out to be legit. Even in the black market it was just hoaxes and more hoaxes.

Well, apparently the fountain was clogged by a piece of obsidian which had resisted even the most aggressive attempts at removing it. Perhaps somewhat ironically the report said that the water which the boulder was blocking was restoring the black material every time it was damaged, so even if explosives or powerful magic was used to damage the obsidian it'd return to its original shape within seconds. At this point it looked like the guardian responsible for the fountain was just asking anyone who might be able to help, in the hope that someone eventually would figure out a way to remove the boulder permanently.

Which was how the job ended up at Akeya's fee-claws. And Leila's. The dragoness had become rather used to having the pale-haired nature lady with her, and she guessed that it would make sense that the defender of Eden would also be involved in this kind of situation. From what the assassin understood Eden was technically its own dimension but it still left Leila as someone with a close connection to the more magical and ethereal parts of nature. She had a better reason to be here than Akeya, that was for certain. As a dragon Akeya didn't think she really needed to worry about staying young and healthy, at least not in the present: dragons didn't necessarily have anything like a standard lifespan, but there were very few which didn't live for a very, very long time if not killed or caught in some other disaster. In fact she was pretty sure there were types of dragons which could live forever if their contract with life wasn't forcibly terminated.

But a job was a job, and it wasn't like she wasn't interested in the fountain. Even if she didn't need the waters right now it might be a good occasion to prepare for if she ended up needing it in the future. After all beyond youth the waters could also bring one back from near-death or perhaps even actual death. Something akin to a panacea would be immensely useful.

Taking a nosedive the austere mage descended towards the ground. The job details had included the location of the fountain, and given that neither she nor Leila really had to fear the environment there hadn't been much reason to meet up outside of the destination. While waiting for her partner to arrive she'd already begin examining the fountain and see if she could find any useful clues for how to remove the boulder. While she wouldn't slight the ones who had come before her it was hard to deny that people could overlook simple clues. Akeya was fairly scrutinous and thorough when compared to most people. Although she suspected that there wouldn't be anything like a puzzle or contraption to be beaten here. They'd just need a way to extract the boulder, with no shortcuts or clever traps hindering in their progress. Of course that meant that the obstacle itself would be a real challenge...

Landing in front of the fountain Akeya ignored the guardian despite of the greeting she was given, her emerald eyes already focused on the nearly dried up spring before her. It was indeed true that very little water was visible, the boulder only allowing for it to seep forth from small cracks. The boulder itself was also clearly visible: while the fact that the fountain formed a sort of bowl hid it from a distance standing at the edge it was clear that a big piece of hard, smooth black rock was sitting squat in the centre, where the water would otherwise be bubbling up from whatever mystical source was hidden beneath the land. Thinking about that actually made Akeya curious, but she guessed that it would be hard to get there, especially since even if she did find the actual source she probably wouldn't be able to figure out much.

Glancing at the guardian she nodded and raised a hand in quick greeting to make it clear she wasn't here with hostile intent before she folded her arms and returned to staring at the boulder. Leila would be better suited for talking with the nature woman, explaining who they were and all that stuff. Akeya was too busy wondering whether the boulder would be able to survive being split in half.

WC: 1,161
TWC: 1,161/12,500

It didn't take very long before Akeya could hear the sound of hoofs hitting the ground in a rhythm indicating a gallop. Of course since this was still from far away the sound was very faint, but going by how it was quickly becoming louder she could deduce that it was heading straight this way at a respectable speed. Within mere minutes it would be here, at which point Akeya would most likely already have figured out who it was and what they were doing here. If her expecations were correct this would be Leila, although the dragoness hadn't been aware that Leila had a mount. Of course given that her friend was closely attuned to nature and all that mystical stuff which Akeya wasn't entirely privy to it wasn't far-fetched that she'd summoned some kind of creature just to travel to the fountain.

While she waited for her arrival the dragoness's eyes remained on the fountain, her brow slowly lowering as she sunk deeper into her thoughts. Maybe she was overthinking this, but she really got the impression that there couldn't be much more to this than just smashing the rock decisively and removing the rubble before it could regenerate. But that was such a simple answer to the problem at hand that it was nigh impossible that there wasn't some catch somewhere. Had everyone who'd come here before Akeya just been weak? She shook her head. That was unlikely. While she knew that she was quite the powerful creature herself she held no delusions about being the strongest around. There were plenty of creatures, but sentient and feral, which equalled or surpassed her where raw destructive force was concerned.

She could run some simple tests but she wanted her partner to be here for that, so they didn't have to run the same test multiple times. Turning her head Akeya tilted it slightly as her fin-ear spread to better catch sound, the dragoness focusing her attention on the approaching hoofsteps. The rider was now close enough that she could also sense their power, which was enough to confirm that it was really Leila. There weren't many creatures whose auric signature could be said to be similar to the guardian of Eden.

And then Leila burst into what posed for a clearing and launched herself from her mount straight towards the assassin, who tensed up for a split second before willing herself to relax. She could easily evade, but that would most likely result in Leila smashing into the obsidian boulder, which might be a kind of test to see how tough the boulder was but probably not a good idea for other obvious reasons. So instead of evading or blocking the dragoness let Leila smash into her, seemingly unaffected by the impact as she looked at the nature mage over her shoulder. "And hello to you too. I take it you're doing all right?" There was the part of Leila's body which had turned wooden as a result of corruption, but otherwise the shorter woman looked like the picture of good health.

The attentive eye might notice that while Akeya had a relaxed pose as if Leila's impact had zero effect the talons on her scaled feet were firmly gripping the ground, the dragoness having subtly braced herself for the collision. She gave Leila about two seconds before she began to remove the silver-haired lady from her body, her scaled hands firmly but carefully grabbing the softer limbs of her companion to pull them away and put her on the ground.

She raised an eyebrow, but before she could say anything the guardian spirit of the fountain spoke up, obviously not entirely pleased with the two mages who had showed up to help fix the fountain. Of course if Akeya had found herself blatantly ignored she'd also be a bit peeved, so it wasn't like she didn't understand why this guardian was put off. However that didn't take away the fact that Akeya was a rather apathetic person, so instead of trying to assuage the guardian with a friendly approach she just nodded.

"Yes, although I wouldn't be so quick as to assume that this will be an easy task." She looked at Leila. "From what I can tell the problem is straightforward, but the fact that this job is given such a high rank implies that the simplicity is offset by the difficulty. Combine that with the fact that I'm not as focused on raw destructive might as most dragons and... well, let's just say we might be here for a while figuring this one out."

At the suggestion of just destroying the rock Akeya snorted. "Well, now that you're here it's worth trying out at least. That way we'll both be able to see what happens." Stepping over the edge of the bowl that formed the basin of the fountain the dragoness walked over to the obsidian rock which loomed menacingly in the middle of the source of eternal life. Looking up at it she flexed her clawed fingers, then took a low stance and clenched one hand into a fist. While her humanoid form didn't have the mass of a full dragon to add force behind her strikes what mass she did have was concentrated on a much smaller area, so for the effect of testing the durability of the boulder before her there was little effective difference.

Taking a deep breath Akeya smashed her fist into the boulder, a simple but powerful strike. It wasn't as hard as she could punch, but she didn't want to risk breaking her fist, even with Leila around to patch her up afterwards. There was the sound of two hard objects colliding with much force, albeit a rather unusual one since one of the elements was dragon scale and the other was obsidian. The result was a sharp and flat crack. Akeya could feel the force of the impact flow through her arm, and saw how several cracks formed in the surface of the obsidian boulder. However almost as quickly as they formed they closed up again, leaving the obsidian barrier as solid and unyielding as before.

She gave their adversary one last look before she walked back towards the edge of the basin, climbing out of it as she looked at Leila with a nod towards the rock. "The fountain of youth has tremendous restorative powers, and it appears the boulder is using all of it to remain solid no matter what you throw at it. As for making a new passage for the water... I'd consider that if I knew anything about how this fountain works. For all I know the basin is what gives the water its rejuvenating qualities, and if the waters can restore the boulder I'm pretty sure it'll do the same for the fountain. That would explain why it's still in good condition despite having been here for who knows how long."

WC: 1,160
TWC: 2,321/12,500

Akeya had hoped that with the simple demonstraton Leila would become more aware of the likely difficulty of the task, but it looked like her companion still held onto the belief that a good proper attack would be able to take care of the issue. Of course that wasn't entirely surprising, as the main reason for the dragoness's doubts was the fact that if it was easy someone else would already have done it, which was a rather cynical line of reasoning which a more optimistic person would quickly dismiss. "You're free to try it yourself. I think it'll need something a bit more complex than a straightforward attack, but I might be overthinking things." She didn't have much reason to deny her friend the chance at taking care of the boulder herself, especially since if Leila was right it would be silly to not at least try out some easy solutions before getting tied up with complications and elaborate plans.

Folding her arms Akeya stayed at the edge of the fountain while she observed Leila approaching the boulder, the tip of her tail twitching in mild irritation. Glancing over at the guardian of the fountain she saw that the fairy-like entity was watching them with some apprehension. It looked like the suggestion of using a more powerful attack filled the guardian with concern, since Akeya had already unleashed a punch strong enough to crack the obsidian to no effect. If Leila was planning something stronger than that...

The transformation of woman into dragonkin was one worth watching, Akeya raising her eyebrows as Leila went all out. Admittedly it was an appearance Akeya enjoyed, although she wondered how much of a change it would bring to her friend's abilities. Well, she'd see soon enough.

The attack Leila unleashed was definitely stronger than the single punch Akeya had used, and the results were clear when the obsidian was torn apart by the merciless attack. With her claws digging into the ground Akeya managed to remain in place even as her raven hair danced as a result of the magical shcokwave that formed upon the clashing of Leila's magic and the stubborn boulder. The guardian spirit let out a surprised gasp, her arms held in front of her as if to ward off the worst of the shockwave. The twilight dragoness meanwhile had narrow eyes as she looked on, her body tenser as she tried to be prepared if something else were to happen.

Somewhat fortunately the gush of water didn't extend beyond the edges of the basin, so Akeya was safe even as she saw how Leila was grazed by the geyser and her draconic alterations disappeared so she plummeted to the ground. Given that she didn't exactly have much else to do Akeya reached out with her tail, skilfully grabbing the silver-haired woman before she hit the ground to bring the fall to an abrupt but less painful end. At the same time she noted that the boulder recovered about as fast as it had before, albeit to a much greater extent now that Leila had managed to actually turn it into small fragments before the rejuvenating waters washed over the remnants.

Dropping Leila to the ground Akeya let her companion stand up on her own two feet while she kept her emerald gaze on the obsidian boulder. "You look fine." Was the only thing she said in response to Leila's comment on her own appearance, apparently distracted with trying to figure out how to deal with the obsidian boulder. "It looks like raw strength isn't going to cut it here. Even if we turn it into shards there will be some remaining inside the source, and I doubt turning it into dust would do much more. We'll need to find a way to completely remove the boulder rather than simply destroy it."

"I wouldn't count on the obsidian disappearing of its own accord." The guardian chipped in, drawing Akeya's attention. Despite her disgruntlement at the cold treatment she'd been given so far the spirit had more important things on her mind than a lack of awe and respect from the two mages. "The water's powers do not come from manipulating time but from rejuvenation and restoration. Otherwise those who drank from the fountain would lose not only years but their memories as well." She indicated the obsidian boulder with a nod. "The boulder has been stuck like that for quite some time now, so it is safe to say that so far as the water's powers are concerned this is the prime state of the obsidian and it will keep returning to it unless completely removed."

"And if we tried to make another entrance for the water to flow out of?" Akeya asked, in response to which the guardian spirit shook her head. "You would face the same issue as with the obsidian. This area has not changed for centuries because the waters keep rejuvenating everything: making a new entrance would result in the waters closing that entrance in the same way that the boulder is restored every time you shatter it."

The assassin nodded, as she wasn't entirely surprised even if it was quite annoying to deal with. She turned her attention back to Leila. "We'll need to find a way to either move the boulder in its entirety without damaging it so it doesn't leave behind anything to be regenerated, or we need to use a form of attack which destroys it beyond the point that what remains could interact with the waters. I could attempt to use light for this but I am not confident in my ability to completely annihilate the obstruction." While she possessed both dark and light she still was more comfortable with dark, and her control over light was a lot more crude since she'd spent less time honing those in comparisons to the years of refining and mastering the powers of dark. "I've got some other ideas but most of those would require some preparation, so do you have any suggestions on how to proceed?"

WC: 1,014
TWC: 3,335/12,500

It looked like between the three women present they didn't have an easy solution at hand. Akeya was perfectly capable of inflicting damage onto the obsidian boulder but she couldn't easily remove it in its entirety. The same counted for Leila, although the dragoness was somewhat curious what her friend could be talking about when she said that she had a possible solution which she'd rather avoid using unless every other avenue of approach had been tried and found wanting. Most likely some kind of ritual which included some form of sacrifice: sacrificial magic usually had immense potential, but that was because it came with a price which wasn't easily paid or forgotten. It was one of the reasons why evil mages were capable of wreaking havoc even when they were almost always outnumbered, relying on captives and slaves as fuel for sacrificial rituals which unleashed the kind of magic which most sensible people would agree should never be unleashed.

But that was neither here nor there. She'd ask Leila about it once they were a bit further along in their quest. The dragoness looked at the spirit, who also looked a bit lost and resigned. She'd seen countless people try to remove the boulder to no avail, so she wasn't even surprised that this time looked to be no different from all the others. Akeya and Leila weren't even the first to damage the rock, but the damn thing just regenerated like it didn't care what you did to it.

"I see. Well, I do have some ideas we can try out before we resort to that solution then." Akeya looked up at the sun, relying on her powerful eyes to allow her to gaze directly into the source of light without being blinded by it. It was one particular benefit to her development which wasn't necessarily needed but definitely interesting and welcome. The sun was already pretty high up in the sky, but it looked like it would still take an hour or so before it would reach its zenith. While Akeya was more confident when using her dark abilities it looked like this time around her light abilities would be the ones put to the test.

"One of my plans will have to wait until noon. The hope is that if I can draw power from the sun when it's at its highest and strongest I can annihilate the entire boulder. That gives us some time to consider other possibilities." She looked back at Leila. "As a point of curiosity, can you use photosynthesis? I don't know what you're thinking of that would be able to remove the obsidian from the pathway but if you're worried about the power involved maybe I could substitute by feeding you non-hostile light magic." Even if Leila wasn't a light slayer she figured it wouldn't be that different from feeding someone power food.

Given that they weren't in a hurry and might as well discuss their plans thoroughly the dragoness sat down next to the white-haired woman, making herself comfortable so she wouldn't have to constantly shift her position. With crossed legs and her scaled hands on her knees she turned her gaze towards her companion, waiting for an answer to her question while also thinking about other possible solutions. The spirit watched the two mages in silence, not sure what else she could say that would be of any use.

WC: 570
TWC: 3,905/12,500

Akeya nodded as Leila warned her not to destroy the fountain. "Of course." While so far the waters had appeared to be capable of restoring anything they touched to its prime state, whatever that happened to be, it was better not to take too many chances. Especially since they didn't know what the source of the restorative properties was and there was a good chance that it wasn't capable of restoring itself if it was damaged in any way. The dragoness tilted her head as she calculated the odds. She wasn't as skilled with light magic as with darkness magic, but she wasn't a complete novice either... but she'd need to use a lot of force to destroy this obsidian boulder to the last shard. She'd have to find the balance between enough power and not too much.

As she sat there she blinked in mild surprise as she could hear the irritation in Leila's voice as her friend snapped back at her. She hadn't thought it a sensitive question, but it looked like she'd judged that wrong. Her emerald eyes studied the white-haired woman carefully as she laid down, thoughts running through her head. She was aware that amongst humans this would be a time to either grant the other person some respectful peace and quiet, or to try and figure out what was wrong. One of the two, depending on the exact relationship and the personalities of the people involved. Akeya usually didn't get involved in other people's personal issues simply because she didn't care as long as they didn't interfere with the task at hand.

For several minutes she stared at the sun above, observing its movements while her tail brushed the grass behind her. The guardian spirit was also quiet, having decided to leave the mages be unless they approached her for something or they began to do something objectionable. The dragoness had no objections to that, although eventually she found that since she'd already calculated her plan she might as well see if she could figure out what was bothering her friend. She still found it hard to really care about someone else's personal issues, but at least with Leila she could make the effort. And besides, the lady of Eden had an interesting magic which Akeya would like to learn more about.

"You appear to be bothered by something." She stated rather suddenly and bluntly, still looking up at the sun even as it was clear she was addressing her fellow mage. "I can't say I'm much good for dealing with emotional troubles, but since I didn't anticipate it I'm somewhat curious." She frowned as she realized that the other woman might not appreciate that phrasing. "We've done good work together in the past, so if there's something that I could help with I'd be willing to consider helping depending on the details. At the very least I could give my input." Convincing someone to let you help them was difficult when you really just lacked social aptitude. She moved her gaze down until she was looking at Leila, her expression as neutral and serious as usual.

WC: 523
TWC: 4,428/12,500

It appeared that her attempt at asking Leila what was wrong wasn't very successful. Given Akeya's lack of social aptitude this didn't necessarily surprise her, although she did find it a bit bothersome. She couldn't play the part of a warm and caring person: she could take on the guise of someone else including their personality, but in her own body it just felt fake and would look fake to anyone who observed it. And the silver-haired woman next to her probably would do a better job seeing how fake it was than most. From the corner of her eye she observed as Leila stood up and made it clear that she didn't appreciate how off-handed Akeya was being, on top of accusing her of not caring at all.

The dragoness frowned slightly, a mix of thoughtfulness and the barest hint of annoyance as the tip of her tail twitched. "Do you find it important that I look at you? I don't mind doing it if that makes you feel better, but it can be hard to tell when it's necessary and when it isn't." She turned her head to look at Leila, her emerald eyes carrying that same intensity which would make many wonder whether this draconic assassin was wholly sane. "Especially since there are also cultures and creatures who take eye contact as rude or even a challenge. I know that for most humans that isn't the case, but, well..." She shrugged, leaving the sentence unfinished as she instead focused on the topic at hand. If she was reading the situation correctly Leila was feeling neglected or alone.

"I won't pretend and claim that I'm being eaten up with worry. You know me too well, you know I'm simply neither that emotional nor that socially inclined. That said I do appreciate your company and if something is bothering you I am left wondering if perhaps I would be able to help. You're cooperative, friendly, sensible and you don't bother me with nonsensical things." A twitch of her mouth, a small grimace. "Especially the last one appears to be difficult for most people. I guess for social creatures a big part of their identity is external, so to share things is as instinctual to them as breathing."

Using her tail she pushed herself back upright so she could face Leila properly, folding her arms as she raised an eyebrow. "That said it's not a lie either that part of my motivation is the desire to maintain a good relationship so i can rely on your cooperation. However that does not mean that is the only motivation and frankly it's a very pragmatic motivation so you would have difficulty convincing me that I should be ashamed for it. A lot of problems could be avoided between people if they were more pragmatic with how they interacted with one another, instead of setting up ridiculous rules and expectations and then dancing around one another in an attempt not to trip over their silly concept of etiquette." Her voice became a bit harsher by this point, the dragoness apparently becoming rather annoyed as she was reminded of what passed for manners amongst most of the mortal races. From her perspective it was all so unbelievably silly. She wasn't even sure whether that was because she was a dragon or if even as a human she would just have been too blunt to care for it.

Releasing a slightly heavier breath she leaned forward towards her friend and companion, her stare still intense although there was no hostility in it. It was a neutral but focused gaze, boring into Leila. "So, do you want to remain angry without being able to do anything about it or will you let me try to help? Even if you don't trust my motivations I'm offering my assistance without demanding anything in return. That said I don't remember a prior instance where I asked for your aid where I wasn't willing to repay you in some manner."

WC: 670
TWC: 5,098/12,500

While she was loathe to admit it, Akeya couldn't deny that every word out of her mouth appeared to do nothing but make the situation worse. Normally she wouldn't mind much as long as the correct information was passed along, but this time around she was actually making an attempt at helping Leila on the emotional level. An endeavour she was failing miserably at it seems. The tip of her tail twitched as she was compared to the humans, her arms folded as her eyes narrowed slightly and her expression became a bit harder than before. Her frown only increased when she saw that the corruption on her friend's body was beginning to spread, obviously in some way fed by Leila's current emotional state. The dragoness didn't have a clue what she was supposed to do about that other than try to calm the woman down though. "I'm not looking away from you, I just was also keeping track of other things and wasn't aware that you found eye contact important." She was pretty sure this wasn't the correct way to go about it, but she found it difficult to answer without at the same time expaining herself.

"I don't want to draw much attention to it, but should I be worried about the fire? As you said you're not an actual plant but that still looks a lot hotter than what would be comfortable for most living things." As she spoke she indicated the glowing veins with one clawed finger, slowly unfolding her arms as she began to think of how to deal with this possible threat. If Leila was unconsciously or accidentally harming herself she'd have to forcibly put a halt to it.


However for now it looked like the fire wasn't actually harming Leila. And the dragoness was also distracted, actually looking a bit frustrated and concerned as the white-haired mage pointed out something which the assassin couldn't really deny. Leila's claim was that she had been bottling up feelings caused by loss, isolation and ostracism, and Akeya didn't have difficulty believing that sinec Leila undoubtedly was a rather unique existence and wouldn't have many people able to treat her as an equal and similar. And the problem was that Akeya couldn't really imagine what it must be like to have such heavy emotions bottled up waiting to explode. In the past she'd actually had the opposite issue: she was so used to being fully rational and logical that she had been in danger of completely losing her emotional side, which in the long term would be bad as a creature without feelings or emotions missed some vital functions for making the best decisions and plans.

Essentially Akeya considered the possibility that was in fact not capable of solving this issue, as she spproached it from an entirely different direction. The dragoness remained silent, scales gleaming faintly in the rays of the rising sun above. She wet her lips and parted them to speak, then closed them again as it turned out Leila wasn't finished yet. It was only when her friend took a step forward that Akeya took more decisive action: she took a step backwards and lowered her centre of mass. If her friend was so unbalanced by her emotions that she were to become aggressive the assassin would have to restrain her quickly and without hesitation. But before she could take the next step there seemed to be a distortion: one moment Leila was a step forward and next she was falling to her knees while the strange markings on her body had disappeared as if they'd never been threatening to consume her.

With a single motion a black dagger appeared in Akeya's hand as she spun around, taking in their surroundings before turning back towards Leila's rough direction. With her free hand she released a burst of twilight, an odd mixture of contradiction and balance which looked orange when gazed upon from above and a vibrant blue when looked at from below. The iridescent wave was meant to reveal anyone trying to keep themselves invisible, but it failed to find an, leaving Akeya to wonder what had just happened.

"Are you all right?" She didn't notice any deviations in Leila other than that the wood-like appearance had been receded and that she looked particularly frigthened, but that stress itself could be a problem. It was only after the white-haired girl had stated that she was fine that Akeya relaxed a tad, her black dagger still in her hand and her eyes now cautiously roaming their surroundings as if hoping to catch sight of whoever had been responsible for Leila's extremely sudden change in behaviour.

"I suspect that I might be the worst person to talk about when it comes to controlling your emotions and being accepted by the mortals. The best I can think of saying is that I'm definitely not like them. As I've stated before I value your presence."

Should she try to provide some physical comfort? Under normal circumstances she'd nearly immediately dismiss the thought, but apparently her friend was currently suffering from a feeling that nobody appreciated her or accepted her presence, so she might have to do it just to help Leila get past this point. It was because of that that the dragoness slowly reached out with her clawed hand, if nobody stopped her lightly patting the silver-haired woman on the head several times.

"Starting with something small might work better. It sounds like you've been struggling with this for a while, which suggests that it won't just disappear in one day either. Is there something you wished to do today? An objective of high enough priority to top today's goals, but not necessarily big enough to be worth dedicated weeks and months to?"

WC: 967
TWC: 6,065/12,500

(That's fine with me. Sorry for the delay.)

While she waited for Leila's response Akeya had several trains of thought simultaneously running through her head. One was born from curiosity and, admittedly, some concern: she was trying to figure out what was really bothering her white-haired friend. It was clear that it was much deeper than the dragoness not immediately looking at her. The best she could figure was that Leila was feeling rejected by the people around her and it just so happened that Akeya's rather cold attitude had ended up being the last straw.

The second one was keeping an eye on the mission at hand. Noon was quickly approaching, she'd have to be ready to take advantage of the moment despite what situation Leila might be dealing with. She wasn't as familiar with light magic as dark magic but she held some confidence that if she held the power of the midday sun she would be able to make it work. And even if she did mess up Leila apparently had a last resort which was guaranteed to work even if she wasn't that eager to use it.

The third train of thought was analyizing the situation as if it was a fight waiting to happen. In a contast of raw power the guardian of Eden won: Akeya's energy reserves weren't half bad but they didn't stand up to the more monstrous amounts of power that Leila could tap into. That said the assassin was more suited for combat.. could she afford to fight suppressively rather than with lethal intent, or would she have to move as quickly as possible to take Leila down before she got momentum going? Even if she hoped it wouldn't come to that the antisocial twilight mage was too cautious to not at least consider the possibility.

It was a good thing that it looked like Leila at least no longer had the desire to escalate the argument. Whatever it was that just happened it must have taken a lot out of her friend, if not physically then at least mentally. Although it certainly was also positive to see that the warped appearance had faded away to be replaced by regeneration. Although when Leila mentioned that she wasn't confident that dragons could feel anything for mortals Akeya shrugged.

"It's been known to happen. Of course since we are completely different creatures it is also not strange if either a dragon or a mortal sees the other as nothing to sympathize or empathize with. The mortals are just as capable of doing that amongst one another, and it's not like all dragons care for one another either. Apathy is a very common trait." She lowered herself back towards the ground, this time squatting instead of sitting as she rested her forearms on her knees while her tail helped keep her in perfect balance. "In my case I'd say that I am capable of caring for mortals, it's just that my emotions are a lot less dominant than with most creatures so even if I assign a high priority to someone you won't see me gushing about it. Of course since you can't read my mind I can't prove this, so the question would remain whether you trust me to be honest about this kind of thing. But for what is worth, I do appreciate the help you provided at the time that I had become unstable because of my magic."

While her eyes were now trained on her companion she still occasionally glanced upwards, calculating how much time was left before the sun would hit its peak and she'd have to get back to work. Not much more time left. She'd have to try and help Leila at least reach a state of mind where she wouldn't mind the conversation being interrupted for the sake of the mission.

Unfortunately her question about whether Leila had anything she wanted to do appeared to leave the white-haired mage confused, which meant that Akeya would have to spend some time explaining. "Most people feel better if provided some physical support, correct? Of course if you don't appreciate it I can stop." She gave another, smaller shrug. "One of the easiest ways to deal with too many emotions or thoughts is to focus on something simple, a task which doesn't require you to think too much about the solution but which does demand your attention. Something straightforward and practical which gives your mind the opportunity to regroup and prevent already existing trouble feeding itself into bigger trouble." She guessed that it was a bit strange that she of all people would say something like that, but she was essentially digging through her mind for things that might actually help despite this being far, far removed from her usual skillset.

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If Akeya had been capable of reading Leila's mind she'd have argued that there were ways for someone to become twisted without it requring them to offer themselves up to apathy, but since mind-reading wasn't on the list of powers she possessed as a twilight dragon that discussion was not meant to be. The same was the case for Leila's believe that she was better off ignoring the bad things in the world: the dragoness would have been curious about the kind of mind where not thinking about the negatives was better than studying them thoroughly.

As Leila began to emphasize just how cold Akeya made herself appear in normal interaction the dragoness raised one eyebrow at the comparisons, then snorted while her tail softly slapped the ground behind herself. "So I've been told, although even then I feel like I'm a lot more open than I used to be. I guess it's a relative case, or a matter of perspective. As for what counts outside of most creatures..." She made a vague motion with one clawed hand as if to indicate something even if the only people here were the two of them and the spirit protecting the fountain. "Golems and undead, creatures who were formed without emotions in the first place. Or someone who has used a ritual to kill off their ability to feel. Or some other form of aberration." She rolled her eyes somewhat overly dramatically. "But I guess that when we look at more natural creatures I rank pretty high in the list of not showing much emotion."

Of course even Akeya was aware of the importance of physical contact, even if she herself didn't find much benefit in it. Despite what her cold appearance might lead others to believe she wasn't completely devoid of knowledge regarding feelings and interactions built upon those rather than logic. She just wasn't very good with them. As Leila explained that a headpat wasn't quite enough for a comforting gesture in these kind of circumstances the dragoness looked at her scaled hand, slowly flexing and relaxing it before answering her white-haired friend. "I see. I've gotta say I can't remember the last time I initiated anything like a hug. Although I think you tackling me after you jumped off of your horse counted as you initiating a hug." She removed her arm back to its resting position. "But would a hug even work if it came from someone who clearly isn't used to them?"

"That said you don't have to worry about my claws harming you unless you make unexpected, sudden moves." Akeya put on an expression of mild mock indignance. "I do know how to make sure I only carve that what I want to carve, and I'd rather keep you in one piece and healthy." Coming from Akeya that was almost like a declaration of affection, even if from the outsider perspective it barely met the requirements of acknowledging someone's existence in your life. "You seem to have calmed down now though, so I don't think anything like a hug is necessary... although since it's your emotional state I can't say with certainty. Although I'd be a poor choice for a hug regardless of what mental state someone was in." She tapped one of her scales with one of her claws, the resulting sound being that of two hard objects colliding. "My outside is too similar to my inside."

As Leila declared that she didn't really have anything to look forward to, nor did she have anything planned, Akeya couldn't help but frown. She was hoping that something simple would help her friend recover from her low mood but that would be difficult if Leila didn't even have anything in mind of what she might want to do once they were no longer busy with the fountain. "Well, think about it then I guess. If you can figure out something you might feel like doing we could see if we could do it after the obsidian has been removed."

"This land has a lot higher a density of mana than most places I've been to. For a dragon like me that's quite pleasant, since we're magical creatures and thus feel more alive when the area is rich in magic power. Although I can't really say I have anything I want to do other than study this place a bit. Maybe figure out where the fountain gets its magical water from."

Seeing that Leila had now lost all signs of emotional disturbance the dragoness nodded in satisfaction, even showing a very faint smile before shrugging and glancing back upwards. "It's almost time for me to see if my trick is going to work, and if it doesn't it'll be your turn next. Although I'd say that neither apology nor thanks serve any real purpose, since you have neither slighted me nor have I really helped you much." Her brow lowered for a moment as that reminded her of something. "Actually, could you explain what happened before? One moment you were angry, the next you were on the ground and you acted as if someone had knocked all the energy out of you."

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Akeya was a bit surprised when Leila didn't show much appreciation for her listing the types of creaturse which would be less emotionless than the twilight dragoness. From her perspective it had been quite logical that if she was known for being rather cold then her list would be about those who were even colder. While she considered what her friend might have been expecting eventually she admitted to herself that she couldn't figure it out, but also that it probably wasn't very important. "I'm still pondering what the right level of emotionality might be. When I was younger I thought that maybe emotions had no practical purpose, as I imagine a lot of people striving for logical thought might have agreed with. However as time has passed I've discovered that emotions serve an important function even in rationality. Without feelings, without the ability to find some things more important than others, it would be impossible to assign priorities. A fully emotionless creature would not be able to decide which issues must be taken care of as quickly as possible and which can be neglected. Unless someone or something told them what to focus on." She glanced towards a nearby tree and pointed towards it with one clawed finger before pointing at Leila and then at herself. "If I had no emotions and did not take orders from an external force I would have no way to decide that your life and my life are more important than the life of that tree. After all without emotions or orders I would have no way of knowing that my life has any value at all, or anything else for that matter. Being completely emotionless would actually make me less effective and pragmatic."

Leila's next comment earned her a stare. More specifically a stare of mild befuddlement, as Akeya first looked at her white-haired friend and then at her own hand, covered in hard but smooth scales and tipped with claws that could easily rip most living things apart. "You mean more so than these?" She asked jokingly before snorting and lowering her hand. "Well, I guess I can see why the intimacy thing would be important. Survival requires living things to assign themselves a high value, and it is satisfying when those who you value affirm your own value as well. And physical contact would be one of the most non-ambiguous methods of showing it..." It was an interesting train of thought, although maybe she shouldn't dwell too much on it right now.

Looking at Leila the dragoness raised her hand to scratch at her chin, then shrugged with a hint of helplessness. "I think it's less active dislike and more that it's very unusual for me." She then quickly shut up, as she was getting the strong impression that her friend wasn't entirely happy with the way this topic was going. Even to the dragoness it was obvious that such signs of comfort, support and intimacy were important to the silver-haired wizard, so for Akeya to make it clear that it wasn't really her thing wasn't exactly the most positive outcome. Better to let that lie and focus on more productive trains of thought.

As her friend tested out whether her body was still functioning as intended Akeya looked back up at the sun, judging that now really was about the time to get started. Her midnight blue scales had become brighter as time passed by as the sun basked her in stronger sunlight. Her olive skin had also changed in complexion to match the change of her scales, so instead of midnight scales and olive skin the dragoness was now sporting scales the shade of dawn and a complexion which on a human would be called fair.

Although she was distracted from the thought that she should get started when Leila mentioned that it was Eden who had brought about that sharp change in the woman's behaviour. It was the first time that Akeya had heard of that realm actively interfering with the situation. She was aware that there was lots of mythical stuff surroundings Leila's connection to the Garden of Eden, but so far she'd thought that those powers could only be brought forth by Leila, not that they could act independently (although she was pretty sure that even if they acted independently they'd still be using Leila as their medium). "That does sound like they'd be difficult enemies. But it's also interesting to know that those entities can directly interfere with this world... Do they do that often?"

Regardless of the answer given Akeya would then slowly return her attention back to the vast skies above. "Time for me to find out if I can do this. Be right back. And protect your eyes." With that she crouched, lowering her centre of mass, then leaped straight up into the sky and spread her wings to fly higher and higher, heading straight for that ball of plasma hovering far beyond her reach far above her. When she was high enough that Leila was nothing more than a dot amidst a sea of green below Akeya came to a halt, spreading her arms and basking in the sun as she quickly drew in as much power from it as she could gather and hold within such a short span of time. Her scales became shining gold and her skin so pale that on a human being it might have been worrying. Gathering all the absorbed energy between her claws a large sphere of light formed, first expanding and then contracting and condensing as Akeya made the sphere as small as possible, the light in contrast becoming brighter and brighter until she was holding a miniature sun between her scaled hands.

Half a minute went by as the dragoness gathered more of the sun's might, her expression tight as she was pushing herself to the breaking point regarding how much light essence she could put into the sphere without it altering her own being or exploding. When she was quite sure that any more delays would result in things going haywire she held her arms below herself, aiming the light orb at the obsidian obelisk which from up here was also naught but a black spot. Narrowing her eyes she took a deep breath, then finally let the sun's fury burst forth from her little project.

A pillar of pure light appeared as if a bolt of straight lightning, slamming into the obsidian obelisk almost instantly. The surrounding forest was put into sharp relief as it was exposed to a light intense enough to almost be scorching, throwing shadows just as dark where it didn't reach. The obsidian rock, meanwhile, attempted to reflect the light due to its properties of being alike to glass, but Akeya gritted her fangs up high as she forced the destructive laser to move straight down and not deviate no matter what.

After mere seconds of resisting this merciless assault the obsidian boulder began to disintegrate, the amount of energy being thrown at it being far greater than what it could withstand. Hot winds bellowed forth from the solar beam as the unlucky monolith could be seen to become shorter as it was burned away from the top down... if there was anyone who could stare at this spectacle without being struck blind temporarily while their eyes screamed in agony.

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Nihilism. That was definitely one way of describing Akeya's life philosophy. She didn't believe in some greater purpose, some overarching destiny that gave everything in reality its own role to play. There were gods and demons and other grand and terrible entities in existence, but she didn't think any of them were in control of fate itself. Even those mighty beings were just parts of the great flow that was made out of everything. There might be things like prophecies and people who appeared to have their path in life laid out before them, but even that seemed like nothing more than a scheme from one source or another, not something which controlled the entirety of everything. Life was made out of all things just happening like they were because of chance and reactions. Fate wasn't some determined path, fate was whatever was going to happen because whatever was going to happen was, by default, what was fated to happen.

Although that didn't mean Akeya despaired or felt hopeless. To not believe that your life had purpose meant that you were not just a pawn in some plot or plan. You might not have the guarantee of value that came with knowing you were meant to achieve or do something, but it also meant you could set your own goals and strive for them without having to wonder whether you were overstepping any boundaries or limitations. In Akeya's case she didn't have a concrete goal beyond survival, development and enlightenment. She wanted to keep learning, keep growing, keep understanding. She could find a specific goal to achieve once she knew enough about the world around her to know what required her touch or what she desired.

But it seemed like Leila wouldn't see it quite the same way. She'd noticed how her fellow mage sounded less cheerful at the mention of nihilism. So the dragoness kept those thoughts to herself, shelving them in case she might have to explain how things worked for her at a later time. When they weren't busy trying to destroy a rock.

---

As she launched her attack Akeya noticed that despite her best attempts a large portion of the energy she'd gathered was still being wasted. She had to make sure that there was exactly one way for the solar beam to go, and that was straight down. It already took all her focus to not make the light just be reflected off of the obsidian's smooth surface, she couldn't push that aspect any further. If she wanted to ensure total obliteration she'd need to utilize another approach.

A plan quickly formed in her head. One way to ensure hat all her power would go straight down would be to erect a barrier which wouldn't allow the light to pass. Not a barrier which would destroy the light, a barrier which would deny the light that direction. As she maintained the beam of light with one claw Akeya gathered darkness in her other claw, which after but a mere second was ready. Releasing it she formed it as a layer around the solar beam, with twilight separating light and dark to form the barrier she'd thought of inside that short span of time. A barrier of darkness would have interacted in a destructive fashion with the powerful beam of light: a barrier of twilight with dark and light on either side would ensure that both dark and light stayed separated, never meeting and thus also forcing the powerful destructive light to go straight down.

All the way back on the ground Leila and the fountain guardian would suddenly regain their vision as the blazing pillar turned pitch black, the light and the heat so suddenly disappearing that it was like they had been cut away with a dagger. For several more seconds the now black column persisted before it disappeared, along with the light beam it had been concealing.

It took a while before Akeya reached the ground, breathing notably heavier than before. Gathering so much of the sun's power and releasing it like that had already been taxing, but to create a twilight barrier with an additional layer of darkness to focus the attack when she was already trying to keep the solar energy from completely running wild... Not the easiest task she'd ever had to execute.

However she had heard Leila's cry that she should have given a warning, at which point the dragoness replied a bit defensively: "I did tell you to protect your eyes." Releasing a deep sigh she let what remained of the sun's energy get recycled by her body, her light appearance becoming a tad less extreme as she returned to a more balanced state. "I'll be more insistent next time I try something like that." Looking around she noted that her attack had left the surrounding forest in a bad state, with the ground cracked from the heat, leafs scorched and bark blackened. She grimaced as she thought about how much energy she wasted by not putting up that barrier in the first place. "Will you be all right?" She asked, although it would be anybody's guess whether she was addressing the blinded Leila or the weeping nature spirit. Or both at the same time.

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"Closing your eyes would have protected you from the worst of it. But yes, I concede that I could have stressed the importance of protecting your eyes a bit more." Truth be told Akeya was a bit surprised how effective that move had turned out to be. She guessed that drawing energy directly from the sun had resulted in there being more power in there than she'd been aware of. That or she just had underestimated the destructive power of a beam of light. Leila hadn't even suffered the worst of it, and it looked like the goddess was still suffering from the effects. The plantlife around them had it even worse, having been scorched and dried up as they didn't benefit from the same fortitude and resilience as the powerful mage. At least the nature spirit looked like she was all right, physically if not emotionally.

She watched with some caution as Leila moved towards the fountain, although fortunately she didn't have to step in as her friend caught herself before she fell into the quickly filling basin. Reminded of why she'd even inflicted so much damage on the surroundings Akeya's full attention was redirected towards the centre of the fountain of youth, her eyes narrow as she waited for any sign that the obsidian boulder was returning. The way that it had recovered from previous attacks had given the impression that it'd always reform, so even though her attack was quite destructive there was still the thought nagging at her that any moment now that black boulder would return...

"It looks like it so far..." She responded cautiously to Leila's exclamations. With some luck that would be the truth, but she'd wait several more minutes before she'd declare herself confident the task was complete. So far there was no sign of any obsidian, but it was entirely possible that such systematic and thorough destruction had simply slowed down the regeneration effect, the same way that it should theoretically take longer for the regenerative waters to return an old man to childhood.

She was reminded of the other problem at hand when the white-haired goddess explained that she should be all right. The dragoness folded her arms as she finally shifted her focus back to the woman, her tail shifting from side to side behind her before she nodded. "I'll trust your judgement on that. With your powers recovery shouldn't be too much of a challenge either." She glanced back towards the fountain. Still no sign of any rock. She gave a little satisfied nod at that. "I think it's safe to say we succeeded."

As she said that the asssassin noted how now Leila was also showing dismay at the state of the surroundings. The dragoness guessed that for someone closely tied to nature this wouldn't be any more pleasant for her friend than for the nature spirit, who was still distraught. She'd have sighed at this if she didn't think it'd make the wrong impression on the other two women. Akeya herself couldn't claim to be that invested in nature, and while she was annoyed at what she'd done to the plants it was more because it reminded her of how much energy she wasted. The plants would recover eventually, or would be replaced with new plants. With a functional fountain of youth regrowth would be a lot faster than normal. From her perspective the damage was temporary and not all that important.

She was about to say that since their task had been to remove the boulder they'd done what they came for when Leila decided otherwise. Honestly the dragoness wasn't very surprised, but she still watched with a frown as her friend stuck her hand into the waters with apparently little hesitation. Given that she didn't rapidly de-age Akeya wasn't about to stop her, but she was wondering what the white-haired silver wolf was planning to do with the fountain. Restore nature in some way, obviously, but how?

The tree-like transformation was somewhat interesting to watch, but Akeya was more interested in making sure the nature spirit wouldn't interfere. With the wooden barrier up the dragoness stepped in between it and their client, her arms still folded as she stared at the spirit calmly. "Knowing her she's improving the fountain, so you shouldn't interrupt her. As she said, if it's a problem you can complain afterwards." The nature spirit glared back, clearly unhappy with Akeya's presence at the moment (given that the twilight dragon was the one responsible for the destruction), but after several seconds of silent contest she conceded and stepped backwards, uncomfortable and wishing these mages had never showed their faces around here. The boulder was gone, which was good, but she was worried it wouldn't be worth the cost.

At first it didn't look like much was happening, but Akeya was willing to wait it out. Leila would stop eventually, either because she had succeded or because she'd given up. The light that escaped the barrier made her eyebrows rise, wondering what that was about before she lifted one clawed and scaled hand towards it. Absorbing some of the light she closed her eyes, then shrugged and absorbed some more. It was definitely magical light, bursting with life and that essence she'd grown familiar with ever since she started doing jobs together with Leila. That silver-haired woman really had some amazing things up her sleeve.

"So you made an ethereal tree to transfer the powers of the fountain to its surroundings?" It was half statement, half question. When Leila fell to her knees and explained what she had done in some more detail the dragoness stepped forward and grabbed her friend by the shoulder, pulling her back to her feet even as her emerald eyes studied the effects this new development had on their surroundings. "It's certainly an interesting phenomenon... Possibly more functional than just a fountain. Although... can you still access the water itself? There's going to be times when it's more useful to be able to carry the waters away from here."

At this last question the nature spirit managed to tear her eyes away from the spiritual tree and how it was restoring nature. Hastening over to the fountain she reached forward, managing to slip her hand between the roots of light to dip it into the waters. Like Leila she wasn't affected by it, allowing her to make sure there was still access to the water before turning back towards the goddess and the dragoness. "It looks like the water can still be drawn from the fountain, and still has its rejuvenating properties." Straightening up the nature spirit coughed, then frowned slightly before giving a reluctant bow. "You've removed the boulder and restored the fountain, so I thank you for completing the quest given. That said I also have to ask you to depart quickly. As helpful as you have been I'll feel more comfortable once you are far away from here." Taking two bottles out of the folds of her dress the guardian filled them with water from the fountain, offering them to the two mages. "The rules dictate that for helping me out I must give you this, but please leave now."

Akeya took the two bottles, studying them for a moment before nodding and offering one to Leila. "We've done what we came for, and even did some more. We'll be leaving immediately." She then looked at Leila. "Have you thought of something you want to do?"

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While Leila explained it as if it was simple and straightforward Akeya was quite sure that what the goddess had just performed was a very complicated task indeed. The dragoness listened with more attentiveness than one might usually expect from her, her arms folded and her gaze focused. The silver-haired woman was now talking about a subject which actually managed to grab Akeya's attention a lot better than most, namely the subject of how magic interacted with the world and how one could use that same magic for one's own purposes. Magic theory was one of Akeya's favourite subjects.

"I must admit that compared to that my act of destroying the boulder sounds almost mind-numbingly boring. All I did was release enough energy in a concentrated beam to evaporate the rock before it could regenerate through the water." She looked back up at the tree. It did indeed look as if the magic pollen released by the ethereal tree wasn't the same as the water itself. Although she still had some uncertainties regarding the true nature of the fountain of youth. It was supposed to only restore one's youth, turning back time for the living, yet somehow a boulder of obsidian, volcanic glass, had been strongly affected by it. What was the explanation for that mystery?

The nature spirit, meanwhile just was waiting for all of this to be over with. She'd have to spend some time considering whether it was acceptable for Leila to have placed this healing tree on top of the fountain. While the thoughtfulness of allowing people to still access the waters themselves was definitely appreciated it still was a gross alteration of what could be considered a sacred or at the very least an important site, and she'd done so without discussion, permission or warning. It also wasn't part of the job description so the guardian could have tried to use this to argue that they hadn't performed the job properly, but she suspected that would just prolong this tiresome event of dealing with a dragon and a deity.

"There definitely should not be anybody bathing into the fountain. I'll accept that you've restored the fountain and made what appears to be an improvement, but I still want both of you to leave as soon as possible." She wasn't necessarily trying to be rude, but bluntness was about the only thing she had left to get the message across.

Akeya, for her part, didn't really care much. The task they had set out to do had been completed, and if Leila wanted to improve matters even further that was up for the goddess. For the dragoness the vial of water was actually quite interesting, both since it meant she could research it at her leisure and because it meant she had a way to control her ageing. For someone like Akeya who didn't see the point of dying that was worth keeping in mind.

When Leila's answer was to state that Akeya's scales were smoother than she'd thought the dragoness blinked and stared, then dropped her head slightly and snorted. It looked like even after that big argument they had and the effort they'd put into restoring the fountain of youth her friend still had her own priorities. "They're not, no, but if you're that interested in inspecting them we might want to change locations. Our client wants us gone." While she wasn't much for physical contact she did approve of people showing proper awe and appreciation where dragons were concerned, and at least with Leila she didn't have to worry much about a knife in her back.

The hug definitely came as a surprise though. Where before the dragoness had blinked once she was now staring with rather distinct puzzlement. It wasn't the first time in her life that she had been hugged, although the last time was already so long ago that most people would probably have forgotten it already. The sensible response would have been to carefully separate herself from the goddess, but after some thought the dragoness figured that she might at least indulge her friend a little bit, considering how upset she had been before. Standing there for several seconds she slowly raised one scaled hand and patted the silver-haired woman on the crown of her head. "Seriously though, if you want to continue inspecting my body we should change location." Their current behaviour might be harmless, but the nature guardian was still emanating vibes that said she wanted the two of them out of here.

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