by Leona Jarnefeldt 4th April 2020, 7:05 pm
-Five minutes later, in the hotel restaurant-
Leona entered the hotel restaurant which advertised itself as having "something for everyone" and advertised its buffet line that lived up to its claim of having something for everyone. There was fried fish, baked fish, salad, fried chicken, baked chicken, marcaroni and cheese, couscous, rice, pork chops... and that was just the "main courses" section. The "dessert section" had an impressive variety of desserts from ice cream to cookies to cakes and more. She paid at the counter, grabbed a nondescript tan plate and a bundle of silverware wrapped in a napkin, then sidled up to the couscous to get some of the dish she had grown up eating in Nebdoui.
While some would expect a person of her status to eschew a buffet line as being beneath her, Leona did not care about appearances or about status. She herself came from a common background and had been catapulted to prominence by being in the right place at the right time as much as she had by her own efforts. She had come from a village that had went through periodic famines and had personally witnessed a famine that claimed over one hundred lives. The blonde would take food where she could get it.
Leona had gotten a decent serving of couscous and went to an empty table in the corner of the sparsely populated restaurant to eat. Leona unfurled the silverware bundle, grabbed her spoon, and ate quietly while observing table manners but ate as quickly as she could because back home one always had chores to do. One also had to be ready to fight bandits at a moment's notice because bandits could come out of the dunes at any moment and they did not respect mealtimes. The Wizard Saint had eaten so quickly that she had forgotten Within five minutes of sitting down she had finished and was on her way to go do something else while on vacation.
-In Leona's room-
Leona was back in her hotel room for the third time and still had no idea of what to do with herself. She still had several hours of daylight left and could do any number of things like go to the beach for a walk, go take the lighthouse tour for a glimpse at the past, watch television, even go to Mermaid Cove and reminisce about the fight with Bamila. All of those activities were about as appealing as a punch to the face or another night at Capital Crocus' auction house.
Leona took off her boots and socks and lay back on the bed trying to figure out what to do with her abundant free time. Maybe there was something decent on television. Leona got up, walked over to the desk, picked up the TV remote, and turned on the television to flip through the channels and see what she could find.
The TV flickered on and up popped a weather forecast for the next seven days, a forecast which promised sunny days for the next week. Leona's thumb pressed the UP arrow and the next channel in line was a talent show called Fiore's Got Talent. On it a teenage male in a white t-shirt and blue jeans was riding a unicycle while juggling flaming torches. Leona flipped to the next channel and saw that she was watching a travel documentary on The Cursed Lands. With nothing else good on, Leona set the remote to her right side and watched as a narrator with a deep bass voice described Silent Cemetery and the dangers that lurked within it as the camera gave a sweeping view of the cemetery.
-Three hours later-
Leona had dozed off during the Cursed Lands documentary and woke up to find that the documentary on now was on Bellum, a country that was the polar opposite of Pergrande. While Pergrande persecuted mages, Bellum persecuted non-mages. Leona tried to watch the hour-long segment on Bellum but was bored to tears before the halfway point, so she changed the channel and landed on a show about the Wizard Saints that was just beginning. Intrigued by the show, Leona set the remote down and watched it with rapt attention.
It started with a picture of Samira Nassar and a brief rundown of her numerous accomplishments and her lengthy tenure as Earthland's strongest mage. Then it flipped to Serilda Sinclair and Mythal Ragnos and described the exploits of the Rune Knights who had come from nowhere to climb the ladder even faster than Leona had. Next came Nessa Cordelia Lux and her achievements as a part of Fairy Tail, then a hint at her blooming relationship with Markus Eldridge. Leona looked at that and remembered that she had no relationship to compare to Nessa and Markus.
Next came Mura Kensho, the Fairy Tail Guild Master and Wizard Saint from Midi. He was billed as being less powerful than his fellow Wizard Saints but was not to be sold short because he was projected to catch up to his peers in a short time, something that Leona could easily see coming to pass. Then came Johann Von Weiss, the former West Fiore Trading Company Vice-President and current Guild Master of Dies Irae. Finally was Leona herself. Leona could care less about herself and tuned out the description of her exploits, which did not have much variety other than what threats she had slaughtered when.
Leona realized that she had met all of the other Wizard Saints but knew very little about them other than what she had gleaned from Sorcerer's Magazine and a meeting or two with the individuals in question. Next came a segment about former Wizard Saints and Gods/Goddesses of Ishgar, a segment that gave the blonde a lot of apprehension. Her apprehension proved to be well-founded when Leila Vergious' face flashed on the screen, her blue eyes facing straight ahead. It seemed like the former Silver Wolf founder, Guild Mistress, and Ace was coming back from beyond to pass judgment on Leona for her accomplishments, something that Leona was anxious to avoid. Next came Ruvel Mizune, Sorano Granon, Astrid Foss, and other figures from the past with portraits that stared straight ahead as if to ask Leona "What have you done to deserve becoming a Wizard Saint?"
Leona had had all of the show that she could take, so she just turned off the television and set the remote aside. She had never watched television as a child, so the TV set did not hold any special power over her. Television was not a source of entertainment, education, or even a pastime... it was just a screen in a box that could be turned on off and produce pretty pictures to stare at.
At a loss as to what she could do now, Leona tried to go to sleep and forget all about the television show with the Wizard Saints and their accusing glares. It was an attempt that was likely doomed to failure, but she would try anyway. Any escape would be welcome.
[Post Word Count: 1,180]
[Total Word Count: 2,990/8,000]