Into the storm

Leila Vergious  ❃  Y-rank  ❃  Silver Wolf

Leila observed as the dark storming clouds grew closer and closer in the distance. Her figured, shrouded in the dark cloak that she chose to wear on this somber day, seated on the edge of a roof. The village was one of many that dotted the island which served as a wonderful place for tourism. But right now, all of the people who normally filled its streets and beaches were completely gone, evacuated. For once, the magic council was able to see the threat coming. Even if these places were to be destroyed, no lives should be lost in the process.

But, naturally, any damage at all was still far from desirable. So how exactly did this happen and what was even going on? About a full day ago, Leila had received an urgent letter directed to her, one from the good folk from the magic council. A request for someone of her achievements to deliver herself to this island as swiftly as was possible for her. Some form of threat was slowly emerging from the ocean, a creature of sorts that was capable of bringing destruction along with it wherever it went. And with the kind of power it had, only the most powerful could stop it.

Leila was not the only one they asked for. The situation was so dire that apparently even the leader of Rune Knights herself would be present. Though the two of them had yet to meet up. Something that would probably happen soon, as there was not much time left before the estimated time of emergence would arrive. Still, the girl could not help but wonder what this was all about. Such devastating powers rarely awoke by themselves, especially before deciding that it would be a good idea to destroy the nearest island to them.

And with how much power it was supposed to have, a grim thought ran through the wolf’s head. Will they really be able to protect this place from any and all forms of damage? Her fingers instinctively pulled her hoodie more into her face, as if she was trying to hide from the rest of the world. There was still much training for her to be done before she could confidently say that she had mastered her new powers, so would she even be of any use in this conflict? And why did these thoughts always surface whenever something big was going down?

Shaking her head, the decided to leap off of the roof and gently land on the stone street down below. The black coat fluttered around her form, what little skin of hers exposed feeling the cold breeze brushing up against it. The storm was coming, alright. They could all feel it all the way from here. But as long as it remained beneath the ocean’s surface, there was little they could do aside from waiting. So that was what she had to do, using the time to calm herself down and familiarize herself with the area where they would engage the beast.

Leila Vergious  ❃  Y-rank  ❃  Silver Wolf

It didn’t take long before a figure formed over the visage of the village and the sea, floating in the skies like a holy messenger of the heavens descending upon the dirtied land facing its final end. The only thing that was missing from the picturesque scene was a pair of pure white angelic wings, a halo, and a chorus of pristine voices that would accompany the angel’s descent. But alas, the reality soon settled back in and shattered the illusion of something much grander, perhaps for the betterment of everyone involved. The storm would be a dangerous one, but hopefully not a world-ending event.

Still, Leila couldn’t quite help herself but continue staring at this figure, one which shared quite a few similar traits with her own physical manifestation. Perhaps even to an uncanny degree, at least for anyone who would look at the tho of them from an outsider’s perspective. No such soul was or would be present here today, so there was truly no way of fully telling. That was if the Eden’s child consciously disregarded her own spirits that she’d probably end up calling forth during this arduous quest. However, they were not ones to easily mock their peer.

There was also another thing that Leila’s gaze fixated upon, a cuddlesome-looking wolf embraced in the other girl’s arms. Its coat reminded her of the celestial aspect that she had dominion over, a pattern that the girl most certainly could appreciate to a great degree. And, well, it was a fairly amusing coincidence that both of them would boast such a fierce, yet adorable companion. Only Leila’s was currently nowhere to be found, though the girl expected her to return any moment now. It just seemed that before then, she’d get the chance to exchange greetings with her partner for today.

“Ah, yes. I didn’t wait long, no… and it gave me a chance to look around first, anyhow. It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss Sinclair.” Trying to show as much courtliness as she could muster, Leila decided to start performing an elegant bow as an answer to the greeting. Only to be somewhat awkwardly stopped midway by the extended hand, beckoning a handshake. Snapping back into a straightened position, she would shake the hand firmly enough to show that she intended on being no pushover, but also gentle enough to not accidentally crush her new acquaintance’s hand.

Not that such a thing would likely be easy, given the prowess of the individual standing in front of her. The silver-haired girl merely hoped to not have her true nature show through in the presence of someone who actually carried themselves well above the common rabble. A task of utmost difficulty, given the fact that Leila was a wandering vagabond for the greater part of her earthly life. At the very least, she took a decisive hold of the hood draped over her head and moved it back, fully revealing herself, or rather, her head.

Then, yet another moment of mild awkwardness arrived. Not one intentionally caused by Serilda, Leila was sure… but still, she had to sort her thoughts for a brief moment before giving an answer. After all, she was just congratulated on becoming a Wizard Saint. The catch was, the title was nothing new to her. Not in a manner of bold boasting, naturally, but in quite the literal interpretation. And not only Saint, but she was also one of the four famed Gods of Ishgar before. But getting stuck in another realm for over half a year, well… it was only natural that most presumed her to be dead.

As such, the title, among others, was stripped from her and given to another deserving individual in the line. When she came back, the council gave her a somewhat insincere apology with the announcement that they could not take the title that was previously hers from the person that held it currently. And so she became title-less once more. So yes, this was her second time around with Saints and Gods. The result of which was the mild discomfort that she felt whenever someone brought it up. Still, she made her very best to not let any of that show.

“T-thank you… I’ll do my best to show that I’m worthy of the title as much as you and the other Saints are.” The reply was ended with a dry cough into the girl’s fist and a quick glance to the side, only to be met with quite the wonderful scene there. Melon must have finally returned from running about in the city, quickly catching the scent of the other oddly-colored wolf in the area. Being the curious little creature that she was, she swiftly approached Xiuhcoatl and tried to engage in some social interactions between the two feral creatures.

Leila, in the meantime, observed Serilda’s gaze turning toward the sea, an origination point of their soon-to-be enemy. Just as she would expect from the leader of Rune Knights, she was not someone who would disregard the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the problem, even if highly unlikely. This was much unlike most of the ‘legal’ mages that flooded the world these days, ones that were a bit too eager to slaughter whoever was deemed to be evil by those holding positions of power.

An ideology that Leila simply could not agree with. But while she was all for trying to talk the enemy down without shedding any blood, she knew that was simply not going to happen. “Yes, I’m afraid that the Storm King is not a creature that is willing to listen to reason. Or if it is even capable of that. I… spoke with the Sea. It appears to be a being existing as the force of nature itself. It will not stop until it has accomplished its task, that is… destruction.” What she said probably sounded rather odd, perhaps enough so to brand her a mild lunatic.

She certainly did not ‘speak’ with the sea about such a subject. Or about anything at all, for that matter. Yes, she was capable of partially conversing with animals and even sense things from nature around her, but speaking to non-sentient forms of life or objects was just an excuse on all fronts. The real reason why she knew that a fight was inevitable was because of her recently awakened prophetic abilities. The spirit of a golden dragon and its blessing that rested deep within her very being.

It gave her a vision of the upcoming battle. A distant image with no concrete information about winning or losing, just the fact that there would be a confrontation. This power was something that Leila wished to not disclose to anyone she did not know, for it would most certainly bring her more trouble than it was worth. Everyone wanted to get their grubby little hands on a being that was capable of seeing into the future. So she could only hope that the other mage would believe her strange words for now, or at the very least not question her any further about it.

“But while it seems that fighting will be inevitable, I don’t think there is any reason to kill it. If we weaken it enough, it should return to its slumber. Though even that will probably take some serious firepower.” Scratching the back of her head, Leila wondered if she would be able to effectively utilize her new powers today. It’d be quite the help if that were the case. “You were able to fly before, can you do it again? I think it would be for the best if we engaged the king high above.”

This was for two primary reasons. The village, well… it was in a direct path of devastation as things stood right now. If no one would do anything, the Storm King would level it completely. Battling high above it would hopefully minimize the damage. The other reason was far more simple. Leila was also capable of flight so if the two girls could take to the skies, they would have far more room to maneuver in. “Oh, and I suppose you might now know much about my magic. It’s one that combines celestial with nature. It’s a bit hard to explain, so it might be best to just show you when the king arrives.”

Leila Vergious  ❃  Y-rank  ❃  Silver Wolf

Naturally, Melon was not one to retreat and quickly re-precipitated the socialization while the human companions of both discussed their own matters. And the two of them seemed to understand one another fairly well, which was always a bonus. Butting heads when they both wielded considerable amount of power would only bring another disaster to the island.

Though finding someone who was so determined to not end their opponent’s life was quite the surprise for Leila. Rarely did she work with someone of such beliefs. Most people were far too eager to eliminate their enemies, make sure that they are gone from the world for good.

Calling upon reason and logic of potential dangers in the future if they did not cut the enemy down, that was often how they defended themselves. There were also ones who were willing to give sparing the enemy a chance but when that ultimately proved to be more troublesome than just killing them, they would give up and end their lives.

Leila was like that once. But that was a long, long time in the past by now. She had learned the value of life. Something that no one could ever pay for, even if they owned all the riches in the world. But while it was a shame that so many folks were willing to kill, Leila rarely argued against them and simply let them do their own thing.

After all, it would be rather troublesome if she antagonized every single person she had worked with and that held this belief. Sure, she was always ready to share her own view of things. But that gave her no real right to judge others, much like no one else had the right to judge her for wanting to keep her enemies alive and brought in front of the justice system.

All of that aside, it was time to discuss how exactly they would engage the enemy. Thankfully, Serilda confirmed that she was capable of taking to the skies just as much as Leila was. This meant minimal damage to the city unless they were to horribly fail at their task.

Which, hopefully, would not be the case. And if it were, it would be a true testament to the sheer power that this Storm King holds. “I do agree that we should have at least some advantage here. Though my powers are more effective on the ground, I can still use most of them in the air as well.”

Many nature-based mages were completely disabled when surrounded by nothing but empty air and no ground to grow things from. Thankfully, Leila had already gotten past that weakness and overcame it nearly completely. Her own body was capable of becoming a conduit for the Gardens. And the celestial powers she wielded were not restricted by her environment in the slightest.

Leila then continued listening to her new acquaintance about the magic they wielded. It certainly sounded interesting, as well as fairly dangerous. Imagining what would happen if a magic that could control anything on molecular level hit her own body sent shivers down her spine. Hopefully, she would never find out.

But that very aspect made it sound at least somewhat similar to Leila’s own power. She couldn’t be absolutely sure without seeing it, but it made her ponder whether they shared at least some aspects that constructed their magics. If that were the case, the two girls would be almost eerily similar to one another. An amusing thought, really.

But then another interesting issue was raised up. One of the other girl having another being locked up inside of her, the result of which was control over a blood magic of sorts. And the way she said it all seemed as if she had contempt for this asset. To be fair, Leila couldn’t blame her. Depending on how the being inside of her was, it could be literal hell.

That said, she was not about to change her attitude toward someone just because they wielded magic that was generally seen as evil, or because they had something sealed inside of them, probably against their will. In fact, she chuckled instead as she decided to try and lighten up the mood at least a little bit, or try to make the other girl feel at ease.

“Ah, so I’m not the only one with voices in her head. That is reassuring to hear. Hope yours is not as annoying as the ones that sometimes break up inside of my mind.” With a smile, she tapped against her template as she backed away and seated herself on the nearest standing barrel. Her case was obviously different from Serilda’s, but still similar in some ways.

Her spirits were, for the most part, friendly with her. And they were not stuck inside of Leila or anything like that. They still lived their lives in the Gardens of Eden until they were summoned by the girl. Though sometimes they also opened their own gates by themselves to keep the girl company. The main point was that their minds were not always connected.

Which was good, as a fair share of them would probably get a bit mad after hearing how their master described them. At the very least it was all in good fun. And judging by what the head of Rune Knights said next, this ancient being inside of her had her uses as well.

Alas, Leila could only faintly sigh as she knew that the ability to talk with the Storm King would not change anything. “Feel free to try and talk it out with him. But from what I’ve gathered, it’s not about language barriers. We are facing a being that was created for destruction, at least partially. Nature’s reply to us, in a way.”

Getting up again, she would stretch a bit before looking toward the storming sea. “Those who are consumed with rage rarely listen. And speaking of which, I feel that we have little time left before it all starts. So… one more thing about myself, I suppose. There is also this aspect of my magic.”

Without fully explaining it with words, she decided to show instead. In a single moment, two giant wings sprouted from Leila’s back, lifting her cloak up into the air before it gently fell back down into the gap between the two new appendages. They were rather unusual wings, however. Almost appearing like two black stems holding up several massive petals of a rose.

“This is a power of a dragon. I hope you don’t have anything against them… it’s the core of my offensive abilities if I don’t want to rely on my celestial spirits.” She was aware that many people did not like those with such powers. The ones dubbed ‘slayers’ even though Leila loved dragons quite a bit and would never dare to slay one.