-Holy Castle, Order of Lightbringers headquarters-
Landing about 100 meters outside the Holy Castle, Leona dismounted the Winged Lion that had ferried her here and dispelled it, then smoothed out her skirt before walking towards the castle and towards Athena, the redheaded Cleric who wielded a long magic spear that glimmered in the midday sun. She must have been waiting on the Wizard Saint because the blonde had barely taken twenty steps towards Holy Castle when Athena walked briskly towards her with a look on her face that screamed exhaustion and frustration in equal measure. Athena quickly raised a hand in greeting and began speaking to Leona seconds before the Wizard Saint could reach the Cleric.
"
...Anderson's insufferable! Unlike her younger sister Serena, Minerva's absolutely insufferable! She won't listen to anyone!" Athena complained to the Wizard Saint. Leona could tell that the redhead was about to boil over at any moment. The blonde simply raised a hand in greeting and let the frazzled Cleric speak her mind.
"
I spend hours trying to teach her some advanced spells of Holy Magic and she thinks that she knows all of it already! I grant that she is rather skilled with the magic and picks it up a lot faster than most of the Order's members, but that's no excuse to neglect training! None at all! I mean, even someone like you has to train and exercise to remain strong, but I can't get her to see that no matter how hard I try!" Athena continued to fume to Leona, who was not quite sure what to make of the whole situation. It was clear that the Order mage was encountering a lot of problems with "Minerva" and trying to teach the headstrong young mage more of the Order's type of Holy Magic.
"
Um, Athena, maybe we should go-" Leona started before she was cut off by the redhead resuming her rant with renewed vigor.
"
I don't get it, Leona. I really don't. I mean I spend hours outside of class trying to get through to Minerva, but she won't listen! She just tunes me and Amanda out whenever we try to tell her anything! I get so tired of dealing with that day in and day out and if it weren't for Father Morris personally asking me to tutor Minerva I would've given up on this errand weeks ago!" Athena continued to rant. Leona continued to listen but wanted to go inside and meet this "Minerva Anderson" for herself. However, Athena was not in the mood to listen and was not calming down any time soon. The blonde could do nothing but wait for the next bout of ranting to begin.
"
Athena, don't you think we should go and-" Leona managed to get a few words in before she was cut off by the frustrated Athena.
"
I'm tired of this, Miss Jarnefeldt, I really am! Minerva Anderson is stubborn and willful and refuses to listen to anyone who tries to teach her! If I'd been half as stubborn during my training I would've been kicked out of the Order before you could say Malleus Maleficarum!" Athena raged, tapping the blunt end of her spear on the ground for emphasis. Leona was starting to get a little frazzled herself. She wanted to get to the point of the vist but every pause in the "conversation" only gave Athena a chance to expend more of her vitriol and waste more of Leona's time.
"
Athena, please! Let's just go inside the castle and sort out the problem!" Leona finally said what she had been trying to say. Athena heard the plea and finally calmed down enough to stop her angry ranting and focus on the reason she called Leona here to begin with.
"
Oh, sorry about that, Leona! I've wasted enough of your time, so let's go inside so that you can meet Minerva and try to get through to her!" Athena apologized before spinning on her heels and walking towards the castle. Leona jogged to her side and followed the redhead towards the doors of Holy Castle.
-Inside Holy Castle, the training room-
Leona followed her hostess through the castle and past groups of Knights and Clerics to the training room, which was a square room with various training dummies and weapons on wooden racks. Inside the room were Jessica the Order Knight and another young woman who was wearing silver armor over a red-and-white outfit with a red-and-white cape. The sound of metal meeting metal filled the room as Jessica raised her hammer to block the downward descent of the armored young woman's longsword. Jessica pushed the longsword away and turned towards Leona with a smile.
"
Oh hey Leona! I guess you got Athena's message!" Jessica said to Leona.
"
I got the message and I spoke with Athena. So, what's going on?" Leona asked Jessica. Jessica was about to answer when the armored mage interrupted the pair.
"
So you're the one they call Leona Jarnefeldt, the Wizard Saint of Courage. I'm Minerva Anderson and I'm your opponent!" The armored mage confidently introduced herself.
- Minerva Anderson:
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