Contemplations

There are always tales and cliched or stereopical stories of heroes, villains, or some random Joe having the dream or goal set high to reach the pinnacle of what they are capable of. To reach new horizons. To become better than they were then or in the memories of their past self. Some reach it, some don't. Though, of those that believe they had reached it by whatever miracle or unbelievable challenge they conquered, some come to realize they had not reached the end. That there is actually more to their progression, and that the door of endless possibilities had been opened long ago and led to a forever growing labyrinth that had no one way to exit, if such a thing existed in that void. It was a fearsome thought some may have had. Many mages had reached the point of being living weapons of mass destruction. Some even having the capabilities of much more than that to being compared to gods. That, of course, was ridiculous in the mind of one particular mage who had fallen into such a label. Like a few others, the mage known as Samira Nassar had reached such a level of power that the Magic Council had saw fit to just label their ranks as Z, the last letter of the basic alphabet to represent the limit and care they had to continue to test the levels of those mages. They had just skipped right to the end! Yet the end of an alphabet was not something that properly represented the mages of Earthland and beyond. They kept growing and having experiences. To place something as simple as a rank on one's magic prowess was not something that made much sense to her, or seemed realistically possible by the point someone reached the strength of her own or that of others that were of similar strength. Still, she could never compare anyone to a god. If she did then she would have to feel herself as comparable as well, and that was not something she wanted to consider, regardless to how supposedly godlike she was or the fact her spirits had the godly essence of their originals flowing through them as simply as the human lifeblood within her flowed through her veins. And human is what she preferred remaining. Both literally and figuratively. Though it was a bit too late for the latter, she knew.

Strange it was how others could consider her some walking goddess just because she had a title or had a power technically no one ever saw the full strength of. She wasn't known to flaunt her magic. On most occasions she used the bare minimum that was required to complete a mission or "save the world" as some would declare Saints, Rising Stars, and other various mages do. Yet so often she would hear about how people knew how powerful she was. It was ridiculous. Tiring was another word for it as well, actually. Tiring. Samira was just grateful she didn't go out in the normal public world much, her adventures and studies often led her to more obscure places than other mage celebrities would be. Nor did she have the stress of leading a guild or being someone to look up to for other guildmates. Now that she thought about it, she was likely the only one within the group of Wizard Saints to currently lack a leadership role of any kind within a guild. Ruvel had been the guildmaster of Onyx Moon before he went poof. Leona was also in charge of running Silver Wolf, and before her had been Leila for a short period of time. Thinking on the current list she noted Serilda and Mythal, both leaders of the Rune Knights. Johann of Dies Irae. Mura the guild master of Fairy Tail and Nessa as one of its aces.

Yes, she was the only one stress free in that regard with no additional responsibilities, at least not since she was an ace of Lamia Scale. Now she was glad to just be a normal member within the ranks of Saber tooth. It was about the only sense of normalcy she has left. How she got to that point she couldn't rightly fathom. The obstacles and challenges that all were in her path she knew well, of course. Her spirit of Vishnu had reminded her of such by living through some of it within her own mind and memories some time ago during what was considered the second of a series of trials a set of spirits had for her. So far three had been completed with her still waiting for the time the fourth presented itself. Against her will naturally, just as the first three were. Still, even with that second trial and her fully aware of how she got from point A to point B it was still hard to believe that she was considered on par or above many of the well known mages throughout Earthland, title or no. Even now she had surpassed many past legends if the silly system the council used to measure power was to be taken more seriously in her mind. It didn't seem not too long ago that she had always felt weak and over shadowed while always relying on others to get things done. Now that she wasn't anymore, there was some concern on whether it was what she really wanted or even needed.

It was a lot easier back then despite the inferior feelings she had about herself. She was one to be full of pride as well, ironic given her title that suggested humility. In some moments she considered herself to still be very prideful. There didn't seem to be much change in that regard, and she knew very well that humility was more of a symbol from a certain circumstance and trial than something that truly represented her, despite her trying to be more like it. It could be she just spent more time over-thinking it than she needed to. That was a common case. Such as now, as she sat in front of a writing desk with her journal open to a page that had some writing on it towards the halfway point, an entry she had started before spacing out and contemplating the rivers of thought that flowed through and drowned her mind.

(Word Count: 1063)

"You consider too much. It is no wonder I often limit our connection to the bare minimum." A voice interrupted her thoughts, one she knew well. It belonged to a flaming falcon that perched himself at the other end of the desk. His true form it was not, but it was a close enough representation as he was a spirit with the essence of Ra. Though how he managed to not set everything in the room on fire she didn't know. "Hm?" Her emerald gaze lost their glossy gleam and blinked back to life as she turned slightly to stare at him. "There was a minimum? I always assumed it was cut off entirely. You said my random thoughts were disgraceful, and you disliked the chatter of the others."

"True." He said nothing more. Or rather thought nothing more. The beak of the bird never moved to represent words. It was more as if his stare was enough to vocialize anything he cared to say.

"What are you doing here? I am used to the others popping in on occasion for one reason or another, but rarely you."

"I come when my presence is required or there is a matter of significance."

That same stern stare seemed cold despite being on a flaming bird was there. Samira set down her pen and waited for more. None came. After a few silent, and rather awkward, moments had passed she saw fit to speak. "I do not believe anything in this room or building for that matter requires your presence. Nor is there any matter of great significance that I can think of. Could you elaborate?"

"The trials."

Samira resisted the urge to groan and disappear elsewhere. The latter would do no good since any of her spirits could find her anywhere, and the former would just annoy the spirit to which she would be labeled as "disgraceful" once again. Still, her scowl was there even after averting her gaze back to the journal. "Do not tell me it is time for the fourth one. I believe Odin is next in line, correct? I can only imagine what he has lined up after the last three."

"A battle of sorts, I imagine. The spirit version that belongs to you and other Nassar was based on the concept. We have quite the wait before that though. Other matters have put the trials of both Odin and Ma'at on pause."

"Other matters?"

"You are not ready. They do not sense that you are, nor do I."

"An odd thing to say. I was not ready for the first either. If I recall I was forced to do it because you were all afraid a certain snake would have his way."

"A rushed tactic that was brought upon by desperation. I admit this. The powers of An Dagda, Vishnu, and Zeus added on to the rest of us have bought more time in that regard. You need to be properly trained."

"I have had that. Too much of it actually. I did not enjoy any of it. Some less than others."

"True you once had the one called Kaori train you, as well as that other one if you would be foolish enough to describe it as such, and after that some could say you were challenged slightly with whatever came your way. You are unfortunately far from where you need to be at this stage. Your magical prowess grows, but you do not, nor does your control of it. I need not remind you of the time you took on my powers for your own."

"No, I do not need reminding of that experience." Samira answered with a sigh. The Aspect of Ra, as it were called. A magical form that could be categorized by most as take over. It was actually less powerful than that of the Aspect of Apophis or the Aspect of Sagittarius yet that time she took on Ra's... well a lack of control of it was an understatement. There was so much fire and eye beams going everywhere. It was terrible, and all near the council's headquarters. Samira never could stop apologizing for it, especially when the intruder and thief she was supposed to defeat and catch got away. It was certainly not one of the highlights to her name. "I handled using Sagittarius just fine without incident." That was a point in her favor. Back when she was on a mission with the former Sabertooth Guildmaster, Kite Wilhelm, to destroy a powerful demon army and its leader she had used that aspect flawlessly. No one was hurt, well besides the demons of course.

(Word Count: 775
Total So Far: 1838)

"Yes, as a power boost for the nearly cataclysmic spell you used to destroy the commanders of that filth. If you had lost control of that for even a second I wonder what position you would be in now."

"Dead, I imagine. Along with Kite since he was in proximity of the spell. Point taken regardless. Without the proper control I can be a danger to myself and others. The same as all the other names that would be beside mine."

"I think they have mastered their own magic just fine if I were to guess given what I have read about some of them. I do not believe many are classed primarily as a summoner, or started out that way such as you did. You relied too much on others and us. Still do. While control of us is masterful aside from the obvious serpent, the rest of the Nassar's magic that was passed to you remains untrained and rarely utilized except for minor spells that are meant to stall or stop a being without doing harm. That is not how it is meant to be used."

"Funny. I thought it was meant for the purpose of being a guardian."

"I question whether you really believe a guardian is capable of guarding or protecting anything when there is no control, or when the desire to hold back is strong. You would fall spectacularly."

"I see." Samira closed her eyes and allowed a smirk to form on her face as she imagined such a "spectacular" failure. Not that it wasn't possible. Possibilities were endless. Such a thing was just very predictable and if he had ever bothered to know her mind much like the other spirits then he would have known she had already thought about that several times throughout her mage career. Too many times she was either close to death or needed saving because she just could not handle anything herself. Even saving others ended up as a failure at some points. Ah, the list was long. Her eyes opened, the temporary humor now gone as she frowned and went back to being serious. "So, what is this training I am to do? I would hope one of the others is my trainer. You would not be my first choice." She was not trying to be rude about it, it was just an opinionated fact. The amount of times she had seen that particular spirit fight she could count on one hand. He didn't like to be called. Then again it was pretty rare she needed a spirit that had his sort of... destruction. She wasn't a fan of using such spells and abilities often, not even those that belonged to her spirits.

Ra scoffed. As if he would take on her training. Though he would admit to being at fault for allowing the summoner to become what she currently was. A powerful mage in her own right with a respectable position. That sounded good until he got to the parts she lacked or refused to bend to. Her character was an issue. One that not even that murderous ninja and her beast could change. "No, I do not intend on doing any training of that kind. The others are more useful there. I am meant to be more of an advisor and overseer. The moment I feel as if I have to intervene in any capacity then the downward spiral has gotten much worse than even I anticipated. Please do not tell me that we are at that phase and I missed it during my absence."

"No, you did not miss my trip on the downward spiral to oblivion. There is still hope for me yet." Samira was being as sarcastic as she could be, though her tone sounded serious and lacked the proper tone to convey the sarcasm.

"Good. I did not want to have to address that circumstance at this time to correct it." Ra took it seriously due to that. Or maybe he knew it was sarcasm and chose to ignore it so that he could amuse himself by turning it around and annoying her with his inaccurate response. "Back to the matter of our conversation. I will have Anhur continue your physical training. It has become lax for some time now. You have weakened in that area, and even the things you learned while training under that friend of yours is not where it once was. Perhaps I will advise Susano and Amaterasu to assist in that area. They would know more than I or the rest how to best pick that back up and refine it. Magically I would guess Isis is more than capable. I do not predict gaining control of the magics you possess to be overly complicated when properly focused. Your lineage has a natural affinity to accomplish it. In the meantime, I need to speak with Chronos. I have another idea in mind, but it will be a complicated one to get in working order with few mistakes. Hardly worth mentioning in full detail now."

"Fine. Have it your way." Samira dismissed her curious thoughts to ask what he intended with the grand idea of his. It was a waste of breath and time, though. If he made it clear that he wasn't going to tell then nothing would ever convince him to change his mind. That was just how he was, and her own commonly passive nature easily let him get away with it. "You have a point to a degree. I have been too busy to consider taking the time to improve myself or to make sure my abilities didn't wane. Now is as good a time as any to correct that issue, I suppose. Nothing on my agenda requires immediate attention. Well, aside from personal hygiene. Now if you will excuse me, I have a shower to get to." The woman stood up from the chair she sat in and headed towards the bathroom to shower, which rightfully would take a couple of hours. Lengthy showers were common for that one.

The falcon just watched her go, though inwardly he was sighing in exasperation. They had all become a bit too lenient with her regarding everything. Ever since that ninja disappeared and Lamia Scale was disbanned. Many goals had been reached, and progress had been made, but there was more to be required before she could do the final trials. Unless she wanted to die during them. While Odin's trial he was sure she could wing it based on power alone, Ma'at's would have no mercy. There was another power that needed to be unlocked first. All Nassar were capable of achieving it, but none had been able to fully unlock it, and even then that was in the ancient times. The modern day ones paled in comparison, including Samira, though she was perhaps close enough. Perhaps Amirah was also capable of it, though Ra preferred not to think of that insane human being more powerful than she was the last time the two women encountered each other. Oddly enough, while this was secretly what he considered would save his summoner from the trials ahead, he had to acknowledge that it could also be her downfall before she even reached the point of fully using it. As much as he detested her growth having been too fast in the original stages, it would once again have to be accelerated. Such a thing was never safe for anyone.

(Word Count: 1252
Total So Far: 3090)

1500 for C Rank Freeform
1500 for C Rank Freeform