Bonding (Leona)

The trip back to the guild prison was somewhat uneventful and Leona barely moved an inch in her arms but that was only to be expected. Medeia had decided soon after taking off to install one more layer of security by inflicting her captive with a sleep spell, strong enough to knock the helpless Wizard Saint out for the necessary time. It had been difficult for the angel not to take advantage but she had managed to restrain herself, instead fluffing up her ego nicely by reliving the fight in her mind constantly. To have a Wizard Saint at her mercy was one of the most powerful thrills that Medeia had ever experienced in her long life and to ply her craft on such a strong captive was something that she was looking forward to. She had played the role of the villain in order to acquire her target but now it was time to play another, for Medeia truly did desire to understand the bound woman in her arms. Leona had capitulated in a way that no one else had under the effects of her coffin spell which could only mean that the depths of her misery was incredible. For such a strong woman to wilt was unheard of and the Warlord was determined to discover why. They may have been enemies on the battlefield but as always with the witch, things were never as simple as they seemed. She wished for the blonde to be able to lift her head up although a cynical person would say that it was simply so the angel herself could cause it to drop again.

Rather than go through the long and irritating process of traversing the entire prison, Medeia would instead travel directly to the window of her own lavish office or more accurately, quarters. The prison was pretty much her second home and one that was run entirely by her. Queen Saraphina had quite happily left it to her to run and so that was what she had done. It was an ideal job for a creature such as Medeia, who could travel down to the cells and watch a few bound women whenever she liked or sometimes, have them brought up to her quarters for a little quality time. No one dared question her methods naturally and to her credit, not one criminal had even attempted to escape.

Entering her quarters through the open window, Medeia would come to a graceful stop, her precious cargo still resting peacefully in her arms. From the sounds of it, Armina had yet to reform completely, since there were no sounds of mass hysteria but the dark mage knew that it would only be a matter of time. For the time being, it was just the two Guild Mistresses, which was precisely how Medeia wanted it. Placing Leona in a chair, the angel would then close the windows of her office, before returning to the blonde, smiling down briefly at her completely unaware captive. Maybe she should…No, that would be scandalous. She could not possibly…A chuckle would then escape her, before she walked over to her bedside cabinet and pulled out her iLac, finding a spot for it and then switching on the camera. What would she do with the video? Well, that was a question for another time.

Once that was done, she finally walked over to Leona and ruffled the hair of the blonde haired Wizard Saint with one hand, while removing the blindfold with the other. She made no effort to remove the gag just yet though and instead leaned in, a teasing look on her face. “Come on, Sleepy Head, it is time to wake up. If you promise to be good, I will remove your muzzle.”

(628 Words)

Leona felt something move her hair and finally came to. She also saw her vision be restored by the blindfold being removed and she winced for a moment when the light hit her eyes. The first thing she saw when she could finally see clearly was Medeia and the Warlord had a look on her face that Leona did not like, especially since the former was standing uncomfortably close to the bound and gagged Wizard Saint while giving it. Leona felt a surge of irritation and gave Medeia an angry look for the latter invading her personal space.

The Wizard Saint had no idea what had happened after being lifted to the sky in Medeia's arms. Since she could not see anything she went along for the ride and instead focused on the feelings stemming from her latest failure. She was feeling guilt for getting innocent people killed due to her pride, she was feeling shame for having risked people's lives for her pride, and she was feeling humiliation at being bound and gagged before being carried off into the sky by her enemy. All of those feelings made for a potent emotional cocktail that would have kept her alert for the rest of the day, but for some reason she had lost consciousness without any explanation.

Now that she was conscious again Leona looked down to make sure that she still had her clothes on and was relieved to see that she was not sitting in her underwear. She was also glad that she had worn the bike shorts under her skirt because that garment had been in bad shape before Medeia tore off strips of it to make a blindfold and gag for the Wizard Saint. Had she not been wearing them things would have been a lot more awkward than they already were because Medeia would had seen her underwear, something that would have given the latter even more ammunition for jokes at the blonde's expense.

Leona heard Medeia's offer to remove the gag if the former vowed to act on her best behavior. Leona could not help but to notice that the cloth in her mouth had been referred to as a "muzzle", which had to be an obvious jab at the blonde's status as Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf. The blonde glared emerald daggers at her captor for a few moments in response to both the insult and the condescending tone of the remark before ceasing to glare, then giving a muffled "OK" and nodding her head up and down.

As she sat and waited for Medeia to act Leona's mind began to wander towards what her enemy might do to her now that she was tightly bound and unable to move, let alone defend herself. She speculated that Medeia would want revenge on Leona for harming Armina, turning down the offer that had been proposed, and resisting her until there was no sensible choice but to stand down. She also speculated that that revenge would take a violent and physical form such as disfigurement of the face and/or permanent crippling by damaging or removing a limb. Based on what she had seen and experienced of Medeia's sadism during their fight the blonde guessed that the Dark mage would first burn her with hot irons to make Leona feel a tiny portion of her wrath before inflicting further pain by other means.

It might not be a good idea to have an open-casket funeral for Leona once Medeia was finished.

[Post Word Count: 586]
[Leona's Word Count: 586]

There was a flicker of amusement in the eyes of the angel, knowing that a glare was about all that Leona could give her at this point. The blonde had nothing left and no cards left to play, they both knew that. When the blonde woman eventually consented to Medeia’s offer, the witch would place her hands behind the head of her captive and undo the knots, pulling the gag away once she had done so. Whether it would be needed again was entirely up to Leona although the Warlord would be more than happy to oblige if it was. For now though, the dark mage wished to talk with her, hoping that the defeated Wizard Saint might be more open to conversation, now that the fight was done and there were no more lives hanging in the balance. Honestly, the anger that had previously been coursing through the dark mage’s veins had faded away, replaced by the sweet pleasure that came from victory. She had one of the most powerful, not to mention beautiful mages in Fiore in her hands, which would not only send a message to the country, if and when the information became known but also changed Medeia’s view when it came to targets. For much of her career, there had been mages which had been considered untouchable due to their power but now? No one was safe and every mage who walked the Earth was now a target.

“Glare at me all you want.” Medeia said with a smile, backing up slightly. “There is nothing that you can do now and whatever happens within these walls is entirely up to me. You fought me with all you had and as I said in Hargeon, I respect you more than any other mage for fighting me for so long without dying. Killing you would be such a waste and believe it or not, I do not have the desire to do so. I promised that you would leave here and I intend to fulfill that pledge.”

Slipping around the back of Leona’s chair, the Warlord would briefly toy with the white head accessory that was atop the blonde’s lovely hair. “So what should I do to you in the meantime? Would you like me to give you a few pointers for when you and your girlfriend reunite? Should I torture you for what you did to Armina? Or are you finally going to open up to me? There is so much pain inside you, Leona, pain that I can help to heal if you give me the chance. I hate seeing such a powerful woman as you living in such torment. You are supposed to be a lion, after all, are you not? The Wizard Saint Of Courage, no?”

She would then utter one final question, one that Medeia was rather eager to hear the answer to. It might just give her a hint as to the mental state of her captive, leaning down and whispering into Leona’s ear. “What would you do if our positions were reversed?”

(512 Words)
(1140 Med WC)
(1726 TWC)

Glaring was the only weapon Leona had left and she was fully aware of that. It was such an ineffective weapon that the blonde would have been better off throwing her boots at Medeia... if she could move her arms enough to reach down and take one off, then aim and throw the piece of footwear right at the Warlord's face. Of course that stunt would only get her killed, but her boots would likely hurt her enemy a tiny bit more than any amount of glaring would.

Leona ignored Medeia's declaration of magnanimity that Leona was alive because she wanted it that way. It was another example of the latter's breathtaking hubris. While she freely ignored the first statement she could not ignore the part about being allowed to leave once everything was said and done. Again that part was deliberately left unexplained and the blonde's mind tried to fill in the gaps the best it could. All she could come up with was that Medeia was lying about wanting to keep her alive and wanted to get the blonde's hopes up before killing her in a violent manner, probably a drawn-out and violent manner.

Leona would not put it past the Warlord since the latter would likely want to drive home the point that the blonde's life was in Medeia's hands. Medeia would likely not go for a quick kill. Instead she would likely drag it out so that Leona was conscious enough to know that her life was being taken and there was nothing she could do to stop it. That kind of sadism would fit what she had learned about the Dark mage during their battle.

Leona's face turned red when Medeia started playing with her hairband but paid attention when a "choice" was given to her. She noted the order in which the "choices" were given and wondered whether she had any say in what happened next. She suspected that Medeia would go through all three steps regardless of what answer was given.

The Warlord would start off with the tips to give Leona the illusion that she just might survive their time together, then start garroting Leona with a piece of rope suddenly placed and twisted around the latter's throat. Medeia would stop before Leona actually died, then offer counseling while the blonde was busy trying to catch her breath and was too weak to argue. Again that kind of sadism sounded like something the Dark mage would indulge in if given the chance, so Leona could only hope that she did not give her enemy a reason to indulge in it.

"Why would you want to heal me?" Leona asked with obvious skepticism on her face and her voice. Her skepticism was genuine. Earlier Medeia was doing everything in her power to hurt the Wizard Saint both physically and mentally and the former had done a good job of it. Proof of the physical pain was all over Leona's body, but the mental wounds were a lot worse. It would take a long time before Leona got over hearing the tentacle in action.

When the Wizard Saint was asked what she would do with Medeia if she had won and had the Warlord at her mercy she hesitated for a moment.

"I'd take you to the Rune Knights. It's my responsibility to keep people like you from hurting the people of Earthland." Leona stated calmly. That one was mostly true... she would take Medeia to the Rune Knights after suppressing the urge to kill the Warlord to put an end to the threat. While Leona was obligated to protect everyone, there were certain people she would protect even without having the responsibility of the title of Wizard Saint of Courage. If Medeia wanted information on Masha, Samira, Silver Wolf as an organization, individual members of Silver Wolf, or her family the Dark mage would not get it from her wannabe therapist act no matter how gentle she acted or how nicely she asked. She would have to try to violently coerce it out of Leona.

[Post Word Count: 682]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,268]
[Total Word Count: 2,410]

Her attention was never far from Leona’s face and she could not help but notice the flustered expression that crossed it when her headband was played with. The sight amused the Warlord and she began to ponder if perhaps the Wizard Saint was in some ways more innocent then she appeared, at least when it came to personal space. To be honest, the witch was surprised by the reaction, having felt the ferocity and rage that lurked within the beautiful blonde. Yet, here she was now, blushing at having her headband touched. Leona could not see it but the smile on Medeia’s face grew for just a moment or two at the realisation. It was something that she could use to her advantage and she did so dearly wish to play with her captive. There had not been any time for it during the contest but now? Well, there was nothing that the Silver Wolf could do to stop her. The evening could turn out to be more fun than she had dreamed of.

She waited for Leona to finish speaking before offering a response, her hand still caressing the accessory, a soft touch that was almost intimate in nature. Deciding to respond to her response to her last question first, Medeia would reply with a touch of cynicism. “I do not believe you. I do not believe that having been put through so much, you would be willing to just hand me over to those fools. I felt your hatred during the fight, Leona, you genuinely wanted to kill me and I cannot believe that if given the chance, you would not make the most of it by delivering some form of retribution upon me. Surely you would at least be tempted.”

In answer to Leona’s question, Medeia would then sigh softly. “What part of I am not going to kill you is not sinking in? Our fight is over, my anger is gone and right now, I have no urge to end your life. You deserved to experience my coffin spell for what you did to Armina and I believe that to be a fair trade. Your spirit is broken, your confidence is gone and I am certain that right now, your mind is a complete mess. That is a greater punishment than your death. You have experienced all of your worst nightmares, one after the other, which is enough to crush anyone. I cannot think of a worse punishment than that.”

She was about to continue when she looked down at Leona and uttered. “It is no good. I cannot help myself.”

With that, she would walk over to her bedside cabinet, open the drawer and pull out a hairbrush, before returning to her position behind the bound woman and removing her lovely headband. “Before you get any silly ideas, it is just a brush, not a torture device. It is not going to grow spikes and cut your head open.” She remarked dryly, before proceeding to brush the Wizard Saint’s hair softly.

(506 Words)
(1646 Med WC)
(2916 TWC)

It was clear to Leona that Medeia was trying to poke holes in her earlier answer that she would turn Medeia over to the Rune Knights if the outcome had been different. Leona was not having it. Any attempt at a sarcastic response was interrupted by a gentle lingering touch on her hairband that kept her flustered for several seconds before she could come up with and deliver a better response.

It was not what Medeia was doing so much as how she was touching the hairband. Moving it slowly had started the reaction and the current soft touch on it reminded Leona of Masha and how gentle the redhead was with her. If it had been simply pulled out or moved at a normal speed Leona would have not shown the reaction she was showing, but the soft touch reminded her of Masha and there was serious dissonance between the softness of the touch and who was doing it. That dissonance added to Leona's embarrassment at her predicament.

"Whether I feel the temptation or not, my responsibilities to the people of Earthland come before any of my wants. I'd take you to the Rune Knights and let that be that." Leona stated calmly despite how flustered she was feeling, hinting that maybe the temptation to punch that smug look off of Medeia's face would be there. If Leona had emerged victorious she really would have refrained from hitting her defeated foe before carting the Warlord off to the Rune Knights to let Mythal, Serilda, and other more competent mages deal with her. Once that was done Leona would have went to get the coffee that had drawn her to Hargeon Town to begin with. Medeia could believe that answer if she wanted or she could choose not to... that was her choice.

Leona listened to the answer to her question and was not entirely satisfied because it included yet another declaration that Medeia was extending generosity when she considered being caught in the coffin spell to be good enough punishment for defeating Armina. She wished that she had gotten a straight answer instead of the sort-of answer she had received. She still did not know why Medeia had any interest in healing her and at this rate would probably never find out.

Leona did not get a chance to repeat her previous question because she heard an ominous statement from Medeia and focused on what was happening next. The Wizard Saint felt her hairband be removed and felt her heart rate go up as the ends of the hairband let go of the last few tenacious strands of hair clinging to them. Her hostess soon returned with something that soon found its way to her head... when it landed it was indeed a hairbrush.

"Why are you brushing my hair?" Leona asked Medeia with a red face, her hands balling into fists behind her back. It had been a long time since someone last brushed her hair for her and that person was her mother, who was anything but gentle. Sophia was rough because she always had something to do and wanted to hurry up when brushing Leona's hair, so she used short, sharp strokes that got the job done but made a hairbrush feel like a torture tool with the way the bristles harshly scrubbed her daughter's scalp as they moved. Medeia was being gentle and taking her time with the brushing, which had the same effect on Leona as Medeia playing with the blonde's hairband.

The pleasant sensation was so strong that Leona could barely stand it. She needed to find a way to hide how she really felt before the perceptive Warlord caught on, but right now no ideas were coming to her. The helpless Leona would just have to try and hide the real nature of her discomfort until Medeia felt like stopping.

[Post Word Count: 648]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,916]
[Total Word Count: 3,564]

“Call it a bad habit if you want but I just cannot help but want to brush the hair of those I bring here.” Medeia replied honestly. “Not only does it help me relax but it seems to do the same for my guests. Pretty much every woman who has spent time in this room has been through precisely the same thing and not once have I heard any complaints. There is no need to be bashful or shy, Leona, enjoy it, if that is how it makes you feel. Given how tough our fight must have been for you, I am certain that you are ready for a little pampering.” While her words were genuine, they were also meant as a way for the witch to try and get into the head of the blonde. Her attention was mostly focused on her work but the eyes of the angel did occasionally drop to look at Leona. She could have sworn that the Wizard Saint was actually enjoying the sensation but her fellow Guild Mistress was so good at hiding her true feelings that the angel was not certain yet. It might have just been wishful thinking on Medeia’s part.

The brushing did not stop, however, with the dark mage working so gently that it might just start to send waves of pleasure through the brush. It was not a spell or anything nefarious, just a sign of how much Medeia enjoyed doing what she was doing. At that moment, the fear and dread that she was known for instilling was completely gone, replaced by an almost motherly aura that could melt the heart of another. She wanted Leona to relax, which might have been asking a bit too much, considering the circumstances but Medeia would try. The witch would admit that she had reached her limit of being the dramatic and nightmare creating demon for one day. Now was the time for something else. She believed that she had multiple roles to play in Fiore, some which were evil and some which were not. For lust was not always menacing and at times could be as gentle as the wind.

“You would not even display me in my underwear for the world to see?” She then said, a smile creeping back on her face as she joked with the Wizard Saint, chuckling. “As a warning that all bad girls should stay away from the Wizard Of Courage? You are so stiff, Leona, enjoy your victories a little more. You put in so much effort to win them, after all.” It was meant in jest but also a demonstration of what Medeia had done herself in the past with those she had defeated.

As she brushed, she then made a sound, as though remembering something that she had forgotten. “Forgive me but I think you asked me a question before? What was it again? I think that your beauty distracted me from answering. Your girlfriend is one lucky woman, I wish I was her.”

Was that true? No. Medeia did not want to be anyone other than herself.

(518 Words)
(2164 Med WC)
(4082 TWC)

Leona was distracted by what was going on and was thus uncertain if Medeia was being sincere or just trying to wind her up even further when the latter replied to her question about why her hair was being brushed. At this point the blonde was pretty wound up and it showed on her face. Besides, she had no idea what Medeia meant by "pampering." She had never heard of that before.

"Pampering?" Leona blurted out without sarcasm or ill intent despite her awkward situation. She looked down in embarrassment briefly because the "desert bumpkin" part of her personality had come out at a really bad time. Leona had lived in Fiore for years now, but that dumb question had made it sound like she had just shaken the last bits of sand from Desierto off of her boots.

When the next question was posed to her Leona looked down again in embarrassment.

"N-no, I wouldn't do that." Leona replied meekly, her face turning red. She did not need to do anything like that to female enemies to celebrate a victory. She was content with thwarting their plans and driving them off. However, Medeia was her first serious female opponent and Leona had just lost to the former, which was not a good start for the Wizard Saint. She thought over the Warlord's words a little and got the impression that she was being given a big hint as to what might happen to her before the night was over.

For some reason the pleasant sensation from the hair brushing felt like it had gotten stronger at some point and Leona had to squeeze hard enough for her fingernails to press into her palms to avoid reacting to the increase in a way that Medeia could easily pick up on. The nails did not draw blood, but they were sharp enough to provide a distraction. With her attention momentarily deflected from her intense discomfort Leona asked the question she had asked earlier.

"Why are you interested in healing me?" Leona repeated the question without sarcasm. She still had no idea why Medeia was being so friendly despite wanting the Wizard Saint to die a painful death less than several hours ago. Med had laid out her reasoning earlier, but the blonde was still confused and her face showed it. Her confusion was so great that it was almost strong enough to overpower the awkwardness that the gentle hair brushing was inducing. Almost.

Leona was so focused on trying to avoid letting the sensation get to her that she did not have a detailed response to the statement about her significant other. It was a short one that was to the point because it suited her style and she could not focus enough to come up with a detailed answer.

"I'm lucky to have her." Leona said with complete honesty without naming names. She was lucky to have Masha. She had likely come close to pushing the redhead away because she had strung the latter along several times before finally pledging her commitment to Masha and Masha alone, but the redhead had been patient enough to forgive the hesitant blonde. It was not the commitment that gave her pause so much as it was what might happen if Leona's enemies knew that redhead was romantically involved with her. Someone like Medeia might go after her because doing that would hurt Leona.

[Post Word Count: 570]
[Leona's Word Count: 2,486]
[Total Word Count: 4,652]

“Hmm?” Medeia replied, slightly surprised by Leona’s seeming unknowing of the term she had used. “Pampering, as in having someone take care of you and helping you to relax after a busy day of performing good deeds. You honestly have never had your girlfriend look after you in such a way before? If I did not have Armina to help me relax from time to time then I would probably have lost my mind years ago. Everyone needs a little pampering now and again, whether it be hair brushing, a massage or...other forms of relaxation.” The Warlord did not give any further examples but the pause during her last sentence might have given her captive an idea about what she was thinking about. She and Armina certainly did far more than just brush each other's hair when they were together and needed to relax.

The angel genuinely laughed at Leona’s meek response to her suggestion regarding a victory celebration, not just a chuckle but a full blown laugh. “You are just so innocent in some ways, Leona, much to my surprise. I never could have managed that beneath your rough exterior could be such a delicate flower. It is not often that I am caught off guard by a captive but you have certainly done that. I thought that after all you have seen and done, you would be able to handle a little teasing without your face turning the colour of a beetroot. It is rather sweet.”

Her brushing showed no signs of stopping just yet and she could not help but wonder about just what was happening in the blonde’s head. Not once had the Wizard Saint asked her to stop, which was honestly what Medeia had expected to happen. No, it was as if Leona was fighting against something. “Tell me the truth now. You like this, do you not? It is not a crime to say yes, you know.”

Ah, so that was the question that she had missed earlier, it made sense. “As I have said already, you are one of my girl’s and to see them at their best brings me great pleasure. I want to see you thrive and overcome the self doubt that I know is flooding through your body at the moment. You are carrying so much emotional baggage around with you that it is tearing you apart and if you do not unburden yourself soon then you will never be able to atone for the sins that you believe you have committed. You are going to do that, right here and now, before you fall into a pit of sorrow that you cannot escape. I want to know what you saw in my coffin.”

Pausing her brushing then, she would walk around to the front of Leona’s chair before sitting gently on her lap with barely a hint of a warning, pretty much straddling the blonde’s legs with her own, her face inches from Leona’s. “You need to stop thinking that my goal is to kill you, Leona. If I wanted to do that then I could have just thrown you in the sea and left you to drown, I could have stripped you naked and left you to freeze on the nearest mountain or I could have hung you from the tallest building in Hargeon and left you there for the crows.”

“Killing you would be such a waste and I know that my life will be a lot less interesting if you were not in it. So I am going to help you, whether you believe me or not. I do not care how long it takes for me to get it through your thick skull but you are not leaving here until you talk to me…”

She fell silent for a moment, her eyes firmly upon the emerald ones of her captive, before she would lean in and whisper. “Before you do though, I believe that I have still yet to claim my prize for winning our duel...”

Her lips would then leave Leona’s ear and press themselves against the blonde’s, the witch closing her eyes as she savoured the taste, her body tingling with passion and excitement. Medeia had wanted to do this from the moment she had laid eyes upon Leona and finally, she had her chance.

(722 Words)
(2886 Med WC)
(5374 TWC)

Leona paid attention to Medeia talk about what pampering was and it did not sound sinister at all. It briefly got a little uncomfortable at the end as Leona's mind filled in the blanks that had been left by Medeia concerning the various ways to unwind, but the blonde was not disturbed for long. She swiftly moved on from that thought and focused on the question that had been put to her.

"N-no. She hasn't h-had a chance to." Leona answered truthfully in response to being asked if her significant other did anything to help her relax when the need for relaxation needed to be addressed. She and Masha had wildly different schedules and due to many different reasons they had not been able to set up any real time together. Leona needed to fix that soon, but due to her adventurous lifestyle "soon" did not seem like it would happen in the immediate future.

Leona was too flustered by Medeia laughing at her to reply to the latter's opinion on her innocence and how the Warlord found that trait endearing. She continued to blush furiously until the next topic was brought up, which was a question concerning if she liked her hair being brushed. The clearly uncomfortable Wizard Saint welcomed the chance to move on from the topic of women in their underwear and answered the new question.

"I-i'd like you to stop brushing now. P-please." Leona replied, her face still burning from the previous topic of conversation. Her face was so hot that if she could put her face to the ropes that were binding her she could probably burn through them. She was not sure if Medeia would honor that request or not, but she had to try. Maybe she could finally think straight once the pleasant sensation from the brushing stopped.

The bound blonde listened to Medeia reiterate about how the former had the dubious honor of being one of the Dark mage's "girls" and the blonde visibly bristled upon being told that just like she had bristled when told that during the fight. Medeia went on to give an amateur diagnosis that Leona's problems stemmed from possessing a sizable quantity of emotional baggage. The solution to that quandary was to discuss with the Warlord every memory she had seen play back while entombed in the coffin and the blonde was given no choice in the matter.

How very convenient.

Leona really wanted to tell her captor where she could put such a ridiculous idea when the Dark mage made her move.

Medeia ceased the interminable hair brushing that kept Leona in a state of partial mental paralysis, then walked until she was in front of the Wizard Saint before maneuvering to actually sit on the blonde's lap. When the Warlord sat down the blonde audibly yelped in surprise and squirmed in obvious discomfort, moving left and right to try and dislodge the personal space invader perched in her lap. When that did not happen she stopped and looked to the right, trying to ignore the warmth of her captor's body as Medeia told her how things were going to go. The blonde eventually glanced at the other woman and saw Medeia make eye contact and lean in to get close to her ear. Something was whispered that the blonde did not quite pick up because the warmth of Medeia in her lap was getting to be oddly comfortable, but she dimly recalled that it concerned a prize.

The Warlord did not waste any time explaining what she meant and moved to get her due. That due was a kiss and when lip-to-lip contact took place the blonde's eyes widened and she began to squirm again as a wave of discomfort overtook her. The warmth of Medeia felt both awkward and comforting to the blonde, who was not sure what to think or feel right now.

[Post Word Count: 650]
[Leona's Word Count: 3,136]
[Total Word Count: 6,024]

The kiss was neither long nor particularly deep but it made all the waiting worthwhile for the dark haired witch. She was rather gentle with the Wizard Saint and made no attempt to force her way in, so to speak, it was just a sweet and innocent kiss. Honestly, it was difficult for Medeia to restrain herself and not go further but Leona had revealed that she was far more of a delicate flower than she had appeared and the Warlord was not going to spoil that. It would be far more amusing and worthwhile if she took things slowly and she knew that. Besides, if Leona was as slow expressing her feelings as she was with her speech then it was probably for the best.

Finally, she pulled away, a soft smile on her face after they broke apart. She was certainly satisfied with the kiss and there was a sparkle in the eyes of the Warlord that had been missing up until then. Medeia was more invested in the blonde woman that she had ever been and the taste of her lips pushed it in a slightly different direction. She was not going to steal the Wizard Saint from her girlfriend, respecting her enough not to do such a thing but perhaps she would treat her in a slightly more intimate way, such as she was doing now by sitting in her lap.

“Well, that was certainly a lovely prize.” Medeia remarked with a chuckle. “You are a far more gentle kisser than I would have thought, Leona. Are you perhaps still getting the hang of it?” A tease but a soft one. “I am starting to think that this rough and tough persona that you display is all just for show. The woman I see before me now is not the one I saw in Hargeon.”

Taking the brush back in hand, she would proceed to work on the woman’s fringe, a spot that she could not get to from the back. She had heard Leona’s previous plea for her to stop but the angel was having none of it. Her stuttering was adorable and all the evidence that Medeia needed to confirm that deep down, Leona actually enjoyed being pampered. It was clear that the woman was not receiving the care that she obviously needed and so the Warlord found herself doing it, as unusual as that might seem. To see a woman such as Leona in such a rough state was unnatural and now that she was in Medeia’s group, the Warlord almost felt a duty of care towards her. Alright, the ropes were rather counterproductive but the angel had a duty of care to herself too and seeing Leona like that was certainly helping her mood.

“When you return home, I think that you and your girlfriend should take a little time for yourselves.” The angel replied, sounding almost like a Doctor for a moment. “It is obvious that you need some time to unwind.”

Considering what Medeia had put the blonde through that day, that was probably a massive understatement.

(517 Words)
(3403 Med WC)
(6541 TWC)

Leona did not respond to the question about her kissing experience because that was none of Medeia's business. The truth of the matter was that she had only started kissing Masha on the lips a short time ago, so the blonde was inexperienced. That was for Leona to know and Medeia to find out... Leona was not going to volunteer anything on that subject.

"It's n-not for show. A few times I've been told to my face that I only have everything I do because I traded sexual favors to the right people. I can't stand that." Leona protested, freely offering Medeia a reason why she acted the way she did. Another reason was because of her harsh desert upbringing: she was born in a place where she had to be tough in order to survive against bandits and slavers. Slavers especially wanted her because she was an attractive young woman who could fetch a decent sum.

"I've had to be tough to get this far. It's not easy being told that all you've got going for you is sex appeal." Leona added without duress. She wanted to be taken seriously as the Wizard Saint of Courage, but her defeat at Medeia's hands was going to make that quite difficult. Her failure at the Ishgar Symposium had likely dented her reputation and losing to Medeia was likely going to hurt her even more. She was not sure if she would be able to retain the title she had put so much effort into trying to live up to. Leona's eyes went down to her chest.

Maybe she should step down and let someone more competent be a Wizard Saint.

She did not have long to think about that because Medeia started using the hairbrush and the pleasant sensation returned. Leona's face turned red and she had to press her fingernails deeper into her palms to stay calm enough to talk coherently. Whether her captor knew it or not the hairbrush was getting to the Wizard Saint more effectively than any torture tool.

"P-please stop. Stop brushing my hair. Please." Leona requested again, slightly pulling her head backwards and away from Medeia to try and get her hair out of reach. She wanted it to stop so that she could think straight. She should not feel this good around a young woman who was not Masha and the shame was getting to her.

[Post Word Count: 402]
[Leona's Word Count: 3,538]
[Total Word Count: 6,943]

For a short period, Medeia would stop brushing Leona’s hair but it was not because she was asked. It was because the angel was dwelling on what the blonde haired woman had just admitted. Such a revelation was a surprise, given how stubborn and guarded Leona generally was and the angel had expected that she would have had to have worked a lot harder to get anything like it out of the Wizard Saint. Still, the admission had been made and the witch was slightly puzzled by it. She had reasoned back in Hargeon that her captive had been mistreated by a man but did it turn out that the sexism that Leona had faced was far worse than the angel had thought? That possibility annoyed her, more than most would have.

Medeia would place a hand under Leona’s chin and tilt it upwards so that they were looking at each other in the eyes again. “I have never heard something so ridiculous in all my years. You have not got to where you are through sex appeal and I will be damned if I am going to sit here and watch you consider it. It is pure jealousy on the part of the imbeciles who believe such a thing. You got to where you are today because of hard work, grit and determination, not because you slept around with every sick minded male that took a fancy to you. Leona, you are far more than just a beautiful body and face, you are one of the most powerful mages alive and one of few who can challenge me. That is not something that I say every day. If I were in your shoes, I would have turned them into a bloody stain for insulting me in such a way.”

She paused for a moment and then resumed. “The fact that you feel so deeply about this only reinforces the idea of what I theorisied in Hargeon. You were mistreated by a man, someone who would not take no for an answer and that is one of the memories that you saw in my coffin. The memory petrifies you and to this day, it still haunts you. This is why I hate men the way I do, Leona, for exactly that reason. They believe that they are the master gender and that women are just simply eye candy, as the humans like to say. I despise it and that is one of the reasons why I bring women here. I tear them down, only to raise them up again, free from the burdens of their past.”

Annoyed but not with the blonde herself, she would then speak a third time. “It angers me to see you flinch at my touch, Leona, knowing that I have no intention of hurting you in the least. The reason I am so gentle and brushing your hair as I am is to help you relax. You are a powder keg, Leona, one that could blow at any moment. You need a form of release.”

(510 Words)
(3913 Med WC)
(7453 TWC)

Leona tried to move her head away before Medeia's hand could reach her, but it was too late. By the time she could twist her head her chin had already been grabbed and she and Medeia were already making eye contact. The Wizard Saint expected her enemy to laugh at her and insult her by taking away what was left of her outfit top and skirt to leave her in her underwear before making a remark about how she liked that look on the blonde. Instead Medeia gave the blonde something resembling a pep talk and included praise in the form of assessing Leona as belonging to one of a select group of mages that the Warlord considered a challenge to face. Leona supposed that it took a strong mage to recognize another strong mage, but at the end of the talk Leona was moved to speak not in a tone of sarcasm or disbelief but fact.

"As a Wizard Saint the responsibilities of my title come before my personal feelings. Even if someone wronged me in the past I'm not going to take revenge on them." Leona stated calmly in response to Medeia stating that she would take immediate and violent revenge should their places be switched and the Warlord be the one on the receiving end of cheap remarks about how she earned her place by physical charms instead of merit.

Leona's journey to becoming the Wizard Saint of Courage had been one that was a matter of luck. After meeting a mage named Leila Vergious in Hargeon Town days after winning a fight with a serial killer but getting badly hurt in the process Leona learned that Leila was the Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf and later on learned that Leila was also the Wizard Saint of Radiance. The blonde from Desierto was entranced by the calm and beautiful silver-haired mage with blue eyes and wanted to become a Wizard Saint like the Silver Wolf Guild Mistress. Leila inducted Leona into Silver Wolf and the rest was history.

Leona closed her eyes and looked down.

She was glad that Leila was not here to see her in the humiliating state of being a plaything for an amorous Warlord.

After hearing Medeia's second statement the blonde looked up, opened her eyes again, and gave her response to it.

"Some things hurt worse than words, Medeia." Leona cryptically replied, hinting that her bad experience went beyond just cheap talk. She did not even bother to reply to the nonsense rationale Medeia offered for abducting her and other young women. It sounded like an excuse to gather ammunition to use against would-be enemies in order to shove their faces into the dirt and keep them there so that potential threats had a hard time gaining strength and confidence.

Since the topic of the memory had been brought up Leona recalled how Joshua had fondled her despite her protests and recalled how she felt during and after being touched. She felt like a toy for someone superior to her, someone who could not be held accountable for their misdeeds. She felt disgusted that someone would do that to her despite her telling them in no uncertain terms that kind of touching was unwanted. She felt... used.

Now that the Warlord was brushing her hair despite her repeated requests for the latter to stop Leona felt like she was being used again.

Shoving the urge to voice that thought aside for the time being, Leona addressed Medeia's third point, which did not sit well with the Wizard Saint.

"I don't find my hair being brushed against my will to be relaxing." Leona stated calmly and without sarcasm, giving her truthful opinion... not that it mattered to Medeia. She saw having her hair brushed against her will as the Warlord exercising power over a helpless person for her own pleasure. Medeia could try to clothe her behavior in altruistic motives all she wanted, but Leona was not buying any of it.

[Post Word Count: 668]
[Leona's Word Count: 4,206]
[Total Word Count: 8,121]

“You keep talking about what a Wizard Saint would do but is that all you are? As a Warlord of Fiore, I suppose that it is my duty to kill people by the hundred and make mad passionate love to any woman that catches my eye, hmm?” Medeia replied, an amused twinkle in those purple orbs of hers. “The Council could not care less about what we do and killing someone who has wronged you is not going to result in you losing your status. If anything would do that, then it would be the knowledge that you currently have a Warlord sitting on your lap, completely at her mercy.” Whether that was merely a passing comment or a subtle threat was left to Leona to figure out. So far, Medeia had been nice but if the blonde continued to be stubborn? Well, that could change on a sixpence, so to speak.

Leona would eventually make a passing remark about her past, one that the dark haired woman hooked on to rather quickly. The mind of the witch, which was already so prejudiced against the male gender, instantly snapped to what seemed to be the most logical answer on her part. The look in the blonde’s eyes was exactly the same as the one that Armina had given her, when the dark mage had asked about Armina’s time in the heavens after Medeia’s imprisonment. The maid had been forced to face indignities, ones that once revealed, had caused the angel to fall into such a rage that it was a miracle the guild had remained standing. The dark mage took a breath before replying, to calm her growing rage. “He tried to force himself upon you. That is what this is all about. The idiot tried to claim you for his own and you did not let him. If anything is a sign of true courage, it is that.”

The conversation then turned back in the direction of hair brushing and as Medeia pondered about her previous words, gently playing with the brush in her hands, she would take a minute before replying. “Would it be wrong of me to say that your experience with him is why you are so reluctant to let me brush your hair? The fact you blush so much is a sign that you do not truly dislike me doing it and I could have sworn that I saw your shoulders relax a bit or as much as they can. I keep saying that hurting you is not my purpose and if you would just open up to me, this can be as gentle an experience as you want…”

She trailed off for a second, her right hand leaving the brush and coming to a stop at the neck of Leona’s top. “Or are you expecting me to claim you in the same way that idiot did? Are you expecting me to rip your top open right now and have my way with you on the bed? I told you that I am not here to steal you from your girlfriend but if you are unwilling to work with me then I might have to. I want to know more about you Leona and one way or another, I will find out what I wish to know.”

(552 Words)
(4465 Med WC)
(8673 TWC)

The Wizard Saint momentarily bristled at Medeia making light of her title. Medeia might get to roam around doing whatever she wanted with no consequences, but Leona was held to a higher standard. Leona did not give in to what she wanted and had to have a higher moral standard. She did not comment on that but focused on the point her enemy was trying to make, particularly the second one.

The second one caused Leona's face to go pale as she grasped the implications of what was said. It did not matter that it took a tough battle and the threat of Hargeon Town being wiped off the map to subdue the Wizard Saint of Courage. All that would matter was that if the wrong people saw the photograph of Medeia perched in Leona's lap they would draw the conclusion that Leona had willingly entered into a fling with Medeia instead of being forced into it. Leona looked down at her chest again.

She listened to Medeia's statement about courage. Since Medeia had figured it out there was no point in hiding it any longer. She looked Medeia in the eyes.

"Yeah, I stopped him all right. He had a wandering eye and an inability to keep his hands to himself. I gave him two black eyes because I didn't want him putting his hand up my skirt or touching my breasts. But my victory didn't come without consequences." Leona commented. Once the dust settled she had to pay a penalty for beating up the village chief's son and she had to choose between being burned at the stake and her family possibly joining her or being exiled and her family being spared and allowed to remain in the village. Leona chose exile and the rest was history.

"After he touched me I couldn't wear skirts for years." Leona threw in that fact free of charge. Leona deliberately left out the fact that she frequently wore bike shorts under her skirts partially because of Joshua, but Medeia might be able to figure that one out without a prompt. The other part was that Wind Strike Magic featured a few kicks that involved jumping and she did not want her opponents to see her underwear. That sounded really dumb, but that seemingly irrational precaution was a sign of how much mental damage Joshua had done to Leona.

Medeia had hit the nail on the head with her next question. Leona saw no point in trying to make it a great secret that would require Medeia to coerce her into revealing the answer, so she answered the question.

"Yes. What he did to me was one reason why I didn't want you to brush my hair." Leona answered truthfully and without sarcasm. The other reason was that Medeia was not Leona's girlfriend, but Medeia could likely figure that out. Not that it mattered... the Warlord was going to brush the blonde's hair no matter how much the latter protested.

Speaking of protests about the blonde's hair being brushed, Medeia moved to put an end to them with a movement of her fingers to the neck of what was left of Leona's outfit top and a pointed question about how the blonde wanted things to go. Leona was disarmed by how blunt Medeia was and her face turned bright red as she looked down and away from the Warlord.

"N-no, please don't d-do that. Just brush my hair. P-please." Leona meekly requested of the Warlord. From now on she would not say anything else about her hair as long as she got to keep her clothing intact and keep what was left of her dignity, which was as tattered as her skirt.

[Post Word Count: 620]
[Leona's Word Count: 4,826]
[Total Word Count: 9,293]

It would not be all that hard to tell that Medeia was becoming more and more irritated by what she was hearing about this mystery male. She truly did wish that Leona would reveal the name to her but it appeared as though her captive was shielding him due to her infuriating stubbornness and her never ending attempt at being noble. The dark mage was sickened by the description of the attack and again, Medeia could not help but feel that she had heard it before. Had Armina not said exactly the same thing to her about their fellow angels? She had been used as an object by them and Medeia had been unable to do anything about it at the time. Only when she was freed was she finally able to exact her vengeance and how sweet it was. Perhaps that was why she was trying to convince Leona to do the same, to experience that same sense of elation.

When Leona conceded to let Medeia brush her hair again, the dark mage smiled and proceeded to do just that, softly running it through the blonde’s locks. “You see? I do not have to be the Warlord Of Lust all of the time nor do I allow it to rule my life. I choose how I live it and I will not be tarred and brushed by the Council or anyone else. I will do what I wish and tonight, I want to help a Wizard Saint climb back to her feet. Call that insanity or whatever you want, Leona, it is what I desire. No doubt you were expecting me to have followed through on my words just now, hmm?”

Only then did she refer back to the blonde’s description of her encounter with the foul male and her voice lost the majority of its levity. “Now that is the Leona that I know. A woman who would knock someone out for daring to try and take advantage of her. I do not understand why you just did not finish things there and then but I suppose your answer will again just be that you refuse to follow the path of vengeance. Yet, you need to find a solution to this somehow, otherwise the pain you feel will never leave you. It will be an open wound that will never heal. You need closure.”

There was something else Leona had mentioned as well and that was what Medeia would attempt to discover more about next. “You mentioned consequences to your actions. What was it that happened to you after you hit him? Surely those who were there must have understood the situation or was it that the politics of your place of birth were just as skewed as mine.” The angel had no issue about speaking about her own past, knowing that it could be a useful weapon on occasion.

(482 Words)
(4947 Med WC)
(9775 TWC)

Medeia had restraint?

That question ran through Leona's mind as her hostess made a big deal out of not following through on the threat to tear open the Wizard Saint's outfit top and turn things even more awkward. Of course she had sense enough to not actually say that because Medeia was very close and was likely to take any negative responses very badly. Leona needed to pick her battles carefully, so a diplomatic response to the question was in order. She took a few moments to think, then made eye contact before speaking.

"I don't think that doing that to me would help your messages get through, so probably not." Leona replied as calmly and diplomatically as possible before moving on. She had probably put her foot in her mouth, but it could not be helped. Medeia was likely looking for any reason to increase the tension and the former already knew the best way to keep Leona off-balance was to say and do flirtatious things. Leona had learned during their fight that Medeia had an affinity for mind games, so the threat was likely one of them.

After giving her response Leona wordlessly endured more of Medeia's rambling; this time the topic was about what had happened years ago. Medeia offered praise to Leona for standing up for herself against the guy who had touched her inappropriately and an expression of disbelief that the offender was not killed on the spot. Leona quietly listened to the talk until it stopped and when her turn to speak came she took it. She opted for a diplomatic answer to this question and maintained eye contact.

"I've got more than enough problems to deal with without worrying about getting vengeance on the guy who got handsy with me when I was sixteen. I've settled that grudge years ago without using violence. And yes, my way of getting closure doesn't involve violence either." Leona calmly replied to Medeia's statement, making certain to keep any and all sarcasm out of her voice to avoid setting off her volatile hostess. The blonde did not need any help from the mage who made various threats against her one minute and tried to comfort her and be her friend the next. It seemed to Leona that that unpredictable behavior was part of just another mind game that Medeia was playing to try and keep Leona off-balance and complying with the Warlord's demands.

When the subject of the consequences stemming from Leona beating up the guy whose identity she was concealing came up the Wizard Saint was quick to answer, not even bothering to pay attention to the attempt to garner her sympathy because after what had happened in Hargeon Town Leona had very little sympathy for the Warlord. Her gaze did not waver as she began her answer.

"I was given two choices. The first choice was to be permanently exiled from my home village." Leona started telling Medeia about the aftermath of her decision to protect her personal boundaries with her fists.

"The second choice was... well, let's just say it involves fire." Leona did not give the answer right away but gave a hint to help the Warlord along the path to finding the answer. Medeia was going to have to guess at what the choice that involved fire was. The blonde waited a few seconds before speaking again.

"Go on. Take a guess." Leona calmly invited her hostess. Medeia had demonstrated her considerable intelligence many times during their fight, so guessing what Leona was getting at was likely going to be a cakewalk for her.

[Post Word Count: 602]
[Leona's Word Count: 5,428]
[Total Word Count: 10,377]

“Surely it should have been him to face that not choice rather than you.” Medeia answered, putting things together rather quickly when it came to the other choice that Leona was being vague about. “Being threatened with exile or death just for defending yourself sounds ridiculous to me and hardly justice. The fact that you were the one punished leaves with the conclusion that either your home region is heavily focused on males or that the idiot who attacked you was of an incredibly high status, untouchable if you will. Politics are such a nuisance and sometimes I wish that the whole idea of it would just burn.”

If Errings Rising had their way, that might just become a reality one day. For chaos was the goal of the dark guild when it came down to it. To see the organisations of the world turn to dust, allowing people to live by their own codes and values.

After thinking a tad longer about Leona’s words, she would then continue. “Now that I think about it, the rules of your home village are somewhat familiar to me. Before I became the being I am today, I once lived in the country of Desierto, where men were given special treatment and women were treated harshly. I cannot remember the name of the city that I lived in off hand, as my memories are rather distorted at times but I do remember the disgusting attitude of some. I was rather more willing to do something about it though, even back then. I suppose some things never change.” The reasons for her mentioning her own past were two fold. An attempt to form a bond with her captive, while also trying to dig up a little more about Leona’s past.

It was only then that her mind dwelled back to Leona’s first comment regarding her previous threats, which actually caused Medeia to chuckle slightly. “Is that the case or are you just trying to play hard to get? I can never quite tell with you. One minute you are blushing like crazy and the next you are as hard as diamonds. I have never quite had such an enigma in my clutches before. You clearly want to remain pure for your girlfriend but you keep talking as though you have almost given up on that, as though you have resigned yourself to becoming a play thing of mine. What am I going to do with you?”

It was as much a question to herself as it was to Leona.

(426 Words)
(5373 Med WC)
(10803 TWC)

"You're absolutely right. My other choice was the death penalty, specifically burning at the stake." Leona announced that Medeia's guess that the death penalty was her other "choice" was the right one.

"And the individual I gave two black eyes to was a high-status individual. The only reason I got a choice at all was because their father knew that their son bore half of the blame for what happened. If the father hadn't seen that I would have been burned alive and I obviously wouldn't be here now." Leona threw in a second fact without being asked just to fill out the story. If she made Medeia play too many guessing games the latter might not take kindly to it and punish the blonde. Even if the latter did not carry out the threat made earlier there were still plenty of ways for her to retaliate if sufficiently annoyed.

"Desierto, huh?" Leona asked the Warlord. That question might give her away as connected to that sandy country, but her original impression was that Medeia came from somewhere nicer like Fiore. Even now Medeia had the look of an upper-class person and had the taste to match. The room they were in was no run-down dump but a room arranged and decorated with care.

In response to the question about her contradictory stance Leona decided to go with an honest answer instead of trying to be defiant. She was willing to accept the consequences of the answer to make a point.

"On some level I've accepted that the risk is there, Medeia. You promised up and down that I wouldn't be hurt, but I didn't know if you really would bring me here alive and reasonably intact or just fly up high and drop me onto Hargeon Town's sidewalk to get rid of me once and for all. You also said that I'd be allowed to leave here after the night was over, but you never said if I'd leave here alive and intact or not. There's always risk in my profession and I've got to accept that if I want to get anything done." Leona gave a calm and candid answer to the mage's question. She had been cowed into submission for long enough and she was going to push back on that question. If Medeia decided that Leona's temerity deserved punishment then that was how things would have to be.

[Post Word Count: 402]
[Leona's Word Count: 5,830]
[Total Word Count: 11,205]

“Desierto.” The angel replied, having no particular issue about discussing her own past. “A sandy hell hole that I would quite happily never set foot on again. My family was middle class, I suppose. We did not mingle with the elite but were not living on the streets either. Even back then, I knew that I wanted more for myself and that was why I spent so much time with my nose in books, studying the principles of magic. History too was quite the passion of mine and more than once I took part in excavations, hoping to find something that could help me grant my wish. What I found was far more than I bargained for but it opened my eyes to a life I had never imagined, one that I have been living since that day.”

In response to Leona’s last comments, Medeia sighed, showing just a slight amount of frustration. “As I have said before, if I had wanted you dead then I would have brought you all the way here. I would have done exactly as you suggested and left you for the crows. Those who are brought here are not those who I wish to kill but those I wish to learn more about. When I refer to you as my girl, I do not mean that I consider you to be my slave or object, it means that I have a genuine interest in you and as you must have realised by now, once I take an interest, it is incredibly difficult to lose it. I can be a little obsessive.”

That could well have been the biggest understatement of all time.

“You want to know what is going to happen to you when our sleepover is done? I am going to bind, gag and put you to sleep as I did before, then I will fly you back to a safe spot and leave you to awaken. The exact same thing that I have done with every other woman that I have had the pleasure of bringing here. Even if you manage to irritate me past the point of rage, your life will not end although I must admit that it might change just where you end up waking. I have my own forms of punishment, Leona, and they have proven to be more effective than the crack of a whip or a lick of fire.”

Medeia would briefly toy with Leona’s top again at that point, momentarily tugging at the neck area so that it revealed the blonde’s shoulder. It was a rather potent clue as to what the witch had in mind. Humiliation was her game, after all and considering Leona’s standing, it would be far more embarrassing than being whipped by the Warlord. The angel would then turn her gaze back to Leona and say. “You would not be the first woman that has found herself waking up in a compromising position. Do not push it.”

Deciding to clamber off of the Wizard Saint at that point, Medeia would revert to her favourite position, hovering just behind the woman’s chair. “Can you not just leave your title aside for the night and just be you? I would consider actually undoing your bonds for this evening if you would just stop being so stubborn.”

(553 Words)
(5926 Med WC)
(11758 TWC)

Medeia clearly did not like what Leona had to say because the Warlord made another threat, this time vowing to leave the Wizard Saint in a bad place once their time together was over if the blonde did not shape up. Medeia paired that threat with the action of pulling down an area around the neck of the blonde's outfit top to expose a shoulder. Leona was furious inside and not just because she was tied up and at the Warlord's mercy or because she was threatened with humiliation yet again. It was because she had no idea what the other mage wanted out of this.

Did she want intelligent conversation with honest answers or did she want kowtowing and buttering up?

Leona had no clue. Medeia claimed that she wanted to talk to Leona, but any time the blonde said something that the other young woman did not like, even if that something was said in a calm voice with no hostility and had been carefully worded to avoid angering anyone, the threats of punishment came out. In the blonde's opinion Medeia did not want civil conversation in a place in which both parties were equal. Medeia only wanted to hold court in an environment she owned and wanted one-sided discourse with a person who was too intimidated to challenge the Warlord in any way.

Mindful that the whole carrot-and-stick routine was part of Medeia's vast repertoire of mind games, Leona was not particularly enticed by the sudden offer to maybe be freed from the ropes binding her if titles were dispensed with for the occasion. She suspected that the whole routine was meant to keep her off-balance and get her to panic while wondering how to please the Warlord to make the threats stop. The Warlord's aim was possibly to get Leona to panic and become more susceptible to manipulation by being so panicked that she would blurt out anything that might please her captor. Leona was tired of playing that game and was not going to hand over any information she was not willing to part with.

Deciding to try and discuss Desierto to see where things went, Leona spoke to Medeia.

"I'm from Desierto." Leona stated calmly. It was no big secret... the Sorcerer's Magazine feature on her that was made a lifetime ago told that much. She could care less about the enticement of freedom from the ropes. The Wizard Saint just wanted something out of this entire "conversation" to make some sort of sense.

[Post Word Count: 420]
[Leona's Word Count: 6,250]
[Total Word Count: 12,178]

That was sudden. After all the time that Medeia had spent trying to engage with the Wizard Saint, it appeared that by mentioning her own history, she had managed to learn a little of Leona’s. Well, something new anyway. The knowledge of Leona’s unfortunate past was at least partly known by the witch already from during their fight. Now, she had a location to fit in with the other tidbits, which helped to form a proper picture of the woman who was tied before her. Having experienced the unpleasantness of the place, Medeia could understand the pain that Leona must have suffered from simply being a woman in that foul place. She had no idea if that would lead to actually starting to form a bond between them or not but at that point, the angel did not have much else to go on. A start maybe.

“You have my sympathy then for having to grow up there as well. It is not an easy country to live in at the best of times, even in the three cities.” The angel said evenly, her tone conversational for the moment, wanting to make the most of any chance to have a normal discussion. “Judging from your story though, I am willing to take a guess that you did not grow up in one of those. The punishment for your self defence sounds rather barbaric for them, where at least there is some semblance of humanity. No, I think that you had a rougher upbringing, somewhere in the outskirts. Would that be accurate?”

The temptation to go for the brush again was rather strong but for the sake of keeping the conversation going, Medeia refrained from doing so. Instead she simply gave Leona the chance to respond how she saw fit. Was she easing up on the reins a little? Maybe or perhaps she was simply tired of her previous games and had decided to switch gears. There were many styles of conversation that Medeia liked to employ, some nice and others not, it was all about finding the right one for her captive and Leona was proving to be quite a challenge. Not that it was a bad thing necessarily, for the angel did appreciate one, now and again. In fact, the dark haired woman could not remember the last time that she found such a stubborn and in a way amusing captive for despite Medeia’s irritation, she could help but smile at the inner strength of the woman. There were not many who could sit there, completely helpless and hold themselves together like the blonde, the occasional blush aside.

(439 Words)
(6365 Med WC)
(12617 TWC)

Leona was doubtful that her three-word statement would get her anywhere. She had surmised that "stubborn" in Medeia-speak meant "Tell me what I want to hear or you're going to be punished" and doubted that she would be able to have any balanced discourse with her hostess. At least she could feel her legs again... Medeia had been sitting on them for so long that the feeling had nearly left her legs. That new freedom came with the price of Medeia now standing behind her again, a place that put the Wizard Saint at a disadvantage because she could not see her enemy.

Leona visibly bristled when the detested phrase "my girl" came up and was not entirely assured that Medeia meant what she said when she claimed that the blonde's freedom was not in peril. Had Medeia just explained that from the get-go instead of being ominously vague maybe the tone of the conversation would have been slightly less adversarial, but that was not certain either. Leona was not in the business of playing nice with Warlords just because said Warlord decided to act kind and concerned after making multiple threats of punishment and humiliation.

When her hostess expressed sympathy for Leona having the bad luck to be born and raised in Desierto the blonde was tempted to tell Medeia where to shove her sympathy. Leona had no need for sympathy from anyone, especially from a Warlord. However, Leona's common sense had went into overdrive, so she kept her mouth shut until she could come up with a civil answer. When she had one to offer the blonde finally spoke.

"I wasn't born in one of the three cities. I was born in a desert village in central Desierto." Leona calmly replied, telling Medeia that the latter's guess about where she was born was accurate. The blonde did not need to give the village's name because she remembered that she had told it in the same Sorcerer's Magazine feature where she had stated she was from Desierto. Leona had given that interview when she was young and naive and full of optimism. Right now she older, still naive, and full of doubt that she would have a future after this evening.

If Medeia remembered the interview she would know exactly which village Leona came from.

Leona's naivety was likely going to come back to haunt her... again.

[Post Word Count: 398]
[Leona's Word Count: 6,648]
[Total Word Count: 13,015]

“That explains why you are so tough.” The witch answered, again fighting off the temptation to play with Leona’s hair, either with her brush or her hand. “Life must be harsh out there and I am honestly surprised that anyone survives for long. I consider myself fortunate that I was spared the humiliation of having to suffer as you did. With your difficult childhood and experience with that vile piece of filth, I can start to see why you had to develop such a hard outer shell. It is no wonder that you are so reluctant to open up to anyone.”

Truthfully though, Medeia knew exactly how horrible it was to have lived such a miserable life. The memories of her angelic half were consumed with nothing but pain and torment. An eternity of darkness, with nothing but her own thoughts to accompany her. That had been true hell and had changed her in ways that were unimaginable. She supposed that there was irony in the fact that despite her own experiences with imprisonment, Medeia adored capturing others. Yet, where her family had sought to torment her, the witch sought only pleasure for her captives although causing Leona to feel that might be more than even she was capable of.

“I suppose that your father was the one who trained you to fight then?” She then asked, focusing on the topic of Leona’s background still. “It does not sound to me as though anyone else other than your own flesh and blood would have done it, given how rough it is out there.” Medeia would have suggested that it had been Leona’s maternal parent but given how male orientated the country was, she was forced to assume the former, as distasteful as that was.

The witch did not feel as though she was asking anything that was a risk to the Wizard Saint and her interest would appear to be perfectly genuine. She did not see what choice Leona had but to answer either in truth so why not just have a pleasant conversation? If the blonde was unwilling to engage then the dark haired woman might just as well put the gag and blindfold back on her and leave her there for the night. As it was, she was happy that Leona seemed to be willing to speak with her although how long that would last was anyone’s guess. Enough for the Warlord to learn a little more at least, she hoped.

(413 Words)
(6778 Med WC)
(13428 TWC)