Deception Leads To Death (Open to One)

After the surprise factor of her Wind Blast having no effect on the maid wore off Leona listened to Armina's latest verbal barb and watched the dark-haired mage find a comfortable seat from which to watch the fight between Wizard Saint and ax-wielding maid. The carefree nature of the gesture made Leona halfway expect the mage to go get some popcorn to eat while watching the show. That brazen display made Leona more irritated than it should have because it appeared that she did not take the blonde seriously. Leona was going to make her pay for it... later.

The Wizard Saint wanted to quit wasting time with Armina and attack the maid's mistress directly, but that was not a feasible option. At least not right now, anyway. The maid had to go before she could even entertain the idea of fighting the mistress.

"Do you kiss your mistress with that mouth?" Leona made an attempt to verbally retaliate after all of the barbs she had been on the receiving end of. Since the blonde did not usually engage in banter with her enemies the attempt might fall flat on its face. She had had enough of the maid and mistress pair and the best way to stop the flow of insults and taunts was to beat them into submission. That was easier said than done, though. Armina had been hard enough to beat down the first time and she had been healed and granted some help from her mistress for the second round.

Armina made a leaping attack and slashed at the blonde with the ax. Leona managed to dodge it with a timely backflip, then performed two more backflips to put a bit of distance between her and the murderous maid before she used her next spell. She was going to use her Forceful Tempest spell to give herself a boost before taking the fight to close quarters.

Leona began to channel silver magic throughout her entire body and a thin and visible silver column of air formed around her and began to swirl. When the spell was cast the column expanded outward, but Armina would not take any damage from it because it was just an effect of the spell activating, not a form of attack in itself. Leona now had a faint silver aura surrounding her hands and feet if the maid and mistress looked close enough to see it.

Leona let the dark-haired mage's "advice" pass without comment. It would suit her just fine if Leona destroyed part of Hargeon Town with some of her most powerful spells and killed some people in the process of stopping her. That way blame for the whole fiasco could be pinned on the Wizard Saint and not the true culprits. Leona was not going to level the town in order to stop the dark-haired mage and Leona would give her some serious feedback on her "advice" once the maid was dealt with for a second time.

After the Forceful Tempest spell had been cast it was time to get up close and personal with to the maid. Leona sprinted towards the maid, then paused in place when she was close enough to use the technique she was planning to use. With no further delay she performed her Tornado Kick technique, which started with a spinning jump. She spun in the air and when she was at the height of the jump thrust her right leg outwards with her right foot extended, launching a kick aimed at the maid's face. It was a risky move because the maid's face was a smaller target than the maid's torso, but landing the kick to the face would be the most appropriate rebuke for all the trash talking the maid had been doing up until this point.

Since it was a close-range technique the Tornado Kick could be avoided by ducking, sidestepping, or other forms of dodging. It could also be blocked if the maid was fast enough to block it. Whether the Tornado Kick hit Armina or not Leona would be dangerously close to her enemy once the technique had been performed. That close proximity would give Armina a chance to retaliate against the blonde.

[Post Word Count: 704]
[Leona's Word Count: 8,696]
[Total Word Count: 18,088]

Spells Used:

Techniques Used:

“Yes and we both enjoy it a great deal.” Armina replied to the blonde’s question, much to both her own and the dark haired mage’s amusement. The blonde woman was clearly not the greatest when it came to verbal sparring and the maid could not help but smile, despite her anger, knowing that her Mistress would easily drive the woman mad, given her skills in the field. It was obvious that Leona was struggling when it came to control, her body language and facial expressions were screaming with anger and adrenaline. The busty purple haired warrior was under no illusions that the Guild Mistress wanted to beat both her and Medeia up, which was perfectly fine, precisely what the dark duo wanted. The more unstable that Leona became, the more effective her Mistresses own powers would be. As for Armina, it just gave the fight a little more vigour and urgency. The blood was certainly pumping now and she loved it.

Leona again dodged the leaping attack of the maid, which was not a surprise in truth. The blonde had already shown on numerous occasions that she was an agile fighter. It was a bit of a pain for the axe wielder, who much preferred to be up close and personal but she was not going to simply give up because she was at a disadvantage. Oh no, such thoughts had long been purged by the words of her Mistress and the lust for blood that was pulsing through her body. She wanted this woman helpless at her feet and begging for her life. Death would not follow, as Armina knew that Medeia would desire the blonde for another purpose, a trophy to be kept in the dungeons of Errings Rising. A Wizard Saint would be an excellent prize and one that would help to bolster not only the Warlord’s reputation but that of the guild as well.

It appeared that her enemy was up to something as the maid picked up on a slight change within the wind mage. There was a thin column of air that began to burst forth from her although it did not deal any damage to either Armina or from what she could tell, her Mistress. No, it seemed to be a support spell of some kind and the woman’s grip on her axe tightened, preparing for whatever Leona had in store for her next. An increase to the woman’s already potent power would be a bit of an issue but Armina trusted her Mistresses defensive spell and knew that she was there, supporting her. Any lingering fear was burnt away by the rage that had replaced it.

Soon enough. Leona moved forwards quickly and jumped into the air, performing a powerful spinning kick that caught the maid off guard. It caught her in the temple, resulting in an angry snarl and knocking her back a touch, her expression briefly becoming one of surprise. Medeia’s armour did a good job of keeping her upright and somewhat limited the damage but it was a good strike nonetheless.

Embarrassed by being caught off guard by such a simple manoeuvre, Armina would angrily send another Bleeding Slice in Leona’s direction once she recovered, her opponent now well and truly in her ideal range. Each attack that the maid was hit by would only anger her more and the thought of looking weak in the eyes of Medeia was unacceptable. It was the maid who had insisted on fighting, despite Medeia’s assurances and so it was down to her to do well. There were no excuses.

Medeia watched from the barrel that she was sitting on, her purple orbs easily able to keep up with what was going on. For the moment, she did not attack herself and allowed her maid to keep Leona busy but the honest truth was that the result was obvious. Her maid could not defeat this woman and sooner or later, Armina would fall to her. Still, the dark haired mage did not intervene and try to save her beloved axe wielder. She had already done so once and it appeared that Armina was desperate to go out on her shield. The Warlord sighed at the thought.

Putting up with Armina’s post regeneration mood swings was going to be such a pain later.

(720 Words)
(10112 Med WC)
(18808 TWC)

Leona was visibly satisfied when the Tornado Kick connected with Armina's temple, giving a wolfish grin that exposed her teeth once she landed. The kick to the head was a fitting rebuke for all the trash talk up until this point, but the blonde had not won the second round just yet. She would not win until Armina had been beaten into submission a second time. That would not be easy because the maid was out for blood and had seen a few of Leona's strongest spells during the first round, so she would not be so easily surprised during the second round. Leona should have saved her Silver Blade spell for later, but hindsight was always better than foresight.

Armina's retaliation came on the fast track... Leona was planning her next move when the ax came down towards her chest. Leona stepped to the right to avoid her chest being split but was too slow to avoid the weapon strike entirely. The ax blade cut down the front of her left shoulder and caused both a good bit of pain and created another bleeding wound. Leona made her anger known to maid and mistress when she glared emerald daggers at Armina.

The adrenaline was starting to flow beyond Leona's ability to control. It was starting to seep through and she was not sure if she could control it enough to keep a level head. At this point she was not sure if she wanted to hold it back any longer. She wanted to beat maid and mistress into the dirt so badly that it was painfully obvious what she was thinking because it was written all over her face.

If Armina wanted her face punched in so badly Leona would be happy to oblige.

Pairing actions to thoughts, Leona made eye contact with the maid. She remained in her opponent's range and maneuvered until she had Armina directly in front of her, then stepped forward one pace and stopped. When she was within range she formed her right hand into a fist and channeled silver magic into it, then performed her Mach Straight technique, which took the form of a straight punch directed towards Armina's torso. As satisfying as attacking the purple-haired maid's face a second time would be, Leona needed to go for attacks to areas that were somewhat easier to hit. Besides, Armina was likely anticipating another attack aimed at her face and Leona was going to make herself slightly more difficult to predict by changing up the target zone a bit.

The Mach Straight was a simple and straightforward technique that would be equally as easy to dodge if the maid reacted quickly enough to it. It was a straight punch headed in a straight line, so where it was going would be fairly easy to predict if her opponent paid close enough attention. Whether the punch connected or not Leona would still be within ax range when Armina reacted to the Wizard Saint's attack.

Leona was taking a big risk by staying in her enemy's effective range. However, it had to be done if she was going to beat Armina into submission a second time quickly enough to have energy for the main event. She was not going to let the maid hang around and distract her when it came time to deal with the mistress... Leona's intent was to defeat Armina here and now while she was in good condition. The Wizard Saint needed to stay aware of what was going on and avoid taking any unnecessary hits, but right now any kind of strategy other than "rearrange Armina's face with her fists" was off the table.

That was because the adrenaline was flowing more freely than it had at the start of the fight. Combat brought her to life in a way almost nothing else could and when that was paired with the flowing adrenaline Leona was feeling so good that her wounds barely bothered her. That good feeling was dangerous to have because it could lead to a whole lot of stupid mistakes, but right now the blonde was feeling like she could take on anyone and win.

[Post Word Count: 696]
[Leona's Word Count: 9,392]
[Total Word Count: 19,504]

Techniques Used:

A smile emerged on Armina’s face as her axe made contact with the blonde, her expression becoming incredibly smug and confident. To strike the powerful mage directly brought such elation to the maid and her self belief started to rise more quickly. If she could cut her enemy then she could kill her and that was the realisation that dawned on the purple haired warrior. To defeat a mage of Leona’s class was a notion that should have never passed the woman’s mind but she could not help but think it now. She could defeat the Guild Mistress for Medeia and prove just how far she had come. Oh, she knew that her partner believed in her but there was that desire that perhaps one day, she could defeat someone powerful on her own, without Medeia being there to hold her hand.

There was definitely a change in the blonde’s body language after Armina’s successful attack and it was obvious that the powerful mage was struggling to control herself. Exactly as planned. Another attack soon came and the maid brought her axe up to try and defend herself from the blow. It looked like a standard punch and the maid was good enough in terms of reaction speed to block it with her axe although the force of the blow did knock her back a fair bit. It appeared that even Leona’s most basic attacks were powerful and Armina knew that she would have to be wary, even with Medeia’s defensive spell. It could negate and protect the mage from most attacks but even it had its limits and would only last so long. Hopefully, it would last long enough for Armina to achieve what she wished to achieve and make her mark on the fight.

“That look suits you.” The maid laughed, complimenting the blonde in her own way. “I am glad that you are finally getting into the spirit of things.”

Recovering quickly enough from the knockback, Armina would step back in quickly and try to counter the blonde’s spell with a mighty swing of her axe. She had a target now and the maid was honed in on that wounded shoulder. The purple haired woman would aim to keep battering that area of her foe's body until it was nothing more than a useless stump of meat. The smell of blood was in the air and it was clearly having an effect on the maid, her eyes dilating due to the scent.

It was also affecting Medeia, who had an affinity for blood of course due to her slayer magic. Her eyes were locked on to the blonde as well and the temptation to interfere in the fight would start to increase. The witch had access to many elements due to her magic and once she caught the scent of one of them, the effect it had on her was startling. Her smile, which had been rather soft and gentle up until that point, would change, becoming more feral and animal like. The anger that was stemming from the blonde only intensified that sensation and the dark haired woman was now fully invested in the Guild Mistress before her. The woman had just been a nuisance who needed to be dealt with but that opinion had changed. She wanted the blonde for herself and would do whatever was necessary to have her. Leona was beautiful and Medeia found herself becoming almost infatuated with her, which meant only one thing, the Silver Wolf mage could not be killed. No, she needed to be taken alive.

“You are beautiful when you are angry.” The witch called out, admiring the Guild Mistress from her position. “I am glad that it was you who we ran into.”

(626 Words)
(10738 Med WC)
(20130 TWC)

After the Mach Straight slammed into Armina's torso the Wizard Saint fell deeper into the adrenaline rush. She was currently unable to come up with a sophisticated strategy to defeat her opponent, so close-range fighting would have to do. That was fine with Leona. While she did not excel in close-range combat like her purple-haired opponent, she could hold her own in that range. She still needed to be careful because the ax conferred a reach advantage to her opponent and Leona could underestimate that advantage at her own peril.

Leona heard her adversaries cheer her on as she edged closer to the precipice. She wondered what their angle was. Maybe they were trying to goad her into using her most destructive spells so that she would wreck Hargeon Town along with her enemies. Armina's laughing certainly did not help Leona's mood. It threatened to send her to a dark place, one full of anger that made her want to reach out and hurt someone.

Leona's self-esteem had taken a serious blow after the Ishgar Symposium. There she had performed dismally and did not look worthy of being a Wizard Saint. She had made so many stupid mistakes that it would take half a day to write them all down. Just thinking about the humiliation was enough to drive Leona to depths of self-loathing and anger that was directed at herself.

While most of her anger was directed at herself, sometimes that anger threatened to boil over and affect other people, especially when she was humiliated. Several people had treated her like an idiot in the past. Dr. Harrison of Motor City was one of the worst examples... he had treated her like a thief with no justification and had repeatedly insulted her intelligence. He had even literally kicked her out of his house via a foot to her backside.

Dr. Reid of Motor City was another example. While she and Leona got along pretty well, Leona could not forget the resentment she felt when Dr. Reid shut down her request to be taught robotics. While the reasoning behind the refusal was sound, Leona felt like the doctor wanted to keep the knowledge to herself and stop a potential rival before they could get started. In her opinion Dr. Reid had wanted to forcibly keep Leona in her place as a "gofer" and the Wizard Saint burned with resentment whenever she thought about it.

Leona had to shift gears when she saw the ax descend towards her left shoulder. She rose to the challenge and quickly jumped to the right to avoid the weapon. The blade cut the side of her left shoulder but missed her flesh, which was good for her because the timing was so close that only by being under the effects of adrenaline was the Wizard Saint able to react fast enough to avoid the cut. She needed to end this fight quickly before she was too far gone to try to dodge attacks. Getting into a battle of attrition with the ax-wielding adversary was the last thing she needed to do when the fight with the mistress was looming.

The Wizard Saint jumped backwards three leaps to get some space for her next attack. That was probably a giveaway that the blonde was up to something, but she did not care. She was going to reuse one of her more powerful spells in an effort to end this fight before it bogged down into a fight of attrition. The spell might not hit, but Leona was going to show her adversaries that she meant business. The maid and mistress pair had come here looking for violence and Leona was going to give them what they wanted.

Leona quickly performed a "flash step" that would send her speeding towards Armina. At the end of it the blonde would reappear and slash at Armina's midsection in a right-to-left horizontal slash with her right hand coated in a sharp blade of wind. Sonic Slash was one of Leona's more powerful spells, one she hoped would bring her closer to ending the fight in her favor.

However, Armina had seen the spell once before, so chances were good that she might be able to dodge it in time. It could also be endured if defensive spells or armor were strong enough. Another downside was that whether the Sonic Slash hit or not she was going to be standing close to her adversary once the spell was finished. That was not a problem for Leona, though. If she was in striking distance so was her enemy.

[Post Word Count: 766]
[Leona's Word Count: 10,158]
[Total Word Count: 20,896]

Spells Used:

Again, Leona was quick enough to evade the busty maid’s attack and Armina began chasing the blonde down as soon as she jumped away, wanting to keep the distance between them as short as possible. Long range was simply no good for the purple haired warrior, as so few of her attacks had much reach. Sure, she could launch her chains towards Leona or use her allure spell but her opponent had already seen them so would know what was coming. The maid simply had no further tricks and would have to rely on her physical might which was honestly how she liked it anyway. Armina was as true a warrior as any other and had been born and trained to fight face to face and blow for blow. It appeared that Leona was capable of it as well although to the frustration of the axe wielder, she did not stay in that state. All of the backflips and sudden movements were irritating and bothered the maid just a bit.

All of a sudden, her opponent would move forward at great speed and deliver what appeared to be a slashing attack of some sort. The maid had already seen a similar attack or perhaps it had been this one? Either way, she made no effort to move and trusted Medeia’s defensive spell to keep her up. As it turned out, that half worked, with the slash piercing through the blood armour but because of that, only dealing a portion of the damage. Oh, it most definitely hurt and the maid grit her teeth as fresh blood burst from the maid. Rather than cause her to fear though, it just added to the immense amount of adrenaline and anger that was already bursting through her veins. Pain was just a part of combat like any other and a tool that if used correctly, could be a great asset. Being struck only caused her desire to slaughter the blonde to increase in intensity. Before, she may have become desperate but not now. She was too fully into the rush to let such emotions take control. Her smirk widened, her eyes became a deeper crimson and already she was preparing a counter attack.

Leona was so close that Armina reacted on instinct, her head leaning forwards in an attempt to deliver a nasty headbutt to her opponent. Hardly an ability but with Armina’s hard head and physical strength, it could cause a great deal of pain and potentially daze her opponent. Whether she was successful or not, the purple haired maid would then spin around, using the momentum to launch a powerful strike with her axe that could cleave the blonde in half if she was not careful. Every move she made now was fuelled by blood lust and rage, blocking out her more rational side and giving herself fully to the hatred that she felt. She knew that her own anger could be used by her Mistress too, which was another reason why she made no effort to contain herself.

“It is hard to tell who is angrier out of you two.” The witch amusedly quipped from her position. “You are both radiating with such delightful hatred and adrenaline. I can hardly contain myself in truth and I so badly desire both of you right now.” There was something new to her tone of voice, a sense of longing that had been missing thus far. “Keep fighting, my dears, fight until there is no strength left in your bodies. There is no greater joy than watching two beautiful ladies fighting for their lives.”

Well, that was not entirely true and Medeia could think of several other activities that would bring even more joy to her heart but she was not going to utter them aloud.

(633 Words)
(11371 Med WC)
(21529 TWC)

Leona was pleased to see that the Sonic Slash had hit a second time but was caught by surprise when Armina attempted to headbutt her. The maid's unexpected attack was successful and Leona was hit in the face by the maid. Armina took the old advice to "use one's head" a bit too literally, but the Wizard Saint had to concede that doing that was a clever move. Unfortunately for Armina the Wizard Saint would not be defeated by a headbutt. It would take a lot more than that to stop the blonde mage from stomping the maid and mistress duo into the dirt.

Even though she was a bit dazed from the impact of Armina's head meeting her face the blonde noticed what her opponent was doing and took evasive action. Leona ducked under the incoming ax, dropping to her right knee. She leaned forward a little bit and balanced herself with her right hand to keep herself from falling over because she was still a bit dazed from the headbutt and had suddenly dropped to one knee, which was a bad combination for her sense of balance. The ax passed overhead and Leona felt the wind rushing over her head... if she had been standing she would have had a lot more to worry about than a loss of equilibrium.

With the powerful ax swing successfully dodged Leona quickly stood up and faced her opponent. Leona then formed her right hand into a fist and channeled silver magic into it. When the technique was ready Leona took a single step forward and used her Mach Uppercut technique to throw an uppercut punch aimed under Armina's chin.

The Mach Uppercut was not guaranteed to hit because it targeted a small area on Armina's body. Armina might be able to see it coming and dodge the punch. It might also miss on its own because the blonde was dazed from receiving the headbutt earlier and was under the effects of a potent cocktail of adrenaline and anger, which made her prioritize hurting Armina over being precise. Just like with all the other close-range techniques and the Sonic Slash spell Leona would be left in her enemy's strike zone whether the Mach Uppercut hit or not. Again Leona did not care too much about that small detail.

She wanted to hurt Armina badly. She wanted to stomp Armina into the dirt and show the purple-haired nuisance what it was like to fight a Wizard Saint who was angry and not holding very much back. The dark-haired mage had better take note of what was happening to her maid because once the maid had been beaten down she was next. Then she would get to be part of the show that she was currently enjoying. Leona wondered how the dark-haired mage would enjoy going from being a spectator to being a participant.

[Post Word Count: 480]
[Leona's Word Count: 10,638]
[Total Word Count: 22,009]

Techniques Used:

The clash of heads was not all that pleasant for Armina either but the satisfaction that she took from it was enough to make up for any pain that she was feeling. Any blow that she scored on her foe was worth it and the maid was more than prepared to put everything on the line in order to harm the blonde. The honest truth was that she had nothing to lose. A defeat would only force her to regenerate, nothing more and that knowledge did so much to erode any fear that she felt. A week or so of depression after was a smile price to pay for the elation that she was feeling at that moment and to fight in front of her Mistress always brought her so much joy. She would remember this fight and regardless of the result, she would use the pain and hatred for the blonde to push herself further in the future. The purple haired woman would be back, butchering all those in Medeia’s path forever. It was the perfect life for her.

Once more, Leona dodged her axe attack although this time she moved underneath, before rising up with an attack of her own. There was not enough room to get out of the way and she ended up taking the blow directly, the force of the uppercut sending her head upwards and causing her to see stars for a few seconds. It was another powerful blow which did some damage and the maid was briefly dazed but the anger and rage that was pumping through her brought her back into the fight. All the punch did was annoy her even more, inspiring her to fight even harder. She was not going to go down to an uppercut and she could feel the supportive properties of the armour spell that Medeia had used on her to regenerate some of her health.

“I felt that one for sure.” The maid laughed, before she would use her chain spell in order to try and keep the blonde still, the purple coloured metal attempting to ensnare and lock her enemy down. The reason why would be obvious as successful or not, the purple haired woman would retaliate soon enough with yet another axe attack although this time, she swung low, in an attempt to damage the blonde’s legs, which would, with any luck, hinder Leona’s movement. There was not doubt that the blonde was faster than her and so Armina would attempt to nullify that advantage.

Truth be told, Medeia was becoming just a little restless by just sitting on the sidelines. Allowing Armina to fight for her was hardly new but there was something about the passion and anger in Leona’s style that was so intoxicating to the witch. She desired to fight the woman herself, in a way that she rarely did with her opposition, especially those who were female.

“You have been holding back for a long time.” Medeia mused aloud as she watched. “The anger I feel from you is not something that comes from simply being insulted. Yours is like a volcano which has finally erupted after an age of building up. Why is it that you have carried this resentment and hatred around for so long? Is it even us that you despise? Come on. Tell us.” She did not expect an answer but it was amusing to probe the blonde nonetheless.

“Must you make things worse, Mistress?” Armina complained although her tone of voice made it clear that it was meant in a humorous way.

(597 Words)
(11968 Med WC)
(22606 TWC)

The Mach Uppercut found its target and Leona expressed visible pleasure with another wolfish grin. Her joy was fleeting when Armina brought out the purple chains for another attempt to ensnare her and fired them directly at her. Fueled by adrenaline and instinct, Leona managed to evade the chains with a very closely timed jump to the right despite her close proximity to the maid, but what she did not count on was a quick ax swing following the chains being fired at her. If Armina was watching closely she could see the surprise on Leona's face as the latter sailed right, unable to change her trajectory.

Leona felt the ax slice her left leg just below the knee and when her feet touched the ground she visibly wobbled and then took several wobbling steps backwards. When she stopped wobbling and regained her balance she glanced down at her left leg. The cut was not too deep but it was deep enough to cause a good deal of bleeding. More importantly it caused the blonde no small amount of pain, but she would have to get through it to win this fight before it dragged on too long.

At least she did not lose her leg to the ax.

Leona finally steadied herself and listened to the dark-haired mage make an observation. Most of the observation was true. Leona had been holding on to a lot of feelings that she should not have even developed to begin with. She was a Wizard Saint and she was supposed to be above things like anger and resentment.

Leona's anger had had years to build and had many reasons to accumulate. She hated Dr. Harrison's brusque treatment of her. She hated Dr. Reid's shutting her down when she expressed an interest in learning about robotics. She hated Mr. Bank's condescending remarks towards her. It felt like everyone wanted to use her as a "gofer" and no one took her seriously.

Then again, why would they take her seriously when she was too afraid to make a stand when it mattered?

Time and time again she had tried to be an ideal Wizard Saint. She tried to avoid making a scene and tried to avoid making enemies out of the people she was supposed to protect and serve by not being too forceful with her actions. All of that effort had gotten her nowhere and had resulted in tragedy at the Ishgar Symposium. That day she was virtually useless and had to rely on Kyran, Maven, and Lehanna to get anything done.

She had been so stupid and a lot of people had died because of her stupidity.

"I despise both of you." Leona started her response after facing the dark-haired mage.

"You think people are just playthings. You don't care how many lives you ruin, how many families you destroy when you go looking for some fun." Leona continued to rail against the maid and mistress pair as she found herself slipping deeper and deeper into anger. Coming to Hargeon Town and mindless killing its residents was fun to them. They did not care how many people died as long as they had their fun.

Leona began to remember her childhood in Desierto and the aftermath of each bandit or slaver raid into her home village. She remembered all of the corpses lying on the sand and all of the tears shed by survivors who had lost family members to death or slavery. She remembered it all and how she wanted revenge on them for using her home village as their playground.

Leona finished her words as abruptly as she had started them. She was not big on moralizing speeches or speeches of any kind and trying to talk them down would be a waste of time. The only thing they understood was violence and she would gladly give them all the violence they wanted.

Leona looked towards Armina and raised her right hand, aimed it at Armina, and channeled silver magic into her palm. When it was glowing silver she thrust her palm forward, firing a visible horizontal column of air at the maid. It was Leona's physical response to the observation from the dark-haired mage and it was directed at the maid.

The Air Pressure spell could be avoided if Armina was fast enough to dodge it. It could also be endured if the armor or magical shield was strong enough to withstand it. Leona was not sure if the Air Pressure spell would hit or not, but it might buy her a little time for her leg to recover enough to handle the speed at which she moved and the acrobatics she tended to do.

All of Leona's words and the spell she had cast at Armina were meant to conceal the fact that the dark-haired mage was right... from a certain point of view. Leona did despise them for what they had done to Hargeon Town and what they planned to do, but there was someone Leona hated more than the maid and mistress pair. The blonde was going to let the dark-haired mage figure that one out... if she could.

[Post Word Count: 862]
[Leona's Word Count: 11,500]
[Total Word Count: 23,468]

Spells Used:

Leona was not the only one grinning after the latest exchange, as Armina had also managed to catch the Guild Mistress in the leg with her axe. It did not appear to be a deep wound but that did not matter to the maid, a hit was a hit and her grin matched her opponents. This was so much fun and the purple haired warrior could not remember the last time that she had enjoyed herself quite so much. The thoughts regarding victory and defeat were beginning to slip away, replaced by her desire to just enjoy and embrace what was happening right now. The fact that she was against a far more powerful mage than herself meant nothing anymore and Armina would fight until she was well and truly defeated. She would come back all the stronger for it and one day, the maid would smash this woman into a bloody pulp and that would be the end of it. Revenge was a constant companion of both herself and her Mistress. It had been that way since the beginning and would never change. Leona would regret ever crossing blades with them. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day, the two dark mages would strike a personal blow that this woman would not recover from. If they could not strike her directly, then they would find another way.

It was apparent that Leona was incredibly close to losing her composure completely and both the maid and Mistress began to smile in the same way. Knowing smiles that would probably annoy the Wizard Saint even more. This was precisely what they had been hoping for and it seemed that the blonde haired woman was a font of anger and rage that could be tapped into. Medeia was almost vampire-like in her ability to devour anger and with the affinity for blood that she possessed as well, the Guild Mistress was almost the perfect target for the dark mage to feed upon. Her slayer senses were becoming wild and even the usually calm witch was struggling to maintain control over herself. The temptation to join the fight was becoming almost overwhelming and yet still she forced herself to remain still, allowing the desire and want to churn inside her well endowed and shapely frame. When she did decide to get involved again, the odds of the town around them being blasted to bits would rise immensely, for a bloodlust fuelled Medeia was a force of nature and one that could only be rivalled by the most powerful of mages.

To the slight surprise of both women, Leona actually replied to Medeia’s musings although it was about as standard as one would expect from a holier than thou do gooder. Neither maid nor Mistress were impressed by it and their expressions became rather blank. The Guild Mistress’s words were partly true although there was one particular point that she had missed, which the dark haired mage was more than willing to make perfectly clear. “Play things? You overestimate the value of those who live here, Leona, they are just sheep to us. They blindly walk around these lands, living their dull and uninteresting lives, never wanting anything more than they are given. We have no interest in them and the only reason that we attack them is because we know that a superhero like you will sooner or later appear and try to stop us. It works every single time. They are not playthings, they are the bait and you took it hook, line and sinker. The only ones that we truly wish to play with are mages and the stronger they are, the better.”

Leona was already on the attack again and as she unleashed another powerful burst of wind, Armina felt a jarring pain as she was struck directly by the spell. The armour did well to protect her but the attacks from the Guild Mistress were becoming stronger and the purple haired maid was starting to feel overwhelmed, even with the armour. What was worse was the secondary effect, as just as Armina was about to launch a counter strike, her movement suddenly became slower, as though she was being weighed down by something. It caused her to briefly panic and she shouted. “Cheap trick! Are you scared of me or what?!” She would try and launch another attack with her axe but she was moving so slowly that it would not be hard for the blonde woman to dodge.

Medeia would try to aid her maid by continuing her verbal musings, attempting to probe at the mental state of the Silver Wolf member once again. “Why are you so desperate to save the people who live in this town anyway? Surely a Wizard Saint such as yourself should be tackling the larger issues. What about the war between Pergrande and Bellum? I am surprised that I have not heard of any of your heroic deeds during the conflict so far. Where were you when half of Joya got blasted to pieces.” She paused and then added. “I confess that I have a modicum of respect for whoever launched that attack.”

(863 Words)
(12831 Med WC)
(24331 TWC)

Leona was somewhat surprised to learn that the whole point of the attack of Hargeon Town was to lure heroic mages out for a fight. It had certainly worked in luring out Leona, but she had come here for a break from her trip to Haunted Guild. She had not come here just to take on the maid and mistress pair... she did not even know they were here until the commotion from earlier had drawn her attention and she had encountered them at its source. The fact that the encounter with the pair had been a matter of luck made the Wizard Saint feel a bit ashamed.

Had the maid and mistress not caused such a commotion she would have likely walked around the town for a bit in search of a coffee shop, grabbed some coffee, and then moved onto Haunted Guild for her personal errand, leaving Hargeon Town completely defenseless.

Leona was not proud of the fact that her battle with the pair was almost entirely by accident instead of a heroic decision to take on a Warlord and her servant. She quickly got over it when she heard Armina's criticism of her strategy, such as it was. Leona called herself being flexible and playing to Wind Strike Magic's strengths, one of its greatest being flexibility due to its mix of close-range techniques and long-range spells. Armina was obviously used to "fighting" people who had no chance of defeating her, so whenever she encountered someone who could fight back and possibly win she did not handle it well.

"I'm not afraid of you, Armina. You seem to be having a bit of trouble against me, so I just thought I'd give you a fighting chance by backing off a bit." Leona answered the maid's attempt at a cheap shot by slinging one of her own in a casual tone that had an undercurrent of anger. The verbal barb probably did not come off as very casual, so it might not have its full effect. It was also obvious that the Wizard Saint was bleeding from the cuts Armina had managed to land on her, so the taunt might lose more of its potential impact because of that.

Armina had been hit by the Air Pressure spell and had lost some of her speed because of an effect of the spell, but that did not keep her from trying to take another swing at the blonde. Thanks to the maid being slowed down Leona had enough room to dodge the ax swing by doing a sidestep to the right. If the maid looked closely she could see the blonde wince when she put her left foot down, which would show her that the cut just below the blonde's left knee had done something beyond just drawing blood.

Leona took a moment to think of her next attack on the maid and was almost ready to make it when she heard the dark-haired mage talk to her. The question about why she put so much effort into trying to defend Hargeon Town was followed by a reference to the ongoing war. The big punch came when the lowest moment in Leona's life was mentioned... the outcome of the Ishgar Symposium.

Leona felt the familiar emotions of shame and humiliation wash over her and temporarily dampen her anger as she recalled all the things she could had done differently. She recalled the humiliation of having to rely on Kyran, Maven, and Lehanna to get anything done because she was stupid enough to not pack a ranged weapon for possible combat. She recalled everything she did wrong and recalled the feeling that the tragic outcome of the Ishgar Symposium was her fault thanks to the long list of stupid mistakes she had made that day.

She was supposed to be a Wizard Saint, a powerful mage and a great hero who could save the day no matter how badly the odds were stack against her.

On that day she was just a waste of space, a big failure who did not deserve to call herself a Wizard Saint.

Maybe she should have given up the title and let someone who was more competent become a Wizard Saint.

Then her anger came back in full force when she snapped back to the present and thought back to the dark-haired mage bringing up the Ishgar Symposium. She was so angry that she bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. Leona quickly spun around to face the dark-haired mage before delivering her response.

"SHUT UP! WHEN I TAKE CARE OF YOUR MAID YOU'RE NEXT!" Leona shouted, jabbing her right index finger at the mage. It was painfully obvious that the Ishgar Symposium was a sore point with the blonde. There was no hiding it and Leona did not even try to hide how she felt.

She then turned back to the maid and extended her right arm, aiming her right index finger at the purple-haired nuisance before channeling silver magic that formed into a marble on her fingertip. When the spell was ready Leona fired the Wind Bullet at the maid.

Armina had already seen the spell, so she might be able to dodge it if she were fast enough. Wind Bullet could also be endured with strong enough armor or magical shields. The spell also had a chance of missing on its own because of Leona's fury possibly throwing off her aim. Leona had her teeth clenched in anger as she watched Armina to see if the Wind Bullet would hit or not.

[Post Word Count: 932]
[Leona's Word Count: 12,432]
[Total Word Count: 25,263]

Spells Used:

Her tactics seemed to be working and Medeia briefly chuckled, in answer to Leona’s angry outburst at her, a sign of just how pleased she was with how the confrontation was going. It was just becoming so easy for the dark mage to break through the Silver Wolf Guild Mistresses mental barriers. It brought the witch more joy than she could have thought possible and she took such delight from making the blonde woman suffer in such a way. Yes, she enjoyed beating someone by using her potent magical powers but there was just something about breaking an individual’s mind that was oh so invigorating. Leona was such fun and the dark haired woman had no intention of stopping her mental assault, not when it was working so well and bringing her such joy.

“So that is the cause of your misery. You failed at the precise moment when your talents were needed most. All you could do was watch as that magical explosion killed hundreds, thousands of innocent Joyans and it haunts you to this day. Oh, that must have some damage to that ego of yours. To learn just how completely useless you are in such an extravagant and painful way. Tell me, Leona, do you see their faces at night? Do you hear those poor cat boys and girls screaming as they are enveloped by such wicked magic? I was actually there as well although my job was simply to keep the various groups from butchering each other. It was quite the spectacle indeed.” Her tone was silky smooth but so patronising that it would annoy the most calm of people, devoid of any sympathy. “I will tell you this much. If you lose to us then you might just see another spectacle just like it, right here in Hargeon.” She was capable of such magic, as the people of both Shirotsume and Cedar had discovered. So had the Bellum forces during the battle between them and Pergrande, come to that.

Armina had the difficult part of the job and as Leona focused upon her again, the maid could sense the magical power of her enemy growing. The anger was definitely radiating from her now and the purple haired woman was not all that sure as to just how long she would remain in the fight. Still, that did not matter and she was not going to go down until she had no energy left to harness. She was enjoying herself too much to let the battle end any other way and seeing Leona so angry was actually rather appealing to the maid. It was so rare that she came up against someone who let their emotions run as rampant as she did, so it was rather refreshing. Most mages that she and her Mistress fought were always holding back, which did take the fun out of things.

The maid had seen the Wind Bullet before and even with her delayed reaction times, she was just about able to get out of the way of the attack. There was a furiousness behind the spell though and Armina could feel it, even without actually being hit. Their ploy was working and Leona was definitely giving in to her more primal urges. The look on the blonde woman’s face made her heart beat faster and she was soon talking again herself. “You should have fought like this from the start, Leona, it would have saved us all so much time. I must admit that you are even sexier when you are angry.” She knew that the reaction from the Guild Mistress was probably not going to be great for her but the maid was beyond caring about her own well being. It was all a part of the plan.

She did not have anything else to use in terms of new spells but Armina did notice that Leona was favouring the leg that the maid had cut previously. It was a target and one that the warrior would try to exploit, delivering a low sweep with her axe that was directed at her opponent's legs. The damned slow effect was still upon her though, making it difficult for Armina to move with her usual speed but she was stubborn and tried to push through it.

(716 Words)
(13547 Med WC)
(25979 TWC)

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Leona shouted at the maid and mistress after the latest round of remarks from them. She was obviously in a very bad mental state and the dark-haired mage's remarks were not helping at all. The latter had no idea how deep Leona's regrets were. If she ever stopped to think about the Ishgar Symposium Leona sometimes found herself going over all of the stupid mistakes she had made and almost always fell into shame and self-loathing over all the ways she had messed up. Therefore she desperately tried to forget the Ishgar Symposium so that she could pretend to be a functional human being instead of showing the world what she really was, a desert bumpkin who had gotten in way over her head with the "Guild Mistress" and "Wizard Saint" business.

Leona was not going to let a repetition of the Ishgar Symposium happen here. She was going to put an end to the maid and mistress before they could destroy Hargeon Town for their own sadistic amusement. The Wizard Saint would do everything she could not to fail again like she had on the fateful day that haunted the blonde even now.

Leona was barely in control of herself at this point. She wanted to shut her opponents up so that she did not have to hear any more comments about her greatest failure. She started thinking about the Ishgar Symposium and everything she had done wrong. She started thinking about how useless she was and how useless she would have been without Kyran, Maven, and Lehanna to pick up the slack. Leona was going to be haunted by her mistakes for a very long time, if not the rest of her life, but right now the desire to make her enemies pay for reminding her of the worst moment of her life drowned out the melancholy she would normally feel over the Ishgar Symposium and she focused on the present again.

By the time the fight was over her enemies would regret ever bringing that event up.

The chatty maid would be the first to feel Leona's wrath.

The infuriated Wizard Saint saw the ax swing aimed at her legs and performed a backflip to avoid it. Leona landed on her feet and winced from the pain in her right leg, but she did not let that minor inconvenience slow her down for long, not while her enemies were still breathing. She intended to stop fighting only when her enemies were lying on the ground in defeat.

Once the maid's attack had been dodged Leona took a moment to think of how she wanted to counterattack. That did not take very long because the blonde's mind was focused on how to make Armina pay for the mistakes of coming back for a second round and continuing to taunt her. Once she made up her mind Leona took a short hop forward and landed in front of the maid, then prepared a Silver Blade spell.

Leona put the index and middle fingers of her right hand together and formed a fist with the rest of her fingers. She put her right hand down at her side and channeled magic into them until they began glowing silver. When the spell was ready Leona quickly brought her right hand diagonally up in front of her face with the glowing index and middle fingers exposed, then slashed diagonally downward in a right-to-left slash that was aimed at the maid's torso.

Since she had already seen Silver Blade in action once before, Armina might be able to react in time and dodge it. The spell could also be endured if the armor or magical shield it was being used against was strong enough to withstand the spell. Whether Silver Blade hit or not it was a very strong message from the Wizard Saint to the maid and mistress that the person they had deliberately riled up was going to make them pay for their folly.

[Post Word Count: 670]
[Leona's Word Count: 13,102]
[Total Word Count: 26,649]

Spells Used:

The attacks from the Guild Mistress were becoming stronger and even with the armour spell, the maid was beginning to feel the effects. She did not have Medeia’s stamina or reserves and soon enough, the purple haired warrior would start to tire. For the moment, she was alright but the time would come where her body would struggle to do what she wished it to and the movement speed effect that was still affecting her only made things worse. She was slowly becoming a sitting duck for the powerful Silver Wolf mage but Armina still had her pride and she did not wish to go out by being protected by her Mistress. If she was going to be forced to regenerate then it was going to happen when and where she wished it. Besides, her mind was so consumed by the thrill of the fight that practically any and all rational thought had been replaced by that delightful desire to smash her axe over Leona’s head and splatter the entire dock with her blood. She could smell the crimson liquid from her opponents wounds and it was driving her mad with lust, causing her to fall completely and utterly in a state of ecstasy.

Leona attacked again and once more, it was a manoeuvre that the maid had seen before. Time was short and so the maid would suddenly disappear, using her teleporting ability to briefly vanish and reappear around the back of the blonde mage. She honestly did not desire to take too many hits from that particular spell, as the purple haired maid knew how deadly it was. Even Medeia’s powerful defence had trouble keeping that at bay and Armina wanted to keep the armour intact for as long as she could. Taking her chance to attack in return, the maid would briefly channel her axe, before slamming it into the wooden dock, resulting in a powerful pulse of magical power to burst from the point of impact. It was a potent spell and could knock back the blonde if she was too close from the force of it. The reason for the particular spell was clear though. A sign that she was not willing to concede the battle and would fight until there was nothing left. Her magical power might have only been tiny compared to Medeia’s but her will to win and desire for carnage were just as strong, perhaps even more so in some ways.

Still sitting on her barrel, Medeia’s smile was rather wide at this point. The scent of rage and wrath from the neutral mage was almost overpowering and that was precisely what the witch had been hoping for. The stronger it became, the easier it would be for Medeia to devour and manipulate it, allowing it to become her power. Leona was the ideal opponent for her and it was all too easy for the dark mage to probe and prod at her ever increasingly fragile psyche. There would be no letting up. Not for a moment. The dark haired woman would push this woman so far that the last fragment of control that she possessed would crash and burn, leaving her with nothing but volcanic rage and her clearly painful regrets.

Regrets that Medeia would soon try to exploit again as she briefly tapped into one of her more unusual abilities. Her form would briefly change, causing her to sport a pair of cat ears, along with a tail. Being the God of Takeover that she was, it was all so easy for her to manipulate her own body and transformation magic was as easy as breathing to her. Once she was ready, the Warlord started to desperately shout and scream, her voice high pitched as she attempted to mimic a petrified group of Joyans, her voice changing constantly. “Please help us! Our homes are burning and my sister will not move! Where are the Florians who have come to help? My tail is on fire! Everything is going dark! We have lost everything! Felidae is gone! Our lives are ruined! HELP US! PLEASE!”

The Errings Rising Guild Mistress was enjoying herself immensely and if Leona spent one second looking at her, she would be able to read that oh so clearly from her expression alone.

(716 Words)
(14263 Med WC)
(27365 TWC)

Leona frowned when her Silver Blade spell missed, but that was to be expected. Armina had seen it once before, so she knew how to counter it and she chose to counter it by a display of speed. Leona had very little time to feel upset about being unable to hit with the Silver Blade spell because she needed to find Armina again before it was too late. Leona had lost track of the murderous maid at a very bad time, but her instincts told her to turn around and she obeyed them. Leona completed the turn only to find an energy pulse traveling towards her.

The Wizard Saint had been caught flat-footed by her opponent's sudden relocation and was not expecting an attack like the one she was facing to follow. As a result Leona was unable to dodge it in time and was hit by the pulse. It hit her with force that was much greater than anticipated, sending her back several feet and causing her to almost lose her footing but failing to knock her down. When she recovered from the knockback Leona's left leg experienced a jolt of pain centered around the cut, but she was still able to use the limb freely... for now.

The maid's attack had hit harder than expected and she did not anticipate it knocking her back several feet, but Leona was far from finished. She still had plenty of stamina and plenty of magic power to use. She also had plenty of adrenaline flooding her body and keeping her on her feet. With all of those things combined the Wizard Saint had everything she needed to beat the maid into submission so that she could take on the dark-haired mage and end the threat to Hargeon Town.

Leona was trying to decide what spell or technique to use against Armina next when she began to hear voices. They were not just any voices... they were the voices of people in distress. Hoping that none of Hargeon Town's citizens had gotten caught in the fighting, Leona looked towards the source of the voices and spotted something that drained the color from her face and drained the anger from her.

She saw a cat person!

Leona involuntarily took a step back, then another. She took a third step back before she finally stopped in place.

What was going on here?

Was the cat person really there or was Leona just seeing a ghost?

Leona was not sure what was going on here, but she did not like it. All of her suppressed memories of the Ishgar Symposium came roaring back, especially those pertaining all of the mistakes she had made and the overall result of her mistakes. The Wizard Saint's eyes lost their focus as the voices from earlier echoed in her mind.... she did not dare look at the cat person. She had no right to look at them, so she turned her eyes towards the ground.

So many people had died because of her incompetence.

So many people had had their lives cut short but Leona was still alive.

Did some cosmic entity let her live through the symposium just to enjoy the pain she felt whenever she thought about the event?

With great effort Leona raised her eyes from the ground and forced herself to look at the cat person, if only to make herself see the cost of her incompetence at the Ishgar Symposium. The pain on the Wizard Saint's face was plain as she made eye contact and struggled not to look away. After several seconds of forcing herself to look the blonde noticed that the cat person was not glaring at her in anger or showing an expression of mourning. They were smiling at her. Leona could not handle that and felt a surge of confusion and guilt.

"WHY ARE YOU SMILING AT ME?!" Leona shouted a question with a mix of confusion and guilt on her voice. She wanted to know what was worth smiling about. The Wizard Saint was in a very bad mental place and wanted answers as soon as possible.

[Post Word Count: 688]
[Leona's Word Count: 13,790]
[Total Word Count: 28,053]

Her attempt at trying to deceive her foe had almost worked too well and the smile on Medeia’s face did not disappear at first. Leona was completely psyched out and all the witch had to do was keep pushing her further into the depths of despair. There was no need for any mastery of body language to tell that the blonde was suffering and it amused the Warlord that she had probably dealt more damage with her words than her maid had with her axe. It was fantastic and the dark mage had no intention of taking her foot off the peddle. She would continue to force this woman to face her fears and regrets until she either melted with fear or became enraged beyond belief. Medeia did not honestly care which as both would benefit her immensely, not to mention amuse her greatly. For a mage who seemed incredibly stoic at first, Leona was definitely opening up now and quickly.

Sticking to one voice now, young and frightened, Medeia would reply soon enough to Leona’s question. “Why am I smiling? If I do not smile then…then I will burst into tears like a dam bursting its banks. I have nothing left. No family, no money, no home. Everything was taken from me when that spell hit and no one did the slightest thing to try and stop it. You Fiorians never cared about our well being and you gladly sacrificed us in an attempt to get Pergrande and Bellum talking. We happily welcomed you all to our precious country and what happened? One of our main cities was wiped out in a flash. I lost everything and so did so many other Joyans. I am one of thousands, Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf and we hold you and your fellow mages responsible for what happened to us.”

A tear formed and ran down Medeia’s face as she spoke, her sadness appearing to be so genuine that even the stoutest of hearts would struggle to keep their composure. It had been a long time since she had played such a role and the Warlord was honestly quite grateful to have the opportunity to stretch her acting wings, so to speak. Her body started to shake as she began to weep but the words did not stop flowing from her. “Look at me and know that there are so many more like me back home. Desperate, destitute, alone. We are so hopelessly lost that we will probably never open our borders to the outside world again and you can be damn sure that we will never make any kind of deal with Fiore again. There are so many of us who are beyond sad, beyond angry. Revenge is what they seek and sooner or later…it might just happen.”

Sighing bitterly, Medeia would speak one more time for the moment. “You have turned our paradise into a complete and utter hell. I hope you can live with yourself because there were so many of us who were relying on you. A Wizard Saint is supposed to be a champion and symbol of your country, no? Well, I for one would be quite happy never to meet one again.”

Armina could have attacked Leona at that point but even she was somewhat captivated by what was going on and knowing that Medeia would not wish for her interference, she simply remained where she was, silently using the Warlord’s armour spell to remove the movement debuff. It would be a silent manoeuvre. Besides that though, she took no action, her axe coming to a rest position before her, awaiting Medeia’s next order.

(608 Words)
(14871 Med WC)
(28661 TWC)

Leona listened as the cat person laid everything out for her. Each allegation hit the blonde hard because no matter what her degree of responsibility for what had happened in Joya she was there when it happened. The blonde could not muster the words for a response and stood in awkward, uncomfortable silence that was amplified by feelings of intense guilt. That inability to speak lasted until she heard about the possibility of revenge being in the cards.

The more she thought about the situation the more Leona's guilt was starting to be submerged by anger, anger that she was the one being taken to task, not the people who planned and committed the act of mass destruction. While it was apparent to her that the guilty parties needed to be found and apprehended before they could face the consequences they deserved, she did not get why she was being singled out by the person in front of her. Maybe it was because of her status as a Wizard Saint. That made her a high-profile target and an easy one to blame whenever things went wrong.

Even though that logic was not the best there was a tiny bit of reason behind it... a very tiny one. Leona was supposed to be among the best of the best, but on that day she had been a disgrace to the Wizard Saints. She had performed so badly that she looked like a complete novice and it had been up to others to salvage the situation. While she was guilty of breathtaking stupidity, mass murder of the innocent was not a crime that could be rightfully laid at her feet.

"DON'T BLAME ME FOR EVERYTHING! BLAME THE ONES WHO ACTUALLY DESTROYED THE CITY! THEY'RE THE ONES YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ANGRY AT!" Leona shouted at the cat person despite herself, her right fist clenched in anger and her tone sharp. She blamed herself enough for what had happened and she did not need anyone heaping more blame onto her. She was tired of being the scapegoat. She was keenly aware of the price of her failure and the regret ate at her every single day. Some days were a lot harder than others and this was looking like it was going to be one of those really hard days.

To hear the cat person tell it the Wizard Saint had plotted the destruction of the city before even arriving in the country for the symposium. They made it sound like Leona had played everyone like a pack of cards by pretending to be a hero until the time was right to condemn thousands to death and many more to destitution. Leona did not appreciate the accusing tone of the cat person's last statement at all and it showed in her voice and body language.

The blonde should have known better than to act like she was acting, but she was not thinking clearly. Guilt and anger had mixed into a cocktail that was nearly as strong as the combination of anger and adrenaline she had felt earlier and it was threatening to run away with her. She would accept her share of the blame, but she was not going to be the scapegoat for everything.

Leona's anger remained high as she waited for the cat person to speak again. She was feeling guilty over shouting at them and knew that was not helping her case at all by shouting at them, but that guilt was mingled with anger over perceived mistreatment. While what had happened in Joya was a tragedy and Leona felt terrible about it, Leona was not going to be a punching bag for the cat person. Being a nice Wizard Saint had gotten her nowhere, so it was time to become a little less pleasant.

Leona's outward anger was a cover for her intense self-loathing, but the cat person did not need to know that.

Even as she stood in anger and defiance the self-loathing was burning Leona inside. Leona had to fight to cover it up because if she did not she would give in to it and go to an even darker place in her mind. She did not need to be weak now, not when she was trying to stand her ground and defend herself.

[Post Word Count: 720]
[Leona's Word Count: 14,510]
[Total Word Count: 29,381]

“I blame them too.” The catgirl replied, her tail moving agitatedly from left to right. “I blame every single person who came to that damn gathering. Every man and woman, from all sides. It could all have been averted if the adults in the situation would have just sat and discussed the matter behind closed doors. There was no need for the big show that was made about the treaty and all of that rubbish. All that did was mark Felidae for every terrorist in the world to go after. Any self serving dark mage would have been salivating at the chance to make a name for themselves and that is precisely what happened. At the cost of thousands of my fellow Joyan’s and the loss of a city. I do not know if we will ever be able to recover from the attack but if and when we do, our culture will never be the same again. The kind and outgoing Joyan people are no more and we will not trust anyone again. Our borders are closed to all, no matter who they are.”

Medeia stood up at that point, standing noticeably shorter than she had while portraying her usual appearance. It all added to the persona that she was playing, her currently blue eyes shining with tears. There was nothing about her that would appear anything but genuine and as she stopped before the blonde woman and looked up at her, she would look oh so fragile. “Can you understand that? What it is like for your entire culture to change in a flash? To go from loving life to fearing for it in a moment? To become so scared that you have no idea who to trust and what to do? Your family and home, gone because of one mad mage and an incompetent security force.”

Trembling, she would briefly pause again, before continuing. “It is all so easy for you. To just walk away from it all and live your life as though nothing happened. You walk around this country, the great Leona Jarnefeldt, a Wizard Saint with all the power in the world and yet when you were needed, more than ever, you fumbled and left my fellow Joyans to die. Yes, you are not the only one responsible for it but you deserve to bear some of the guilt and just a small fraction of the pain that we have felt. Do you honestly expect me to just drape an arm around your shoulder and say that it is all fine? I cannot and will not do that. We have not even received a word of apology from your country from its inaction that day. Nothing. I hope that Bellum and Pergrande blast the living hell out of each other, as that might just bring a small amount of joy to the Joyan race.”

The Warlord looked as though she was on the verge of breaking down in tears completely, yet underneath that facade, Medeia was smiling inside. She took such pleasure from mentally torturing this woman and although she was uncertain as to who would be victorious in a magical fight, the witch was almost certain that she would in a more cerebral one. Now that she had hacked through the blonde’s tough exterior, she wanted to go for the jugular and finish the Silver Wolf mage mentally. The dark haired woman truly did not wish to kill this woman, despite how strong she was and still desired an alternative, one that preferably involved wrapping the blonde up and flying off with her. An unlikely scenario but perhaps if she caused her to crack completely? It was worth the effort.

It was only then that Armina spoke, her tone gentle and tender as she spoke to the catgirl. “Poor girl. They took everything from you and then discarded you. I know how that feels, better than most.”

(654 Words)
(15525 Med WC)
(30035 TWC)

Leona had to concede that what had happened in Joya had the potential to be the catalyst for a major culture shift. She also had to concede that some of the blame was rightfully hers. The sticking point with the Wizard Saint was exactly how much blame she deserved for the outcome of the Ishgar Symposium. That was a complicated issue that could not be discussed and resolved in a single day. Of course that belief could be something concocted by Leona to try and protect her fragile self-esteem from being ground down further than it already had on and after that fateful day.

"No, I can't say that I know what it's like to live through such a rapid culture shift." Leona conceded to the cat person. As small as her home village was its culture had been stable for the sixteen years she had lived in it. She had to admit that the cat person had a point on that subject.

Leona resented the implication that she got to walk away from the tragedy and go on living without a care in the world and it showed on her face. She clenched her teeth again before managing to calm herself down enough to keep herself from shouting. While she was not as angry as she had been earlier, she was not speaking with a soft voice when she gave her response.

"If you think that I just skipped off into the sunset and forgot about everything that happened, you're wrong. I think about what happened in Joya every day. I admit that I messed up in too many ways to count and I wish that I could take all of my mistakes back and have another chance to do things right, but I can't. I'm stuck living with the knowledge that so many people died because of my stupidity." Leona attempted to defend herself from the implication that she did not care about what happened in Joya because her home was intact.

Leona could not stand to see, hear, or read anything about the Ishgar Symposium. She had tried to block out the memories and distract herself with adventures, but that did not work for very long because she found herself thinking about the symposium anyway. There were plenty of days that she wished that she could go back in time and stop herself from making the long list of stupid mistakes that had contributed to the tragedy. On a few days her self-loathing was so great that she did not want to see herself in the mirror.

Leona struggled with any discussion concerning emotions and she was not the most empathetic person in the world, but she was far from the heartless person the cat person tried to paint her as. To her that kind of talk was just the cat person trying to lay all the blame at her feet because she was a high-profile mage. While the Wizard Saint had a lot of regrets over her numerous mistakes, Leona would not stand for being a scapegoat because the cat person was looking for someone to blame and the blonde was the first person connected to the event they could find.

Leona listened to Armina offer words of comfort to the cat person and did not comment on them. When she heard them the blonde's anger began to subside: she had opened her right hand again and her facial expression had changed from angry and defiant to regretful. Her eyes were also unfocused. She was reliving the worst day of her life and feeling the regrets all over again thanks to being forced to confront a chapter of her life she would rather not think about.

[Post Word Count: 620]
[Leona's Word Count: 15,130]
[Total Word Count: 30,655]

There was such a coldness to the blonde or at least that is what it seemed to the witch. Even the hardest of souls would show something in the way of emotions from the Joyan disaster and yet all Medeia was getting from the Silver Wolf Guild Mistress was anger although the angel was fairly sure that it was more than likely directed at Leona herself more than her. The Warlord did not expect the blonde to burst into tears at her words but at least some sadness was reasonable surely? It aroused the currently cat themed woman’s curiosity even more and she pondered as to just how far she could push it. The topic was such a sore one for the neutral mage that it was enough to set her off and send her into what appeared to be a regretful state but there was no apology from Leona for her own failures, no empathy towards the Joyans who had lost their homes and livelihoods. Just how tough had this woman’s life been to have turned her into a rock hard individual? Medeia wished to know, now more than ever.

The catgirl would take another step forward so that she was right in front of the blonde and spoke once more. “Even when you speak with regret, there is still that sense that you do not truly mean what you are saying in my eyes. Do you have no empathy for those in need? No sympathy for those who have lost it all? I knew that mages could be cold but you are something else entirely. I bet even the person who cast the spell had moments where they regretted casting that damned weapon of mass destruction. You have not uttered one word of apology to me regarding your own failures and while that cannot undo the damage that has been done, it could at least prove that you have a heart beating in your chest. Is that what a Wizard Saint truly is Leona? A mage who stands so much higher than everyone else that they no longer have any feelings other than anger and pride? No one should look at you and feel anything other than contempt. That goes for the others in your ilk too. Your title is based on falsehoods, as you are anything but courageous.”

Folding her arms across her shoulder, the cat girl would almost hiss as spoke again. “A courageous person would admit their guilt and beg for forgiveness from the Joyan people. They would not utter pitiful excuses and instead just admit that they completely and utterly failed when they were needed most.”

She just kept pushing at the woman’s psyche, continually attacking the woman’s mind and soul with her endless and unforgiving barrage of words. Medeia would force the blonde to face all of her regrets and fears by the time that she was finished with her. The Warlord had seen Wizard Saints helpless in front of her before and although the last time had been through combat rather than mentally breaking her foe. Still, the sense of elation and control would be just as great, with her dearly wishing to see the woman at her mercy.

Armina would be as helpful as ever by adding afterwards. “Apologise? You expect that from a high and mighty Wizard Saint? There is as much chance of the sky falling or the oceans flooding the Earth. Her soul is an empty void, a blank nothingness that cares for nothing but her own reputation and pride. The only reason she fought with me was because she thought she could restore her reputation by beating me.”

(611 Words)
(16136 Med WC)
(31266 TWC)

Leona was not sure what the cat person wanted from her. She was not sure whether they wanted revenge for what happened in Joya or wanted Leona to grovel before them and apologize. Hearing the part about the one responsible for the spell made the blonde's anger flare up again and the obvious cheap shot at her courage made sure it stayed there.

"I bet you the one who cast the spell didn't have a single regret. They didn't care how many people were going to lose their lives when they did what they did." Leona replied sternly. The one responsible was not likely to feel any remorse for condemning so many innocent people to death and countless more to destitution. If they had had any serious second thoughts about what they were doing they would not have cast the spell to begin with. Of course that was just speculation... she did not have any way to prove her hypothesis.

"If you're expecting me to break down crying and screaming about what happened you're not gonna get it. I'm more interested in finding who cast the spell and bringing them to justice. Finding them and bringing them in to face justice would do more for Joya than any amount of apologizing I could do." Leona told the cat person not to expect any waterworks from her. Crying was not going to bring anyone back and it was not going to rebuild lost homes. Even if she apologized for what had happened there might still be people who wanted her dead anyway.

Besides, she had cried enough during her childhood in Desierto to last the rest of her life. While she had no idea how tough life was in Joya after the tragedy, her own childhood in Desierto had been rather rough... Leona had certainly not been born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She did not live in a comfortable home in an urban or suburban area; she lived in a tent in a remote desert village.

She was sure that her early life was a large contributor to why she did not feel very much emotion. Seeing so many people in her home village being killed in bandit raids or being carted off into slavery had stunted Leona's ability to feel and express emotion from an early age. Living through that did not do Leona any favors and the effects carried over into her adulthood, where she still did not feel emotion very strongly except when she was angry or embarrassed.

Hearing Armina talk more trash brought the blonde back to the present and stoked Leona's anger. She did not know why the maid cared about the cat person so much. The maid certainly had not cared about the people of Hargeon Town when the Wizard Saint encountered the purple-haired menace earlier.

"No, I fought the maid in front of you because she thought it'd be a fun idea to kill her way through Hargeon Town. She thought it was amusing to kill people who had no chance to defend themselves and I chose to stop her. Believe it or not I'm trying to prevent a repeat of what happened in Joya." Leona made a response to Armina's nonsense with a definite edge on her voice. She doubted that the cat person would listen to her anyway. The person needed someone to blame for what happened and she had settled on Leona. No amount of crying, apologizing, or talking would sway someone like that, so there was no point in bothering.

At least that was what Leona kept telling herself.

She knew that she sounded callous about what happened by refusing to apologize. However, she had lost a lot of sympathy for the cat person the moment they started blaming her for their problems. Leona had played a part in them due to her numerous mistakes, but to hear the cat person tell it Leona was the primary perpetrator of the destruction, not whoever actually did it. Whatever. Leona was getting tired of being verbally kicked around by someone who was looking for a scapegoat and chose the Wizard Saint.

She was tired of being kicked around by someone who had no idea how she felt.

She regretted what happened at the Ishgar Symposium every day and wished that she could undo each and every one of her mistakes.

She was tired of the cat person thinking that just because she was not on her knees crying and begging for forgiveness that she was not feeling true regret.

The internal conflict between pragmatism and basic human decency was showing on Leona's face. Her eyes were unfocused, her posture was slumped, and her hands were by her sides. She was alternating between intense anger mixed with self-loathing and regret mixed with self-loathing. She was on an emotional roller coaster and it showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

[Post Word Count: 820]
[Leona's Word Count: 15,950]
[Total Word Count: 32,086]

“Cold, arrogant and heartless.” The catgirl replied, gazing up at the Guild Mistress. “You are the epitome of everything that a Wizard Saint truly stands for. I suppose it is only right to assume that those are traits that the people of Fiore believe to be the most important. The more I hear you say, the more I believe that you are no different from the one who unleashed that spell. Do you mages sacrifice your souls in exchange for power or something? Is losing your humanity just a part of becoming a strong mage? How sad. To become so incapable of feeling that even a country’s destruction means nothing to you. Fine. Do not apologise to my people. Pass the buck on to someone else for your failures. I suppose you blame others for all of your other failures too?” Her tone had become harsh, the blue eyes of the girl blazing with emotion.

The maid simply smiled, detecting the edge to Leona’s voice, seemingly unconcerned by the tone. “Who will you blame if you are unable to do that? You underestimate us, Leona, you have all along and the fact that you are falling to pieces is a testament to that. You are falling apart inside, held together by what remains of your pride. I know you hate us but I am starting to wonder if the one you truly hate is yourself. You hate the woman that you see when you look in the mirror and are so filled with self loathing that it is driving you mad. I think that deep down you are begging for a fight, against someone who can take everything you have. You have so much anger and hatred bottled up that it will suffocate you if you do not release it.”

Armina moved in behind the blonde although it was not an aggressive action and there was no sign that the maid was going to do anything other than talk. “The truth is that you do not want to fight us because you want to save this town. You want to fight us because deep down you are the same as us. You are a warrior, Leona, of that we have no doubt but from the way you are speaking, you are just as much a monster as we are. Your heart is like a rock, hardened to the point where you are unable to shed a single tear. Is the sweet little cat girl right, Leona? Have you lost your humanity and become something else? You have lived a tough life, we can see that, which stems from far further back in your past than that day in Joya. No, you have had it rough all along.”

The maid made an assumption then, continuing after a moment’s pause. “Did the great Wizard Saint come from an unhappy home?” Maybe one where her parents struggled to put food on the table and keep our family fit and healthy? Was her life so bad that she buried all of her feelings and became the automaton she is now to shield herself from the pain? So often do we come across mages who tell us similar stories. It seems that almost every one is bogged down by the weight of their terrible childhood. They then sit in my Mistresses loving arms and sooner or later, they reveal every horrible moment to her, opening their hearts to her in a way that they have never done before.”

Deciding to reveal her true appearance once again at that precise moment, Medeia would access her magic and revert back to her true form, mere inches from Leona’s face. “Yes they do and I remember every single one of them. I twist and play with their minds until they have no idea which way is up anymore, they break and become mine.” She mockingly chuckled directly in the Wizard Saint’s face at that point. “There was no cat girl. Only me, toying with you… like a cat with a mouse.”

(673 Words)
(16809 Med WC)
(32759 TWC)

When the cat person started bashing Leona herself the blonde's patience with the "conversation" had almost vanished. It seemed like "Bash The Wizard Saint" was the cat person's reason for talking to the blonde. Leona was originally not going to dignify any of it with a response, but the part about responsibility compelled her to speak.

"No, all of my mistakes were my fault. Whether they were made at the Ishgar Symposium or somewhere else, they're my fault." Leona replied with an obvious edge to her voice. She was far from the best Wizard Saint and she should probably step down before she made herself look like even more of an idiot somewhere in the future, but she was going to at least try to get her act together before she made a decision whether to keep going or step down and make way for someone smarter and more competent. While she might be an idiot, Leona did not blame any of her fellow mages for what had happened at the Ishgar Symposium. Kyran, Lehanna, and Maven deserved none of the blame because they did everything they could to complete the mission while Leona was the dead weight who needed rescuing from her own stupidity.

Leona's mood did not improve when Armina started speaking at length about the blonde's mental state. The blonde did not believe any of the nonsense coming out of Armina's mouth. Leona frowned at what she had heard to try and convince Armina and Medeia that the maid was just pulling things out of thin air.

But deep down it was true.

Every single word was true.

While Leona detested the maid and mistress duo for what they planned to do to Hargeon Town, to find the one she really hated all she needed to do was look in the mirror. The maid had hit the nail on the head in that regard and Leona was trying to cover up its effect on her. Leona was genuinely angry, but that was not a very good cover for her emotions.

Next the Wizard Saint listened to Armina give a detailed appraisal of her character and call her a warrior. Leona let that pass without comment to maintain her cover, but the appraisal had some truth to it. Emotional expression was very difficult for her and she did not feel much empathy either. Either Armina was a mind-reader or she had made some very good guesses because right now she had been quite accurate in her appraisals.

Leona listened to the hypothesis about her upbringing and how it affected her to the present. The blonde continued to frown as Medeia was brought up. Leona was not going to tell the dark-haired mage anything.

"You don't know a single thing about me!" Leona shouted at the maid. It was obvious that the blonde had been more affected by the appraisals than she was letting on. The angry declaration was just a cover for her emotional instability, but they likely already knew that. The blonde was not the best at concealing her emotions and they were threatening to overwhelm her when she needed to be acting with a clear mind.

Leona saw the cat girl suddenly change form to reveal Medeia. The blonde's face went pale for a few moments before the anger took over. Leona bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood for a second time.

She had been played like a kazoo!

"Shut. Up." Leona ordered them before she felt another surge of adrenaline hit her. She clenched her teeth as she stared at the dark-haired mage. Leona had been outwitted and she knew it. Embarrassment, humiliation, and anger all mixed together to produce a very angry Wizard Saint.

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!" Leona shouted at them as their words replayed in her mind. She quickly sprinted away from them to avoid getting caught between the pair if they decided to attack, stopping about six meters away from and behind Armina. She turned and faced the maid and mistress duo and just glared at them as she tried to think of a way to attack them. She wanted to use Silver Tempest so badly, but the point of her fighting Armina and Medeia was to save Hargeon Town, not destroy it.

Leona would just have to come up with another way to attack her enemies... if she could think clearly enough to think of one. The adrenaline was pulling at her mind again and it was pulling hard. The fact that she had been embarrassed and humiliated by her enemies only added fuel to the fire.

[Post Word Count: 774]
[Leona's Word Count: 16,724]
[Total Word Count: 33,533]

Neither of the two women made an aggressive action as Leona moved away and in fact all that happened was for the eyes of both to watch the blonde, the gazes of the pair almost seeming to be trying to penetrate through to the Guild Mistresses soul. There was a rather smug smirk that formed across the features of the holy beings too, a knowing smile that was purely there to annoy their opponent even more. Medeia’s scheme could not have gone any better and the anger and embarrassment that was just streaming from Leona’s form was magnificent. Thanks to the efforts of her and her maid, they had appeared to have shattered the woman’s psyche, which brought the dark haired mage a great deal of satisfaction. She took such delight in mind games although she had not expected it to be quite so easy to get into the head of such a powerful opponent. Still, the results were fantastic and the Warlord had no intention of ceasing with her games. Medeia was certain that there was more enjoyment to be had with the Wizard Saint.

Instead of speaking to Leona straight away, the arms of the Warlord would actually wrap around Armina from behind, causing the maid’s cheeks to briefly turn pink. “You have come a long way in terms of speechcraft, my dear Armina, your words seem to have been as potent and powerful as my own. Who would have thought that you speak in such a way? I underestimated you.” A hint of pride could be detected in her tone at that point. “You cut through her fragile psyche like a hot knife through butter. I will have to let you take the lead next time and see how you handle it.”

The maid seemed lost for words for a moment but soon enough replied. “Thank you for your kind words, Mistress, I have been practicing on the other maids back at the castle and am glad that my efforts are paying off. You played her like an instrument though, I was just happy to have had a part to play too.” A chuckle escaped her lips, as she then looked at Leona. “I am not sure if she can even say anything other than shut up any more. She sounds like a teenager throwing a temper tantrum.” Her tone became more scathing and she tried to mimic Leona at that stage, even if her skills were somewhat inferior to Medeia’s in that department. “Shut up! Shut up! My precious ego cannot take it! Shut up!”

Medeia could not help but smile at her purple haired beloved’s hubris and briefly joined in, her voice changing to match the blonde woman’s. “Shut up! Shut up! My world is falling apart! These nasty mages have uncovered my secret! What should I do? I am not smart enough to fight with my wits and too angry to throw a punch! Maybe if I just stand here and shake then they will just go away!”

Armina snorted with amusement in response. “As fun as it was to hear about you embarrassing Kensho, I must admit that it is much more entertaining when I can see a Wizard Saint being degraded in the flesh. Perhaps once we have had our way with dear Leona here, we can hunt another? Please, Mistress?”

A chuckle escaped the witch at that point. “How can I say no to such a sweet request? Very well. Once we are done here, we will see who else we can find although I confess that I am more interested in going after another member of Silver Wolf. We need to teach Leona a lesson, after all and I have a desire to toy around with those who called her Guild Mistress. Maybe we can find someone close to her who we can have our way with, hmm? Perhaps we can do what we did with Suzhen and leave them tied up in the middle of a public square in their underwear?”

Every word said was another barbed jibe at Leona, mocking her skills, her attitude, her ability to defend those she cared for. It was relentless and what was more? It brought so much pleasure to the two angels, revelling in Leona’s misery.

(714 Words)
(17523 Med WC)
(34247 TWC)

Leona had been played and the anger and embarrassment over that fact were written on her face. She had fallen for it and now Medeia and Armina knew how to wind her up. Leona was mostly responsible for reacting the way she did because she had a reservoir of anger that she needed to keep in check. She knew what she had to do, but actually doing it was going to be much harder than thinking about it.

She watched the pair do their "best" impersonation of her and was not amused by it. It was often said that imitation was the sincerest form of flattery, but in this case Leona was insulted. Their mockery was not what she needed right now. While it was true that she really needed to get a handle on her emotional issues, she did not appreciate a Dark mage and her maid making fun of them. They did not have emotional problems because they did not care about anything but what made them feel good.

Leona had people and places she wanted to defend. She had the burden of being someone people looked to for answers whenever a problem that was too tough for ordinary people to solve came up. She had leadership of a guild whose members depended on her to do her job and do it effectively. It was safe to say that the blonde was under a lot of pressure and that pressure sometimes weighed on her; the most prominent example was the Ishgar Symposium.

That was her most prominent failure and that failure brought all of her personal issues to the surface, issues that Medeia and Armina could and did exploit.

Leona clenched her teeth and fists as she forcibly suppressed the urge to use Silver Tempest to harm her enemies and a destroy good chunk of Hargeon Town. She felt like she was denying part of herself, but it had to be done for the sake of Hargeon Town and everyone in it. After a good deal of effort she managed to subdue the greater part of her rage... for now. The anger was still very much there, but at least she had shoved it down enough to give a coherent response to their mockery that was something other than screaming.

"You two should really go into comedy." Leona made a sarcastic response to their impersonation of her. What she had done was no miracle cure. She was still very angry and she would have to struggle to keep a lid on it to be somewhat focused on stopping them, if only to try and deny them further joke fodder. Having them imitate her voice and liken her to an emotional teenager was bad enough.

Leona's face turned serious as she raised her right hand to prepare a Wind Blast spell. She had heard the latest banter between Armina and Medeia and did not take kindly to the threat against members of Silver Wolf. She was going to let her spell do the talking for her... at least before she heard about what happened to someone named "Suzhen." Leona's face showed visible surprise as she held her right hand out but did not attack... her face turned red from embarrassment because she was at a loss for words. She had no idea how to respond to any of that and it would be obvious that the thought of what happened to Suzhen embarrassed the blonde.

Just what kinds of weird things did Medeia and Armina get up to?

Leona swiftly decided that she was better off not knowing and prepared to attack. She sported a serious facial expression and lowered her right hand for a few moments as she reconsidered her attack plan because holding out her hand might have tipped them off that a Wind Blast was imminent. She mentally cycled through her spells and chose to use Wind Blast anyway because it was a fairly powerful spell and right now she needed a powerful spell to make a point.

Leona quickly raised her right hand towards her opponents and channeled magic into it, then pushed outwards and fired a visible burst of wind at the pair. It was aimed at both Medeia and Armina, but there was no guarantee that it would hit them. They might be fast enough to dodge it or they could generate a shield powerful enough to stop the spell. It might even miss on its own thanks to her preparing it and firing it so fast in an attempt to catch them by surprise.

Having cast the spell, Leona now stood and waited to see what would happen next. She was calm enough to think right now, but her anger was at the back of her mind waiting for a chance to rear its head again.

[Post Word Count: 804]
[Leona's Word Count: 17,528]
[Total Word Count: 35,051]

Spells Used: