Working Towards Reconciliation

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 12, Post Number 276

-The outskirts of Motor City, on board the Albatross, 8:13 A.M.-

Dressed in a black tube top and a pair of khaki short shorts she had recently bought during a trip to Capital Crocus Mall plus white and silver tennis shoes for footwear, Leona was sitting at "her" table in the galley on board the Albatross. She was on her fourth cup of coffee this morning and still felt like garbage. She had not been able to sleep very much last night... she got a total of three hours of uninterrupted sleep in her room at Silver Wolf Guild Hall before boarding the Albatross and setting course for the outskirts of Motor City. Coleridge did the flying, of course.

Now the Wizard Saint was sitting in the galley and trying to work up the courage to go request an audience with Dr. Reid to explain what she had meant a few days ago. However, Leona was not sure that that gesture would be worth the effort because of how long it had been between the incident and now. She had likely destroyed that relationship and was painfully aware of that possibility.

Dr. Reid was not the only person on Leona's mind. She thought about her younger self and what the latter had said about deserving to be alone and was agreeing with that claim. Leona had an uncanny ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and hurt people whether she meant to or not and Dr. Reid was the latest victim of the Wizard Saint's atrocious social skills. Leona regretted that she had not explained herself to the doctor, but it was too late for regrets now because the damage had been done.

Speaking of regrets, Leona had a list of them a mile long and could not stop thinking about them. She regretted how she had treated the doctor during their last meeting. She regretted what she had done during the battle with Medeia over Hargeon Town. She regretted how she had kept Masha at arm's length for so long. She regretted how during their last meeting at the Sommarsun Weeks event in Rose Garden she had told Samira that the latter should have participated in the war between Pergrande and Bellum from the start.

Leona set her nearly empty coffee mug down and stared at the wall in front of her.

She wished that she could take all of those mistakes back and make things right, but that was impossible. She had undoubtedly hurt her relationship with those individuals and she would have to live with that. Leona picked up her mug and as she began to lift it her mind began to wander towards Medeia's "advice" to let go of her regrets and clenched her teeth without realizing it. She did not know she had done that until she went to drink and she felt coffee running down her lips and onto the table. Realizing what had happened, the Wizard Saint jumped up from the table and hurried to get some paper towels with which to clean up the mess.

Thinking of Medeia and their time together quickly put the Wizard Saint in an angry mood. Leona hated every moment of that encounter and the more she thought about it the more her anger grew. She had been played like a kazoo the entire time and her anger began to mingle with embarrassment as she recalled the physical contact Medeia had used as a tool to get her to talk. Leona involuntarily shuddered when she remembered how Medeia hugging her from behind made her feel and her embarrassment momentarily overpowered her anger.

She silently trotted over to the table to clean up the coffee spill and did so in silence while trying to put that subject out of her mind. As soon as she cleaned this mess up she was either going to exit the Albatross and go to Dr. Reid's home to request an audience or give up on the errand and go back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall to do paperwork. She was not sure what she would do, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

-Inside the cockpit, 8:25 A.M.-

Having decided to give up on the errand as a lost cause and go back to the guild hall to do some real work, Leona was sitting in the pilot's seat. She had fastened the safety harness and was about to begin the automated takeoff sequence when she spotted a flash of blonde hair paired with pink approaching her while making motions above their head. Leona blinked as the figure came closer and she began to recognize them as Dr. Reid waving her arms. Not wanting to hit the doctor with the jet wash that would happen when the Albatross went into VTOL Mode for takeoff, Leona canceled the takeoff sequence and powered off the aircraft, then unfastened the safety harness, climbed out of the pilot's seat, and made her way to the cargo bay to disembark and meet the doctor.

-Outside the Albatross, 8:27 A.M.-

Leona had just cleared the cargo ramp when Dr. Reid hurried up to her and stopped an arm's length away.

"Hey Leona! It looks like I caught you in time!" She cheerfully greeted the Wizard Saint. Moments later her eyes moved up and down as she examined Leona's outfit.

"...Do I need to let you get dressed before we continue talking?" Dr. Reid offered to let Leona put on some clothes before they resumed speaking. The Wizard Saint opened her mouth to make a sarcastic remark about the doctor's attire, which was far from professional. Remembering what the reason for this trip was, Leona thought better of it and changed her remark to a less biting one.

"I'll dress up in a few minutes, thanks." Leona replied dryly. Perhaps sensing that Leona was in no mood for nonsense, the doctor let the subject drop.

"Anyway, I'd like to invite you to my lab. We need to talk. About the other day." Dr. Reid stated the purpose of her looking for Leona.

"Yes we do." Leona laconically agreed.

[Post Word Count: 1,026]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,026/11,000]

-Dr. Reid's Laboratory, the mini-kitchen, 9:33 A.M.-

The two blondes had traveled to the doctor's home and were now standing in the mini-kitchen, where both of them had a mug of Motor City Nitro in hand and were sipping from it. Leona was not sure if drinking more coffee behind the four cups of coffee she had had on board the Albatross was a good idea, but right now she was not terribly concerned about that. She was more concerned with what her hostess wanted out of her.

Dressed in the same black tube top she was wearing earlier but having changed into a pair of khaki cargo pants so that she was slightly better-dressed for her conversation with the doctor, Leona had also added her olive green jacket over the tube top but wore the jacket open. Dr. Reid seemed much more comfortable with the Wizard Saint's attire, probably because the latter was no longer wearing short shorts.

"You said the other day that you had an experience that changed your outlook on life." Dr. Reid started off. Leona made eye contact with the doctor.

"Yes. Yes I did." Leona confirmed without going into detail because she needed to come up with a way to explain what that experience was. While she wanted to be honest with the doctor, she also did not want to say "I lost a battle to the Warlord Of Lust and got tied up" because the Wizard Saint did not want to go around advertising that fact. It was something that she would rather not discuss if she could help it.

"And what was that experience?" Dr. Reid asked. Leona's eyes narrowed before she realized what she was doing and they soon returned to normal when she had the realization, but the damage had already been done. Dr. Reid had reacted with a measure of fear at the sight of the green-eyed Wizard Saint focusing her attention on the former for the wrong reasons.

"I can't give details, but it was life-changing." Leona replied in a half-truth that was not elaborated upon because the mage wanted to save face. The other blonde, eager to avoid a clash with the powerful mage standing before her, quickly nodded in agreement several times. Leona felt a surge of guilt over accidentally intimidating the doctor, but the word choice used to ask the question made the conversation sound like the start of an interrogation and the Wizard Saint had momentarily flashed back to the beginning of her time with Medeia.

"OK, so why did you have resentment against me to begin with?" Dr. Reid asked another challenging question of the Wizard Saint. Doing her best to keep her facial features in check this time, Leona thought of an answer to that question. When she had one she took a sip of Motor City Nitro before speaking.

"I resented you because you shot down my inquiry about learning robotics so quickly that it came across as an insult. It was like you thought I was too dumb to learn the skills of that trade." Leona made a frank admission. The other blonde was taken aback by the blunt response to her question and she took a sip of coffee before speaking any further.

"I see." She commented like she had the other day. Leona wondered if that was a prelude to her being quietly shown the door again, but she kept quiet and let the other blonde have uninterrupted time to think. In the meantime the Wizard Saint drank more coffee and waited in silence for her hostess to speak.

"I admit that I might have been a little too quick to shut the discussion down, but my point remains. It'd take you a very long time to learn everything and I doubt that you'd have that kind of time considering that you're a Wizard Saint and a Guild Mistress." Dr. Reid gave a sort-of apology for the quickness with which she had cut off Leona's inquiry but stood firm on the point that learning robotics would take more time than the busy Wizard Saint had. Leona decided to let it slide in favor of keeping the conversation going in a civil direction.

"OK, that's fair." Leona conceded that the reason for refusal was a valid one. Like she had said the other day the resentment was gone, but that was mainly because she had gotten the knowledge she wanted from another source. Now that she did not have to rely on Dr. Reid for that the Wizard Saint could afford to let the resentment towards her go.

"I'm willing to bet that another reason you resented me was the belief that stopping you from learning robotics meant I'd be stopping a potential competitor before they got started." Dr. Reid made a guess on another reason for Leona's resentment towards her.

"Yes." Leona confirmed that the doctor's guess was accurate. Dr. Reid took a breath.

"Well then..." She commented before quickly taking a swig of her drink in a gesture meant to buy time to think. Leona allowed it since she frequently employed the same tactic herself.

[Post Word Count: 858]
[Total Word Count: 1,884/11,000]

After the doctor took a drink of her coffee almost a minute passed before the conversation resumed.

"I'm sorry if what I said and how I said it caused you to resent me." Dr. Reid sort-of apologized if Leona took offense to the former's words and tone. The Wizard Saint did not think it was an actual apology, but she had no room to talk after what she had said a few days ago. She probably had it coming after not explaining herself to the doctor back then.

"It's not your fault, doctor. It's mine. It's my fault for feeling that way even though you were only trying to let me down gently by saying it how you did." Leona assured the other blonde that the resentment was the Wizard Saint's fault. She could have handled it more maturely than how she had ended up handling it. Instead of coming out and telling the doctor how she felt at the time she began to feel resentment she had let it build up until this point, thus blindsiding the doctor when the truth finally came out.

"You should have told me this sooner." Dr. Reid informed the Wizard Saint in a dry and unsympathetic voice. Feeling more than a little frustrated with how her hostess had reacted, Leona tried to keep her temper in check.

"I didn't know how to bring it up without looking like a spoiled child who was throwing a tantrum because they were told no." Leona blurted out in her defense before she had thought her words all the way through. She was getting the uncomfortable feeling that Dr. Reid was going to interrogate her like Medeia had done.

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't like my response to your request?" Dr. Reid asked pointedly without acknowledging what she had just been told. Leona, pushed on the back foot again, struggled to come up with a response that was not blurted out.

"Like I told you earlier, you had a good reason for turning me down. I also didn't want to look like a spoiled child." Leona calmly reiterated the points she had made earlier in an effort to get through to her hostess. Again the doctor remained unmoved.

"You got caught and now you're trying to explain it away in the hopes that you'll stumble on the right words that'll make me forgive you." The doctor let Leona know exactly how she felt about the Wizard Saint. Leona, taken aback by the doctor's aggressive tone and unable to find any words to explain how she was feeling, just kept quiet and let her hostess speak.

"Well, my forgiveness isn't that easy to earn, Leona. You'll have to do more than say the right words in the right sequence for me to forgive you." The doctor continued to rip into Leona. The Wizard Saint, feeling like she was back in Medeia's clutches and being subjected to an interrogation without being able to defend herself out of fear of suffering humiliating punishments if she said something the interrogator did not like, felt a sudden surge of anger. She was tired of being verbally beaten down without being able to say anything in return... she was going to stand up for herself. She made eye contact with the doctor.

"I'm not going to beg you for anything, Doctor." Leona stated plainly. The doctor's expression looked shaken as if the latter had realized that getting aggressive with a Wizard Saint was a bad idea. In a way it had been a bad idea, but Leona was going to use her words to communicate with the doctor, not her fists or her spells.

"I was wrong to resent you. I admit that. But I resented your refusal because I respected you and wanted to be like you." Leona told her hostess in an even tone of voice despite the adrenaline flowing through her body.

"I'm not very smart. I don't have much formal education and I barely know how to use my iLac to call anyone or send text messages. But you're a smart person... you designed the Atlas by yourself and made it a reality. It's an amazing piece of technology if you ask me. I looked up to you because you're so smart and so approachable." Leona confessed that she was not the smartest person alive and confessed that she looked up to the doctor because the latter was easy to approach despite her intelligence. That confession made the other blonde visibly recoil as if she had been punched in the stomach.

"I wanted to make something amazing like the Atlas." Leona said before going quiet to give the doctor a chance to respond to everything that had been said up to this point.

[Post Word Count: 796]
[Total Word Count: 2,680/11,000]

Dr. Reid, who was still off-balance from Leona's words, had to take a bit to finally find her tongue again. When she spoke her tone lacked the flat quality it had had earlier.

"I didn't know you felt that way about me, Leona." Dr. Reid stated in audible surprise.

"I did. I wanted to be able to create something like you, but you were right to have reservations in teaching me. Your reasons were good ones, but I couldn't express that properly." Leona replied in a voice laced with undertones of regret for how she had expressed herself.

It seemed like Leona had finally gotten through to the doctor, but that victory did not feel like much of a win for the Wizard Saint. It felt like Leona had only gotten somewhere because she had pushed around someone who was not a mage and had little chance of defending themselves should she decide that words were not enough to make her point. Whether that was true or not the Silver Wolf mage was not happy with herself for behaving as she did.

As a Wizard Saint and as someone who had been shoved around by others when she was younger she was not supposed to treat other people like that.

"I stand by my refusal, but now I see why you were hurt so badly by it." Dr. Reid stuck to her guns but was now using a much more sympathetic tone in her voice.

"You were right to refuse to teach me. You were only trying to consider my responsibilities when you refused." Leona reiterated her earlier point. The doctor's facial expression changed from surprised to a calmer, happier one.

"I regret that things had to get to this point for us to actually talk, but I'm glad that you were honest with me about everything." Dr. Reid commented. Leona felt another surge of guilt as her anger faded.

"I regret that too." Leona replied. She had probably damaged the relationship beyond repair and the doctor was being nice to try and ease the Wizard Saint's conscience. Whether the relationship was truly over or not Leona had another regret to add to her list.

After that exchange the pair had run out of things to say and an awkward silence filled the mini-kitchen. Each blonde was hoping that the other would say something to get the conversation going again, but neither of them had anything to say. Leona decided that it might be best to give Dr. Reid some space after the emotionally charged conversation they had just finished.

"I'll get going now, Doctor. Thanks for the invitation and the coffee. I'll see myself out." Leona excused herself. She walked away and set her mug down on the counter before turning to leave. She had walked to the front door of the doctor's house and was about to touch the doorknob with her right hand when she heard running.

"Wait!" Dr. Reid called out. Leona lowered her right hand and faced her hostess. Dr. Reid stopped an arm's length away and faced the Wizard Saint.

"I want you to come back in a few days, Leona. I want to talk to you again about something. Next time the conversation will be much more upbeat." She said to Leona, hinting that the two still had a professional relationship.

"All right. I will. Send me a message and I'll be here." Leona accepted the invitation. Dr. Reid smiled.

"See you later, Leona!" She cheerfully bade Leona goodbye. The Wizard Saint waved goodbye with her right hand before opening the door and walking out, then shutting it behind her.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, 3:35 P.M.-

Leona had returned to Silver Wolf Guild Hall roughly an hour ago and was now in her room, where she was picking an outfit to wear in the office. After a few minutes of deciding what to wear she had changed into a long-sleeved blue turtleneck shirt and white capri pants. Now that she was dressed more appropriately for the office she was ready to do the paperwork that was likely waiting on her desk.

-Leona's Room, 3:33 A.M.-

There had been a lot of work to do. She had finished seven stacks of paperwork by 11 P.M. and was about to leave when four additional stacks were placed on her desk before she could even get out of her chair. Being the dutiful Guild Mistress that she was, Leona sat back down to handle those too. Now that her work was finished she could try to sleep for awhile before getting up and returning to her office.

Leona took off her socks and shoes before changing back into her black tube top. After changing her shirt she walked over to her large wardrobe, where she pulled out a pair of blue jean short shorts to put on. Leona put them on and put her white capri pants on the back of her chair with the long-sleeved blue turtleneck shirt she had just taken off and the khaki cargo pants she had worn to Motor City. She was about to go sit down on the edge of her bed when a white envelope was slipped under her door.

The curious Leona walked over to it and picked it up. She carefully opened it with her finger and found a message from Eleanor Crouch inside. Curious as to what the freelance archaeologist might need, Leona began to read the message.

[Post Word Count: 914]
[Total Word Count: 3,594/11,000]

It was a brief message that informed Leona that the freelance archaeologist would need her help with another expedition to the Forgotten Deserts at a time that was "to be determined" because she was having to put everything together. Since there was no date set in stone yet the Wizard Saint would have to keep an eye out for messages with further details as those details were confirmed. Leona lowered the message from Eleanor Crouch and walked over to her desk, then set the paper on top of it while feeling a little deflated.

It had taken Leona longer to open the envelope the letter was in than it took her to actually read it. She could not help but to feel a little disappointed that the expedition was not going to be within the next few days or within the next week, but it could not be helped. She was going to trust Eleanor to take care of all of the details while she took care of the business that might come up before the expedition. Leona was fairly sure that there would be plenty to occupy her time between now and the freelance archaeologist's next letter telling the former that it was time to go to the Forgotten Deserts.

For now she needed to sleep, so she walked over to her bed, sat on the edge, then rolled over onto her side so that she faced the room door. Within minutes Leona was asleep.

-Leona's Room, 12:13 P.M.-

Leona woke up and actually felt decent for once: she had managed to stay asleep the entire time without tossing and turning or waking up and staring at the ceiling. She sat up, swung her feet over the edge of the bed, and planted her feet on the floor before standing up. Leona walked over to her desk chair to change into something more decent before she went to the office and once she was changed into the outfit she had worn yesterday she walked out of the room to go to the guild cafe and get some coffee before getting to work.

-Leona's Room, 11:29 P.M.-

Today had been a decent day at the office because while it had been busy there had not been a whole lot of work dumped onto Leona at once. Instead it had been a steady flow of papers that was manageable and that was not something that happened every day. Leona was not going to complain, though... she would gladly take any day where mountains of papers were not waiting on her attention.

Now she was back in her room and had changed back into the casual outfit she had worn for the past two days to sleep in. Tomorrow Leona would go to Capital Crocus Mall and look for a one-piece swimsuit or two to take with her on her next trip to Lion's Island. Once that was done she would look for jackets in different colors so that she did not have to always wear her olive green one whenever she wanted to cover up a tank top, tube top, or crop top. Leona had found a white jacket she had worn on Lion's Island, but she wanted to see if there were a few more color options she could add to her wardrobe.

-The next day, Leona's Room, 11:45 P.M.-

Leona had intended to go to the mall today, but the moment her feet hit the floor at 10:00 A.M. yesterday she was summoned to the office by a guild staff member, who showed her a desk loaded down with papers that required her attention. She had taken a moment to change into her blue long-sleeved turtleneck t-shirt and white capri pants before heading to the office to do her work. Now Leona was back in her room and feeling more than a little tired from spending virtually all day in the office, but she had finished all of the paperwork. Tomorrow she was going to go to the mall to look for a few articles of clothing and maybe get a meal from somewhere besides the guild hall cafe... not that she had any issue with the quality of the fare served here.

Leona hoped that she would not be confronted with another desk covered with stacks of paper when she woke up tomorrow. If there was a lot of work to do was she would do it and postpone her plans again, perhaps until next week if need be. If there were only a few stacks of paper she would handle them before going to the mall. If Leona's desk had nothing on it she would hurry back to her room, change into some decent clothing, and quickly board the Albatross before the situation changed and she had to do administrative work after all.

[Post Word Count: 806]
[Total Word Count: 4,400/11,000]

-The next day, Leona's Room, 11:22 A.M.-

Leona had woken up at 8:02 A.M. to see whether or not she had any administrative work to do. She had four stacks of papers to do, so she stuck to the plan she had made last night and took care of her responsibility to the guild before leaving the office and heading back to her room to change into more casual clothing for a trip to Capital Crocus Mall. Leona had chosen to wear an open white jacket over a blue tank top and white pleated skirt with black bike shorts on underneath it. She chose to wear her white and silver tennis shoes to complete the look.

Once she was satisfied with her look Leona grabbed enough Jewels to give her some purchasing power, placed them in a pouch she could carry in her jacket pocket, and left her room to head for the Albatross.

-Capital Crocus Mall, 2:50 P.M.-

After landing the Albatross in a large clearing on the outskirts of Capital Crocus and making her way to the mall Leona was now standing inside the entrance hall facing the food court. The Wizard Saint saw that the lines in the food court were so long that they snaked into the entrance hall, leading her to wonder if she should have chosen another day to visit the mall. She assessed the situation and slowly walked towards the lines before making a decision.

Getting a meal here was out of the question, but she could still go shopping for clothing.

With that having been decided, Leona moved to the right of the nearest line of people and somehow squeezed by them, then entered the mall proper. Her first destination was Earthland Eagle, where she was going to look for jackets and maybe a one-piece bathing suit or two.

-Inside Earthland Eagle, 2:53 P.M.-

Leona stood inside the entrance to the clothing store and looked around the crowded place. Judging from the signs placed in signholders on top of clothing racks and hanging on the ceiling there was a big sale today and that sale had brought in a lot of shoppers, all of them young women around Leona's age. The racks of clothing were beginning to look a little bare, so she had better hurry if she wanted to have a chance of getting anything. Leona looked to the right and saw the racks of jackets that were in the same style as the one she was wearing.

She slowly and patiently made her way to the rack and examined what was left, which were jackets colored olive green, black, green, and blue. Leona already had a white jacket and an olive green jacket, so she left those on the hanger in favor of the other colors. Out of those colors only the green and blue ones appealed to her, so Leona focused her attention on them and picked the green one off of the rack. She turned to her right and examined the tag to find that it was one size too small for her.

Leona turned and placed the green jacket back on the rack. She reached for the blue one only to have someone else grab it first and walk away with their prize before her hand could touch the garment. The Wizard Saint took a quiet breath and supposed that the early bird got the worm. She looked to the left in search of another rack to browse and saw that the entire rack had been picked over, leaving only pink jackets that she had no interest in.

With the search for that garment a failure Leona turned and looked for bathing suits. On the left wall was a rack of bathing suits, so she began to slowly and carefully navigate the crowded store until she reached the rack. Once there she looked over what was available and frowned... everything was either a black bikini or a white one. Leona already had one of those, so she turned away from the bathing suits and looked for anything else that might interest her.

Leona looked along the left side and saw nothing of interest except for tube tops and crop tops in colors she already had, so she decided to leave the store and go to the second floor to pay a visit to The Modern Woman. Maybe she could find a jacket there.

-The second floor, The Modern Woman, 3:19 P.M.-

It had been a struggle to climb the stairs because the stairwell was packed with shoppers moving between floors. It was packed so tightly that on more than one occasion Leona's arms had been pinned to her sides and her backside brushed against by someone's shopping bag. Now she was inside the store and was able to move freely again because The Modern Woman was not nearly as crowded as Earthland Eagle was. The store was not having a sale, so it still had plenty of clothing to choose from.

Leona looked for the jackets and found them hanging on a rack on the left side of the store. She walked towards the rack, stopped in front of it, and began to look over her options.

[Post Word Count: 870]
[Total Word Count: 5,270/11,000]

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, 9:31 P.M.-

Leona had spent quite a bit more time at the mall than she had anticipated because of the crowds of shoppers. They were already dense when she had gotten there around 3:00 P.M., but their numbers had somehow increased between her arrival and her departure. Once she exited The Modern Woman at 4:39 P.M. she had to brave the crowds in the stairwell to get back to the first floor and that had been an ordeal in itself. It had taken her eleven minutes to descend from the second floor to the first and more than once the stairwell had gotten clogged because of crowds of shoppers going up bumping into other crowds going down and a traffic jam resulting.

After finally reaching the first floor Leona got out of the mall around 5:03 P.M. after wading through the masses of people trying to get into the food court area to access the stairs. It was a wonder her bag of Jewels had not been stolen due to the sizable crowds being a perfect hiding place for pickpockets, but she had emerged from the mall with the only loss of Jewels resulting from what she had spent on clothing inside The Modern Woman. Leona then walked through the equally busy city and made her way to the city outskirts, where the Albatross had been sitting and waiting for its owner's return.

Leona had emerged from the mall with a modest black one-piece bathing suit, four pairs of capri pants with cargo pockets, two more pairs of khaki short shorts, and a navy blue windbreaker for a more casual jacket that went with khaki pants or white capri pants. The Modern Woman did not have any sales going on, so she had to pay full price for each article of clothing, but it was worth it to add a little more variety to her wardrobe. It seemed irresponsible to be spending money on clothing when she needed to save for a specialized armor or production equipment for her robotics project, but the Wizard Saint wanted to have more options for casual outfits and to get what she wanted she would have to spend money.

Now Leona was going to save money for the day she got to speak to Mister Burke or Helena Burke and inquire if they had any production equipment she could buy. She would need to wash her new clothes tonight so that she could wear them soon. She would start doing that shortly.

-Leona's Room, 11:33 A.M.-

Leona woke up and sat on the edge of her bed before putting her feet on the floor. She had washed all of her new purchases last night before going to sleep and now they were ready to wear whenever she wanted them. She chose to sleep in her blue tank top and white skirt... wearing the skirt to sleep in might not have been the best idea, but she had other options, so it being unavailable for today was not a big loss. She stood up and faced her room door, where she noticed an envelope sitting on the floor. Leona walked over to the envelope, picked it up, and carefully opened it before pulling out the piece of paper within.

When Leona unfolded the paper and read it it turned out to be an invitation from Dr. Reid to pay a visit to her laboratory and discuss the topic that had been brought up a few days ago. Leona set the paper on her desk and walked over to her wardrobe to pick out an outfit for the trip to the laboratory.

-Motor City, Dr. Reid's Laboratory, 3:02 P.M.-

Dressed in a green tube top under an open olive green jacket with khaki cargo pants and white and silver tennis shoes with aviator sunglasses perched on her head, Leona had flown the Albatross to the outskirts of Motor City and landed it in a large clearing before proceeding to the doctor's home. Now she was standing in the mini-kitchen with her hostess and drinking a cup of Motor City Nitro. Dr. Reid took a glance at Leona and lowered her cup of coffee.

"You have a thing for tube tops, don't you?" Dr. Reid asked Leona about her attire. Leona's response was to look at the doctor, who hardly had room to talk considering what she was wearing. Dr. Reid was wearing a pink tube top and short black skirt with brown work boots.

"Oh, right. I'm wearing one too. I guess I don't have much room to say anything, huh?" The other blonde asked Leona. The Wizard Saint was a little amused by her hostess' realization.

"What was it you wanted to discuss with me, Doctor?" Leona opted to move on from the topic of clothing and give the doctor a way out of the awkward situation she had stumbled into. The doctor smiled at the Wizard Saint.

"I need your help with something, Leona." Dr. Reid told her. Leona lowered the cup of coffee in her hand and made eye contact again.

"I'm interested." Leona expressed interest in what her hostess had to say.

[Post Word Count: 866]
[Total Word Count: 6,136/11,000]

"Now that I think the Atlas has been finally fixed, I'd like to field test it soon. And you're gonna be the pilot." Dr. Reid informed Leona of what had been planned. Leona was definitely interested in doing that.

"Where did you have in mind?" Leona asked with sincere interest. The Albatross should be able to carry the Atlas in the cargo bay... as far as the Wizard Saint knew, anyway. The trip would be a field test for the Albatross' ability to haul heavy cargo over long distances.

"You see, I'm still working on that detail, Leona. I'm not sure what kind of environment I'd want to test it in, but it's definitely not going to the desert. The sand would be a pain to clean from the joints of the arms and legs and it'd likely clog the air intakes on the torso. If that happens there's a good chance that the suit will overheat." Dr. Reid gave a sort-of answer to the question and listed one place they would not be going. That "answer" did not help Leona very much, but that was as good as she was going to get right now, so she would have to accept it. The Wizard Saint decided to take what she had been given and focus on the positive, which was that she would finally get to do something interesting.

"All right then, Doctor. Let me know when you've sorted that out and I'll take you and the Atlas to wherever you need to go." Leona pledged her support for the venture. Dr. Reid smiled at the Silver Wolf mage before taking a drink of coffee.

"Thanks, Leona! You're a big help!" Dr. Reid thanked the blonde mage for the support. The doctor's tone had been a cheerful one and it seemed like the Wizard Saint and the doctor were starting on the path to reconciliation. It remained to be seen if the hatchet could be buried once and for all, but right now the two were in good spirits and Leona did not want to throw the good mood off. The two blondes drank coffee in amiable silence and when their mugs finally ran dry each got a refill of Motor City Nitro before the conversation picked up again.

"In the meantime, I have a smaller favor to ask." Dr. Reid stated. Leona lowered her mug away from her lips.

"What do you need me to do?" Leona asked the other blonde. The doctor's facial expression took a turn for the sheepish.

"I hate to ask something like this when you've got better things to do, but I'd like you to take me to Capital Crocus. I'd like to visit my friend Dr. Ravenholm for awhile." Dr. Reid requested a simple favor of transport to Capital Crocus. Leona made eye contact with her hostess.

"I don't mind doing that for you, Doctor. We'll set out for the Albatross whenever you're ready to go." Leona agreed to the small favor. Dr. Reid quickly drank her coffee, then set the empty mug down on the table to her right.

"I'll be ready to go in a few minutes, Leona. I just need to go put together an overnight bag because I plan on spending the night there." The doctor informed Leona before walking out of the room to go pack a bag. The Wizard Saint stayed where she was and faced the hallway the other blonde had hurried down.

"I'll be right here waiting for you." Leona called after her hostess. She then took another sip of coffee and looked at the wall ahead of her.

-On board the Albatross, 4:35 P.M.-

"All right, Dr. Reid. If you'd like to go to one of the Passenger's Quarters and stay there until takeoff I'll head to the cockpit and start the takeoff sequence." Leona said to her passenger before manually raising the cargo ramp. Dr. Reid nodded.

"Sure thing, Leona. I'll go there and crash on one of the beds... if you don't mind, that is." She replied. In her left hand was a small pink suitcase that was presumably full of clothing and other travel necessities.

"No problem, doctor. Both Passenger's Quarters have the same layout and amenities, so you can't go wrong with either one." Leona informed the doctor before taking the lead and heading deeper into the Albatross. Dr. Reid followed close behind the Wizard Saint and veered off to the right to enter the first Passenger's Quarters while Leona continued following the hallway until she reached the cockpit. Upon entering it she closed the door behind her and got into the pilot's seat, then put on the safety harness before beginning the automated takeoff sequence.

Leona activated VTOL Mode and waited for the Albatross to lift off the ground before raising the landing gear. Once it was raised she waited for the aircraft to gain a little more altitude before taking off VTOL Mode and taking manual control of the Albatross. For this trip Leona was going to do a manual flight instead of letting Coleridge do all the flying.

[Post Word Count: 852]
[Total Word Count: 6,988/11,000]

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, the next day, 3:22 P.M.-

After completing the errand of taking Dr. Reid to Capital Crocus and escorting her on foot to Ravenholm Manor Leona returned to the Albatross and flew back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall to handle the work that was waiting on her. She had returned at 8:06 P.M. and when she got to her office discovered that she had quite a bit of work waiting on her... there were fifteen stacks of paper sitting on her desk. The Wizard Saint sat down at her desk and completed them all in yet another marathon session that taxed her focus to its limit. When she thought she was finished around 2:00 A.M. more work came in.

By the time it had all been set out in front of her there were thirteen more stacks of paper that required Leona's attention. The Wizard Saint dug deep and completed those too despite the fatigue hitting her like a freight train halfway through the second session. Now she was in her room and had taken off her jacket, pants, and shoes and had changed into a pair of khaki short shorts to sleep in.

With all the marathon paperwork sessions she had had to pull in the office lately Leona probably needed to buy a good cot to sleep on so that she did not have to wake up and leave her room to get to the office. She would do that later today when she finally woke up after crashing for a few hours. She had no idea when that would be, but she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, 10:44 P.M.-

The exhausted Wizard Saint had crashed until 6:02 P.M., when she woke up, put on a more modest casual outfit of blue t-shirt and khaki cargo pants with tennis shoes, and flew to Motor City to look for a cot. She found a good one that was the perfect size and length for her and bought it for her office, then boarded the Albatross with her purchase and flew back to the guild hall. She had set it up in her office just behind her desk and was in her room to steal a pillow and blanket to throw on it because tonight looked to be another long night at the office due to the presence of six stacks of paper waiting on the desk. There was a good chance that it would multiply by the time she went in to fulfill her administrative responsibilities.

Before she went to the office Leona changed into a sleeveless blue turtleneck shirt but kept on the khaki cargo pants and tennis shoes. Now that she was ready she grabbed a pillow and a blanket off of her bed, then headed for the office to put them on her new cot. Once that was done she would start work.

-The Guild Master's Office, 4:47 A.M.-

Leona had finished the papers waiting on her and some more that had been ferried in around 2:00 A.M. and was now lying on her new cot with her shoes stashed beneath it. She was facing the office door and was nestled underneath the blanket, a sight which would likely startle the first guild staff member to walk in with an armful of papers. The Wizard Saint planned to steal an hour or two of sleep before waking up to see if any more work would be waiting on her. Having a cot in her office was probably unhealthy in more ways than one, but she would give the idea a shot... if it worked she would keep the cot in her office, but if it did not she would just stash it on board the Albatross and have an extra bed in case she needed it for any reason.

The Wizard Saint had just closed her eyes when they flew open again. She had forgotten to buy an alarm clock to place in her office so that she did not oversleep whenever she managed to get enough time to sleep in between rounds of paperwork. Leona frowned for a moment before realizing that she did not really need one just yet... she could wait and go buy one the next time she was in Motor City or Capital Crocus. That realization calmed her down and she closed her eyes again.

-The Guild Master's Office, 10:03 A.M.-

Leona had managed to get over five hours of sleep before she had to get up and greet the paperwork that was sitting on her desk. It was a light load of only four stacks, so she had better get to it before more work arrived for her. Leona quickly sat up, moved the blanket off of her shoulders, and made the short walk to her desk to pull out her chair. She pulled it out and sat down, then got to work.

[Post Word Count: 828]
[Total Word Count: 7,816/11,000]

-The Guild Master's Office, 11:30 P.M.-

The work had been coming in fast and steady all day long. The moment Leona finished one round of paperwork another one was deposited right in front of her. Now the Wizard Saint was lying on her cot and facing the wall behind her.

The new arrangement of having a cot in the office had undoubtedly made some of the guild staff members question Leona's mental state because over the years they had learned that she tended to look for any way to avoid doing any more administrative work than she had to. Now she had a place to sleep in the office and was waiting on paperwork so that she could get up and do it as it came rather than wait for it to pile up on her desk until it became a mountain of papers. They were too polite to say it, but the facial expressions of the staff members who saw her lying underneath a blanket and waiting on work to do told her that they had questions about her mental state.

Leona was keenly aware that living in the office was not conducive to a healthy work-life balance. It was also not a good way to cope with her feelings, especially how she felt after getting verbally aggressive with Dr. Reid a few days ago. The Wizard Saint felt guilty for getting aggressive with someone who had a right to be angry with her, but something about the doctor's tone had reminded her of the interrogation Medeia had put her through. That had caused her to back the doctor down in a harsher tone than she had intended to use.

It tied back into the feeling of helplessness Leona had experienced while in Medeia's hands and her desire to avoid ever being in that situation again. Dr. Reid sounded like she was going to dictate terms to the mage and the Silver Wolf mage's anger had been awakened by the feeling that she was being subjected to a one-sided "conversation" where the only thing that would appease the doctor was what she wanted to hear, which was nothing short of Leona pleading for forgiveness. Leona was disgusted with herself for taking her anger out on the doctor. She felt like she had been too cowardly to stand up to Medeia but would happily take on someone who had little chance of defending themselves.

Leona rolled over to face the door and stared at it with an unfocused look on her face.

She was disgusted with herself for verbally pushing around a person who did not have magic. As a Wizard Saint Leona was supposed to be better than that, but her anger had gotten the better of her. She needed to get a handle on it before a lapse in impulse control led to a tragedy, but it would not be that simple. Whether she liked it or not Leona's emotions were a part of her and that package included anger.

Leona got out from underneath the blanket and sat up on the cot, then climbed out of it. Her bare feet touched the wooden floor and she stood in place for a few moments. She then began to walk towards the door to leave the office, if only for a few minutes.

-Leona's Room, 12:06 A.M.-

Leona walked into her room and shut the door, then walked towards the wardrobe. She opened it and picked out a blue tank top and pleated white skirt. She changed out of her current clothing and put the new outfit on. Once that was done she looked towards her desk chair and noted the pile of clothing sitting on the back of it.

She really needed to do some laundry.

Leona gathered up the dirty clothing and threw it in a pile on her bed. She was going to look through her room for any dirty clothing that might have escaped her notice and round them up before going to do laundry. Maybe getting out of the office for a bit might help her mood a little.

-Leona's Room, 1:26 A.M.-

After washing her dirty clothing Leona now had clean clothes sitting on her bed, but her mood had not really improved. She might need to take a longer break from the office and do something else for awhile, but she was not sure what that "something else" would be. Leona was not sure if she wanted to pay a visit to Capital Crocus Mall, go visit Mister Burke in Shirotsume, or maybe even go back to Lion's Island for a day or two.

[Post Word Count: 772]
[Total Word Count: 8,588/11,000]

-The next day, Lion's Island, outside the villa, 9:30 P.M.-

Leona had done one last all-day session of administrative work so that she could buy herself breathing space for her trip to Lion's Island. The session ended at midnight with everything that had been put before her finished, so she took the opportunity to grab her Argent Gloves in case she needed to do any heavy lifting plus carry her Nightshade Machete and Silver Longsword in case she needed weapons for whatever reason. She took off from the guild hall on board the Albatross around 12:15 P.M. to take the opportunity to make a quick trip to Capital Crocus Mall to grab some last-minute clothing additions for a few outfits she did not mind getting dirty when she explored Lion's Island. Leona had landed on the outskirts of Capital Crocus around 3:45 P.M. and made a beeline for the mall.

The "quick" trip had turned out to be anything but quick because the mall was packed full of people just like the last time she had visited. The shoppers had also picked over everything in Earthland Eagle and The Modern Woman. As a result she left the mall around 5:36 P.M. with only two pairs of olive green cargo shorts and a pair of olive green short shorts, but when combined with the clothing she had already stashed in her bedroom in the villa on Lion's Island, that would be enough.

Leona had reached Lion's Island well after sunset and did not have very much experience doing manual nighttime landings, so she let Coleridge do the landing for her. The Albatross landed a short distance from the villa without incident and she disembarked with her gear and the three articles of clothing she had managed to buy earlier before the ramp went up automatically. Leona strode past the two lion statues and up to the front door, which she unlocked with the key in her pocket. She then entered the villa and closed the doors behind her.

-Inside the villa, Leona's Room, 9:34 P.M.-

Once inside her room Leona set her Argent Gloves, Nightshade Machete, and Silver Longsword on her bed, then changed out of her sleeveless blue turtleneck and khaki cargo pants into a more casual outfit of black tank top and blue jean short shorts. She then took the three pairs of shorts she had bought plus the outfit she had just taken off and headed downstairs with them. It was way too late to safely explore the island, but she would do that either tomorrow or the next day when it was daytime.

-The next day, the beach, 12:36 P.M.-

Dressed in a sleeveless light blue crop top and a pleated white skirt, Leona sat in her beach chair under the umbrella with aviator sunglasses on her face and a closed tube of sunscreen on the folding wooden table she had set up to hold the sunscreen, her coffee mug, and her blue vacuum bottle of coffee. She was going to walk the beach in a few minutes, but right now she was trying to relax and forget about the office for awhile. She hoped that she had done enough paperwork to make her workload lighter when she returned to the guild hall. The Wizard Saint would probably face a mountain of it when she got back, but for the time being she would focus on sitting on the beach and doing nothing resembling work.

It was a warm but pleasant day outside and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Leona had originally intended to wear a new black two-piece bikini and had even set one of them on her bed, but she could not bring herself to wear one and instead opted to go with a crop top and skirt. She had left the white jacket that went with her skirt back in her bedroom because it was too warm to really need one. As Leona sat in the beach chair she was feeling a lot calmer about her choice of shirt than she had the last time she had worn it.

On her last visit Leona had to force herself not to put on her white jacket to cover her crop top, but today she was only feeling mild discomfort. The weather was warm and the wind was not blowing, so those factors helped make the choice less uncomfortable. Leona also wanted to practice wearing one so that if she ever saw Masha again she could let the latter see her in a crop top and short shorts just as she always wanted.  However, the Wizard Saint was not going to start wearing that style of shirt for everyday wear... she was going to wear them while on Lion's Island, under her Desert Survival Armor while traveling and working in a desert, or as a last resort if she really fell behind on laundry and had no other shirts available.

Leona got out of the beach chair and stood up, then put on her white sandals, which had been set just to the right of the chair. She then faced left and started walking on the beach. She felt the sun on her skin and heard the sand crunch beneath her sandals as she began to walk with no set destination in mind. In a few hours she would go back to the villa and shower off, then change her outfit to something more suitable for exploring the rest of the island.

[Post Word Count: 920]
[Total Word Count: 9,508/11,000]

-Inside the villa, the kitchen, 5:08 P.M.-

Leona had lingered a bit longer on the beach than she had intended, but she eventually gathered her belongings and had returned to the villa around 3:53 P.M. and had gotten a shower. Now she was wearing a black tube top and olive green short shorts while sipping coffee at the head of her kitchen table and trying to decide whether to just call it a day and prepare to return to the guild hall tomorrow or go explore the other half of Lion's Island.

On one hand, she probably needed to go back to the guild hall and check to see if her desk had collapsed under the weight of all the papers that were likely piled on top of it. On the other hand, she was not in any real hurry to get back and pull yet another all-nighter in the office. The Wizard Saint liked spending time on her private island because it had its own beach that she did not have to share with anyone and she could wear what she wanted without fear of judgment.

Leona recalled how lukewarm Samira's reaction towards her wearing a black tube top under an open olive green jacket and khaki cargo pants to the Sommarsun Weeks event in Rose Garden. In a way Leona craved Samira's approval and did not feel like the teal-haired mage approved of the look, which made the former feel like she had been too casual in her choice of attire. Maybe she had worn something inappropriate for a Wizard Saint to wear, but her friend was just too polite to say that to her face. Or maybe Leona was reading too much into it and Samira was just not used to the blonde dressing so casually.

At least Leona had not gone for a crop top and skirt or a crop top and short shorts.

The Wizard Saint took a sip of coffee and resumed trying to decide what to do. She was leaning towards going back to the guild hall, but the other half wanted to loaf on the beach for another day before having to go back. Leona tapped her bare right foot on the floor as she looked at the back wall of the kitchen... this choice was harder than she thought it was going to be. She sat and looked at the back wall for a minute or two before finally making a decision.

She was going to be responsible and go back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall to do any paperwork that was waiting on her.

Leona finished her cup of coffee, then walked over to the sink and rinsed it out before setting it to the left of the sink. She needed to gather her belongings and get ready to leave before her resolve faltered and she ended up staying another day.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, The Guild Master's Office, 12:07 A.M.-

Leona had flown back to the guild hall and arrived at 9:59 P.M. Upon arrival she dropped her Argent Gloves, Silver Longsword, and Nightshade Machete off in her room before throwing on her olive green jacket and heading for the office. There she found another mountain of work waiting for her... there was so much of it that it was a wonder her desk had not collapsed from the weight of all the stacks of paper.

Leona had finished roughly a third of it, but there was still more work to go before she could sleep on the cot in her office. She wondered what exactly generated so much paperwork for her to do... maybe she should look into it sometime. She might need someone's help to make sense of it all, though. Over the years Leona had made strides in becoming a reasonably competent administrator, but she still could not fully understand some of the work she was doing. She had been a Guild Mistress for years now and there was no excuse for that kind of ignorance any more.

-Leona's Room, 12:21 P.M.-

After finishing all of the work that had accumulated on her desk during her absence Leona had decided to try and sleep in her room instead of sleeping in the office. She had taken off her olive green jacket and had thrown it on the back of her desk chair before lying down on her bed and facing the door. She was more than a little tired from the return trip even though Coleridge did all the flying while she stayed in the Pilot's Quarters. Leona did not know why she felt so tired because all she had done on Lion's Island was walk on the beach and drink some coffee. It was not like she had had to fight for her life against a Warlord or other high-level threat.

Maybe she should have stayed on Lion's Island for another day or two instead of returning to the guild hall so soon.

[Post Word Count: 828]
[Total Word Count: 10,336/11,000]

-Leona's Room, 8:48 P.M.-

The Wizard Saint woke up feeling better after having slept most of the day away, but that feeling was short-lived when she realized that she had to go by the office and see how much work she had to do. Part of her wished that she had remained on Lion's Island for a day or two longer so that she felt like she had gotten something out of the trip, but the other part of her was glad that she had returned to the guild hall to carry out her responsibilities. Leona stood up and stayed in place for a few moments before she walked over to her desk chair and grabbed her jacket, then threw it on and headed for the office.

-Leona's Room, the next day, 12:06 P.M.-

Leona walked back into her room after a long stretch in the office that spanned from 8:53 P.M. the previous day until 11:50 A.M. the next day. She managed to steal two hours of sleep from 6:00 A.M. until 8:00 A.M. when she just could not keep going, but after that brief reprieve it was back to work. Now she had some time to eat, sleep, or get a shower before returning to the office for what she hoped would not be another long stretch of work. Leona took off her jacket and flung it onto the back of her desk chair before flopping onto the bed and rolling onto her side to face the door.

Leona decided to sleep for a few hours, then get up and get a shower and change clothes before getting some coffee at the guild cafe.

-Leona's Room, 1:27 P.M.-

Dressed in a blue t-shirt and khaki cargo pants with tennis shoes, Leona had dressed in a more modest outfit than the one she had been wearing for the past day or so and had gotten a cup of coffee at the guild cafe. She was now ready for another day at the office. She had taken four steps towards the door when a white envelope that had been shoved under the door fluttered onto the floor and came to rest. Leona walked over to it, picked it up, and carefully opened it.

Inside was a letter from Eleanor Crouch. It was a brief one that let Leona know that the freelance archaeologist was going to Forgotten Deserts in roughly five days, but that was not the most interesting part. The most interesting part was the news that her father Edward might be paying a visit to Eleanor during the trip. That news made Leona frown.

Edward Crouch was was a professor of archaeology at Crocus Magicka University. He was also one of the men who stated that Leona used her sex appeal to further her career; the Wizard Saint had not named names, but he was one of the male critics she had told Medeia about during their "conversation" not too long ago. It might have been just an act Medeia put on to look like less of a villain, but the Warlord's reaction to being told that allegation was to get angry on Leona's behalf. Despite protecting him from the furious Warlord Leona still disliked the man for what he had said to her years ago.

What had spurred Dr. Crouch's remark was him seeing Leona after the latter had gotten out of bed in a hurry during an archaeological expedition she was assisting him on. She was wearing a green t-shirt and her green, white, and gold skirt and during the night her shirttail had moved up, exposing part of her midsection. Leona had not caught onto that problem until it was too late and the professor saw it first: from that he had gotten the impression that the blonde mage was trying to use her physical charms to her advantage.

Leona walked over to her desk and slammed the letter onto it, then walked out of her room to go to the office.

-The Guild Master's Office, 8:44 P.M.-

It had been an average day at the office for the Wizard Saint. She had spent the past seven or so hours taking care of a mountain of paperwork that took a considerable amount of time to chip away at because just when it seemed like her work was about to be finished more papers arrived. Now it was finished for the time being and Leona could breathe.

She took off her shoes and placed them at the foot of the cot, then laid down on her side and faced the door. The blonde was tempted to go to sleep for awhile before waking up to do whatever had been put on her desk while she was asleep, but soon she had another thought. She had an impulse to go to Lion's Island again and stay there for a few days to explore the island, sit on the beach, or anything else that was not paperwork. That was an impulse that was too powerful to resist, so Leona got off of the cot, put on her tennis shoes, then went to her room. Once in her room she gathered up her Argent Gloves, Silver Longsword, and Nightshade Machete plus tan hiking boots; after getting those items she headed straight for the Albatross.

She was going back to Lion's Island for at least two days, if not three.

[Post Word Count: 900]
[Total Word Count: 11,236/11,000]

Job Details::

Job Sign-Up: Page 12, Post Number 286

-Lion's Island, the dining room, 12:25 A.M.-

Leona had reached Lion's Island shortly after midnight and she had landed the Albatross to the left of the villa. She had taken her Argent Gloves, Silver Longsword, and Nightshade Machete to her room before changing into a casual outfit of green tube top and khaki short shorts. Once she had changed into more comfortable clothing she went to the dining room to have a cup or two of coffee while she pondered how irresponsible it was to leave the guild hall to go to her private island for a few days.

Leona was seated her usual place at the head of the dining room table and sipping some coffee she had made barely ten minutes ago while thinking the matter over. The blonde felt like she had been irresponsible for leaving the guild hall to go on another mini-vacation. She was supposed to be in her office handling paperwork or preparing to go on a job, not sitting in a dining room and drinking coffee while staring at the back wall.

The decision to head for Lion's Island had been an impulsive one and impulse control was an issue she had problems with from time to time. Her inability to control herself played a part in her defeat at Medeia's hands during their clash and it had led to her giving away a lot of information about herself during the "conversation" with the Warlord. The threats Medeia had made did not help matters... she had skillfully played on Leona's insecurities to make the blonde talk a lot more about herself than she had intended to because the stress left over from the battle mixed with the stress of the implied threats to put Leona in a frame of mind that was vulnerable to the kind of pressure Medeia was applying. The Wizard Saint frowned and slammed the bottom of her mug against the table, causing a loud THUMP followed by a brief rattle.

"I was so stupid." Leona said what might one day be her epitaph should someone care to carve one on her tombstone.

Leona sat in silence for several moments before finally lifting the mug to take another drink from it. Every time she thought about the "conversation" she felt helpless all over again and began to loathe herself for how she had given in to the Warlord's games. She felt the helplessness wash over her and desperately wished that she had been more tight-lipped. Instead Medeia had gained a lot of information on the Wizard Saint straight from the source, information that could come back to haunt the blonde.

The blonde bit her bottom lip so hard that she tasted copper on her tongue. She slammed her mug on the table again and bolted up from her chair, then glared at the back wall of the dining room. She reached for the mug and lifted it in her right hand; she was preparing to hurl it towards the wall when she felt a bit of weight in the drinking vessel and realized that there was still hot coffee in it. That realization made Leona realize what she was about to do and settle down enough to lower the mug and drink her beverage instead.

Leona finished her drink and felt the anger subside as quickly as it had risen. The taste of blood mingled with the taste of coffee as she came down from the surge of adrenaline that had nearly made her throw a perfectly good mug at the wall. Leona knew what the source of her problem was, but she had no idea how to fix it. She would worry about that when she woke up after sleeping for awhile.

-Leona's Room, 12:07 P.M.-

Leona had awakened roughly ten minutes ago and was feeling a lot better than she had felt earlier this morning. The doubt over her decision was gone and so was her anger over how she had handled the "conversation" with Medeia. Now that she had some mental clarity she was in the mood for introspection and would indulge in that either on the beach or in the tropical forest on the eastern half of the island. She was not sure where she would go, but she had plenty of time in which to decide because there was no paperwork for her to do here.

With that in mind Leona walked towards her closet to pick an outfit for today's adventure. If she were feeling especially bold she would try swimming at the beach, but she would likely save that activity for tomorrow. Today she would do something that involved staying on dry land.

[Post Word Count: 780]
[Total Word Count: 780/10,000]

-Lion's Island, the beach, 2:14 P.M.-

Dressed in a modest black two-piece bikini under a sleeveless blue crop top and khaki short shorts, Leona sat in her beach chair under the protection of a beach umbrella while wearing her aviator sunglasses. There was not a single cloud in the sky and the sun was at its peak. It was a beautiful day and the heat was noticeable but not too intense, which made swimming an appealing idea. However, she was not a very good swimmer, so if she got into trouble she was afraid that she might not be able to get herself out of it without divine intervention.

Leona did not want to suffer the humiliating end of drowning in the waters around her private island, so she decided to remain on the beach. She would sit in her chair or walk on the beach where it was safe and the only enemy she had to worry about was the sun overhead. As she sat and watched the water her mind wandered back to the paperwork that was likely piling up on her desk in the Guild Master's Office and dreaded going back to face the mountain it was likely going to become. Leona began to feel that her trip to Lion's Island had been irresponsible and that she needed to go back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and get back to work instead of sitting around on the beach.

Motivated by guilt, the Wizard Saint actually got up and began to fold up her beach chair. She had just folded it up and was about to take down the umbrella when she stopped herself in the process of lowering it. Leona took a quiet breath and looked at her hands, then took them off of the umbrella and turned back to her beach chair, which she set up again. She sat back down in it and wondered what had possessed her to get up to begin with.

Leona sat around for at least another twenty minutes before deciding to get up and walk around the beach to do something that would take her mind off of the guilt she was feeling for coming to the island.

-Inside the villa, Leona's Room, 7:36 P.M.-

Leona had made a day of it on the beach and was feeling fairly good after having done that. She had managed to set aside the guilt and actually enjoy her time walking on the warm sands. Tomorrow she would go explore the tropical forest on the eastern half of the island, but for tonight she would wash some clothing and relax for awhile.

Dressed in a black tank top and blue jean short shorts, Leona was in the process of wrangling her dirty laundry to take to the laundry room. She did not have a lot of dirty laundry, but she was going to wash it anyway before she forgot about it and it piled up. She had gathered up her bikini and other clothing from today plus what she had worn to Lion's Island and was wondering what she would encounter during her exploration of the eastern half of the island.

While the Wizard Saint doubted that she would encounter anything threatening, she had still brought weapons just in case she ran into a threat of some kind. She had brought her Silver Longsword for supernatural enemies and her Nightshade Machete for cutting through thick underbrush if she had to. Leona did not know which weapon to carry with her... she was leaning towards the machete for its utility value. She would have tonight to think the matter over before she set out tomorrow morning or afternoon.

Having gathered every article of dirty clothing that she could find, Leona set out for the laundry room to wash them.

-Leona's Room, the next day, 9:36 A.M.-

The Wizard Saint had woken up a bit earlier than she had wanted because she was excited about what she might find today during her exploration of the eastern half of her island. Her feet hit the floor and she stood in place to allow herself to get her footing before walking towards the balcony door to see what the temperature was before picking her outfit for today. She turned and strolled towards the balcony doors, opening the right one and stepping outside.

-On the balcony, 9:40 A.M.-

The moment Leona stepped onto the balcony she was slammed by heat so intense that she nearly lost her breath. She shut the door behind her before her room got too hot and faced the view provided by the balcony, which gave a glimpse of the tropical forest she was going to explore. Today was a lot warmer than it had been yesterday, so she did not need to dress up too much. It was so hot that she could get away with a tank top and short shorts or a crop top and short shorts.

Leona ignored the heat and gazed at the forest, which seemed to be beckoning her. She would enter it soon enough, but she needed to change clothes and get her gear first.

[Post Word Count: 858]
[Total Word Count: 1,638/10,000]

-Outside the tropical forest, 10:32 A.M.-

Dressed in a green tank top and khaki short shorts with tan boots, Leona also carried her Nightshade Machete in its scabbard on her left hip and Argent Gloves on her hands. She was standing just outside the tropical forest and preparing to go into the unknown. She had no idea what to expect and was a bit hesitant to take the plunge, but she was going to venture into the forest anyway, if only to do something a little more active than sit on the beach all day.

Leona took a deep breath that was cut short by the intense heat, then walked forward into the tropical forest.

-Inside the tropical forest, 10:34 A.M.-

The first thing Leona noticed about the interior of the forest was how dark it was. The canopy was so thick that the sun had a hard time getting through and as a result there were a lot of shadows on the ground mixed with the occasional spot where sunlight was able to get through. The darkness was compensated for by Leona's natural night vision, so it was not a hindrance to her.

It was also somewhat hotter in the forest than it was outside of it, but heat was nothing new to the former desert dweller. She shrugged it off and looked around as she walked. She was expecting to encounter whatever wildlife called the tropical forest home, but she had not seen or heard anything, not even a bird of any kind. Leona found that lack of wildlife to be a bit strange, but she was not bothered by it too much because that meant she did not have to fight anything.

As she walked she could not help but to think about how the "conversation" with Medeia had went. Leona's anger began to grow as she reviewed each phase of it and by the end of the mental replay of that event her teeth were clenched tightly. Leona hated how weak she had been and how Medeia had tried to be kind near the end as if that kindness would make up for all the threats and tricks the Warlord had used on the Wizard Saint.

The blonde's pulse skyrocketed when she remembered Medeia's phrase for her. She was so angry that she stopped in place when those two words leaped into her mind.

"My girl."

"I DON'T BELONG TO YOU!" Leona yelled and shattered the silence with that declaration. She clenched her hands into fists and began to fume. Medeia had claimed that that name was not a declaration of ownership of the blonde, but Leona considered that claim to be an enormous load of bovine fecal matter. The Warlord had taken liberties with the truth numerous times during the conversation, so Leona had little reason to believe that the former did not think of the blonde as her property.

Leona was so angry that she could not continue walking in the forest without getting the urge to pull out her machete and chop down a tree. She spun around on her heels and went back the way she came. She was either going to go to the beach or take a trip to Motor City to buy a replacement mirror for her bathroom.

-Inside the villa, Leona's Bathroom, 7:48 P.M.-

After cutting short her walk through the forest Leona had taken a shower and changed into an open olive green jacket over black tank top and olive green cargo pants with tennis shoes plus Argent Gloves on her hands before heading to Motor City to buy a replacement mirror for her bathroom. She had found an exact match for it and bought it, then took it back to Lion's Island. Leona had to use her Argent Gloves to carry the mirror, but thanks to the Argent Gloves and some tools from a tool chest she had on board the Albatross she had managed to get it in the bathroom and get it installed without incident. The old broken one was currently sitting in the cargo bay of the Albatross waiting for disposal. The new one was sitting firmly in its new home.

Leona examined the mirror, seeing herself in it as she did so. The Wizard Saint could not help but to frown when she noticed her reflection. Her initial impulse was to trash the old mirror and just do without one, but she realized that she would need one to see how she looked whenever she put on an outfit or applied sunscreen before going to the beach. Those were the only reasons Leona had bought another mirror.

Leona took off her olive green jacket and set it on the bathroom counter, then looked over herself again. She was not any happier with the second look at herself than she had been with the first look, so she snatched her jacket off of the counter and walked out of the bathroom. She would come back for the tools she had used for the installation later.

[Post Word Count: 842]
[Total Word Count: 2,480/10,000]

-The next day, Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, 2:27 P.M.-

Dressed in a blue tank top and pleated white skirt, Leona entered Silver Wolf Guild Hall and made a beeline for her room to drop off her weapons and Argent Gloves. She had awakened at 10:07 A.M. and had gathered her belongings to return to the guild hall a day earlier than she had intended. After installing the new bathroom mirror last night Leona had realized that if she stayed on Lion's Island for three days she would have so much paperwork to do that she might not be able to go on the expedition Eleanor Crouch had arranged. With that in mind she had left Lion's Island around 10:15 A.M. and arrived at Silver Wolf Guild Hall around 2:20 A.M.

Now Leona was in her room and about to change into something a little more appropriate for the office. She set her weapons and Argent Gloves on her bed, then walked over to the larger wardrobe and opened it to look for a better shirt. She fished out a blue t-shirt and took it over to the bed, then changed into it and tossed her tank top onto the back of her desk chair before heading for the office.

-The next day, Leona's Room, 8:46 A.M.-

There had been a veritable mountain of work waiting for Leona when she got into the office. It was so tall that the Wizard Saint had to take a deep breath before taking the plunge because there was no telling when she would get to come up for air. She had finally gotten a break almost nine hours after midnight when the work had been finished and she could stagger to her room for a break before returning to the office.

Leona entered her room and shut the door behind her, then shuffled over to her desk chair and took off her t-shirt to put on the tank top. She set the t-shirt on the desk itself and shuffled over to her smaller wardrobe and fished out a pair of khaki short shorts. She walked back over to her bed and took off the skirt to put on the shorts. Afterwards the skirt joined her t-shirt on the back of the desk chair.

Now that she had changed clothes Leona walked back to the bed and took her Silver Longsword and Nightshade Machete over to the corner of her room next to the large wardrobe. She propped them in the corner for the time being before returning to her bed and grabbing the Argent Gloves. She opened her large wardrobe and set them inside for the time being, then closed the doors. Finally Leona walked back to her bed and flopped onto it before rolling over to face her room door.

It had taken her awhile to do, but Leona had completed all of the paperwork that had accumulated in her two-day absence. Now all she had to do between now and the expedition was to stay on top of her administrative responsibilities to reduce the chances of having to confront another mountain of work when she got back from the expedition to the Forgotten Deserts. She would go back to the office when she finally woke up after crashing for awhile.

-Leona's Room, 6:18 P.M.-

Leona had slept for a longer time than she normally did when she finally woke up. She had woken up, but she was still a bit drowsy, so she did not get out of bed right away. Instead Leona continued to face her room door as she thought about the impending meeting with Dr. Crouch and Medeia's response to what she had said about some men accusing the Wizard Saint of using her physical charms to advance her career.

Leona was still not sure that Medeia's reaction was genuine. She suspected that the Warlord was trying to get on her good side by easing off of the villainous behavior and trying to assure the Wizard Saint that the accusations were unfounded. Whether Medeia was being sincere or not, Leona had been dumb enough to fall for the act and the rest of the "conversation" played out with results that could probably prove detrimental to the Wizard Saint further down the road.

"I was such an idiot." Leona muttered aloud.

Unable to sleep any longer after thinking about that those subjects, she slowly climbed out of bed and got to her feet, then walked to the Guild Master's Office without bothering to change clothes or put on her tennis shoes. She did not have time to be bothered with such trivial matters. Leona was focused on doing the paperwork that might be waiting for her so that she could go on the expedition tomorrow with a reduced risk of falling behind on her administrative responsibilities.

[Post Word Count: 808]
[Total Word Count: 3,288/10,000]

-The next day, Leona's Room, 10:37 A.M.-

Yesterday was not a bad day at the office. The workload had been lighter than expected and Leona was able to finish it by 1:42 A.M. As a result she was able to go back to her room before sunrise and actually get some sleep knowing that her desk might not be loaded down with papers when she got back from her trip to the Forgotten Deserts.

Or at least that was the hope.

Leona had woken up of her own accord roughly thirty minutes ago and was staring at the door trying to find the energy to get up when she saw a white envelope be slipped under the door and catch air for a moment before fluttering to the floor. The blonde managed to pull herself out of bed and walked over to it, then picked it up and took it to her desk. There she carefully opened the envelope with her left index finger and pulled out the paper within.

It was a note from Eleanor Crouch letting Leona know that the expedition was on for today and that she was to meet with the freelance archaeologist in Capital Crocus as soon as possible. That was all Leona needed to know. She set the paper on top of her desk, put on her tennis shoes, and grabbed her Argent Gloves, Silver Longsword, Scout Laser Pistol, and Desert Survival Armor and was about to leave when she noticed a credit card-sized item that must have been placed on her desk while she was in the office. Leona walked over to it and read a paper that was sitting underneath it.

According to the paper the item was called the "Nanotech Aircraft Hangar" and as the name stated it was a portable aircraft hangar that could be set up and taken down on demand using one's voice. Leona would see how it worked soon enough. She set her gear down on her desk, then crammed the credit card-sized item into her shorts pocket before gathering everything up again and leaving her room. She would get dressed while Coleridge flew the Albatross to the outskirts of Capital Crocus.

-Capital Crocus, Eleanor Crouch's house, 4:47 P.M.-

"Hey Leona! It's been awhile!" Eleanor Crouch greeted the Wizard Saint, who had just stepped into her home. She was wearing an open khaki jacket over a white tank top and khaki short shorts with brown boots. While the Albatross was in flight Leona dressed up a bit in a green t-shirt and khaki cargo pants with tennis shoes. On her hands were the Argent Gloves because she would likely need to help her client load some gear onto the Albatross.

"Hey Eleanor." Leona greeted the bespectacled blonde. Upon being greeted Eleanor walked back into the house and came out with a large object she recognized as a rolled-up tent.

"I've got quite a bit of gear, Leona. Can you help me carry it?" The freelance archaeologist asked, setting the tent on the floor.

"Sure. Did you intend to travel to The Forgotten Deserts on foot?" Leona asked her client. The other blonde nodded.

"Are you afraid of flying?" Leona asked another question. Eleanor shook her head.

"No. Why?" She asked the Wizard Saint.

"I now own an aircraft that we can use. It can haul us, your gear, and a lot of other things to-" Leona started to tell Eleanor about the Albatross before the other blonde moved close and embraced her tightly for a few seconds before letting go.

"That's wonderful! Thank you!" Eleanor gratefully accepted the offer of transportation for herself and her gear.

"All right then. We'll load your items into the cargo bay and set out for our destination as soon as that's done. I've landed the aircraft on the outskirts of Capital Crocus, so we'll have to carry everything to it." Leona informed the bespectacled blonde. Eleanor's joy was not diminished in the slightest.

"I can live with that. It beats hauling everything from here to our destination." Eleanor said. Leona did not reply and summoned the Harpy Sisters for help. They would help get everything to the cargo bay and once that was done Leona would start the takeoff sequence.

-The Forgotten Deserts, 9:51 P.M.-

The Albatross had landed safely at their destination and Leona and Eleanor exited the aircraft to survey their surroundings for a moment. It was already dark outside, so they would have to wait until tomorrow morning to do anything substantial. Eleanor looked around for a moment, then looked at Leona.

"Thanks for the lift, Leona. Tomorrow morning I'll take a look around and if I like where we landed I'll set up my tent so that we can get to work." Eleanor told the Wizard Saint.

"OK. If you don't like where we are we can always get back on the Albatross and I'll fly us somewhere else." Leona let the bespectacled blonde know that relocating was an option. Eleanor looked at the Silver Wolf mage and smiled.

"Great!" Eleanor exclaimed. The two blondes boarded the Albatross and Leona closed the cargo ramp behind them. Tomorrow Leona would give the "Nanotech Aircraft Hangar" a try so that the Albatross did not have to sit outside and expose its engines to sand while she was busy helping her client.

[Post Word Count: 892]
[Total Word Count: 4,180/10,000]

-The Forgotten Deserts, 9:13 A.M.-

Leona and Eleanor had woken up at roughly the same time an hour ago. After getting dressed in a sleeveless green crop top and khaki cargo pants with tan boots and putting on her Desert Survival Armor over the shirt Leona was ready to help her client set up her tent. Once Eleanor's tent was set up Leona was given a shovel, some wooden stakes, and a large roll of yellow tape with which to mark boundaries. But before the Wizard Saint got to digging squares she decided to go get the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar and set it up so that if a sandstorm happened the Albatross' engines would not be filled with sand.

According to the instructions that came with the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar, Leona would need 100 meters of space in which to set it up. Leona walked about 110 meters away from Eleanor's camp, set the credit card-sized object down on the ground, then faced the device and called out the activation phrase.

"NANOTECH AIRCRAFT HANGAR, ACTIVATE!" Leona called out. When the object unfolded Leona quickly turned around and used a Zephyr Dash to get to a safe distance moments before the credit card-sized object unfolded and a large aircraft hangar began to materialize. Once she was 200 meters away she turned around to find herself looking at an aircraft hangar where only an empty patch of sand had been moments ago. Leona walked the distance to the hangar doors and pulled them open, revealing an interior large enough to accommodate the Albatross, Eleanor's tent, and a lot of other items.

"Wow." Leona said to herself in amazement. The Nanotech Aircraft Hangar looked impressive, but the real test would be how well it housed the Albatross. Leona walked over to Eleanor, who shared her amazement at how large the hangar was. The Wizard Saint gently set the tools she had been given down at the archaeologist's feet, then spoke to her.

"I'm going to fly the Albatross into the hangar before I get to work. Please stay clear of it while I fly it in... the engines might kick up a lot of sand." Leona warned the bespectacled blonde. Eleanor nodded and Leona walked to the aircraft, then boarded it to begin the takeoff sequence and manually fly it into the hangar.

-The Forgotten Deserts, 9:35 A.M.-

After flying the Albatross into the hangar, turning it to face the hangar doors, and landing the aircraft without incident Leona went to the Pilot's Quarters to apply sunscreen and get her aviator sunglasses before getting to work. Once she had those items she disembarked from the aircraft, then shut the hangar doors and went to reclaim the tools she had been given. Leona was now helping Eleanor Crouch search for artifacts of any sort. It did not matter if the artifact was a coin, a piece of jewelry, or a weapon... if it was old the freelance archaeologist was interested in it.

The Wizard Saint had set up a square roughly twenty meters to the east of the bespectacled blonde's own square and was busy digging in the sand with her shovel. She had already excavated half of the square and had come up with nothing to show for it. The sun was beating down on Leona mercilessly and even though she had applied sunscreen to her exposed skin and was wearing the Desert Survival Armor she was feeling more than a little warm. Hopefully the temperature would get a little more bearable as the day went on.

-The Forgotten Deserts, 6:21 P.M.-

Leona had made and filled in five more squares since her first one and was now marking off her seventh for the day when she looked up and saw Eleanor approaching her. The Wizard Saint stood up and jammed her shovel blade-first into the sand, then walked to meet the other blonde. Eleanor's skin was red and her tank top was soaked in sweat. Her forehead was also glistening... the archaeologist's facial expression was also unfocused, suggesting that she was getting more than a little tired from a combination of exertion and the heat.

"Are you OK?" Leona asked the bespectacled blonde. Eleanor shook her head.

"I'm gonna have to call it a day, Leona. I just can't take the heat." Eleanor replied. Leona did not hold that against the former. As a former desert dweller the Wizard Saint knew all too well how prolonged exposure to intense heat could sap someone's vitality.

"I think that's a good idea. I used to live in Desierto, so I would know how heat can get to someone." Leona stated that Eleanor's decision to quit while she was ahead was not a sign of weakness. The other blonde seemed encouraged by that support because she smiled a little.

"We'll resume work tomorrow morning." Eleanor informed Leona before turning around walking towards her tent. Leona went back to the square she was going to dig and gathered up her tools, then began the walk to take them back to the Albatross' cargo bay. Once they were safely stowed away Leona went to check on Eleanor, who had been in obvious distress when they had spoken minutes ago.

[Post Word Count: 872]
[Total Word Count: 5,052/10,000]

-On board the Albatross, the Pilot's Quarters, 8:36 P.M.-

After checking on Eleanor and finding that she was tired from exerting herself in the heat but otherwise fine Leona went into the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar and had boarded the Albatross to change into a navy blue jumpsuit before going to the cargo bay, wheeling out a tool chest, portable lights, and ladder on wheels, and cleaning the aircraft's engines. As far as she had remembered she had not cleaned its engines since she had bought it, which was months ago. Leona really needed to be more diligent about maintenance on an aircraft that cost nearly two million Jewels, but she had been busy and the task had repeatedly slipped her mind.

Leona walked over to the wardrobe, fished out a navy blue jumpsuit, and walked back over to the bed, then took off her boots and socks and changed out of her khaki cargo pants. She put the jumpsuit on and zipped it up, then put her socks and boots back on. Now that she was wearing an outfit she did not mind getting dirty she left the Pilot's Quarters to gather the items she needed to perform the long-overdue cleaning of the Albatross' engines.

-Inside the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar, 8:58 P.M.-

Leona was standing on the ladder on wheels she had bought and placed in the cargo bay for maintenance on the go. Lighting the engine was a single powerful Lacrima light positioned on a tripod on the ground below: artificial lighting was a necessity since the hangar itself did not have electricity and it was nighttime, so there was no natural light to illuminate the hangar. The Wizard Saint had carefully opened the casing on the left engine and was cleaning it with a special cloth, paying close attention to what she was doing. Leona had read Lara's instructions before starting the task and she understood what had to be done for proper engine maintenance, but she still needed hands-on experience to do it properly, so she worked slowly and carefully to try and minimize mistakes.

So far the cleaning was going smoothly. Leona had gotten a lot of various particles out of the left engine and she was able to keep her balance on the rolling ladder thanks to a special feature that allowed her to stop the wheels from moving by engaging a locking mechanism, so she could focus fully on what she was doing without fear of falling. She spent a few more minutes on the left engine before putting the engine casing back into place and securing it with a wrench she had stashed in her left pocket. Now that the left engine was as clean as she could get it it was time to clean the right engine.

-Inside the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar, 9:18 P.M.-

Leona had cleaned the right engine without any trouble and had just climbed down the ladder when she heard footsteps echoing throughout the structure. She spotted Eleanor walking towards her thanks to the Lacrima light shining a wedge on the ground and giving just enough light to let her clearly see the freelance archaeologist. Leona let the other blonde approach and spoke to her when they were within arm's length of one another.

"Hey Leona! I'm starting to feel better now that I've had some water and I haven't been out in the heat for awhile. I'm gonna need to sit out tomorrow, though." Eleanor gave Leona an update on how she was doing.

"All right. If you'd like I can take your place and see what I can find." Leona offered to resume work on Eleanor's behalf. The other blonde gave a small smile.

"If you could do that I'd appreciate it. In the meantime... since I won't be able to help you work for a day or two I'd like to ask for a favor or two." Eleanor accepted the offer and asked a favor of the Wizard Saint.

"After how awful I felt today I don't feel safe staying outside. Could you help me pack my tent up? And would you let me set my camp up in your hangar instead?" She asked Leona. Leona nodded.

"I can do both of those things for you, Eleanor. Just let me get my Argent Gloves and I'll move your tent and belongings. When I bring them tell me where you want them." Leona stated.

"Great! One last thing... do you mind letting me stay on one of the Passenger's Quarters on board your aircraft?" Eleanor asked for one last favor.

"Certainly. Both Passenger's Quarters have the same amenities, so take your pick." Leona agreed to grant the request. The bespectacled blonde visibly perked up.

"You're a lifesaver, Leona!" She exclaimed gratefully. Leona did not comment and instead walked over to the Albatross and lowered the cargo ramp, then went inside to get her Argent Gloves before she did some heavy lifting for her client. Eleanor stayed outside to wait for Leona to take down her tent and bring her furniture into the hangar.

[Post Word Count: 846]
[Total Word Count: 5,898/10,000]

-On board the Albatross, the Pilot's Quarters, 11:37 P.M.-

After finishing cleaning the Albatross' engines, putting everything away, and moving Eleanor Crouch's camp from outside in the desert to inside the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar Leona had finally managed to get a shower. Now she was inside the Pilot's Quarters and looking in the bathroom mirror while wearing a navy blue tank top and khaki short shorts. The Wizard Saint looked to be a bit redder than usual and it was not because she was thinking about what Medeia had done to her during their time together. It was because she had spent so much time in the sun today that she had a mild sunburn, but thinking about Medeia definitely did not help.

Leona had went over that incident so many times that she could replay the events in sequence. She glared at herself in the mirror and hated how she had caved into Medeia so readily. She should have tried harder to not say anything, especially after that stupid magazine trick the Warlord had pulled on her. However, Leona had been stupid enough to give in and start talking and the rest was history.

Leona looked at herself in the mirror again and recalled Medeia's warnings that had been paired with the manipulation of her outfit top on two separate occasions throughout the conversation. The blonde shuddered in disgust at the memory. Medeia had crossed a line when she threatened to intentionally damage the Wizard Saint's top and the blonde was never going to forget that. No matter how nice Medeia tried to act near the end of their time together the Wizard Saint was not going to let that threat go.

Leona suddenly reached out and her hands seized the sides of the bathroom sink, gripping them tightly.

Why had she caved into Medeia's threats?

Why had she been so weak?

Leona released the sides of the sink as suddenly as she had grabbed them and just stared at her reflection. She stared at herself for a few moments before swiftly leaving the bathroom. The blonde doubted that she was going to get any sleep tonight, not after the surge of emotions she had experienced.

-The Forgotten Deserts, the next day, 9:33 A.M.-

Dressed in a sleeveless blue crop top under Desert Survival Armor and another pair of khaki cargo pants with tan boots, Leona had liberally applied sunscreen today in the hopes of reducing the odds of getting another sunburn. The heat was not quite as intense as it had been yesterday, but she was still sweating and she had only started work half an hour ago. She was digging her first square for the day and as she dug she thought about the conversation with Medeia yet again.

Leona hated herself for giving up any information to Medeia because she was a Wizard Saint and she was supposed to not give into any threat short of one like Medeia had made against Hargeon Town. She continued to dig and as she made her first square her self-hatred grew. She was so sick of herself for yielding to the threats and she could not do a single thing to change the past.

Once the square was finished Leona searched it for anything that might interest her client, but she found nothing, not even a single shard of pottery. She began filling it back in and mentally plotted where she would make the next square, which would not be too far from here. Leona had seen a promising spot roughly ten meters away and to the east... maybe something would be there.

-The Forgotten Deserts, 10:23 A.M.-

Leona's second square had turned up nothing just like the first one she had dug. Now she was filling it in and trying to determine where to mark the third square that she would make. Leona did not have the education or experience of Eleanor Crouch, so she was having to make guesses as to where to dig next. As a result she had wasted a lot of time and energy with nothing to show for those expenditures.

The morning had not been a total waste, though. Leona had been thinking about what had happened between her and Medeia all morning and her thoughts always returned to something the Warlord had said during the early phases of the "conversation." At some point in that awkward beginning phase Medeia had claimed that the Wizard Saint's outward appearance of strength was only a carefully crafted facade that she used to hide who she really was. At first Leona dismissed it as more of Medeia's mind games, but as time went on the blonde could not help but to wonder if there might have been a point to what the Warlord had said.

When she thought that Leona stopped shoveling sand and just stared off into the distance for a few moments.

She must have spent way too long in the sun yesterday if she believed that that particular statement of Medeia's was anything but a mind game.

Maybe Leona needed to go back to the Albatross for awhile and resume work during a cooler part of the day.

The Wizard Saint quickly shut down that idea and focused on what she was doing. She needed to keep working so that she could possibly find an artifact to present to her client.

[Post Word Count: 898]
[Total Word Count: 6,796/10,000]

-On board the Albatross, the Pilot's Quarters, 11:20 P.M.-

Today had been another day with nothing to show for it. Leona had called it a day around 10:35 P.M. after using her natural night vision to plot out and dig one last square in an effort to find something to make the day worthwhile. She had been unable to find anything and it was way past sundown, so after filling in the square she went back to the hangar, where she informed Eleanor of her inability to discover any objects from the past.

Leona then went to take a shower and try to get some sleep before she woke up and did it all again. Dressed in the same navy blue tank top and the same khaki short shorts from last night, the blonde was lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling while going over the encounter with Medeia yet again. She had thought about that topic so much that one could be forgiven for thinking Leona had a crush on the Warlord, but she kept going back to it anyway because there was a lot she did not understand about it.

Why had she given in so easily?

Was it the threats or was it something else?

Regardless of the reason Leona hated herself for saying anything to Medeia. She should have been stronger than she was and told the Warlord to can it. The more she replayed the encounter the more the blonde hated herself for giving in. By the time the replay was over Leona was so sick of herself that she could not even sleep, so she got out of bed and walked to the Galley for a cup of coffee.

-Inside the Galley, 11:42 P.M.-

Leona sat at "her" table while drinking a mug of coffee and staring at the Galley door as she went over Medeia's claim that she was not nearly as tough as she acted. Earlier Leona had dismissed it as a cheap shot, but now she was starting to wonder if there was not a tiny bit of truth to that claim. The Wizard Saint took a drink of coffee and set the mug down for a moment as a piece of the puzzle fell into place.

If Leona were nearly as tough as she acted she would not have been bothered by the Warlord's threats to damage or remove her outfit top.

That had been the point where Leona's will to resist the Warlord had tapered off. The blonde had been so concerned that Medeia might have actually carried out the threats that she did not push back nearly as hard as she wanted to. That was a source of shame for her and a strong piece of proof that the claim of her toughness only being a facade might have some substance to it.

Leona's response to Medeia's claim had been that she was not putting on a facade and that she really had to be that tough in the face of men who either implied or openly accused her of using her physical charms to advance her career. There was even one particularly bold man who accused her of going so far as to offer sexual favors in exchange for her titles, but she could not remember his name at the moment. However, she remembered Professor Crouch and Dr. Harrison as two men who had made the first type of accusation.

Moving on from that unpleasant topic, Leona then began to go over the various pieces of "advice" Medeia had offered her. As she mentally recounted each one a smile began to grow on her face. When she reached the part about finding more friends the Wizard Saint began to grin widely.

"Of course you'd want me to find more friends... so that you can kidnap them." Leona commented on the bit of "advice" that she found to be the most amusing. Medeia must have thought the Wizard Saint was stupid enough to actually follow it. She was only partially right... Leona was stupid, but she was not dumb enough to make friends so that the Warlord would have more people to kidnap. Medeia already had enough potential targets and Leona was not going to hand her any more.

Medeia's advice was suspect because her inconsistent behavior had made Leona not want to listen to anything the former had to say. One moment the Warlord was making threats of various sorts. The next she acted kind and wanted to be Leona's friend. The moment after that she was pulling a trick on the Wizard Saint. That sort of behavior made Leona disinclined to heed any advice she had been given no matter how helpful it was.

Leona was also not inclined to follow it because of her desire to not trade one master for another. The blonde had had to be exiled from her home village to finally get free from her mother's control and she was not going to let herself be ordered around by Medeia, who likely considered Leona her property despite a claim to the contrary. Since Medeia was prone to twisting the truth, if not outright lying, Leona was going to assume she was considered property and act accordingly, which was to say that she was going to rebel against her would-be owner.

If Medeia had thought Leona was stubborn during their time together, the Warlord had seen nothing yet.

[Post Word Count: 908]
[Total Word Count: 7,704/10,000]

-The Forgotten Deserts, 150 meters west of the hangar, 10:23 A.M.-

Dressed in Desert Survival Armor over a navy blue tank top and khaki cargo shorts with boots, Leona had applied sunscreen liberally to her exposed skin and she had just finished her first square of the day. For the past two days Leona had been able to find nothing of value and was not optimistic that she would find anything today. She was still going to try to do her best for Eleanor, who had recovered from her heat-induced lethargy and was now back in the field... after applying a lot of sunscreen to her skin, naturally.

Leona began slowly and carefully moving aside sand with her shovel to try and minimize the damage it did to anything she might find. As she worked her thoughts turned once again to the topic of Medeia's advice. The blonde had not put much stock in it because the source was not the most reliable when it came to telling the truth, so she did not see much point in following her enemy's "advice" even if it had been offered during a rare time Medeia chose not to lie or distort the truth as part of some mind game.

Besides, she was not going to take orders from a Warlord ever again if she could help it.

Leona was definitely not getting any new friends so that Medeia could have a larger pool of people to possibly kidnap. She was not going to look for an apprentice any time soon because she let Silver Wolf members choose their own paths and she did not want to infringe on that right just to feel important. She was going to focus more on work than finding excuses to go to Capital Crocus Mall or Lion's Island. She was going to praise her peers among the Wizard Saints and praise any other mages she worked with while downplaying her own accomplishments, few of which were worth praising to begin with.

Leona focused momentarily on her shovel as she moved more sand aside and to the left. So far she was not finding anything, but she was not going to move on until she was finished here. She still had half of a square to dig before she could fill it back in and find another promising patch of sand to work. It took several minutes to dig the other half and when she did nothing was found, so she began the task of filling it back in before moving on.

Once that task was finished Leona moved on to claim a patch of sand roughly twenty meters away, marked it with four stakes and yellow tape, and got to work.

-The Forgotten Deserts, 5:27 P.M.-

Leona had dug four more squares and had come up empty-handed each time. She was about to finish her sixth for the day and was beginning to think that she would never find a relic for her client. That feeling was reinforced when the sixth square turned out to be empty. Leona sighed and began filling it back in when Eleanor approached and waved at the Wizard Saint. Leona stopped working and turned to face her.

"I've come up with nothing, Leona. Judging from the look on your face you haven't been successful either." Eleanor told the Wizard Saint before surmising that the latter's luck had not been any better. Leona shook her head.

"You're right. I haven't found a single thing." Leona confirmed. Eleanor sighed.

"This whole trip's been a waste of time. I've also learned that my father won't be showing up after all. He's going to a conference in Magnolia Town." The freelance archaeologist informed Leona that her father would not be putting in an appearance because of another engagement. The blonde mage was not particularly sad to hear that because she was not yet ready to confront one of the men who had questioned her competence because of her gender. That would have to wait for another day.

"Let's just call it a trip. I'm not feeling up to spending another day out in the heat and digging in the sand." Eleanor said. Leona nodded.

"OK. Let me fill in this hole and we'll go back to the hangar and pack up your camp." Leona said. The Wizard Saint shifted gears and began to fill in the square she had just finished creating. As soon as that was done she would accompany her client back to the hangar and begin the process of loading the latter's belongings into the cargo bay of the Albatross.

-The Forgotten Deserts, outside the hangar, 7:45 P.M.-

Leona had helped Eleanor pack up everything and load it into the cargo bay. Now all that had to be done was to take down the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar. Leona stood with Eleanor 105 meters away from the hangar and cupped her hands over her mouth, then called out the deactivation phrase.

"NANOTECH AIRCRAFT HANGAR, DISASSEMBLE!" Leona called out. Within seconds the structure instantly disappeared in a light blue cloud of nanites and when the process was finished the structure was now in the form of a credit card-sized object again. Leona looked at Eleanor.

"Once I pick up the Nanotech Aircraft Hangar we'll get going." Leona said to her client before walking towards the hangar in folded-down form. When she got to it she would put it in her pocket and board the waiting Albatross to start the takeoff sequence.

[Post Word Count: 918]
[Total Word Count: 8,622/10,000]