A Storm In The Port

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 14, Post Number 338

-Hargeon Town, 12:33 P.M.-

Clad in her green, white, and gold outfit with black bike shorts on underneath the skirt and Argent Gloves on her hands, she also carried her Silver Longsword in its scabbard on her left hip. Leona had walked here from Silver Wolf Guild Hall because today she did not feel like flying on the back of Winged Lion or piloting the Albatross. It had been a long walk from the guild hall, but she did not mind because she had a lot to think about on the way to her destination. After getting to Hargeon Town Leona had asked for and gotten directions to the location of Hargeon Cemetery, the place that was her real destination.

As she walked through the bustling port district the Wizard Saint of Courage drew attention from pedestrians of both genders and all ages, but she was not here to feed her ego. The blonde was here on a quest to lay to rest the inner demons that resulted from her defeat at Medeia's hands not too long ago. She was on the way to Hargeon Town's cemetery so that she could possibly make peace with the innocent people she had gotten killed thanks to her refusal to give up before Medeia's purple tentacle came out. It sounded absolutely stupid because she had no idea where they were buried and she could not literally talk to the dead, but she had to try to make amends somehow.

The blonde did not pay attention to the pedestrians as she walked. Some of them looked in amazement at seeing a celebrity mage walk through their town and others regarded her with romantic desire, especially the young men. However, more than a few young women looked like they wanted to ask her on a date but were too nervous to make a move. Leona kept moving towards her destination, which was on the far side of town. Her emotions were running high as she passed through the area where the clash with the Warlord of Lust had taken place.

The damage looked like it had long since been repaired, but Leona remembered what had happened here all too well. She wished that she could have beaten back Medeia and saved the people of Hargeon Town from the latter's idea of "fun" before so many people had gotten killed. The Wizard Saint should have given up after being hit with the coffin spell, but she had feared that her surrender would not have bought the safety of the town's residents and Medeia would have killed them anyway just to get back Leona for resisting her. There was also a matter of pride... a Wizard Saint did not have the option of giving up whenever things got rough.

Banishing those thoughts from her mind, Leona passed through the port district and continued on her way to the cemetery.

-Hargeon Cemetery, 1:37 P.M.-

It had taken awhile to get here and Leona had not been in any hurry because she knew that she was going to face a reckoning of sorts. Even though she did not know which graves belonged to the victims of Medeia and Armina the Wizard Saint was going to be in the presence of the people she had let down. That was a sobering realization that the blonde did not want to face but had to because she had put it off for far too long.

The midday sun hung in the sky and lit every corner of the cemetery, which was a large square area had neat rows of gray tombstones stretching all the way to the back. The grass around each grave was short and neatly trimmed and there were granite benches placed throughout the cemetery. Leona had never been in a cemetery during the day and she expected zombies to emerge from the ground and shamble towards her, but the ground remained undisturbed and the dead remained in their resting places.

Leona took a quiet breath and was about to walk into the place when she heard a soft sound and was interrupted by a female voice coming from behind.

"You have some nerve showing your face here!" Leona was told. The Wizard Saint turned around to spot a young woman who was roughly her height and had one hand on a double-edged sword with its point down in the grass. The stranger wore a blue jacket with gold lines and a black baseball cap plus what looked like black gym shorts and tennis shoes. On her face was an unmistakable expression of anger.

"I thought you'd have the sense to stay out of Hargeon Town, but apparently you're dumber than you look!" The stranger continued to verbally tear into Leona. The Wizard Saint had come here to make peace, but it seemed like she might not get that chance. She took a quiet breath and remained calm as she began to speak.

"What do you mean?" Leona asked calmly. She did not want to fight anyone today, especially not in Hargeon Town, but she would if the stranger continued to push her.

The Stranger:

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"You know good and well what I mean!" The blonde said accusingly. Using her brain for once, Leona thought about the context of the other person's words for a few seconds and soon got what they had meant. They were referring to her failure to stop Medeia from killing so many people during their battle.

"I tried my best to stop the Warlord, but my best just wasn't good enough." Leona stated as calmly as she could despite the memories dredging up strong negative emotions. The stranger was unmoved by the Wizard Saint's claim and her face remained one of anger. Leona could almost feel the air around them lose heat as the other blonde replied to the assertion she had just made.

"No, it wasn't." Came a response so chilly that Leona felt a need to put on her Arctic Armor and cold weather gear to withstand it.

"I lost quite a few friends to your incompetence, Wizard Saint. They'd still be alive if you had been able to stop the Warlord from summoning that tentacle or if you'd been able to kill it." The other blonde brought up the loss of friends to Medeia's tentacle and the sound of it crushing people in its grip came back to Leona like it was happening all over again. The Wizard Saint's face showed revulsion for a second or two before it returned to a normal expression... or as normal as it could get considering the emotionally charged circumstances surrounding the conversation. Trying to stay calm, Leona let the other blonde continue to talk.

"I had to bury them because of you and I don't want you anywhere near their graves!" Leona was told that she was not welcome in Hargeon Town's cemetery because her presence would be disrespectful to the victims of Medeia's attack. The Wizard Saint took a quiet breath and tried to defend herself the best she could from the storm of criticism that was being directed at her.

"I'm sorry for what happened that day. I tried to stop the Warlord before-" Leona apologized for the lives lost and tried to explain herself before being cut off with a raised hand, a gesture which annoyed her but one that she let slide because she felt that as a Wizard Saint she needed to accept criticism as well as praise. The stranger was not moved by the interrupted apology... if anything she got even angrier.

"Sorry won't bring them back!" She shouted at Leona. The Wizard Saint felt her calm slipping but forced it back into place for the time being. The mood was growing more and more hostile and the Silver Wolf mage was not certain if she could resist the urge to say something back for much longer, but she had to try.

"They're just as dead as those people you let down at the Ishgar Symposium!" The stranger retorted. Hearing the name of the fateful event made Leona's teeth clench and her eyes narrow... the Wizard Saint was glaring daggers at the other blonde as the adrenaline began to flow. The other blonde recoiled in surprise and seemed to regret making Leona angry, but only moments later she recovered her composure and resumed the "conversation."

"I thought you'd be able to stop something like that from happening, Wizard Saint! I thought Wizard Saints were supposed to be the best of the best, but you're just a pretender! You're a phony with a fancy title!" Came another verbal jab. Leona's anger continued to grow, but she kept it under control for the sake of the other person. She really did not want to fight in a cemetery, especially one that was home to people she had indirectly gotten killed, but the other person was really pushing her buttons. The Wizard Saint took another quiet breath or two before finally finding words to say.

"What do you want from me?" Leona asked as calmly as she could while fighting the adrenaline flowing through her body and mind.

[Post Word Count: 670]
[Total Word Count: 1,524/11,000]

"I want to settle things in Talonia Arena. It'll be just the two of us." The stranger stated exactly what she wanted from the Wizard Saint. Leona looked at them for a moment because that location sounded familiar. She might have heard that name in the past, but if she did she was not recalling the context in which she heard it right away. Any battleground that was away from this cemetery was fine by her.

"All right then. Talonia Arena it is." Leona calmly accepted the challenge. The other blonde smiled for the first time since the meeting had started, but it was not one of warmth. It was one that indicated she had gotten what she had come here for.

"We won't fight right away, Wizard Saint. I'll need three days to get ready. Even if you're just a pretender with a fancy title taking you lightly would be a very bad idea. You survived a fight with a Warlord and as much as I hate the outcome I've gotta give you credit for being tough and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with one of the strongest Dark Mages alive and live to tell the tale." The stranger informed Leona that they would meet in Talonia in three days and gave the Wizard Saint a bit of respect even if it had been given grudgingly. The Wizard Saint was not happy with the outcome of the fight, but surviving a clash with Medeia was a victory in itself because the Warlord could have easily killed her after she surrendered to spare Hargeon Town any more devastation. Leona would settle the score with Medeia later, but for now she needed to focus on the upcoming clash in Talonia Arena.

"All right then. We'll meet there in three days." Leona confirmed their "appointment." Again the other blonde smiled.

"See you then, Wizard Saint. You'd better be ready for a fight because I'm certainly gonna give you one." The stranger said before turning around and dispelling the sword she had been leaning on, then walking away towards Hargeon Town. With her business here finished for the time being Leona would go back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and take care of any office work that was waiting on her, then head to Lion's Island once it was finished. Leona would take advantage of the three-day wait to mentally prepare herself for the fight with the stranger.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, 11:03 P.M.-

Leona had returned to the guild hall around 5:45 P.M. and had spent the last five hours taking care of her responsibilities. Now that that was finished she could go to Lion's Island and spend a few days there before going to Talonia Arena to duel with the stranger. She quickly gathered her Silver Longsword, Nanotech Aircraft Hangar in its card form in case she needed it, and Argent Gloves, then left her room to go board the Albatross for the flight to Lion's Island. Once she had those items she shut her room door and headed for the Albatross.

-Lion's Island, inside the Obsidian Tower, the fiftieth floor, 3:07 A.M.-

Leona had landed the Albatross inside the tower's hangar roughly five minutes ago and had went to her room to change from her green, white, and gold outfit to a more casual outfit of olive green tube top and blue jean short shorts. Now she was standing in front of the picture window in her living room and watching the full moon hover in a cloudless sky. Leona was not ready to sleep just yet because her mind was occupied with the stranger's challenge to settle their differences in Talonia Arena.

The Wizard Saint had doubts that she was doing the right thing by taking the bait and agreeing to the duel, but part of her wanted to silence the detractor by defeating them in a one-on-one battle. The blonde challenger was going to have to back up their cheap talk and Leona doubted that they would be able to defeat her, but the latter was not going to go into the fight like victory was already hers. Leona had learned the hard way what underestimating someone could cost her and she was not going to make that particular mistake again. When they met in the arena the Wizard Saint of Courage was going to show her enemy that challenging her to a duel was a bad idea.

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[Total Word Count: 2,266/11,000]

-The same day, Lion's Island, the beach, 9:03 A.M.-

Leona was on the beach and wearing the same outfit she had worn last night. She had not been able to sleep for very long and was not ready to try again, so she had decided to walk on the beach for a bit to do something other than stand in front of the picture window and brood. She had applied sunscreen to the exposed skin of her arms, legs, shoulders, and face, so there was little need to worry about sunburn.

She had gone barefoot to the beach and was walking on the white sand as she thought about the stranger's challenge. The Wizard Saint knew that she might be compromising her mission to fight for justice by agreeing to the duel, but the stranger had been the one to challenge Leona, a fact that she would gladly point out should the authorities come looking for an answer. Despite that justification she felt uneasy about the upcoming fight because of the potential ramifications that might stem from it even if she won.

Aside from the possibility of the authorities coming to question her Leona also worried about how her reputation would be affected. Her detractors could possibly use the duel as "evidence" that she would use violence against anyone who dared criticize her. She could also be painted as a bully who could not stand up to enemies as strong as her but would happily fight anyone who was weaker. That was a complete falsehood, but some people never let the truth stand in the way of what they wanted to believe and some of her critics might be that kind of person.

Leona suddenly stopped walking and looked towards the ocean, which seemed to stretch on forever. She took a quiet breath and exhaled as gentle waves lapped at the shore and the sun made the water shimmer in places. The Wizard Saint recalled what had been said to her in Hargeon Cemetery and was not certain what the stranger had in mind because their claim of wanting to "settle things" was worded more than a little vaguely, but seeing the other blonde leaning on a sword made Leona think that a fight was in the cards. The Wizard Saint would try and talk the stranger down first in an effort to reach a peaceful resolution to the problem, but if that was not possible then the two blondes would just have to fight.

Leona had finally made up her mind on what to do about the stranger, so she turned away from the ocean and resumed her walk on the beach. As soon as she was finished here she would return to the Obsidian Tower and try to sleep for awhile. Once Leona woke up she would get a cup of coffee in the kitchen and decide how to occupy her time from there.

-The Obsidian Tower, the fiftieth floor, Leona's bedroom, 11:23 A.M.-

Having taken a shower and changed clothes into a black tube top and olive green short shorts a half-hour ago, Leona was now lying in her bed while staring at the blank wall on the left side of her bedroom. She was starting to enter a stage of drowsiness where she was only dimly aware of her surroundings and when that happened sleep usually followed. As she waited for the drowsiness to reach its final stage Leona rolled over and faced the bathroom door, then closed her eyes for a few moments as she began to get a good idea of what she would do later today.

If the weather was still good she might return to the beach and sit in her beach chair for awhile.

That would be Leona's first choice of activity because every time she went to the beach she seemed to find a solution to her problems. While she had decided how to deal with the stranger when they next met, the blonde still had other problems, namely how to tell Dr. Reid about the Obsidian Tower and its facilities. The structure was impossible to conceal and questions about it would inevitably come up, so Leona needed to be ready to answer them when the time came.

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-The same day, Lion's Island, the beach, 5:33 P.M.-

Dressed in a sleeveless olive green crop top and a pair of blue jean short shorts, Leona was sitting in her beach chair under the shade of her beach umbrella and had been sitting there for the past forty minutes. She had chosen to wear such a top because the heat was more intense now than it had been earlier in the day and she was not up to wearing one of the tube tops that covered only her chest, which she learned was called a "bandeau" after reading the tag under the size tag. She had considered wearing an olive green one to the beach but chose not to because she just did not feel like it today. A crop top would be more than sufficient for today's excursion.

Before leaving the tower Leona had applied sunscreen to her face, shoulders, midsection, arms, and legs to protect herself from sunburn and was wearing her aviator sunglasses to block out the sunlight that managed to get past the umbrella. Just to the right of her feet were her white sandals and to the right of her chair was the wooden folding table with her mug of coffee sitting on it. The Wizard Saint had everything she needed to spend some time at the beach before heading back to the Obsidian Tower for the night.

The sun was out and there was not a single cloud in the sky, which was good because Leona liked calm weather on the beach. The wind was gently blowing and she could see puffs of sand being carried on the wind here and there, but nothing that would threaten to get in her coffee or get blown in her face. Leona looked at the ocean and felt a sense of calm wash over her as she went over the problem of whether or not to tell Dr. Reid about the Obsidian Tower. It seemed stupid to have to think over that because the structure stuck out like a sore thumb, but she did not want to give away any secrets her enemies might later learn if they managed to abduct Dr. Reid.

However, Leona just might have to take that risk if she wanted to host Dr. Reid and let her test the Atlas as promised.

The Wizard Saint sat in silence as the wind picked up a little and blew across the beach, kicking up a small cloud of sand that grazed her legs but did no real harm. Once the cloud had passed by she reached out for her mug and grabbed it, then took a sip of coffee before setting it back down and gazing at the ocean. She looked at the ocean for a bit longer before finally deciding that if the topic of the tower came up she would just tell her guest about it instead of trying to come up with a convincing falsehood to try and deflect attention from a black tower that stood out from the rest of the island's features. Convincingly distorting the truth would take too much time and effort for Leona to do, so she would just tell Dr. Reid the truth if the subject was broached.

Having solved that particular problem for the time being, Leona sat and watched the waves gently lap against the sandy shore of the beach and felt the warmth of the sun on her skin as her concerns began to fade away. The weather was great and her mood was starting to improve now that she had finally decided on how to address any questions Dr. Reid might have about the Wizard Saint's tower, so soon she would get out of her chair and walk on the beach while there was still daylight. When the sun looked like it was going to set Leona would gather up her belongings and return to the Obsidian Tower to take a shower and change into clean clothes, then find something else to do before she went to sleep.

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[Total Word Count: 3,652/11,000]

-Day 2, the Obsidian Tower, Leona's Living room, 8:05 A.M.-

Dressed in a gray tank top and olive green short shorts, Leona stood in front of the picture window and looked at the cloudy gray sky looming in front of her. There was not a single ray of sunlight to be seen and a torrential rain was pouring down at a diagonal angle thanks to the wind, which was blowing the rain so hard that it almost looked like it was falling sideways. It did not seem like going to the beach would be an option any time soon, so Leona would have to find another way to pass the time.

The Wizard Saint would go to the Robot Manufacturing Floor and continue her work... or rather let the machinery continue the work for her. All she would have to do was feed sheet metal to the worktable and let it do the rest, which was fine with her. She would get a chance to do some hands-on work when she installed the electrical wiring and servo motors for the wrists, elbows, and other points of articulation. With that in mind she spun on her heels and headed for the elevator that would take her to where she needed to go.

-The Obsidian Tower, Leona's Bedroom, 1:33 P.M.-

Having completed the legs of her robot and feeling too unfocused to do anything else to advance her project despite not having done any physical labor, Leona had shut off everything and returned to her bedroom, where she was lying on the bed and staring at the bathroom door. She knew that she would need to find a source of servo motors when it came time to actually build the robot but she had no idea where to start. Leona wanted to purchase what she needed from someone who would not tell the world that a Wizard Saint was buying robotics parts from them. She would deal with that when the time came, which was any time she wanted since there was no deadline to have it completed by.

Leona heard the dull roar of the rain pouring down on the Obsidian Tower as she tried to either think of a productive activity to do with her time or go to sleep for awhile and hope the rainy weather eventually ended so that she could go to the beach. Having completed the legs of her robot and unable to make any further progress on it until she acquired some servo motors, there was not much in the way of productive activity she could do... unless she cleaned the engines of the Albatross. They had not been cleaned in quite some time and probably needed a bit of maintenance.

On second thought, that could wait until a bit later.

The blonde was feeling more than a little lazy and she had been productive enough for one day, so it could wait until after her trip to Talonia.

Maybe she should get back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and handle paperwork so that she could be ready for the stranger's challenge.

Getting up out of the bed, Leona left her bed unmade and gathered her personal belongings, then set out for the aircraft hangar on the top floor. She would fly back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and take care of her responsibilities, then spend the last day getting ready for the trip to Talonia. That would be a lot more prudent than hanging around Lion's Island for three days and having to hurry back home to make it back to Talonia in time.

[Post Word Count: 600]
[Total Word Count: 4,262/11,000]

-Day 2, Silver Wolf Guild Hall, The Guildmaster's Office, 6:17 P.M.-

Leona had flown all the way from Lion's Island to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and landed a short distance from the building around 6:07 P.M. and went to her room to change in something more appropriate for the office. She emerged wearing a sleeveless green turtleneck shirt and khaki capri pants with white tennis shoes and went to the Guildmaster's Office to get to work. There was a lot of work to do because she counted twenty-seven stacks of papers sitting on top of the desk. The blonde sighed and walked over to her chair, then pulled it out and sat in it before moving up to the desk in it. Now that she was in place Leona reached out towards the first stack and pulled it over to her, then began going through it.

-Day 3, Leona's Room, 7:33 A.M.-

To say that Leona had had a busy day at the office was like saying that Desierto was dry. She had taken care of the initial workload that had been waiting for her plus another twenty stacks that had been dropped off around midnight. Once that additional work was finished she climbed out of her chair with great effort and hurried to get out of the office before she got inundated with even more papers. Leona had made it to the safety of her room without being stopped by a guild staff member with more work for her to do and had changed into the gray tank top and olive green short shorts she had worn to fly back to the guild hall. After changing she got onto her bed and haphazardly threw a blanket over herself, then rolled onto her side to gaze at the wall.

Leona was glad that she had decided to come back earlier because she had been able to handle the paperwork before it got to a point she would have to spend an entire day in the office to complete it all. Being caught up for the time being enabled her to focus on the upcoming challenge she had to face. She had already decided to try talking the matter over with the stranger who held her responsible for the loss of life that resulted from the clash with Medeia in Hargeon Town, but if words did not work Leona was more than willing to settle the matter with spell, fist, and sword. Leona's primary concern was what kind of magic she would be facing if it came to a fight... she had no idea what the blonde stranger could do while the latter probably knew about Leona's magic from reading the issue of Sorcerer's Magazine with the Wizard Saint of Courage on the cover and the interview with her.

Thinking about that made the Wizard Saint frown in disgust. She recalled Medeia presenting her with the magazine during their time at the Warlord's abode and how the Warlord thought that was an amusing surprise. Leona's disgust and anger with herself for talking freely after that trick had been used grew by the moment and her teeth clenched together. Soon her self-hatred reached a boiling point and she could no longer stay in bed... she needed to go somewhere and do something before she thought about the matter even more and went into a downward spiral of negative emotions. Not caring how casual her outfit was, Leona forced herself out of bed and walked back to the office.

-Day 3, The Guildmaster's Office, 7:52 A.M.-

Leona arrived in the office and found that in her absence the guild staff members had left an unpleasant surprise for her in the form of twenty-three stacks of paper. Unable to sleep due to being fueled by self-hatred, the blonde walked over to her waiting chair, pulled it out, and sat down in it to do another round of administrative work. Maybe by the time she finished her latest shift in the office she would be tired enough to actually sleep.

-Day 3, Leona's Room, 2:30 P.M.-

With all of her work finished for the second time today Leona left her office and returned to her room, then shut the door and crashed on the bed and faced the wall. This time she did not even bother with a blanket because she was too tired to even look for it, let alone grab it and put it on top of herself. Her self-hatred had vanished for the time being and its place was taken by exhaustion. She lay there until sleep overtook her, which happened roughly thirty-two seconds after she got on the bed.

[Post Word Count: 778]
[Total Word Count: 5,040/11,000]

-The next night, Talonia, 9:03 P.M.-

At 8:37 A.M. this morning Leona had received a message from the stranger that told her to show up at Talonia Arena by 10:00 P.M. tonight. Having received notice of when she was expected to be at the meeting place, the Wizard Saint had spent most of the day doing paperwork so that she would not be too far behind when she got back. She had stopped work at 2:05 P.M. and spent a few minutes dressing and gathering everything she would need before leaving Silver Wolf Guild Hall on the back of Winged Lion to travel to the outskirts of Magnolia Town and follow the road to Talonia. Leona had arrived outside Magnolia Town at 6:27 P.M., dispelled her summon, and immediately set out for her destination on foot since she had never been to Talonia and thus could not fly directly to its outskirts like she had done to get to the town Fairy Tail called home.

After a little over three hours of nonstop travel on foot Leona had finally arrived in Talonia. It was nighttime and while the city's street lights made seeing the night sky difficult, she could see the crescent moon hovering overhead and it was so thin that it looked like a fingernail clipping. The wind was also blowing cold air through the streets, but the Wizard Saint was not bothered by it because she was sporting her signature outfit, which had long sleeves. Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with black bike shorts on underneath the skirt, Leona also wore the matching boots and Argent Gloves on her hands. The only weapon she carried with her was her Silver Longsword in its scabbard on her left hip.

Since there was no one around to ask for directions to the arena Leona walked through the streets until she came across a sign that pointed her where she needed to go. Once she had learned its general direction she made her way towards the arena at a brisk walking pace that looked like she would break out into a run at any moment. The Wizard Saint had to hurry if she wanted to make it in time.

-Talonia Arena, 9:51 P.M.-

Leona had found Talonia Arena and entered it with a few minutes to spare. The interior of the structure was like an arena from old gladiator movies... a large, empty space in the center with tall metal gates for challengers to enter through surrounded by rising tiers of seating. The key difference was that the seats were not carved out of stone but were modern stadium seating consisting of stationary chairs with a bottom that folded out. Standing in the center of the arena was the blonde stranger, who wore the same outfit from their meeting in Hargeon Cemetery and was leaning on her sword exactly like she had been doing a few days ago.

Leona approached her at a slow walk and when she got within range to be heard clearly stopped and faced the other blonde.

"You're here. And you even did me the courtesy of arriving a bit ahead of time. That's good." The stranger sounded like she was complimenting the Wizard Saint on her time management skills. Leona ignored it and made eye contact with the blue-eyed blonde, who met her gaze with a no-nonsense expression on her face. The latter stopped leaning on her sword and stood upright... the change of posture made Leona take notice and mentally prepare for a fight, but she remained in control and did not attack.

"I spent the past three days reading the issue of Sorcerer's Magazine with you on the cover and traveling around Fiore asking others about you." The stranger informed her. Leona remained silent and let the other person continue to talk in the hopes that this conversation would actually have a purpose beyond just wasting her time. Within seconds the Wizard Saint's patience was rewarded... sort of.

"I met quite a few people you've helped and they sung your praises. They see you as a hero who'll face any danger without flinching." Came the next two sentences, which were spoken in a tone that faintly sounded like one of approval. Leona took a quiet breath and made herself keep quiet despite how badly she wanted to respond. If she had let herself speak the Wizard Saint would have bluntly requested that the other person get to the point.

"If all of that is true, I don't see why you couldn't have saved my friends. If you're some great hero that should have been well within your abilities." She bitterly remarked about Leona's second-greatest failure. She did not get why this no-name blonde with a bad attitude thought she had the right to criticize her when she did not go through the ordeal the Wizard Saint had endured during and after the battle with Medeia. Again the Silver Wolf mage kept quiet despite how hard it was to do so.

[Post Word Count: 838]
[Total Word Count: 5,878/11,000]

Despite the growing indignation she was feeling Leona kept her temper under control and her mouth in check. The blue-eyed blonde standing before her had the magic signature of a S-rank mage who would be nothing more than a speed bump to the Silver Wolf mage and the latter was standing there and talking to the Wizard Saint like she had Medeia's level of power. Deciding to let the tenuous peace last as long as it could, Leona put aside her feelings and said nothing in response.

"You haven't said a single word this entire time. Do you even care about what I'm saying?" The stranger asked in irritation. Leona's first impulse was to bluntly admit that she did not care for lengthy expositions, but that was not the response a proper Wizard Saint would give. Instead she gave an answer that was not inflammatory in nature.

"I was letting you talk without interruption." Leona replied calmly. The other blonde was not mollified by that answer and her face showed it. She angrily glared at Leona and tapped the tip of her sword on the ground.

"You're so calm about it that I don't think you care about this conversation at all." She commented. Leona's teeth clenched together and the other blonde's eyes widened for a moment as if she had realized that antagonizing the lioness was a bad idea, but her face soon regained its scowl.

"I don't think you're remotely bothered by what happened in Hargeon Town. You're just upset that you lost and that the loss might damage your reputation. You don't care about the people who died that day." The stranger accused Leona of being indifferent to the suffering of the people who had gotten caught in the battle.

"That's not true. I regret what happened each and every day and I wish that I could take it all back. I wish that could bring them back." Leona assured the other person that the dead had not been forgotten in a voice that had some emotion to it. The stranger simply sneered.

"Just like you wish you could take back your failure at the Ishgar Symposium?" She asked pointedly. That did it. What was left of Leona's patience vanished as her teeth clenched again and her right hand balled into a fist.

"A lot of people died because of you, Wizard Saint! A lot of innocent Joyans died that day and many of my friends are in Hargeon Cemetery thanks to you!" The stranger raised her voice and jabbed her sword at Leona once for each accusation leveled at the latter. Leona reached for the grip of her Silver Longsword and her fingertips grazed it before she exerted just enough effort to stop herself from drawing the weapon. The other person noticed that and grinned.

"Why are you stopping yourself, Wizard Saint? Show me what you've got!" She challenged Leona to battle in no uncertain terms. Leona's original intent was to try and talk the other blonde down, but at this point the former was ready and willing to oblige the request for a fight.

"The name's Jessie. Jessie Wheeler. Remember that name when I make you kneel in defeat!" The other blonde at last gave her name before lifting her sword into a two-handed ready position.

"You can try." Leona gave a rare retort to an opponent's taunt. Jessie's smug expression vanished and she glared sapphire daggers at the Silver Wolf mage. After a brief staredown Jessie rushed at Leona with her sword held in both hands diagonally down from her body. The Wizard Saint drew her Silver Longsword with her right hand and waited for Jessie to reach her. The green-eyed blonde would not let her emotions rule her like they had during the fight with Medeia... she was going to stay calm and show Jessie just what the Wizard Saint of Courage could do when she was focused and able to think clearly.

[Post Word Count: 660]
[Total Word Count: 6,538/11,000]

Leona held her Silver Longsword in her right hand as the angry blonde charged towards her. Without giving it much conscious thought she raised her left hand, channeled silver magic into it, and cast a Wind Blast spell at her opponent. Jessie did not even bother to dodge the concussive burst of wind... whether that was because she was confident that she could endure the spell or because she was too angry to think straight did not matter. She was knocked down and hit the ground, maintaining a tight grip on her sword.

"Is that all you've got?" Jessie asked in defiance before climbing to her feet. Leona did not bother to dignify that with a response. Instead she lowered her right hand and sprinted towards the challenger with the grip of her sword clutched in her right hand. When she got close to her opponent Leona stopped and blocked a two-handed downward power chop from Jessie with a two-handed horizontal block using her own blade.

"It'll take a lot more than that to stop me!" Jessie informed Leona that it would take more than a Wind Blast spell for her to submit. The Wizard Saint remained silent as she focused on preventing her opponent from lowering the blade of her sword any further towards her chest. Seeing that her attack had failed, the blue-eyed blonde jumped back three big leaps, giving Leona an opportunity to counterattack with another spell.

Leona took her left hand off of the grip of her sword and formed it into a fist before channeling silver magic into it. When the preparation was complete she dropped to one knee and punched the ground with her left fist, sending out a dome of silver wind that expanded and hit the other blonde as she was racing in for another attempt to get into close combat with the Wizard Saint. Jessie was visibly caught off guard by the Storm Impact spell and staggered backwards, giving Leona just enough time to sprint in close and stop, then focus silver magic into her right foot.

Planting her left foot firmly on the ground, the green-eyed blonde performed a Roundhouse Kick technique using her right foot and aimed for Jessie's head. The Silver Wolf mage's foot found its target and the other blonde groaned and staggered backwards for five rapid steps before she clutched the side of her head with her right hand while her sword was point-down in the ground and serving as a support. Instead of getting angry or bellowing in rage Jessie chuckled a bit while grinning.

"You're more adaptable than I thought you were, Wizard Saint. I should have known better than to try and fight you in close-range combat this early in the battle." She gave Leona another round of praise for being able to adapt to the situation she was facing instead of being caught off guard. The green-eyed blonde ignored the praise as readily as she had the verbal jabs from earlier and focused on how she was going to attack Jessie next. Jessie made the decision for Leona when she jumped back a single leap, then suddenly performed a "flash step" of her own that propelled her towards the Wizard Saint. It was reminiscent of the latter's Zephyr Dash, but the other blonde had not disappeared during the high-speed move... instead she remained barely visible as she rushed towards Leona in a blue blur.

Leona jumped to the right of the incoming blonde and watched as Jessie darted by. Roughly four meters later the blue-clad blonde reappeared and faced the Silver Wolf mage with a smile on her face. She used her left hand to give her opponent a thumbs-up.

"You're quick on your feet, Wizard Saint. That's exactly what I expected from a famous Wind mage like you!" Jessie gave out another compliment while Leona tried to think of a way to take the fight to her opponent. She was not going to win by just reacting to the other blonde's moves. Leona needed to find a weakness and exploit it if she wanted to not let Jessie dictate the pace of the fight.

So far she noticed that Jessie favored trying to get into close range to use her sword. Leona was no slouch at that range... she was able to fight the other blonde up close if she had to. However, fighting on terms favorable to her enemy was not a smart idea and Leona had learned that lesson the hard way during the fight with Medeia. Leona was determined to avoid repeating that mistake.

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Leona took a quiet breath and looked at Jessie while the other blonde returned her gaze. The blue-eyed blonde had an affinity for close-range combat, but so did the Wizard Saint. In addition to swordplay she also had some knowledge of Combat Arts, a skill that Jessie might not share. However, getting close would be playing right into her opponent's hands and that mistake could lead to an upset if Leona got overconfident, so she would keep her distance for now.

Leona wordlessly raised the index finger of her left hand and pointed it at her opponent, then channeled silver magic onto its tip until the magic was the size of a marble. The green-eyed blonde then fired the Wind Bullet at Jessie, who had a smirk plastered on her face as the projectile raced towards her chest. She thought that the Wizard Saint had just used a weak spell and had opened her mouth to taunt the latter when her eyes widened and she ducked down just in time for the silver marble to zoom past the top of her head. She stood up and spun around to watch the Wind Bullet hit the back wall and be dissipated by a magic barrier that shimmered blue before disappearing again.

"I probably would NOT want to have been hit by that." Jessie remarked on the projectile she had just dodged. Leona wordlessly lowered her left hand and gripped her sword tightly, her right hand visibly moving the blade a little to the right when she did so. Jessie turned to face the Wizard Saint and noticed that the latter was still willing to continue the fight, so she tightened her grip on her sword and faced Leona before rocketing forward in a blue blur with a silver point aimed right at her.

Leona jumped to the right seconds before she would have been stabbed by Jessie, who wasted no time in pressing the attack. Her sword gleamed as she slashed at Leona's chest, but the green-eyed blonde quickly raised her Silver Longsword in a two-handed grip and blocked the other blonde's blade at the halfway point. The two blondes made eye contact as both of them locked blades.

"If you're fast enough to dodge my attacks and block my sword, why couldn't you use your speed to save my friends in Hargeon Town?" Jessie asked Leona pointedly. The Wizard Saint glared at the other blonde and wanted to ignore the remark because it was probably a cheap shot meant to throw her off, but she could not ignore it. Leona decided to break her silence and speak to her adversary.

"My opponent was using spells that affected a wide area such as a sandstorm. As fast as I am I couldn't move nearly fast enough to save everyone from them. I also couldn't use a defensive spell to protect people because I didn't have one." Leona did her best to explain exactly why she was unable to save the people who had died at Medeia's hands. Even when using the power of flight the wind mage's speed was insufficient to save everyone from the sandstorm... in fact she was lucky to be able to save the one person she did rescue from it. Leona lacked defensive spells, but even if she had one she highly doubted that it would have been strong enough to stop anything Medeia could cast.

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Jessie shouted before she spun away and faced Leona again.

"You're a Wizard Saint! You're supposed to be able to always save the day!" The blue-clad blonde continued to rage at Leona, who did not say a word in response. The former rushed at the Wizard Saint and blindly swung her weapon in a two-handed downward chop and Leona blocked it with her own, stopping the gleaming edge a short distance above her head. Jessie tried to move her sword down from above her head and Leona followed suit, the sound of metal rubbing against metal filling the empty arena as the two blondes tried to maintain control of their weapons.

"I tried to save everyone from Medeia, but on that day I couldn't. I've regretted my failure every day since then. I regret it so much that I couldn't even bring myself to visit Hargeon Town until three days ago." Leona let a portion of her regret seep onto her voice. The two young women spun away from each other and stopped two meters away from each other, then brought their swords up into two-handed ready positions and eyed each other warily.

"Were you going to Hargeon Cemetery to look for forgiveness from the dead?" Jessie asked a question so pointed that Leona nearly lost her breath. She struggled to come up with an answer to the question, but she just could not find the words needed to say what she wanted to say. Blue eyes looked at Leona and waited for an answer with barely concealed impatience.

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"Well, are you gonna answer me or stand there like a slack-jawed idiot?" Jessie asked Leona impatiently. Feeling more than a little insulted, the Wizard Saint did not let the remark make her lose her cool. Nevertheless, that question prompted her to break the silence and speak.

"No. I didn't go there for forgiveness." Leona answered flatly. Jessie's eyes narrowed into sapphire daggers.

"Then why did you even bother showing up in Hargeon Town?" Came the question.

"I needed to see the cost of my mistake." Leona answered bluntly. The blue-eyed blonde showed surprise for the briefest of moments before her face showed anger again.

"You certainly made a mistake, Wizard Saint. A big one that got a lot of people killed. You should have never returned to Hargeon Town! You should have kept running!" Jessie baited Leona with yet another insulting remark. That did it. That time the Wizard Saint felt what little patience she had left for this "conversation" evaporate completely.

If Jessie wanted to fight a Wizard Saint she would get exactly what she wanted.

Leona bit her bottom lip and tasted copper as the flow of adrenaline broke through the dam of self-control that had been in place up to this point. Her eyes narrowed and met Jessie's, causing the latter to show undisguised alarm. The other blonde realized too late that she had made a big mistake of her own by pushing the Wizard Saint of Courage's patience to its limit.

Leona wordlessly rushed at Jessie and stopped once she got within sword range, then raised her Silver Longsword in both hands before lashing out with a two-handed diagonal slash. The other blonde met it and pulled away before the pair could get into yet another bladelock. She quickly spun away and stopped after one full rotation, then darted towards the Silver Wolf mage with her left hand formed into a fist and drawn back. Leona lowered her sword and let Jessie approach, then easily sidestepped the other blonde's punch before stopping and using a left-handed Mach Straight technique aimed at her enemy's face.

Jessie turned her head in time to see Leona's fist approaching her face and screamed... the Mach Straight landed directly on the right cheek. The former was knocked back half a meter from the forceful technique and looked at Leona with wide eyes as if she could not believe the Wizard Saint had actually hit her. The more powerful blonde mage said nothing and moved in to perform a Tornado Kick... Leona did the spinning jump and at the right moment lashed out with a kick aimed at Jessie's right temple.

The startled blue-eyed blonde ducked under her right foot and hurriedly backed away from Leona, who landed after the missed Tornado Kick and made eye contact before moving in for another attack. This time the Wizard Saint used a left-handed Mach Jab aimed at Jessie's left cheek. The technique missed due to the other blonde moving her head to the side in time for the fist to pass by. Undaunted by the missed jab, Leona quickly jumped to the right and avoided Jessie's sword, which came down in a one-handed chop aimed at the top of her head. Leona landed on her feet and faced her enemy before raising her sword in both hands and easily blocked a diagonal swing heading for her left shoulder.

The two combatants struggled to gain leverage for almost a minute before they broke contact and took a giant step back. Leona looked at Jessie and noticed that the latter was still in fighting shape despite the bruise on her right cheek, so the duel would continue. That was fine with the Wizard Saint.

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[Total Word Count: 8,754/11,000]