[Job] Effluent Eternity (Akeya/Leila Vergious)

It was only natural that they would be on their way. Especially now that the job was truly finished. The boulder was gone and the area was just as beautiful, if not even more so, as before. Akeya even expressed a certain sentiment that might have sounded like praise to a certain pair of ears, truly an unusual thing to happen. It was a bit of a shame that they could not bask in the glory of the celestial tree from the Gardens of Eden. She did her very best to make it look as pretty, and as unique, as she possibly could have.

Alas, she was fine with just walking away. After all, they got the water as a reward. And the people who hired them in the first place would pay them as well, the moment they would learn that the job was finished and confirmed it. Given the substantial monetary reward that had built up over time as different mages failed to remove the boulder, that part sounded rather exciting to Leila. For some reason, it seemed that her lust for jewels was picking up again after she nearly managed to rid herself of it. But that was only natural, as she currently required a great sum of money for her own personal goals.

Furthermore, the dragoness also said something a bit weird. Something that sounded vaguely inappropriate if taken out of context. With her cheeks growing a bit red, Leila would promptly separate herself from the other female at that moment, able to fully stand on her own two legs once more. “Yes, let’s just leave.” Her voice still sounded a bit tired, but at least she didn’t really have to walk anywhere. With one simple whistle, the horse she arrived on top of galloped right over to her.

Getting into the saddle proved a tiny bit of a challenge, but the girl managed eventually. And from up there, she could easily direct the animal anywhere without issues. Thus movement proved to be of little concern, even if her body was lacking the energy that she first used up during her little outburst at the start, and then when creating the giant tree of life to ensure that the local fauna and flora would survive and flourish forevermore. With the water secured, it really was quite the success here, despite the numerous bumps in the road. But whenever were there none of those, anyway?

“Well, I think I have gotten everything that I desired. And I have a feeling that you wouldn’t really let me get any closer despite what you said before.” After all, the dragoness was awfully cold and seemed to guard herself at all times, almost. But at the very least, they still had some chance to talk as they walked, or at least as Akeya walked and Leila slowly rode on top of the horse before their paths would split up. Unless Akeya were to decide that she had enough of her silver-haired companion and were to take into the skies with her wings.

Everything seemed to be a possibility presented at the table these days. Especially with all that happened earlier today. Given the severity of that previous, quite literally flaming outburst, she might have had indeed enough. That cold demeanor on the outside betrayed none of her actually emotions and feelings, so the wolf girl could just not tell what her companion was truly thinking, ever. And it always made her unease. Especially now that there was a legitimate cause to be concerned over, regardless of how small.

Aurora showing up was another thing to consider as well. The one true goddess and creator of the Gardens of Eden, she wielded almost unbelievable amount of power, as Leila clearly saw today. But she never seemed to use it to interact with Earthland. Hell, she almost never left the Gardens themselves. The last time she recalled the most powerful spirit doing something like this was with Jiyu Kazehime. Back then, Aurora possessed Leila for a little while in order to say some… unsavory things to the canine girl. Suffice to say, she did not take it very well back then.

No, she just ran off and nearly succumbed herself to drinking alcohol, one of the things she hated most in the world. So did that perhaps mean Aurora took a similar interest in Akeya as she did in Jiyu back then? Well, she did not possess Leila in any way this time, so that was good, at least. She merely helped, which was still highly unusual but appreciated. For now, anyway. There was no telling what sort of side-effects would show later, or what kind of debt repayment she would demand at a later date. Though all of those were problems for another day.

Right now, the girl just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day and find a comfy bed as soon as possible so she could just fall into it, close her eyes, and enjoy whatever show the spirits of Dreamland would decide to show her if any at all. Not that such desire would somehow distract her from anything Akeya still potentially had to say. Those ears of hers were always listening with the precision of a wolf. Not a single word would slip past her, even if she was slightly day-dreaming right now.

Word Count: 11,543 / 12,500

Looking back at the tree from what little distance they managed to gain on it already, Akeya’s words certainly had some truth to them. Leila might have overdone it just a tad bit with the size of the tree, its celestial visage easily towering above any other tree or even a structure in a fairly vast area. Not that it should be too much of a problem. The fountain was known far and wide, so tourism was already something happening in this place. Whether her creation would that make it any worse than it already was, this was debatable at the very best.

And if someone found it unpleasant to look at, then they were clearly completely insane or had no appreciation for art. And that was most definitely not just Leila’s personal preference and appreciation for the things of celestial nature and theme, especially if they were mixed with aspects of nature. It was kinda surprising that the guardian of such a natural sight as the fountain of eternal youth did not instantly come to like the new addition. But in the end, everyone had their own tastes and living creatures were known to become awfully attached to things they already know while refusing anything new.

Something that was not the case for Akeya today, it seemed. Normally the dragoness was awfully cold on the outside and very well guarded. But the words that left her contradicted that mental image completely. Perhaps she was starting to grow softer around Leila? She probably wasn’t yet old enough for the saying of ‘old dragons won’t learn new tricks’ to apply. Still, the argument seemed to completely disarm Leila for a brief moment as she continued staring at her partner from the height that her steed eagerly provided. But in the end, she found her words soon enough.

“Being careful is more of a subjective term…” If she were to be perfectly honest, she didn’t actually know how far she would have to go if she wanted to be serious about her research. Yes, her interest in dragons came from certain awe and admiration, that much was pure truth. But feelings change over the course of one’s life, sometimes pretty quickly. And Leila’s interest simply had to change with what was going on with her physical form and magic. She needed to have a deeper understanding of how dragons worked if she wanted to know how she herself now worked.

Thankfully that also brought about a strange new advantage. Well, an advantage might have been the wrong word. More like an odd convenience. Once she would learn how to easily control her own draconic form, she could take samples from herself. And with her regenerative abilities, that would mean she’d not have to worry about bigger chunks of her flesh and such missing for too long, either. The image was rather morbid, but the girl was afraid that it would come to pass sooner rather than later. Desperate situations often called for desperate measures, after all.

But the idea of being somewhat self-mutilating was quickly torn out of her mind when Akeya spoke up again. It appeared that there was at least one more surprise waiting for the silver-haired maiden today. Though with the dragoness blatantly stating that no one would normally expect her to say this, it kinda made it all the more suspicious, like she was doing her best shot at making a prank of some sort. It left Leila paused for a moment as she stared at her partner a tad more, but she could not sense anything that would indicate a lie.

“That is unusual. I thought that you were too practical for events like that. N-not that I’m saying I don’t want to go, not at all! I’ll go gladly!” She wasn’t really planning on attending the festival at first, given how awfully dull these events can be if one were to go by their lonesome. But with the dragoness by her side, perhaps it would not be so bad. And with a bit of luck, she could get her companion to open up more, become just a small bit more social, at least with her.

And whether this was really just a spur of a moment decision as Akeya made it seem, she did not question. It was already somewhat miraculous they got to this point, so she wouldn’t push her luck any further. It was still an amusing thought, but she also didn’t want to appear ungrateful or mocking of the offer on the outside, so she kept those feelings for later. And soon enough, they were at a fork in the road outside of the forest, one that Leila raced down at the beginning of this strangely arduous guest.

At the very least it was all done now. But that also meant their paths would probably split here. The girl had to return the horse to the stables before anything else and then probably rest a while longer in a hotel room before being ready to do whatever next she would decide to do. And somehow, she had the inkling that the dragoness wouldn’t exactly be interested in going through that process with her, as she had no steed of her own and definitely did not display any visible signs of exhaustion even after her devastating attack.

“It’s decided then. The festival is gonna be in Clover Town, right? Let’s meet there on the morning of the festival day. For now, I’ll be going to the nearby town, so… I suppose I’ll see you there.” Offering one last smile to her partner, she would take a firmer hold of the reigns and let her horse gallop in the desired direction, its hooves kicking up dirt as the two of them raced along the small broken stone walls around the path. She was even quite looking forward to the festival now, even though she wasn’t originally supposed to attend it at all. It made her wonder what all would happen there.

Word Count: 12,549 / 12,500

- Job Fnished -