Valkyrie's Fall (Saranade's B-rank exam)

Alexander watched carefully set the last bit of paperwork aside, this was a very comfortable feeling of accomplishment he had. The bureaucracy was over and could now do the most important thing he had all day. He summoned the 3rd messenger of the day, this time a catgirl from a foreign country. He was beginning to appreciate these messenger children, hard working kids that earn an honest living. Saranade would soon have a catgirl coming in with a letter and giving you a look that was begging  to be rubbed behind the ears (and will purr happily if you do). The letter contained the following:

Hello sister may you please step into my office? It concerns about your future.

Alexander awaited patiently for her sister to arrive, her favorite drink already in a glass fore her. He casually walked to her sister when she arrived with said bottle and said, "Follow me for a bit Sara." He walked out to the balcony of the guildhall that looked over the city of Noximus, a Dark City focused on progress. It had already taken big strides towards being an official city soon, but otherwise wanted to hear her sisters opinion. "What do you see Sara? Has it met your expectations? Are we really grasping on empty dreams?"

Just getting home from a hard weekend on a job, she took a nice long hot bath. She deserved this, at least she thought so. Sara had her hair up in a towel when there was a knock on her room door. Before she could even allow her in, Rose came barging in to deliver a letter. Rose was all cheery and innocent like; Which she really wasn't. Saranade sneered at the cat girl and sent her on her way. It was a summons from her brother. Oh dear, what did he want now?

After changing into a tight black sleeve shirt, and grey leggings and boots, ( her casual outift ) she trekked up to her brother's office, which was all the way at the top of the ship, in a outlook. She hated going up there, because she hated heights. It really put her on edge to see the horizon. " This better be for something good brother," she said gulping down the drink he had already poured for her. He really was her brother, and he knew her sooo well. Sara was doing her best not to look out the glass at the horizon.

He lead her out to the balcony. Just great, another look of the city, how many times have they been through this? Sara just gritted her teeth, " Brother you know better than most..." She had her back turned to the rail way, if she couldn't see it, then it didn't exist. The last time she had tried to look at the city below, she nearly fainted and fell off the ship, something she wanted not to do again. Trying to answer her brother's question, Sara turned her head to look at it, just a glance before she nearly caved.

"No dream is empty, this is proof." She said with a sigh.

Alexander sighed, “Sara, you remember that the goals of Nox Animus: Freedom, Power and Unity. 2 out of the 3 rights are currently being taken away from you, because you are allowing it to be.” Alexander always noticed her sister avoided any ledges or edges she came across. Always caught the micro expressions on her face and actions. It needed to be stopped before it impeded her actions, her freedom. So he gently grabbed her by the chin and made her look over the balcony and into the streets below, a massive drop below awaited her. He expected a violently fearful reaction from her, but regardless continued.

Alexander continued, “Fear is the greatest source that takes away freedom. So today I am giving you what could be the hardest B-rank exam of the batch that I got. Your goal for this job is to jump off the edge of the airship. Face that one fear that holds you back, I will be watching. You have 1 hour.” There was more to this exam than simply facing her fears, it was more than that. It was her show that she followed of the guild, her test began now.

Rolling her eyes she looked away from her brother as he seemed to ridicule her composure. She was who she was, what did he want from her? Then suddenly, Sara could feel his fingers grip her chin forcing her to look down upon the city. Her head instantly swarmed and she closed her eyes fast, but it was too late, she knew it was there. Sara gripped into the railing with her life as he spoke to her. She tried to pull free but he had a tight lock on her. She planned on hurting him if he wasn't her own flesh and blood.

She gritted her teeth and furrowed her brows as she finally found out the reason she was here. He was planning on killing her. How lovely. Perhaps the word family was over exaggerated. She just planned on protesting the entire time, this was ridiculous, she did not plan on participating in something like this. " Brother, you are Drunk, or insane. That is a long fall, and i don't plan on committing suicide any time soon." She said while placing her hands on her hips.

He wasn't kidding when he said hardest exam, cause he is clearly a lunatic and expects too much, especially from his own sister. Biting her lip, deep down she knew he wasn't kidding. He knew about her weakness, and their dream couldn't afford any weaknesses. With a sigh, she glared at the edge, not wanting to look beyond any further. " Alex..." She said with almost a whine, she was genuinely scared, was that such a bad thing? Why did he think that jumping would cure this, It may only cause her to think that her brother was out to kill her.

Alexander sighed as he watched Saranade struggle with her fear, but she was wrong. Alexander chuckled, "Oh no sister, I don't want you to jump off the balcony. You would die, I am talking about that." He pointed at the horizon where there was a 15,000 foot drop into the ground below. And Alexander was talking as if this was a simple casual jump into a pool. However he knew exactly what he was doing. The lesson here was more than facing ones fears, it was also part of the guild creed. She did not fully grasped the concept completely yet, because then it would be easy. It would have been over a long time ago.

The ship shook slightly from the turbulance as he took a step back and watched her sister. He almost wanted to dive in and hug her. However he could not play favorites with her, instead a step back was needed. "You have 58 minutes sister, time is ticking. It's not a hard thing to do, just jump off the airship." It was almost as if he was teasing her about her fears, but Alexander was just playing the role of the jerk. Alexander chuckled slightly and watched her sister do her exam, he secretly had utmost confidence in her.

Forcing herself to look down, she finally seen what he was talking about, oh how comforting, her brother wasn't insane, just crazy, no one could survive that jump! Not even if it was into a body of water. Because the fall would submerge them so far into the water it would take more than the air they could hold to swim to the surface, and also the water would be as hard as concrete. It would be better if she used water magic, then she could bring it up to her and help her with her fall, but that is sooo not the case.

The ship bounced as it hit a bit a rough spot and Sara gripped the railing; gritting her teeth. This was madness, she looked at her brother and looked at the water. How could he expect her to survive even that? Furrowing her brows she glared at Zenneth, refusing to let go over her stabilizing unit. " It's not a hard thing to do?? When was the last time you fell over 10,000 feet into a lake?!" She screamed at her brother.." Don't rush me..." She said after. She wanted to do this, she wanted to get over her fear. And she had an idea to do it too.

Stepping back she summoned her armor to her body. Glaring at the edge, she formed her armor into a skin tight suit, with a breathing mask. This would comfort her fall, as her armor would absorb most of the pain, and the breathing mask will help with the swim back up. Okay, I can do this. She thought while preparing to go.

Alexander watched her sister struggle, she must think he is insane for doing this. Maybe he was, but that was not the issue. There was something that she was missing, it was not going to be easy for her. However Alexander was just going to make it harder on her. Using a remote access on his desk, he contacted the ship to go up another 10,000 feet. The ship trembled as it gained more and more altitude until it was a fine 20,000 feet. Alexander then said, "Oh look I made it easier for you. Now you have more time to land." Alexander felt like an a**hole for doing it, but it was needed. Alexander step back further and watched some more.

Alexander continued, "And I have jumped off this ship 3 times already, but admittedly I can fly short distance before hitting the ground. " However now at this height it would be impossible to absorb even this much impact upon hitting the ground. Besides the job was just her to jump, not necessarily land. He started lighting up a cigarette and simply said, "50 minutes."

Her eyes grew wide as once again the ship shook. She fell to her knees and clung to the railing. She gritted her teeth, refusing to let out a scream. The ship began to rise, slow and first then got faster. It rose higher and higher, to even the point where it was harder to breath. Still possible, just a little hard. She began to panic and was gasping for breath. Not because of the altitude, because she was just merely having a panic attack. " ARE YOU CRAZY?!" She screamed at her brother while trying to stand. Looking over she seen that the lake was the size of a basketball at her vantage. With her luck, she would jump off and miss the lake. Shit, at this height, with her rate of fall she would be dead before she hit the ground. Either way. They were up in the clouds at this point.

Looking around she could see puffs of clouds forming just above them as they sat just underneath them. Wouldn't be a good spot to watch a thunder storm that's for sure. As he told her that he jumped off several times she gasped, unbelievable. There was a good point, she couldn't fly. She didn't have the ability, she couldn't even hover down, its not like she had wings. Then her eyes opened wide, that was it, wings. All she had to do was manipulate her armor into a winged suit. Sara managed to stand straight and relax just enough to form white angel like wings from her suit. They weren't feathers, but rather a sturdy yet like material that formed feather like attributes.

Alexander watched her sister finally smarten up a bit and formed angelic wings on her back. In a way it looked beautiful. And it was aesthetically pleasing to look at, the symbol of purity was shown. He wanted to applaud Saranade for coming up with an original idea. Also good to know that she did not do things blindly, Alexander was happy for her. He answered, "I never once claimed to be sane. I am surprised people never asked me." He casually walked up to the edge of the ship and looked down. Wow that was very high, maybe he would need to jump too just to make sure that she would not hit the ground. At very least to gauge her performance, but he said "Fear is an illusion, mind clouding judgment. Fear controls you, but there was never anything wrong with being afraid. Everyone fears something though, but what really matters is being able to face that fear. Fear should never force you into inaction... Fear should never be the force that controls you."

Looking down at her hands, they were shaking. Sara realized that he was right, she couldn't let fear control her. Though honestly there were more things she was afraid of, but she couldn't cave now. Not now, after everything she had been through. Looking down at the lake, she knew that she had to do it, just why couldn't she? Was she still afraid? Thinking about it, she has faced her fears constantly, but she has always had a reason to push through it. Why can't she face this one?

Sara looked at her brother and it hit her; he was that reason, why she had the courage to push past her fears before. So why couldn't she use him this time? Let him be her courage. She walked over to him, and took his hand. Smiling she looked at him, " Let's do this together." The distance between them and the railing seemed to grow larger as she sprinted for it just to jump off; spreading her arms out to the side in her fall.

Alexander just gently grabbed her hand and squeezed softly to give her support. He slowly walked over the edge with her as he said, "You see the problem is people try to face fears alone. People are afraid of appearing weak so they try to hide it, fearing others know about it." Alexander followed the sprint as she still held his land and finally jumped off the ledge. The rush of hair whipped through his face as he sky dived to the ground below. He had done this before, it was freeing, liberating and gave a rush that nothing else gave. Still holding her hand he asked, "You finally did it. So congratulations, you passed the exam. You are now officially a B-rank," Alexander said this in a non-nonchalant matter despite the fact they were falling 20,000 feet in the air. He was not worried for himself or the sister and thus sounded like he was bloody insane.

Her hand was being gently squeezed as she made her jump, The wind was rushing around them as they fell together, she laughed as her brother passed her on her exam, She did it! They feeling swarmed over her, she faced her fears. Looking down her eyes got wide... Now what? She began to panic a little before she spread out her armored wings. The fabric took the blunt force of the fall and they nearly stopped abruptly. She began to gently glide around. Oh crap, how did they plan on getting back up? Sure she wasn't afraid of the heights anymore, but she knew her armor manipulations wouldn't last forever. They had some time, so gently floating down would be okay, at least she would live that way.

Saranade giggled, " How are we going to get back up brother?" Perhaps having a flying guild wasn't the best idea in the whole world. But that is what he wanted, so he got it. The view was great and she smiled, she had never experienced such a thrill before.

Alexander chuckled softly as the emotions hit her sister, relief, fear and happiness mixed into one batch of emotions. He looked to the ground and felt a soft bit of relief that she was in full composure. Alexander also was going through the Adrenaline rush and it felt amazing. The rush of wind on his face, Alexander almost wanted to wait on the ground. He however did the sensible thing and activated his demons flight spells and floated down at the same speed as her sister.

Alexander said, “You made the right call Saranade. Nobody should face their fears unless through Unity of their friends, family or comrades. Allies give you the Power to face said fears and when you conquer them…you gain your freedom.” Alexander then chuckled, he had a way up and since she was now light as a butterfly, pulled her up by holding her hand. Effectively causing this angel to fly and not float. He would continue this flight over the airship and gave her bird’s eye view. It then ended with the 2 landing on the balcony that started it all. Alexander asked, “So how did it feel?”

She smiled as his words touched her, she would never have to do anything alone anymore. She had lived her whole life, with the feeling of loneliness and determination, and now, she can rely on her friends and family. Sara could feel him pulling her up as he erupted flames from his feet to fly them back up to the balcony. Well why didn't he do it before? Her feet made contact with the hard surface and she felt herself let go and with relief she braced herself.

" It-was... thrilling. But i still don't plan on doing it again any time soon." she said with a smile, that took alot out of her, and she felt the need for a drink, and a big bubble bath, now that she was covered in a cold sweat. She walked up to her brother and embraced him. " Thank you Alex." she said in her hug. Her armor requipped off of her and she was left standing in her comfort clothes as she dressed in before. " Lets go get a drink!" She said with a grin.

Alexander laughed as he was hugged, she was by far the best sister in the world. He hugged her tightly one more time before saying, "No, not yet I have one last thing to do as your Guild Master... Cause you are no longer a soldier of Nox Animus" Alexander had her tattoos burned clean off her neck and was replaced with a glowing version of it. Alexander said, "Not many people would have done something that crazy even if they were afraid of heights, you were willing to fight the very instincts. For that you deserve to be promoted to Ace." And with that Alexander bursted out laughing, he was beggining to sound old. Chuckling he lit a cigarette and said, "Lets get you that drink... And before you slap this smoke, it's a Lacrima cigarette. I am not trading Cirrhosis for lung cancer."

Taking in his warm embrace she smiled, but soon a look of confusion wiped over that grin. No longer a solider of Nox Animus? Was he kicking her out? Her head was swimming and she was just about to lash out when she felt her tattoo disappear. Her fears were true, he was making her leave. Suddenly she felt a replacement insignia, and it glowed brilliantly. What is this? Sara rose an eyebrow, she was an Ace? Her jaw dropped and tears built up in her eyes before she smiled and stood proud. Her brother trusted her, and knew she would not let him down. She felt a sense of security, why would such silly things come to her mind, of course he would never ask her to leave. If that day did come, then she had failed herself.

Sara was about to walk away when he lit a cigarette and she raised her hand, how dare he pick up that filthy habit in front of her. Her eyes grew large and she gritted her teeth. But before she could strike he redeemed himself. Lacrima cigs huh? She would buy it.. for now. " Lets go see everyone at Victoria's bar." she said waving her brother to come along, but what they didn't know was that night, would be the beginning to something horrible.