Frozen Blessing

The calm after the storm, Leona always cherished those moments when her heart could finally find peace within when the endless seas of turbulent thoughts ceased into stillness. Especially after all Krieg, Phoebe and herself have been through, that moment of well deserved rest was supposed to be her respite.

Her eyes instantly recognized the abyssal plane she was brought into from her dreams, the unsettling swirling void beneath her feet seemed to crawl out of the depths to reach her, only to be pulled back by some unknown greater force. Leona wasn't at all startled even when looking directly into the countless squirming hands underneath her.

"Welcome again." The god's voice came from somewhere above her. "I see you brought a guest."

She looked up and saw what seemed to be a fracture in the sky pulsating with dark red energy, she could feel the voice coming from it as if it was some sort of speaker used by the god.

"I thought only I could be pulled into this wretched place. Besides, why this sort of treatment all of the sudden? I thought you'd prefer to talk face to face."

"Haha, someone is sure to be sharp with her tongue. Very well, why don't your friend show yourself and I'll do the same?"

Before she could reply, her corporeal body felt like it was being split in half. Albeit it didn't cause her any pain, it felt gruesome as if someone had ripped part of her out. Beside her a translucent blob of slime began to take the form of an old man and in a matter of seconds his form was substantial enough for speech.

"Will this do?"

The familiar voice brought a certain feeling of ease to the tactician. Having someone else's company in that cursed place was just what she needed to not be driven insane.

"Yes, thank you for showing yourself. Saves me the trouble of splicing her soul." Upon glancing towards the fractured sky, she noticed dark red energy ooze out of the abyss before dropping down and slowly reform itself into the familiar image of the god, this time using a simple white shirt, black pants and polished shoes of same color. "Goodness gracious. This is probably the first time I ever had an uninvited visitor in my domain. What is your name, departed soul?"

"Miyamoto of Nara. I am- or rather, was the lord of the kingdom of Nara."

"I see. I see. Well-" The god snapped his fingers and a throne erupted from the ground behind him as he sat down crossing his legs. "Sit back and do not speak and I might just let this one slide. Else I'll feed you to the souls beneath us. Now where was I…? Oh yes, your performance in these last couple of days Leona. I'd say I'm quite impressed, not meaning to insult or anything but you really do seem to be holding yourself pretty well, despite your sheltered upbringing."

That sentence ticked her off a bit, but in respect of the lord beside her and for her own safety she decided to nod it off.

"I'm trying my best with the cards given to me. Although I would be more thankful if most of the people I come by my travels didn't want to murder me or my allies."

"That has ever been the struggles of mankind, in any world they may come from." The god waved his hand back and forth, creating what seemed to be a small cloud of miasma before dissipating it with a light snap of his fingers. "Either way, I've seen you made some progress in your skills with the blade. What was her name again? The elder elf that trained you."

She raised an eyebrow as she answered.

"Phoebe?"

"Yes, yes, her. It has been a while since I've seen such an accomplished assassin, in an underdeveloped world such as yours finding such skilled individuals is a miracle. Let alone have one accompany you as a bodyguard."

"I am blessed with stout allies, but I can't say the same for the gods above."

He chuckled.

"As expected of my children. Unruly though they may be, at least they did shape your world into what it is today." After leaning his back against the throne, he crossed his fingers on his lap. "Now, a word of warning before I let you go. My child's influence in Londria is far greater than it seems, even under the guise of a technological kingdom her blessing can be seen like a plague spreading throughout Eira's kinsman."

Leona tilted her head slightly sideways as she asked.

"Right… so is this your way of telling me to find a way to free them from her?"

He waved his hand with disdain.

"Oh no, no. Whatever you do is fine, just don't go off dying on your own. I've grown too invested in your story to just watch you die a pointless death."

"I should have expected that." The tactician simply sighed. "Very well. I'll do things my way then."

"I trust you will."

He raised his arm and snapped his fingers, engulfing both her and the swordsman in darkness. Her mind felt like it was being fused again with the lord's soul amidst the void as her consciousness wandered in a seemingly endless void and before she knew it, she was back inside the pod as her body muscles jerked involuntarily.

She blinked a few times as if she had just woken up, staring up at the ceiling she felt a bit of drool from the side of her mouth before she discreetly wiped off with the back of her left hand. After raising her head, she noticed most of the passengers were asleep, save for Phoebe and another soldier on the far back of the vehicle.

"Good morning Princess."

In a low voice, the high elf greeted her.

"Ah. Good morning Phoebe, did you rest too?"

The assassin shook her head.

"Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to. I'm not comfortable in enclosed spaces like this."

"Oh? I wasn't aware of that, doesn't it feel too uncomfortable here then?"

"It's… bearable. Although I much prefer the vehicle we were using."

Leona didn't quite feel suffocated, it was akin to riding the closed carriages back in Arcadia so it felt somewhat familiar to her, albeit with less personal space than she hoped for.

"Nnngh…" Athena's voice sounded strangely close to the tactician's ears and the moment she glanced to her left she noticed the inventor's head slightly leaned towards her as she mumbled in her sleep. "Nooo… don't eat my food…"

"She's sleeping right?" Leona poked the side of her right cheek, but since Athena simply grumbled before turning to the other side she already knew the answer. "Oh."

"Most of you are very heavy sleepers, I'm surprised none of you woke up during the storm."

"Storm?"

"There was a heavy storm that kept shaking this whole thing, but thankfully we made past it without too much problem."

"I see."

Leona glanced around the dimly lit interior, she could hardly believe she was somewhat comfortable inside a vehicle amidst the frigid cold land. To see technology evolve in such a way to fight against the deadly nature of the wilderness made her feel hopeful in humanity's ability to overcome any hurdle, given enough time and research. Her optimistic thought was cut short by Phoebe's voice.

"Oh right, the captain over there told me that if you want to see what outside looks like you can enter the driver's cabin. Knock first though."

That sentence made her eyes sparkle instantly in excitement, as someone who has never traveled to Londria, she wondered what the kingdom looked like ever since they were set to travel there.

Leona glanced at Krieg before standing up with her back hunched forward she then moved towards the door and knocked twice.

"Can I come in? I want to see the scenery outside."

She asked.

"Sure thing."

A muffled male voice replied from behind the thick metal door as she gently opened it. The first thing that hit her was the bright light of the day accompanied by a sharp cold breeze coming from the opened hatch the soldier was using to see the path in front of him.

"Ah sorry." He said as he looked back towards the path he was driving the pod through, he used what seemed to be a see-through protective eyewear of sorts. "We don't quite have heating here, so bear with me until you go back there. Feel free to take a seat, we are almost at the border of the capital."

"Is it always like this to drive?"

She could feel the cold down to her bones, it was a very uncomfortable situation where she could barely keep her body from shivering as the wind brushed against her exposed cheeks, she sat down on the seat that was a simple chair-like molded metal with a blanket on top, even though it covered the seat entirely, she could feel the cold of the metal coming through the thin fabric..

"Well, not always, today just happens to be more windy. There is a latch to your right, you can get the blanket and goggles from there, it should help ease the cold as well as allow you to have a clearer view."

"Thank you."

"It's nothing Miss."

The moment she covered herself with the blanket, put the goggles on and snuggled against her own coat she stopped for a few minutes to appreciate the view. They had taken the longer route going around the mountain near the coast, if you could call a seemingly endless expanse of ice a coast. From where they were, the capital city was located across a half moon road on the very top of a mountain overlooking the frozen ocean, the spiral buildings seemed to break the round natural formation but much like Windia, each and every building had a certain charm to itself as if trying to stand out the bland cold scenery.

However what took her breath away was the castle, it was much bigger than the Arcadian fortress, but at the same time it seemed to be far better maintained. With many towers sprouting out uniformly of the main structure she wondered if it was possible to defend against aerial assaults, but on closer inspection she noticed what seemed to be large cannons and ballistas on every defensive tower.

The giant center spiral atop of the castle seemed to gather the surrounding mana as it emitted a slight blue tinted glow and while it blended with the surrounding scenery, it did leave the city with a certain air of mystery around it.

"I'm sure you heard about the capital of Londria, Miss Crossford?"

"Only through books. I never thought it was this… beautiful." She puffed a warm breath against her hands while rubbing them together. "It really is a sight to behold."

Somewhere deep down she wished she could share that view with her parents, even though she knew both her mother and father had already been there when they first met. It was a childish desire, but she couldn't help it. A small glint of joy was enough to strengthen her will to fight for a better world.

She sat silently rubbing her hands together while appreciating the view, the noisy steam engine and the clanking of the parts as they went down the road towards the capital were the only things that kept her ears busy.

However after a while the soldier beside her began to speak, albeit with a careful tone in his voice.

"Miss Crossford, mind if I ask you something?"

"Huh?" She glanced at the soldier, he wore the same uniform as Oliver but the color patterns were a bit different, instead of navy blue with white trimmings, it was a darker blue with black trimmings. His face was covered with a cloth that protected his throat, mouth and nose from the wind, while the goggles popped out alongside the puffy cap on his head. "Sure, go ahead."

"I've always wondered how the Arcadians handled the situation with the demons and I would hear merchants talking a lot how slavery was something that was being abolished there. Was it your family who decided to take such actions?"

That was one question that she didn't expect to hear coming from a soldier of another nation. Surely, many of the laws put in place were her father's idea, but all of them had to go through the Queen and only then be legally acknowledged as a rule within the kingdom. While she wasn't particularly involved in their making, she was aware of how important those laws were.

"The short answer is yes, but the long answer is… complicated. Are you familiar with the Arcadian law system?"

"Not much. The only thing I know for certain is regarding how laws are made. Which falls to the noble families to come up with solutions alongside their vassals and the common folk."

"Correct. But the nobles don't have free reign to decide what law will be put in use. We only put up proposals and then the Queen passes them as she sees fit. In short we are much like advisors to the kingdom."

He slowly nodded as he continued on.

"I thought they had free reign as long as they didn't do anything that went against the royal family."

"It was like that until Eleonora's reign. Of course as nobles we still retain some autonomy over our own domain but it doesn't mean we are free from judgment of the kingdom. But what about Londria? I only read about how instead of nobles the people elect who they want in power, how does that work?"

"You are well versed in our political system." He sounded genuinely surprised. "We call it elections, every free man and woman has the right to vote for a selected few individuals, as for how they are chosen, it all comes down to their field of work. Let's say if a person is skilled enough in the medical field, they can be elected to be the minister of health. Or if they are reliable for their knowledge, minister of education and so on."

Leona couldn't help but keep slowly nodding as he spoke, it was a very logical system with the aid of the people for their own gain. She wondered who came up with such a complex idea.

"Do you know who created this system?"

"Ah, that was king Uriel. Alongside his group of advisors he deemed kingship to be a thing of the past, if we were to move forward no single man could be competent enough to lead an entire kingdom alone."

Even though the soldier's story seemed believable, she couldn't help but feel something was off. Through the little time she spent with Lastraeous, she was able to tell when some sort of deity was involved in man's history and the unmistakable trace of otherworldly knowledge was the biggest giveaway. For a world that slavery and human trafficking wasn't that all uncommon, the idea of having the common folk participate in choosing their leaders felt very off.

"I'm thankful that my kids are able to have the life I couldn't." He sounded emotional when he started to talk about his family. "I'll be forever thankful to the kingdom and the goddess Eleonora for bringing salvation to our land."

'Well that didn't take long.' Leona thought as she heard the man speak. 'Now… how am I supposed to trust anyone in this kingdom?'

She looked over the horizon as the Londrian capital approached. While smirking bitterly she scratched the side of her nose.

'I guess I'll just have to figure something out.'