Scenario:Leona - Pack Your Bags

Pack Your Bags

As she packs for her imminent departure from Idelva, Leona realizes how much she's changed since losing her sense of pain and exhaustion, as well as her insomnia. Though she looks forward to her journey with Cain and Reinhardtzar, she is plagued by an anxiety she can't explain.

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Leona: ...

Leona is asleep in her room in Volkshield Palace.

The silence is undisturbed but for her peaceful breathing.

Leona: Mm... Nnh...

Leona: Ahh... Yawn...

Leona emerges naturally from her untroubled slumber.

She glances out the window, where the sky is just beginning to lighten.

Leona: (The sun isn't even up yet...)

Leona: (Mmh...)

Leona stretches her arms toward the ceiling, then swings her legs over the side of the bed.

The Idelva Kingdom was reborn as a republic after its war with the Rhem Kingdom.

Cain insisted that he, Leona, and Reinhardtzar had too much influence in Idelva to remain as this new era dawned.

Leona agreed to leave the island with him.

Their departure was delayed, however, by an assault on Nalhegrande by the forces of the Otherworld.

Now that problem has been resolved, Leona and the others have been preparing to leave.

Leona: (We're scheduled to leave Idelva soon...)

Leona: (But with meetings and military duties to take care of all day, I haven't had any time to pack.)

Leona: (Today's shaping up to be another busy one. I'd better get as much done now as I can.)

Leona grabs a large bag that has been shunted to the corner of her room and begins filling it with clothes and necessaries for her journey.

She layers in the bare minimum amount of clothes, then turns immediately to her bookshelves to choose the volumes she thinks will be useful.

Leona: Illustrated Wild Plant Guide, Monster Bestiary... We'll be going to islands we've never visited before, so we'll probably need these.

Leona: (Reinhardtzar's pretty dependable, but Cain can be a bit of a flake, so I have to be ready to pick up his slack.)

Leona: (What else? A first aid reference... Tourist guidebook... Cookbook...)

Leona: Oops. Knocked something over there. Better get it back on the shelf...

Leona: Huh?

As she reaches for the fallen book, she notices a dark red stain seeping through the bandages around her arm.

Leona: (Looks like I reopened that wound from yesterday.)

Leona: Haaaah!

Monster: Grrgraaagh!

Leona: Nice try.

Leona: Taaake this!

Leona: Pant... Pant... That takes... care of that.

Leona: (I had it treated properly once I got back to the palace. I wonder how I managed to reopen it.)

Leona pauses in her preparations and grabs the first aid kit to replace her bandages.

The monster's claws left a jagged wound down Leona's arm. The stitches have popped, and bright blood oozes from the reopened wound.

She feels no pain, however. In fact, based on sensation alone, it would have been hard to believe she was injured at all.

Leona: (I've gotten used to it, but yeah... it is still weird for a wound like that not to hurt at all.)

Leona is reminded of her exchange with Bai Ze just after the war with Rhem ended.

Bai Ze: Leona, you have great strength. When you were facing off against the sovereign, I saw that for myself.

Bai Ze: If you agree to help, I am prepared to grant you greater power still.

Bai Ze: Of course, with that power comes a suitable cost.

As Leona stood gazing blankly skyward, her revenge against Pholia accomplished, Bai Ze approached her with an offer.

He offered her access to the power slumbering within her in exchange for her ability to feel pain.

Gaining that power would condemn her to continue fighting in perpetuity.

A destiny which meant letting go of the ideal happiness she had always dreamed of.

Confronted with that choice, Leona faced the primal beast squarely and replied in a clear voice.

Leona: I told myself I was right to do so—I used that excuse as a shield and did something that can't be reversed.

Leona: I destroyed so many people's happiness for my own selfish reasons.

Leona: I never intended to hurt anyone, but what's done can't be taken back.

Leona: So I want to take responsibility for my actions.

And so Bai Ze, primal beast of perception, gave Leona a body incapable of feeling even the slightest pain.

Leona: (I haven't felt any pain since, no matter what happens to me. Sometimes I'm seriously wounded without even noticing, and if I don't rein myself in, I'll fight till I'm coughing up blood.)

Leona: (I bet I won't even notice when I die.)

Leona: (Cain would probably be angry if he knew.)

Leona: (But there's no turning back now. I've changed since I stopped feeling pain.)

Most people dislike pain, especially given that it rarely arrives alone, but rather as the symptom of some injury or illness.

Losing that natural barometer of health inevitably creates a disconnect from one's own body.

As a military woman well aware of the importance of active health maintenance, Leona instinctively understood the weight of that loss.

Leona: (Now that I think of it, I don't have as many sleepless nights as I used to. I hardly ever wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat anymore either.)

Leona: (Maybe because I can't feel exhaustion now, that urgent need for sleep isn't making me anxious...)

Leona: (Pretty ironic, huh, Abel?)

Bai Ze's price did nothing to alleviate the emotional wounds that tormented her.

But ceasing to feel physical pain somehow did offer her a measure of peace.

Leona: There. That ought to stop the bleeding.

Leona: Now, time to get this packing squared away!

Leona's voice is deliberately bright, trying to chase away her own darker thoughts as she returns to her preparations.

Leona: (Not long now till we ship out...)

Leona: (No... "Ship out" isn't right. This is a "journey," not a military deployment.)

Leona: (No goal, no mission. Just freedom. That sounds fun.)

Leona: (I wonder what kind of food we'll discover. I'd love to sample the delicacies from islands all over the skies.)

Leona: (I guess we'll all be making and eating meals together... I seem to remember hearing that Reinhardtzar was a pretty good cook. I'd like to try his cooking.)

Leona: (Reinhardtzar, Cain, and I can go anywhere we want. Do anything we want.)

Leona: (I'm looking forward to that... I really, truly am.)

Leona: ...

A shadow crosses Leona's face, her hands coming to a halt.

Leona: (I am looking forward to it. At least... I should be...)

Leona: (And yet... I don't know why, but sometimes, I just get this bad feeling about it all.)

Leona: (There's no good reason. The Republic of Idelva is so stable now that it doesn't need us here to defend it.)

Leona: (Relations with the Rhem Kingdom are good, and the trouble with the Otherworld is winding down.)

Leona: (It's different than when the Torhid Kingdom fell. This time, we're setting out because we want to. Choosing our own path.)

Leona: (There's nothing that should have me this anxious over leaving, and yet...)

It is natural to feel anxious over any large change in one's everyday life.

And so, to hide from those misgivings, Leona has been throwing her pain-impervious body into the service of Idelva day and night.

But overworking herself still doesn't quell her fears, and the closer their departure date looms, the more agitated Leona feels.

Leona: ...

Leona: Maybe I'm constitutionally incapable of ever being at peace.

Leona: I should just get my bags packed—

Just as Leona resumes her task, birdsong outside her window heralds the beginning of a new day.

Leona: Morning already? I thought it was getting bright in here... I should get going.

Leona: Oof! That's heavy. I guess I stuffed a little too much in here. Maybe the cookbook and tourist guide were overkill...

Leona: Sigh...
Haha. I guess I'll start over after work today.

Leona drags the overstuffed bag in front of the bookcase, then heads out to face the day.