Behold the Exalt
Chapter One: Mortal
The Aetius Protection Service and Martial Arts School, owned by and home of Leona Aetius, sat in the back of an alley in the Human Village market. The paint outside was faded, the wood was chipped and worn down, and the windows on the side showed just how dingy the inside was. The mats on the floor had patches sewn onto the corners and the punching bags hanging by one fall were all covered by layer after layer of tape. Most people ignored the place, if they had real reasons for fearing the youkai outside the village they would get a real youkai exterminator like Marisa, for everyone else there was the Aetius Protection Service. Given how safe the Human Village was, most people never hired Leona.
The Martial Arts School side of the shop didn't see much use either since almost all combat happened in the air with at least one hundred feet between you and your enemy. Humans who wanted to fight had to learn how to fly and cast magic. Leona did want to fight, but she had a problem.
Leona was ground bound.
Years ago, in her early teens, she found out that her body didn't have any magic in it and wasn't going to gain any. Trying to exterminate youkai using bare fists and anything nearby she could throw added an absurd level of difficulty to fighting youkai. Still, that didn't stop Leona from keeping herself in fighting shape and spending hours a day practicing martial arts, even though most of her money came from working as a farm hand. During the harvest season Leona worked hard to earn enough to keep her humble school open. When it wasn't harvest time, her days ran like clockwork.
Today, Leona had woken up, ate breakfast, trained, ate lunch, and was back to training. Leona was certain the rest of her day would involve eating dinner and returning to practice. The intense workout had turned her dark brown hair into an unkempt mess matted down by sweat and her training gi was crumpled and messy. As Leona was showing a punching bag who's boss, the bell to her door rang and in stepped the young Hieda no Akyuu.
Leona whipped her head towards the door with minor shock. Akyuu stared back at Leona for growing confusion, the sign outside said the shop should be open. "Am I interrupting something?" Akyuu asked.
"Oh, no it's fine," Leona said, "Did you want to train under me?"
"No, I need you to escort me somewhere." Akyuu said.
"Okay then, where do you need to go?" Leona asked.
"To the Kirisame Magic Shop," Akyuu replied, "I want her to take me to the Scarlet Devil Mansion so I can look up something in the library they have."
Leona's shoulders drooped, that was the most common job she got. It always seemed to sound like people didn't want to hire her, they just wanted to hire Marisa. "Alright," Leona said, "Give me a moment to clean up, we'll discuss payment on the way."
Leona walked to her bedroom, changed out of her gi, washed herself off with a wet towel, and changed into a long sleeved black shirt, plain brown pants, and black boots. Leona took a moment to examine herself in a small mirror and pulled the back of her hair up into a ponytail. If she could fly Leona thought she would look rather intimidating, with her tall body and strong, well defined muscles.
Leona walked back into the main room where Akyuu was waiting patiently. "Do you have everything you need?" Akyuu asked.
"Yup," Leona replied, "Let's go."
The Kirisame Magic Shop wasn't that far away from the village, and at the pace they were making Leona figured she could get back to the human village before sundown. Akyuu had already agreed on the amount of payment, and considering how dangerous the Forest of Magic was Leona would be getting quite the sum if she survived. Leona walked through the forest with confidence and grace, her long legs and able body easily moving over the root covered ground. Every time Leona had to stop for Akyuu to catch up made her worry though. The lush forest canopy didn't let much light in, the twisting branches meant there were plenty of hungry places for youkai to hide and the dead leaves covering the ground meant that any hungry youkai could hear them.
"Can't we slow down?" Akyuu asked through ragged gasps of air as she leaned against a tree.
Leona grabbed her by the hand and pulled her forward. "Soon," Leona said, "But not yet. When the forest is quiet then we can slow down."
"Why then?" Akyuu asked as she stumbled over roots.
"It will mean we've entered what the youkai consider Marisa's territory," Leona replied, "And youkai won't want to mess with her so we should be safe."
"You're right," a new voice said, "I really don't want to fight Marisa to get to you."
Leona froze. Her eyes searched the branches and canopy for a source, but she couldn't see much through the shadows and the voice seemed to come from every direction.
"I haven't eaten in a while," the voice continued, "If you two have any pigs or cows to offer me, I'll gladly go with that."
Leona scooped up Akyuu like she was a princess and sprinted forward. This wasn't the first time she had been caught in the Forest of Magic, but fighting while protecting Akyuu wasn't a fight Leona could win.
"So that's a no on the cattle then?" the voice said in a mocking tone, "Well I guess I'll just have to settle for you two. Sorry about this Ms. Hieda, but you're really not much more than a snack. Your friend on the other hand, you're someone I could really sink my teeth into."
Sweat poured down Leona's face as she raced forward. She wasn't going to let herself be eaten, and she certainly wasn't going to let Akyuu be eaten. She had been charged with keeping her safe and that's what she would do even with her last breath, it was the Aetius guarantee.
A clawed blur swooped down in front of Leona, who skidded to a stop and set down Akyuu. The dead leaves that were scattered across the forest floor danced in the air as a gust of wind hit Leona and Akyuu. The leaves settled, revealing a short girl in a brown dress and matching hat with wings on her back "Well well," Mystia said cooly, threading fingers together, "Are you two going to go down quietly or go down kicking and…" Mystia brandished her razor sharp talons, "Screaming?"
Akyuu, fraught with worry, hesitantly looked to Leona. Leona didn't break her gaze with Mystia, but as Akyuu watched her she grit her teeth and tensed her body. Akyuu understood, she was getting ready to fight for her life.
"Akyuu," Leona said, filling her voice with as much authority and courage as she could muster, "Run ahead, I'll take care of this."
Akyuu looked at Mystia and back to Leona. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"I said I would get you to the Kirisame Magic Shop," Leona replied, "And if you're getting there you need to leave now." Leona looked Akyuu in the eyes. "I will protect you."
Akyuu ran forward, making a gentle curve around Mystia. Leona saw Mystia's eyes track Akyuu. "Hey!" Leona shouted, "You wanted a meal right? Come and get it."
Mystia looked back at Leona, shaking her head and chuckling softly. "You know I'm just going to kill you then go get her right?"
"Taunt me when I'm dead." Leona replied.
Mystia rolled her eyes and lunged for Leona, closing her talons together into a point. Leona twisted out of the way and rolled behind Mystia, putting herself between Mystia and Akyuu. Mystia spun around, swiping her talons at Leona, only to have Leona dodge backwards and then dash forward with a powerful left hook. Mystia rubbed and stretched out her jaw after the punch and then glared at Leona. Leona ducked forward, throwing quick jabs. Mystia swatted away Leona's jabs like she was swatting at a fly before rearing back and slashing her talons across Leona. Leona caught Mystia's attack, locking their hands together, and pushed down on her. Despite Leona's advantage in size, Mystia was able to easily push Leona to one knee.
Blood ran down Leona's arms as Mystia's talons dug into her flesh. With a surge of strength Leona pushed far enough up to axe kick Mystia, her leg sweeping up to strike Mystia in the chin and then down to hit her on her forehead, ending her attack by planting one foot in Mystia's stomach and pushing down to backflip kick off of her.
Mystia was laughing. "You know, this is really giving me an appetite," Mystia said, "And you just look so juicy I might even forget about Akyuu."
Leona raised her fists and leapt for Mystia. As Leona sailed through the air Mystia fully extended one arm and fired a large bullet of danmaku. Leona quickly crossed her arms over her face to guard, but the blast of magic knocked her onto her back with stars in her eyes. Leona quickly shook herself out of the daze and saw Mystia standing over her. Mystia's eyes were glazed over as she ran her tongue over sharp teeth. She dug her talons into Leona's arm, pulled her arm to her mouth and bit into it; Leona cried out in pain as Mystia's teeth tore through her arm. In desperation Leona repeatedly punched Mystia in the head, but for all her strength and training she couldn't even get Mystia to react. Finally, Leona punched her again, hooking her thumb out and using it to gouge out Mystia's eye.
Mystia reared back, taking a chunk of Leona with her, howling in anger as her mouth dripped with blood. Leona quickly crossed her feet over Mystia's neck and whipped them back to throw Mystia head first into a nearby tree. Leona slowly rose to her feet, only to have Mystia sink her talons into her calf and pull her down. Leona fell to the ground and pulled her head to face Mystia. Mystia effortless dragged Leona to her and pulled her mouth to Leona's thigh. Leona desperately tried to kick off Mystia, but through the flurry of blows Mystia merely laughed. Through the pain Leona hoped that at least Akyuu was able to escape.
~Yu Shan Interlude~
As Leona fought for her life and Akyuu ran for her's, in a city past a border that Yukari cannot change, a god in the celestial city of Yu Shan watched Leona fight. The god was proud of his work and ranked high in the celestial bureaucracy. It was this god's job to decide who was worthy of rising above the common mortal. As he sifted through other mortals in a war he came to Leona.
"Ah, how about this one?" the god mused, "The valor to face danger, the conviction to ensure life has meaning, the presence to give hope to the hopeless, the integrity to put those you have sworn to protect above all else, and the resistance to keep your mind clear through pain and torment. Yes, I think you'll do quite nicely."
The god reached out and grabbed a piece of fire that burned gold, placed it atop a tiny red string, and with a gentle push sent it on its way.
~Gensokyo~
Darkness began to cloud Leona's vision as Mystia bit off more and more of her. The darkness changed to golden light and instead of savage bites Leona felt the pain of her soul being burned away. When Leona opened her eyes she was in a place unlike any she had ever seen. She was hovering in a massive sphere made entirely of gold. In the center was giant man, and he was flawless. He had four arms and was holding a laurel, a shield, a horn, and a spear. The man wore golden armor and leggings and a deep red cape. He was clean shaven and had jet black hair that had been slicked back. His body radiated glorious golden light. The man did not look down at Leona, his glory merely focused on her.
"I AM SOL INVICTUS, THE UNCONQUERED SUN," the man spoke, "YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF WORTHY TO BE ONE OF MY CHOSEN. YOU ARE TO BE MY PRIESTESS, AND ALL YOU SEE WILL BEND ITS KNEE TO YOUR WILL. YOU WILL BE A GLORIOUS LEADER TO LEAD MORTAL KIND OUT OF SQUALOR AND INTO A NEW AGE. YOU WILL BECOME MORE RESILIENT THAN ANY HUMAN COULD ASPIRE TO. YOU WILL BE A PROTECTOR OF MORTAL KIND, A HERO TO ALL YOU LEAD, AND A TERROR TO ALL WHO WOULD STAND AGAINST YOU. NOW GO MY CHOSEN, AND CHANGE THE WORLD."
