Sanctuary of the Earthwarden

As the vines deposited Jun onto the floor, she stumbled. Truthfully the trip had made her somewhat motion sick. It was an odd feeling, since Jun never got motion sick riding on Blackbean. She wasn't even sure that's what it was. It felt like her stomach had been laden with stones and then frozen over, and she wanted to vomit but not vomit.

(It was in fact motion sickness.)

But all that went away when the gravitas of the valley and its magic fell on her. Awestruck, she stepped forward and looked around wildly. She had never felt this much energy in one place.

"It's incredible! It feels like the air itself is alive!" She breathed in deeply and felt the magic swirl around her.

There were two other things she noticed. First of all, the magic was familiar, like that which permeated the Expanse, only much more powerful. Second of all, the weight, power, benevolence, and authority of it were all in certain measures, precise, like a signature.

"This place, it reminds me of my grandmother."

Jun looked up at Va'nei's great form and gave a solemn nod. She took several steps towards the middle of the field. Her hands were raised as she felt the magic around her. While druidic magic predominated, there was an invisible rainbow of energy coalescing around her. It was greatly amusing, but Jun felt the need to do something else.

Jun carefully knelt down into the long grass, surrounded by the flowers Va'nei had created with her breath. She closed her eyes, placed her hands together and prayed and gave thanks. She thought about how grateful she was to be beholden to such a rarely found, magical place. She thought about all the adventures she had been and the mighty beings she had encountered. A wealth of emotions, sad, terrified, joyful, pleasurable, peaceful, lustful, sorrowful, all things she had felt in the past were washing over her. Memories ranging from the destruction of Merimill to Lady Camilla's first wedding, to her underwater adventure with Calico and her travels with Doobie, they all floated to the surface of her mind as if they were being pulled there.

And she thought of her grandmother, whom she so greatly revered, experiencing all the same things on her journey.

It wasn't long before Va'nei's flowers started to have some company. Slowly but surely more flowers began to appear. These strange bulbs erupted into brilliant blooms of various colors and shapes, and a fruiting body appeared within their cores.

So many emotions, so many memories, so many colors. Each of the fruiting bodies responded by departing from their blooms and floating into the air around her. Like glowing marbles, they danced and spun and twirled in perfect harmony. There was an eerie, powerful presence floating around the young mage, something not quite alive but most certainly not dead, a primal existence which had no need of sapience to justify itself. Though it was dwarfed by the mighty power of the Earthwarden, it asserted itself around Jun.

There were two orbs which did not act like the others. One was a silvery grey, and the other a deep, violet purple. Instead of dancing, they flanked Jun's body, one on the left and the other on the right. They settled there as Jun continued to kneel in prayer.

Most baffling of all, Jun wasn't even aware that all this was happening, not until she suddenly opened her eyes and saw the spectacle around her.

"What the-" In that moment the presence faded, and the orbs popped, but it was a soundless pop, a burst of light followed by trailing wisps of luminous dust which floated about in the wind until they were disbursed.

The flowers withered.

Startled, Jun stood up and swiveled towards the Earthwarden with a perplexed gaze. She said nothing.

Jun continues to stare awestruck for a few more seconds.

"Sure." She was still bewildered. She completely forgot to ask who, until she remembered to ask who.

"Oh uh, I guess I should ask. Who?"

The responsibility fell on her like a tree log.

"Ok."

...

"But, don't retire too quickly. I was, well I was hoping someday, if I ever have kids myself, that they would get a chance to meet you too."

Jun tried to ignore the fact that she had already been named godmother to princess Camilla's next unborn child, not to speak of the two nations she was charged with helping to protect.

"Anyways, I'd like to continue with my training. This place, it's definitely helpful. Of course if you'd like I wouldn't mind hearing more about your old friend."

Jun gave a thin lipped smile, reached out, and placed a hand on the great dragon's claw. The look in her eyes was one of compassion and understanding.

"You're a good friend."

Jun walked back out to the long grass. She extended her hand towards the river. The water plants began to rustle. She gestured again towards the river and the water itself began to move. She swirled her hands and the air moved.

She kept this up for a while without saying anything. It was clear which choice she had made. She wanted to become stronger. Now the Earthwarden of all people was counting on her.

She smirked to herself. There were worse things in this world.

She would continue to cycle through the elements for at least a few hours, only taking short breaks to meditate.