Summary: 10 years have passed since the Great Holy Grail War. Laeticia, the former vessel for Jeanne D'Arc, has stumbled upon Astolfo while vacationing in Rome. After catching up on the best decade, Astolfo offers Laeticia the chance to travel with them around the world. What will Laeticia decide?
Characters: Laeticia, Astolfo
Length: 641 words
Laeticia arrived back to her small apartment in the suburbs of Paris. Astolfo had spent the night at her place but was gone by the time she woke up in the morning. It would have all felt like a dream if she hadn’t noticed the scrap of paper taped to the door.
Call me if you change your mind. I’m only a moment away. You know, because of Hippogriff!
Laeticia still had the note stuffed in her pocket. She taped it to the mirror in her bedroom and slowly began to unpack her luggage. Normal clothes. Normal souvenirs for friends and family members. Normal apartment. Normal view of a suburban street. A normal life. Wasn’t that the life Laeticia deserved? Wasn’t it even what she had wanted? After surviving the Holy Grail War, did Laeticia not deserve a life of peace without the threat of dying a thousand unimaginable deaths?
But every morning when she woke up, Laeticia’s eyes darted to the scrap of paper on her mirror. Where was Astolfo now, she would think to herself. Who were they helping? Who was Laeticia helping? She prayed for the protection of all people. She donated money to good causes. She helped with projects promoted by her church. But why did it all feel so empty?
A month passed since Laeticia’s encounter with Astolfo. She was getting home from work, ready to settle down and make dinner for herself, when her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen and saw she had a text. She paused when she saw the name on her screen. Astolfo. She took a deep breath before unlocking her phone.
“Guess where I am?” they had texted. A picture was trying to load just below the message. Something in Laeticia’s mind started reeling. Were they in France? Was it a picture from the top of the Eiffel Tower? The Arc de Triomphe? Maybe somewhere in Marseille or Nice? Laeticia’s heart started racing as the last couple kilobytes of data downloaded and the photo appeared.
It was Astolfo in a vibrant green Hawaiian shirt over what appeared to be a pair of white high-waisted shorts. The environment around them was clearly tropical. Astolfo held a drink in a cup made out of a carved pineapple. Right beside them was a woman around Laeticia’s age. She had long, wavy brown hair and was much tanner than she had been when Laeticia had last seen the young woman. Fiore Forvedge. She looked like Astolfo had suddenly sprung the photo-op upon her and was just barely smiling. It looked like an incredible picture of a relaxing Hawaiian vacation.
But Laeticia was let down. Some part of her was hoping that Astolfo was nearby, ready to swoop by on the back of their hippogriff and bring her off to parts unknown. To take her away from this boring life of hers.
Boring? Was her life truly boring?
The next thing Laeticia knew, she was throwing all of the clothing she owned into her largest suitcase. Laptop. Cellphone and charger. Toiletries. Books. Everything Laeticia was able to shove into a single suitcase. Then she filled another for good measure. She looked over to the small silver crucifix that hung on her bedroom wall.
“Lord, please grant me the ability to change my life. The ability to help those who need it. And St. Jeanne D’Arc… Jeanne, help me be brave.”
Laeticia grabbed her cellphone off the top of a stuffed mountain of clothing. She opened up her contact list and selected Astolfo’s name.
The phone rang once. Twice.
“Did you see my text?” Astolfo asked immediately. “Could you guess where I am? Could ya?”
“How fast can you be in France?”
A minute later, Laeticia heard the sound of large wings outside her window. She grabbed her belongings and prepared herself for the future.
