It wasn’t quite expectant, her being there. Realistically, there was no reason to have been traversing these lands, especially not after what she had encountered only days earlier within Orchidia. Despite what she had first thought to have been foolhardy ideas and children stories run amuck within the people whom were presumed to have been leaders within Orchidia – and to no lesser of a scale, representative of the leadership within Fiore that she as much were part of – it had been one of the such occasions were in fact, she was wrong. The threat that the people had worried of, the risk that was posed in traversing beyond the borders, beyond the safety of the walls that had been erected, that she had been instrumental in hampering to the point of rendering them all but useless in the coming months, if not years down the line, they existed. Not only did they exist, these Titanic creatures, but it seemed that they were thriving, not quite to what their numbers and culmuative strength was years ago before they were systematically purged, but certainly improving all the same.

They certainly were not extinct, which begged the question of why she felt so comfortable venturing through the Worth Woodsea, a very likely location and region of where the Titans had been recuperating and slowly rebuilding their numbers.

It was obvious really. Because that was exactly what she wanted to see herself. She wanted to witness these Titans in their splendor, in whatever form that they were still there. It struck a cord of curiosity within her, one that she could not quite satisfy if not for seeing it herself. Seeing horrific creatures like this, that existed within Fiore, albeit within the greater outskirts of the important world – the North having long been its more isolated entity that fell within the borders, much that took place was to its own devices and not those that were monitored or otherwise concerned towards. It was how there was a brief panic over the presence of the Midnight Cult after years of having been lost to the memory, and the Titan fiasco of years ago was another such example. Had it not been for Paradise Dawn’s heroics, few, if anyone would likely have realized just how bad it had gotten.

383/2000 (-20% | -20% Symbiotic Fleshweave)

Even if it had not been for Astrid, whatever her motivations and justifications towards arriving in the North may have been, it’s likely that again the threat would not have been realized. Unlike previously when Paradise Dawn had intervened, Orchidia had no means of protecting itself. They had no proper defenses, had not realized the risks that existed outside of their borders. The walls they had erected had in fact been the best option that existed for them when it came to hiding all of that away, erasing the truth that likely existed and would have been revealed otherwise. It lent to the question of if Astrid had never made an effort to arrive in Orchidia, regardless of the reasoning behind it may have been, what exactly could have happened if the Titan threat had again become uncontrollable.

Sure, Orchidia may not have been at risk, but that wasn’t true for the rest of Fiore, the reality being that if the Titans developed any sort of intelligence and were able to recognize that there was no way that they would be able to venture forth and strike at Orchidia, they may have turned their attention instead to that of other areas in Fiore. Fortunately, much of the North was simply mountainous, there being very little to which could have been adversely affected. Some farmlands certainly, but there were no significant places of congestion and business like that Crocus or Magnolia within the North, outside of Orchidia at least.

It lent to the worst case scenario that if the Titans were to venture out of the North, it was not unreasonable to think that they would venture southward, heading to areas such as Crocus and Era in the Central part of Fiore, both of which were capable of holding off such a sort of threat. Then there was the risk of them flooding instead either to the West or East of Fiore, with Oak Town being in the West and hardly in a position to fend off the threat. Even though the city had been flourishing under Astrid since she had become representative of the Oak Town as well as the Guild Master of Phantom Lord, it was still not equipped with the means of defending itself quite like that on its own. As to the rest of the West and those within the East, Astrid could not say entirely, knowing only that it would likely stem to have massive ramifications throughout and affecting all of them. It would disastrous.

And at the same time too, Astrid could not help but think of the opportunity that may have existed within something like this occurring. Tragedy aside, if there was a chance to force the Titan presence out of the North and instead towards that of the East and Central, hell even within the South too, it would be ideal. Oak Town and the rest of the West were too much of a gamble to attempt to manipulate and force a scenario to occur there. The rest of Fiore however, was fair game.

894/2000 (-20% | -20% Symbiotic Fleshweave)

She traveled through the Woodsea on her own, her assistant Sia handling all of the logistical matters between the coordination of their return to Oak Town and other relevant matters that had to be addressed. There was enough that had to be handled, not only things that were directly related to their success within Orchidia as well as other issues, some that directly tied in to their involvement with Phantom Lord, but some being different entirely.

Too, two matters stood out to Astrid that admittedly played and echoed throughout within her mind as she traversed the Forests; the progress that Sia had made in their little search, the secret project that she had been curious of and slowly begun to build out into a full-scale endeavor, and also that of an apparent ally of whom she was looking forward to seeing. Another Aide, a woman whom had been briefly away in a foreign nation handling matters that were outstanding in a past life, one that Astrid was looking forward to seeing once again. To have them and Sia with her in Oak Town, all that was truly missing was seeing about having Lady Tsara relocated to Oak Town, something that she long wished for, but knew that her mentor would be leery about doing so.

After all, Tsara had become a well known and highly regarded figure within Crocus politics. She was among one of the most senior figures and held an equally respectable amount of power. Though she would not lose it in a move to Oak Town, there was certainly something to the verbal impact of being referred to as the Reigning Senator from Crocus versus the Reigning Senator from Oak Town. Too, and though she would not admit it to Astrid’s face, both of them knew that that title, Reigning Senator of Oak Town, that was a title that was inevitable to be Astrid’s alone. It would not be hard to achieve honestly, as her efforts to remove much of the most fervent competition – those whom had been previously bankrolled by Iblis prior to him handing over the Phantom Lord Guild to her -, the same ones that she had made calculated efforts against. Once they were out of the running, it would be easy to get those loyal and supportive of Astrid in those roles instead. Then it was a certainty that all politics within Oak Town would go through her.

1299/2000 (-20% | -20% Symbiotic Fleshweave)

But she was being distracted, the thoughts that were raging throughout her mind being enough to take away from her focus and what was important in the immediate moment. The Titans. She didn’t know if there were would be any within the Worth Woodsea, but it was worht checking. Only logical really, given that so many of them had come from the woods when they had attempted their expedition just before her arrival. Their failure, along with the nature of where they travelled from, was clear enough that likely, they would have run into creatures there. And if they had run into creatures there, however deep they may have been, it was obvious too that she would likely have to go that route.

However, that would be a problem that she realized even before venturing out into this little adventure of hers, the reality that she had no horse, no means of travelling quickly. It was on foot, which left her with precious little time to reasonably travel, lest resources be wasted or otherwise she get lost. The getting lost was not too much the problem, as she had a strong scent of where she had travelled, the benefit of her having been a Dragon Slayer one that was never not on her mind or focus, just simply one that existed. It was enough for her to keep a mental note of where she was going, and also gave her some opportunities to move about safely enough.

The greater problem that she faced was the likely outcome of what she was looking for. Not that she would end up finding the Titans. That in fact was a good outcome, because then she could know, react beforehand, and then easily manipulate the matter to have Oak Town as heroes. If a city or two had to fall in order to achieve that, the outcome was still worthwhile as far as she was concerned. Yet, that was reliant on there being some proof of there having been Titans. An actual Titan would have been a great proof to it all, or even perhaps something like that of a massive footprint, something that would signify that Titans actually existed.

But so far, she had yet to find anything of the like.

1677/2000 (-20% | -20% Symbiotic Fleshweave)

After some hours of searching for what seemed like fruitless endeavors, she finally seemed to have found something, just on the edges of where she considered the maximum distance willing to travel before resources would become strained. Trees that had been collapsed, not through normal means or anything like that. It was clear when storms would cause a tree to fracture and split apart, but to be violently pushed out of the way, in some cases even appearing to have been uprooted entirely with roots sprawled throughout and clear evidence of the trunks being squeezed before her, she was confident in knowing that she had stumbled upon the path of some Titans. How many? She could not say. Only that there were some, and judging by what she saw ahead, more damage and evidence of all of that happening.

Even within the Worth Woodsea, there were Titans about.

She couldn’t help but smile, frustrated only in that the trip back would be a long one, especially under the shadow of nightfall, but it was enough for her to be content with the progress made and what she stood to gain from it all. Before departing though, she made sure that if there were any who may have been interested in seeing for themselves, she quickly made a point to set that bit of the Worth Woodsea ablaze with some torches and oil that she had brought with her; a fallback in case she found something worthwhile. It wasn’t large enough of a source to spread too significantly outwards through the Woodsea. Sure, there would be a healthy amount burned down, but the reality was that it would be a small fraction of the total area covered by this region. Going about things this way, it made sure that the only truth to what existed here would be what she had seen herself. That, perhaps more than the proof that she had uncovered, truly caused the smile upon her face to shine as she started on the long trip back to Orchidia and then soon, home.

But she was being distracted, the thoughts that were raging throughout her mind being enough to take away from her focus and what was important in the immediate moment. The Titans. She didn’t know if there were would be any within the Worth Woodsea, but it was worht checking. Only logical really, given that so many of them had come from the woods when they had attempted their expedition just before her arrival. Their failure, along with the nature of where they travelled from, was clear enough that likely, they would have run into creatures there. And if they had run into creatures there, however deep they may have been, it was obvious too that she would likely have to go that route.

However, that would be a problem that she realized even before venturing out into this little adventure of hers, the reality that she had no horse, no means of travelling quickly. It was on foot, which left her with precious little time to reasonably travel, lest resources be wasted or otherwise she get lost. The getting lost was not too much the problem, as she had a strong scent of where she had travelled, the benefit of her having been a Dragon Slayer one that was never not on her mind or focus, just simply one that existed. It was enough for her to keep a mental note of where she was going, and also gave her some opportunities to move about safely enough.

The greater problem that she faced was the likely outcome of what she was looking for. Not that she would end up finding the Titans. That in fact was a good outcome, because then she could know, react beforehand, and then easily manipulate the matter to have Oak Town as heroes. If a city or two had to fall in order to achieve that, the outcome was still worthwhile as far as she was concerned. Yet, that was reliant on there being some proof of there having been Titans. An actual Titan would have been a great proof to it all, or even perhaps something like that of a massive footprint, something that would signify that Titans actually existed.

But so far, she had yet to find anything of the like.

2022/2000 (-20% | -20% Symbiotic Fleshweave)