((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Lunarlord34))

The adventure was about to end, the demon beasts threatening the village were slaughtered. Alexander was learning not to put his ego above others' welfare and others' stories', a lesson he had not learned before. But now, he had to approach Vesta, something he had learned to fear. Taking a deep breath, the eighteen-year old boy nevertheless approached Vesta and her group as they set themselves down in Lugnica City's plaza in preparation to go back to the mansion, raising a hand like a schoolkid before saying: 

"Hey, uhh...Lady Vesta, Mr. Avery? I wish to have a word with the two of you; I promise, it won't be long!" He then pursed his lips, then continued, "And it won't be a waste of time either! Because, well, I have something to offer other than my only-average talents." All the truth.

It had been a tiring trip indeed. Not only having to deal with demon beasts, but also having to repair that village's barrier to prevent another such incident from occuring again was also rather draining mentally. All Vesta wanted to do after these last few, long weeks was to sit down, and rest.

However Avery had decided to go on some sort of mercenary quest with...Duncan? Vesta didn't really seem to recall the man's name, as he seemed to flee the vicinity whenever the geomancer was around she never really got much of a chance to talk to the oddly familiar bald man. It was a strange feeling of deju vu almost, dreamlike even. So the group had decided to touch down in the plaza for a short time, to go their separate ways basically. It was at this time that Vesta leaned her back against a nearby post, shooting an irritated glance at the young man that now approached her.

As he talked, she took a moment to recall his name. Alexander? Yes, she was sure of it. He hadn't really stood out on the mission, but Vesta had learned from Avery that this boy too was from 'Earth'.
He seemed nervous speaking to Vesta, but not that Avery, who had been sitting down nearby till he heard his name, could blame him. Vesta could be a rather scary prospect at first.

"Give him a chance Vesta. It won't hurt." Avery chirped as the Celestia heir looked Alexander up and down, her cold, piercing eyes seeming more like a person inspecting a hunk of meat rather than looking at another human being. She was silent for a moment longer, taking that extra moment to think, before speaking.

"I suppose so. But I would suggest making it quick."

Alexander nodded. "I wish to learn how to read Lugnican, as well as a place to stay and base my efforts to return to Earth from, and I have something to offer in exchange." He then brought out his Kindle and turned it on, before selecting an Earth History book. He would then show the Kindle's screen to Vesta, before flipping the pages from the sections about Medieval History to the Industrial Era and to World War II, stopping with a picture of the atomic bomb exploding over Hiroshima.

"This is a Kindle, a mechanical device from my world that got carried with me when I was transported here. Powered by electricity running through copper and interacting with chemicals and lights, it is used to contain and access information that would normally take an entire library." Alexander pursed his lips. "Note that the language here is in English, one of the many languages of my world and the most widespread, but the pictures themselves have a wealth of detail to parse." 

Another pause. "This is what I have to offer; knowledge of English for knowledge of Lugnican. A library for a library." If Vesta was not interested, well, he had heard side mentions of her sister, 'Vivi', during the trip. "Oh, and my allegiance, as low in value as it is."

Vesta exhaled deeply, looking towards Avery as Alexander spoke. He wanted to learn Lugnician? This was a waste of her time after all. Anyone could teach him, she couldn't possibly see the benefits of helping him with such an arduous task.

However her mood, while it wasn't a visible effect, changed when Alexander pulled out a mysterious, thin piece of metal out and began tapping at it.

Even Avery, who while he was from Earth but simply wasn't familiar with such technology, was a little interested. Though he was far more obvious about it.

Vesta watched as the thin piece of metal was in fact some form of device filled to the brim with information, if Alexander was to believed, and showed her a series of images and writing in a language she hadn't seen since, well, Avery was younger and had tried writing in it to speak with them.

It was certainly a far better offer than 'just' his allegiance, which while she wouldn't deny he had some promise, one wouldn't also say that she had been impressed. Of course the issue that remained was, did Vesta have time to teach him?

After he finished speaking, Vesta remained silent as she thought it over. Glancing at Avery again, who in turn shrugged, the geomancer sighed.

"I'm not sure how much time I have to spare, but I suppose that is a fair deal. Knowledge for knowledge. I'm sure I can at least arrange for someone to teach you." Vesta responded in a thoughtful tone "Probably Vivi, if she can spare the time as well, or Ronni." At this stage it seemed more like Vesta thinking aloud rather than conversing with Alexander, not that it mattered too much as she quickly turned her full attention back to the 18 year old.

"But first, I must ask this as the next head of the Celestia's. What magic are you capable of casting? And what other use is there for you? Knowledge exchange is one thing, but useless people are just that."

Alexander purses his lips, before saying, "I have a Divine Blessing that allows me to see Magic as light; the brighter, the more powerful, and different colors of light register as different types of magic. For example, your magic registers as brown-colored light with a tinge of green coming from your Divine Blessing, while Avery's is blue, from his water magic, with an unfamiliar blessing that registers as white light. Aside from that, I have no spellcasting knowledge yet, although I have a latent potential for Yang Magic, like what Captain Aleph has; please forgive me for reminding you of him or referring to him with any degree of admiration. Oh, and your servant, Ford? He has one extremely powerful Divine Blessing with five major effects, among them a glamour that makes him look attractive to anyone but me, who prefers slimmer men and women. And note, I said major effects; there are countless minor ones."

Vesta couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Alexander's response. A Divine Protection capable of registering magic as different coloured lights? That was most certainly useful, though it was obvious that Alexander didn't always know what each magic or the like was.

It did however pick up on her Divine Protection of Earth and Avery's own Divine Protection of Spiritual Master. She wondered if it could pick up the faint residues of Shiro's presence around Avery, but considering Avery's water magic stemmed from the fox spirit it might be too similar to tell the difference.

"Yang Magic? I don't think there is a Celestia alive who currently wields that, but I'm sure we can arrange for somone to teach you that. Even without magic, your Divine Protection is more than enough of an asset to justify allowing you into our services. Father should have no complaints." Vesta pushed herself off the post she had been leaning on all this time and took a couple of steps.

"We can iron out the details back at the mansion, Mr Sky wasn't it? Avery has elsewhere to be, and I myself have other tasks to complete once I am home so the sooner the better."

"Alexander Sky, yes, and thank you, Ms. Celestia," Alexander then prepared to follow Vesta back to her mansion. It promised to be the start of a beautiful partnership...