Taking the seat opposite them, you think over what you want to ask, and it doesn't take long for a whole cascade of questions to present themselves. You sort through it in your head, trying to pick out a good one to open with. "So, do you have a name? I don't even know what to call you."
The stranger straightens up a tad. "Well, if you really want to know, my full name is
MichacaxiΞoatl~NelchaeΓ." The name seems to hang in the air strangely even after they say it, and along with the alien sounds, somehow you get an impression of
color as well, a dark grey shade that matches the smoky shadows that obscure their form. "Since it's difficult to pronounce with human vocal cords, though, I understand if you want to give me a nickname of some sort."
"Yeah, I think I'll go with… Micha? No, Nel-san, if you don't mind." You decide. "Or something like that." They nod in affirmation. "So, uh, while I'm getting to know you better… what do you like to do in your free time? Do you have any hobbies or interests?" You instantly wince, feeling self-conscious about the lame-feeling question, but Nel gives it serious consideration all the same.
"Well, I've been busy with trying to get you and the others all set up, but recently I
have taken to reading car manuals. It's really fascinating to see how your technology's developed just in my lifetime. Aside from that, back during my own adolescent period, I wasn't half-bad at quad-dimensional volleyball." They sigh in fond nostalgia. "Maybe when this has all cleared up somewhat, I could try to get back into that again…"
Your regret over asking only intensifies, and you quickly move on. "Right. Alright, onto more serious topics… Last night, you talked to my parents posing as a member of the school board. Was that only to contact me again, or did you actually want to talk to them too? If it was the latter, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, right, that." Nel shrugs. "That actually
was mostly just to get your attention. I
did want to open a line of contact with them in case the need ever arose, just like the families of the other girls, but for now there's nothing directly to talk about. What with you being a ghost, I'm not sure the need to speak with them may ever arise at all, but it's an option all the same."
"I see," You nod, feeling somehow disappointed at the response, but put that aside for now. "The other girls… that reminds me; did you know that Midori knew me?" With her watching you all the time, it would have to be some really crazy kind of coincidence for you both to have wound up Magical Girls.
"Wait, she did?" You can just barely detect Nel blinking at you in confusion, answering that pretty handily. 'Crazy coincidence' it is.
"Yeah. I never really talked to her beforehand, but it turns out we were classmates this whole time."
"Huh," Nel simply says. "Well, I suppose things like that do happen sometimes, albeit unintentionally, since the decision is based off different factors. Either way, I hope this won't be a bad thing for you two. It can be tough if we have a situation where people don't get along… let alone the idea of one girl working poorly with the whole rest of the group."
"No, I don't think
not getting along is a worry at the moment." You squirm a bit in your seat. "The opposite, if anything." Nel tilts their head curiously, but you instead change the subject. "What about this newer girl you mentioned? What's she like?"
"Oh, Varma-san. She strikes me as a very level-headed girl, certainly worthy of wielding an Artifact of orange. She goes to a different school from the one Kazane-san attends, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem, since the schedules are fairly similar. Aside from that, there's not much I can say about her that she wouldn't be able to better tell you herself."
You frown a bit. Not the most helpful of answers, that, but at least you know a little bit. "Speaking of schedules, what exactly is the deal with that? Will we all be independent, or expected to work as a team?"
"Well, that will mainly be situational," Nel explains, taking on something of a didactic tone. "For reactive cases like another monster appearing, I'll mainly be calling on whoever is available at the time, or based on who's best-equipped to handle the situation. Since you don't have much in the way of other obligations, you'll probably be summoned more frequently than the others." They sound a bit apologetic at that, but breeze on quickly. "For more proactive or investigative cases, I'll generally be waiting for times when everyone is able to show up for that, so that everyone's informed of any new developments, and the group's full strength is on hand to go on the offensive."
"I see." You mull that over a moment, before adding, "Is teamwork among magical girls a common thing?"
"Oh, absolutely. It's ideally always cooperative; normal teams are always in groups of seven, while vault teams come in trios. Sometimes rivalries have sprung up due to misunderstandings, but such disputes are cleared up as quickly as possible. As for private lives, some teams prefer to keep those separate, while others become friends outside of their Magical Girl duties; that comes down to what works best for you."
You hum in acknowledgment, frowning. If you're expected to be working with a bunch of other girls, how do they expect you to keep your ghostliness a secret? Even if the group decides to keep their normal lives separate, this seems like it could become inconvenient.
Well, you can deal with that later, you suppose. For now, you think about the idea of the team, and try to figure out any other relevant questions. "Do you have people lined up already? For the ones aside from Kazane-san and this 'Varma-san,' I mean."
"Yes, that I do. Later today, while you three are speaking with the man in the hospital, I plan to speak with the prime candidate to take the blue ring; she has been hesitant to join because her normal life is very busy, but now that she doesn't have to take up all the burden herself, she should hopefully be open to the idea. The red and pink… well, they may be a bit harder to convince, but that's a worry for later."
Another thought occurs to you. "Wait, when you came to me, you didn't know what ring I'd choose. How come? And in general terms, how do you choose who to talk to?"
"Well, that's because you were an exception in many ways. I… this may come off poorly, but understand that I mean no malice when I say that I didn't really consider you strongly until after your death."
"Great, thanks," you immediately feel disgruntled, and they sigh apologetically.
"Essentially, we can detect those with magical potential - we have no clue
why some people have it while others don't, but the end result is that we start off with a list of the girls who are even viable. From there we look at the topmost candidates and read their auras to check what type they'd
likely go best with, and to make sure there aren't any significant character flaws that could undermine things. So while I have a solid idea of who I wanted to use most of them, you were low enough on the list that, admittedly, I never directly approached you until your funeral. I felt it best to let you choose, and revise my plans for the others based on that."
"I see." You still feel a bit unhappy with that answer, though. The next question isn't planned, escaping your lips before you can stop yourself. "So does that mean there's another, magically stronger girl out there who could have used the purple ring instead of me?"
Nel hesitates a long, painful moment before answering. "Yes. If it makes you feel any better, I
was hesitant to recruit her on account of some personality issues that you thankfully lack, but... yes."
You're not sure how to feel about the whole issue, but on some level, you admit, it
does help to know that, making you feel a bit less like an afterthought. That's good enough for now, you suppose, and you move on. "So you've wanted me to keep out of sight when I've been transformed, and mentioned covering up the first few monster appearances. ...Come to think of it, how did those get dealt with?"
"Ah, we had to bring in a vault team from the neighboring region to deal with those, until we could get you and the rest set up. You may actually work with them in the future, if the need ever arises, but they're busy with their own duties much of the time."
Interesting. "Alright. Anyway, the point is, it's clear some level of secrecy is expected, but what are the exact rules on that? I don't want to accidentally break some special laws and go to Magical Girl Prison or something just because I didn't know about that."
Nel laughs. "Well, we don't
have a Magical Girl Prison, so you don't have to worry about that, at least. Anyway, the general rule is to keep things as secretive as possible; ideally nobody but yourself will know. Of course, we're not unreasonable about it, and if the need for a girl's family to know arises, or someone finds out because they were saved from danger, we can usually let it slide. We
do sometimes have to wipe memories, if the witness in question can't be trusted to keep silent about it, but… we prefer to avoid having to do that sort of thing."
Pausing a moment, they collect their thoughts. "The rules used to be a bit harsher in older times, when magical activity would get someone ostracized, or worse. Last time there was a major leak, fortunately the worst thing that happened as a result was a popular manga and anime genre. Modern society's mixture of increased acceptance and increased skepticism toward the idea of magic means we can be more lax, but in the interest of avoiding influencing humanity too overtly, we prefer to keep it a secret."
"That seems logical." At least you know they probably won't be too uptight about it… probably. "What about Magical Girls themselves; how long does
being one last? Temporary, or for life?"
"It's only for a certain period," Nel explains. "We only ask that a magical girl team works for as long as it takes to deal with whatever incident necessitated their formation to begin with, since they inevitably need to return to their own lives or risk their place in society being harmed. Some prefer to remain involved and usually get transferred to a vault team if they can sustain it, but typically the responsibilities of college or work are too much to keep going with us. And… well, the other reason is the danger. Incidents can range from surprisingly harmless to potentially mildly apocalyptic, and while very few teams have ever outright failed, to my knowledge, some have still been through some very difficult times. After experiencing such things, it would be cruel and unfair of us to ask any more from them." They pause a moment, and add "though we still do our best to help them with post-service issues as needed; we don't just abandon them either."
"Alright, that makes sense. That's another thing, though; how long have you been
doing this?" It sounds like it's been for a while.
"Well, personally speaking this is my first time doing this; up to now I was an assistant. And at fifty-two of your years, I'm one of the younger ones to get here this quickly! It's not exactly what I've been expecting in a lot of ways, but… I'm really glad to doing it." You raise an eyebrow, and they hastily continue. "O-of course, historically speaking this has been in operation for a long, long time, practically as old as human history, ever since… uh."
You blink. Quite a lot longer than you were expecting, especially since Death seemed to act like they'd only shown up recently. And that reminds you of Death's comments about being unable to stop certain wars and atrocities... "Wait, so does that mean you've been meddling in human history for that long?" You narrow your eyes. "How do I know I can really trust you?"
Nel sighs. "Oh dear, this is where we get into some politics. To make a long story short, no, we haven't. We do have people who're in place to help cover up incidents, but there is plenty of human-generated strife that we have actively prevented ourselves from changing the course of. There are some camps who feel we should be more hands-on, while others think it may just make things worse, and
some even say we shouldn't even help out at all, and leave you to deal with the repercussions of the Ruling on your own as well. It's a pretty tricky topic, honestly, but I feel like the current course is the best one."
Huh. You want to come back to that; something about it is still bothering you, but for now reluctantly accept their answer. "Okay. My other question was of scale - how widespread are Magical Girls, anyway? Just Japan, or worldwide, or are you doing this on other planets, too?" You try to imagine an alien magical girl, but the end result just looks incredibly silly; the stereotypical big-eyed spindly grey figure in a tutu.
"Well, sort of a mix." Nel explains. "We are basically worldwide, but selectively so; I don't know if you've heard of the concept of Ley Lines, but those are essentially pathways across the Earth's surface where the dimensional flux… where it's more magical, basically." You give them an unamused stare, knowing they just dumbed down the explanation massively for you, but let it go after a moment as they push on obliviously. "Especially so where they intersect, so that's where we keep a watch on the most. Sometimes incidents will occur more out of the way, but it's extremely uncommon." You find yourself wondering where those other points of intersection may lie, but decide against asking for now.
Nel continues. "Oh, and to answer the other part of the question, there are two other planets like Earth that we also help. It takes a huge amount of power to door to them, though, so special permissions are required; I can't take you there without a sufficient reason and lots of preparations. For that matter, I'm pretty sure one of them has an atmosphere rather hostile to humans, so…" You're a little bit disappointed at not getting to see actual aliens, but you can't argue with their logic.
"With the Ley Lines you mentioned," you backtrack, "I assume that's part of why there's so much going on in just this city? You mentioned four or five different things happening lately, aside from the monster I fought last night."
"Right," Nel says. "Usually incidents are more infrequent, maybe one or two a decade at any given point of intersection, but it seems like for the past thirty or so years the rate has been increasing. We also haven't had a magical girl team here in… what was it, seven years? The clones I mentioned have been present for a little while, but it didn't really seem pressing until the other incidents started up as well in the past couple of months. Still, given broader trends… there have been concerns. I don't know, honestly, so for now I'm just focusing on doing what I can here."
"That's… ominous," you say. Nel shrugs in response.
You decide to move on. "Anyway. People do kind of know about Ley Lines normally, or at least I've heard of them, but most don't really believe they're real; it's mostly fringe crazies and certain religions that buy into that." You glance down at yourself, reminded of your ghosthood. "Well I guess they aren't as wrong about some of those things as I thought. So what about those groups; do they
know-know, or is it just lucky guessing? How relevant are they, here?"
"Oh, they don't really have much impact. If I had to guess, the things they're right about come from leaks from past magical girls, when the rules on secrecy were different. Even then most of it is filtered enough that they can't actually do anything with the knowledge. Sometimes those groups
do get ahold of enough information to try to meddle, and we have to send some Magical Girls in to talk them out of it before they can do any damage, but usually it's pretty harmless."
That's good to know. Though you might need to watch out for ghost hunters or something, you're glad you won't have to be fighting any normal humans… probably. The thought does remind you of the man in the hospital, though, and the wounds you inflicted while he'd been turned into that beast. "Last night you mentioned 'specialties' and that healing wasn't mine. What do you know about my magic? What determines one's magic?"
"Ah, yeah." Nel pauses a moment, thinking over the question. "Basically, the Artifacts, -in this case, these rings- are what allow you to channel magic." They open up the box, revealing the red, blue, and pink rings still nestled within. "Each one has kind of a broad specialty; Purple for the arcane and mysterious, Red for the powerful and ambitious, Yellow for the swift and chaotic, etcetera. Pink is of course the most powerful in a certain sense; with abilities related to light and the soul, they can heal on a deeper level than the physical… or they can destroy to the same degree. It's for that reason that we tend to choose those candidates far more carefully… but I'm getting off track. The other component, that determines a lot of the specific abilities a girl may receive, is tied to their particular aura and soul. So while a purple user isn't as likely to end up with a strong healing ability due to their overall temperament, it could still happen." Oh. Given your heavy introversion, you wonder if that's why you couldn't do much. It's kind of startling to realize, and you're not sure if you like that revelation.
Another thought hits you. "Wait, so why can't you just use the rings and become a magical girl yourself?" Aside from it looking kind of silly, anyway, the image of a shadow person wearing a dress making you snort in amusement.
Nel, however, looks embarrassed. "We aren't able to. I've... uh, I've tried." The expression shifts to something a bit harder to pin down, something like… guilt? "All of the Artifacts, when they were originally created, were specifically designed for human use." They look like they want to say more, but leave it at that. "Next question?"
You scrutinize Nel for a few moments, before reluctantly complying. "Is there anyone else who hands out these Artifacts, or anything like them?"
Nel looks relieved at the change in topic. "Ah, well aside from those like me, working at the other Intersections, there aren't. It's just us… I could introduce you to some of my friends, though; the other two who work here in Japan, and our assistant. Would you like to meet them?"
"Ah, maybe later," you shrug. "Not right now, though."
"Alright. They might be busy anyway, now that I think about it. So, do you have any other questions?"
You think for several moments. There's still one pressing at the back of your mind, but you don't quite feel ready to ask it just yet, wanting to learn all you can before bringing that up. Instead, your eyes fall on the still-open box, and the seven divots in the cushion within. "Yes, I do. What happened to the Yellow ring?"
Nel stares at you in shock, completely blindsided. "I'm sorry?"
"You mentioned Yellow when you were talking about specialties. You said there were seven Magical Girls to a team. There are seven spaces in that box. Yet when you showed it to me there were only six rings, and you're acting like I'm the first to have taken one. Something, quite literally, does not add up. What happened to the seventh ring?"
Nel goes quiet, staring down at the table blankly. "I noticed that, too, when I was given this set. But when I asked, all my superiors said was that it was unavailable for now, but would likely find its way back soon enough, or something to that effect. You're right, it
is strange, but I was too excited to really look into it too much at the time. Maybe I should do that now."
You take in their response with a sense of both distance and solidarity. You still aren't entirely sure what to make of them, and you have an odd suspicion that this oversight may be costly, somehow. Still, their account somehow feels understandable and relatable in a way you haven't seen from them up to now. Still, that uneasiness lingers.
That thought is coming to the fore, and you can't hold it back anymore. Standing up again, you cross your arms and stare Nel down. "I have one last question for you, then. You go out of your way to keep things secret without meddling otherwise. Yet you also go out of your way to cater to the girls you hire. And you said the Artifacts were made specifically for us to use, not you. All of this, to stop these magical incidents and save people's lives."
"So I ask this of you:
Why are you all helping us? How do you benefit?"
Nel meets your gaze this time, you can tell, and there's that strange guilt in their expression again. "Here, walk with me," they say, rising as well to open a door on the wall opposite the window. Instantly you start to have second thoughts, wondering if you went too far, asked too much, and are now going to be sent to die. (Oh wait, you're already dead. Double-die?) Still, you reluctantly follow as Nel leads you through and into a hallway with much the same appearance as the office you just left. "It's to the left, here." There are other doors here, these ones appearing fixed in place, and after you pass by a few, the hall abruptly opens up into a wide room with a high ceiling and a lower floor; a small set of steps leads down into a main floor, with a further lower area on the opposite side, before a huge window also showing the same seascape.
But what catches your attention is what rests down there. Slowly stepping down towards it, you approach cautiously, trying to make sense of the bizarre shape. Carved out of a pure white marble, a square block stands vertically, with some sort of marble armature rising up from one corner, curving forward to the other side before abruptly zig-zagging in a completely different direction, and tipped in an arrow with a diamond-shaped green crystal embedded inside the tip.
"The reason we're helping you…" Nel says behind you, and you realize you've already unconsciously drawn close to the strange carving, "is out of… I guess you could call it obligation, or maybe regret."
"What is this?" You ask, gesturing at the marble statue.
"That's a section of the shattered throne of
YaoyoΞoatl~MalΩkh. The Emperor." The way they say the name is with a mixture of gravitas and dread, the same way a human would speak of the Devil. "The armrest, specifically, and one of the seven crown spokes." You glance back, and they look visibly uncomfortable to even be looking at the piece. You retreat back up to the hallway entrance.
"It was a long time ago, when we were just learning how to use magic and interdimensionality in a meaningful way, and discovered several other inhabited worlds, with species at various points along their own development. At the time we were ruled by a long dynasty, and the Emperor of the time, instead of making peaceful contact or leaving these aliens to their own devices, invaded and conquered, enslaving them to benefit our race only. They had a strange sort of… not quite respect for them, but something almost like it. So from the original seven crystals They had forged in magical research, They created the many Artifacts, though at the time they were not split by color as they are now. The slaves deemed worthy could wield a limited amount of magic as well, serving as a personal guard when They visited each world, and as soldiers to strike against those of their own kind."
You stare down at your ring in sudden alarm. "So you mean…?"
"Yes. The powers from that very ring were once used in support of the Ruling." You shiver, reading between the lines easily enough. Nel continues. "Eventually, it was also his undoing. Though the Emperor insisted that the slave races were benefited by this, that we were uplifting them, one of Their lieutenants,
TlazohΞoatl~XathanaeΓ, saw how the reign was far far more harmful instead. They created an alliance among the races and convinced many of the special guards to turn on their master as well; the uprising successfully ended the Ruling. However, the Emperor had anticipated this; when They were killed and the throne shattered, traps set on each of the worlds went off, destroying the fledgling civilizations there and scattering the slave races all over."
"The fall of Babylon?" You ask.
Nel shakes their head. "No, it was earlier than that. Sumer, Babylon, and the other ancient civilizations of that time were all human work, long after the Emperor's defeat. It was really quite miraculous how you and the other two surviving races recovered from the event; the others weren't so lucky, and became extinct as a result of the Emperor's trap, and the ensuing aftershocks through the Ley Lines of those worlds." Your blood runs cold.
"It was those events that prompted us into action, trying to find a way to guard the surviving worlds against further incidents in a way that would allow you to develop naturally, without our overt influence. Thus the Magical Girls, and repurposing the once-harmful Artifacts into a positive cause; splitting each of them into sets of seven. We give them to you, we inform you of the problems and advise on how to fix it, but the responsibility is ultimately in your hands, and so too are the achievements yours." Nel sounds more passionate than you've yet heard them, and you realize how much they care about this. "Some say we don't owe you anything anymore, and that we should let you deal with these outside-context problems on your own, but I respectfully disagree. We aren't interfering. We're just helping with
this, to atone for the problems our ancestors created. And hopefully some day, when you have advanced to the right level, we can reveal ourselves as allies, and your equals." Finishing, they let out a long sigh, as if relieved to finally have that off their chest.
"...Huh." you say, eloquently.
~~~ .oO◯Oo. ~~~
After that, you both return to Nel's office and sit down again. "I'm planning to tell the others as well, but I was going to wait until we had everyone. Still, since you asked, I went ahead and told you early. I hope that helps out." You simply nod, knowing you'll have to take a lot of time to think and sort out how you feel about all of this.
"Well, that was all I wanted to ask for now. This has been very informative, I think? Thank you."
Nel nods. "Of course. I know trust is kind of hard to come by these days, for whatever reason, but I mean it when I say I just want to help you, however I can."
"Thanks. For now, can we head back home? I think it's been a while down here, school is probably close to done now." You're starting to get a little claustrophobic, with the dark office and the water pressing up against the window.
"Alright, I think it's about that time, yes. I'll go get Kazane-san and Varma-san." Nel steps through another newly-formed door, leaving you on your own in the dim, unfamiliar surroundings.
Great.
Thankfully, they return soon enough with Midori in tow. She glances around the surroundings in wide-eyed amazement, and runs over to the window to stare out at the sea with a big smile on her face. "Wow, we're underwater!" She exclaims.
"Indeed, just off-shore in the Tsugaru Strait," Nel says. "Just take a seat for now, and I'll go get Varma-san."
They vanish again, while Midori walks around the desk and-
Before you realize what she's doing, she's sat down… right on your lap. She startles and leaps back up immediately upon feeling you beneath her, but the damage is done; you burst out laughing at the mistake, despite your embarrassment. She doesn't hear you, of course, but puts her hands on her hips and glares down at the chair, cheeks puffed out with irritation. It's only when you have your laughter back under control that you transform, seated before her with a sheepish expression. "Sorry about that, I didn't think you would sit
on me."
"I didn't even realize you were here," she sniffs. "Why
are you here?"
"I just had some questions for our friend there," you say, suddenly subdued. "I might talk to you about that later, though it sounds like they're planning on telling us all at some point."
"That works," Midori says. "Speaking of information exchange, something occurred to me. This third girl; if we were just fighting together and splitting up afterward like last night, it would be one thing, but since we're going to talk to that monster man… What do we want to do about the ghost aspect? You can't go in there dressed like this, so you'll have to go invisible and have me relay your questions, but do you want her to know?"
What do you want to do?
> Tell the new girl (Better to have her informed, so she doesn't think Midori's crazy or something like that)
> Hold off for now (Maybe you should wait and see if she's trustworthy; Nel did advise against telling anyone else)
