Peril's Origin - A Magical Girl Quest [Complete]

So you have a day to yourself and a campaign coming up, meaning you should probably stock up on useful knowledge and relax. Good thing you have ideas for both of those.

Entering the R&D department is only prudent at this point; you picked up quite a few interesting tricks from Epsilon Aaron the last time, with the promise of more if time permits. The Dark Star was quite clear about the fact they do it to examine you from up close and learn from what you know in turn, but that is fine with you. Give and take is not an unfamiliar concept.

Today however, you already forgot that you have two new, or rather improved senses. The moment your destination nears, you can already hear angry sizzling noises all over. What you find when you actually enter the area, however, leaves your mouth open in surprise.

Dark Stars are mostly dark to normal eyes, for whatever reason. Maybe it is the easiest kind of colouration they can take, or their actual colours simply fall beyond what a human can perceive.

Now that you can truly see however... it is breathtaking.

Despite the almost uniform air of cold and caution surrounding you, all those Dark Stars emit more light than you ever saw before; each of them has at least a dozen different colours that mix and match constantly, forming patterns unique to them even though their form is exactly the same. Every single one is a living kaleidoscope.

But this is only the beginning, as the area surrounding them provides a roiling, ever changing background to all those different patterns. They almost resonate with it, influencing the area immediately around them and connecting to others over rainbow-like tendrils you know can not even be seen with normal eyes. Gathered here are more colours and tones than you have seen in your entire life, many of which you could not even perceive until a few weeks ago.

Yellows brighter than the sun yet not hurting the eyes, purples darker than black itself, pinks that seem to have reds and blues shining through from below, and so many more that you would need hours to even just describe them all. They keep on shifting as they go about their work, but their patterns never break no matter what.

You never thought much of abstract art before, hell, you did not even think much about art in general. This however, despite looking like Picasso's greatest dream slash nightmare on drugs, is beautiful. You do not even mind the headache all those sensations give you for once.

Perhaps that is what people see in art? Or maybe this is still different because the beings before you are actually alive and not just paint on a canvas.

A few seconds pass as you take in everything around you, though the changes in the room quickly make it clear that you were noticed; you blink once, twice, then step inside.

Epsilon Aaron already awaits you, thankfully the only one of their shape; you would never have expected someone as bloodthirsty and merciless as them to have so many blues and pinks in their hue, though there is some angry reds in their claws.

"I see you have returned for further instructions?" You nod, eyes still roaming over the Dark Star's body. They consider you for a moment, their pattern slowing down the slightest bit. "Is something the matter?"

You briefly consider keeping it a secret, but you doubt it would stay one for long. What does it matter anyway? "I can see you now, fully."

That, however, quickly gains the attention of the entire room; Epsilon Aaron leans closer to you with a flicker rushing through his patterns, something that might indicate surprise. "Is that so? Interesting." There is some warbling behind you which a quick glance reveals being the other Dark Stars whispering with each other, more magical than physical.

Before any more can be said however, a viciously snarling claw wraps around your arm and gently pulls you forward; where it was previously flying telekinetically, you can now see a sturdy strand of magic connecting it to the body like a boneless arm. You follow the Dark Star's lead into the Fairy chamber, both of you quiet.

It is weird how monochromatic those Fairies are; in death, their crystals only have a single hue and even the entire bunch of them is less colourful than the single living creature aside from you.

"How is it that the most ruthless species looks the prettiest?" You just have to ask, even if there is no real answer. Epsilon Aaron, however, laughs. Actually laughs, warbled as it is.

"Because beauty is not a matter of alignment or morals, wherever they may fall. I accept your compliment though, on both accounts." They are right, though that last bit makes you a little sheepish; it was not meant to be a compliment, but you can see how it sounded coming out.

Deciding to change the topic, you speak up properly: "Anyway, I was thinking another lesson would be good; we're going to Valhalla soon and if I can, I'm going to enchant some stuff for my team. Not entirely sure what to make just yet, though."

Epsilon Aaron hovers in the air quietly for a long moment and you force down the strength of your magic sight so their patterns do not distract you as much. They are done thinking by the time you are done: "That is a prudent idea; I recommend to provide them with better armour and auxiliary effects, as most demonic troopers can not really enchant their weapons with Brand Craft. We mostly covered traps and direct combat applications before, so let us see your capabilities in Dark Star's speciality."


As expected, you learned a great many things about supportive enchantments; you will have to practice those in your downtime so you can remember them all, though. Your ears almost emit smoke by the time you leave R&D due to how many things the lecture contained.

But now you are at least certain that you can provide some interesting things for the campaign. No power armour or other advanced stuff like that, but at least enough to make sure your team does not get killed immediately.

Hopefully.

Ignoring that train of thought, you decide it is time to do some of the relaxing you have been planning. It is right after noon, the perfect time to join Maya for lunch, followed by disappointment.

Hell has no books.

Or rather almost none, exceptions being a few historic records and the occasional looted tomes or libraries. Just how they managed that is beyond you, as with the vast amount of Demons there ought to be some that decide to write in their free time or whatever.

Well, apparently not. Maya does not even understand why you have a problem with this until you explain the matter to her; there are millions of books on Earth alone, with thousands, maybe tens of thousands being published every year. Not to mention all the magazines and the recent rise of the internet.

"Think of it this way," you tell her with a finger pointed at her four oldest hybrids that joined you for the meal. "You know how to raise children, right?" She nods and her kids do the same. "So now consider that another Succubus comes and asks you for advice because she doesn't have any idea. As is, if you want to help her, you need to take a lot of time to explain the basics, then everything around that. Still with me?"

Maya nods slowly, brow furrowed in thought. "But if there was a book on how to raise children, I could simply point her to it?"

"Exactly. But if there isn't and you spend all that time explaining things to her, she might tell others that you know what you're doing. Then you have to explain the same things to them as well, and so on." You sigh and gulp down another glass of milk whose origin you have decided not to question no matter what. "It's probably much more important for humans and Elves because we don't live even a hundred years. Books are how we relay knowledge to the next generation. I get that you don't have novels or the like in Hell, but basically no books at all is just so weird."

After having to explain what a novel is as well, you give up on the topic. At least Maya does have some sweets for you and appears thoughtful when you leave; you are also not at all unhappy to hear her children pester her about wanting to read books a moment before you close the door. Maybe that makes her get some.

Now however, it is still half a day to spend and your plan to kick back and relax was just shot. Heading back to your room and laze around in bed sounds tempting, but as you have no books, no phone, and no internet accessible, you would be bored out of your mind before the hour is up.

You might as well just accept it and look for something else to do; practice can wait until tomorrow, but running around does not appeal either.

After some thinking and wandering through a few streets, you find a solution for now; the package from Maya firmly in hand, you leap five metres in the air against a taller building's wall, then hop off of that one and against the wall next to it. This continues a few times until you reach the roof and some people were definitely watching.

You ignore the gawkers, all of which quickly return to their own business, and lie down on the aslant ground. With your heels carefully balanced against a sturdy outcropping, you are in no danger of sliding off.

Granted, if it was height you wanted, you could simply travel to the main spire's top; it still reaches into your field of vision even now. That was not your intention, though. All you wanted was to kick back and watch the sky for a bit while eating your sweets, and this is what you get.

You have to admit that infernal sweets are unconventional, though; what Maya gave you has a certain spicy aftertaste. You do not even notice at first, but it quickly turns from a faint tingling to a weak burning sensation you know well from home.

The interesting part about it is that they somehow managed to make it taste good; the sweetness soothes your mouth for a moment, only for the spicyness to return a little bit stronger right after. It is good.

The flavour stays with you for a while even after you ate them all, slowly fading as time passes. You watch the clouds pass by in a state that can almost be called tranquil, were it not for the constant noise from fifty metres below that you somewhat fail to ignore.

In the end, you have no idea how long you were up there; going by your slightly aching neck, it was long enough to regret the hard surface.

You push yourself into a sitting position and look around, then quickly find something unexpected from your perch. An Elf and a Fairy, the latter slowly walking after the former. You know there is only one of each on base and are immediately curious.

People make an effort to stay out of their way even as you watch, seeing that they obviously 'belong' to Maya; it is still weird to see how much respect one can get by just being affiliated with her. Then again, your Succubus friend also gets along well with the base commander... and you. Moreover, her daughter recently began to make a name for herself.

You get up and make your way down, quickly running down the wall. Yes, you can do that now, could do it for a while. Up is easier though, as down requires you to jump and roll to bleed off momentum; gravity is one of the things you can sadly not defy, and running face first into the ground is quite low on the list of experiences you want to have.

It does not take long until you step into the moving crowd, with people quickly making room for you as well. At this point, you understand why Hell works as it is; having so many people step aside and project respect or fear feels more than a little intoxicating after a while. It is a nice feeling, even though you know you should not feel that way.

In addition, anyone on the other side of the process wants that very same feeling, creating a constant drive to grow stronger and seize it.

You shake off the thought and approach the two men with a wave; this is the first time you have see the Fairy since his Death Squad attacked the Keep, and on getting closer you notice that he is not looking good at all. His eyes are sunken in, his wings were apparently surgically removed, and he does not even look up when the Elf stops.

"Ah, young Heidi. A pleasure to see you today." You grin at the polite greeting and wave it off.

"Yeah, nice to see you too. What are you doing?" Your eyes naturally wander to the Fairy, who wears little more than a loincloth and still has not so much as looked at you.

He follows your gaze and, much to your surprise, sighs. "I was hoping to make his situation a little more bearable by letting him catch some fresh air; he doesn't eat without one of the girls feeding him." You cast a more pitying look at the Fairy, whose head remains bowed; Maya's husband sighs once more. "I failed, obviously. Perhaps seeing the child might change the situation, but I doubt it."

That turns your attention back to him, confusion evident for a moment before you understand. "Why would that change anything?" Getting to see the child one was forced to sire does not sound like a good influence on one's mind.

He shrugs weakly, eyes distant. "It helped me, back when I was first brought here. I didn't really believe that things turned for the better until I got to hold Paoras in my arms." The warmth his words carry even makes you forget the other situation for a moment; he is obviously quite proud of his children.

Then a sharp gasp rings out and as your head turns, your eyes meet a pair of orbs that almost bulge out of their sockets. He only reaches up to your waist, meaning that you tower over him... and apparently, he recognises you.

"Now now, Sirius, there is no need to-"

He stops, and everyone stops with him. You all feel it, suddenly, without any warning; something is here, but you can not tell... actually, you can. Your sight begins to shift slowly, filtering whatever effect it is; the effort feels as if someone rammed a hot iron bar into your head, making you take a sharp breath as you jump back from whatever just appeared. Everyone else looks around alarmed, but unable to see anything. Their gazes hitch momentarily whenever they pass it, but move on as if nothing was there.

It stands right behind the frozen Fairy, taller than even most of the Demons yet also thinner; as if the dark robe has nothing within, the dark shadow over its face hiding pure nothingness.

You need a moment to get used to the splitting headache, but that is how long it takes for the creature to finish measuring Sirius. Something like wind runs over all of you, unnoticed by everyone, and then...

(The ???: +1000 Base Damage, +565 dice, +1000 Unseen Attack = 2,565 Total Damage
Sirius: +50 Base Resilience, dice negated due to existential dread, -100 Unresponsive = 50 Extra Damage

2,615 Total End Damage
Sanctuary (50%): 1,308 Final End Damage
Sirius is very dead.)

Your elven friend jumps back and to your side when what sounds like an angry gust of wind runs over Sirius, with it coming a thin mist that neatly cuts off the Fairy's head. He does not even know what hit him, both parts falling to the ground.

Your eyes tingle and flutter as you try your best to behold whatever this is, the rest of you barely noticing how Maya's husband draws a gladius.

And everyone else is still looking around, many of them actually going back to back as they do not seem to notice the monster in their midst aside from knowing it is there.

...what the hell just happened?

-------------

[] Plan?


[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it


+10xp The Beauty of Dark Star
+145xp 'Met' Your First Nightmare

EXP gained: 155
Total EXP: 531


(Unlocked Level 4 Character Sheet: Epsilon Aaron)


Allied Troops:
-60 Demon Foot Soldiers
-2 Demon Ground Commanders
-1 Empire Legionnaire

Enemy Troops:
???

Active Effects:
-Splitting Headache (Defiance, -1 ApT)
-Headache + ? (Everyone else, can not tell where ??? is or what ??? does)
-Sanctuary (All allies, deal doubled damage and take halved damage)