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

(2,549 enemies in Heidi's Combat Zone.

Determined Soldier increases ApT by 849

Or, in other words: welcome to mostly narrative combat; not a chance I am writing even approaching that many sections of combat math.)

Then your magic hits like a train and makes your head swirl as sound and images warp for a moment. Only the discipline Lu drilled into your head prevents you from clutching your head right at the start of a fight.

That does not mean you do not need a little bit to get used to the truly incredible amount of magic surging through you right now; your body feels so light yet heavy, things move slow yet fast, maybe this is what a drug trip feels like. You are not going to check, but this is probably the closest you will ever be to any high not induced by adrenaline.

(The sudden surge of ApT creates a small shock that needs to be worked through. 85 actions lost for the turn, first strike lost.)

By the time you can actually focus on the fight, both sides have started to attack the other. A quartet of Soul Reavers jumps at you, their claws ready to tear you apart.

You thought they were intimidating not so long ago. Now, as they are mid-jump and unable to change their momentum, you wonder what made them do this. Soul Reavers are not dumb, even if they are the grunt-type of Dark Star. Maybe they thought Lu protecting you earlier means you are weak?

On the note of Lu, you cast a glance aside and find your friend ready to intercept the four, but there is no need. Your weapon flips to lightsaber in less than a heartbeat and you step forward.

(Shadow Claws 1-4: +500 Base Damage, no dice = 500 Total Damage per piece

4 Attacks negated, counter follows

Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +265 / 298 / 548 / 471 dice, +333 Horrific Speed Gap, +2500 Superslayer = Enough Damage
Soul Reaver 1-4: +150 Base Resilience, no dice, -150 Hilariously Outmatched = 0 Total Damage Reduction

Soul Reaver 1-4 Health: 1,200 - Enough Damage = Dead)

It is not even a contest. You just step left of the first lunge and snap your lightsaber around in the blink of an eye; it cuts the attacker in half. Then your hand snakes around the claws of the second to push them aside and past you, with a slash to end their life before they even made it far. The third's arm you cut off, with a second vertical slash to cleave them in two at the waist as well before twirling out of its body's way.

The first Soul Reaver you killed only actually pops now, while your heel meets the last one's face and takes them out of the air as you redirect their momentum on impact. A clean slash through their head is enough to end them.

You exhale and look around, finding that the fighting is still just starting; weird, you thought this took longer. The Soul Reavers surprised you a little there, just like Lu; your first instinctual thought was to go against the Fairies.

Even though you have nothing against them, Fairies have been your enemies for the past week; quite a bit longer if you count that Death Squad. Now that you actually think, you are not particularly comfortable with that thought; Dark Star's immediate attack at least gave you a chance to conciously consider this.

You joined the UD out of necessity, but at this point it almost feels like a place to belong. And boy, is that not a scary thought. Or rather, you realise, it is your friends who make it feel like a place to belong; that is better. You are on their side, no matter which it is.

(Contemplation takes a moment. 42 actions lost.)

Taking a deep breath, you nod at the surprised Lu and toward the Dark Stars. Everything blurs a little, but your lightsaber remains in focus; now that you look at it, this is not really the right weapon for this situation. It is kind of inefficient.

A mental command extinguishes the blade and lets the grip elongate, growing into a curved metal blade on each end. Stygian Tempest. With how many Soul Reavers there are, your scythe will be perfect for this; taking care of some small fry should not draw too much attention, either.

An experimental spin shows that you have still not forgotten your training under Lu, even though you have yet to use this weapon in actual combat. Well, no time like the present!

Your angelic friend nods and raises her cross, then blinks when you dart past her; the magic sparking in your entire body lets you run faster than ever, hitting a larger group of hesitant Soul Reavers within moments. Your scythe spins madly in rapidly moving hands, tearing into the Dark Stars as you practically dance around them.

(Stygian Tempest: +280 Base Damage, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, 542 dice, +238 dice, +311 dice, +46 dice, +15 dice, +246 dice, +219 dice, +154 dice, +424 dice, +538 dice, +276 dice, +436 dice, +537 dice, +101 dice, +666 dice, +276 dice, +664 dice, +185 dice, +391 dice, +324 dice, +629 dice, +3920 Horrific Speed Gap = 17,018 Total Damage

Soul Reavers 1-43: +150 Base Resilience, no dice, -37 Armor Pierce, +3404 Not In The Whole Attack = 3,517 Total Damage Reduction per piece

13,501 Final End Damage per piece

43 Soul Reavers dead.)

They do not stand a chance, either. Before any of the Dark Stars actually manage to turn to your position, you are already elsewhere; the noise Stygian Tempest produces as you rotate it almost makes you think of a buzzsaw, which is basically the effect it has on the Soul Reavers. A single swipe of the blades only leaves some deep cuts but nothing threatening. It is the fact you dish out half dozens of them as you pass through the group that ends your enemies.

A few quiet pops is all that is left of them once you come to a stop, the sounds of it drowned out by the spellfire racing over your head from each side, slamming into the armies as they truly begin to fight. How long has it been?

Lu moves after you, deleting what looks like a much bigger Soul Reaver with her cross on the way but otherwise staying away; some others try to charge her, but you take a few moments to build up magic and punch the air for a small shockwave that trips them.

Looking around, things are happening weirdly slow, so you spend a bit of time taking in the impromptu battlefield to make yourself look less conspicuous, aside from more or less subtly deflecting swipes meant for Fairy mages. You can not affect spellfire, but everything else is no problem even though you still have to put some effort into it at range.

"Your magic?" Lu sounds a little curious and you realise that she never really saw this at work. So you give her a nod, the attackers apparently content with letting you stand there until you join the fight again.

(500 actions lost, some attacks negated)

That is a little odd, but then again, the higher-ranked Fairies are already dogfighting with some more nasty looking Dark Stars up high; the rank and file probably does not want to mess with you.

Then however, Sorcerers all around the Dark Star army finish casting their offensive and defensive augments, vastly empowering their allies' properties and... well, they do not turn the tides, but the battle is a lot more even now.

"Be right back," you tell your friend with a grin; then you have to remind yourself not to go overboard. No spellcasting, no more weapons, no killing too many.

...

When did you get so cold about taking lives? How many did you kill so far?

You shake it off and dash for the next group of Soul Reavers with your scythe in hand. Now is not the time.

(Stygian Tempest: +280 Base Damage, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +280 Ray Trigger, +680 dice, +295 dice, +535 dice, +518 dice, +72 dice, +366 dice, +619 dice, +683 dice, +194 dice, +478 dice, +310 dice, +147 dice, +11 dice, +303 dice, +48 dice, +517 dice, +101 dice, +292 dice, +324 dice, +419 dice, +172 dice, +224 dice, +100 dice, +627 dice, +91 dice, +427 dice, +205 dice, +673 dice, +195 dice, +32 dice, +337 dice, +13 dice, +614 dice, +47 dice, +435 dice, +290 dice, +75 dice, +663 dice, +254 dice, +582 dice, +370 dice, +7653 Horrific Speed Gap = 32,671 Total Damage per piece

Soul Reaver 1-77: +150 Base Resilience, no dice, -37 Armor Pierce, +3338 Grand Shroud, +16336 Not In The Whole Attack = 19,787 Total Damage Reduction per piece

12,884 Final End Damage per piece

Yep, very dead)

Still, you realise how fast you are tearing through the bunch, unwilling to actually count them up to pass the time. It is worrying how easily you can fight and kill other beings, even those as alien as Dark Stars. Their arms go flying for a moment until they disperse into colourful motes of mana, destabilised bodies dropping and popping as you pass.

Moreover, if you continue at that speed, you will stand out even while just killing Soul Reavers. Having to stay under the radar goes heavily against what you want to do, but you have no choice; you will not risk affecting the timeline, not over something trivial like this.

(383 enemies dead. Bonus ApT reduced to 722)

At this point, you conciously slow yourself down and spend most of your time either maneuvering around stronger clusters of enemies, taking attacks of opportunity on Soul Reavers you pass by closely, or weave magic to sling against Dark Star attacks to get them off-target.

The fight does not last that much longer; the first commanding Dark Stars begin to fall out of the sky and Soul Reavers shy away whenever you are near, which disrupts their ranks somewhat. You mostly support the Fairies around while Lu remains unchallenged after a few more applications of her anti-magic field.

Your empowering magic trickles away every second as more enemies die, but soon Dark Star rallies and retreats through the same portals they entered from. A few Fairies begin to chant and craft portals to follow them, but the same commander who called out to you earlier calls them back. "Hold! We are not pursuing!"

(No enemies on the field. ApT-bonus reset from 566 to 0.)

That moment is what your magic chooses to short out, the sudden lack of something which was there just before sending your head spinning again. You stumble and sit down rather more heavily than you would like, a faint groan dying in your throat. Lu is right next to you a moment later, her good hand on your shoulder.

You close your eyes to try and get a hold of yourself, but this surge was far greater than even the one with the Imperial Golem. Your head keeps spinning and the hand that was grabbing for Lu's actually misses and just reaches out at empty air until you drop it back down. "Ugh."

"What's wrong with her?" you can hear a deep, female voice ask; opening one eye reveals a Fairy standing next to you with a mixture of concern and curiousity clearly visible on her face. You can feel Lu pause for a moment as she looks you over again, the scythe lying discarded by your feet.

When she turns to where you think the Fairy woman stands, not that it is all that clear with the blurry everything, her words surprise you a little: "Nothing too bad, just overexertion. She has the bad habit of using all her mana in a large burst for appearances."

"I-Urgh"

You can not even flip her off; she is kind of right, but that does not really matter. A sigh is all you can muster after the attempt, head lying against your friend's arm.

Much to your surprise, the response prompts a melodic laugh and a small hand squeezing your shoulder gently to the song of Fairy magic all around. "Oh my, the joys of youth. Overexerting yourself like that is thrilling, but it does not beat a good old orgy."

...wait. That is not how you thought this sentence would go. You blink a few times, field of vision slowly starting to get back into focus, but she does not elaborate and rather smiles at you understandingly. What you see is a semi-youthful face with its first wrinkles, wrapped in clear blue armour like a cloudless sky. "You really should be more careful about your mana either way; it was an impressive showing with that technique of yours, but this might have ended badly for you if the battle had gone on any longer. Save it for finishing off a strong foe in single combat."

You blink again and try to make sense of what she said; then you begin to understand. Lu made it sound as if you used some kind of super mode instead of a passive augment; considering how out of it you are right now, that even works as an explanation. You might as well roll with it and nod, too out of it to spit back at her for the lecture. "I'll see what I can do."

The woman claps her hands and steps back; she did not even have to bow down to your sitting form due to her size. "That's a good start. Now, I think...." Her eyes dart around the resting Fairies and you follow her gaze, seeing various wounded being treated by others in the same blue armour; she is a medic of some kind. "Yes, that looks like everyone is taken care of."

You have half a mind to ask how squishy Fairies could get wounded instead of killed immediately, but even you can tell that one is bad. Instead you bite down on another groan and sit a little more straight, unwilling to trust your own sense of balance yet. Lu stays next to you, cross dismissed but ready to fight nonetheless. You get how she feels, being in the middle of what looks like the beginning of a Fairy camp is alienating.

Glowing spires of silvery crystals begin to grow out of the earth around you, ringing quietly in Milidia's winds as the army settles.

"Hm." Her curious sound draws your attention back to the Fairy in front of you, who has a finger on her chin. "With your slender build and the silver hair, I thought you were an Elf at first, but your ears are round. That's odd, is there some kind of subtype?"

You realise only now that moving around earlier displaced some of your hair, which does in fact reveal one of your ears to the world. Elves have pointed ears, which is one of the most clear differences between them and humans. "Um, that's...."

You can't lie to save your life, you only ever throw out the truth and dare people to disagree. WHich is why you stumble around for a few moments, unsure how to proceed. It is Lu who saves you yet again: "She is an Elf, but there is some Fairy ancestry in her family. Today might be the closest she has ever been to actual Fairies, though."

Chances are the only reason she thought of this particular excuse is Maya's existence, but you are not going to complain. The surprised look the medic gives you draws a bit of a blush, though; lying is not something you are good at. Misleading yes, but not lying. And that is mostly limited to combat.

Much to your and Lu's surprise, the next thing she does is not react with disgust over a hybrid, or curiousity, or even indifference. She surges forward and draws you into a big hug. "Oh, how wonderful!" she calls while trying and failing to smother your larger form. "Such a joy to meet kin in the most unusual of places!" You hesitate before accepting the predicament; your own arm rises slowly, now mostly back on track, and gently grasps her in turn.

Of all the things you did expect to come of this, joy was not one of them. "That explains where you got so much mana to burst away with from, too," she babbles cheerfully before pulling back with a gasp and a sheepish grin. "Wait, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Luna."

"...Adelheid," you answer after a moment of confused silence. How is this woman so cheerful? Are all Fairies like that when they are not trying to kill the other side?

She nods, her smile unwavering. "Heidi, then?" Your nod is all the permission she needs before turning to Lu. "And you are?"

"Leliel. A pleasure." Without hesitation; was she always that good a liar and does just not bother normally? Or maybe it is because she does not want people in the past to associate this Lu with whoever she used to be?

"Likewise, it is... oh, the commander." Luna noticed something behind you and lets go to stand at attention, wings folded neatly and her left hand placed over her heart. "Sir."

"At ease," the short man waves her off with a nod. His eyes are on you, though. "I thank you both for your assistance. Dark Star is most dangerous when prepared, so a decisive strike such as yours allowed us to end this battle at far lower casualties than I imagine would have been possible otherwise. Are you alright, ma'am?"

Your instinctive dislike of authority short-circuits at being addressed like that. You are so young no one ever does... except that he is about two heads shorter than you and noticeably taller than his subordinate, so he can probably not tell the difference based on height or features.

"I am." You make to stand slowly and only wobble a little bit on your feet. "Or at least I will be soon enough."

"Lack of mana, sir," Luna interjects business-like, gathering her superior's attention. "No signs of sickness, so she is not dangerously low; Milidia's atmosphere is saturated enough to take care of it in a few hours." He nods at the now confirmed medic before turning back to you and Lu.

"That is good to hear. If the two of you have no urgent duties to attend to, I would be honoured to host you for the day we are staying here." Then he casts a glance specifically at your friend. "Though I hope Heaven's Host will not object to our presence for a few hours?"

You think that was polite code for 'tell me now if you want us to move on', but you are not entirely sure. At least that makes it more or less clear no one here knows that Lu is a fallen Angel... if that has relevance. You never really thought about it before, but you never heard of them before meeting Lucifer, neither did you ever hear about one fighting for the Unified Darkness. Something like that probably would have garnered some attention.

"The Host is unlikely to complain," Lu answers calmly, "the only point at which I can imagine them disagreeing is if you attempt to set up a permanent base without prior permission." She offers a polite nod that tells you all you need to know. Something is not right there.

"Good, good. Would you be willing to join us then?" He appears friendly enough despite the attempt to keep to formalities. You have nothing better to do anyway and, well, finding a place to stay or food to eat would be much easier if you could do it well-rested and on a full stomach. So you nod.

"Sure, I was curious anyway." For some reason, Luna's eyes begin to almost shine; then you remember the lie Lu told and figure you played into it well enough, if unintentionally.

Now that you are back on your feet, it is time to get your thoughts back into order as well. A quick flip with one shoe's tip sends Stygian Tempest up into the air, where you grab it without any trouble. The scythe shifts under your mental command, turning smaller and into a deactivated Reaper's Will; it is the shortest of the weapon modes, so you can hide it in your long sleeves without anyone noticing.

What you do notice is a pair of eyes on your legs, to which you give Luna an unamused stare. She shrugs at you. "Wear something less complimenting if you don't want me to look," is all she tells you with an easy smile. "Besides, you have nice legs, it would be a shame not to show them off." Lu sighs inaudibly at that to your confusion, though you can somewhat guess the reason.

The commander, who seems to have a bit more discipline than her, shoos Luna away with a nod at you. "There are still wounds to be treated and I see no wounded here."

"Yes, sir!" And off she flutters, waving back as she goes.

He allows himself a sigh and turns back to you. "My apologies, discipline is not as important a value in the Home Realms than it is in the Empire. Please rest until we are set up and join us for a meal then."

After taking your agreement, he too wanders off and leaves you be with Lu and a few curious looks from the working Fairies. Some of them are, again, on your legs. "Please tell me Fairies are not all perverts," you whisper to your friend while stepping aside to let them work.

Lu sadly makes a so-so motion and settles down on a larger rock, with you taking a seat right next to her. "It is less perversion and more a lack of embarassment, I would say. Fairies do not view intimacy as a topic restricted to one's own partner or close friends. If you asked that Luna woman, she would happily tell you everything about her sex life without so much as blushing." Then, as if to add insult to injury, Lu throws you a grin. "Not to say she did not have a point. You do have nice legs."

You give the only response you can to that: "Go fuck yourself." Alongside a soft blush about the compliment.

"As I am not a Fairy," she tells you sagely, "I am not going to do that right now."

"Grgh!" You cross your arms and turn away from her, ignoring the faint chuckle while you try to rein in the heat in your cheeks.

A winged man passing by snickers at the exchange and talks to Lu for a moment: "The better response there is 'fuck me yourself, you coward', ma'am." Okay, scratch that, you are not going to make the heat go away. All you can do is not get angry while Lu laughs.

"I will keep that in mind," she tells the soldier, who grins back and flutters off. Well, at least one of you is in a good mood now.

Not that it stays for long, she is back to brooding within a few minutes; with Fairies all around, you can not really ask about it either. Maybe things will get better over food.


As it turns out, the answer to the question of food is a mixed bag.

On the one hand, you never liked fruits and vegetables all that much. On the other hand, it is great to have some more variety, seeing that Hell mostly varies the meat. You made very sure none of that meat used to be people right at the start, though.

On the third hand, all the food is kind of bland; it takes a while for you to realise that this is because they do not add any chemical stuff which enhances the flavour. With that realisation comes another one, namely that you kept not noticing while in Sharon's Keep, probably because they take their food with a lot of spice which evened it out.

On the fourth hand, the company is nice. Lots of people are hovering on seats of solid air, munching on their food and excitedly talking to each other. A lot of attention is on Lu and you in particular as you stick out from amidst the army of short people like a sore thumb. The 'fact' you are an Elf-Fairy hybrid apparently made its way through the grapevine already, too; people only stopped trying to squeeze information about life in the Elvin Empire out of you after Lu mentioned that 'there is a reason she travels with me instead of being at home'. The implication that bad stuff happened was enough to keep people from bothering you on that end.

On the fifth hand, the same 'fact' also led to a few disgusted faces in places, but at least nobody bothers you. Fairies are quite considerate even if they are revulsed by something, it seems.

"So you say you are without any provisions?" The Fairy commander, Summer, is sitting with you, as do two of his direct subordinates and a few other people, including Luna. He asked the question after Lu mentioned that a hurried transport-spell cut you off from your camp; your friend nods, which draws a thoughtful sound in turn. "Hm. In that case, allow us to provide you with a few basic necessities, as thanks for your aid today."

You have half a mind to decline because you can do without their pity, but Lu quickly accepts before you can say anything. "That would be wonderful, thank you." She actually smiles, but you can not say if it is fake; whether it is or not, Summer smiles right back and seems to be blushing a little.

"Oh, it is the least we can do. I would offer to escort you home, but my duties do not allow it."

"Psst," one of the men stage-whispers to Luna, "I think the boss is into taller women. But don't tell anyone, it looks like he's shy about it." Moments later, a snowball impacts his face and Summer snorts while making another.

"Less that and more that I just don't find many Fairy ladies my size, so I have to look elsewhere." The snowball flies, but is met with a little ball of flame that vaporises it. "Of course you don't notice it without any tall women around."

You just shake your head during the general laughter. Lu keeps her expression neutral, which means either she does not care or is somewhat bothered by it. Knowing her, it is likely the former.

With the general chatter returning, you find yourself drawn back to the question that was on your mind for a while now. When exactly are you?

But how to ask something like that?

You need a minute to come up with something. When you do, you tap Summer's arm to get his attention. "From what I heard, this wasn't just a one-time thing with Dark Star?"

The relaxed atmosphere ceases somewhat and he nods solemnly, interrupting his meal to answer you: "I am afraid so. Is the war not known in the Empire?"

Bad question, but you can save it. "It's more that I didn't pay much attention to what happened away from home." Factually true, you never knew many details about the Eternal War. "How long has this been going on?"

Summer pauses to think for a moment. "It has been about fifty years since Dark Star declared war," he then says. A glance goes to the other Fairies, who nod their agreement and confirm his guess. He follows this up with an encouraging smile, though. "But don't you worry, ma'am. If things go well, this will be over before the year is out."

"Hear Hear!" And suddenly the mood is back as soldiers clack their mugs together cheerfully. You have the information you wanted, so you leave them be. Even if your time travels were not a secret, you could not bring yourself to tell them what is going to happen in the future.

You are a good three thousand years distant from the time you first landed.

After a moment of contemplation, you push the thought away for now. There will be enough time to think about how to get back, for now you have a camp of sparkling crystal towers around you, and some time to kill; the sun is still high in the sky.

But what to do...

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

Pick two

[] Take some time to practice
-[] (optional) Write-in what
(can be taken twice)

[] Talk to Luna some more

[] Speak with Lucifer about the situation


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


+175xp Killed 175 Soul Reavers
+100xp Protecting the Fey
+100xp Welp, to the Past it is
+150xp At the Beginning


EXP gained: 525
Total EXP: 1,281