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

Patrols are flying above the castle and another demonic push is destroyed without trouble. Valkyries exercise their mastery of weapons, a constant bustle of warriors landing and taking off on all layers of the area.

And you are restricted to bed rest. For the fourth day in a row.

You are Gabriel, most recent Archangel of False Heaven. On a fast track to taking over command of the First Host. And right now, none of that matters in the slightest.

You want out of bed, out of this room, do something, anything instead of having to think about the past a minute longer. You can only run logistics through your head so many times, the only reason you work through them so easily is that they are done once they are done. No one visits you because they only see the mighty Archangel and do not want to impose.

More importantly, no one allows you out of this room. Even though you are the 'mighty Archangel', the newly appointed Grand Selector put his foot down and consigned you to bed rest for a week. For Valhalla to restore your cut trachea and esophagus properly after the patchwork the healers did to preserve your life. You can still not speak, or it would be over already. Two words, so close yet so far; three more days of boredom and loneliness.

You are sick of it by now. Stupid Adelheid and her stupid temper.

The thought gives you pause and you chase it away. She is still as young as when you last met her so long ago. It is not her fault that she reacted so harshly, few can keep themselves under control at that age.

It remains jarring, though; half a day after she ran from you with her legs shaking, she returns to seek battle with a gaze of steel. Your friend... or so you hope. After everything, you do not know if she still thinks of you that way; Charon's Keep is her home base, which you turned to rubble. Any friends she made there might be dead, some perhaps even by your hand.

You so hope that she is still your friend. You have no one else beside her. Even your fellow Archangels act more like mentors and colleagues instead of peers or actual friends, everyone in the rank and file looks up to you... just breaking the persona you built up just so they stop treating you like this, you have no idea what that would do to morale. Whether it would actually help.

If only you could be confident like Adelheid. She is not scared to be who she is. Not scared to challenge you at her age, and refuse to accept anything but your full power. It shocked you nonetheless, how angry she got once she realised you held back.

You did not pull any punches... well, many. She thankfully did not notice that you still did it even after she got mad. As best as you could, at least. A motion wasted here, a second or two given up there to throw fire instead of integrating the slash into your other motions. It was all you could do.

Watching her fight was amazing, no strength to rival yours but skill beyond any you ever saw before. Speed on par with many of the more powerful opponents you faced over the years despite her youth. She has not even completed her second decade if you remember correctly.

How far could she go if she had another two decades?

You shake off the thought and get out of bed, manifesting your wings as you do. They normally stay off inside, but you want to stretch them; keeping them off for days at a time is disorienting.

They still feel odd from the rapid regrowths in the fight. Flying right after having to regrow them is impossible and you keep getting twitchy for a time. Now it is mostly the phantom pain; as if your friend's blade cut through them again. Three times, she did it three times. She took six wings and each of them hurt.

A soft knock on the door interrupts your moping and you surge to your feet. The wings fold properly and you quickly wipe your face to get the tear tracks gone as best as possible. It is not the time for food, maybe your friend is visiting you?

A few seconds pass until the door opens, admitting a female Valkyrie that you remember speaking with before. Her features are sharp and she stands rigid while you yourself slump a little. Not Adelheid; why did you even expect her to march into one of the most well defended areas on Valhalla?

Hildr, that was her name, pushes a fist against her chest with the thumb's side pointed inward, saluting perfectly. You almost bow your head and quickly stop yourself, remembering that you are the one in charge.

"Please forgive my intrusion," she starts and lowers her head. You do not want her to prostrate herself like this, but it is expected. "I will be brief to not hamper your recovery, oh Archangel; I wish to inquire about the enemy you faced. From others' descriptions, I gather it was the lady of war, Adelheid?"

Hearing her name spoken by an unfamiliar voice gives you pause; from what you recall, only a single Angel actually survived encountering her in battle before. No one mentioned that it was Hildr herself when they briefed you on important enemies in the area. You try to ask a question but only produce garbled noise, to which the younger woman blinks. Annoyed, you wrap a hand around your throat and shake your head, then point at her. "Um, you wish to ask a question of me?"

A nod, and a finger pointed at her again.
"About myself?"

A shake. You point at her face, her mouth in particular; she almost goes cross-eyed and you pull back a little, curbing your curiousity and keeping your expression calm to not give it away.

"I, forgive me, I do not understand."
You sigh and pull on some mana to write Adelheid's name into the air in glowing letters for a moment.
"Oh. About her? I am afraid you were already told everything I know. But that is also why I am here."
You motion for her to go on.

Hildr takes a deep breath and lowers her head, deeper this time. "For one, I wish to apologise. She was a peer to me at the time I encountered her. To expect she could so convincingly fake her actual prowess, to be capable of standing against a warrior as mighty as yourself. I am ready to take full responsibility for the losses we incurred and your own injury."

You do not dare interrupt while she speaks; Hildr is an earnest woman, one that you can respect. Once she is done, you shake your head and offer her a smile, much to her surprise. "Are you certain of that? If I had noticed-" This time you shake your head more decidedly; stepping closer and putting a hand on her shoulder is odd, seeing that she is a good metre taller than you. 'It is alright', you want to tell her. No one could have expected your friend to grow so much more powerful in such a short time.

Hildr's head remains bowed and you have to suppress a sigh. She accepts your attempted comfort a little awkwardly and speaks up once you let go. "But in addition, I wished to discuss this particular woman with you at a later time. Your duties will certainly demand much attention from you soon, but if you find time for me once your voice has returned...."

She trails off, most likely unsure how to phrase the last part. You can understand that just fine, the worry of asking such a boon from an Archangel. So you bring out your best fake smile and nod again; for the first time since she entered, Hildr's expression brightens up noticeably. "Thank you, truly. I am trying to figure out just where this lady of war arrived from and how we never heard about her before her appearance on Valhalla. Your insight will be greatly appreciated." You almost put your head in your hands at that; a promise given is forever, and you promised to not reveal your knowledge. This poor woman has no idea just what she is trying to unravel. But you maintain your calm.

"Again, thank you kindly, oh Archangel. I took up enough of your time," she continues and your mood falls again. "I shall take my leave now. Hopefully your recovery will be swift and smooth."

She turns around to leave, unseeing of your reaching hand; untouched, as she leaves the room without hesitation or a look back. You stand there for a moment longer, wanting to shout that it is fine if she stays but knowing you should not.

In the end, you are alone with your thoughts again. Alone as always.

You hate it, you hate this room, and you hate this bed. You had enough rest, your wounds are basically closed, you do not want to be all alone anymore. After stomping your foot once in still-controlled anger, unwilling to break the carpet or the stone below, you sigh as heavily as you can and look around.

Perhaps you can sneak out and do some deskwork; there are guards at the doors to keep you from going out and the windows are too small for most Angels, but here your dwarfism is actually a boon.

Goal set, you dismiss your wings again and get to work. Anything is better than having to stay in this room any longer.

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+75xp A Moment of Gabriel's Thoughts

EXP gained: 75
Total EXP: 1,280

350 EXP spent
930 remain

---

You are Adelheid Schmeling, or Heidi, and wake up mostly content, if missing the warm embraces you got used to over the last weeks. It makes sense and you both agree not to go too fast, but that does not mean you have to like waking up alone every other day.

Instead of moping however, you get out of bed and do a few stretches while you wait for your Imp. Well, 'your' Imp. The one that attended you from the beginning died in the assault, and another took his place since then. It still feels odd, you did not even know the other one's name and now he is gone.

Your breakfast is brought soon enough, but the feeling is simply different now. You eat mostly in silence, unsure what to talk about with this new Imp. A few questions about the current situation are answered, but that is it. Rebuilding of the Keep has already begun, now that the clearing of rubble is complete.

Once you are done and have left a few nice pieces for him to eat later when nobody is watching, he stops right in front of the door with the scraps. "Ah, yes. The Ashen Maiden sends for you, Lady Defiance. She expects your presence later in the day." And then he darts outside before you have time to respond.

You learned a while ago that Imps like to do that whenever they have to deliver messages. So that they do not get hit if the recipient does not like it or is in a bad mood. There is really nothing to be done about it, so you just keep your mouth shut.

Morning passes while you wander around the Keep to see progress for yourself, and practice a little to stay in form. Which is where you find that the cutting field around your scythe became even sharper, effortlessly passing through anything now. It also grew in size, making just trying to touch the blades likely to cost fingers.

After that, you make your way back to Elisabeth's office. She is still hard at work, but you already saw her out and about over the last week. Her skin has a little more colour again and she greets you with a kind smile. "Ah, Adelheid. Please, have a seat. Would you like some tea?" She begins pouring a cup without waiting for you to answer, ignoring your eyeroll. "I am afraid your idle time is almost over. Your talents are needed."

You sit with her and take the offered cup. "Okay, what is it exactly?" Elisabeth quickly sorts her papers and brings out two sheets in particular.

"I have two missions for you. Both need doing, but it is up to you which one to take first." She hesitates for a moment. "The first task is more of a joint mission. A War Angel stationed on Milidia outplayed and struck down two of our Angel Slayers. I want you to reinforce Lucifer while she strikes them down; anyone who can withstand our anti-Angel specialists requires such attention."

The mention of Milidia makes your toes curl a little, but you do not let it show and nod. "And the other?"

She nods back before skimming the other sheet again. "A Death Squad that has been interrupting our supply lines since before the assault on the Keep. They dug in on Gehenna and defeated even several other champions sent to take them down."

"The Fairies first."

Your quick decision stops Elisabeth for a moment while you take a deep breath. If possible, you really do not want to go back to Milidia for as long as you can. A Death Squad might be more difficult, but you think you can take them.

"...very well. I recommend you have a good night's rest and start early tomorrow. It is not immediately critical. Those Fairies were confirmed to mainly fight in melee combat when confronted personally, though their magical powers are immense as well."

You nod once more at that and Elisabeth puts it aside with a renewed smile. "I thought you would at least take some time to deliberate about which to do first. Would you care to share why this was not the case?" Her expression does not change when you shake your head, but she does refill both of your cups. "I see. Then, how have you been doing recently?"


A pleasant conversation later, you are back outside and on your own. Wondering what to do with the little free time you have left.

Then it hits you, just as you stop to look out a window.

You ended up joining the UD after all.

Even if you say you did not, that is just lying to yourself. You live with them, learn from them, fight with them. You are a Dark Magical Girl. The realisation makes you feel both cold and confused.

A quiet turn and quick journey with the runes later, you are atop the main spire's roof once more. There you sit down and watch the new garrison of Hell Beasts circle, watch new spires being constructed where the old ones fell.

You were too scared of dying out here, too busy with growing strong enough to survive. Even now you feel indebted to Elisabeth for everything she did, giving you a safe haven in the past. Giving you a teacher and thus a dear friend. Being your friend. After Valhalla, you just wanted to see everyone again and paid little mind to the rest.

And for the last two weeks, you were riding high on emotions. Having defeated an Archangel in single combat, learning more about Orux, reuniting with Maya and Paoras... so much that kept you occupied.

This is how the UD works. Even without the friends you made, the feeling of strength, the very real admiration and respect of all those around you who desire the same, it is intoxicating. You can not even bring yourself to hate it at this point.

Even though you try to remember what you know, what even here no one denies. The Unified Darkness is made up of many bad people. Not all of them are bad, not all of them are bad in the same way either, but it is still the truth. Yet now, you no longer feel it being so bad. The outliers aside, you could integrate yourself so easily.

Everyday life here is not even that much different. More physical brawls than back home perhaps, but otherwise all of these people could just as well be humans. Everyone is different and most are even pleasant to be around.

You began this journey seeing nothing but evil and found the good hidden within. An evil society that warps what good people are born into it. Likewise, you got to see dark sides of the Unified Light as well, hidden away out of shame not for the practices themselves but for the people they were applied to.

No one is innocent in this war. No one is truly in the right. This is no black and white conflict, no matter what anyone says. You know better than that now.

Your friends are not good people by human definitions. You know others would be appalled by Maya's actions in particular, despite how caring she is outside of these moments. A mother who loves her children, yet also a monster to anyone who dares hurt them. You understand why she did what she did, even if you do not condone her actions. At the same time, you realise, she was never taught differently in this society. Forcing those weaker to do as you wish is common, loss of life meaningless with how many Demons are born every day.

Lu is fully aware of having turned into a monster and admits to it, but you can not bring yourself to revile her. She is your friend, too.

You hate this. Hate that it has to be so difficult. Perhaps some of your friends would even switch their allegiance if you made your case to them, to leave the Unified Darkness. But you doubt anyone but Orux would seriously consider it. They were all born here, so leaving it all behind to put themselves at the mercy of Fey and Angels in the hopes of turning it all around... you would not do it, either.

More importantly, even if you get your friends out safe and sound, the UD will remain the UD. Full of Demons without purpose, hoping to achieve strength as they fight, only to be cut down mercilessly by the thousands for every one that survives for a time. So much potential wasted, so much hidden kindness trampled. What kind of heroes do they even have? Who can they look up to? You can only think of Goddess Grey, who is your idol as well.

Argus was a General, yet you doubt many others of his rank actually cared about their troops like he did. And he died for his kindness, charging an Archangel to grant you time for your escape. Without hesitation.

Your mind is starting to go in circles at this point. The UD will not change in the next few thousand years, you already know that. The war continues and claims more lives without end.

This might not be something you can solve on your own, and you hate that, too.

After a while of just lying on the sunbaked stone, you get up and decide to do something; to shake off the thoughts before they ruin your day entirely. You can get back to them later.

But what to do with the rest of your day?

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

[] Orux, date.

[] Practice
-[] Write-in what

[] Paoras is babysitting and will appreciate the help


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


+10xp The Fey Fight Furiously
+10xp Night on Milidia
+35xp Heart Between Light and Dark
+5xp No Winning Move

EXP gained: 60
Total EXP: 990

(Soft Mechanics updated)