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

With your mind whirling, you find yourself a quiet place to sit; in this case, the top of the main spire. You spent a lot of time up here and it has since grown on you; Lu is absent today, which leaves you alone with your thoughts.

Sitting at the edge and kicking your legs a little, you soon drop onto your back and watch the sky as your journey presents itself before your mind's eye. The beginning here, meeting everyone, training with Lu.

But then you think of this time period. Finding out how far distant you were; the devastation about being lost in time is still in your memory. Thirteenth Hell and False Heaven joined what will become, or might already be, the Eternal War. The Fairies and Dark Stars began it three thousand years ago. You can not even imagine a war that lasts three thousand years.

How did no one ever actually win it? Or consider an armistice and peace treaty?

Questions you could find out the answers for, but feel you really do not want to.

Instead, you think back to the Valhalla campaign, the first joint offensive of what will soon be the Unified Darkness. It was followed by the newly born Unified Light's counterattack, even though the latter would have been the actual assault if the UD had been slower.

The Elvin Empire will join into this three thousand years from now. Armies uncountable to march against Hell's similarly numbered troops, yet even then the tide will not turn. Slowly, perhaps, but not fast enough.

Five thousand years from now, the Children of Nightmare will join the UD and turn it decisively, their Wishes, the Greater Nightmares, being barely killable by anyone but the very greatest combatants of the Light.

Then, while the UD is marching toward victory, the unexplainable will happen. Magic will come to Earth on the cusp of the new millennium, and humanity will venture into the LDC in the years to come.

And, with someone on the UD's planning staff being an idiot for some reason, the Second Fall of Rome will follow. The second greatest invasion of human territory from an outside aggressor, as the entire city of Rome was overrun by a Demon tide. Unprovoked, completely unreasonable, likely merely to start conquering a race seen as inferior.

From what you read, they smuggled a nuke through the Hellgates somehow. Whoever was responsible at least got what they deserved. And pushed the Akashic Pillar, the de-facto world government, right into the Unified Light. Not that the Pillar is more than a house of cards at the moment, with the war effort and thus the Counter Force, its military arm, keeping things stable.

From there, you know, the tide turned again. Human warmachines and quick technological progress made them what Elves usually are in fiction; small in number, but hardly matched in capability. Magical Girls rose as champions in numbers never seen before, and everyone knew it would be over soon.

You can not help but sigh; looking at it like this, the UD's idea makes sense. The only human colony was just beginning to prosper. Aptly named Hope, they overran it with everything they had; and the Light retaliated in kind.

Perhaps you are just human, after all. The ferocity with which the Counter Force fought for Hope reminds you of yourself, refusing to back down until the very end. Archangels and comparable Demons marched, even lesser gods walked these fields. Magical Girls in the hundreds, Death Squads in numbers never seen before. The Goddess Four, one and all.

And yet Hope fell, has been in the UD's hand for four years now. The same goes for Reluxus despite Gabriel herself making her stand there.

As far as you can tell, it was the first time an entire dimension fell into the other side's hand. Milidia might have gone from angelic to elven ownership at some point, but that was most likely not related to hostile takeover.

The war has been going on since then, both sides took unbelievable losses during the disaster on Hope, but you do not think much changed. Will change? Both might work, unrelated to where you are right now in time.

In the end, you still have no idea what to make of all this. So many great endeavours, so many tragedies, so many lives lost and sacrificed, yet there is no end in sight. In time, Lu and even Gabriel will fall victim to it. The thought of that makes your chest constrict a little, so you push it out of your mind with a sigh.

Something about this is odd, something on the tip of your tongue, something you feel you should have understood by now. It bothers you that you can not figure out what it is.

Even after who knows how long of thinking, it still eludes you. Some kind of epiphany in all of this. And once you feel you are about to have it, a voice disrupts your concentraion: "I figured you would be here."

It's gone.

You sigh again and open your eyes, only to find Elisabeth looking down at you with a faint smile. "Everything is prepared now, please follow me." You have half a mind to just keep lying here just to be contrarian, but force yourself to get up; your former boss offers a hand and pulls you up when you take it, then leads the way.


The moment you leave the spire, this time through the front entrance, trumpets call into the quiet. Or, something that looks similar to trumpets.

Thousands of Demons of all shapes are gathered in the vast plaza, their chatter dying as the Imps begin to play. The horns pause when Elisabeth gives them a sign and she folds her hands in front of herself with a curt smile. "We are seeing off one of our great champions today, for she has to return from whence she came. All work is suspended for today, and all may partake in the food and drinks. Let us celebrate the woman herself, as well as the twist of fate that brought her to us."

She gives another sign and the Imps start playing again. First the trumpets, then others join in with different instruments, strings and drums of several kinds.

Meanwhile, the music is almost drowned out by cheers and roars of triumph.

You step away from Elisabeth, who nods and wanders elsewhere. Just for today, you are not transformed. It makes no difference, for all of them can tell it is you either way.

At first you only wander around, chatting with various people for a little bit; they offer their food and drink, their bodies, all kinds of things, but you kindly decline them all. It is an odd feeling that swells in your chest, joy at being appreciated but also wonder about how many of them are genuine. Many pairs took to dancing in a free space near the band, with Elisabeth apparently having made the first step.

Watching this from the side for a short while, you can not help but notice the good mood. It is as if for just this once, there exist no differences in rank between the various people. Grunts discuss with commanders and higher, you find Maya chatting with a group of what might be her underlings, and Elisabeth herself is currently still dancing with one of the soldiers. She keeps changing partners, granting as many as possible a chance to dance with her. And she is good at it, too.

Orux finds you at some point and before you know it, he leads you over the dancefloor; neither of you is particularly good, but no one cares. The Imps switch out with others of their kind and many run off to stuff themselves with food once they are done playing.

You are laughing by the time your boyfriend leads you off to the side where Maya and her children are playing. Paoras is immediately by your side and takes your hand, demanding a dance as well; you indulge her, and it ends up going even worse than with Orux, seeing that you are now leading instead of being led. Again, no one cares and you have fun.

Lu and Dragul are chatting somewhere at the side, you notice when getting back. Both are holding glasses of wine and talk animatedly; being Angel and Demon however, they keep a healthy distance from each other. It is still nice to see even those two enjoying themselves.

After some time, while you are chatting with Elisabeth about this and that, she stiffens and turns aside; you need a moment longer to feel the shift in the air, even while you follow her gaze. It is not immediately apparent, there but not affecting you. You would have missed it without your friend noticing.

You might have missed her at first, too. pale skin, a short black dress almost the same colour as her hair and slightly torn at one side. She could be one of the Demons around, especially with the pair of dark metal horns growing from her head; the latters' tips almost touch, forming something resembling a crown, appearing like two ends of a chain at a distance.


The second hint is that she is actually a bit shorter than you, which is not common among Demons. The third is not her vicious-looking scythe held at ease, but rather that she is marching straight for where you are, expression completely unamused despite the cheer around her.

People slowly begin to notice and the music peters out as many step aside to let her pass. No one dares get into her way and you tense up a little, but Elisabeth puts a hand on your shoulder to calm you. She is probably frowning as well, but her blindfold hides that.

Something about this person is wrong, but you can not put exactly what it is. By the time she stands in front of you, everyone has caught on and is watching the proceedings; Lu has readied herself for battle to the side, and others quickly follow her lead.

The stranger looks you up and down, takes your measure, and you do the same; she holds herself carefully, ready to move at a moments' notice, scythe pointed to the ground but only a single move away from slicing off a leg. Her shoulders are only a little tense, legs mainly relaxed, she is expecting to be attacked but unlikely to lash out herself.

The moment lasts far too long to be comfortable, but you refuse to speak first. She does it, in the end; her voice is cold like Lu's, though a little deeper. "I am Magical Girl Dame of Clockwork, current acting leader of the Clockwork Dames." She does not give you a chance to respond.

"We," at which she motions for herself and into the distance, where actinic lights play over the mountaintop, visible even to your unaugmented eyes, "police the timestream. And you," with which she points right at you, "do not belong here."

Everyone around tenses up upon hearing the sharp pronounciation she uses, including yourself. It is clear why she is, why they are here. They want to remove an anomaly. You can fight, you might, you will, but a glance around makes you hesitate. They will all fight with you; Elisabeth is already summoning her blade behind her back.

If she strolled into this place all on her own, you do not want to take that risk. They will get slaughtered.

Seeing your hesitation, the Dame motions for those around you: "We don't want to harm your friends. Please come quietly." Her voice is filled with a finality that tells you all you need to know.

This is the end of the line. So close to making it and ending this journey, it is cut off.

You can feel it, without a shadow of doubt; no words need to be spoken as you quietly cry out against this unfairness. You refuse, you will not let things end like this. Not now, when you are almost home!

Magic surges through your very being and a now-familiar outfit forms around you, too fast for the girl in front of you to react. Only her eyes have time to widen before the full force of your presence slams into her, freezing her in place for a moment from how unexpected it is.

"...No." It is but a single word, but that is enough to echo as you raise your weapon and leap backward. Mana snaps into place, as if already expecting what you will do next. "Voyage!"

Time takes you before she can act, throwing you far, far back to a place you know will be empty. To a place that could not be more appropriate. If you are going to go, you will make your stand.

And it will be on Hope.

Lush plains await you with the disembodied sound of shattering glass, completely untouched by civilisation; a soft breeze runs through your hair and rustles the ribbons covering your back. You instinctively know how far back you went. You know that a million years will pass until humans set foot on this world again.

Then, as you wait for the Dames to appear, it comes to you; the answer you have been searching for weeks now. It just clicks and you realise what should have been so easy to understand, what was obvious from the beginning.

All of this, from start to finish, is meaningless. So much fighting and bloodshed for no reason, battles wrought for nothing. Battle lines shifting back and forth for millennia, an eternal trench warfare that makes horror stories like Verdun and Passchendaele look like a playground struggle, grinders that make Stalingrad appear kind.

It is terrifying, horrifying, but without any meaning. Because it has always been that way and always will be. What else could it be if even giants like Gabriel never truly turned the tide?

And even if it is won sooner or later, as it will be, what will it have achieved? One side will lie dead and the other is burned by who knows how many millennia of ceaseless war. There is nothing to win in the outcome, only everything to lose. Everything already has been lost.

You can not stop the laughter from bubbling out of your throat, loud and dark as it is. Almost insane giggles follow as a door opens in the depths of your heart; your magic coalesces, adjusting once more as the final lesson of this journey takes hold of you.

(Determined Soldier evolves into Meaningless Slaughter)

Your morbid glee holds for a while. Once you manage to calm yourself, you find that you are still alone.

Then reality tears and there they stand, three of them.

(Entropic Presence: Negated by Meaningless Slaughter
Aura of Restoration: Malicious effect negated by Meaningless Slaughter
Degenerating Core: Can not affect an Indestructible weapon)

The two you have not met before stand with a bow and a two-handed sword, the former in flashy silver and purple and black, the latter in heavy armour; plants grow from beneath the bowwoman's feet, quickly raking into the sky before mutating and dying. The staff-wielder's surroundings corrode within heartbeats. Between the two, plants keep growing and dying at the same time.

Yet neither of them affects you.

They watch you for a moment, weapons drawn and ready. "Do we really have to do this?" the bow-wielder asks sadly.

But what choice do you have?

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

[] Plan?


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


+1000xp Time Police Open Up!
+15xp Met Dame of Clockwork
+15xp Met Dame of Ending
+15xp Met Dame of Genesis
+500xp Chronos Sent His Best
+1000xp And He Sent Them at Their Strongest

EXP gained: 2545
Total EXP: 5,795


Confirmed Enemies:
-Magical Girl Dame of Clockwork
-Magical Girl Dame of Genesis
-Magical Girl Dame of Ending

Active Effects:
-Mechanical Inspiration: Machines perform 650% more or less efficiently
-Entropic Presence: Defiance's damage and resilience are reduced by 750% NOPE
-Aura of Restoration: The Clockwork Dames recover 9,750 Health each turn
-Degenerating Core: Stardust Striker, Aetheric Tide, and Stygian Tempest are reduced back to The Handle after one action.

Objectives:
-Survive

(Chronos) Magical Girl Dame of Clockwork

Yomi Brown
​

Stats

Health: 3,000
Base Damage: 7,000
Base Resilience: 225
Magic Modifier: 7,000


Affinity: Time | Machinery | Journey | Legend

Weapon

Clockwork Scythe
Level 70
Attacks Per Turn: 26
Affinities: Time | Journey
Ability: Unstoppable | Time Walk | ???

Spells

Mechanical Rain
Dame of Clockwork send cogs, clocks, pistons, and other mechanical items rocketing at her opponents with enough force to break bones.
Level 77
Base Damage: 11,550
Magic Modifier: N/A
Affinity: Machinery | Legend
Ability: Rain of Light | Boost by Level | Planet Cracker


Noon to Midnight
???
Level ???
Base Damage: ???
Magic Modifier: ???
Affinity: Time | Legend
Ability: ??? | ??? | ???

Abilities

Blessing of the Time Deity
-Dame of Clockwork is immune to all Time Altering Effects.

Mechanical Inspiration
Level 65
-Machines in Dame of Clockwork's presence perform 650% more or less effectively, depending on whether they are used by allies or enemies.

Perpetual Machinery
Level 10
-Dame of Clockwork's ability to keep functioning. ???

???
-???

Chronos' Will be Done
-???

???
-???

The Clock Strikes Twelve
-???

(Chronos) Magical Girl Dame of Genesis

Kagome Higurashi
​

Stats

Health: 2,550,000
Base Damage: 10,500
Base Resilience: 8,400
Magic Modifier: 21,000


Affinity: Time | Life | Love | Legend

Weapon

Chronomic Bow
Level 70
Attacks Per Turn: 37
Affinities: Time | Legend
Ability: Double Tap | ??? | ??? | ???

Spells

Just Surge
Dame of Genesis blesses herself and her allies, increasing their damage and defense.
Level 70
Base Damage: 21,000
Magic Modifier: 10,500
Affinity: Life | Love
Ability: Boost-All | Damage Barrier | Boost Weapon | Auto Max Charge


Split Second Surge
???
Level 75
Base Damage: ???
Magic Modifier: ???
Affinity: Time | Legend
Ability: ??? | ??? | ??? | ???

Abilities

Blessing of the Time Deity
-Dame of Genesis is immune to all Time Altering Effects.

Aura of Restoration
Level 65
-All allies in Dame of Genesis' presence recover 9,750 Health each turn.

???
-???

Blooming Season
Level 60
-Governs Health and Base Resilience; Dame of Genesis' Maximum Health is multiplied by 100 and ???.

Instantaneous Ascent
-Upgrade all allied weapons to the Chronomic Bow's level for as long as they fight by Dame of Genesis' side.

Aeonic Excellence
-???

Aeonic Switch
-???

???
-???

(Chronos) Magical Girl Dame of Ending

Amelia Jones
​

Stats

Health: 550
Base Damage: 22,500
Base Resilience: 11,250
Magic Modifier: N/A
Affinity: Time | Destruction | End | Legend

Weapon

Tempus Staff
Level 75
Attacks Per Turn: 25
Affinities: Time | Destruction | Legend
Ability: Smash | Catastrophic Damage | Purge | Erase

Spells

???
???
Level 75
Base Damage: ???
Magic Modifier: ???
Affinity: Destruction | End | Legend
Ability: ??? | ??? | Omni-Magic | ??? | Ability Trigger: End Count | ???

Abilities

Blessing of the Time Deity
-Dame of Ending is immune to all Time Altering Effects.

Degenerating Core
-Any enemy weapon lower level than Tempus Staff disintegrates in Dame of Ending's Presence.

Entropic Presence
Level 75
-All non-Dame fighters suffer a decrease of 750% to their defense and damage dealt.

???
-???

???
-???

Graceful Degradation
-Dame of Ending must be reduced to 0 HP once for every level she has in Entropic Presence in order to perish. Combined attacks and consecutive attacks do not count towards her death timer. Each time she dies, reset her health to max and double it.

End Count (Active)
-Can only be activated after ??? has been cast. Every enemy facing Dame of Ending with an active counter (spell, ability, or otherwise) die instantly.