Magical Girl Quest - The Fire That Burns

You let the silence hang for a moment longer, then clap. The sudden sound makes Sabina jump, fingers twitching for the sword in your hand. "How about breakfast then?"

She stares incredulously at you, mouth gaping as Daiyu flops back into bed, asleep the moment she lands. Eventually, she nods her head, hands clenching and unclenching as she nods. "Yes, fine. Food is good." You take the lead, halfway to the door before you realise that you are only wearing your towel and stop dead, flush tickling your cheeks.

You shuck off your towel, steadfastly ignoring the choking noise from beside you as you shimmy into a pair of trousers and a tank top. You'd finish getting dressed properly later, for now this would do.

You lead her through the hallways, following the smell of food rather than any known directions, when you reach a pair of double doors you pad into the cafeteria and blink. It wasn't exactly deserted, but there was only three people, and one of them was a janitor. Where is everyone? You poke your sense through the roof curiously. Oh. It's afternoon. Well, that explains where everyone is.

You shake your head and walk towards the serving area, the pitter patter of two pairs of bare feet the only sound. Must be soundproofed, why? You push your questioning thoughts away as you stop at the metal divider, gently tapping on it with a nail. The noise echo's out through the room and you see a head poke around the corner from the kitchen. A short, stocky man who looks more fit for a mechanic than a chef steps forwards with a smile. "Ah, ze ladies of the day! How many I help you?"

You give him a nod, otherwise ignoring his praise as you glance back to Sabina. "I'll have bacon and eggs, Sabina?" She blinks at you from where she was staring sightlessly at you, apparently lost in thought. She umm's and ahh's for a while, eventually settling on the same thing as you.

The chef smiles, stepping back and calling into the kitchen. "Two orders of Bacon and Eggs!" You hear an affirmative called back before he turns to you. "Find a seat, I will deliver your meal to you."

You leave with a nod, settling on a table against a wall You notice her eyes keep glancing over at the soldiers in the corer, one of them waving a gun around and laughing. I'm pretty sure that is against the rules dumbass. You send him a wary glance as you sit down, walking two tables further along the wall until you were solidly behind him. You take one side and Sabina places herself opposite, shifting on the surprisingly comfortable bench. You eye it, just about making out something scribbles onto it. Some sort of Rune fuckery, probably.

Your investigation is interrupted by Sabina clearing her throat, drawing your attention back to her. You give her a smile, setting her katana atop the table to your right, out of her reach. "Right then, introductions. My name is Cerys, just Cerys. You are Sabina Petit?" She nods at your question. "We had someone heal you yesterday, I don't think they missed anything, but does something feel out of place or broken?"

She blinks at your statement, surprised about something before shaking her head. "No, I feel a little sore, but I'm mostly ok. Even my burns are gone." You hide your wince at her words. Things like the Peluda were supposed to be your responsibility, you should have dealt with it before it could become a problem. You let out a muffled sigh and lean forwards slightly.

A man wearing an apron appears before you can say anything, placing your plates down and bowing as he leaves back for the kitchen. You take a bite, smiling at the explosion of flavour spreading across your tongue. You take the bottle of ketchup that had been delivered with it, greatly pleased by it's presence, even if you were avoiding thinking how they knew that you liked that. Sabina is silent, too busy stuffing her face with as much food as she can as fast as she can. She looks like a starved animal. Is she one of those tiny people that can just eat and eat and eat?

You finish second, Sabina having solidly demolished her meal, even before your prowess of speed eating. She is looking much more relaxed now she's eaten, but she still seems tense, constantly looking around. Yeah, this is probably really goddamn confusing to her. You had just kind of... abducted her yesterday. You should probably apologise for that at some point.

You set your cutlery down, fork first then knife between the prongs of the fork, sliding them onto the middle of your plate. She turns her eyes to you at the scraping noise. "Do you want to talk about what happened?" She continues staring, so you clarify further. "Yesterday."

She remains silent and you realise that she isn't looking at you, she is looking through you. Uhhh, fuck. Shitshitshit what the fuck am I supposed to do? Ummm snap her out of it? You click your fingers, watching as she springs to life in reaction, jerking back in her seat as her breathing picks up. "Hey!" She snaps her head to look at you. "Hey, it's alright, you safe here." She stops twitching, but her breathing is still faster than normal. She holds a hand to her chest, feeling her rapidly beating heart.

After a minute, she sighs out a long breath, resting both of her hands on the table. She turns her head towards you, lips a thin line as she speaks. "What happened, what the fuck was that thing?"

"That was a creature known as the Peluda."

She lets out a rough snort, fingers twitching idly. "Iez it bad that I want to call you a liar, but can't? That is just a legend, an old tale." She stares at her fingers as you let her think. "But if that was a Legend, what attacked me?" You stay silent, waiting for the question. She sits there quietly for a long while, eventually turning her head to you slowly. "Magic? Or some otherworldly power? Is that was you expect me to believe?"

There it is. You nod at her statement. "Magic is real."

You control your reaction when she snarls, clenching her fists tightly. "Well, if it's fucking magic shit, you obviously hide it. If that is the case, then where the fuck were you?"

"At first, I was busy being kidnapped by the planet, then I had to fly over here." Honesty would probably work best here.

You can see the exact moment she registers your statement, her anger not so much fading as being pushed aside for confusion. "What?"

"The embodiment of the planet, Gaia, kidnapped me from my training room for six days." Not that I minded much. "I came here as soon as I returned." She doesn't need to know how close of a thing that was either.

One of her hands is half raised, finger pointing slightly as her mouth hangs open. "The fuck?" Her train of thought has apparently been completely derailed now. "It can do that?" She sounded like she wanted you to by lying, but still believed you.

A nod. "Yes, she can."

She quirks an eyebrow. "She? The embodiment of the planet is a chick?" You nod as she runs a hand through her hair. "Alright..." She takes a deep breath. "Alright, tell me what the fuck is going on."

Your response is fast and smooth. "Everything is going to shit." She raises an eyebrow and you continue. "The barrier that separates our dimension from the rest of them is weakening, and apparently every fucking creature under the sun has taken this as the perfect time to go wild."

"Ok, why is that so bad? The barrier weakening?"

"Because the most likely scenario is an invasion of Demons from Hell." She makes a choking noise and you hear her swear under her breath in French. "Yes, literally Hell, or at least the closest analogue we can guess. All of our knowledge is either two thousand years old or spoken by the occasional weakling that slips through."

She continues muttering under her breath until she speaks. "Ok, everything is fucking fucked. Why didn't anyone else come to fight that thing." She waves a hand around. "You got soldiers and shit, other magic people like you?"

You suck in a breath. "I haven't had the chance to talk to anyone yet mind you, but as best as I can tell from previous experience, it is because they would just die without doing anything."

She grits her teeth as she speaks. "Oh yeah, and you can just fucking smush it then?"

"Yes." You continue speaking before she can say something she'll probably regret later. "Me and my partner are one of a few people who can fight something like that. We are the only two alive as of now--well.. We were the only two."

It doesn't take long for her to grasp your meaning, her eyes flicking to the sword that rests comfortably atop the table next to you. She looks down at her hands, narrowing her eyes for a moment as you feel her magic spike. A soft orange glow starts around then, growing sharper as she clenches her fists. She slowly runs a finger across the tabletop, her magic parting the metal with barely even a hint of resistance. She lets out a slightly hysterical laugh, drawing her hands back and hugging herself. You stay silent as she stares at the clean cut she had drawn down the table, her hands clenching and unclenching against her ribs as she thinks.

Eventually, she looks up, a sense of finality in her words. "You fight things like that?" You nod and she smiles slowly, it is not a nice smile. "Teach me."

You smile back.


Your arrival back to England was pretty normal, especially compared to your exit. Daiyu had managed to sleep through the entire thing somehow, so you carried her all the way back to her room, her sister greeting you with an amused and relieved smile.

You deposit Sabina in your room and after a quick hug to Una, tell her to get comfortable, you still have something you need to do before you sort her out.

Karen...

[X] Talking Points
-[X] Replacement
-[X] Sister Safety
-[X] Sabina
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[] Questions
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[X] Demands
-[X] Guarantee Sister
-[X] Let Sabina Rest
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[] Other