Chapter 17
- Location
- PA
Chapter 17
The ancient land of Tari was in ruins. That was true before, but now the old damage showed signs of new calamity. For hours explosions and mad battle cries rent the air with their ferocity. Now all was silent. Except there seemed to be a small gathering in the old square.
This wasn't the first time Arfoire had her back against the wall. Croire and Uranus advanced on her position with wicked grins. All of the other good guy variants were sent back to where they came from. There were a few exceptions, but she was trying not to think about that. She matched their evil grins with a fearless smile. The wind caught her silver and green scarf dramatically.
Last Arfoire lived for this sort of spectacle.
"And then there was one. You led us on a merry chase, girl. The other Arfoires were nothing like you," Uranus said grandly, but the faintest eyebrow twitch showed how irked she truly was.
"Thanks to you I had the chance to clean up some more defective copies. I suppose you have earned some gratitude," Arfoire said airily. Uranus developed a full cross popping vein over that.
"Croire? Get rid of her!" Uranus commanded dramatically.
"With pleasure, Boss," Croire said. The defective Chaos Fairy was being very careful not to antagonize Uranus. Her alternate dimension counterpart's observations hit a little too close to home.
"Hmm hmm hmm…" Arfoire chuckled, completely unconcerned.
Croire puffed her cheeks out as she tried to banish her, but it wasn't working. Uranus was glaring holes in the Fairy's head as long moments stretched on with no result. There wasn't even a flash of light to indicate something was happening.
"Do it already!" Uranus demanded.
"Just, uh, kill her yourself!" Croire blurted out.
"She's a child! An annoying child, but still a child! I can't do that!" Uranus protested. There it was. Arfoire smirked at what she saw.
"How long did you have to work on her, Croire? Full marks for taking an admittedly horrible person and turning her into a monster. I take it this isn't the first time she showed that even she has limits? Good help is so hard to brainwash these days," Arfoire remarked sardonically.
"Whoa whoa whoa! I didn't brainwash anyone! She came to me for doing what she couldn't!" Croire protested. Uranus stared at her in anger.
"Just banish her already!" Uranus insisted. Arfoire felt kind of bad for her. Unfortunately, the kind of manipulation Croire performed could only be done if there was something to affect. The Goddess was a horrible braggart, liar, and a chest. Croire just increased those qualities to heinous levels.
Croire glared at Uranus through her bangs in sullen silence. The Fairy seethed as she was ordered to do the impossible. To her the worst part was that she didn't know why it wasn't working. Arfoire decided to be helpful.
"My mother…Ahem, Histoire explained this to me once. Gamindustri has a will of its own. Even if the tale is nonsensical at the time, it usually makes sense in the third act. If the story fails to reach the Golden Ending, it will keep attempting until it gets it right. What you are experiencing is what happens when you go against the narrative. Eventually Gamindustri pushes back and it has far more experience than the rest of us," Arfoire said with a smirk.
"What the Hell does that mean?" Uranus demanded crossly. She glared at Croire for answers and paused. The Fairy was staring at Arfoire in dawning horror.
"No, I'm doing this myself. I'm not going down just for the sake of some damn narrative! That's why I write the history I want! No one tells me what to do!" Croire raged as she shifted focus from banishment to building up a seething ball of fire between her hands. Her anger helped fuel the flames as she ruthlessly drew on their helpless battery.
"Croire stop! I don't understand! What is she talking about?" Uranus demanded. Arfoire looked on pityingly. This was the last chance for Uranus to truly save herself, but she missed it.
"I have a purpose for being here. My role in the story isn't over yet. Croire just realized how little power she actually has. Too bad for her it's already done," Arfoire said with a peculiar sadness.
The ball of cataclysmic fire suddenly died down to merely dangerous. Croire's book dropped half a foot causing the spell to wink out as she lost focus. She stared at her hands in disbelief. Arfoire pressed a finger to her ear.
"Time to bug out, Boss. We got the package," Chibi Warechu said through her earring.
"Good. Leave him near the city entrance, but not in plain view," she whispered. The relief was palpable in her voice. Just because she knew about the narrative didn't mean much. She could have been on the Bad Ending route.
"Wait. Where did my power go?" Uranus asked in confusion.
"What did you do!?" Croire demanded. It had to be the white haired brat!
"Oh nothing much. I kept you distracted long enough for my familiar and friends to rescue your hostage," Arfoire said as if it were nothing. She was a Slytherin and a mistress of the subtle gloat.
"Croire. Kill her," Uranus said in a deadpan tone.
"Oh thank you so much for your permission!" Croire snarked before gathering fire once again. It wouldn't carbonize her bones, but it would be enough.
"The places are set. The lighting is perfect. Knives out for the feast of blood commences!" Arfoire spread her arms dramatically with a sneer before vanishing with a crack.
Croire and Uranus stared at where she stood. She could have teleported away at any time. The Fairy thought she locked down all transfer spells, but this proves her wrong. Her parting words were particularly ominous. They rang with a hint of prophecy.
"There you are!" Myra cried out.
"We've got you now!" Mercury declared.
Goddess and Demoness stood before then with weapons drawn. Grimoire hovered off to the side with an unsettling smile.
"Hey! I found Rob!" Azure called over. Myra and Mercury visibly relaxed.
"Okay, this isn't a problem. I'm still more powerful than the Failure or the Demon bitch. This should be easy," Uranus psyched herself up to deal with the challengers before her.
"Oh no. Myra isn't a bad doggy. That's you!" A cheerful voice said from right behind her. Before Uranus could even turn around she was struck in the back of the head by a shield, kicked in the temple, and had her left knee kicked out.
Uranus dropped like a sack of potatoes.
"Oh shit…" Croire breathed in horrified awe. The orange Goddess floating behind Uranus was one she knew. Uzume. Except her senses were saying this was the complete genuine article. She whimpered in terror.
Uranus just bawled like a baby over her ruined kneecap. Knees were not supposed to bend that way.
"H-Hey Grimoire… I'm sorry for y'know…everything. Please take me back to the Fairy Village," Croire sidled up to the younger Fairy. Even though it hurt her pride, she blatantly capitalized on Grimoire's infatuation with her.
"Terribly sorry Croire, but I can't do that. You are already dead," Grimoire said regretfully. Croire was briefly caught off guard, but finely honed instincts kicked in just before a vacuum blade sheared through her neck.
"Uh oh," Croire realized a little too late that Grimoire's patience might eventually run out. She tore off at full speed, using her ancient knowledge to form a shield of fire and propel herself forward like a rocket.
Grimoire bent the air around her, sharpened it to a point, and nearly eliminated friction as she streamlined the wind shell. Croire was a rocket, but the younger Fairy had no trouble keeping up. She gathered her will and shaped it into a wedge before firing it at the older Fairy.
Croire took Grimoire's Wind mastery into account and planned accordingly. Except when the vacuum wave hit it caused a massive detonation that send a packet of concussive force screaming forward. She barely managed to save herself as pages from her tome were torn to shreds.
"What the fuck!? You're really trying to kill me!?" Croire shrieked in terror.
"These wind blades were made especially for you! They're just the right blend of pure oxygen and hydrogen to create something exciting!" Grimoire exclaimed before unleashing another of her Croire Specials.
Croire was too terrified to properly appreciate the gift.
She was even more horrified to realize that jumping dimensions didn't stop her!
"Hey! Where did you learn to do this!?" Croire wanted to call bullshit. Grimoire didn't know this spell before!
"I am currently running a simulation to predict what you will do. My simulations are so perfect they can even replicate feats that I witness. So, in essence, you just taught me the spell. Allow me to thank you by making this quick!" Grimoire caroled out gleefully.
Croire needed to act fast. There was only one hope for survival. She had to find Neptune and let her lock the Fairy in her Nep Note. It wasn't ideal, but Grimoire was coming awfully close to killing her. Each special delivery was turning her own acceleration spell into a deadly weapon. She couldn't just stop using it either or the Murder Fairy would catch her.
The Fairies blew through an underground chamber. Of note was a dimensional gate which Croire's gift told her that Neptune was just in the other side. The fact she flew out of a microwave barely registered. Grimoire was steadily gaining on her with sadistic glee. They flew through the gate without noticing the onlookers.
Other Croire watched them go with a nonplussed expression. A different Grimoire also watched but with far more confusion. Mini Croire was happily eating a choco chunk cookie as big as she was.
"Croire? Why am I trying to kill you?" Other Grimoire asked.
"Ehhh… She didn't meet Dinah and it just devolved from there," Other Croire explained.
"Now she's a God Queen of Idiots who might've got a few people killed and was powered by a Forsaken Child. Not sure if he could feel it or not…" Mini Croire looked faintly disturbed.
"Think we should help? I'm kinda tricky," Other Croire said.
"Only you wouldn't be bothered by killing your cross dimensional analogue…Fine. Let's go!" Other Grimoire activated the gate properly and used it to home in on their location.
"Heh… I get to record something interesting…" Mini Croire cackled before stealing the rest of the cookies.
The gate room was soon silent. Save for the faint melody of Benny Hill.
Meanwhile back in Tari there was some confusion. Croire abandoned Uranus to her fate. The mad Goddess bit her lip. This latest act hurt surprisingly more than her blown knee. She gazed up at her executioners in resignation. That little brat was right. Uranus was trapped by the narrative. There was no relief from the revelation only a deep terror. Her days were numbered since the beginning.
"Well? Get it over with," Uranus sighed. She was beaten so badly that not even HDD was working.
*My mother had a saying…" Mercury stared down at her as she quoted, "...some days you are holding the racquet and some days you are the ball. It isn't always up for you to decide."
The words felt less like a quote and more like a vile incantation. That was when Uranus saw in the distance a pretty blonde dressed for a tennis game. Her eyes were bright blue, but as she watched they filled with static. Each step she took fuzzed in and out like a TV with bad reception. She smiled but her mouth was full of crackling static. Uranus felt something clawing at her mind. Clawing desperately as if trying to escape. Much too soon, the blonde woman laid a motherly hand on her cheek.
"You are the ball," she said kindly. That was when Uranus felt her body begin to warp and compress. She could hear a keening wail from somewhere before realizing it was her own voice. That's when the pain flashed through her body as mind, body, and spirit began to twist.
Mercury did not want to see what happened. She seized Myra and Uzume with desperate strength. The silvery Goddess made like quicksilver and bolted to where Azure was with Rob. He was still comatose, but they didn't have time to lose.
"Get us out of here!" Mercury exclaimed.
"We wouldn't have to run if you didn't summon your mom!" Azure fired back.
"She implanted me with the trigger. This was her plan all along to get vengeance for her dead children!" Mercury explained. Thankfully Mother left her an explanation, but this was just too scary!
"Uzume! We need to synchronize. We'll both hold Rob, everyone grabs onto us, and you ask him where to go. I need his help to steer," Myra gasped as icy fingertips scrabbled at her mind.
"R-Right," Uzume grit her teeth.
Rob was just a cerulean slime ball. That made it easier to hold onto him at any rate. His mind was shielded somewhat by being unconscious, but it definitely made his dreams weird. Uzume tried to wring some coherence out of him. Unfortunately they didn't have time. Once Myra got a clear picture she connected to Uzume's power over reality. Between one moment and the next, they were gone.
AN: Croire is having a Very Bad Time. Uranus is spending time with Grandma and having an Even Worse Time. Perhaps our group of travelers are having an easier time of it?
The ancient land of Tari was in ruins. That was true before, but now the old damage showed signs of new calamity. For hours explosions and mad battle cries rent the air with their ferocity. Now all was silent. Except there seemed to be a small gathering in the old square.
This wasn't the first time Arfoire had her back against the wall. Croire and Uranus advanced on her position with wicked grins. All of the other good guy variants were sent back to where they came from. There were a few exceptions, but she was trying not to think about that. She matched their evil grins with a fearless smile. The wind caught her silver and green scarf dramatically.
Last Arfoire lived for this sort of spectacle.
"And then there was one. You led us on a merry chase, girl. The other Arfoires were nothing like you," Uranus said grandly, but the faintest eyebrow twitch showed how irked she truly was.
"Thanks to you I had the chance to clean up some more defective copies. I suppose you have earned some gratitude," Arfoire said airily. Uranus developed a full cross popping vein over that.
"Croire? Get rid of her!" Uranus commanded dramatically.
"With pleasure, Boss," Croire said. The defective Chaos Fairy was being very careful not to antagonize Uranus. Her alternate dimension counterpart's observations hit a little too close to home.
"Hmm hmm hmm…" Arfoire chuckled, completely unconcerned.
Croire puffed her cheeks out as she tried to banish her, but it wasn't working. Uranus was glaring holes in the Fairy's head as long moments stretched on with no result. There wasn't even a flash of light to indicate something was happening.
"Do it already!" Uranus demanded.
"Just, uh, kill her yourself!" Croire blurted out.
"She's a child! An annoying child, but still a child! I can't do that!" Uranus protested. There it was. Arfoire smirked at what she saw.
"How long did you have to work on her, Croire? Full marks for taking an admittedly horrible person and turning her into a monster. I take it this isn't the first time she showed that even she has limits? Good help is so hard to brainwash these days," Arfoire remarked sardonically.
"Whoa whoa whoa! I didn't brainwash anyone! She came to me for doing what she couldn't!" Croire protested. Uranus stared at her in anger.
"Just banish her already!" Uranus insisted. Arfoire felt kind of bad for her. Unfortunately, the kind of manipulation Croire performed could only be done if there was something to affect. The Goddess was a horrible braggart, liar, and a chest. Croire just increased those qualities to heinous levels.
Croire glared at Uranus through her bangs in sullen silence. The Fairy seethed as she was ordered to do the impossible. To her the worst part was that she didn't know why it wasn't working. Arfoire decided to be helpful.
"My mother…Ahem, Histoire explained this to me once. Gamindustri has a will of its own. Even if the tale is nonsensical at the time, it usually makes sense in the third act. If the story fails to reach the Golden Ending, it will keep attempting until it gets it right. What you are experiencing is what happens when you go against the narrative. Eventually Gamindustri pushes back and it has far more experience than the rest of us," Arfoire said with a smirk.
"What the Hell does that mean?" Uranus demanded crossly. She glared at Croire for answers and paused. The Fairy was staring at Arfoire in dawning horror.
"No, I'm doing this myself. I'm not going down just for the sake of some damn narrative! That's why I write the history I want! No one tells me what to do!" Croire raged as she shifted focus from banishment to building up a seething ball of fire between her hands. Her anger helped fuel the flames as she ruthlessly drew on their helpless battery.
"Croire stop! I don't understand! What is she talking about?" Uranus demanded. Arfoire looked on pityingly. This was the last chance for Uranus to truly save herself, but she missed it.
"I have a purpose for being here. My role in the story isn't over yet. Croire just realized how little power she actually has. Too bad for her it's already done," Arfoire said with a peculiar sadness.
The ball of cataclysmic fire suddenly died down to merely dangerous. Croire's book dropped half a foot causing the spell to wink out as she lost focus. She stared at her hands in disbelief. Arfoire pressed a finger to her ear.
"Time to bug out, Boss. We got the package," Chibi Warechu said through her earring.
"Good. Leave him near the city entrance, but not in plain view," she whispered. The relief was palpable in her voice. Just because she knew about the narrative didn't mean much. She could have been on the Bad Ending route.
"Wait. Where did my power go?" Uranus asked in confusion.
"What did you do!?" Croire demanded. It had to be the white haired brat!
"Oh nothing much. I kept you distracted long enough for my familiar and friends to rescue your hostage," Arfoire said as if it were nothing. She was a Slytherin and a mistress of the subtle gloat.
"Croire. Kill her," Uranus said in a deadpan tone.
"Oh thank you so much for your permission!" Croire snarked before gathering fire once again. It wouldn't carbonize her bones, but it would be enough.
"The places are set. The lighting is perfect. Knives out for the feast of blood commences!" Arfoire spread her arms dramatically with a sneer before vanishing with a crack.
Croire and Uranus stared at where she stood. She could have teleported away at any time. The Fairy thought she locked down all transfer spells, but this proves her wrong. Her parting words were particularly ominous. They rang with a hint of prophecy.
"There you are!" Myra cried out.
"We've got you now!" Mercury declared.
Goddess and Demoness stood before then with weapons drawn. Grimoire hovered off to the side with an unsettling smile.
"Hey! I found Rob!" Azure called over. Myra and Mercury visibly relaxed.
"Okay, this isn't a problem. I'm still more powerful than the Failure or the Demon bitch. This should be easy," Uranus psyched herself up to deal with the challengers before her.
"Oh no. Myra isn't a bad doggy. That's you!" A cheerful voice said from right behind her. Before Uranus could even turn around she was struck in the back of the head by a shield, kicked in the temple, and had her left knee kicked out.
Uranus dropped like a sack of potatoes.
"Oh shit…" Croire breathed in horrified awe. The orange Goddess floating behind Uranus was one she knew. Uzume. Except her senses were saying this was the complete genuine article. She whimpered in terror.
Uranus just bawled like a baby over her ruined kneecap. Knees were not supposed to bend that way.
"H-Hey Grimoire… I'm sorry for y'know…everything. Please take me back to the Fairy Village," Croire sidled up to the younger Fairy. Even though it hurt her pride, she blatantly capitalized on Grimoire's infatuation with her.
"Terribly sorry Croire, but I can't do that. You are already dead," Grimoire said regretfully. Croire was briefly caught off guard, but finely honed instincts kicked in just before a vacuum blade sheared through her neck.
"Uh oh," Croire realized a little too late that Grimoire's patience might eventually run out. She tore off at full speed, using her ancient knowledge to form a shield of fire and propel herself forward like a rocket.
Grimoire bent the air around her, sharpened it to a point, and nearly eliminated friction as she streamlined the wind shell. Croire was a rocket, but the younger Fairy had no trouble keeping up. She gathered her will and shaped it into a wedge before firing it at the older Fairy.
Croire took Grimoire's Wind mastery into account and planned accordingly. Except when the vacuum wave hit it caused a massive detonation that send a packet of concussive force screaming forward. She barely managed to save herself as pages from her tome were torn to shreds.
"What the fuck!? You're really trying to kill me!?" Croire shrieked in terror.
"These wind blades were made especially for you! They're just the right blend of pure oxygen and hydrogen to create something exciting!" Grimoire exclaimed before unleashing another of her Croire Specials.
Croire was too terrified to properly appreciate the gift.
She was even more horrified to realize that jumping dimensions didn't stop her!
"Hey! Where did you learn to do this!?" Croire wanted to call bullshit. Grimoire didn't know this spell before!
"I am currently running a simulation to predict what you will do. My simulations are so perfect they can even replicate feats that I witness. So, in essence, you just taught me the spell. Allow me to thank you by making this quick!" Grimoire caroled out gleefully.
Croire needed to act fast. There was only one hope for survival. She had to find Neptune and let her lock the Fairy in her Nep Note. It wasn't ideal, but Grimoire was coming awfully close to killing her. Each special delivery was turning her own acceleration spell into a deadly weapon. She couldn't just stop using it either or the Murder Fairy would catch her.
The Fairies blew through an underground chamber. Of note was a dimensional gate which Croire's gift told her that Neptune was just in the other side. The fact she flew out of a microwave barely registered. Grimoire was steadily gaining on her with sadistic glee. They flew through the gate without noticing the onlookers.
Other Croire watched them go with a nonplussed expression. A different Grimoire also watched but with far more confusion. Mini Croire was happily eating a choco chunk cookie as big as she was.
"Croire? Why am I trying to kill you?" Other Grimoire asked.
"Ehhh… She didn't meet Dinah and it just devolved from there," Other Croire explained.
"Now she's a God Queen of Idiots who might've got a few people killed and was powered by a Forsaken Child. Not sure if he could feel it or not…" Mini Croire looked faintly disturbed.
"Think we should help? I'm kinda tricky," Other Croire said.
"Only you wouldn't be bothered by killing your cross dimensional analogue…Fine. Let's go!" Other Grimoire activated the gate properly and used it to home in on their location.
"Heh… I get to record something interesting…" Mini Croire cackled before stealing the rest of the cookies.
The gate room was soon silent. Save for the faint melody of Benny Hill.
Meanwhile back in Tari there was some confusion. Croire abandoned Uranus to her fate. The mad Goddess bit her lip. This latest act hurt surprisingly more than her blown knee. She gazed up at her executioners in resignation. That little brat was right. Uranus was trapped by the narrative. There was no relief from the revelation only a deep terror. Her days were numbered since the beginning.
"Well? Get it over with," Uranus sighed. She was beaten so badly that not even HDD was working.
*My mother had a saying…" Mercury stared down at her as she quoted, "...some days you are holding the racquet and some days you are the ball. It isn't always up for you to decide."
The words felt less like a quote and more like a vile incantation. That was when Uranus saw in the distance a pretty blonde dressed for a tennis game. Her eyes were bright blue, but as she watched they filled with static. Each step she took fuzzed in and out like a TV with bad reception. She smiled but her mouth was full of crackling static. Uranus felt something clawing at her mind. Clawing desperately as if trying to escape. Much too soon, the blonde woman laid a motherly hand on her cheek.
"You are the ball," she said kindly. That was when Uranus felt her body begin to warp and compress. She could hear a keening wail from somewhere before realizing it was her own voice. That's when the pain flashed through her body as mind, body, and spirit began to twist.
Mercury did not want to see what happened. She seized Myra and Uzume with desperate strength. The silvery Goddess made like quicksilver and bolted to where Azure was with Rob. He was still comatose, but they didn't have time to lose.
"Get us out of here!" Mercury exclaimed.
"We wouldn't have to run if you didn't summon your mom!" Azure fired back.
"She implanted me with the trigger. This was her plan all along to get vengeance for her dead children!" Mercury explained. Thankfully Mother left her an explanation, but this was just too scary!
"Uzume! We need to synchronize. We'll both hold Rob, everyone grabs onto us, and you ask him where to go. I need his help to steer," Myra gasped as icy fingertips scrabbled at her mind.
"R-Right," Uzume grit her teeth.
Rob was just a cerulean slime ball. That made it easier to hold onto him at any rate. His mind was shielded somewhat by being unconscious, but it definitely made his dreams weird. Uzume tried to wring some coherence out of him. Unfortunately they didn't have time. Once Myra got a clear picture she connected to Uzume's power over reality. Between one moment and the next, they were gone.
AN: Croire is having a Very Bad Time. Uranus is spending time with Grandma and having an Even Worse Time. Perhaps our group of travelers are having an easier time of it?
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