What do you call an organised group of youths that mug people at knifepoint then? I get it, they are more wannabes than a 'real' deal, and likely don't have turf that would be recognized by other gangs, but the trappings are all there.
We should probably be more careful about revealing the connection between our untransformed and transformed identities. It's probably fine here, because it's just a bunch of delinquent kids no one would listen to, but it might be dangerous to disregard secrecy. Remember the newspapers and what they write about magical girls? They know absolutely nothing other than those exist. If someone makes a connection between the presence of magical girls in an area and the bodies of kids they find in an alley afterwards, we'd be one 'they are killing our babies' article away from the mother of witchhunts. Which might be easy to believe in, considering one of us already has murder charges over her head.
Hmm, maybe we should look into that sooner rather than later.
What do you call an organised group of youths that mug people at knifepoint then? I get it, they are more wannabes than a 'real' deal, and likely don't have turf that would be recognized by other gangs, but the trappings are all there.
We should probably be more careful about revealing the connection between our untransformed and transformed identities. It's probably fine here, because it's just a bunch of delinquent kids no one would listen to, but it might be dangerous to disregard secrecy. Remember the newspapers and what they write about magical girls? They know absolutely nothing other than those exist. If someone makes a connection between the presence of magical girls in an area and the bodies of kids they find in an alley afterwards, we'd be one 'they are killing our babies' article away from the mother of witchhunts. Which might be easy to believe in, considering one of us already has murder charges over her head.
Hmm, maybe we should look into that sooner rather than later.
They look just like the 'take your lunch money' crowd, except cranked up a little, what with the knives. Not quite hardened criminals, but most of their targets don't normally fight back, and in the end it does not make it much better.
Suppose you are right, and they are under the influence of... would that be Greed? Given that we know Envy is in Suburbs, perhaps the city is split between the Sins. It makes sense for Greed to reside in the Shopping district the rich people frequent. Hmm.
Suburbs is Envy, Red Light would be Lust, Sports would be... Wrath? Business might be Pride, Tourist is Sloth, which leaves Industrial for Gluttony? Not sure how that fits.
But that raises a question. What exactly does this change in our estimation of the choice?
If people are influenced by the Sins, how much do we let them get away with if we can't break them away from this influence? Do we just leave them be?
Killing the Sin in question would solve the problem, but the message I get from Light is that is pretty much suicidal at our experience level.
How dare they? How dare they stand against you and try to stop you? You're one of the Chosen, you're here to save the world, and you do not have time for this shit.
You steel yourself, and call on your power; it answers, a flash of light filling the alleyway for an instant as you change, washing out all the colours around you for a few moments until the normal level of light returns and everything goes back to dirt and grime. Where there was once a young woman in cheap clothes, holding grocery bags, now stands a terrifying figure in black and gold plate.
Two of the boys who were in front of you look shocked and confused, but the third – the one you thought you recognised – drops to the ground, convulsing. He's scrabbl1ing at his head, drawing blood, which joins the trickles dribbling down his face from his eyes, ears and nose. He doesn't make any sounds other than pained, frantic breathing, but it's obvious he's in serious trouble.
Before you get a chance to react, though, one of the boys who's still standing points his knife at you again.
"Who the fuck are you? Where'd that other bitch go?"
You slap the knife out of his hand, then reverse the blow to backhand him across the jaw, the movements so fast you can barely see your gauntleted hand. He drops like a rock as the sound of snapping bone echoes off the alley walls – you've broken his wrist and his jaw, from the sounds of it, and the only reason he isn't screaming is because he's unconscious. The third boy sprints in the opposite direction, away from you as fast as he can, and by the time you turn around to check if the two girls are still going to cause trouble, they've gone too.
You look back to the convulsing boy, who's now starting to froth at the mouth, his face a bloody red mask twisted into an agonised rictus. You kneel down next to him to see if you can do anything, but you can't see what's wrong with him, how to help him – no-one deserves to suffer like that, except in your darkest fantasies – because there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. It's like-
"Leliel, do you know what's wrong?" you say, in a vain hope that the Exousia might be able to help you.
Your companion manifests in a burst of light, hovering over the alleyway floor and bobbing slightly.
"I do, Chosen. He has fallen victim to the protective measures we have laid upon you, to prevent your identities from being discovered," it says. "He must know your untransformed name. As such, the protective measures have attacked the information centres in his brain to destroy that information."
Leliel pauses, and you get the impression it's gazing down on the convulsing boy.
"This is not without side-effects, as you can see."
You scowl at the thing, the urge to drive your axe through it flashing through your mind. "Well, fix it!"
"I cannot do so. The only way to prevent this from occurring is to inform an individual of your Chosen name while untransformed. It is too late, at this point, to-" it pauses again, and studies the boy. "-to prevent total brain death. Unfortunate, but necessary. A million of your species could die every day to protect your identities, and we would consider it a low price to pay."
"What- what the fuck are-" you launch to your feet, bringing your face an inch away from the glowing orb. "You mean he's dying?"
"He will expire within the next eight hours. It will be slow and agonising."
"I can't- I can't help him?"
There has to be something you can do. You've got all this power, you can jump over building and punch through steel, you can throw fire and know people who can fly.
"If you were a sorcerer of some skill, perhaps. But you do not possess the aptitude, or the inclination, to effectively heal him."
Yes, you know people! People who could help, who could fix this.
"Shadows! Shadows can heal, she-"
"Chosen healing powers are only effective on other Chosen."
Your hands go to your head, fisting in your hair painfully as you try to think. Come on, there has to be a way around this, through this, out of this.
"I can't just let him die!" you growl.
"Why not? He attempted to cause you harm, and likely would not have regretted your death or injury. He was most likely influenced by one of the Sins, and so was already an enemy."
That endless, childish monotone is much, much less endearing when Leliel says shit like that.
"Because it wouldn't be right! If I let him die without trying to help, how am I any better than the Sins? How can I stand up and say I want to help the world if I don't want to help one person?" you say, that familiar anger starting to churn in your stomach again.
"There is a very simple way to help him," Leliel says. "Kill him now, and he will not suffer."
You feel your heart stop.
What do you do?
[] Kill him. It's the only mercy he has left.
[] Try and save him – you can get Angel and Shadows together and do some sort of magic to fix this, you're sure of it.
[] Walk away. He brought this on himself.
[] Write in.
Well shit. Certainly adds another dimension to why secrecy needs to be maintained. We really ought to inform our friends so as to not kill them by accident if they see us going out at night or something.
And the only option we have to save him is to try some voodoo we have no idea about... Leliel mentioned sorcerers, so they surely exist. It's just a matter of finding one in eight hours. Riiight. At this point even running to Light wouldn't be beneath us on whatever conditions she may pose.
[x] Try and save him – you can get Angel and Shadows together and do some sort of magic to fix this, you're sure of it.
We probably need to talk to our Exousia some time soon and get the fine print out of the way. That was some nasty surprise, and if we believe Angel about how magic affects an individual, more are coming.
[X] Try and save him – you can get Angel and Shadows together and do some sort of magic to fix this, you're sure of it.
The effort should certainly be made. I'm wondering if Light would be able to help as well, but we'd also need to convince them to do so and quickly, so there's that complication.
Also from the sound of it, this is someone who at least knows of us well enough that erasing their memory of us ended up being lethal. I sort of got the impression that the memory wipe isn't always lethal. Or at least isn't so by definition, like someone who only met them once and it was unremarkable would make it out relatively alright. No idea if that's correct, though.
Vote results:
[X] Try and save him – you can get Angel and Shadows together and do some sort of magic to fix this, you're sure of it. - 5 votes.
Part 12
Thursday, Week 1
"No," you say. "No. Fuck no. I'm- I'm gonna take him to Shadows and see what we can do, I- I'm not letting this just happen."
You move all your shopping onto one arm, and dial Shadows' number. She picks up after two rings, sounding excited and perky already.
"Hey, Champion! You called me! Oh, this is great! Do you want to hang out? We could get like an ice cream or maybe some coffee or just like some pizza? I like pizza, do you like pi-"
"Shadows, I need some help," you say, cutting her off abruptly. "There's this guy- he's- the, fuck, what's it called, the magical identity protection stuff? It's killing him, and I don't know what to do, and you know magic stuff so maybe you could help?"
"Oh," she says, sounding disappointed for a moment. "Right! Yeah, maybe I can help? I'd need to, like, see the guy and, um, if you could get Angel in on it too? Any of the others, really, like, any extra help will be good."
"Okay. Okay, I can do that. Do you want to come here, or should I come to you, or what?"
"Um, hmm, we might need some space-" Shadows mutters, before cutting herself off. "It's gonna be dark soon, right, so like, we can go to the park again. That'll work, no-one ever goes there after the sun sets. So, um, where you and Angel met me after you got injured, okay?"
"Yeah, I remember. Uh, can you get Light? She... isn't going to want to talk to me," you ask, hating that you need to ask for even more help.
"Um. Uh. Well, like, I'll try? She, um, she doesn't like me very much either, but, like, we've known each other longer I guess so maybe it'll work? You should try too though, like, she's not gonna say no to helping out with this but she might, um, demand payment of some sort, you know?"
You sigh and grind your teeth. You... can probably deal with Light being an ass to you if it saves someone's life.
Probably.
"Got it. I'll meet you at the park, okay? I'm gonna try and move this guy. And try not to hurt him any worse."
"Right! See you in a minute. Where did I put that insenc-"
You end the call before Shadows has a chance to blather at you any more, and turn to the boy. He's stopped convulsing now, and is just lying there on the floor, limp and bloody. He twitches occasionally, random, violent spasms, but nothing like the earlier fit he was suffering. You're not sure if that's a good thing or a bad one.
You kneel back down and gather him up in your arms; he's incredibly light, blood still oozing out of his nose and ears and eyes, and you can carry him without any trouble, for all that he's a foot taller than you and probably twice as heavy as you are. It puts the power boost you receive into perspective, a little; you know you'd have never been able to do this in your normal form, and now you don't even feel the weight. You manoeuvre him into an awkward one-armed carry, so you can use your phone and move at the same time.
Angel's phone rings for what feels like an eternity before she answers it, but she does answer.
"Yo, wassup?"
"Angel, I need a hand with something. I've got this guy-"
"Look, Champion, I'm the last girl you need to talk to about your guy problem-"
"No, a badly hurt guy!" you snap. "It's something with my magic that's killing him and Leliel won't help and I need you-"
"Oh, sure, where do you want me to be?"
Huh, just like that? Angel's a pretty cool friend. Shadows too, come to think of it, dropping everything to come help out like this.
"The park where we met up with Shadows the other day," you say gratefully.
"No problem. I ain't the brainiest magic-y girl around, but Shadows is gonna cover that side – you did get Shadows first, right?"
"Yeah, I did get Shadows first. She knows about this stuff, right?"
"Think so. I just provide the muscle. Anyway, I'll see you there, Champion. But you gotta explain how this shit happened, alright? I don't wanna hurt any of my buddies by accident."
"I never said it was an accident," you say. "But yeah, it was, and I think it's something that'd be a risk to any of our friends who saw us transform. That's what Leliel said, anyway."
"Shit, yeah, that's not good. Fill me in after."
You nod, realise she can't see you through the phone, and barely resist the urge to slap yourself in the forehead.
"Yeah. See you soon."
She ends the call, and you concentrate on moving through the city and figuring out how to talk Miz and Light around. Miz should be easy-ish, but Light is going to be more of a problem.
What's your approach to Light?
[] Go in strong. She can't see weakness or she'll exploit it.
[] Go in begging. She likes being superior, she might find it easier to swallow that way.
[] Write in.
What's your approach with Miz?
[] Go in strong. She's a go-with-the-flow girl, you should be able to steamroller her into helping.
[] Go in begging. She's pretty softhearted-seeming, she'll probably come if you ask nicely enough.
First rolls of the quest! I need two rolls of 2d6. Only one roll per poster, first two rolls are going to be the ones taken.
[x] Go in business-like. You need her help. A favor for a favor. You'll owe her one... as long as it does not go against your core principles.
[X] Go in begging. She's pretty softhearted-seeming, she'll probably come if you ask nicely enough.
Not 100% certain on Light
Edit I have been redeemed from my terrible rolling in NPC's magic dreams quest
Strong, begging, that's not quite it. If she wasn't bragging, she can put her grudges aside.
[x] Go in business-like. You need her help. A favor for a favor. You'll owe her one... as long as it does not go against your core principles.
A favor by a magical girl is nothing to scoff at.
Miz, on the other hand... I am pretty sure we can take the lead with her, but don't know if we should. If we decide to help her after all, it's pretty obvious that we will be the one calling the shots given how helpless she seemed, so maybe establish that dynamics early?
[X] Go in begging. She likes being superior, she might find it easier to swallow that way.
[X] Go in begging. She's pretty softhearted-seeming, she'll probably come if you ask nicely enough.
[X] Go in business-like. You need her help. A favor for a favor. You'll owe her one... as long as it does not go against your core principles.
[X] Go in begging. She's pretty softhearted-seeming, she'll probably come if you ask nicely enough.
To comment on the approach to Light... We tried pulling a strongman with her, but found her no less headstrong than ourselves, if a bit more emotionally fragile, and it ended in tears... hers, mostly, but it left a poor aftertaste.
IC I vote for it - besides the obvious fact we need all help we can get - to sort of offer an olive branch, or at least a truce. 'I think you are wrong, you think I am stupid, but we can still work with this.'
OOC, I think being indebted to her when she has a massive project to take care of offers us a chance to learn more about it when our character has already dismissed it as nothing more than a delusion born out of cowardice.
[X] Go in business-like. You need her help. A favor for a favor. You'll owe her one... as long as it does not go against your core principles.
[X] Go in begging. She's pretty softhearted-seeming, she'll probably come if you ask nicely enough.
Vote results:
[X] Go in business-like. You need her help. A favour for a favour. You'll owe her one... as long as it does not go against your core principles.- 5 votes.
[X] Go in begging. She's pretty softhearted-seeming, she'll probably come if you ask nicely enough. - 5 votes
Roll 1: 11 + 5 Charm, 16. Excellent success.
Roll 2: 8 + 5 Charm, 13. Good success.
Part 13
Thursday, Week 1
You decide to tackle the biggest hurdle first, and call Light. It rings and rings and rings, until you're certain she isn't going to answer, but eventually she does.
"What." Her voice is sharp and clipped, still angry with you over the events earlier that week.
"Light. I need the help of someone who knows about magic. Can we come to an arrangement?" you say.
"Perhaps. What do you need?"
"Someone got caught in the identity protection magic we've got on us, and they're dying because it's destroying their brain. I want your help to fix it."
"What's in it for me? I can help, certainly, but why should I?" She's trying to sound distant and unaffected, but you can tell she's interested.
"I'll owe you a favour," you offer. Gotta be worth something, right?
"One? Try three, and I'll do it."
"Come on, Light, this guy's gonna die if you don't help. Are you really okay with having that on your conscience? We need you on this," you say. It stings to say it, lashes against your stubborn pride, but you've never been above taking a hit to help someone else.
She sighs, and you can hear her rubbing her fingers against the bridge of her nose. You're not certain how you know that's what she's doing, but the image comes to your regardless.
"Fine. One favour. Where do you want to meet?" she finally says, after a very long pause.
You grin triumphantly. "You know the park Shadows likes to hang around in?"
"Yes. I'll meet you there presently."
She ends the call before you get a chance to say anything else. Maybe you should avoid her as much as possible in the coming meeting; it's obvious she's still sore over your argument. Well, maybe she shouldn't have been wrong, then.
You ride the high of success into the phone call with Miz, dialling her as soon as Light hangs up. She picks up fairly quickly.
"Hey, what's up?" she says. She sounds eager, despite the deliberate tone of nonchalance she affects.
"Hey, Miz, I really need your help with something," you say. "I've got someone who's being killed by magic, and I need everyone to get to together to help him out."
"Yeah? What happened? Miss a Sin-Eaten or something?"
"No, he saw me transform," you say. "Please? We're meeting in the park over by, uh, West and Sixth."
"Aw, why not? Not like I've got anything else to do. Catch you on the flip side, Chapion."
"Thanks, Miz," you say. She hums agreement back and hangs up, and you let loose a sigh of relief. You've managed to wrangle all of the girls into the same place, with the same goal.
Shame it's for something that's basically a waste of time, a small part of you thinks. The rest of you beats that thought back under the surface, and stands by the decision that helping someone is never a waste.
The journey across the night sky is painfully slow, with the way your adrenaline-spiked heart is beating in your ears, but the park eventually comes into view, and you land delicately on the grass, your impact soundless. Shadows and Angel are already there, and hurry over when you arrive.
"Shit, Champion, this guy looks dead already," Angel says, taking him from your arms and studying him. "Really did a number on him, huh?"
You give her a grateful smile and shrug. "I don't know what the fuck is actually happening, just that Leliel said it was the defensive magic doing it."
Angel nods, and lays the boy down on the grass. She positions his arms out straight to either side, and his legs, together, straight down, so he forms a sort of crucified pose. Shadows kneels by his head and places her pale hands on his temples.
"Um. Yep, that's- that's really nasty. Wow. Um, so, like, we should hurry," she murmurs, looking sick. "You get the others to come?"
"Yeah, they should be here soon."
"Good, we'll– yeah, we'll want Light to do the directing for this. Um. It still might not work. This is- this is really, really brutal, and- like, I could replicate it? But not fix it," she jabbers, as though filling the air with words will make the situation less awful. "Um. Okay, I know the basics, so, like, okay- Angel, can you do the- no, Champion, you do the candles. Fire's your thing, right?"
You nod, confused. "What candles? Where do you want them?"
"Oh, um, like, in my bag? Angel, can you do the triangle? Then, like, Champion, you should put the candles at the points and light them."
Angel shrugs and spreads her wings, motes of silver floating through the air and shedding faint, ghostly light. Her sword materialises in her hand and she eyes the prone boy for a few moments before she starts cutting into the grass; a long line passing just below his feet, and then two lines up from it, intersecting just above his head, putting his entire body inside a triangle.
You rummage through Shadows' bag, pushing aside dog-eared comics and manga and a few loose bits of miscellaneous stuff – tampons, coins, painkillers, the usual – until you find the candles. They're small tea lights, and you eye them suspiciously. Well, Shadows is supposed to know what she's doing. The tea lights go to the corners of the triangle, and you focus your power onto your fingertip until it shimmers with heat, and then further, further, until it finally flickers with flame. You swiftly light the candles, and step back.
Light steps into the park, illuminated from within by a soft golden light, and strides over to the ritual triangle. She scans the preparations, arms folded, eyes narrowed, until she's seen what she needs to and relaxes slightly.
"Move over, Shadows," she says, stepping carefully over the line in the grass. "I need to take a look."
Shadows shuffles to the side, letting Light replace her at the boy's head.
"It's, um, like, it's really bad-"
"I can see for myself, thank you," Light interrupts. "Yes. I can tell how this was done, and how to fix it, perhaps. I must admit that it will be a challenge."
"Shit," Angel murmurs beside you. "Ain't the most reassuring thing she coulda said."
You shrug. So long as it gets done, you don't care.
"Champion, stand at the point here, by his head. Angel, I will need you to stand at the left base point of the triangle. Both of you, direct your power into the area described by it," Light says, voice slightly distant. "Is Miz coming?"
"She should be," you say. Okay, focus your power. You can do that.
"When she arrives, direct her to stand at the empty point of the triangle and do the same as you. Shadows, you take the left half, I will handle the right. Understood?"
Shadows nods, and shuffles some more so she's entirely within the left half of the triangle, while Light does the same to get onto the right side. Shadows and Angel are on the same side of the triangle, one on the outside, one on the inside, and you and Light mirror them on the right.
"Um. So, the triangle- it's for, um, strength? Like, stability, toughness, okay?" Shadows says, eyes fixed on the boy. "And, like, we're, uh, divided by theme, right? Night and day, light and dark? When Miz gets here she'll fill in the day side."
You swear you can hear Light roll her eyes, but Shadows doesn't acknowledge it.
"And, um, you're Dawn, or- like, names have power, right? So Moon and Midnight, Sun and Midday, reflections, mirrors, it's all important, okay? And Dawn is- it's like, the midpoint? A pivot. The cross is- um, well, it's a really simple shape to put a person into, and it's four triangles, so it's, like, four times as strong. Uh, this, um, is like the opposite way to how I'd do it if I wanted to curse him? So it goes from night to day, here, through dawn, and that's, um, like it represents-"
"It is symbolic of light conquering darkness, of good overcoming evil, and of truth defeating lies," Light interjects, her voice a strange sing-song metronome, never missing a beat. "Magic is about power and about knowledge and about meanings. Internal meanings, for the most part, which is why it is important that you understand what we are doing and why and how. You are the one responsible for his suffering, the one responsible for bringing him here, and the one who represents the change. Thus, you are the pivotal point in the ritual."
"Three by three makes the statements more powerful," Miz adds, from where she's snuck into the park. "I know that much, anyhow."
She strolls over to stand at her point on the triangle, and spreads her arms, flickers of wispy fire appearing and disappearing in front of her.
"Um, like, yeah, so that's why it's like this. And why Light's talking, like, all strange? She's, like, supposed to represent beating me, so like we let her build power and I, um, hand some over? Uh, so, like, I don't do the three by three thing or, um, you know."
You nod. It... sort of makes sense? But you'll really, really need a proper lesson on this stuff if you ever hope to pull it off yourself.
"We begin, to cleanse, to heal," Light intones suddenly, and everyone falls silent. "Five are here, to protect, to purify. The moonlight, to soothe the mind; the sunlight, to warm the body; the fire, to burn away the infection."
She gestures to Angel, to Miz, to you.
"Midnight, shadows, darkness; Midday, shadows, light; Dawn, shadows, liminal," she continues, hands coming up, a golden pen in each. "The world revolves around the sun; the moon revolves around the world; the world revolves around us." You feel a pulse of power, building from Light, on that final word. "The darkness cannot stand against the light. The darkness cannot stand against the light. The darkness cannot stand against the light."
Miz takes up the chant, repeating 'The darkness cannot stand against the light' over and over, on the same sing-song measure as Light.
"His mind is injured. His soul is hurt. His body is weak," Light says, pens moving through the air and leaving golden light behind them.
Shadows' side of the triangle is filling with her namesake, darkness rising around her in nebulous tendrils that recoil from the golden light. You feel the tension in the air start to build higher and higher with every word, the hairs on your arm standing on end at the sensation.
"We defy his weakness. We mend his hurt. We tend his injuries," Light continues.
Angel takes up the chant; 'The darkness cannot stand against the light'. Light's golden writing has started to push Shadows' darkness back, casting two-thirds of the triangle into bright, midday light. The power is thick enough in the air you can taste it, like metallic mead on your tongue, sweet and sharp and intoxicating.
"I order! Be healed! I command! Be healed! I demand! Be healed!" Light shouts, rising from her kneeling position as she does.
You feel the words come bellowing out of your throat before you're aware you're speaking.
"THE DARKNESS CANNOT STAND AGAINST THE LIGHT!"
The triangle is consumed entirely in blinding, overwhelming sunlight.
I need another roll! 1 roll of 2d6; the higher the better.
Regardless of what happens tonight, you'll need to do something tomorrow. Friday plans?
[] Find out what you can about the Sins and try to track one down. Not to fight, but to observe.
- [] Which?
[] Go out hunting Sin-Eaten.
- [] What kind?
-- [] Take another Chosen with you? Who?
[] Spend time with a friend.
- [] Who?
[] Talk to one of the other Chosen.
- [] Angel. She doesn't have time for Light's shit either, and you're a good team.
- [] Shadows. She wants to hang out with anyone, and she's on your side.
[] Interrogate Leliel.
- [] Ask what?
[] Do everyday chores and homework.
[] Pick up a shift at work.
I don't get it. What does she refer to, 'three by three'?
Looks like Light knows more about the rules that most of them combined.
[x] Interrogate Leliel.
-[x] Rules of magic. How does it work, and how it affects us.
-[x] Chosen. What is the principle behind picking them? Do they develop their powers? How?
-[x] Our contracts. Goals. Clauses. Fine print.
...and we probably need to pick up a shift at work soon, yeah. We aren't in the position to skip too much.
Maybe we could look for different work now that we have superhuman capabilities? It'll probably pay better to do things no one else can.
Vote results:
[X] Spend time with a friend. - 2 votes.
- [X] Emily. - 2 votes.
Roll: 5 + 9 (Stat) + 4 (Assistance) + 4 (Ritual) = 22 against a target of 20. Good thing you got everyone on board! Minor success with consequences.
Part 14
Thursday, Week 1
The golden light swells and coruscates, and you can feel the energy pulsing through you like a second heartbeat. It gets faster and brighter with every pulse, until it's a single, continuous weight on your senses, driving you to your knees. You can just see Miz and Angel fall at the same time as you, half-concealed behind the blinding light, and then you erupt in flame. Miz's form is silhouetted in a solar nimbus, painful to look at, and the patch of park Angel is kneeling on lifts into the air, shaking.
Finally, the energy cuts out in a single instant. You blink spots from your eyes as you try to pull the fire around you back under control, leaving a blackened circle of grass and soil several feet across, a triangular wedge missing from the damage where the light was shining. It feels like you just ran a marathon, like you've just had all your energy simply yanked out of you and replaced with lactic acid. You struggle to breathe, your heart hammering at a hundred miles an hour, and try to see what's happened inside the triangle.
Light and Shadows are both on their knees, shoulders bowed, panting with exertion. Shadows flops over onto her side with a groan, and Light seems to be considering doing the same.
"Did it work?" you rasp out.
"Just," Light replies, sounding exhausted. "That was a monstrous thing to fight. He should-" she coughs, and covers her mouth with one shaking, gloved hand. "Should recover. But.."
You struggle to your feet, sheer bloody-minded determination forcing you to stand the moment you can. "What?"
"He is likely to suffer consequences from the brain damage. Memory loss, loss of ability... it could be bad," Light continues, lurching upwards herself.
Shadows groans again, flopped out on the ground next to the unconscious boy. You can see her chest rising and falling rapidly, and it makes the boy's steady, smooth breaths seem unnaturally slow. But he's breathing, which is a victory.
"He's still alive," you say. "He can deal with the rest."
"Amen, sister," Angel chimes in, frowning as she guides the platform of turf back down to the ground. "We should get gone, pronto. Sin-Eaten ain't gonna ignore that lightshow, and none of us are up to a proper fight right now."
You look around; Miz has already vanished, leaving behind a patch of bleached grass where her power got loose. Angel's corner is torn up and overturned, like someone took a backhoe to it. Your own corner is blackened and smoking. And in the middle of it all is a perfect, untouched triangle of grass, with three people in it.
"Well, that's my end of the bargain fulfilled," Light says, brushing off her costume. "Remember; you owe me one for this."
You nod, and she departs, vanishing into the night with surprising speed for someone dressed in white and gold who also glows.
"Gimme a hand with the lumps, would you?" Angel says, rolling her shoulders and flexing her wings. "I'll carry Shadows, you get the guy. We can drop him off at a hospital entrance and then keep an eye on Shadows 'til she's up and ready."
"Sounds like a plan," you say. "Does it always feel like this after magic?"
She shrugs, then kneels to pick up Shadows. She carries the smaller girl easily in a bridal carry, and Shadows puts her head against Angel's shoulder and wraps her arms around her neck. Angel's mouth twitches up in a fond grin before she hides her expression again, and she raises her eyebrow at you.
You don't say anything, choosing to pick up your own burden. He's still much bigger than you are, and you're still more than strong enough to carry him easily.
It doesn't take too long to hop from rooftop to rooftop and reach the nearest hospital; you set the boy down on a bench opposite it, under a streetlight, and call in his location before you leave. You don't want to panic the staff by walking in through the front doors dressed like a medieval knight.
You and Angel set down on an unlit warehouse, and she props Shadows up against the rooftop entrance. The pale girl still looks out of it, limp and cloudy-eyed.
"Is this normal?" you ask.
"Nothin's normal with Shadows, Champion, you should know that by now," Angel says, smiling. "But yeah, she'll be fine. She's just a little..." She rolls her hand. "Uh, delicate. Yeah."
You look at the dark-clad figure of the first magical girl you met. She's still pasty, overweight, and has a dark bag under her visible eye. "She needs to work out more," you say blandly. "Fighting is hard work."
"Pfft, you think I ain't told her that? She just nods and goes back to eating cakes and readin' those manga she's always got." Angel shrugs. "But she's a good person, even if she is a bit of a wimp."
"Yeah," you say. "I should probably take her up on that offer to hang out some time."
"Your funeral," Angel says, smirking. "Shadows is best in small doses."
"I can, like, hear you guys?" Shadows murmurs. "If I was, like, not such a nice person I might, um, be offended."
"Aww, you know we don't mean it like that, Shadows," Angel says. "You're still my favourite."
Shadows' lips quirk up in a smile. "Not Champion?" Her eye flutters open. "She's all fighty and, like, rawr!"
Angel elbows you cheerfully. "Nah, she's cool, but I've still known you longer, right? Plus you're always helpin' me out."
"So want to go get some ice cream tomorrow?" Shadows asks, looking excited.
Angel sighs, but then shrugs awkwardly. "Sure. Why not? Might be nice to relax a little."
You clear your throat and smile uncomfortably. "I'm, uh, gonna go? Thanks so much for your help, guys, I'll let everyone know what made it happen, alright?"
Shadows nods enthusiastically, and Angel offers you her knuckles. A fistbump and a wave later and you're off.
Hey, you kept hold of your groceries, at least!
Friday, Week 1
You had a little trouble sleeping last night, but despite the adrenaline coursing through you, the exhaustion from powering such a big magical ritual sent you to sleep eventually. The television is on again as you eat your breakfast, and you feel your eyes go wide at the grim-looking news anchors.
"The press is already calling last night 'Grim Thursday'," the man says, while a chart with a red line shooting straight upwards appears behind him. "With over a hundred reported murders, and countless more assaults, rapes, and home invasions, last night we saw more crime in a single day than we usually see all year."
"The mayor has called for calm," the woman says, taking over smoothly. "Rumours abound that he will announce a curfew in the coming days, and at least one senator has called for the National Guard to be called in. While the increase in crime over the past few months has been noted, no-one could have predicted the events of yesterday."
"There's only one question on everyone's minds right now," the man says. "Will we see a repeat tonight?"
You turn off the television and go to wash your dishes, mind churning furiously. It has to be the Sins. Did they do this on purpose? A statement? Or are they just poisoning the city like you were told they would?
You barely pay attention for the rest of the day, your mind caught up in what-ifs and could-have-beens. If you'd forced the others to move on one of the Sins, would this have happened? Would you have sped it up or slowed it down? Is this what you're going to have to deal with until the Sins are gone?
It shakes you, to see the truth of the scale of what you're fighting against, and you turn to your friends to keep calm. You follow Emily home, letting her calm chatter wash over you, and she sits you down with a pot of tea in her room and looks at you, concerned.
"Okay, Jen-" she starts, then pauses, rethinks, and begins again. "Jen. What's wrong? These past couple of weeks you've been... off. Really off. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but just- are you okay? Can I help?"
