Though it is nighttime, the training grounds are filled with bright light of the midday sun, as well as the gentle radiance of the moon. It is pierced by weird beams of dark, almost not-light, launched at the stone blocks set up as the targets.
(Baleful Eclipse: +200 Base Damage, +50 Stationary Target, no dice = 250 Total Damage
Practice Block: 1000 Base Resilience, -750 Juggernaut, no dice = 250 Damage Reduction
Attack Ineffective!)
Though nothing comes of it, the sources of the radiance and the not-light, two magical girls, keep launching it at the blocks. Without exchanging words or even glances, they move closer and further to each other, aiming at one block and at two adjacent ones in turn. Sometimes, their dance ends with a burst of the dark not-light, and at times, nothing at all happens. And at all times, their lips don't stop moving, whispering one phrase over and over again. Then, suddenly, both of them turn to launch the not-light at two
different targets.
Did it really work?
They pause momentarily, before rising into air in sharp angles taking them to the opposite sides of the line of stone blocks. Moving in synchronicity, they aim at the stone blocks at the opposite sides of the line, before chanting their spell in full voice for once: ""Baleful Eclipse!""
(Baleful Eclipse: +200 Base Damage, +50 Stationary Target, -150 Partial Eclipse, no dice = 100 Total Damage
Practice Block: 1000 Base Resilience, -750 Juggernaut, no dice = 250 Damage Reduction
Attack Ineffective!
Baleful Eclipse: +200 Base Damage, +50 Stationary Target, -150 Partial Eclipse, no dice = 100 Total Damage
Practice Block: 1000 Base Resilience, -750 Juggernaut, no dice = 250 Damage Reduction
Attack Ineffective!)
We did it! Wediditwediditwedidit!
Just as before, the attack isn't doing anything. And yet, the radiant girls launch themselves at each other to embrace, laughing at the success well earned. They land on the ground, before walking towards the exit. Previously unnoticed, a small dog laying on a patch of grass rises and runs to them. They stop to pet it gently, before pausing once again.
Are we really doing this, Rico. Yes, we need to know.
Frowning, the moonlight-girl speaks to the dog: "Ludger, can you please help us..."
"Woof!" was the reply of a tail-wagging corgi.
"Ludger, it is important. Now, I know you'll never do it of your own will, but please, just this once, bite me and Rico," the girl continued, and the corgi whined and shook his head, prompting the two girls to speak in unison: "Ludger, please? Don't worry, we'll heal!"
Hesitantly, unwillingly, the corgi nods once, then snaps his teeth at the hands the twins extended to him:
(Leviathan Bite: 400 Base Damage, -300 Biting The Hand That Feeds Him, +300 Loyalty Beyond Reproach, +55 Dice, +220 Layer of Sunlight = 675 Total Damage
Primordial Sun: 105 Base Resilience, +1964 Dice, +5802 Veil of the Solar Goddess, -4456 Juggernaut = 3415 Damage Reduction
Attack Ineffective!
Leviathan Bite: 400 Base Damage, -300 Biting The Hand That Feeds Him, +300 Loyalty Beyond Reproach, +14 Dice, +56 Layer of Sunlight =470 Total Damage
Primordial Moon: 14526 No-Sell Threshold
Veil of the Lunar Goddess, girl)
Despite knowing how his bite was capable of crushing a giant living tree, everyone involved is surprised to see that the teeth slide off the hands without doing the slightest harm. Though the girls know that their Faithful Guardian did his best, what they felt never transitioned past what they'd call playful nips.
Rico? Eva? We do need to try...
The girls placate the despondent Ludger with hugs, before standing and stepping two steps awat from him. The twins order Ludger to sit, and brandish their scepters at each other. For the last time on that night, a now-familiar chant passes their lips.
. . .
LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED
. . .
"Oh, why are you here, girls?" Spring's Dream asked with a gentle smile, looking at the young Vescovi twins in front of her.
"Well, we were wondering, can we play tag?" The bolder one,
Rico she remembered, answered. Spring looked at her, a little confused.
"Not the normal tag - Magical Girl tag!" The gentler one,
Eva, responded to the unasked question. Seeing interest in Spring's face, she proceeded: "What we want is to transform, fly in the sky and try to tag each other with our spells."
Oh, that was it,Spring thought. Then she frowned minutely.
"Isn't Sun's spell really destructive?" Spring's Dream asked, blushing minutely. "If I recall correctly, it really makes a-a mess of our clothes! I cannot allow that so easily!"
Rico shifted uncomfortably and started explaining: "Well, we've actually done some training. We managed to make our spells synchronize, and we had a different one as a result. It's only slightly damaging, so there'll be no harm. Promise!"
Spring's frown deepened at the implication that the girls had probably done some live testing...
"I'm not happy you decided to do some unsupervised testing, girls. However,
this time and only this time, I'm letting it slide, because no harm no foul," Spring's Dream interrupted Rico sternly, pausing to see if her rebuke worked. From the uncomfortable fidgeting, it probably did. Spring nodded to herself, internally, before smiling gently once again: "However, I wouldn't mind you playing aerial tag, so long as you
obey the rules I set out. Are we clear?"
The twins nodded frantically, causing Spring's Dream's smile to widen. "And yes, this does mean you can play tag. So long as it's supervised, because this kind of active game with magic counts as a spar. I'm coming with you."
This declaration was met with surprise, swiftly transformed into gleeful eagerness that Spring found positively infectious.
. . .
LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED
. . .
"Now that we're all transformed and I applied my spell, we're ready to fly. But first, the rules you will abide by. First, touching someone by hand or by spell counts, and I'll be keeping count, so no cheating. Second, don't worry about tagging me by accident, but try to avoid it if at all possible, because I'll be in the air with you. Third, be very careful with casting spells if they can miss into the ground. Finally - the moment I tell you to stop, you stop immediately and come to me. Are we clear?"
""Yes!""
"Good. Now, the bout starts on my mark, so let's go into the air," Spring suits her words to actions, ascending in the air while pacing herself to let the twins keep up.
Hmmm, might suggest them train their speed, I know how fun it can be, Spring's Dream smiled to herself. Rising above the skyline, she begins the countdown: "Three, two, one, Mark!"
The twins dart away from each other the moment Spring starts counting, Sun diving low while Moon rises high, both launching their spells at each other. The bout, however, moves rather swiftly to below the skyline, forcing Spring to follow. Ten minutes later she declares a break to Sun, watching Moon arrive at the roof without being actually told.
"Okay, I can see that this is not working out all that well. You cannot exactly hide from each other, but Moon's moonlight is far more effective since she can launch a number of beams all at once, compared to Sun's dark beam," Spring's Dream summarizes what she'd seen from their bout, "Overall, I think the idea of going below the skyline to try tagging each other by hand was good, but you seemed far too adept at finding and evading each other."
The girls look at Spring's Dream with slight dismay and resignation - at least until they hear her suggestion: "So how about this - I'll be joining this tag, myself versus the two of you. I don't have spells to tag with at a distance, but I'm really really fast. So here's how it will go - I won't go so fast you cannot even track me, I can only tag you by touching your back by hand, and I will retreat briefly every time I tag one of you."
The twins nod enthusiastically, their spirits raised once again.
This is going to be fun, Spring's Dream thought to herself as started the countdown.
. . .
LINE BREAK IDENTIFIED
. . .
In the end, Spring's Dream's superior speed, agility and experience had proven to be the decisive factors of the aerial tag battle against the Primordial Sun and Moon - even with their spells, their connection, and their numbers, even with all the handicaps she gave them, they had only managed to tag her thrice.
The first time she bad underestimated Moon's reflexes, who managed to dodge her first attempt at tagging and launch a blind spell her way she was simply too close to evade all the beams. The second time, she was caught by Sun's spell ambushing her while she was searching the Moon. And the last time, their teamwork allowed Primordial Moon to hem her into the path of Sun's spell.
As she called the end of the match and descended to the ground since it was already dinnertime, Spring's Dream allowed herself to laugh lightly, her voices and those of the twins joining together in exhilaration.
This was indeed fun.
However, as they were landing, the girls paused, before Eva spoke softly: "There's something else we need to tell you after dinner. The reason why I didn't use this spell on Rico, despite also knowing how to."
. . .
FLASHBACK IDENTIFIED
. . .
For the last time on that night, a now-familiar chant passes their lips. ""Baleful Eclipse!""
(Baleful Eclipse: +200 Base Damage, -150 Partial Eclipse, no dice = 50 Total Damage
Primordial Sun: 105 Base Resilience, Dice Negated, Veil of the Solar Goddess Negated, -78 Juggernaut = 22 Damage Reduction
28 Total End Damage
Primordial Sun: 1100 - 28 = 1072 Health
Baleful Eclipse: +200 Base Damage, -150 Partial Eclipse, no dice = 50 Total Damage 75 Radiance
Primordial Moon: 650 Base Resilience, Dice Negated, -487 Juggernaut = 163 Damage Reduction
Attack Ineffective!)
Ow! It stings!
And though Primordial Moon was unharmed by the exchange of two beams of almost not-light, the same could not be said for Primordial Sun.
