You let out a long suffering sigh as you stare at Mother, shaking your head as you look back at the sheet.
Sempai means... senior? or something like that. An older Magical Girl? The idea intrigues you and so you slide that folder towards her, sipping your tea as you lean back.
Mother snaps up the folder, dropping it onto the draining board and clapping. "Alright then, it's time for you to meet..." You don't fall for her bait, letting her continue after a short chuff. "Fine, spoilsport. I believe that now is a good time to introduce you to The Light." You pause, slowly lowering your mug as you
look at her. "Alright, I know that you've not really heard good things about them in the past, but they are..." She stops to find the right words. "Not as terrible as they seem to be? I don't exactly agree with them sometimes, but they are very useful to me."
You take a fortifying sip from your mug and respond. "And you want me to walk into their base and do... what exactly?"
She smiles a sad little smile. "Why, meet your older sisters of course. Well,
sister now." She pokes at the folder by her side. "I just thought that you should say hello."
You down the rest of your drink, enjoying the scalding liquid burning down your throat. "I have
sisters?"
[Aunties?] No.
Nodding, she takes your empty mug from your hands, turning around to wash it in the sink. "Only technically, but isn't technically the best kind of cally?" You hope that your face shows your opinion of her pun adequately, you are sure she'll see it despite looking away. "Don't be like that, all of my children are siblings, some of them are just a bit more estranged than others."
Breathing out the steam from your late drink, you stand up and move around the table, stopping next to Mother. "Ok, so you just want me to go there and talk to them? No destroying their base or killing some important member?" She nods cheerfully, putting your dried cup on its stand. "Just... talking?"
"Mmhmm, they will be quite accommodating, I've made sure of it." You blink, thinking about the multitude of things she could have done to force them to play nice. "Oh no, I just asked nicely, they are ever so polite most of the time, if only they'd chosen a different method to power their barrier." You hum and look around the kitchen. "No, it shouldn't take you more than an hour or two, if you go now you'll be back before they wake up."
"Just talking?"
"Just talking."
Pressing your lips together, you slowly nod. "Alright, I'll go there, talk to them then come back." You see her opening her mouth and beat her to it. "In time for breakfast."
Looking distinctly pleased, she nods, giving you a quick hug before stepping back. "Have a safe trip now, tell me all about it when you get back."
But you already kno-
/LINE BREAK\
-w... [Amusement] You look at the towering gates before you, one of the gatekeepers jumping in surprise at your sudden entrance.
She totally could have told me everything couldn't she? [Affirmation] You rub your face, keeping one eye on the guard walking towards you as you lament your Mother's peculiarities. "Goddammit Mother." You let your sigh out and look at the tall man approaching you; large ceremonial armour adorns him, white plate flowing in elegant lines and smooth corners.
Fancy, but... You watch as he smoothly avoids catching a pointed elbow tip on his hip, repeating the motion for every single step.
Used to it or not, it's unwieldy.
Letting him approach, you take the opportunity to glance around. Behind you is a sheer drop; a small path leads down the edge of the cliff with any further sights obscured by thick clouds. In front of you stands the castle you'd briefly seen before, thick stone walls coated with runes upon runes upon runes. Some parts of the wall was actually under construction, enormous metal plates being affixed to the outside, the side view letting you see hollow spaces filled with even
more runes and other mystery objects.
Jesus christ.
The battlements look like someone decided that the best place to put a bunker was
on top of a wall, barrels pointed in every direction and some obviously magical weapons among them. You can't see anything over the wall, but that might be because it's so tall that you could easily fit
two houses on top of each other next to it and have a fair bit of room left.
The rest of your inspection is interrupted by the guard stopping a few metres away, resting his spear on the ground and calling out to you. "Greetings Ignition Knight, your guide will be here shortly." Having said his piece, he turns and begins walking back to his previous position at the gate, the other guard stoically ignoring you as he stares off into the horizon over your shoulder.
Is he? You resist the urge to see if he is actually asleep and just shift your weight onto one leg, ready to wait for however long your guide takes.
Barely five seconds after you get comfortable, a section of the wall cracks, then slides open. Blinking at the
unusual gate, a short... teenager?
No way she is older than 17. The girl walks out quickly, short brown hair blowing in the soft breeze as you notice her clothing.
Her shoelaces are undone. Not to mention that the rest of her outfit was just as plain, a pair of jeans running into joggers, a pinkish hoodie with a yellow t-shirt peeking out.
She moves towards you at a brisk pace, just barely within the realm of walking speed, her nervous smile disappearing when she sees you looking at her and being replaced with a paper-thin calm.
You look like you just got dragged out of bed. Her hair had clearly seen
some attention, but it's messy and there are still flakes of sleep around her eyes.
Why do I get the feeling that Gaia only just told them I was coming? [Agreement] You have a little mercy and let her get her bearings, wide eyes thinking so quickly you can almost see the steam rising off of her.
Why does every group I meet always send a teenager to greet me? [Curiosity] Every, single, time. [Amusement] I know, it's odd.
"Hello Ignition Knight." She takes a quick, but deep breath before continuing with a bright, cheery voice. "We apologise for the delay, but we only received word of your arrival moments before you appeared."
She looks terribly flustered and embarrassed at having to apologise, but you just push off of your leg and wave it off. "No, I expected her to make this difficult for the both of us." You take a few steps closer, pausing when you reach normal talking distance. "Since you already know my name, what is yours?"
She blinks, letting out an quiet
ah before nodding. "My designation is AMGU 1302, you can call me Aurora if you like." You tilt your head at her
designation, but when you open your mouth to question her name she speaks first. "I know my name is somewhat unusual, it was given to me after my personality and fighting style." Your mouth clicks shut and you stare at her a little bemused.
She didn't have a name but has a designation? Oh this sounds all kinds of suspicious. [Conspiracy!] Pff, I doubt it. Still...
"Alright then, I was sent here to..."
Umm. [Murder][Talk?] "Talk, to you. I guess." You shift on the spot slightly, her smile becoming a little less fake. "I don't really know what she wants me to do here, just to meet you guys I guess."
She starts bouncing on her toes slightly, nodding excitedly at your words. "Yeah, we thought so too, got orders to let you in the gate and poke around, ask questions and stuff."
Oh? "Yup, I got today off to take you wherever and answer anything you ask, no limits." She leans a little closer, her whispering still loud enough that the guards probably heard her. "
They even left one of the sparring rooms open if we want it, don't need to share it with the others or anything." Her smile was completely genuine now, constantly bouncing slightly as she waits for you to answer.
"Umm."
[Date!] I'm already dating someone. [Exclusive?] Yes. "Sure, you go first?" She nods, turning on the spot and stepping forwards before pausing, waiting for you to start moving.
"Gotta go through the gate together, otherwise it'll close on you."
You look up at the enormous opening, walls easily ten metres thick
each on either side of you. "Do you mean on or
on."
Her pace doesn't falter as she chirps at you. "
On~ Stops infiltrators from sneaking in while the gate is open." You glance at the walls either side of you, imagining them suddenly slamming together with you between them.
Oh. [Smush] Yes, Smush. Walking a little faster, you keep pace at her side, looking at the strange black wall in front of you. "It's just an illusion to stop people from peeking through when the gate is open, see?" She walks straight through it, like she's disappearing into the void, you hesitate, but follow through when she pokes her head back through to look for you.
The sight that greets you... is
not what you were expecting. Instead of the inside of a castle, a meadow awaits you, grass stretching as far as the eye can see, a gentle breeze blowing across the plains. The sun is warm on your face, the breeze blowing
juuust right as the fresh air enters your lungs. "What." Your guide turns to you from where she was happily greeting a small fairy of some sort, setting her gently atop her head and passing her passenger a small cube of sugar, looking confused at your question.
This is magic of some kind. You see groups of people sitting out in the sun on blankets and eating from baskets, the gentle chirping of wildlife a soothing background noise.
Really, really good magic. [Hunger] "Why is there a meadow in the middle of your castle?"
Important questions first.
She blinks, then nods with an
ah. "Today is picnic day, so the courtyard has been converted into a meadow, it wouldn't be a very good picnic if we had to use cobblestone floors."
You raise a hand and stop, slowly lowering it before speaking. "You have picnic days?" She nods happily, smiling when another fairy gently affixes a flower in her hair and flies off. "You have
fairies? Faries exist?"
She nods to the first, but pauses at the second. "Umm. I don't
think so?" You stare at her until she continues. "The fairies that exist here aren't real, they are magical beings that are created as a part of making the meadow. Or well," she looks up at the fairy dozing on her head. "I don't
think they are real, but they seem to remember us when we take the meadow down, so... maybe?" She shrugs, not looking all that bothered by the idea. "I like them regardless."
Just ignore it. "Alright." You look around the meadow, noticing the distinct
lack of people, there is maybe ten that you can see. "Is this... everyone?" There is no way that such a big sounding thing is this small, it just isn't possible.
Thankfully she shakes her head, pointing towards a particular spot in the meadow, a large tree standing alone. "Nope, most of them are still doing their morning training or getting up." She glances at you. "Wanna see?" When you nod, she starts towards it, going slow enough that you have plenty of time to enjoy the surroundings.
"Is that why there wasn't anyone... else to greet me?" You don't exactly want to come out and say it, but you were slightly miffed at the complete lack of concern they were showing at your ability, what if you'd been there to fight? Were two guards and a barely awake teenager supposed to stop you?
A fairy comes close to you, floating in front of your face as she investigates, but always shying back from actually touching your skin.
[Hunger] The fairy flinches away from you when you try to touch her, but doesn't stop her fascinated staring. Your guide pushes a spot on the tree, a door swinging open. "Yup, I was kind of on call just in case." She steps through, leading you into much more traditional castle hallways, a comfortable aura still radiating from the various knick-knacks on the wall and the soft lighting the candles provide. "Besides, I'm the perfect person to give you this tour."
"Oh?" You glance at her as you speak, wondering at how you can say something like that and still sound perfectly chipper, rather than egotistical. "Why is that." You pass a family group in the corridor, the parents both nodding to you and corralling their
seven children out of your path.
Ooookaaay....
"Even though we haven't been out in the world all that much lately, we still keep training as if we were!" She sounds proud of that, but you are really wondering on how this is important. "We have an entire section dedicated to Magical Girls, split into five parts. I'm a part of the AMGU!" At your blank stare, she rubs her arm sheepishly and explains. "Umm, that is, Anti Magical Girl Unit." She shakes her head to rid her small blush. "I know the name is a little lame, but our job is to know everything there is to know about our target in case we need to fight them!" You take a step back, but she barely seems to notice your sudden tenseness.
Nodding enthusiastically, she starts speaking as if reciting a list. "Born in 1987 on the seventh of July, homebirthed inside the house her parents were squatting in the village of Biddenden, England. Moved to America a year after her little sister was born in 1991, when her parents received an offer from a local criminal, giving him their unborn baby in exchange for transit to America. Parents addiction grew worse due to easier acquisition of alcohol and narcotics, leading to an abusive home life. No sexual exploitation occurred, though it appears that physical abuse and beatings happened occasionally." She pauses to take a breath, ignoring your wide eyed stare.
"Ignition Knight ran away from home, taking her sister with her on the third of May, 1997. From there she spent several years breaking and entering to house herself and her sister, paying off criminal elements by doing minor jobs to keep them quiet. Three deaths have been connected to her during this time, all indirect, such as loosening the breaks on a car or removing a critical bolt on scaffolding. On the fourth of April, 2000, a small demonic incursion arrived in the town she was staying in. The minor demon eventually encountered her in the mall at-" "
Stop." At the sound of your voice, she freezes in place, halfway into a flinch. "
How do you know all of this?" More than I do.
She takes a deep breath, shivering a little as she looks at you seriously. "It is our job to know everything there is to know, to exploit any possible weaknesses and ensure the safety of mankind against a Magical Girl who has fallen to the darkness." She turns to face you fully, a slow stream of people passing by the other side of the corridor. "I'm sorry if I caused any offence, I know it is very disturbing for someone else to know everything about your life while you know nothing back." You nod slowly, adrenaline slowly fading as she tries to look as contrite as possible. "This is why I was assigned to show you around today, ask me anything about myself or us and if I know I will tell you."
Eyeing the slowly growing steam of people, all wearing casual clothing, you grunt. "Can we go somewhere a little less public to talk then?"
Like I want them all to hear my life story, if they don't already know.
Your guide nods and starts walking. "We can use the empty training room." Corridor after corridor, more and more people in the hallways,
so many people. All of them are strong, even the people who aren't magic feel strong. [...] What does that mean? Your little passenger doesn't respond, but you get a feeling of contemplation from... It? Her? "This one." Looking up at the sound, you pass through a small wooden door and into a moderately sized room. It was hardly
big, but it was bigger than the training room you'd claimed as yours in the Clocktower.
Spotting a table with several chairs, Aurora leads you over, pulling your seat out for you and then taking hers. "What do you want to know?"
You rub your face and lean forwards, resting your elbows on the table. "I have
many questions, but first." She leans forwards a bit and you wait for just the right moment.
Always throw them off balance. "Why out of your entire unit, is the cute teenager sent to talk to me?"
She pauses, the blush you had expected barely a light dusting on her cheeks as she answers honestly. "It is known that you are more comfortable with teenage girls of the same age, additionally if they are both attractive and interested in girls." She clears her throat, still meeting your eyes despite your own spreading blush. "Since I fulfil all of these requirements and was deemed the easiest to talk to out of the others that did, I was chosen."
Oh...
You hope that your blush isn't that obvious, despite the fact that you can
feel the heat in your face.
Stupid powers. Taking a deep breath, you drain it away, letting your cheeks return to their normal colour, though it doesn't reduce your mortification in the slightest.
[Amusement] Shush, let me be embarrassed silently. It's silent for a while, just when you regain the courage to meet Aurora's eyes you feel it again.
[Truth?] ...Yes, it is. Thinking about literally anything else, you ask the first question to come to mind. "Alright, what have the Light been doing then? From what I know you guys
used to do a lot, but stepped back a while ago."
She nods. "Yes, before we stepped back from the world, we had protected it for over three thousand years."
That long? [Impressed] "We have records from the original founders, translated if you would like to read them?" She catches herself. "Ah, later. For why we stepped back, it was partially a change in the world and partially internal circumstances. After investigations determined that the second world war was
our fault, internal reviews at all levels were instigated, to try and find any other faults that needed to be fixed before we could return to our duty." She waits for your nod before continuing.
"The first five years of our absence was due to these faults, fixing critical holes in our methodology and practices. After that, it was a lack of need. With such a heavy military build up we did not need to go out into the world and suppress magical beasts or mages falling to the dark, the normal government had the issue well in hand." She shrugs. "When we saw the different factions forming, we decided to take a leap of faith. We invested heavily in them, giving them the resources and support they would need to establish themselves and take care of their own regions."
"It was not a perfect solution, but different incidents in different locations needed to be dealt with differently. By making sure that they could do that properly on their own, it was determined that was superior to our previous methods." Her face falls a little. "Otherwise, a large majority of our members were busy helping to maintain the barrier. It was originally created by a Magical Girl, records date back to the realms of two thousand eight hundred years for its existence." She scratches her arm, looking a little uncomfortable. "The way the barrier itself is designed is
insidious, but it is effective. Despite our best efforts, we could not create a better way of protecting the world."
You feel a foreboding feeling, but something pushes you to ask. "And why do you consider it
insidious?"
"A Magical Girl is moved to a platform, where she attaches her magic to the cornerstone of the barrier, then she begins feeding it magic." She actually grimaces. "Once they have done so, there is no escape for them. First the barrier drains their magic, then it drains their
soul." She takes a deep breath. "For the first few weeks, they are aware of what is happening to them, often they beg for death or cry for their loved ones. After the first month, their body begins to atrophy, withering away until they are barely skin and bones. Once they finish this step, they will have lost the ability to speak, all they can do is cry." Her face is hard, but she waits for you to nod before going on.
"Eventually, they stop crying. It has not been determined exactly why, but it is generally believed that is because they have lost the ability to feel sadness, or their mind has been destroyed completely. Once this stage occurs, the drain slows down, allowing the husk to power the barrier for centuries before it begins faltering." She clasps her hands together, looking down at the table as she finishes speaking and whispers a prayer under her breath. "God does not exist, their souls are destroyed utterly, but it is the least I can do to honour their sacrifice."
"You..." Your mouth hangs open, completely lost for words as you stare at her.
No, ask. "Have you ever forced a girl into that?"
You need to know.
She nods once. "Five hundred and thirty seven years ago the barrier was about to fall and the only Magical Girl alive was not willing to be the sacrifice, it was determined that her life was worth the safety of the entire world for the next two hundred and eighty years."
You sit back in your seat.
Fuck. Just... fuck. Rubbing your face with one hand, you ask the question you fear most. "Is the barrier being fuelled right now?"
She nods and you let out a sigh of relief.
I'm actually relieved that someone is currently having their soul destroyed. It's fine so long as it isn't me? You push the question to the back of your mind, where you will
never think about it. "Why do you need Magical Girls and why is the barrier failing."
"To the first, it is simply the way the barrier was designed, it completely ignores any normal humans who attempt to use it." She closes her eyes. "We try every year, the elderly who are ready to die take their place and attempt to activate the barrier, it has never worked. For the second, roughly ninety years ago we consulted a Magical Girl on this issue, her speciality was Item Creation. We had hoped that she would be able to create an object that would find a way around the requirements for sacrifice."
"And she didn't?"
This woman is showing up everywhere, how many things did she do?
She shakes her head. "No, she
did, and it was working perfectly. The barrier no-longer devoured souls, but their magic. A rotating cycle was created with the previous generation of magical girls, letting them all feed the barrier in a continuous loop without any negative effects."
And the problem is? Reading your face, she answers. "When she died, her modification began to fail. Slowly at first, it was possible to maintain it, but as more time passed the damage quickly grew beyond what we were capable of repairing."
"The barrier will fall within two years, but it is likely that it will be gone before a year has passed." A nod at the training room. "This is why we have shifted the majority of our focus onto becoming a fighting force rather than a policing one. When the barrier falls, we must be ready to fight the beings that lurk beyond and we
will be."
You sit back, somewhat annoyed that the seat doesn't have a back you can slouch against. "That, is completely fucked up." Aurora just nods. "Ok... Ok."
[Hug] Thank you, so much. [Warmth] You close your eyes and let the heat seep through you, only looking up when you feel your chains rattle slightly.
You can stop now. "How do you know so much?"
"Have you ever heard of the proverb, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it?" You nod. "We are taught from birth of the mistakes of humanity, so that we may never repeat them. We are not to be trusted with anything until we demonstrate that we understand this lesson."
You let out a long breath, staring at the ceiling. Earlier, you had maybe wanted to spar with her so you could see how good she was.
Now? You stand up, walking to Aurora as she rises with you. "Aurora, please take me to the... husk, of the last Magical Girl."
"You don't want to-" "I
need to see." She stops, staring at your hand, slightly shaking by your side. "
Please."
Closing her eyes, she nods. "Follow me, it isn't far." You are her shadow as you move, out the training room and back through the corridors, passing through several armed checkpoints as you go. A line has been drawn on the floor, separating one end of the corridor from the other. The moment you step over it, you suddenly feel a gut wrenching tug, a silent scream echoing through the corridors. The noise hits you like a wall, forcing you to stop walking as it echoes off into the distance.
[Hunger] Wha- [End]
Aurora puts a hand on your shoulder, pulling you upright after a moment. "Those who have a connection with the End have always hated this place, more than any other. It has been described as a thing of glorious beauty and a horrific monstrosity." She lets you catch your breath, until you start walking, and even then she stays by your side. "Just through here." She points you towards a plain door, the wood fairly aged but kept pristine. "Brace yourself."
A plain room awaits you, barren and windowless. In the centre, lit by flickering candles, sits a small brown
thing.
[Hunger] You step closer, eyes locked to it completely as you do so, stopping a metre away. Slowly moving to rest on your knees, you look at the
thing.
Husk was right. The husk is roughly human shaped, the flesh clinging to the bones so tightly that it could only just be considered
over them. It has faded to a dark brown, verging on black in places, the only white to be found as the teeth hiding behind tiny slips of skin that were probably lips at one point and her eyes.
They are untouched. They stared out sightlessly, completely empty of all signs of life.
Mummified.
Can this even be called alive? You shiver when you hear that scream, a distant echo of what it was, dozens of others underlying it as the room presses down on you.
[Want] What you've done... You look at her position, legs crossed and arms resting on her knees peacefully.
You did this willingly didn't you. You feel shame in your chest, because you know, that if the choice came to your sister or the world... "What was her name?"
Aurora quietly answers you from her place at the door. "Her name is Amy Wallenstone. Her father was a farmer and her mother an artist, she wanted to follow her mothers footsteps. When she became a Magical Girl with the power of Discovery, she went on a mission to find the most beautiful places in the world, and then bring her parents there so they could enjoy it. Her mother would often paint her most spectacular pieces in these places." Her voice is soft, barely loud enough for you to hear. "When we approached her and told her of what was happening, she initially refused and went home. Several days later, she showed up here and was knocking on the wall, demanding to let her in." You can hear her sad smile.
"When we did, she ordered the leaders to allow her to power the barrier and forced a will into their hands. When questioned again as to why, she said that she was a coward for running away from the world like she had and that she was ashamed of herself for being so selfish." A sigh. "We were running out of time, but we gave her several days to think. She was discovered in the room the next day, having locked herself into the cornerstone." You look at the husk, imagining this fiery girl sneaking in and forcing the barrier to work. "She withstood the first stage admirably, enduring almost all of it with good cheer and acceptance, it wasn't until the final few days that she broke."
You resist the urge to reach out to the husk, instead just dipping your head in respect.
You sound like someone I would have gotten along with. A shiver forces it's way down your back when you hear the screaming, even fainter this time. Pushing yourself off of your knees, you step back, walking backwards until you stop next to Aurora. The two of you stand there in silence, the room feeling of
something in ways that words are not meant for, and then you speak. "She doesn't deserve this, the barrier is going to fall anyway, why is...
she still in that."
Your guide sighs, looking uncomfortable. "If we were to remove her, then the barrier would fall within three months and there would be no possible chance of repairing it. As it is, we can force another year out of it at a minimum. All of the time we can get is time we
need." Seeing her cheerful face so...
down looks wrong.
"You don't agree with that."
"I do not." She stays silent after your statement, just looking at the husk.
This is wrong. [Hunger] She doesn't deserve to suffer more for just a few months of gain. Your hand clenches tightly as you look at the middle of the room.
I could... You feel the grip of your sword, just out of existence.
[End. Her.]
[]
You deserve more than this.
[] Walk away.
" smileys in every post I made about Cerys being a knockoff Gilgamesh. Because I assure you, it was only ever said in jest.
