Ko-chan’s Chronicles

"Hahahah--grk...what...the..no! STOP THAT!" Zetsuna's laughter was cut off like a choked animal. All that was left was her increasingly desperate eyes and slowly unraveling wings.

The whirlpool inside my body continued to increase until it started to affect the surroundings. Nearby discarded ribbons and debris were swept around the floor like a hurricane while Zetsuna watched on in horror.

Her wings didn't disintegrate, they were sucked back into her body one strand at a time before they finally disappeared entirely. Next, her dress started to unravel and be sucked into her body as well.

She tried to break the connection and back away, but it was like her hand was welded to my head with the strongest glue known to man.

Her words turned to shouts, which then turned to screams. Finally a desperate howl of pain and agony as the last scraps of the ribbons were ripped from her body and spirit.

When the last ribbon left her body, I could see and feel her convulse like she had just been hit by a truck, and the rebound caused her to fly away and slide several meters away from me.

With her clothes gone, I finally got a look at her naked body. Her face, chest, and arms were all devastated by burn scars. I suddenly understood why she had gone mad in her quest for revenge, but I didn't feel a shred of pity for her.

Instead what I felt was...power. Next to the lock inside my chest was a slowly rotating ball of ribbons that was finally settling on a form. I got a glimpse of the inside of Zetsuna's body during our forced connection, and I saw the horrible misshapen mass of ribbons that spindled around like tentacles coming out of some cosmic horror. Was her heart shaped by the ribbons? Or were the ribbons shaped by her heart?

I focused on the power. I needed it right now. This battle was not finished. I tried to control the ribbons to do as I desired, but they were like wisps of clouds, unable to follow my wishes.

I floated in the air for a few seconds, and I suddenly realized why the ribbons had not settled on a form yet. They were waiting. Waiting for me to decide what I was. Was I a pet? A toy? A plaything? A human? A lover?

I decided. Something that I had always been called in jest, but I would make it the truth today. As if following my will, the ribbons inside my chest coalesced. They wrapped together into the truest essence of my being, an iridescent pair of fairy wings. As soon as the form completed, my power burst forth and was purified. An identical set of wings appeared from my back, flapping freely as I could sense my familiarity with the ribbons grow.

Zetsuna was still groaning in pain and agony after having her ribbon heart ripped out, so I took a minute to gather my strength.

"Zetsuna. To me, your crimes are unforgiveable. You may have a tragic past but do you think that absolves you of any responsibility for all the lives you've damaged?" I floated over her body as I announced my judgement.

"Shut it, you piece of trash. You.. have no right to judge me. I am the young princess of a powerful family. You will regret touching me. You, a mortal, dares to touch a god?" Zetsuna raved like a madwoman as she tried to lift her body off the ground.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll deal with you later. For now let me..." I focused and launched my own ribbons at Zetsuna. Unlike her dark and cold ribbons, mine were white and glittered with starlight.

She could barely move her body, so she had no chance to escape my assault. Her hands were wrapped into mittens and pulled into a reverse prayer behind her, while a torso harness cinched her arms to her back. Her legs were frogtied, and buzzing started between her legs.

"You won't be able to hurt anyone like this. Unlike you, I've infused my ribbons with the Power of Connection, not Isolation. Don't think you can escape them so easily." I smiled as I had finally neutralized Zetsuna. We'd won for real.

"Don't make me laugh. You will regret this day, mark my w----" I glared at her and more ribbons flooded into her mouth, filling it all the way to the back of her throat. More wrapped around her mouth, clamping her mouth shut with a strict muzzle.

That's when I made the mistake. I looked away towards Matsuko, thinking Zetsuna was neutralized. A clunk behind me made me wheel around, but it was too late. Zetsuna was already in the motion of smashing her forehead onto a small ball that fell out of her dress when it was disassembled and the magic contained within activated instantly. She smiled at me with her eyes and then she started to disintegrate into magical specks that flew off into the distance at a high speed. Her pupils enlarged, her blood vessels glowed red, and she trembled with madness as she felt her body being ripped apart by the magic. She glared one last time with hatred as her head was the last to be disintegrated.

I slumped to the ground. "Ugh...How could I...I had her in my hand and she escaped..."

"Now is not the time for despair, my dear." A voice pierced my head as if it came from every direction. "A Blood to Ash Talisman is an expensive life saving method. Once it was activated, you had no chance to stop her from escaping. She surely paid a high price to activate it, though."

I looked around and noticed the ancestor floating in the middle of the shattered room.

"A triumph against unimaginable odds. Truly, worth the faith she put in you. Now, it is the time for action, and not self loathing. Your enemy may still exist, but she is heavily crippled and weak. Also, like you said, she will not escape your restraint so easily. She will take a long time to free herself and recover to a point that she poses a threat. All you need to do is hunt her down before that point." The ancestor seemed like she was lecturing me, but also praising me at the same time.

"I...can't....I can't save the others, honored ancestor. I can't even free myself..." I looked at Matsuko, trapped in the petsuit just like me, and started to despair.

"There are many things you can do, you must just look inside yourself, young one. Now, in honor of your tremendous victory, I will do you a small favor." The ancestor smiled softly, and slammed her staff.

* * *

In an instant, all five of us tumbled to the ground of the meeting room in a small heap.

"This should be a much more comfortable environment for the trials to come, right? Peel hard, little fairy, you've finally earned the right to be the savior, so enjoy it while it lasts." I swore the ancestor was giving me a mocking grin, but I couldn't be sure. Couldn't she just zap us out with her staff?! Why do I have to do all this work now!?

I slumped to the ground, exhausted. My internals were straining from the effort of accommodating my new power, and the struggle against Zetsuna had drained my stamina. Sorry guys...I'm gonna need a break before I can help you out...

* * *

I opened my eyes, expecting to see Matsuko staring at me, but the grim reality was different. My Lady was still laying on her side, unconscious, my friends were trapped in ribbon cocoons, and here I was, trapped in my own petsuit. What was I supposed to do about this?! I don't even have a mouth to peel with!

I struggled to my feet, and evaluated the options. I can't free My Lady with my current powers. The ancestor refused to help me, so she must be confident in me. The next best option would be....Naruyo-chan, save me~

I went over to Naruyo's cocoon and realized the problem. If I couldn't use my body to peel, I could only use my own ribbons! I tried bringing out a single strand, and then tried peeling the tape off of Naruyo. It was extremely slow going. It was hard to feed enough energy through the ribbon to allow it to be peeled. After a few minutes, I slumped to the ground defeated.

"Ko-chan? You're there?" I heard Naruyo's voice inside my mind. I snapped to my feet, and the voice disappeared. That's when I noticed that the end of my ribbon had just slipped off her forehead. I placed it back and tried to speak with her.

"Naruyo-chan, are you there?!" I frantically tried to talk with her via telepathy.

"I'm here. Status outside?" Naruyo was business-like as always.

"Um...I defeated Zetsuna, but we're all trapped in ribbons. I don't know what to do. I can't peel by myself and Matsuko is still unconscious" I laid all my problems straight onto Naruyo, on the verge of tears.

"Good work. Very proud. Need magic. Slowly cut out." Naruyo was speaking slowly and between small gasps. I could still feel the thumping of vibrators inside her cocoon.

Just need magic? I have a lot of magic now. I hope this helps, Naruyo-chan! I placed my arm on Naruyo's cocoon and started to inject magic into it. As I flooded it with my white sparkling magical power, I realized the surrounding ribbons were turning white as well.

I decided to tell Naruyo.

"...Interesting development. White ribbons. No drain. Accelerate magic draw." Naruyo got excited when she felt the white ribbon's effect on her body.

"..I got it. I'll turn all the ribbons white then." I spoke to Naruyo and then grit my teeth. I had a lot of work to do. I had only turned a small area white with all that effort.

My third purgatory began. Absorb the magic from the air, infuse it through my ribbons, and then inject it into Naruyo's cocoon. Luckily, by the time I got to about a third, the surrounding ribbons started to change to white on their own. I took a small break to recover, then started again.

....I was so tired.... It felt like I was converting magic for days, but it had only been about a half dozen hours. Finally, the last of Naruyo's cocoon turned white.

"...Hahhh...It's done, Naruyo-chan..." I reported my success

"Experiments successful. White ribbons. Extremely potent mana concentrator. No negative effects." Naruyo sounded like she wasn't struggling particularly hard.

"Coming out. Step back." She suddenly spoke up again, and I backed off.

Then all the ribbons on Naruyo started to spin and unwind on their own. When the final ribbon unwound, Naruyo was laying there in the nude with a ribbon tied around her neck.

"White ribbon collar. Storage for kilometers. Mine now." She reached up for the collar and smiled.

She moved into a kneeling position and hugged me tightly. "Ko-chan. My hero. Everyone's hero."

"N-N-Naruyo-chan...." I teared up, finally I had saved someone on my own...

"Tears later. Saving now." She tapped the ribbon collar and ribbons spun out of it, forming a tutu, gloves, and boots around her body.

"...Why does it feel like you can control my ribbons better than I can?!" I blurted out my innermost feelings.

She patted my head. "Practice makes perfect. Keep trying, Ko-chan."

Then she went to Hinari's cocoon and started funneling magic through my ribbons, slowly turning hers white as well.

It was much faster with both of us, and with Naruyo's advice, I became more skillful as well. In merely half the time, we had turned Hinari white, and with Naruyo's light tap, Hinari's cocoon unraveled as well.

Hinari was much more emotional than Naruyo, leaping over to me and giving me a tight hug "I thought we were goners, Ko-chan...When she reversed our powers, I was terrified. I'm so glad you're ok."

"It's fine Hinari-chan! We need to hurry and save Sakari!" I pushed away the praise and got back to work.

"Hey, how did you get that? I want one" Hinari pointed to Naruyo's tutu.

"Inject power. Imagine desired costume." She briefly explained.

"So...like this?" Hinari touched the collar and it also spewed forth ribbons. They wrapped down Hinari's arms like they did with Naruyo, but then they tightened into mittens. After that, they pulled her arms into a tight reverse prayer and torso harness.

"Gah! Naruyo! You lied to meee!" Hinari struggled, but the ribbons no longer reacted to her will.

"Did not lie. This is your heart's desired outfit." Naruyo smiled and gave an explanation that sounded like it was made up.

I smiled. Finally, we could recover our smiling faces...

Soon after that, we saved Sakari too. She ended up just like Hinari, much to Hinari's delight.

"Ha! At least now I don't have to suffer alone!" Hinari smiled as she sat back on the couch.

I lost my happy mood when I looked over at Matsuko. The horrible collar, 'Demoness's End' was draining her power non-stop. She wouldn't wake up until we could do something about it, but what could we do? The collar was under a hundred layers of ribbons and a layer of Obsidian Latex that even she couldn't break at her peak power.

Naruyo smiled at me "White ribbons. Power of connection. Ko-chan can get through."

"...The Power of Connection, my ribbons gained it after I abandoned the Power of Isolation and draining from Zetsuna's ribbons."

I sat down opposite Matsuko, and brought out a dozen white ribbons and wrapped them around her head. I tried to force my thoughts through the connection between us and I finally heard something. I felt like my entire body was sucked into the connection, and then there I was.