Magical Girl City: Empire of Ice

We were nearing the end of our first circuit. The alleys became more labyrinthine as we went. The neon lights grew more ominous, and the fog grew ever thicker. It wasn’t a boring jaunt, as we went, we continued to encounter creatures.

Gargoyles seemed to be the majority here. The more devilish ones tended to appear in small groups of two to three. Then, there were other kinds. They too were a kind of gargoyle, but they were small, impish looking. With spaded tails, horns, and such. Their hide too was tough as stone, and their regeneration was just as strong as their bigger kin. Thankfully, they were easy enough to destroy compared to the larger ones.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, none of them had been bronze rank or higher. Unfortunate because I needed the cash. Not just that, but the coins present opportunity. Fortunate, only because I wasn’t entirely sure how we’d handle it as we struggled with even the most basic gargoyles.

For the most part we handled ourselves well, Talia quickly proved herself invaluable. Not only as a guide, keeping us on track, but her ability to strengthen others came in handy. More often than not, she used it to bolster one of my knights, allowing them to easily shatter stone imps, or wrestle down the devilish gargoyles.

Not to say we came out of each fight entirely unscathed…

“Are you doing okay?” Talia asked while we walked. We had just finished another brief fight. A mix of gargoyles and stone imps.

“I am.”

“But you took a fairly hefty hit back there.” She continued. Her eyes on my rapidly accumulating wounds. At first, she hadn’t noticed, but once she did, her eyes kept wandering back to them.

“I’ll be fine.” I reply back.

“Are you sure? I definitely heard a crack.”

“It was just the ice. I’m fine, I assure you.” She didn’t look away. Though, her concern wasn’t entirely unwarranted. My ice enhanced body made it all too easy to brush off most attacks. The stone imps struggled to cut through my ice reinforced clothing and skin. What damage they did could be compared to a cat’s scratch at best.

As for the gargoyles, I wasn’t willing to test it. Luckily, they swung wide and without much thought. It was all too easy to weave through their strikes and deliver one of my own. Only, in the last fight, I had made a critical error.

I had grown a bit too accustomed to how they fought. Too used to how my enhanced senses let me react far before any creature could. For what felt like the first time, my senses weren’t actually able to keep up.

It had happened all too fast. I hadn’t seen it coming until it hit me. Instead of thrusting their tail, aiming to skewer me, the gargoyle had snapped it out like a whip, clipping into my side.

Talia wasn’t wrong to be worried. Ice kept the pain at bay, kept the injury from worsening, but… It had definitely cracked my ribs. I wasn’t limping, or outwardly showing signs of harm, but Talia was insistent.

“Would you at least let me look you over?” She asked, once more.

It was annoying and yet…

“Fine. Give it a look.” I finally relented.

Under her direction, I took off my jacket. I felt her fingers poke and prod, a frown on her face.

“That doesn’t look good at all…”

“I’ll be fine.” I answer back, calm as ever. “It’s not worsening, and if need be, I could just transform.”

“Yeah, but that costs quite a bit of magic to do. It’s also not good to do, since it doesn’t fully heal a wound. At least let me give it a go. I’m sure I can fix this much damage up without much trouble.”

I wanted to argue back. It felt like a waste of time and yet, we were nearing the end of our runaround. Last time that happened, we’d been assaulted. If we were to get into a serious fight, my injury would worsen. Worst case scenario, I’d need to swing by the hospital for healing.

“Fine.” I once more relent. Deciding that a bit of prevention was better than the alternative.

“I’ll be done in a moment…” After saying that, she extends her hand, laying it on where my injury was. At first, I feel nothing, but as the seconds pass, I begin to feel an odd warmth drilling its way into my body. Working away at the damage that had built up after every fight. Up until it began to mend my broken ribs.

Wiping her brow, Talia finishes. Even with her hand off me, I could still feel that warmth drilling into my body. Instinctively, I rolled my shoulders. Feeling stiff ligaments and muscles loosen. It felt absolutely amazing.

“So, how is it?” She asks.

“Wonderful. It didn’t cost you too much, did it? After all, we still have a few more fights ahead.”

“It didn’t take much. And honestly, what I did doesn’t technically count as healing. All I did was transfer some vitality over to you.”

“Vitality?”

“Yes, I can turn my magic into vitality and give it to somebody. It helps to accelerate healing, promote wellness, and all those nifty things. It’s not as good as real healing magic, but it gets the job done where a lot of them wouldn’t.”

“Is that so? I’m actually surprised it’s so effective. I’ve had people complain that I was unhealable like this.” I say, while testing my now rapidly healing body.

“Well, they’re not wrong. Normal healing brute forces recovery utilizing magic to fill in for the missing vitality. Which is why they can regenerate limbs and such or fix critical injuries. Infusing vitality works differently, it just enhances your body’s natural healing mechanisms. Which still work, even with you fully iced up like this.”

“So, it doesn’t cost much more?”

“I’d say, it doesn’t exactly cost more, but it takes longer to see an effect, but in exchange it lasts longer.”

“Ah… that is useful to know… is there a way to improve the efficacy?”

“Blood sacrifices and such. More specifically, the blood of powerful beasts, or refined blood. Both contain an impressive amount of vitality, which of course, helps. With enough vitality, regrowing limbs and such isn’t impossible.”

“And you lack that?”

“My magic isn’t focused on it. Rather, I can only do it because of the magic type I have. Blood magic users are more suited towards vitality transference.”

“So, it’s an auxiliary skill of a sort?”

“Pretty much. Like everything I can do, it relies on the medium.”

I nod. Filing that information away. Surely, if she upgrades her uniform, at some point, she might get the means to produce items fit for more efficient vitality transfers… Though, that is speculation, if it comes true, her value would be immense.

With my injuries slowly recovering, we took a moment to take a break. Some water, a few energy bars. It wasn’t much, but the effect it had on our morale was immense. While we ate, I was able to pull back on the ice, recovering some of my humanity and senses. With it, the pain that had been buried under ice.

With the ice receding, the warmth in my body worked overtime. It felt like I was in a nice hot bath. My whole body heated through, and only when it began to dissipate, taking with it all the pain and aches, did we continue.

It didn’t take long before we came upon a strange sight. A gate.

“A park?” Talia muttered beside me. The gate, made of wrought iron was slightly ajar. A path led forward, flanked by grass and bushes. It made me think of the big central park, only on a much smaller scale. Even with the fog expanding the world.

The gate creaked when it opened. Protesting our entry. The path before us was well kept. The grass trimmed, the bushes, weren’t just bushes, but rose bushes. What was odd, was that they appeared to be in full bloom. Crimson red flowers, that seemed to glow in the fog. Their petals were covered in dew that dripped down. Their smell permeated the park. Our eyes were open, our ears perked as we went. Only to slow as we arrived near the central part of the park.

It wasn’t much at first glance. A fountain at the center, with benches at its base. The fountain was active, water flowed. Which was odd.

On second thought, this whole park was odd. The grass was green. Roses were in full bloom, filling the air with their scent. Not to mention the fountain burbling away.

The air here, was oddly warm. Thick and heavy, like the rainy season before summer arrives. When life is in bloom.

What truly caught our eyes though, was the gargoyle atop the fountain. It was silent, unmoving. It looked different from its kin, the marble making up its body was well polished, and shimmered with prismatic hues in the light.

“That an enemy?” Talia asks.

“It probably is. Gargoyles are able to go inanimate. In doing so, they not only become indistinguishable from other statues, but allows them to travel about in their soul form.”

“Soul form?”

“Yes, Gargoyles are basically possessed statues. Different from constructs or golems. In being possessed, the statues gain flesh and regenerative abilities, among other things. At any time, the possessing demon may leave the statue, thus leaving it inert, like so.”

“Well, should we break it?”

“Breaking it would untether the demon from its body, so, yes, it would be prudent to do so, but… We may not get a coin out of it.”

“You think it’s worth a coin?”

“Kinda looks like it would be, and if we kill it now, well, all we’ll be doing is breaking a statue. So, I’m thinking it won’t give a coin.” I say, and Talia takes a moment to mull over what I had just said before speaking up.

“Huh… You might be right. Though, what do you think it is? Bronze?”

“Silver, probably. It looks magical.”

“Mm… it is kinda slim. And, those wings are kinda feathery looking. So definitely a different type.” She said, affirming my own opinion.

I nod along. “I am curious though, is this the only statue?”

“You think there might be more?” Then she sighed, “Right, up until this point they’ve been in groups, haven’t they?”

“They have, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to fight a few bronze rank gargoyles and some stone imps to round it out. Heck, maybe they’ll throw garden gnomes at us.” I joke.

“Garden gnomes?” Talia asks, giving me an odd look. “What are garden gnomes?”

I take a moment before responding to see if she was serious, and well, it actually makes sense that she wouldn’t know what that is, so I explain. “Little gnomes, typically made out of pottery or something. People like putting them on their lawns.”

“That sounds strange, but what is a gnome?”

I look at her.

“What?” She asks.

“No, just… I’m used to others being knowledgeable about these kinds of things.”

“What kind of things? I mean, I know a bit of magic, and I was around magical girls a lot back when I was in the fortress, but that’s about it. I don’t really know about things like, garden gnomes, or phones, though, I’ve gotten pretty used to using the phone.”

“Have you now? Well, that does make sense. Anyway, about those gnomes, think little, about shin high bearded men with conical hats on that are about as tall as they are.”

“Oh… that sounds weird.”

“They can most definitely be weird… Now, I think we should have a look around before the gargoyle here wakes up.”

“When do you think that’ll happen?”

“Probably when we get too close or cross a threshold of sorts. Gargoyles make good guard dogs due to them being very territorial. It’s why they’re so commonly made. I’m almost tempted to try and claim them, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t have the tools to do so.”

“Ah, I suppose that is a shame.”

“Honestly, I’d rather have the coin.” I say back.

Talia agreed, and with that we walked around, avoiding the central part of the park. Inevitably, we found other statues. Without much fanfare, we smashed apart the stone imps we found, as we didn’t want to deal with the little terrors. They didn’t wake as we approached, likely because they were tied to the central gargoyle, as for the other statues…

“That’s different.” Talia points out the obvious. A small path led to a gargoyle that was made with obsidian. Pitch black, reflective stone. Its eyes were rubies that glinted in the night. It was obviously going to be stronger. Probably a bronze rank if I had to guess.

“Think it’ll call for backup if we approach?” I ask Talia.

“No idea, want to give it a go?” Talia replies.

“I’m thinking we should. Though, we made sure to clean up all the imps in the surroundings, right?” I ask for confirmation.

“Yeah, I think we got them all, but we could do another sweep if you want?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I’d rather proceed, if you’re up for it.” I say, choosing to just get it over with.

“I am. Do you think you’ll need to transform?” Talia asks.

“No… I think I’ll be fine with this one. You and the knights will have to do the heavy lifting however.”

“I can do that, and I think your knights are raring to go.”

The pair, Estrella and Luna stepped forward, with their weapons ready.

“Alright then. Whenever you’re ready, step forward.”

Talia nods but takes a moment to check herself over before going forward. The moment Talia crosses an unseen threshold, the air shifts. The gargoyle before us begins to shake. The sound of it coming alive sounded like rocks cascading down a hill.

The gargoyle just began to shift when Talia struck. Not waiting for the creature to fully awaken, she shot forward with a burst of speed. With her axe held high, she swung down with all she had.

Her axe smashed into the obsidian gargoyle’s neck, resulting in a punctuated crack that echoed through the clearing. Bits of bone broke off her axe’s edge, the rebound jolted her back. In that space, the gargoyle moved. Its tail twitched and sailed forward, striking out like a coiled serpent.

Just before she was impaled by the obsidian gargoyle’s tail, one of my knights shot forward, managing to intercept the blow. Only to pay dearly for it. The bladed tail punched through their shield and continued right into their shoulder. In exchange, Talia’s life had been preserved. With a swear she scrambled off the ground and readied herself, her eyes on the gargoyle that began to move in earnest.

The gargoyle was completely unharmed. Not even a white scratch was left on its mirror black skin, where Talia had struck. Ruby-red eyes gleamed at us as it moved forward. With an almost reptilian grace, it made its way off the pedestal, with its forelegs first, tail snaking behind, bat-like wings fluttering on its back.

With nary a sound, it surged forward. Before my injured knight could even react, obsidian claws gleamed and swung out, seeking to eviscerate them. Only to be waylaid by Talia throwing herself forward, shield in hand. The claws gouged out chunks of her shield, but failed to penetrate, the sound incredibly loud, like steel scraping on steel. Allowing my knight a chance to react to the follow-up swing. Claws swept out, carving through the upper portion of their shield, separating it from the lower half.

The separated half of the shield shattered on impact with the ground.

They were at a disadvantage, but I wasn’t idle. The moment the gargoyle had surged forward, so too had I. With a stomp I shot forward. The moment my knight’s shield was cut an opening was made, which I had slipped through with my bayonet at the ready.

Unaccosted, I made my way forward. My silver blade shimmered, the tip sheared through its obsidian hide with startling ease, a faint hiss reaching my ears. Smoke and black blood erupted out of the wound as I pulled back, the gargoyle let out an unholy screech that made the ice coating my body crackle and shake.

Angered, it snapped forward, jaws seeking my head. Only to be bashed aside by my as of yet, uninjured knight. Their ice blade, dull and thick as it was, wasn’t enough to cause harm to the gargoyle, but was more than enough to redirect its bite. Its maw snapped shut beside my ear, the tail slithered and coiled just behind.

I didn’t back off. I pushed forward, ice burying emotion, hesitation, and fear. I hit the ground and slid under the bulk of the creature. A tail stabbed out, claws whistled above my head, clipping strands of my hair. Strands that broke into motes of ice as they separated from my body.

Using my rifle, I slammed the butt of it into the ground to push myself up and reorient once I was on the other side, just as the tail came swinging out. Even with the world slow and my senses enhanced, it came in so fast that I couldn’t even react, but a sudden shout broke through the noise.

Talia slammed forward with her cracked shield, the bone it was made of crackled ominously on contact with the beast’s leg, but it was enough to destabilize it, just enough that its tail swing went wide, barely missing my head. Following through with the impact, Talia hit the ground in a roll and reoriented herself, my knights took up positions, and I at the gargoyle’s back.

For a moment the gargoyle paused. Looked at each of us in turn. A flicker of malice gleamed in its ruby eyes. Sharp, scythe-like claws clicked against its stone hide.

This was going to be a tough fight. I could feel that in my bones.