Magical Girl City: Empire of Ice

The air smelled, musty. Where I lay, was anything but soft. When I moved, I could hear crunching. Occasionally, a distant, but sharp chirp would pierce through the nothingness.

When my eyes opened, I wasn’t greeted with the familiar. A yellowed light buzzed and flickered, like it was stuffed with countless angry bees. The walls surrounding me were white tiles yellowed with age.

Out of instinct, I clutched at my side, felt for my face. Wondering if somehow, I’d lost something important, but I wasn’t alone.

“Oh, good your awake.” It was Nyx. She was sitting beside me on an old chair that creaked with every subtle movement she made.

“Where… am I?” I questioned. The moments prior seemed so distant, my memory not wanting to recall what had led to this.

“Éclair hit you a bit too hard… luckily your uniform broke and dispersed most of the damage, but yeah… she healed you up and well, you didn’t wake up right away, so I took you to the clinic.”

And just like that, it came flooding back… a groan left my lips. I got too heated, I should have just backed off, thrown in the towel. There was no way I could beat her, or even get close to beating her…

“How long was I out?” I ask.

“Not long, an hour or so at most.”

“That’s good… and where is Éclair, Talia?”

“Éclair stayed behind, she didn’t want to wait for you to wake up, but she did say she expects to see you next week.”

“I should have expected that…” I murmured. “And Talia?” I repeated.

“After making sure you were settled in, she left to run some errands and take a look at the marketplace, said you wouldn’t mind.”

It stung a little that she wasn’t at my side, but… she wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to do her own thing, for wanting to explore the area more. Though, I could complain if she wasted her time on whatever else…

“She’s not wrong.” I went to get up, but the moment I did, a wave of vertigo hit. Sending me right back into bed.

“You doing okay?”

“Just… need a few minutes is all.” I say.

My head hurt, and my body ached. I felt empty, drained. It wasn’t a new sensation, I’d faced this before, each and every time I used a coin to replenish my reserves. Like I was a cup with a hole in it, slowly being filled.

Eventually the hole would close, but in the meantime, I’d be stuck feeling like this. Drained, without much energy. Lethargic. Like my energy was leaking away.

I’m not sure how long I laid there. Hand on my forehead, eyes closed. Maybe I drifted off for a bit, but eventually, Nyx spoke up from beside me.

“You know, you did pretty well. Sure, Éclair wasn’t really trying, but you made her put some effort in.”

“Is that so?” I started. “And how did you do, when you fought her?”

I couldn’t see her, but I heard her shift. The chair she was on groaned in protest to her movement. “I wasn’t alone at the time. I was with two others. We were… colleagues, almost friends. We put up a good fight, but Éclair ran circles around us the whole time. It never seemed like she really tried or went all out. It wasn’t like we noticed until she actually started trying…”

She took a moment to settle herself.

“She took us down in quick succession once she got our measure. Even going as far as to disable, not kill us. With us down, she even gave us the offer to surrender…”

She paused, I waited. Eventually I spoke up as she stayed quiet.

“What happened?”

“Our captain showed up. Rather, she’d been watching the whole time, prepped a massive spell. A giant tornado landed right atop us, I barely managed to escape, the others… they weren’t so lucky. The winds, they tore them to shreds. Left nothing behind. I was only able to slip through because of my ability to meld into the shadows… even then, it was very touch and go…”

Another pause, a shaky breath.

“I’d thought Éclair was done in as well, but even though she’d been hit and sent flying, she got up like it was nothing. Then, she began to fight her. I saw a little of it, Éclair was like a flash of lightning, zipping around the massive tornado, moving from rubble to rubble. Leaving traces of electricity in her wake. Her sledgehammer beating into the tornado as if it were a living thing.”

Another shift, her chair creaked.

“It seemed futile. A waste of time and energy. Every blow did nothing, at least, as far as I and the captain could tell. Tired of Éclair’s antics, the tornado pushed out, shoving her away. Doing some damage, but it healed almost instantly. She boasted, our captain did. Said how nobody could break her defense, how her tornado was unbreakable.”

She cleared her throat. Her voice cracking, dry.

“I thought it was unbreakable too… then, Éclair, she…”

A pause, longer this time.

“She raised her weapon to the sky, and that was when I noticed. Every hit she had done, was for a purpose. She had electrically charged the whole damn tornado, and with every passing second, the charge had grown and grown. I thought she was going to unleash a singular blast, or use it to destabilize the tornado, she didn’t do any of that…”

I turned my head to look at her. Nyx had her head lowered, her teeth biting into her lower lip. Hands gripped so tight, they drew blood.

“She shouted something, the world went white. All the electricity flowed towards her hammer, and into her. For a second, a moment… an instant, Éclair became something… else. I barely saw it. A shadow, an afterimage, because the moment I saw it, she had already crashed into the tornado like a living wrecking ball. Smashed right through the impenetrable defense, and unleashed all of that built up lightning right into the center of the tornado…”

That… was that what happened? What caused the sky to clear on the blood moon?

“Everything in the vicinity was vaporized. The only survivor being a human shaped blob of meat that wriggled, steamed, and hissed as if being cooked. I remember staring, transfixed as that girl, as Éclair slowly recovered, uniform and all. Almost like she’d never been injured at all. And once she was up and going, she looked at me and asked once more, if I’d surrender.”

She laughed.

“Of course, at that point I didn’t even consider fighting her. Someone with that kind of power, there was no way I could have fought back. Just the thought of fighting her for real sends shivers down my spine…”

“Don’t you spar with her?” I asked.

“I don’t… she’s been teaching me, but every time I find myself opposite her, I freeze up. Which is probably why Éclair pushed for us to spar. As both a way for you and me to improve.”

“I’m not sure if she actually thought that far ahead.” I said truthfully. “Éclair is… a bit of an oddball from what I’ve seen. She can be oddly thoughtful at times, but at the same time, she doesn’t think when the chips are down. It’s not hard to imagine that she held back against you all, knowing your background, but in much the same way, I’m sure she knew your boss was waiting in the wings, just waiting to join.”

“What are you saying?” Nyx asked.

“It’s likely that Éclair could have saved your colleagues, or friends, but didn’t.”

“Ah…” She said, “I’ve thought about that too… I mean, seeing what she’d done back then, I don’t even think that was her limit. She probably could have saved them…”

“And?” I pressed.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Even if she could and chose not to, or if she truly was caught off-guard, it doesn’t change the outcome. I’m free of that place, free to do as I please, and I know the others would feel the same as I do, if they were in my position…”

She lapses into silence, I follow. My mind whirs. Dots connecting. I knew Éclair was strong, but… that strong? I’d heard she blew up half the city, but… experiencing the explosion from that night, I’d like to believe she could in fact do it if she tried. The bigger question was, just how much was she holding back?

After a little longer, I spoke up. “What about you Nyx, have you been holding back against me?” I ask.

“That… a little, actually. I’ve been focusing on hitting you, but honestly, I’ve been thinking of it like trying to catch a rather slippery rabbit. Not as a proper fight. Even if you can hurt me or push me back. It never felt like I was in any real danger fighting you. I thought, that if I got one good hit on you or two, you’d fall.”

“And, do you still feel the same?” I asked.

“No, definitely not. Had I fought you for real, and if you had done what you did against Éclair, honestly, I’d probably lose. That wasn’t just a small boost in power you had. It was quite significant.”

“Not that it helped me against her…” I said with a low chuckle.

“Yeah… but the lesson she was teaching you was a valuable one.”

“Not to pick a fight against someone well outside my weight class?”

“That… and that you aren’t as fast as you think you are.” Nyx said, almost too casually. “Your fast, but only because you can perfectly react whenever someone moves or attacks you. And from what Éclair said, I think she was right, you don’t have any talent for fighting.”

“I’ve been told that, countless times.”

“Yes, well, it’s more than that. You move well, and Éclair mentioned you had talent for dance, is that correct?”

“I do, spent some silver on it.”

“Well, it’s fairly obvious. When you’re attacked, you shift and move through defensive maneuvers fairly easily. On the other hand, when you attack, you become rigid and not in a good way. You become all too easy to read, making it easier to hem you in.”

“So, if what your saying is correct, my dance skill makes me into a proficient defender?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying, but its more than that… But, honestly, I’m not sure what, Éclair had something in mind, but with you out, it looked like she kind of forgot. Or rather, she didn’t think to mention what it was specifically.”

That made sense… When I first got the talent, it was out of necessity. Of a need to protect myself. Ever since then, I’ve been getting an odd feeling whenever I fight. Especially during that first fight.

It was an odd experience, it felt like, in that moment, all my teachings from when I was a child just… clicked into place. Like the world was a stage, that every movement and action was part of a grander plan. Like we weren’t just living or lives as we saw fit, but that, we were all part of a play. Being moved about like puppets on a string.

Perhaps those thoughts weren’t incorrect. Considering the mascots, and their as of yet, unknown plans for us. Though, assumptions could be made, it was better to play it by ear, for now.

With a final sigh, I forced myself up. The dizziness was mostly gone.

“You good?” Nyx asked.

“Yeah, I don’t plan to stay in bed all day… how about we go looking for Talia and get some food?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Nyx said with glee, her chair screeched along the tiles floor as she stood. The bed I was on groaned and crinkled as I forced myself up and off. The pair of us made our way out, into a hallway that led to a larger open area.

Clearly, this was part of the underground portion of the unfinished stadium that was used for an arena. At what was the front desk, I saw a familiar face.

“Serenity, how have you been?” I asked at the young woman, her head bent down to look at a pile of documents. She looked up as I said her name, her eyes widened, a smile flitted on her face.

“I’ve been good. I saw you come in not long ago, are you doing okay?”

“A training mishap is all. Nothing serious.” I said, making sure to downplay my injury.

“I’m glad you’re doing okay, the doctor doesn’t like to be here, not unless there’s an official match or tournament going on. So, if you were seriously injured, I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“Is that so? Why are you here then? I also saw you at the shooting alley, do you typically help around here?”

“I do, the clinic I work at operates out of here, more or less. We tend to get odd jobs to act as medical staff for this area as well. With the actual clinic just being for appointments.”

“No walk ins then?”

“Typically, no, and it’s not like we’re in a good part of town anyway.”

She did say it was located near the lower district. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant though, knowing that she does work here, more or less was… honestly, I’m not sure how to feel about it.

Happy that I’d be able to see her more, or not? She was with me during the first event, but I did leave her at the time, and sure, there were no hard feelings, but it was still odd…

“You sure your, okay?” Serenity spoke up. Leaning forward, her eyes focused on me with intent.

“Ah, yeah, just a little distracted is all…” I said. “I was just thinking, if you work here, we might see more of each other.”

“I’d like that.” She answered. “It’s been a while since the first event, and… a lot has happened, but… honestly? You seem, dependable. And I also know that we’re going to be working on the next event together, the last of our tutorial events. So, I don’t see a reason for why we should be, distant.”

“Really now? I’d just thought…”

“Its fine. I know you thought you were doing the right thing back then, and I still mean what I said last time we met. I don’t blame you. You made your choice, and I have no right to tell you what to think or do. I just hope, that next time, if something like that happens, I can be capable enough that it doesn’t come down to that.”

I nod. For some reason, I remember, Serenity was with us during the first event. With me, Diana, and Amanda. The four of us had made a good team. At least until Amanda was seriously injured. I left the group behind after confirming everyone was okay, all because Amanda was more or less out of commission.

Some part of me still regrets it, but I wouldn’t have made a different choice. Not just because it led to me getting a gold coin and a leg up, but also because it was the best decision at the time. I still believe that, wholeheartedly.

I remember Serenity had been out of it, she’d been blaming herself for Amanda getting injured as badly as she had. That she hadn’t been able to save her. At least Amanda was able to save herself, but… I didn’t think Serenity was still thinking about it, about what happened, that it was still weighing on her. And to be truthful, it was nice to hear that I wasn’t the only one still somewhat hung up on it.

Diana and I had buried the hatchet after Grim had given us an impromptu therapy session, though, I still can’t quite grasp exactly what it was that helped her get over it.

As for Amanda? She didn’t blame me, but rather, it seemed like she thought she deserved what happened to her. That she deserved to be left behind. I’d seen her often enough, and based on the last time I talked with her, she seemed to be doing fine…

As for the next event? Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to it.

After all, it wasn’t just them I was going to reunite with, I’d also be meeting back up with my team from the second event. Ruth, Diva, Terra, and Faust. It didn’t matter that we fought a giant heart together on the first event, or that for the majority of the second event, we spent a month or so together with little to no issues.

The issue was what had happened near the end of the event. The colossal series of failures that led to us failing the event. Failures that couldn’t just be squarely lumped onto one person. Combined with the enemy actions.

We all left that event feeling awful. Each for their own reason. Would those feelings be brought back up at the next event? Would they be forgotten? Ignored?

I wasn’t sure. And honestly, it was better to just wait until the day, instead of worrying about it now.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Serenity. We have someone to meet up with, and I have more errands to run. Hopefully I’ll see you next weekend.”

“I feel the same, Prima. And I should be here, and if I do see you, I hope it isn’t on a stretcher.” We shared a polite chuckle before separating. Nyx, who had simply stood aside like a useless third wheel stepped to my side as we left.

“Who was that?”

“A friend. We worked together during our first event.”

“Oh…” Was all she said, and we made our way out of the stadium…