Magical Girl City: Empire of Ice

I took the lead. The wolf obliged. I charged, again it tried to flee, only this time it was cut off by my surrounding soldiers. And lurking just behind them was Morrigan. Her gaze was, unsettling and if anything, it was her presence that kept the big wolf from simply charging through the line.

Taking the chance, I pulled the trigger. A discordant cry rang out and peppered the wolf’s side with countless shards of ice. The damage was minimal, but a layer of skin or whatever that tar was, was definitely shorn away.

It growled at the damage and immediately pounced. Its maw snapped shut right before me, I thrust my bayonet only for it to rear back. It tried to swipe at me with a paw, but I met it head on with my bayonet, allowing the tip to punch into the central padding of its paw.

It yelped, cried, and the blow connected sending my flying, but leaving an oozing gash on its foot. Only a thin film of golden light kept me whole as it took the brunt of the blow and shattered, in response, I heard Joan in the distance hack up blood.

However, it was worth the price.

Tenderly, the wolf tested its paw. Only to wince on contact with the ground. It growled and tried to move but its limp advanced into a full-on hobble. I however, was mostly fine after being batted aside like an unwanted toy. All thanks to Joan’s magic.

Once again, I squared up with the beast, only this time, I was in no hurry. I took my time, aiming my rifle, timing my shots and forcing it to either dodge and exacerbate its wounds, or take the bullet.

At first, it dodged, however, as its paw’s condition worsened, it was forced to take some shots and dodge others. Unfortunately for it, I kept randomizing my shots. Variating what went when, not really caring for if they hit or not.

In a way, the wolf was playing Russian roulette. Dodge a bullet and hope it was something serious like a piercing or explosive round or take the blow and hope it was something smaller like a standard or even shot round.

It no longer became a fight as we maneuvered back into a familiar game. It was a hunt, simple as that. A noose that slowly closed around its neck, bringing it closer to its inevitable end.

It was no different from the situation before, but even then… it wasn’t perfect. The wolf was cunning to say the least. Like I had made it bleed when I was attacked, it too made me bleed. With every chance it had, it struck out or dealt damage. Minor strikes and cuts accumulated over my already battered body as I stood at the forefront. None of which Joan took for me, as they were just glancing blows.

Something that had Joan clasping her hands before her and biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes were wide, unblinking, as she waited to pre-empt any attempt on my life.

As for Morrigan, she hung back, following the flow of battle surprisingly well. Taking unspoken cues and reading both of us like we were open books. She was always where she needed to be. Always ready to cut off the wolf’s retreat, or attempts to back off. Without her keeping the wolf hemmed in, they would have long broken containment.

Not that the wolf had any desire to leave, no, if anything, they seemed committed to seeing this through, no matter the cost.

By now, the sun was on the horizon. The world was bathed in an orange glow, in a matter of moments, the world would be plunged into night.

At this rate, the battle would drag on. Into the night, perhaps into the morrow.

The wolf, had other plans…

The moment the sun set, and the world was plunged into darkness, it jolted into action. It was sudden, completely out of nowhere and not just that, but totally suicidal.

The wolf went for the nearest soldier and chomped down, immediately killing the stone soldier, and was completely unbothered as the soldier thrust its weapon into its eye blinding one of them. The moment the soldier was swallowed, it continued to hunt, culling the weakest of my soldiers, completely disregarding its wounds before coming right for me.

I barely had enough time to react, even with the ice. My bayonet slashed out, aiming to cut the beast right before it bashed into me, but… it stopped short, paws dug into the earth, arresting its momentum enough that the bayonet slipped right before the beast, only leaving a faint line on its body where it just barely cut into its flesh.

From that position, it snapped forward. I raised my rifle to block the blow, but again, it redirected, transitioning into a sweeping strike of its paw. Completely taking me off-guard.

Yet… just before the paw struck, I heard it, felt it as a golden light came into being, flickering just right to take the blow…

Only for the paw to go wide, slipping right by my head as its entire body spun and smashed its tail into me, sending me flying.

On impact, my uniform shattered. It absorbed most of the blow, preserving my life, but bones were still broken, cracked from the impact. And crashing into the remnants of the stone road hardly helped, nor did me rolling like a rag doll help either.

I had barely enough strength to turn my head, enough to witness the wolf’s maw right before my face.

Yet, I wasn’t afraid, no, I was grinning. After all, in its final gambit, the wolf had made yet another mistake. Yes, going for me was the smartest option, but…

In going for me, in this instant, Morrigan had finally seen what it was she needed to see. From where she had been, she suddenly was at the wolf’s side. Its eyes shook, its entire body shivered in realization of what was coming.

Morrigan’s axe howled, cackled in glee. Like a thousand dead souls greeting another. It was a hefty strike that landed straight on the back of the wolf’s neck, a perfect beheading blow.

With a dull thud, of meat being perfectly separated, the head flew off with nary a catch. Yet, before that head even hit the ground, the eyes were dull, empty, devoid of any signs of life.

The body followed soon after, slumping to the ground. Confusing me. Had we hit the core? Was it really dead? As if to answer, a small surge of starlight shot out and suffused our forms, easing our wounds and exhaustion.

For a moment, there was nothing as Morrigan collapsed to the ground. Each of us exalting in our own way that we had not only triumphed but survived. Even my own stone soldiers, exhausted as they were slumped over. Their exhausted souls gave way to what could be called a slumber.

Seconds, minutes passed as we collected our breath, during which, we all picked up an odd sensation.

From the big wolf’s body an odd, almost earthy scent wafted out. The thick, black blood, and the piles of dissolving bodies too gave off this same scent. The air seemed to vibrate with new life. Every breath brought with it a flood of new energy that filled my veins.

Yet…

“What… is this?” Joan wondered from afar, our wounds, the damage we had taken was rapidly fading under the odd warmth that suffused us under the moonlight.

“I have no idea…” I answered honestly. Staring in awe, as the world around us changed. As the very earth seemed to come alive, as new growths, plants burst from the stone road and made themselves known. Rapidly growing, feeding off the energy, quickly transforming the marketplace into heavenly grove.

Even Morrigan, hearing my words and sensing the changes pried open a bloodshot eye to take in the sight and… she too stopped in confusion.

Stranger still, as we beheld the wolf’s decaying corpse, there was an odd, familiar glittering smoke wafting out. Rather, before our eyes it was glowing with that same light, proclaiming that it would give us one thing, bronze coins.

I had no idea what to make of it. And apparently none of us did. Eventually, after a few shared glances, we just did what came naturally.

“I’m collecting the coin.” I announced, nobody complained. A flush of energy came out of the corpse. A lot more than what I had come to associate with getting a bronze coin. It gathered in my palm, and I felt the usual suction as it gathered and compressed in my hands, only it was so much stronger this time.

With a crunch, I felt the energy condense fully and, in my hands…

“Huh…” I muttered. There wasn’t a single bronze coin in my hand, rather, there were three.

“What’s up?” Morrigan asked, but in lieu of a response, I just flicked one over to her. Even with just one eye pried open, she caught it without much issue.

“Your cut.” I said simply, and she finally noticed the other two in my hand. I made to hand one over to Joan, but…

“I don’t need it.” She said, pushing my hand away.

“Take it all the same.” I all but demanded, shoving the coin into her hands. “If you hadn’t arrived, all of my soldiers would be dead, I’d be dead.” I stated. She didn’t argue.

Stashing my own coin, I considered, took in the marketplace, or rather, the rapidly growing field. My thoughts were heavy, and I felt drained, exhausted in more than one way. Breathing in this scent, the invigorating energy flowing into my helped to soothe my aches and pains, but… this wasn’t a physical burden, but something else.

I looked over my fallen stone soldiers. Over the exhausted stone soldiers as they rapidly absorbed the ambient energy. I also checked our gains, not just in physical coins but also in event coins and… they were significant.

I had no words, but… I had my suspicions… these wolves, these… things… they seemed to sup on the magic, devour it whole, make the world lesser through their very existence. Yet, they did not feel natural to this realm.

Their very existence felt off…

While we recovered, I noticed we had company.

I could see them at the periphery, a few pointing towards us, human soldiers, survivors. Which meant, I’d have to have a conversation with the clan leader soon… Really, I didn’t want to deal with that, not right now. There was a part of me that was raging and screaming. I could only compartmentalize it so much. The ice helped, but there were so many cracks in it.

I felt like I was slowly coming apart at the seams. Like a cracked statue ready to fall to pieces. Only instinct and my own upbringing had me standing straight with a stiff upper lip, so to speak.

What those emotions were, were my own conflicted emotions towards my soldiers. Diva’s words struck home, the very words she spoke during the second event, of how they could be considered my children of a sort, and Cobalt’s sacrifice further drove that nail further in. A part of me warred with the necessity of having them as soldiers, another part of me wanted to regard them as part of me.

And truly, was I wrong? I gave them a piece of my soul, they were connected to me on some level. I could feel what they felt, and they too could feel what I was feeling. It wasn’t easy to simply dismiss them as something lesser, something to be discarded when needed. Yet, it was just so. Even these soldiers were made for that express purpose. To be disposable, experiments, little else.

Yet, even knowing that, acknowledging that. They still chose to do what they did. They arrayed themselves in such a way to protect me, even as their bodies faltered and failed, even as they were ground to nigh dust.

And it all happened due to my own weakness… my own inability.

If Morrigan and Joan hadn’t arrived when they did…

I was angry. Frustrated. A stewing mass of knotted emotions that had never truly dispersed with Cobalt’s death. It formed into a formidable cocktail, a burning venom that I had directed towards Luna and Estrella, and even now, that same venom clouds my own opinion of the two.

I was furious they’d just throw their lives away for me. Angry that they’d so easily discard what I painstakingly gave them. Had Luna and Estrella died to preserve Cobalt’s life, would I have felt the same for both? Would I have been upset, or proud that they had fulfilled their purpose?

Perhaps… I would have felt guilty? Having unknowingly put them in a situation that led to their death?

Such questions, such considerations burned in my gut. They beat at the gates of my heart, seeking release in some form or another. And such feelings, emotions, would only grow worse as I raise more familiars, as more die, and as more throw themselves away.

The cause, could be a warped sense of noblesse oblige. That, because I made them, that in a sense I was responsible for them. Another part of me saw them as intruding, as constantly seeking to overtake me, outdo me. And that prickled my pride as well. After all, as their creator should I not be their better? Should I not be the one at the top? For them to think they can protect me, no, for them to think that they had to protect me…

It was insulting…

Only, how do I even begin to untangle this mess?

I felt something over the line, the connection I shared with my soldiers. Each of them could sense my distress on some level and despite being unconscious some subconscious part of them had responded and yet, “Quiet down.” I bit.

I didn’t want to hear it after all. I did not need their sympathy, nor did I want it. Not now.

“You say something?” Morrigan asks.

“No… actually, I had a question, what is your magic exactly.” I pivoted and not in a good direction.

“Does it matter? I mean, I don’t have to say, do I?” She asks, but I could tell she was on edge. Defensive.

It was bad. I was angry. Chomping at the bit. Looking for something to lash out, so why, why did she have to lay out such fine bait?

“I think it does matter. We just went through a life and death battle, and earlier, you gave me a rather concerning look. At the time, I was willing to overlook it, but now that the situation is more or less under control, I need answers.” I practically snarl.

“Under control? Do you really think that? The wall is still breached, and those things are still coming in. I don’t really think now is the time for that.” Morrigan said, again trying to deflect. Not that she was entirely wrong.

“Well, I say it is. I’ve kept quiet all this time, but I can’t keep working with an unknown quality, not like this. Especially not when I suspect you may have killed other magical girls during the first event, and possibly even the second event.” I say, driving the knife ever deeper.

My words hit hard. She tensed, she looked ready to fight.

“So, what will it be?” I ask, making sure she knew that I was not only ready, but completely willing to fight. I didn’t even need to glance back to know that Joan had my back. It wasn’t even out of a shared understanding, sure, Joan didn’t like Morrigan, but she wasn’t the confrontational type.

No, Joan knew what I was feeling, that really, I was just looking for a convenient target to take out my frustration on. And if she didn’t back me up, I’d re-focus that attention on her.

It wasn’t… healthy, but regardless, this was a conversation that needed to be had. That was, at least, my excuse.

Morrigan, bit her lips. Her one eye was still propped open, bloodshot, and I could see she was working magic through it even now. Searching, seeking something, only, she wasn’t getting very far.

“How bout you share something yourself, before I go spilling everything.” She says again, almost taunting, pleading.

“This isn’t a negotiation…” I started, “But I will allow a question.”

She barks out a laugh, “You would, wouldn’t you. Very well, fine, I overheard your little spiel with your friend back in the town.”

“Crows?” I say.

“Exactly. I had them everywhere, you think I wouldn’t?”

“I had considered it, only, what does this have to do with that?” I press.

“I want to know. How did it feel? How did it feel when you killed him? When you stabbed him in the eye with his favorite pen?”

A moment. A pause. “Exhilarating.” I answered honestly. “Like I’d finally broken free, finally came into who I was supposed to be…” I trailed off. His smiling face, his words echoing in my skull. I was worse than him and yet, why was he still smiling? Then… there was that session with Leo, where I got drunk where it felt like I was speaking with Him all over again.

“But that wasn’t all, now was it?” She pressed.

“Does it matter?” I asked, pivoted desperately, and I knew she could tell.

“I wanted to know, that’s it.” And just like that, taking me by surprise, the fight fled her body. “I’m different from you all… I know that. I’ve always been surrounded by death. People tended to die all around me, and I always blamed myself. After all, it was so much easier.”

She finally slumped down, her uniform dissipating. Her eyes shut. “My magic is death, or something like that. I’m not sure how it works exactly, but I kill things. I can, somewhat, sort of see how people will die, and how to best kill them. The ability is further bolstered by my weapon and uniform. It’s also how I was able to kill that big wolf without hitting its core, I quite literally struck its soul.”

I nod and ask my next question, “And the crows?”

“An addition to my ability, I can take residual energies from the dead and turn them into crows. They’re essentially familiars.”

“I assume you used a coin for that?”

“I did… You were right earlier, I got the first place in the first event, not just that, I also succeeded during the second event.”

“And the rest of your team?”

“Dead, obviously. Also, the people who were with me during the first event, the same thing happened to them, they died.”

“Did you?” I asked, letting the question hang, knowing full well that she knew what I was asking.

“When my magic first manifested, it was hard to control. I kept… people just, would die. I tried to keep it quiet, but with everything happening, well, it just slipped out. We went down the tunnels, and, well, most of us escaped, they didn’t realize it at the time, but when they saw my score, well…”

“Connections were made.”

“Yeah… they thought I killed one of them, that I was a problem, a thing or two happened, and well, I found myself being chased through the event.”

“And nobody managed to spread the word?”

“How could they? It only got more dangerous as time went on, and the more I killed the faster I got a handle of my magic.”

“And the second event?” I asked.

“Went well, at first. Eventually though, someone asked me the very same question you just asked me. You can guess what happened.”

“And the mascots, did they?”

“They didn’t care, though… I was given a warning not to go overboard. After all, this is a cooperative event…” She lets out a forlorn laugh.

“And why tell me?” I ask.

“Cause you asked?” She said with a sarcastic grin. “But, really, I’m sick of this. You had my attention earlier, just, something about you, ya know?”

“Not really.”

“Thought not, but really, the reason why I was so interested in you is because of her.” She points to Joan.

“Her? Joan?” I ask, a little confused.

“Yeah, call it a hunch, but… I think we share something in common.”

Joan… didn’t look to happy with that comparison.

“We are nothing alike.” She said, steel in her voice. “I’ve always been a good girl. Always did my best. But you…”

She looked at Morrigan, her eyes blazing gold. The golden light seemed to bleach away color, until everything was white.

“You…” She starts again as the light burns and scorches Morrigan. The periphery of the light touches me, and I feel it bashing against the cracked ice protecting my mind. The feeling sends chills down my spine, and I prepare to step in when Morrigan, no longer as calm begins to whimper, when Joan suddenly stops.

“Aren’t… wrong…” She finally said, the light fading, something in her posture, her body shifting. She almost looked ashamed, her eyes unable to meet Morrigan’s scorched form. As for Morrigan, she just let out a sad life.

“Right? Figured you’d see something. After all, your magic seems rather, fitting for this kind of thing. Now… if you don’t mind, I’m going to just… take a nap, yeah?” And just like that, she falls right to sleep.

I was… conflicted. On one hand, I felt like I got a bit more of an answer, only, it had an unintended side effect here. Joan was, cagey. She wouldn’t look me in the eye, constantly fidgeting and grasping the hem of her shirt.

Which meant, it really was up to me…

I picked up Morrigan, the girl groaned and clung to me as I did so. With her in my arms, I ignored everything else and headed back towards the city central. There, I saw Liu Chou, the clan leader.

He was at the center of a developing command center. Soldiers were moving in and out, the man was intently eyeing maps and barking out orders. On our approach, he straightened up and looked us in the eyes.

Once he properly took us in, he bowed.

“Thank you.” And spoke. The surrounding soldiers all did the same, bowing and shouting their thanks. For a moment I was overwhelmed, but… with a girl stirring in my arms, fast asleep.

Really, I just felt annoyed.