Magical Girl City: Empire of Ice

Thunder? The thought flashed across my mind. A single marred thought on an otherwise clear as ice mind. Every moment, every instant, every detail was present to me in startling clarity. So, the sound definitely threw me off.

Not enough to put me in danger, but enough to disturb the dance, if only just. Enough for even the dragon I was dancing with, my partner to take note.

Even through its maddened fury and haze, a trace of clarity came to its eyes as it too seemed to realize the oddity for what it was.

The distant storm was not yet upon us. Even as the sun began to dip, even as darkness slowly made itself known across the land. So, why did the thunder come from so close?

It was a single thought, a single instant, like lightning that flashed between us. In that same instant, everything changed.

Something hit the beast. Right in the head. The blow hit with enough force that its head jerked to the side and then came the following blast. It was enough to throw me to the ground, enough to cause a large portion of the gathering murder to fall to the ground from the shockwave.

The instant I could look up, I witnessed a hell of a sight. Half the dragon’s face had been blown off. Revealing metallic bones that glimmered in the evening light.

Its baleful eyes, or what remained of them, suddenly shot towards the source of the explosion. Its attention shifting, its entire being prepared to launch towards the source of its disfigurement.

Just as quickly, I wrenched its attention back to me. A series of shots into its open wound reminded it that I existed. And for a single moment, its attention wavered between me and the one that had caused it such serious harm.

At least, until I did the most sensible thing known to man.

I flipped it off.

Perhaps it didn’t fully understand the gesture, but it understood fully what I was trying to convey. And, clearly, it didn’t like it.

The spotlight that flickered between me and our mystery combatant, suddenly snapped to me with the force of a thousand suns. The monster’s being exploded out into fire, burning everything in the vicinity to ash as it launched itself forward like a rocket.

The suddenness of its motion, the sheer shock of speed as it shot itself forward took me by surprise. Even with the ice, by the time I processed what had happened, the fire was already licking at my body, burning and scorching everywhere it touched, its open maw right before me, ready to swallow me whole.

And again, I heard thunder.

The beast shuddered with an explosive blast of heat that redirected it, but not enough as I finally saw the projectile, a large, almost comically large bullet crossed my vision. Making the very air bend as it shattered through the sound barrier. It cracked into the side of the beast, not fully, but in more of a glancing blow, but even as the shell was redirected by the dragon’s hard scales, it still took a ton of flesh with it.

The powerful force behind the redirected bullet sent the dragon right into the ground. Almost as if an almighty being had spiked it into the earth like it were just a volleyball. What attention I had was gone in that instant. Its rage and fury spiked and now, there was little to nothing I could do to reign it in.

With a singular roar, a terrifying burst of flame shot into the sky. The heat was enough to make the wind pick up, and for even the distant clouds to gather as the dragon cried out. It was so hot, the surrounding ground blackened and melted, before turning into glassy rock. Not even Morrigan dared to close the gap, as her crows tried to disperse, even as the wind howled, and lightning and thunder came into being from the sudden shift in temperature.

Once the roar was done, it looked towards the source of its harm and… proceeded to erase that direction.

One moment, it looked out towards a part of the city wall, more towards the entrance gate. The next, there was just a vast gaping trench that stretched out to the horizon. The next instant, a sudden shock of heat washed over the world. Instantly igniting underbrush, causing the stone to melt away like ice cream on a hot day before it too, ignited. In barely a breath of time, a chunk of the city was now ablaze. With smoke gushing into the sky, rapidly choking out the setting sun.

The wind shifted, the clouds gathered. A crack of lightning split the sky as darkness overtook the world. And with it, came a deluge of rain so heavy, so thick, it felt like I was being pelted by paintballs.

Each strike of water on my wounds sent a shiver down my spine. I had no idea where I was. The sudden shock, the explosion had sent me flying into a ruined building smashing through stone. My uniform, was gone, having taken the brunt of explosion and somehow, by some miracle, preserving my life.

I could barely move, but with every breath, what was left of my energy surged and bubbled, filling in the cracks with ice. Even as the rain pelted me with enough force that it felt like I was being pummeled into the earth.

It let out another roar, that carried out over the city… As if announcing its supremacy. The force of it, caused the surrounding rain to peel away around it, sending out a wave of water that washed over the still burning surroundings, which only caused the surrounding flames to surge and spit, and for the water to sizzle and boil before being put out.

Even with the fires doused, there wasn’t any reprieve. The beating rain did its very best to keep me down as I struggled to stand. My magic was spent, empty, and yet, I felt that familiar surge bubbling from deep within.

What this was, was something simple. A final reserve, a final push. A final biological imperative to survive. Not every magical girl could pull on that sensation. Not that it was special in any way.

Everyone has it. It has many names, though, hysterical strength can be one name for it. A full unleash of a body’s potential. Ignoring all consequences, for a singular purpose.

Éclair called it a second wind at some point. Based on a perk I could possibly buy. Which, was functionally the same. But, since I already had it, there wasn’t a reason not to train it. And how did it get trained?

By being brought to the brink, over and over. And if Éclair was good at anything, it was giving out a beating.

It hasn’t been that long since we began training, I’ve hardly mastered it, but… with Éclair’s assistance, I now had a better handle of it, the reserves were steeper, easier to pull from.

Which was how I was standing at this moment. How, even as I felt ready to break to pieces, how it was that I was able to face off with the dragon, with rifle in hand, without my uniform.

I felt naked before the dragon. Even as the spotlight fell on me, I felt no better. Its bearing almost regal as it made its way forward, not quite sneering, but having an almost smug look on its ruined face that seemed to say that this was the expected result…

And perhaps it was… But… even then, I could sense the smallest thread of respect. Even if it annoyed the hell out of it.

Even with it looking down at me, even as it prepared to snuff my life out, I couldn’t help but give it a smile, a smile so brilliant, that it seemed to give the Dragon pause.

I smiled, not because I sensed death, but because… I felt it. A single thread. A single chance. Because from afar, I could feel it. That attack had cost the dragon significantly, and not just that, but whatever that bullet did, had done severe damage. That, and all the accumulated damage up to this point really added up. However, I couldn’t do it alone. At my command, my soldiers, or what was left of them gathered themselves up. Yes, they wouldn’t be of much use, but they would still serve.

As of now, the dragon had huge gaping wounds, dripping ichor. Ichor that radiated an absurd amount of magic, enough that it was almost physical. Sensing them move, what was happening, the dragon spoke again.

“Even now, you persist?” The dragon asks, his voice somewhere between awed and incredulous.

“Yes… I still persist” My answered back “After all, I’m not dead yet!” I shout. And I fely my soldiers blaze back over our connection. “And so long as I have a single breath in my body, I will fight, I will claw and pull myself up!” I snarled at the dragon.

“BECAUSE I’M NOT DEAD! NOT YET!” I cried one final time, and my soldiers moved into actions, burning their very souls in one last charge.

I too joined the charge, bayonet in hand. With every stomp of my foot, I felt my heart shudder, my entire being shake.

I highly doubted I’d even make it to the end. That I’d even reach the dragon and yet...

Somehow, I did.

The dragon made to strike at us, when I heard it again. Even over the rain, the crackling thunder that sounded like fireworks as lightning cracked around us. A singular boom, a crack so loud it stood above all else.

A bullet cut through the storm and rain, creating a path in its wake of clear sky. The dragon moved aside, aborting their strike. The bullet missed but left a trail that carved through the dragon’s already wounded flank.

Angered, almost frenzied from the back-to-back damage, and that the ignorant gnat was still alive, the dragon ignited and took in a breath. Aiming to obliterate me and my cohort along with the entire direction from where the bullet had come from.

Yet, before it could, something came from on high. Sailing a lazy arc through the sky. Landing, with unerring accuracy, right into the dragon’s one good eye, was an axe. Morrigan’s axe.

I heard her distance shout. The voice drowned out under the rain and thunder. The only way I could see, was thanks to the lightning cracking down on everything.

The axe, the pain, the loss of its remaining eye forced the dragon to recoil, its breath went wide and high. The heat, the explosion, nearly kicked us into the mud, the surrounding rain flash boiled, turning into scalding steam that burned the skin.

Still, we marched, we charged.

And after what felt like an eternity, we crashed into the wounded dragon. It wasn’t glorious. It wasn’t enough to make the world shake, but… our weapons dug into the wounded flesh. We cut and carved. Ignorant of its waving arms and head. Or the scalding heat of its body that made ice melt and flesh burn.

We just kept stabbing and cutting. Stabbing and cutting. Spurred on by every drop of blood, as it filled the air, and kept us from simply keeling over. Filling us with new life. All the while, the spent dragon struggled to throw us off as we dug in, prying off scales, or clinging to tendons or bone.

There was no plan,. Just desperate butchery as we laid into the wounded and blinded dragon. It howled, roared, mewled as its wounds grew. As my bayonet, as weapons dug into soft flesh. As we worked ourselves in. Digging into it like rats.

The consecutive blasts of fire, the cumulative damage, being blinded, bled, and now being butchered alive rapidly sapped away what little strength the Dragon had left, until finally it struggled to even keep its head up. Which is when Morrigan came in, limping, wounded, and without her uniform. Retrieving her axe, we worked together to begin the work of beheading the dragon, one chop at a time.

It was no glorious victory. We all stood wounded, battered, and soaked through in blood and water. Even with it beheaded and dead, or dying, our bodies mechanically continued to thrust into the already dead corpse. Even continuing as a surge of starlight flooded into us, giving us another surge of strength. Only when most of the body had dissolved into mush, leaving behind only sturdy bones did it finally hit home. Even then, it didn’t feel real.

But… We had won. We had survived. Somehow…

I fell to my knees at that realization and immediately they sunk into frigid mud. I fell forward as well, but before I could fall face first into the mud, a hand shot to my shoulder, keeping me up.

“Hell of a fight, right?” Morrigan said, gazing down at me from above with a wide grin. Her eyes glimmering with the promise of death. I felt my own heart and soul shudder, just being in her presence. Like my entire being was a candle in the midst of a stormy night. Just needing a stiff breeze to blow it out…

Fear, terror, existential dread took hold, trying to snuff me out, and yet…

I thought back to the cold. The emptiness. The void. And just like that, I breathed and smiled back, wanly.

“Yeah… good kill.” I said back, putting my arm around her shoulder. I looked up and noted the golden smoke wafting off the dragon’s remains, marking that it would indeed drop a gold coin. “You going to collect the coin?” I ask as she helps me up.

“Hm? Thought we made a deal that you’d take the coin?” She said, and honestly, it almost sounded teasing.

“I’m not sure it was even worth the coin.” I say back… “And it’s not like we lost anything, right?”

And that was when I felt her stiffen.

“About that…” She avoided my gaze. My heart lurched.

I mustered up just enough energy and courage to ask, “What happened?”

“Well, a thing or two… I mean, I was being careful, but then that monster when all, whoosh and boom! And like, I was right in the middle of it, and I’m not built like you, so, um, I may have overdrawn the orb, just a teensy, weensy bit, and well, it shattered…”

I sighed, again… “Well, it was badly made as it was, but is that it? Is Joan?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s about it. Joan’s fine, passed out a bit away. Think I saw her when I was running to help. I think she was just far enough away to avoid the brunt of the explosion.”

“That’s good…” I sigh, thankful she didn’t die, or get caught up in the explosion, “I suppose I’ll take the coin then; I’ll need something to tide over the loss of my item.”

She laughed at what I said, I too laughed.

She didn’t question my logic. If anything, we both knew the orb wasn’t really worth a gold coin. I’m absolutely certain we both knew that. Was this her way of apologizing for her behavior up till now? Or, perhaps something else?

“I’m betting your regretting joining me now.” I said in a self-deprecating tone, all the while, with her help, I made to collect the coin.

“Me? Regret? You kidding me? This is the most fun I’ve had in my whole life! Even if we’d all died just now, I’d have done it all over again.”

“Well, we didn’t… thanks to our mysterious shooter.”

“Yeah… you think they’re on our side?”

“I think, regardless, that they are going to be trouble.” I said firmly. And I could tell she agreed. Without even having to say it, she also understood the urgency of the moment.

Once I could, I went ahead and claimed the coin. A sudden surge of energy gathered into my hand, it practically burned before I felt it coalesce and crack into being in my palm. Most of the bones cracked and broke apart, while some, remained. As for the gains, a gold coin and… some change, more specifically, a few bronze coins which I planned to distribute later…

“You going to use it?” Morrigan asked after a moment. Not at all commenting on how odd it is that we received more than just a gold coin. Then again, with how exhausted we were, I didn’t blame her for not making a fuss.

“Not just yet, I’d rather wait and see who our mystery guest it. After all, there is a lot I can do with a gold coin.”

She nodded, agreeing with my plan. And also, we began to make our way back towards where Joan was. She was, well, without a uniform, she was in bad shape. The ensuing explosion, and the shock of heat had blasted her into the ground. It was obvious she wasn’t in good condition, her face pale, body shivering, blood dripping from her mouth, likely from internal bleeding.

Like me, she was totally spent. Which meant, Morrigan had to help her up as well, practically limping along with us to find the nearest shelter. The moment we were under it; we all fell into a wet and cold pile.

After a few minutes, only by huddling together did we not freeze over. Not that the lingering ice in my veins helped at all. Didn’t stop the two from clinging to me for warmth.

As time passed, as the sun fell, the rain didn’t abate. If anything, it only came ever harder. A dull roar that seemed to drown everything else out, the temperature dropping precipitously. Every breath we made came out in a frosty haze. Shivering, we clung together for warmth, waiting for help, or the storm to end.

Intermittently, small bouts of golden light would wash over us, chasing away the cold, easing over our injuries, but it wasn’t completely enough. We slipped in and out of fitful rest. Only to wake with warm blankets draped over us, having been ushered back to our estate of all these things. There, warm baths were drawn, food and tea were prepped. All too quickly we were sitting at a table, newly clothed, and resting our exhausted bodies.

Even still, we were wrapped in blankets and huddling together, slipping in and out of sleep.

In that moment of weakness, a visitor arrived.

The moment we saw him, we were on edge. He’d taken his shoes off at the front, along with his jacket and hat. Leaving him in a suit and tie. On his back though, was a large black case, taller than he was. Which he brought in and laid out in our living room.

He was clearly soaked through, covered in mud and grit. Even then, nothing about him seemed out of the ordinary, only that he clearly didn’t fit with this realm’s aesthetic. I couldn’t sense any magic from him, nor his weapon. His entire being exuded normalcy. He really just looked like an average guy.

“Excuse me ladies.” He said all too calmly, a hand gripped on a strap that held his large case, his other on his chest. Like this, he gave a slow subtle bow. Though I noticed the slight tremble in his posture, the slight wince, and the clear signs of a hobble. He was injured.

“I don’t mean to intrude, but I do believe you and I have business.” He said all too smoothly. Like an experienced door-to-door salesman.

“My name is Joseph, and I’m with the Bureau.”

What followed his words, was a flash of lightning that bled through the windows, and an earth-shaking crack of thunder.

I took a moment to process those words, his name. Though exhausted, a trickle of ice helped me work through everything before I slowly extricated myself from our huddle and introduced myself.

“Prima, and this is Joan and Morrigan.” I gestured to the pair. Both of whom shuffled a bit to the side, closer to me. “Please, have a seat.”

I gestured to the other end of the table we were all at.

“Don’t mind if I do.” He said all too easily and sat down across from us. Even without any input from me, he poured himself a cup of hot tea and grabbed a few snacks that were sitting on the table.

I said nothing as he cradled the cup in his hands and took his time to enjoy the warmth and taste. All the while, Morrigan looked unconcerned, though wary, and Joan, Joan seemed to be searching for something, something she couldn’t seem to find.

Only once I was sure he was settled in, I spoke.

“I imagine you’re the agent I was told about?”

“Indeed, I am.”

“That means, you were the one to tell them what we are, were you not?”

“I was, well, I wasn’t exactly the one that told them, somebody else did it, but I am related to the person that did.”

“A superior then?” I followed up with.

“That would be correct.”

“And what exactly is this bureau?” I asked, getting to the crux of the matter.

“The Bureau of Preservation. BOP, if you will. And, I also know full well what you are and what you are here for, I’m also well aware of those entities behind you, the mascots.”

Another flash of lightning, another crack of thunder.

“And I’m afraid, we’ve never heard of you, or your supposed organization.”

“I’d think not. The Bureau tends to avoid dealing with… anomalies like yourselves and the mascots.”

“And yet we find you here, or… would that be, you found us here?”

He laughs. Takes a sip of tea. “Well, we were here first. But knowing how They work, it’s not entirely improbable that They were aware of our presence here.”

“And what exactly were you doing?”

“Preserving this realm, or rather, attempting to.”

“And how exactly did you plan to do that?”

“I can assure you, we had something in mind, only, your presence has… accelerated plans from what I’ve been told.”

I frowned. Fingers drummed on the table. It was a bad habit, a tell, and yet, even with the trickle of ice keeping me calm, I felt like I was about to break apart. I had so many questions, concerns, all baying at the gates, demanding to be unleashed. I kept a tight leash on those thoughts though. Kept them in a vice of ice.

Eventually, I stated what needed to be. “Does that make us enemies?” I said.

Both Morrigan and Joan tensed slightly, eyeing me, the man, waiting for the signal, or anything to go wrong.

He laughed, completely brushing off the statement.

“Hardly, you have your task, I have mine. Before you arrived, I was supposed to keep an eye on this realm until resources could be diverted to helping them. That is, until you arrived. With your arrival, well, what happens heavily depends on your choice.”

“Our choice?”

“That would be correct, after all, what is it you intend to do? Destroy this realm, or lead these people to salvation?”

“We haven’t quite decided that.” I answered.

“I thought not, otherwise you’d already be making moves. Which is why I’m even here. That, and your arrival wasn’t exactly a surprise.”

“How was it not?”

“We have our ways of determining future events. Not unlike the star spawn, or that sheep of yours.”

Sheep? The mascot then… I immediately connected the dots.

“Then if you know so much… surely you know our purpose? Why it was we were chosen, no?” I asked, sending out a flurry of questions.

“Specifically, I’m not too sure. I’m not high enough on the paygrade to know everything, but I do know this… Our goals are not dissimilar. After all, like us, the mascots, and you, are all trying to protect existence as we know it. To prevent the end of all life.”

I blinked. Even Morrigan paused mid-sip, splashing hot tea on her lap. With a yelp she moves to clean it up, as for Joan, she looks genuinely startled by the statement. But me? I wasn’t a believer.

“You expect me to believe that at face value?”

“Go ahead and ask your mascot. They’ll give you the details, especially now that the cat is out of the bag.”

“I’ll be sure to do that… Now, putting that aside… what is it you want from us? Especially since you seem to think our goals are aligned.”

“Simple, we have a means of saving this realm. Only, I can’t do it on my own.”

“Your weapon seemed plenty capable.”

“Indeed, it works well against Them fairly well, and beings of magic like yourself just as well.” He said, all too casually dropping a serious threat without an ounce of severity. Almost as if him having a weapon capable of murdering us was normal. Not that were invincible, but… I couldn’t help but think back to the fight. How, most of the damage dealt to that thing had been done by that rifle. Of that, I was certain.

“However, I am but a singular man. And… there is power in numbers.” He finally says, giving each of us a look in turn.

I consider. Rather, there wasn’t a lot to go on, but…

“Do you mind if I make a call?”

“Go ahead, I don’t mind.”

And so, I gave Diana a call. She answered quickly enough, and just as quickly, I put her on speaker. And from there, he began.