Magical Girl City: Empire of Ice

The moment we moved. The very air shivered. It felt like, we were all as one. A combined force. Pieces of a singular being. The moment we met the tide head on, I had many thoughts. I considered how it would end.

Frankly, I had no idea what the chances of success were. Especially not against the empowered enemy, each suffused with a purple glow.

Reality stated, we’d just thrown ourselves into the endless tide. That we’d simply be swallowed up, like lights doused by the endless night.

Fantasy said we’d simply storm through. Bayonets carving a path to victory, stamping those before us into meat under our boots.

None of that happened. Rather… it was a bit of a mix between fantasy and reality.

We smashed into the tide, almost like it was a physical thing. We met them head on, bones rattled, ice crackled. It was a strange sight. Like seeing a line of linebackers, standing on the beach, tackling oncoming waves.

Foolish. Childish. A waste of time. Especially as those waves came ever harder, seemingly unstoppable.

Yet… when we charged forward, just like those linebackers… the sea… It recoiled. Much like when a dog has their snout swatted by a rolled-up newspaper, the horde stumbled back. Their confusion apparent. The entire mass seemed to shudder from the impact.

I very much felt the same way, but… the searing gazes, that feeling of being at the front of a glorious charge. It had my blood boiling. With a cry, we pushed. Bayonets slashed out, carving into the living tide. Ripping and tearing into it, as the mass remained stunned.

We made headway. Not much, but enough. Not that it mattered. The stunned mass recovered, regained its footing and pushed us back. As one, we took a step back and braced. Ready to take the counter assault… Only, I knew the truth. We’d be subsumed, consumed by the coming tide. Not with the force behind it…

Only, just before the tide hit, shadows burst forward from behind. Simple things, faceless men that cracked into the oncoming tide. Each, reminding me of Atlas, holding up the sky. Each doing their all to hold them back for even a moment, forming a literal dam to hold back the inevitable.

It held… maybe an instant. Enough time for us to level our rifles and loose. The filling the air with discordant cries, followed by the crack of thousands of crystalline shards impacting into the tide. And, the result was devastating. Essentially vaporizing everything before us.

As one we ejected casings. Loaded back up, and… we charged one more. Right back into the breach.

Again, the tide crashed into us, our charge stalled. Our bayonets clashed and cut. My bayonet keened and wailed in joy. And I could almost feel, hear, as the blades of my soldiers resonated and cried out as well. Each slash left a white haze that burned and scarred the monstrosities. My soldier’s bayonets left a haze of ice that froze and slowed those before them.

This time, the horde collected themselves quicker. We barely had a chance to step back before they came surging forward. And once again, new shadows shot out, barring them.

Another volley was fired. Punching back the tide, and once again, we ejected, loaded, and charged.

It wasn’t painless. Each charge took massive chunks of magic out of me. Each collision made my bones crack, and my muscles weep. My soldiers were no different. Just two charges brought us to the brink. My uniform struggled to absorb and disperse the damage. At any moment it would fail.

Still… we marched forward. We closed the distance. The snake grew ever closer. In two short charges we nearly bridged the gap. Yet, even then, the horde reoriented ever faster.

Could we handle another charge?

I wasn’t sure. A litany of curses ran through my mind. Enough to make even a sailor blush. But still… when they came, another wave of shadows burst out. And with it, I felt Claire’s magic abruptly cut off. As she collapsed to the ground spent, exhausted, and bleeding from overusing her magic.

Still, it gave us a chance. A final chance.

A final volley was launched. Did we eject, reload? No. There was no time.

“CHARGE!” I shouted, one, last, final time. Every soldier echoed back that sentiment, that desire. That singular need. And as one, we once again crashed against the dark tide.

I felt something crack. Something give way in that moment. Just after collision. A sound not unlike that of glass shattering. As a final hurrah, my uniform absorbed the blunt of the final charge before giving up the ghost. My own soldiers also received a burst of magic, just enough to keep them whole as they crashed into the line.

I was spent. Empty. Not a drop of magic in my veins and yet… We pushed. Bayonets cut and carved. The blade keening, supping on the lifeblood of our enemies to fuel itself.

And just before the tide could turn, we arrived. We’d opened a path. The snake stood before us, and the gatling… loosed. Each bullet carried tremendous force. Unlike all those used before, these were of a newer design, of a higher tier. A design I only received after getting my weapon upgraded.

Each bullet punched holes in the snake. Leaving large gaping wounds that refused to close or heal. Even as its flesh sloughed and moved, as if to fill in the gaps. Quickly, it was brought to the brink. But… before the gatling could do its job, the horde had recovered.

We gave not an inch. No shadows were here to bail us out or even give us another chance. No… instead, we held our ground. The last of my grenades were chucked out to blunt the offensive, but it did little to stop them.

The world slowed to a still as they closed in. As I felt the weight of their attention nearly bring me to my knees. Then, they hit…

It was a rush of blood and death. My bayonet cried, my voice cracking over the mayhem, demanding over and over, that we hold.

And hold we did. Just long enough for the gatling to do its job, for the silver rank to die a grisly death. Just enough for the horde to falter and for us to clear them out.

Yet… that was no salvation. Just as the last monster died, crunched under my boots. More came. As if to mock me, I heard a nearby whistle and pop. Near, yes, but not near enough.

There would be no salvation. Not here. Not now. With a smile. A self-deprecating smile… I laughed. My soldiers gave me a glance. I knew what they were thinking. What they were planning. Yet, I lacked the strength to stop them as they closed ranks. As they stood before me.

I could barely stand, let alone move. What ice clung to my frame propped me up.

They were in a sad state, my soldiers. Cracked, pieces of them broke off with every move they made. Even their weapons were in poor state. Their bayonets dulled and blunted. The body of their rifles were worn and cracked.

I could feel it. As much as I could see it. How their souls raged and burned, doing the impossible and keeping them whole.

At any moment they’d die, but… that moment wasn’t now. Their intent clear as they stood before me, using their bodies to bar the oncoming tide, even for a moment.

With their bodies and souls, they told me, to run. To flee.

I wanted to argue, to disagree. To say anything, do anything, but they knew me well. One look back, and I could see Claire being propped up by the silver captain. Their eyes were on me, glittering with intelligence as if to ask if I would leave Claire to die.

The answer… was infuriating. They knew their worth, as well as mine. So, with a cry, I moved. Even with stiff legs, I began to move. Not very fast, but I moved, nonetheless. Behind me, I heard it. The first clash. I felt as half the soldiers I brought with me died on the first impact.

My feet stamped onto stone. I could hear claws scrabbling just behind me. The flares and pings of my soldiers as they threw themselves forward to buy me just another moment. As the gatling loosed, killing monsters as they nipped at my heels.

Then I heard it. Another hiss and pop. So close, and yet… not close enough. Then another… and another… I blinked… thinking I had gone mad as I saw another loud firework blaze above the gate we guarded.

Followed by a loud groaning creak as the large doors slid open, just a bit. Just enough for us to slip in.

It was too good to be true. And yet… this was where it all went wrong, once again.

A beast, a bronze rank hurtled up and over my soldiers. A series of pings fed back the information. Only a last second attempt at dodging, really, just falling to the side and rolling with my momentum had me avoid the fate of being turned into chunky, half-frozen paste.

The gatling ran empty, making the world go silent. All the while, It loomed over me, almost sneering. Its body something between a lizard and horse

I had no fight left. The moment I hit the ground, all strength left my body. All I could do was blankly stare up at it as my soldiers begged and wept over our connection, even as they threw themselves forward, trying to disentangle themselves from the tide to be at my side.

And as I stared up, as it prepared to end me, I saw it. A shadow, a figure. A girl with a bat. In a blur, she flew over, her bat singing, the very air around it shimmering from its song.

The beast barely had the time to turn before the bat was swung in its direction. And in that same moment, that direction simply ceased to be. As the air shifted and howled, blowing up the entire area surrounding the beast, vaporizing it an instant.

A cloud of debris appeared, only to be blasted away by the following shockwave. Leaving me completely unharmed. Standing in its place, in the crater of ruined stone, was a familiar face. Ruth.

She looked worse for wear, to put it lightly. Covered in cuts and worrying wounds. Her hands were bleeding as they clutched her bat. Her hair wild and untamed. She was breathing heavily. Clearly at her limits and yet, looking at me, she gave a smile I never thought I’d see on her face.

“Made it.” She said. “Just in time…” And for a moment, her balance stuttered. Her eyes fluttered, a hand on her head. A moment of weakness, at the worst possible time. A monster lunged out, breaching the rapidly evaporating line.

She heard it, her swaying figure tightening ever so much, her eyes widened and focused on the open maw. Yet, it was too late for her to react. And as the maw reached her, something crashed into the beast, rather, through the beast.

Black, tar-like blood sprayed everywhere. And just beyond it, leaving a trail, was another familiar face. She was in no better position than Ruth. Covered in wounds as well, wielding a large, curved blade, was Raksha.

“Battle ain’t over yet little league.” She said, glancing at Ruth.

“Yeah, yeah… We’re in overtime and all.” Ruth said with a sigh and stretched, or tried to, only to abort it after a wince.

“Same plan as last time?” Ruth asks.

“Yeah, I take the weaklings, you handle the big boys.” Raksha said, sounding almost nonchalant about the whole affair. She then gazed at me and Claire as well.

“You should get back, we got this.” She said, giving me a thumbs up and a wide bloodied grin.

I wanted to argue, But Ruth gave me a look I understood all too well.

“I’ll leave it to you both.” I finally said, relenting the spotlight to them. The moment Raksha surged forward, the tide was pushed back. My soldiers, or what remained of them joined my side and helped me up.

With their help, we collected Claire and made our way inside the gate. After that, it slowly shut behind. As Raksha and Ruth fought below, the soldiers took up positions along the ramparts and began to assist with arrow fire.

I didn’t sit back to wait and see the results. Instead, I stumbled and made my way further into the city, where we received ai and a trip further towards the triage area. There, I met Joan and Serenity. Both worried after us.

Serenity worked over my wounds and helped me to ease up on the ice. Unfortunately, despite her desire to get me fighting fit, she was just as exhausted as I was. After a quick triage, enough that I wouldn’t bleed out and die if I lifted my ice, she bandaged me up and sent me out.

Where I ran into another familiar face.

She didn’t stop on seeing me. Rather, she rushed up to me and slammed right into me, nearly sending me toppling to the floor.

“You’re okay!”

I was taken aback by the figure holding me for dear life. As her body shivered, and as her green eyes were filled with tears. I’d never seen Diana like this. She looked about ready to break down, and only after checking me over and taking numerous deep breaths did she calm down enough to explain what happened.

The gist of which was… something went wrong. That alone wasn’t enough of a cause for concern, but…

“When the evacuation was taking too long, I figured you’d just retreat when you ran out of options. Then I heard you were sticking by and well, I thought you must know what you were doing, but there was still an issue, nothing was getting done!” She sounded almost hysterical as she went on.

“And then… I was told you’d charged in and… I…” At this point, she was about ready to break down in tears. “I thought you were going to die!” She finally yelled out. Attracting a bit of attention.

“Well, I told you already, I’m not easy to kill.” I said, trying to calm her down… it didn’t work, clearly.

She said nothing to that. She just looked at me, wiping tears from her eyes and sniffling. Only after she calmed down as neither of us spoke for a time, that she said anything.

“Why didn’t you retreat?” She asked. “And don’t tell me it was because it was the best option. You and I both know that isn’t true.”

She wasn’t wrong. Yet, I doubt she’d like the honest answer, but… well… it wasn’t like I had anything else to say to justify my actions.

“I trusted you.” I said. “Plain and simple.”

She blinked. As if unsure of what I just said. “What?” She asks. Almost disbelieving.

“I trusted you, rather, I trusted that you’d do something to make sure the plan succeeded.”

She blinked. Something in her gaze changed… “But… what if I hadn’t? I mean, what if the plan still failed?”

I shrugged. “I guess I’d be dead.”

She opened her mouth, only to snap it shut. She repeats this a few times. Her face flushing, paling as thoughts ran through her skull.

“W-why? Why though?” She finally asks.

“Because your dependable. Because I believe that you’d do everything you could to make it work. And well, I wasn’t wrong, was I?”

“But… what if… do you even realize what you dying here would do to me? I only agreed to this plan because I thought you’d have the sense to back down! Do you think I want your death on my conscience?”

I shrug. “I hedged my bets. I figured you were a good bet. After all, I’d much rather we win this event, especially after coming this far.”

Again, she blinked. “Your impossible…” She muttered. “No… You’re absolutely insane, you know that? How could you… No… I get it. I get it perfectly fine, it’s just… AGH!” She shouted and pulled at her hair. “Do you realize how frustrating this is!?”

Again, I shrug. “I… have an idea.” I said, remembering my own soldiers, how adamant they were to protect my own life, “But, we did succeed, right?”

Again, she stared. Again, she made to say something only to stop. Eventually, she settled on letting out a litany of swears. Cussing up and down the river for a few minutes straight before calling down. Her face flushed from the exertion.

“Prima… I really hate you…” She said, but… there was no real hate in her voice.

“Honestly, out of everything, I understand that the most.”

She laughed, a bright and honest one. “I can see that…” She said once she stopped. And she gave me a final look, as if trying to gauge something. Only, she seemed unsure how to ask.

Until she finally did ask. “Prima, mind if I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“How do you know if… a mistake is really a mistake, or just someone trying to screw you over?”

That… was a loaded question, but it seemed important. If anything, maybe it dealt with our current situation.

“What happened?” I asked. And so, she began to break down the whole situation, right from the beginning.