Magical Girl City: Empire of Ice

The door didn’t want to budge at first. Yet, the moment it cracked open, a flood of magical energy came out. It was thick, condensed. It was almost like liquid. If liquid could defy physics, flowing out of the vault in crackling tendrils. The moment the door was fully open, there was what looked like a portal, a wall of near physical magical energy barring the way.

“Wow…” Someone muttered, I had no idea who spoke out. Nor was I in the state of mind to care for. Instead, cautiously, I stepped forward. The wall of energy felt oddly cool to the touch. Like a barrier of water. Only, running my finger along its surface, the liquid crackled and hissed. A charge ran up my arm in the process that made my entire arm numb and tingle.

Was it safe? Probably not, but... We were magical girls, we were built different, made for this, or so I was led to believe. Surely, this would be fine.

Even then, I held my breath as I pressed against the boundary. At first it resisted. Yet, the moment my hand pressed through, the resistance gave way to a sucking force that pulled me in. It very nearly threw me off my feet as I was pulled in. Only barely catching myself once I had entirely crossed the threshold.

The moment I took my first breath, I felt it. Every breath carried an electric tang. My heart thrummed, my blood burned. Every nerve, every cell in my body hummed as if energized.

It was like I’d been shot with adrenaline, as if I were breathing it in with every breath. It burned, it hurt, it throbbed, and yet, I had never felt so powerful. It thrummed in my veins. I could feel my magic restoring itself with every breath, I could feel it in my blood, nourishing my starved body with every passing second, strengthening me.

Just behind me, the others followed, each gasped as they crossed the threshold, each taken aback by the same sensations I was feeling.

Yet, we couldn’t luxuriate in it. We didn’t have the time, nor was this the place.

At the center of the ocean, was a maelstrom. It swirled slowly, sucking everything in. At the center, cocooned inside, was the ancestor, that old man, the Xiao clan leader. His form barely visible behind it all.

It became apparent as the seconds passed. We became more aware of the pressure bearing down on us. Like we were under water, in the depths with countless gallons of water pressing down on us. In the midst of it was a whole other sensation. Softly pulling and pushing against us. In tune with the Ancestor’s breathing. It went in and out, as if he were an industrial bellow. His every breath was loud, every inhale resounding.

The entire space quivered, pushed and pulled against us with every one of his breath’s. Which is when we felt the rhythm change, alerting us to the fact that we had not gone unnoticed.

Before I could even begin contemplating what we were even going to do, or how we were going to confront this, a choked cough reached my ears. Dulled, distant, as if underwater. With an echoing tint, as if it weren’t here nor there. Still, I felt the energy stir, and its source.

It was Joseph. Huddled in a corner. Blood leaking from his nose, gushing even. He was struggling. Every breath brought with it excruciating pain as he tried to keep the energy from flowing in with each breath.

I wasn’t the first to move. Diana was, she shot to Joseph’s side, immediately checked him over. A grim look on her face. He said something to her, his voice barely audible over everything, but… the intent was clear.

The Ancestor, the elder, he was absorbing the magical energy, literally taking it from the Exodus Engine. An entire realm was being drained by this one man. And something told me, that was bad news.

Joseph was hauled, literally thrown through the barrier before Diana came back, standing at my side. Her weapon out, in her hand. I said nothing, none of us did as we crossed another, unseen threshold.

The moment we did, the air shifted one last time. With a tremendous sound, not unlike the sound of a vacuum, or perhaps a straw sucking in the last vestiges of a smoothie. A slow rattling, a burbling crackling, that had our teeth vibrating in our skulls.

With it, the ambient energy surged into the man. His aged form, before our eyes began to change, shed. Like a cicada molting its skin, the old, ancient man, went dead, hollow, and bursting out of the back was someone, something else.

A young man. His white, wispy hair now thick and dark. His brows, wild and untamed, standing straight like swords. He pulled himself free from his old skin, naked as the day he was born. Nobody looked away, even as his… sizeable member showed itself.

No, what really stole our attention was the vast waves of unstable energy radiating from his form. Like we were standing before an atomic bomb that could go off at any second. His power fluctuated crazily and… what we felt was horrifying.

Whatever the Ancestor was doing, it seemed like he was ascending from a gold rank to a platinum.

Unperturbed at being in the nude, the old, now much younger Ancestor pulled the clothes free from his old skin and wrapped it around his waist with little care. He pulled back his hair with his hands, and while we watched, he tied it into a ponytail. As for his beard and eyebrows, left as they were.

As he levelled his gaze at us, I couldn’t help but think… he was rather good looking. His muscular chest, the way his eyes gleamed. He’d easily be a top male model, he was also absurdly tall, his shoulders wide, and, well, he was fit for sure. Well-proportioned. If someone told me this was Adonis, or perhaps, Zeus made flesh, I would have believed them.

He gave us a long look. His eyes darted to where Joseph had been. An easy smile on his lips that exposed pearlescent teeth that gleamed in the dim lighting.

It was enchanting and… as he opened his mouth to speak, everything clicked into place.

He was stalling. The air held the tang of magic still. A thrum of electricity. His power felt wrong, nascent even. I would almost say, that the man had ascended in some way, not just gotten younger. He’d just gathered everything up, like how a pufferfish expands to scare off predators. This was no different.

“He’s stalling.” I announced, “Hit him now.” I ordered and… everyone moved

It was sudden, quick. A burst of motion followed that took him off-guard. Everyone was itching to fight. The magic in the air put us all on edge, like we’d all been shot with adrenaline. Combine that with recent information, and my own statement. It was just like lighting a spark in powder keg.

Explosive. Diana went first. Her pick screamed and gnashed as she swung.

The man, the elder, the ancient all too easily took the blow, redirected it. Sending it elsewhere, where it simply dispersed into rough wind. As he made to strike, almost lazily, Raksha came in. The weapon he’d granted her hummed, as if baying for blood.

He aborted his strike, feet moving, if only a little to avoid the edge before cracking a fist into her side. On contact, her side exploded into gore and sent her flying. Gore that just as quickly flowed right back into her, rebuilding her.

In that moment, Ruth came in. Her bat came in from on high, aimed right for his head. He shifted again, barely dodging the blow, his body twisted, a kick came right for her, but a barrier of light appeared, multiple, that each shattered, but slowed the strike enough for Ruth to take the blow with her bat before getting sent off.

The kick sent out a whip of air that lashed us further out. Morrigan hovered around, her eyes bleeding as she took the man in. A wild, manic grin on her face as her pupils shook and devoured every centimeter of the man.

On my command, Diva began to play a song. Somber, slow, thrumming. A song not for us, but for him, the man. To amplify his presence, to make him all the more terrifying.

It was clear, he was no longer a gold rank. He’d truly ascended, I could feel it in my bones. The man before us felt like that tiger, like a platinum. Only… it was a slight thing. He was still consolidating. Still growing by the second. With every beat of his heart, his power grew manifold. We had only a few scant moments before he became truly more.

Yet, that was precisely why we had a chance.

Shadows burst out, a pulse of energy dispersed them before they could even strike. An errant axe swung in his direction dodged, a counter dodged by the barest of margins. A blade covered in blood whirred by. A gnashing pick swung, cutting impossibly close, and yet, only rustling the man’s clothes before dispersing calmly.

We couldn’t win. Not like this. Not as we were. And it didn’t help that the man’s gaze was on me, solely on me. Partly by my design, partly because he was aware that I was the center here. We were two kings, facing each other on the board. Neither of us daring to make an overt move, for fear of losing the game.

I had more pierces, but his power was quite literally, absolute.

Even then, it wasn’t easy keeping his attention. My whole being was screaming out in pain. Almost like I was staring right into the blazing sun. Cold sweat drenched my body, as if I were being looked at by an apex predator.

At the same time, under the pain, the stress, there was another feeling. Exaltation, joy, unbridled ecstasy. As I was being noticed by the sun itself, as if the stars and moon were bearing down on me, to witness me.

Warring between these two emotions, I found myself rapidly quaking, literally starting to crack under the pressure as I felt the ice protecting my mind shudder under his gaze.

I bit my lip. Blood gushing out through the vold. The pain bringing me some measure of focus as I felt my mind slowly crumbling. Clearly, I was losing an unseen war and yet… I couldn’t help but smile. After all, this was what made people strong. This, was what would make me strong.

Perhaps… for the first time, on seeing my smile, the man faltered. Slowed. Just enough for a whirring blade of blood to cut a bloody line along his perfect body. Enough for a single drop of ruby blood to fall to the ground and splatter the otherwise pristine floor.

Enough… to break a certain spell.

“WHY!” Diana cried. Her pick came in harsh, whining.

And for the first time, the man looked away from me.

He slapped away the pick. A punch shot out with the force of a cannon, cracking into Diana, only to be broken by a combined wall of wind, and a series of barriers of light. Even then, Diana did not go rocketing back. Her feet planted into the ground, cracking tiles she lunged again.

“Why are you doing this!?” She cried out.

And the man, snorted. The sound alone pushed against us. Nearly bowling us over.

“Why wouldn’t I?” The man answered back. Almost amused at Diana’s response.

“How does this help your family? The clan? The people under you?” Diana asked, cried, wiping blood from her mouth.

“Because, I am the clan.” The man states, looking at her, us, like we were idiots. Like that was the obvious response. “They all exist, solely for me. So long as I exist, the clan shall exist as well. I can always sire more young. I can always rebuild. That is their purpose. Nothing more.”

His words held conviction. No, not just, but it felt like a law. Something immutable. Something that could never be changed. Something, that just was.

Hearing those words. And seeing Diana go blank. I couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. Yet, I knew she couldn’t hear me. No. Rather, in that moment…

I understood.

It was a niggling feeling. A constant scratch at the back of my mind. How everything had developed, how it went. How this was even playing out. Like some kind of drama, every piece falling into place. Almost as if it was foreseen, planned.

And I knew exactly who. I understood. I could feel it, the slow thrum, the slowly turning tide of the orchestra. The subtle shift of threads as fate itself seemed to shudder.

Diva had thought me mad for my choice of music, but it was based on a hunch. I mean, why choose a music that would empower our enemy, and weaken ourselves.

Obviously it was for this moment. And seeing it all come together like this, as if scripted, planned, penned by a playwright greater than I, and knowing this I couldn’t help but laugh. After all, I wasn’t wrong… the mascots had their own designs and clearly, I’d caught onto the tail of it.

The man shot me a look. Confused at my sudden brevity. Thinking I had gone mad. Instead, I said this.

“What is a magical girl?” I asked instead? A question that completely flew over the man’s head… and yet, it wasn’t for him. It was for everyone else.

“To suffer? To blindly grope through the dark? To be pulled about like puppets on a string? Or is it to believe? To believe in certain truths, to believe in something that can never be attained? And to make that truth reality?”

It was a question and yet… it was also an answer of sorts.

Why I climbed. Why I was the way I was. Who I was at the core of my being. What I yearned to be above all else…

I hated that I was brought here and yet…

I wouldn’t have it any other way. This was who I was. Someone that thrived on the stage. I was no director, but… I now understood, at least a little bit. After all, I think… I could finally understand a little bit of what the mascots wanted. And I think, for now that was enough.

“Always hated it…” Diana spoke. “Being surrounded by people, being told the company was more important than anything else. That I had to sacrifice, that everyone was expected to sacrifice for the company to thrive. That my parent’s death was necessary for the company!” She shouted. Taking the man by surprise… and yet, before he could even move or respond, something happened. Something clicked.

“WELL FUCK THAT! FUCK IT ALL!” And Diana, she debuted.

It was a moment, a pause. The world shattered like broken glass. I found myself sitting in a crowd. Watching. I was formless, a figure wearing a mask. Nothing more, nothing less. It took everything I had to even look away from the scene to the countless others watching, waiting for what was to come.

A girl, no, Diana sat at the head of a table. Surrounded by sycophants. Gifts and words given, dripping with blood. A mockery of a boardroom, their faces and bodies twisted, grotesque.

Yet, despite all the finery, despite everything… Diana’s eyes were focused elsewhere, her eyes stared out the window, to a distant mountain. And without concern, she stood. Tearing free of her vestments, she ran for the window and leapt out.

Glass shattered, following in her wake. In a breath, a moment, she was elsewhere, hands grasping at a moment. Climbing, pulling herself up, bit by bit. The wind ripped and teared at her body. Ripping away the cocoon of light. Little by little revealing what lay beneath until she ascended to the top. Where she stood, and the stars above shone down on her.

And at that moment, she was complete.

The world came crashing into focus. Diana was before us, solitary as a mountain, gales of wind lashing about around her, both gently and fiercely. Cold and yet, oddly warm.

It swirled around each of us, and I felt myself grow stronger, as it protected me, guided me.

“From now on…” She started. “I will pave my own way!” And she shot forward. The very air rupturing from her motion. Her pick gnashed and screamed, but no longer did the man dare take it head on.

He dodged the pick, but the unleashed wind ripped around and lashed into his back. Eliciting a pained grunt from him. He swung, but wind harried his blow, diverting it as she slid away and swung again. In a moment, she unleashed dozens of blows, each lashing at him, drawing blood.

But… it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Diva was stunned, but when I gave my command, she jerked to action, the music shifted, as did the mood.

Then came, the challenge. “If there was ever a chance to face yourself, confront who you are, why not now!” I challenged, barked.

The man shot me a glare, finally realizing what I was doing, what I was hedging on, but… it was far too late. After all, A wall such as he didn’t come often.

The world shuddered. And once again, I found myself seated, overlooking a stage.

Raksha’s Debut.

A farm. Fields of golden wheat as far as the eye could see. There she stood at the center of it all, letting her hands run through the wheat. Her eyes locked on the distant setting sun. Only to look back at the farm for a long, moment. Her gaze wavering, unsure, but with grit teeth, she turned her back on the farm and ran for the sun.

The sun’s rays lashed out, burned away who she was. The sky itself began to bleed red, the fields of wheat darkened and greyed. It began to rain, the rain slicing through her being, revealing what lay beneath. Her body moving with purpose. Conquering challenge after challenge, beast after beast. Until finally she stood above it all, a victor. A setting sun, a cheering crowd, and an endless sea of blood.

And the world came right back.

The Ancestor moved to shout, to say, do something as Raksha shot forward, a wave of blood following her as she swung her blade, but… before she could strike, the world cracked again.

An empty field. A girl, Ruth standing. Her eyes focused forward. A bat in her hand. She took up a stance. And she swung.

Something tore at her. Ripped her apart. A crowd roared as the sound of a ball hitting gloves reached my ears. I was in the stands of a stadium, with countless faceless people masked people. Wearing jerseys crying and screaming. The board above blazed. A tied match. Overtime, a final pitch. A final chance.

Ruth was below. Her body shaking as she wound up as she steadied herself for another swing. The pitcher glared at her, a mask on their face, but… it did little to hide the malicious grin, the too wide smile, the shark teeth.

With grit teeth, Ruth held her ground. Another ball was thrown, her body slowed, a tremor of hesitation ran through her and she swung, a moment late. The force the strike, the passing ball tore into her, cracking the cocoon of light covering her being.

She fell to her knees. Gasped for air. And yet, when she stood up, one last time, something had changed. The malicious grin gave way to a serious frown. And once more, the ball was thrown…

Only, this time, with a world rending crack, it was struck. The bat swung true, snapping into the ball, sending it right into the heavens. The force alone battered the crowd back, silence filled the stadium as she bolted, running the bases. The cocoon of light breaking apart, leaving glittering trails in her wake.

The moment she hit home, the world lurched into being and she shot forward, just a step behind Raksha. Raksha’s blade cut into flesh, drawing out blood in a bloody line as it gravitated towards her, a metal bat cracked into bone right after, letting out a pinging whine, and what sounded like the sudden pulse of applause as the blow sent out a loud, Ping! That filled the air and sent out a shockwave of force that cracked out like she’d hit a world ending home run.

With a desperate pulse of energy, the pair were pushed off the Ancestor. His side was bloodied and rent, a long gash along his side wept freely as blood siphoned out and flowed into Raksha’s uniform, empowering her, making her stronger by the moment. Like a feral beast, he slammed into Diana, forcing her off him, but gained another worrying wound for his trouble.

With those assaulting him rebuffed, the Ancestor had succeeded in resetting the fight and yet… we were still far from being done.

No longer was he calm and at ease. Now he was alert, tensed, even as he continued to consolidate his newfound power. We had moments more, at best. We just needed a bit more, something more…

And it happened. Another debut. Claire.

A theatre. A stage shrouded in shadow. A lone slide projector hummed in the background, illuminating the stand. At the center, Claire. Lonely, lost. With a flick, the light was gone. Only darkness. And then it came back.

Again, and again. Each time, it cut into her. Piece by piece, ripping away who she was. Until… there was nothing. Then darkness. Then… in the light, a shadowed figure. Darkness. Two figures. Darkness. Three figures. Their numbers growing with each slide.

Until finally, they blotted out the light, until finally, out of the very darkness she came moving with every click, every shutter, leaving trails of who she was. Until there was only her, light and dark. Until we, the audience found ourselves on the stage, and her, in the seats.

And the curtain was drawn.

The world came back. I had barely a moment to process what had happened before my shadow came to life, a copy of me shot forward and crashed into the man, and more shadows burst out, imperfect replicas of each of us, each capable of using limited magic, mimicking our capabilities and adding to the pressure he was facing.

But still, it wasn’t enough…

However, now it was time for me to enter the stage…