Prism Girls 3 – Tomorrow’s Destiny

“So, this is Fort Newton?” Vivi asked as they approached the building, her wings wrapping around her waist to rest while the ones on her head curled behind her ears, weary from the flight.

The building was deceptively unimpressive, its size disguised by the cliffs flanking it and the bulky bushy trees around it. According to Agent Roth, the terrain before them was partly artificial. The area had been terraformed as part of an older project, burying the true scope of the complex under a natural facade. The result was a seemingly modest observatory with a large observation deck, or at least that’s what it once had. The top of the building was now disheveled, ruptured as a strange sliver of silver energy danced in the sky, the metal exposed in the roof sparking occasionally with electricity. Likewise, parts of the ground had been blown away, as if something gouged out the dirt and exposed the torn surface of the facility beneath them.

“So that energy is the portal?” Annie asked.

“No,” Agent Roth answered in her earpiece. “The portal is inside.”

“What you’re seeing is a kind of residual distortion,” Ami added. “To put it simply, portals can be formed improperly, which is the case here. The most common errors are regarding their range. Often those who create them will figure out their depth and width, but forget to account for height, or something like that. The mana gets confused and spews out in whatever direction that wasn’t taken into account. In this case, it seems to be height, so the mana is just spewing upward to compensate for its improper formation.”

“Wait, does that mean someone made the portal here on purpose, but made a mistake?” Vivi asked.

“That we don’t know,” Roth answered. “There’s no evidence for that, but we’ve yet to investigate Fort Newton until now, so we have nothing concrete to go on. All we know is that the portal seems to have formed in range of a lab used for teleportation based experiments.”

“I do have a hypothesis about that,” Cheryl stated, her voice crackling through the earpiece as well. “I’m no expert on this or course, but given the information we’ve gotten about the experiment, they were experimenting with teleportation over a flat distance, which would account for width and depth. It could be that those parameters were what was used in the formation of the portal. Intentional or not, we have no idea.”

“So it could be an accident?” Vivi asked.

“It seems that way,” Lilith said. “Before we investigate that though…”

“She’s inside, isn’t she?” Vivi’s thoughts returned to Athena’s plea.

“Don’t worry sweetie, you’ve got this,” Lilith stated confidently, her hand gently patting her granddaughter’s head.

“Yeah… Let’s go.” Vivi faced the entrance, the door crumpled up on the floor. The trio approached, entering the lobby to find the lights were on.

“Zeus must’ve turned on the lights,” Annie noted.

“So, you’re finally here,” a woman’s voice greeted them. From a shadowed corner emerged a youthful woman. Her dark hair curled around her ears, gathering into a long dark braid, a ribbon of gold woven throughout. Her hand grazed the hilt of the sword at her back as her icy blue eyes watched the group carefully before frowning for a moment as she lingered upon Vivi and then scoffed. “Strange, I was told there’d be six of you,” she sighed. “Did… did they…?”

“They’re fine,” Annie stated confidently yet gruffly. The goddess let slip a small smile before shaking her head. “So, you’re Ares I take it?”

“I take if you learned of me from Odin or my sister?”

Vivi frowned. “Why are you doing this?”

“Hmm?”

“You don’t really want this, do you?”

“What are you…?”

“Zeus… He mistreated Tiamat for being a woman. And I know that you’re a kind person. You helped Thermia, right? Surely, you don’t want to help someone who’d want to hurt her, would you?”

Ares chuckled. “So… that’s her name now?” Ares smiled softly. “I’m glad she made it through that. She...” She took a sudden sharp breath and then shook her head. “None of that matters now. Zeus… Father’s will must be obeyed,” she stated somberly. “I’ll say this once. Leave now. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to fight you.”

“You’re not going to answer her?” Annie asked.

Ares shook her head. “There is no time for such talk. Not now. Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Annie prodded her.

“I…” Ares hesitated. Her eyes suddenly clamped shut and she took another sharp breath. She frowned as her eyes landed upon her target. “I’m sorry…” She drew her sword and hurled herself forward. Vivi flinched as light flashed from the sword coming towards her.

There was a loud clang. Annie stood before the goddess, her hand anchoring her sword, the gold and silver flames wreathing it flickering fiercely. Annie stared down the goddess and pushed against her might. Then as her silvery wings swiped towards the goddess, she finally backed off, leaping back as her left hand grabbed for a short sword mounted on her thigh.

“Lilith,” Annie stated. “Protect her.” She stated bluntly before pressing onward. The women’s swords sparked with fury as they collided again and again, neither showing any signs of relenting.

As the two clashed, Vivi could only helplessly watch on as her heart trembled with fear. Worries filled her mind. Could Annie really keep up with a goddess? Could she really win? If she could, what would that mean for Ares? Why was she even fighting them? She didn’t seem like she wanted to fight. So why had she insisted like this? It was almost as if… Vivi trembled, an unusual feeling filling her.

“You feel it, don’t you Vivi?” Lilith asked her.

“It’s like Athena said,” Vivi mumbled. “Zeus did something to her, didn’t he?”

Lilith nodded. “He did. However,” her lips began to curl into a smile. “The fact that you can tell that much means you can help her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember our training?”

“Our training?” Vivi repeated. They’d trained a lot the past several weeks to get her succubus powers under control. The charms were of course something she needed to learn how to control. She didn’t want to randomly charm people on accident as her powers grew. Then there was her sensitivity. Not only were succubi sensitive to all sorts of power due to their nature to feed upon intimacy, but her mama’s nature as an empathic elf had been passed on to her as well, making her extra sensitive to the feelings of others.

Her eyes widened as she recalled one of Lilith and Cheryl’s explanations. Her powers as a magical girl were unique due to the powers she’d inherited. She seemed to inherit a lot of Cheryl’s aptitudes and even plenty of her elven features, including her hair, and her power was no different. And now, with her succubus powers enhancing her original talents…

Vivi smiled as she began to put the pieces together.

“Grandma… I think I can reach out to her. Last time, I needed Mom’s help to reach Tia, but this time…”

“That’s right,” Lilith smiled. “I believe you can do this. And don’t worry. If Zeus tries to interfere, I’ll be right here to protect you.”

“Thank you, Grandma.” Vivi turned back to watch Annie and Ares fight. However, this time, fear was a distant thought. She instead began to grin as she unleashed her demonic energy, her natural allure filling the room.

Ares’s movements began to slow. Her offenses lazed behind Annie’s own. Her offense faltered and fell, and she fell on the back foot. And then it happened. A subtle flinch, a flutter of an eyelid, a hesitation, a fearful whisper, cracking the door open ever so slightly. In that instant, she could see it, feel it. Ares’s heart trembling behind a protective guard. Vivi grabbed for the crack, the world falling away, a void of pink opening up and consuming the war goddess and her.

As the pink realm settled in around them, Ares’s body eased to a halt. Her body drew breath. Quicker and quicker. Tears broached her eyes as a ring of electricity began to form around her. Vivi frowned as Ares fell, grabbing at her legs as if to hide her pain. She approached the frightful woman. Voices began to echo around her. Cruel awful voices.

“I didn’t raise a freak!” one hissed.

“Boys don’t cry,” cooed a kinder yet crueler one.

“Get up and fight back!” barked another one

“Why would you want to get rid of your muscles?” yet another playfully teased in a sickening way.

“Your only value is to hurt others,” the chorus melted together, a different pair of voices emerging from them. “You must be strong. You must be stern. You must stare down our enemies and kill them.” The pair of voices grew more dominant and clearer. One older and one… Vivi cringed, the voice all too recognizable.

“Oh ho…” the familiar one chuckled. “So it’s the misled boy again?”

Vivi looked up and saw the sparking shade sneering at her. “Zeus…”

“I must admit. I’m impressed. I’d expected the brat to kill you before you could get this far, but I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising given how weak and feeble his form has become. Still though, to imagine you managed to wiggle in so much easier this time.”

“So, you’re why she attacked me?”

“Heh,” the shade chuckled. “As much as I’d enjoy this little dance, I see no reason to prolong it with such trivialities. We both know how you foiled my hold on the dragon. Of course you’d be the biggest threat to my control on this one. However, this time…” The shade smirked. “You don’t have your mommy to help you, do you little boy.”

Vivi giggled. “I’m a capable enough woman to handle you,” she said confidently, her eyes shimmering pink with prideful power. The shade cringed.

“A demigod?”

“Demigoddess!” Vivi said confidently, masking her on curiosity on the matter. She was the granddaughter of a goddess. Did that make her part goddess too? She hadn’t thought about it until now, but several important demigods in myth were descendants of gods, so surely she should count too… maybe? Regardless, she approached the meager shade who recoiled in fright.

“No… you’ve gotten that strong this quickly? How!?”

“My name is Vivi! I am Prism Magenta and a lilim of Lilith!” Vivi proudly declared. “And you…” She smirked.” ...do not belong here.”

Vivi channeled her magic into her palm and then blew upon it, a purple energy wafting around the room and swirling around the shade which grimaced… and then it grinned.

“Well… so be it. You might have a way to get rid of me. But the old All Father… even in death, his touch remains.” The shade chuckled. “But, should you manage to push through, then the real me will gladly greet you.” Its form finally faded away as his quiet laugh lingered for a moment.

“What a creep,” Vivi grumbled. She turned her attention back to Ares’s form and frowned as the shade’s lightning had been replaced by an array of blue beams of energy, characters she didn’t recognize dancing around the woman. “Ares,” she mumbled as she approached.

“A weapon of war,” a deep elderly voice echoed around her. “You are a weapon of war.”

“This is…” Vivi looked around to find nothing but the energy and Ares. “It’s like when Mom and I entered Tiamat’s heart, and her doubts spilled out, but this…”

“You don’t need kindness. You don’t need compassion. Foster anger. Foster rage,” the voice chanted, Ares trembling in response, weakly shaking her head. “Remember who you are.”

Various visions appeared before her. Visions of a muscular man leading an army with a fierce glare. He appeared again and again. Always with a deep scowl. Always with an angered stare. Always advancing. As the visions appeared, Ares seemed to curl upon herself more and more, whimpering even crying. It didn’t take much for her to realize what the visions were or what they meant. They were Ares in her previous life. A fantastical god of war. A fierce angry god. A god with a glare of death, her own. A sense of melancholy filled the space.

“Remember who you are supposed to be,” the voice chanted again.

The visions shifted, this time showing a boyish kid, thin, short haired, and quiet. Their eyes were heavy, as if ready to leak tears at a moments notice. They looked small and sad, desperately so.

Other people began to fill the visions. A man berating the child for being weak. Friends laughing at them for some unknowable reason. Teachers ridiculing them for being a nuisance. But worst of all was the anguish of their own thoughts. The self-hatred. The guilt. The denial of… something.

Vivi clutched at her chest as she realized the reality of scenes playing out before her. There was a strange fuzziness filling them. A subtle push. A frame, keeping things squarely on the blame, as if to say that the child needed to change, to become stronger, to fight. It left it all feeling empty.

Her senses screamed at her. Her demonic energy clung to the feeling, holding it close, embracing it, caressing it, tracing its seams and lines. And then she found it. A hole, gaping and ailing. Ares shuddered in pain. “I’m sorry,” she cried.

Vivi took a deep breath and then smiled. “It’s okay,” she said. “I see you.”

* * *

Annie swung her blade, her divine flame propelling it into Ares’s solid guard. The goddess grit her teeth and stared down the red Prism Girl with a wavering gaze. It was a delicate dance. Ares, fortunately, despite her split attention, was still strong enough to keep up with Annie’s assault, which in turn allowed her to keep Ares off keep her off balance. Even so…

“Come on, Vivi,” she whispered to herself as she recovered from her attack. “You need to help her before either of us screw up.” She took another breath and fixed her gaze back to Ares, watching to figure out her next move. However, the goddess simply stood there and stared at her, her jaw drooping slightly as her eyes seemed to stare beyond her. “Did she…?”

“Aaaa-” Ares shirked back in pain. “AAAAA!!!!” she screamed as lightning began to pulse off of her. Annie immediately rose her sword, her flames fanning out to shield her from the sudden attack, for the brief moment it took. As Annie lowered her weapon, she met Ares’s gaze, now fixed to her, her gaze almost dazed, yet her body seemed to move on instinct. Her eyes widened further as she snarled as if to bear her teeth like a predator.

The goddess charged forward and swung her blade haphazardly. Annie braced herself only to realize too late that the attack wasn’t meant for her. The goddess charged past her and again at Vivi.

“RRAAAAGH!” Ares roared as she brought her blade down upon the defenseless succubus. And yet, it never arrived. Instead the blade vanished, peeking out from across the room from a shadowy slit in the wall, one matching the shadowy gap in front of her. Lilith stepped forward, magic pooled in her hand. She unleashed the purple swell of energy upon the war goddess forcing her back.

Ares panted haggardly as Annie rallied beside Lilith. “What the hell just happened, she-?” Annie questioned.

“Vivi purged Zeus’s hold on her,” Lilith explained.

“But, wait, shouldn’t she be calming down then.”

Lilith sighed. “Damn that Odin. He left a spell in her to incite her should his hold on her become threatened.”

“But Odin is dead, isn’t he?”

“Yes, but he was the All Father of his pantheon. His power was strong enough to outlive him.”

“So, now we have to deal with her going berserk then?” Annie asked. “Well, guess we’ll just need to protect Vivi.” Lilith chuckled. “Lilith?”

“Annie, leave this to me. I’ll protect Vivi. You push on ahead and go after Zeus.”

“Are you kidding!? Now’s not the time to-”

“With his shade gone, he’ll be alerted to our presence. Whatever he has planned, he can’t be allowed to finish it. And I’m sure he’ll be surprised to see someone get to him so fast.”

“Are… are you sure?” Annie grimaced.

“Quite,” Lilith chuckled. “Besides, Vivi’s not taking this lying down either,” she stated, glancing behind her. Annie looked back, seeing plants emerging from the ground, forming a protective wall of branches around the pink Prism Girl. “She learned from Erika and I to summon her magic defensively like this when she’s focusing. We’ll be fine. Now go.”

Annie huffed and then nodded. “Keep her safe.”

“Oh trust me, I have no intention of any harm coming to her.” Annie sighed and turned to face the entrance Ares had been protecting and made a dash for it. As she did Ares continued to quiver in the center of the room, heaving as her face became more and more twisted with anger. She roared again at Lilith before charging in again. Lilith grinned as she prepared to meet her. Shadows erupted from the ground clashing with the blade and forcing Ares to the side. She panted as she rose back to her feet, her face twisted even more with anger. She snarled, wisps blue light emanating from her body. Lilith scowled.

“This energy… Odin? Vivi… You better be okay in there.” She sighed. “And please, do hurry up dear. Even I have limits.”

* * *

“Why…” Ares’s voice echoed through the space. “Why was I reborn like this?” she asked. The vision lingered on her gazing in the mirror with a trembling gaze meeting the small and soft form in the reflection. “Why am I a woman?”

The vision immediately shifted to later, once more. The girl in the mirror had changed. The once small soft girl had become more muscular. Still undeniably feminine, but more defined, a certain thickness holding her together. The blushing shy look she had was replaced with a sadder gaze. “This is who I really am, isn’t it?” No one responded. The vision seemed to twitch for a second before her frown deepened. “I can’t escape it.” It abruptly cut out again.

“I missed it again,” Vivi grumbled in frustration. The visions had started looping at this point. Ares was still curled over in pain as the visions assaulted her time and again with their cruel intent. All the while, Vivi had been chasing the missing element the visions seemed so rigorously designed to omit.

A missing voice. A response that wasn’t allowed to exist, much less linger. But the evidence was still present. It was still obvious to Vivi.

“Missed her again,” Vivi muttered to herself as another vision ended. The visions now again looping through the visions of Ares’s old form. The angry look was more evidently a dead gaze to her now. A hollowed out look of someone who had no idea how to live. It bore a resemblance to the one of the child. The child, the young girl, wasn’t allowed to live. Her eyes were forced to look out through a mask that hid her against her will. The message of the vision was clearly to say that she disappointed those around her for not surrendering herself to what they expected of her. It then bounced through various points of pain through her life before suddenly cutting out and jumping towards Ares looking in the mirror.

The visions were trying to hide her. Hide her burgeoning awareness, her recognition, her acceptance, her passionate embrace of life. The girl that lived before Ares revived wasn’t allowed to exist in the oppressive messages pummeling down the goddess.

But she was still there.

“Why was I reborn like this?”

Vivi readied herself.

“Why am I a woman?” the vision of Ares asked again.

“You look happy,” Vivi said, in answer. The vision shuddered in response. And then it pushed on.

“This is who I really am, isn’t it?” Ares asked.

“You don’t look happy though,” Vivi said, another voice echoing after her.

The depressed visage of the muscular Ares cringed and Vivi readied herself again, prepared to interfere as best she could. “Leave,” the aged voice of the runes ordered, the vision halting in its place.

“Let her go!” Vivi bit back.

“He must remember who he is,” the runic voice answered.

“She isn’t your doll!” Vivi yelled. “Stop hurting them!” Ares trembled as Vivi said that, barely able to turn her head to look at her confusedly. “You remember her, right? The girl who lived before you revived. You remember her right?”

“He is gone,” the runes answered and Ares whimpered in sadness.

“Is that what he’s been telling you?” Vivi questioned. “That she’s gone?”

“It’s true…” Ares whimpered. “I… I killed her… She’s gone because I’m here.”

“Ares, that’s not-”

“It is true!” Ares shouted, tears streaming down her face. “She was happy! She was able to be herself! And then I woke up and I took over! I didn’t want to! I didn’t want to hurt her! But… just by being here… Just by being me… My power ate away at her until she was gone. It’s not fair! She deserved to live! She wasn’t cursed like I am! I warped the body she worked so hard to have! And then I made her disappear! It’s all my fault! I’m just a tool of war… I’m just destined to hurt people...”

“I don’t believe that’s true,” Vivi countered.

“What would you know!?”

“I…” Vivi stammered then shook her head. “I know that Athena, your sister, went through something similar.” Ares looked at her in shock. “Athena was born into another woman’s body like you. Over time, she gained more and more control until she believed they’d merged together. But then after I met her, her human half came back.”

“She… she did?” Ares asked.

“She did. And she’s not alone. Medusa’s managed to live with her partner too. And I’m sure yours wants to as well.”

“But she’s gone…”

“No, she’s not.” Vivi stated confidently, much to Ares’s confusion. “I could feel her all this time. Zeus and Odin, they’ve tried to silence her all this time, but I can feel it. I can feel her. She’s sleeping, but she’s still there.”

“Brie is still…”

“SILENCE!” the runic voice screeched, causing Ares to tremble in pain. “HE IS GONE! YOU KILLED HIM!”

“I…” Ares shuddered as the runes began to grow in size, their energy intensifying. “I… Brie… I…”

Vivi took a deep breath and smiled. She summoned her wand, the demonic wings around its heart fluttering about. “There you are.”

“YOU WILL OBEY!” the runes roared. “YOU WILL-” the energy shuddered as a flurry of vines grabbed at them, wrapping around the floating characters and pulling them down, their circuits of energy tearing apart as they crumbled. “WH-WHAT!?”

Vivi grinned. She’d had trouble pinning down how the runes worked at first and then realized they were too small to properly attack. “Maybe if you hadn’t grown, maybe I wouldn’t have managed to hit you,” Vivi said proudly. “Now go away!” She snapped, the runes crumbling beneath the vines.

Vivi took a deep breath before approaching Ares again. “Are you okay?”

“You… Why did you help me?” Ares asked.

“Athena wanted me to, but honestly, you seemed to be in pain, and I wanted to help.” Vivi smiled.

“Athena wanted to help me?” Ares questioned. “But she…”

“Who wouldn’t want to help you, cutie?” another voice asked. Ares’s eyes widened as she looked around, to find another woman that looked like her appearing beside her.

“Brie?”

“Hi, Marina.” Ares began to smile as she gazed upon her doppelganger.

“Marina?” Vivi repeated. “So, that’s your new name?” Vivi asked, looking at the war goddess.

“I… yeah… although I’m still kinda shy about it,” Marina admitted with a blush. “I… lost all my confidence in it when Brie disappeared.”

“Listen to this. She got the idea after learning about what the Romans called her and finding out Mars might have water. She wants to be a goddess of life, you know,” Brie giggled.

“Brie!” the war goddess yelped, her cheeks going crimson

Vivi giggled back. “That’s really sweet. I know a sea goddess. She might be able to help you?”

“You mean, Tiamat?” Marina asked. “I… think I remember wanting to meet her in my past life.” She smiled gently.

“Actually, it was Odin telling us about Tiamat that got our attention in the first place,” Brie explained. “After that…” Brie frowned.

“Our body began to change and bulk up,” Marina said sorrowfully. “And Brie started getting weaker. I… I convinced myself it was my fault.”

“Mari, it wasn’t you though, you know that, right?”

“I shouldn’t have listened to him,” Marina whimpered. “If I hadn’t…”

“It’s okay, we’re back together, thanks to this cute succubus here,” Brie smiled brightly. “Thanks… uh…”

“Vivi!”

“Aww, what a cute name!” Brie smiled graciously. “Thank you for saving us, Vivi.”

“Of course,” Vivi smiled back. “I guess I should get going though. We still need to stop Zeus.”

“Father…” Marina frowned. “Vivi… Before you go, I… I don’t know what exactly he’s planning, but he said some really strange things before starting this campaign.”

“Strange? Like what?”

Marina sighed. “I… I don’t have clear memories of my past life, but father does. He remembers things the rest of us have forgotten, including who killed us.”

“Who killed you?” Vivi repeated.

“Whoever… whatever they were, they were incredibly powerful. Strong enough to wipe all of us out, and several other pantheons as well. And I think he wants revenge.”

“Someone that strong exists?” Vivi questioned.

“I think so,” Marina said with a hushed tone. “And father, I think he has some plan to fight them. I don’t know what it is, but be careful when you fight him. Whatever he’s planning, he has to be stopped. If that being showed up again, I don’t know what it would mean for the people of this world.”

“I understand,” Vivi said. “Thank you.”

“Rina,” said Brie. “You know you could’ve told her all that outside, right?”

“I…” Marina blinked. “I guess you’re right.”

“Silly girl,” Brie giggled. “Take care of this dork for me, okay?”

“Got it!” Vivi laughed.

She waved the pair goodbye as she willed her heart away from Marina’s, returning the space around her back to normal. As she did so, her mind began to wander. Whatever Zeus was scared of was powerful enough to beat him and the others in their previous fully realized forms. And yet, he believed he could fight them again now? She trembled as her mind lingered on a single question, simple and frightening. What was his plan? How did he expect to defeat such a terrifying adversary?