Magical Girl Overtime [Second Arc Complete!]

Father Winter’s Embrace, 6310

A small procession of elves walked along an invisible path among all the thorns and roots in the Silent Forest. Even if the forest itself didn’t swallow every whisper inside it, their movements were graceful enough to not make a single sound, even as the leader of the group was carrying the limp body of a dead elven woman.

Seika had a spear pointed at her back, and so did Miyu and Momo, while Maria enjoyed not being threatened by their hosts as they made their way through the underbrush towards an unknown location.

Seika had to gesture for Momo to calm down, as the poor girl looked like she might have exploded with all the rage she must have felt for the villainess at that moment.

“We could just…” Miyu spoke quietly, looking at the elves around them. They weren’t wearing any magical artifacts like the idols’ earrings and Seika’s, as far as she could tell, and no matter how nimble they were, they would surely fall to the combined might of three Magical Girls, if the trio truly aimed to break free, but Seika shook her head.

“Let’s play along for now,” she whispered.

“Just keep in mind that we only have a few days at most,” Miyu grumbled back towards Seika, and she nodded in acknowledgment, then she blinked as sunlight suddenly hit her eyes.

Their little procession had reached a clearing, and once her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she saw a snow-covered village. It looked less mystical than she had expected, with log cabins lining a narrow central dirt road, blowing smoke from their chimneys. As they stepped closer, Seika could see that intricate scenes were carved into the logs making up the houses, telling of the histories of the people living inside. The motif of an elf being laid to rest in a hollow tree appeared multiple times, and Seika had a vague feeling what she would be witnessing soon.

“In here,” the old man told them, opening the door to one of the houses, leading Seika, Miyu and Momo inside, while Maria, still carrying the dead body of the elf called Taenya was led elsewhere. The elves who were guarding them this entire march didn’t follow them inside, but stood outside the door, guarding it.

The log cabin was roomy, with a large living and dining room and a fireplace stove in the corner. A pot hung from a hook right above the open flame, with water bubbling inside, and leaning against the wall, right next to it, was something strangely familiar.

A 30kg sack of rice, made from paper and bearing kanji that marked it as part of the Japanese national stockpile on its side stood there, opened at the top. Seika immediately stepped closer and inspected it, then the bubbling pot, and surely enough, there was rice in the hot water.

“Patience. I was preparing lunch when we felt the disturbance in the forest, so I rushed out. But we’ll have food, soon. It’s not much, but for as long as you are here, I’ll share.”

“Where did you get that?” Seika turned around, facing the old man who raised a brow.

“Soldiers from the capital came with a wagon full of those sacks and handed one to each household. To any that still had people who weren’t recruited by the army, anyway,” the man scoffed, looking at the sack in the corner.

“She’s been stealing our people away with the promise of food, and then she brings these strange grains… we won’t die, but eating only this? That’s no way to live. That girl should focus on breaking whatever curse keeps the kingdom’s fields barren instead of looking for ways to steal strange food from others.”

Miyu stepped forward, looking the old man in the eyes.

“You sound like you know her.”

“As much as one can know a relative who’s never around. The previous high enchantress, her mother, was my first cousin. Our grandparents were born and raised in this village, and while my father remained here, my aunt married the High Enchanter when our village was added to the kingdom of light elves. We didn’t talk much, but my daughter… well, she served her loyally as her scout for some years. Until she was slain, that is,” he spoke, looking towards Miyu and Momo respectively.

“The High Enchantress sent me a note that the Emissary, that woman who has been in her ear for more than a decade, told her that Taenya was slain in battle with you two. The ‘girls who stole her powers’. Tell me: what happened to her, really?”

***

The man stared at his folded hands after listening to the story by Miyu and Momo, then he buried his face in them. He remained like that for a while before he took a deep breath, as if to keep his composure, then he looked the idols in the eyes.

“I don’t hear lies in your words, as much as I want to. And, truth be told, I would have ordered your execution if I sensed that you were the ones responsible for my daughter’s death.”

Miyu and Momo shrank a little under the man’s intense gaze before he got up, looking inside the pot and stirring it.

“Well, it looks about ready. Let’s eat.”

The awkward atmosphere persisted as the two idols stood up and assisted the man, scooping up a little too soggy rice and serving it in four bowls around the table, with bits and pieces of other food that the man could scrounge together. He had some game and some herbs ready, in vanishingly small portions at least, and served them mixed into the rice to break up the monotony of the pure grains, then he placed down spoons. While that wasn’t the way Seika preferred to eat her rice, she didn’t raise any objections, even as the soggy texture of the portion put her off.

“I can teach you how to cook it properly later, if you want,” Miyu spoke up after her first bite, and the man grumbled quietly.

“Suit yourself. I’d rather have our own staples back, but if we have to rely on this for a while, we might as well learn how to make it palatable.”

Miyu nodded, and right after the quartet shared a quiet lunch together, before Seika cleared her throat and spoke up again.

“How do you know Maria?”

“Who?” the man asked between two bites, and Seika raised a brow, before he appeared to put the pieces together.

“Ah. You mean the dream shaper. I’m not too sure about her. Taenya visited last year, with that woman in tow. She used that scythe of hers to bring us some food from her world, though any attempt to bring us fertilizer or seed from that world ended with the seed rotting to nothing within hours. They lodged here together, and…”

The man hesitated for a moment, staring outside of a window.

“Her taste in women had always been strange, even while she insisted that ‘the human’ was just ‘a toy for entertainment’. She was fond of that woman in some ways, I could tell.”

Momo choked on her rice after those words and started coughing violently, with Miyu quickly reaching out to pat her back.

“They were training in this village. The dream shaper used her strange abilities, using the villagers and I as catalysts after Taenya got our permission. I believe they were coordinating an attack on certain enemies of the Enchantress…”

“Yes… that would have been us three,” Seika commented dryly, and she saw a little amused twinkle in the eyes of the old elf.

“Well, looks like you were able to handle yourselves.”

“She stabbed me in the heart,” Seika responded with a raised brow, and the elf looked her up and down.

“You got better, apparently.”

“That’s not-” Seika started but didn’t get to finish her sentence as the door opened and Maria stepped inside.

“Well, you’re all getting along,” the villainess observed, letting her eyes wander around the room before she grabbed a bowl and helped herself to a serving of soggy rice.

“You overcooked it, Caelon.”

“Don’t give me cooking advice like we’re some kind of friends or family,” the man grumbled, then he focused the villainess.

“Now tell me… for what purpose are you leading these strangers to the capital? She tried to assassinate them, so is this some kind of revenge? You know that in that case, we’d be duty-bound to detain you.”

Maria’s eyes twinkled with mischief, and she leaned over the table, as if she enjoyed the opportunity to ruin Seika’s, and especially the Celestial Sisters’ day. Seika clenched her fist under the table, ready to transform and fight, and she saw Miyu and Momo similarly ready to turn this lunch into a bloody affair.

“It is revenge, though not against the Enchantress. I know you harbored suspicions about that Emissary, and it does turn out she is behind everything. Behind your daughter’s death, behind the droughts ravaging your land, behind my very existence as a ‘dream shaper’, and behind the imminent, utter annihilation of your world.”

The man called Caelon put his bowl down and furrowed his brow, focusing Maria with his tired eyes.

“I’ll need you to elaborate on that.”

Seika and the Celestial Sisters were given a room in the house while preparations for the funeral were underway outside. They could hear Maria and the man called Caelon speak in the living room as they sat on their beds, staring into space.

“Y’know, I only ever knew this Taenya as, like, the one who wanted to kill us. Who was so obsessed with her mistress that, like… us still having our powers pissed her off,” Momo mused as she looked out of the window, at the snowy landscape.

“But… yeah, of course she got, like, a family. A home. People who loved her. That damn Maria bitch also acts like she wants to do somethin’ for her now that she’s dead, and it’s makin’ me feel weird.”

“I know what you mean, Momo,” Seika spoke quietly, letting out a long sigh before she stared at the ceiling.

“Even if she’s helping us now, her motivations are those of revenge, and it’s just a coincidence that our goals align. Besides, I don’t think I could ever forgive her for what she’s done to Ayame, and I wouldn’t have the right. It’s entirely Ayame’s decision if she will ever forgive her. And besides that, we should probably turn her in once we come back to Earth.”

“Unmask her, tell everyone what she’s done and have her locked away?” Miyu asked with a raised brow, then she looked towards the door – the talk between Caelon and Maria had come to an end, judging by the lack of muffled voices.

“I doubt it will be that easy. But we’ll cross that bridge when we’re there. For now, we’re apparently invited to a funeral,” Seika spoke with some skepticism in her voice, stepping towards the window and looking outside. It was dark already, and two rows of torches had been erected to form an alley into the forest. The elves she could see outside were wearing hooded robes, keeping their faces hidden. And then there was a bier, with the dead woman lying on top of it. The villagers had gathered what little flowers they could grow indoors despite the curse, giving Taenya a makeshift crown as her arms were crossed in front of her chest.

The door opened, and Maria stepped inside.

“It is time. Caelon wishes for you to attend, so let’s go.”

Momo gave Maria an annoyed look, who narrowed her eyes at the idol.

“Don’t even start now, dancing girl. If you hate it so much that I’m telling you, I can send the old man up here to fetch you instead.”

Momo grumbled quietly, until Miyu stepped behind her and patted her back, then she got up and followed the villainess outside, with Seika tailing the group. Caelon waited for them downstairs, wearing a green hooded cloak, just like the rest of the village.

“Are we required to wear one as well?” Miyu asked, pointing at his wardrobe, and the man shook his head.

“You are guests. This is to express mourning among the people she grew up with. We cover our heads and hide our faces from the forest, until she is laid to rest within it. It’s not necessary for guests to follow this custom.”

The trio nodded and followed the old man out of the cabin, into the snow-covered outdoors. Two dozen hooded elves stood by bier, bowing in front of their village Elder as he walked to one of the bier’s four handles and grabbed it. Three other elves joined him, lifting the contraption up, while the elves silently walked behind him, with the guests following awkwardly behind.

They were only a few dozen meters into the forest as Seika could hear singing. Caelon started it, with his usually gruff voice now turned into a somber baritone. Seika couldn’t make out the lyrics even through her translation magic, even less so as two dozen voices joined in, filling the silent forest with a melancholic choir.

“Interesting… it is likely that these lyrics are so old that they themselves don’t know what they mean anymore. Our translation magic picks up on intent after all,” Minerva observed.

Seika could see the eyes of the bark faces open and follow the procession with clearly sorrowful expressions as they recognized the woman on the bier, or at least she got the impression that they recognized her. Some of the faces were smaller than others, and Seika recognized them as children, now. There were lines on the bark that hadn’t grown back together entirely, yet, showing that these were recent burials.

“Famines can bring entire kingdoms to their knees, no matter how strong their warriors are, or how much gold lies in their treasuries. Hunger does not care or discriminate once it reaches you,” Pallas mused, and Seika clenched her jaw.

“This village used to have two hundred people living in it,” Maria spoke, now, keeping her voice low to not disturb the songs of their elven hosts.

“When Taenya and I trained, it was a hundred. Now, only two dozen remain. Half of them starved, the other half got recruited and lives in the puppeteer’s city, now.”

Momo looked like she wanted to hiss something Maria’s way again, just for the crime of speaking to the trio, but she bit her lip, opting to remain quiet and not cause a scene during the funeral, even as the villainess turned her head the idol’s way with a knowing, smug smirk.

As the procession continued into the darkest parts of the forest, the path ahead of them suddenly lit up with a gentle, blue light. As Seika lifted her head to see where it came from, she saw flowers blooming in the otherwise barren crowns, with their petals emitting the blue glow to guide the elves towards their destination

“How…? In winter?” Miyu gasped, and Maria narrowed her eyes at the display, before an elf who was walking at the back stopped her singing and looked over her shoulder to explain.

“The dead who are entombed here are aware. They enjoy endless dreams for as long as the trees in which they reside live. The only exceptions are when people disturb their sleep, or, in this case, gently nudge them awake. The night flowers blooming on the corpse trees are the collective will of the dead made manifest, to guide us to a tree that’s ready to receive another sibling.”

Miyu gave the elf a grateful nod for the explanation, before the long-eared woman rejoined the choir. The forest around them now figuratively vibrated with all the magical energy emanating from every flower, branch and trunk. It took only a few more minutes before they arrived at their destination. A tree that didn’t have a face on it, whose hollow trunk had been cut with a ceremonial blade and pulled open, judging by the still remaining utensils.

The bier was put down in front of the hollow tree, and Caelon stood in front of it, pulling his hood off his head. He looked down at his daughter while the choir kept singing their strange, ethereal song. For the first time since Seika came to this village, she saw the man openly expressing his sorrow, with silent tears running down his cheeks as he placed a hand on Taenya’s forehead.

It took a while for him to go back to his stoic self, and the choir now had the added benefit of masking any unbecoming sobbing and sniffling, until the man raised a hand, signaling for the others to stop. The choir faded out, though the magical and sorrowful atmosphere Seika sensed ever since it began still lingered.

“Guests. Friends. Neighbors. Family,” Caelon started. The attendants kept their heads bowed and hidden under their hoods, listening to his speech.

“The long hunger has taken so many from us already in the past two decades. So many good souls, so many irreplaceable bonds, taken from us by the cruel, indifferent hand of fate as crops failed, and animals migrated away.”

A little pause as he looked towards the crowns of the surrounding trees, then back towards the attendants.

“And it’s not just the famine itself which steals people away from their families. The senseless war waged by the Enchantress has seen our people taken away and stranded in strange worlds, like dear Laenna. I found myself wondering, how much longer will we be able to carry on like this? Until our whole village is gone?”

His eyes wandered back down to his daughter, and his voice got a little shaky.

“And then… my own daughter was murdered. Through the machinations of the so-called ‘Emissary’ who claims to speak for our gods. Where does it end?”

His hands shook now, and he quickly clenched them into fists, closing his eyes and standing motionless for a few seconds. He let out a long sigh, like he could let his pent-up anger and sorrow escape that way.

“Forgive me, friends. This is a funeral. We will say our goodbyes to Taenya’s mortal remains and embrace her as a part of the forest. It is no place for an old fool’s grievances.”

After clearing his throat, he kept going with a more orthodox speech.

“In times like these, we shall always remember that we, the Silent Folk, never truly die. We become one with the silent forest, where we indulge in dreams, while its guardians watch over us. And after a hundred hundred years, once the trees themselves die, we become one with the earth and the air of this forest.”

Seika could witness a few nods among the attendants, and Caelon continued.

“We, the Silent Folk, shall always stick together. We survived harsh droughts and wars before, and we will survive this one as well! For we have a duty to uphold, to keep these sacred forests safe and undisturbed!”

He gestured for one of the elves to help him. Together, they lifted Taenya’s body off the bier and carried her towards the hollow tree. With the assistance of some twigs, which were wrapped around her body to keep her stable inside, she was standing upright, leaning against the interior wall of the tree hollow.

Caelon and his helper stepped away from the tree and extended their hands towards the bark. The choir of the other elves picked back up, swelling together with the blue lights of the petals on the surrounding corpse tree as the bark slowly closed around the dead elven woman.

Seika could see the woman she never met directly but once considered an enemy vanishing behind the bark, and now that she was gone, an inscrutable feeling filled her heart.

“Even if she fought us on behalf of the Enchantress, she never deserved this,” Minerva quietly agreed with her.

She died the way I should have died. I can’t say I’m entirely unfazed.

The bark closed, with a fine line marking where the two halves met. The chorus of elves kept going, as the bark shifted and changed, warping its patterns. A face was growing on the trunk, Seika realized now. Taenya’s dead face appeared, formed from bark, looking like instead of being dead she was now peacefully asleep.

The chorus ebbed down again as Caelon stepped closer, reaching out and touching the cheek of the tree’s face.

“Taenya… my daughter. May you rest peacefully, surrounded by those who came before, and those who passed before you did. We will watch over you, until the day we finally join you in the thousand-year dream.”

The face opened its eyes to look at the old elf, and Seika raised a brow.

This is strange. As far as I know from Mana and Madame Bille, the dead get reborn in other worlds. What is happening here, then?

“Oh, but Mana also told you about my father’s good friend, Odin, and his immortal warriors, didn’t he?” Minerva asked in a rather smug tone.

She might have. What about it?

“While it is true that souls will leave and be reborn elsewhere, some places have ways of ‘trapping’ them. Odin’s undying warriors are their original selves from when they died, without having lost their memories. Something similar must be happening here,” Pallas mused, and Seika pondered her words as the ceremony continued.

The dead elf looked expectantly at Caelon, and he leaned closer. The face whispered something to him, then it looked directly at Maria. A golden glow emerged from the canopy above, and as the surrounding elves watched, they let out a little gasp.

A single fruit fell from the branches, landing in Caelon’s palm. It looked strikingly similar to an apple from Earth, and the elf hesitated, before the face whispered something again.

“…if you’re certain, my daughter. I will fulfill your wish.”

***

The procession returned, carrying the empty bier with them. The mood was less somber than it was on the way to the burial, now that the people sang and cried out their sorrow. At the edge of the forest, they had to wade through snow which could now reach the ground again, unobstructed by the thick canopy.

One among them was lost in her thoughts, however: Maria, the villainous Dream Empress, stared at the apple which the old elf gave her.

“A fruit of the corpse tree. It’s rare for one to grow, and it is said that one bite can stave off hunger for a decade. Taenya wanted you to have it.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to feed your village with this?”

“We have food now, monotonous as I may be. If what you’ve told me is the truth, then you’re about to face the treacherous being who is hunger and famine incarnate, so you’ll have need of it. Besides, eating corpse tree fruit is bad luck. In all of recorded history, the only people who have done so were pushed to the limit and ate it to fulfill a desperate mission before they ultimately perished.”

Seika couldn’t possibly tell what was going through the villainesses’ head, though she guessed that even this woman had a moment of reflection, now that the gravity of her ally’s death was fully revealed to her.

They stayed at Caelon’s house for the night, though Maria opted for a different room from the trio after being subjected to Momo’s grumbling for almost an hour. The night was uneventful, with the trio taking turns standing guard outside to make sure Maria didn’t go anywhere, and before they knew it, it was already early in the morning.

Seika got herself ready, dressed in her green outfit, and as she turned around, only Momo was there with her.

“Where did Miyu go?”

Momo grinned and pointed towards the door.

“She took, like, the last watch, then the geezer woke up and was about to make us some more soggy rice, so she, like, stepped in and now she’s teachin’ him how to properly cook it.”

Seika chuckled quietly at Momo’s nonchalant explanation.

“Didn’t know she was the type to cook. Didn’t you two get room service and takeout while you still lived in the tower?”

“Eh….” Momo looked to the side and grinned.

“Miyu’s been, like, really getting’ into cookin’ since we moved into the smaller place. Sometimes it feels like she wants to be my, like, housewife,” Momo spoke with a giggle.

“Ever thought about getting married in Capitolium?” Seika asked with a wink, and Momo blushed a little, turning her head away.

“We, uhm… we decided to only do it in Japan. We’re fightin’ for it to be legal, so it’s supposed to be, like, our victory lap. Got a whole special concert planned out with bridal idol outfits, ehehe…”

Momo wiggled a little in place, grinning from ear to ear, while Seika offered her a genuine smile.

“I’m sure it will be a great concert. I’ll make sure not to miss it when it happens!”

“Mhh, but with the world now crackin’ down on magical stuff, maybe we’ll run into a bunch of trouble on the way, seein’ how we’re ‘official’ Magical Girls…” Momo mumbled, then she shook her head.

“Ah, whatever! Let’s get some breakfast and get goin’. There’s a world waitin’ to be saved by us!”

The two headed downstairs where Miyu was watching the pot like a hawk as Caelon prepared their breakfast. Maria was already sitting at the table and looked annoyed as ever as she watched the two, before she looked towards Seika and Momo as they descended the stairs.

“The sleeping beauties have risen, I see,” the villainess spoke with some sarcasm, and Momo only met her with an eyeroll.

At least she’s showing some restraint now. I don’t know what would happen if tensions between them exploded into outright fighting.

Their breakfast was rather uneventful. No one talked as they awkwardly shared the stolen rice, which was thankfully cooked properly this time, thanks to Miyu’s guidance. The silence continued until they all rose and Caelon put away the bowls, then he finally addressed them.

“I wanted to thank you, for coming here and bringing us my daughter’s body. I know that time is… pressing for you, but I think it was important that you saw what our people are like, after you’ve only known us through conflict.”

“Well, bringing the body was solely my work. These fools would have objected,” Maria spoke and caught a venomous glare from Momo’s direction, before she continued.

“But it is true that they didn’t cause a scene, at the very least. They could have torn your village to shreds if they wished to, Caelon.”

The old elf let out a little snort as he led them outside.

“What a brave feat, butchering a village of half-starved people. Come, now. The thing we talked about is ready. And after, we’ll get you all into the city, quietly.”

“Hold on, what’s this about something being prepared?” Miyu whispered to Seika and Momo, but both shrugged, having no clue either.

Their answer came a short while later, after they walked towards a clearing near the village. The villagers were assembled there, looking expectantly towards Maria. Caelon turned around and nodded her way.

“They agreed, just like last year. Use them for your practice, as long as you don’t drain them needlessly.”

“Wait, practice?!” Seika now exclaimed, stepping forward and clenching her gemstone. She had to take an immediate step back as the villainesses’ scythe almost slashed her.

Maria stood in front of her, touching Caelon and enveloping him in a dream bubble. Shades spread and touched the other villagers, who were enveloped in ghost-generating bubbles as well.

“So, you finally betrayed us?!” Momo shouted, and her earring already glowed as she prepared to transform – however, her and Miyu froze as blades were held to their throats by elves who remained out of sight until this very moment. For some reason, no one came for Seika. She transformed into Pallas Athena, staring Maria down as the villainess slowly put on her signature carnival mask.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Oh, nothing serious, Seika. However, I know what your plans for me are once we return. You will have me locked up forever, for everything I did. I will never apologize for it, either, if you’re looking to give me an out this way, so I simply want the following: a final match, just you and me, at our full power. No mind controlling masks, no backstabbing. If my life is going to end for all intents and purposes anyway, then I want to leave with no regrets! Fight me and let us settle the score between us once and for all, before we decapitate that fraudster goddess!”

Maria didn’t look like she was going to back down. She kept pointing her weapon at Athena, and the Celestial Sisters were hostages in her little scheme. And yet, she felt a little bit of a thrill – she only ever fought this villainess under dubious circumstances, and a small part of her wondered how they would match up.

She grabbed Pallas, her trusty spear, and pointed the tip likewise at Maria, until their weapons crossed and touched.

“Then you better give it your all, ‘Dream Empress’!”