The Iron Sole Alchemist and Magical Girl Sloth (Chapter 1) A New Magical Girl is Born
by Howlin
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)
Note:
This story is an immediate sequel to The Iron Sole Alchemist goes to Hogwarts, which is itself a sequel to The Iron Sole Alchemist. Those stories introduce characters, events, and concepts. You may not understand everything if you have not read the previous stories.
As a timeline note for the Madoka Magicka portion of this crossover, this takes place in a world set before the events of the series. I may, at some point, address the consequences of Madoka's wish for the events that follow, but all events in this story are before Homura's time travel and Madoka's wish.
A blue transmutation circle drew itself on an empty street. Once complete, it raised off the ground revealing myself, Sloth, and Loki. We glanced around at the enormous skyscrapers covered in windows and the clean, clear streets. Sloth and I wore our default black outfits, but used our human appearances for the moment. Each of us had a shoulder bag containing everything we expected to need when exploring this new universe.
"I'd say that was our best landing yet," said Sloth. "No one was around to see us, we didn't emerge into a top secret facility and have to explain ourselves. We're even far enough off to the side of the street that if a car was coming, we wouldn't get hit."
Loki sniffed the air of this new world. I dropped my bag and walked a few feet down the street. Once I was out of range of the red stones in my bag, I stomped my right foot hard. The square of concrete sidewalk I stepped on glowed blue and a short pillar of concrete rose up from the sidewalk to the height of my waist. Another stomp and the sidewalk was returned to its original state with another burst of blue alchemic light.
"Our powers seem to be working normally," I said as I retrieved my bag.
"So, what's our first step?" asked Sloth.
"We should try to find a library," I said, looking both ways down the street. "It'll be easier to blend in once we know what's common knowledge in this world."
One direction being as good as another, we started walking down the street. The first people we saw looked afraid of us and crossed the street to avoid us. On a hunch, Sloth and I stepped into an alley and used our shape shifting powers to alter the appearance of our clothing. The black leather showing off our oroboros marks was replaced by blue jeans and a turtleneck sweater for me and an outfit of shorts and t-shirt for sloth, mimicking the clothing style of the first people we'd seen.
It worked, and the next people we saw made no move to back away and directed us toward a library when asked. I noticed a lot of unusual hair and eye colors as the three of us made our way through the crowds. Tonks' preferred bubble gum pink hair wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in this world. In fact, I was pretty sure I saw a girl with that as her eye color.
The library didn't allow dogs, so I took a seat on a nearby bench with Loki while Sloth went inside. I leaned back and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my face. I took my silver pocket watch out and set it to the local time using a nearby clock mounted on a lamp post. Making note of the time, I snapped the watch shut and waited.
Half an hour later, I flipped my watch back open. Looking at the mirror affixed to the lid, I said, "Sloth." A moment later, her face appeared in the mirror.
"How's the research going?" I asked.
"There's some new stuff on computers and a few physics ideas I haven't heard of before, but otherwise nothing that would have been out of place in a muggle library in the last world," replied Sloth.
"So, they don't know about magic or alchemy?" I asked.
"Or automail. I checked," added Sloth.
"No way to tell if someone's covering it up here," I mused.
"I just finished assimilating all the new stuff," said Sloth. "I'll come out and give you an imprint."
Sloth's face vanished from the communication mirror and I snapped my watch shut. A minute later, the short, brown haired, blue eyed girl exited the library and sat down on the bench next to me. She clapped and placed a palm in the center of my chest, where my oroboros mark was hidden beneath my clothes. In an instant, knowledge of this world's science flashed into my mind.
"What do you think, Greed?" asked Sloth.
"Well, this is definitely the most advanced world yet in terms of particle physics, astrophysics, chemistry, and computer science," I said. "That information's pretty valuable on its own. I say we get a place to stay, poke around a bit to see if there's something like the Ministry of Magic hiding things here, and pick up some more science books to take home."
"How long do you want to give poking around?" asked Sloth.
I shrugged. "Maybe a week? If we don't find anything in that time, either it isn't here or it's hiding so well we won't find it."
Selling gold at an appropriate shop got Sloth and I plenty of local money. Finding a hotel willing to allow pets and overlook our lack of identification was a little harder, but in any world, having unlimited funds made things much easier. That night, I noted that this world's stars were different from those in our world. The planets I could observe with my brass telescope were the same, but there were more and brighter stars in parts of the sky I was used to being empty.
Sloth took Loki for a walk around town to check for any signs of magical creatures hiding among the human population while I studied at the library. The astronomy and astrophysics texts I looked through suggested this was a far younger universe than I'd previously arrived in. That raised questions, since the heavier elements that made up this solar system shouldn't have had time to form based on the models of star formation I was used to.
While I was comparing cosmology models in an effort to make some sense of this, Sloth's voice came from my pocket saying, "Greed." I took out my pocket watch and flipped it open, revealing Sloth's face reflected in the communication mirror.
"What's up?" I asked.
"There's definitely something hiding here," said Sloth. "Something just tried to read my mind."
"Where are you?" I asked, getting to my feet.
"I'm down an alley a couple blocks north of the hotel. I- Oh. I think I found it." She was looking away from the mirror.
"I'll be right there," I promised, rushing out of the library.
I didn't have far to travel. When I got there, Sloth was staring at an empty space near a dumpster and Loki was looking around confused. Turning to look at me, Sloth said, "He can't talk so he was trying to communicate with me using telepathy."
"Is he... still here?" I asked.
Turning to stare at the same spot, Sloth reported, "He says normal people can't see him."
"Is this like the thestrals?" I asked.
"I think so," replied Sloth.
"Hm... Let me try something," I said, taking the false eye that had belonged to Alistor Moody out of my bag. My right eye shriveled in its socket and disappeared, and I inserted the magical prosthetic. The electric blue eye, looking unnatural in my socket before it started moving independently, swiveled to follow Sloth's gaze.
The powerful enchantments laid on the eye allowed its wearer to see through solid matter, and penetrated even the most potent forms of invisibility. Through it, I made out the features of the creature telepathically communicating with Sloth.
It was a quadruped, covered in white fur. Its hind legs were longer than its front, like a rabbit's, and it had a long, fluffy tail that swished to and fro. A red, outlined egg pattern was in the center of its back. The creature had an almost perfectly oval head with an unmoving, catlike mouth. Red, pupil less eyes were open wide enough to be perfect circles. It had what appeared to be pointed, catlike ears, but extending out from them, draping nearly to the ground, were a pair of tentacles. Each of those tentacles was ornamented by three round, red jewels near the hand like terminus, and a single gold ring that seemed to hover halfway down the tentacle.
"Can you see me now?" came a cheerful, high pitched voice at the outermost layer of my occlumency barriers.
"I can," I deliberately thought back.
"Wait, why can I hear Greed?" came Sloth's thoughts.
"I'm acting as a relay," replied the creature. "Neat trick, right?"
"Okay, so who are you?" I thought to the creature.
"My name is Kyubey."
"Do you know why I can see you and Greed can't?" asked Sloth.
"It's because he isn't a candidate," replied Kyubey. "You can help me, though. I'd like you to make a contract with me and become a magical girl."
"What's a magical girl?" asked Sloth.
"It works like this," said Kyubey. "I will grant you one wish. In exchange, your Soul Gem is created. But if you have a Soul Gem, it will be your duty to fight witches."
"Fight witches?" I protested. "Some of our best friends are witches."
Kyubey tilted his head and said, "I'm not sure who or what your friends are, but the witches I'm talking about are magical beings born of curses that spread anger, depression, hatred, and misery."
"Okay, so not the same sort of witches we know," said Sloth. "What's a Soul Gem?"
"A Soul Gem is the proof that you are a magical girl and the source of your powers," explained Kyubey.
"And," Sloth began. There was a hesitant tone in her thoughts. "This wish. What are the limits on that?"
"I can grant any miracle, no matter how impossible," replied Kyubey. "If there's a wish you would risk your life for, I can make it come true."
"Risk your life?" I asked.
"Witches are very dangerous," said Kyubey in his same cheerful tone. "Part of why I'm so eager to make a contract with you is that the magical girls that used to patrol this territory fell recently, and as a result, the witches have been breeding out of control."
"Well, that's not an offer you get every day," thought Sloth. "I think I need more information before I commit to anything."
"Of course," replied Kyubey. "It's one of my duties to provide important information to magical girls."
"Can you tell us more about these witches?" asked Sloth. "Maybe show us one? I'm not going to commit to fighting them until I'm convinced fighting them is the right thing to do."
"Ordinarily, a witch would be very difficult to find without a Soul Gem," said Kyubey, "but since there are so many in the area, I might be able to help you find one without contracting. Witches are dangerous, though. Ordinary humans don't stand a chance against them."
"Good thing we aren't ordinary humans, then," I replied. "We can hold our own in a fight if it comes to that."
Kyubey led us along train tracks, through red light districts, near hospitals, and along the edge of tall buildings. Finally, in a narrow alleyway, a circular disk of light appeared in front of us. There was a butterfly in the center and a ring of unknown runes along the edge. Kyubey stepped through and Sloth, Loki, and I followed.
We were no longer in the alley. There were superficial similarities to the alley we'd left, including tall buildings on all sides flanked by winding fire escapes, but the space around us was wider, and the buildings enclosed us on all four sides. There was no sign of the passage we'd entered through.
"Be careful," said Kyubey. "We're inside the witch's labyrinth. Witches use them to hide inside and draw in humans to prey upon. The witch will be in the center."
"Which way is that?" I asked.
"There's no way to tell," said Kyubey. "Each labyrinth is unique, so the only way to find the witch is to explore. As a general rule, though, labyrinths most resemble the place in the normal world where they form at the farthest edges. The center, where the witch lives, is usually nothing like the part of the normal world you entered from."
"Follow the weirdness," said Sloth nodding. "Got it."
At that moment, a number of incredibly strange creatures emerged from doorways set at landings on the fire escapes. They resembled six foot tall balls of cotton with thick, black mustaches. Butterfly wings were attached to small stems that extended down from their bodies. They way they moved was unsettling. It felt like my eyes were playing tricks on me. They seemed to jerk from one position to the next in short jumps like bad stop motion.
"What are those?" asked Sloth aloud.
"Familiars," replied Kyubey in our minds. "They serve the witch."
The familiars quickly surrounded our party. Then each one produced a tendril, ending in an oversized pair of metal scissors. Lashing out, two of the familiars attacked, closing the metal sheers around my and Sloth's bodies. The metal broke as they closed. The grey tone of the Ultimate Shield was visible through the resulting tears in the fabric of our clothing.
"I'd say that was a deliberate, unprovoked attempt on our lives," I said to Sloth, a smirk on my lips.
"I would agree, Greed," replied Sloth, returning my smirk with one of her own. "Shall we respond in kind?"
The grey discoloration of our skin spread to areas of our bodies not covered by clothing as our bodies were encased in diamond hard armor. I brought my foot down and transmuted a nest of spikes from the concrete sidewalk to impale a group of three familiars. Their bodies broke apart into constituent particles upon their deaths. Sloth clapped and gripped the ladder of one of the fire escapes. The ladder came away, and she wrapped it around a pair of familiars. Then, with a simple transmutation, she caused the ladder to squeeze until the two familiars likewise broke apart.
Loki growled and glowed blue as he transformed from a brown dog into a massive, green scaled, gold maned chimera. His transformation complete, Loki pounced on one of the familiars, digging his fore claws and teeth into what passed for flesh and raked his hind claws, gutting the creature until it too disintegrated.
Loki's armored scales, strong enough to protect him from a tank shell, proved a more than adequate defense against the huge metal sheers the familiars wielded. Each familiar that tried to attack him became his next target. Sloth and I managed to thin out their numbers with basic alchemy until they were all dead.
"The environment is made of normal matter, but the familiars aren't," observed Sloth.
"That might only be true near the edge of the labyrinth," I pointed out. "The floor and walls look a lot less normal through here."
I led our party toward a door that led to an area which looked to have been carpeted in green crayon, which I'd seen thanks to the Mad Eye not being hindered by opaque, solid matter. The arrays on the soles of my shoes, originally designed to ensure I could grip on any surface, weren't providing their traditional benefit, suggesting the floor was made of something other than ordinary matter.
There wasn't anything behind some walls, and some doorways opened to a different space than would be accessed by breaking through a wall and going around them. It was easy to see why Kyubey called this place a labyrinth. Even with the advantages of my magic eye, navigating this place wasn't easy.
Difficult as it was, we navigated the non-euclidean space until we emerged into a large garden. I wasn't sure what I was looking at for a moment. More familiars were here surrounding a larger creature. The creature resembled the familiars, only it stood twenty feet tall, and instead of a cotton ball with a mustache, this thing's head was a carpet of green with red splotches that I finally realized added up to a crude crayon drawing of a rose bush.
"That's the witch," said Kyubey.
Sloth stepped forward, withdrawing the Ultimate Shield from her head so she could address the witch with human features. "Hello. We came here because we wanted to talk to you. Your familiars attacked us and we had to defend ourselves, but we came here to hear your side of the story. Kyubey says you're a monster. If that isn't true, we don't have to fight."
I wasn't fully aware of how it happened, but a vine had wrapped itself around one leg of each member of our party while Sloth was talking to the creature. Kyubey slipped free, but the rest of us were jerked upward. Demonstrating a degree of intelligence, the witch tried to bash Sloth and I into one another. Our diamond hard skin wouldn't be harmed by the sheers the witch or her familiars carried.
Our powers were just as much a mystery to the witch as its powers were to us. When Sloth and I would have been struck together, Sloth used her Ultimate Escape to allow us to pass harmlessly through one another. Loki bit the vine holding him aloft and twisted to land on one of the familiars. I used my shape shifting powers to draw a flame alchemy array on the back of my hand and snapped.
An explosion centered on the witch went off, and its head proved just as susceptible to fire as a real rose bush. An inhuman shriek of what I assumed to be pain accompanied the witch writhing in what looked like agony. As its body vanished like its familiars had, the environment around us wavered and shifted. Without warning, Sloth, Loki, Kyubey, and I were back in the alley where this all started.
A few feet away, a peculiar object was falling. It was about the size of a golf ball. Intricate black metalwork formed a spherical cage around a dark jewel. From one end, a needle protruded, and on the opposite, a stylized butterfly protruded. In contrast to everything I knew about weight distribution, the object landed point first and remained upright.
"What's this?" asked Sloth as we all resumed our normal appearances.
"That is called a Grief Seed," explained Kyubey. "It's like a witch's egg. When you defeat a witch, it might drop a Grief Seed. It isn't dangerous. In fact, it will be very useful to you after you make a contract and become a magical girl."
Sloth picked up the object and examined it. "Useful how?"
"Well, do you remember how I told you a Soul Gen is the source of a magical girl's powers? Using magic causes your Soul Gem to darken. A Grief Seed lets you draw off the taint and allows your Soul Gen to shine again."
"I see," said Sloth, pocketing the Grief Seed. "You've given me a lot to think about. Can I sleep on it before giving you my answer?"
"Of course," said Kyubey, cheerfully. "It's against the rules for me to force you, no matter how much I might want to."
"You'll have your answer in the morning," said Sloth. "We'll meet you back here."
Back at the hotel, we closed the door and Sloth crossed the room, doing a little twirl as she turned to face me. She was beaming when she said, "This is why the Gate brought us here."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It sends us where we want to go," said Sloth. "When that nuclear scientist wanted to go to a world without alchemy, he went there. When Envy wanted to chase after Hohenheim, that worked too. We wanted to explore someplace interesting where our powers worked and we ended up in the Ministry of Magic."
"And here?" I asked, not because I didn't suspect her answer.
"Any miracle, no matter how impossible," repeated Sloth. "I can finally do what we couldn't do with the Resurrection Stone. I can wipe my slate clean and bring back all those people I killed."
"Is that worth staying here and fighting witches to you?" I asked.
"If anything, that makes it better," said Sloth. "I get to spend time saving people from monsters and making a real, positive difference."
"It's only one wish," I said. "If you're serious about this, think carefully about what you want to ask for."
"I know," she said, looking at the Grief Seed contemplatively. "That's part of why I asked to sleep on it. My first thought was just to wish everyone I've killed back to life. Then I thought, maybe it would be better to wish back everyone my father was responsible for, since that would cover everyone I killed under his orders and a lot of other people besides."
"Maybe you should wish for the power to bring people back to life," I suggested.
"Or maybe we could get more broad," said Sloth. "Wish for the power to restore people to perfect physical and mental health, regardless of their condition, whether they're living or dead."
"Ooh, nice one," I said. "That'd let you heal Neville's parents too. Maybe add something about not needing a body, since there won't be any remains from people that were made into red stones."
"Greed," Sloth said, pausing, "do you think doing this is the right thing?"
"I think you shouldn't feel obligated to contract," I said. "You aren't responsible for those deaths. But if you're sure this is something you want to do, I'll support your decision."
"Thanks, Greed," replied Sloth.
"I have to admit, I'm a little jealous," I said. "You're going to get new powers and I don't even get the option."
The rest of the night was spent working our way through different wordings and expansions of her basic wish, making sure we had all our bases covered. We added a stipulation for people like Moody, so people who didn't want to come back wouldn't have to. No point cruelly yanking people out of a pleasant afterlife.
We found Kyubey in the alley the next day waiting for us. Sloth explained her wish to him.
"Can you do it?" she asked at length.
"Of course," said Kyubey. "Is this the wish that will make your Soul Gem shine?"
Sloth took a deep breath and said, "Yes, this is my wish."
Kyubey extended the tentacles protruding out of his ears toward Sloth's chest, and a brilliant light surrounded her. Sloth was levitated into the air and her clothing vanished. The oroboros mark on her back vanished, leaving unblemished skin. Finally, the light drew together, coalescing into a red crystal the size of an egg. Gold wire flashed into existence and wrapped around the crystal protectively, forming an intricate pattern. The gold form ed a flat bottom and sculpted a flamel at the top.
Sloth landed on the ground, and the newly forged Soul Gem landed in front of her. She looked up at it and reached out, delicately touching the crystal.
Looking down at her body, Sloth said, "I'm... I'm human."
"You're a magical girl," Kyubey corrected her.
I pulled a cloak out of my bag and draped it over Sloth. "How do you feel?" I asked.
"I'm not a homunculus anymore," said Sloth. "I didn't expect this to effect that."
"Is something wrong?" asked Kyubey.
"You didn't mention any changes to my body," Sloth said. "I can't shape shift or pass through matter anymore. And I'll bet my regeneration is gone too."
Sloth clapped then touched the ground. Nothing happened. "And what did you do to my soul?" she demanded.
"What do you mean?" asked Kyubey. "It's right there."
He'd indicated Sloth's Soul Gem. From the name, I should have guessed something like this was involved.
"I relocated your soul into your Soul Gem as a safety measure," explained Kyubey. "You've seen how dangerous witches can be. By moving your soul into a smaller, more easily protected container, you'll be able to survive and reccover from even the most severe injuries. As long as your Soul Gem is intact, you can keep fighting even after losing every drop of blood by just repairing your body with magic."
"You should have told us about that," I said.
"Why are humans so concerned about what kind of containers their souls are in?" asked Kyubey.
"Hocrux," said sloth, looking at the gem in her hand. "Does this mean if my Soul Gem is destroyed, my soul is too?"
"Yes," replied Kyubey. "That's why it's very important to protect it."
Sloth sighed. "You still should have told us, but what's done is done. How do I use my powers?"
"Every magical girl is different," said Kyubey. "Magical girls have unique abilities based on their wishes, but there are some commonalities. First off, you need your Soul Gem to use magic. Unless you're transformed, you'll need to be holding it when you use your powers."
"What do you mean, transformed?" asked Sloth.
"Well, the changes to your body mean you're a lot stronger, faster, and more durable than a normal human," explained Kyubey. "You can use your Soul Gem to summon a battle outfit that not only increases those abilities even farther, but lets you use your magic more freely."
"Let me try that," said Sloth. "At least then I won't have to be naked for the rest of this explanation."
Sloth stood up and held her Soul Gem out in front of her. Red light shone brightly, and strings of red light wrapped themselves around her body. Flaring for an instant, the red glow around her vanished, and revealed she had been covered in a black catsuit. Light gathered around her neck, and a crimson cloak with a black flamel drawn on the back sprouted on her body. She leaned her head back and the hood fell away. The Soul Gem vanished and a crown of white flowers grew around her head. Filling with red light, the petals fell away, revealing a golden circlet with a large round gem on the front center that glowed just like her Soul Gem had.
Sloth felt the material of her cloak, then dug around in her bag for her pocket watch so she could look at herself in the mirror. As we were in an alley, I clapped and touched a dumpster, then pulled a newly transmuted full length mirror out of it.
"This looks pretty bad ass," said Sloth, looking herself over. "Is this my Soul Gem in the crown?"
"Yes," confirmed Kyubey.
Sloth nodded, then hopped lightly on her toes for a moment before leaping to the top of the five story building we were standing next to. She hopped back down, her cape flowing around her and she landed lightly, bending her knees slightly with the impact, with no sign of injury. She was smiling.
"Okay, it looks like I didn't get completely screwed over on the deal," said Sloth. "I was hoping to just add these powers to the ones I already had, but I can live with this. As long as this next part works."
Extending her palm forward and splaying her fingers out, red light gathered in her palm. In a burst of red light, a little girl identical to Sloth appeared. She looked around confused, blinking her big, blue eyes.
"Who awe you?" asked the newly resurrected Nina Tucker of the magical girl who looked just like her.
"My name is Sloth," she said. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Nina."
"Look in the mirror!" I told Sloth, urgently. She did so and saw the gem on her circlet had darkened immensely, to the point that only a few glimmers of crimson were visible near the top, the rest of her gem drowned in inky black.
Sloth took out the Grief Seed, held it out to Kyubey and asked, "How do I use this?"
"Just hold it up close to your Soul Gem," instructed Kyubey.
Doing so, the black substance that nearly filled her Soul Gem was drawn into the Grief Seed, leaving her Soul Gem shining as brightly as ever.
"It looks like bringing back the dead uses up most of your power," I said. "You should make sure you're topped off before you use that power."
Sloth nodded, then looked at Kyubey and asked, "Can I keep using this Grief Seed?"
"There is a finite amount of corruption they can absorb," replied Kyubey. "I'd say the one you've got is good for one more use."
"All I need for now," said Sloth. Then she revived Nina's mother.
"How did I get here?" asked the woman.
"She's magic!" exclaimed Nina, pointing at Sloth.
"Mrs. Tucker," said Sloth. "I know this will come as a surprise, but this is your daughter Nina."
"Nina?" she asked uncertainly.
"Mommy!" exclaimed the girl, leaping into the woman's arms.
"Who are you?" asked Mrs. Tucker.
"I'm someone who thinks you both deserve a second chance at life," said Sloth. "Greed,can you get them home?"
"I'm not going to just leave you alone here," I said.
"Show back up the same moment you left, then," said Sloth with a smirk. Then, more seriously, "This isn't their world and I don't want them stranded here."
"It's okay. I'll take it from here," said a second me stepping into the alley with his watch out. I nodded to him, gathered the newly revived close, clapped, and guided them through the Gate.
Once we arrived back in Liore, and I used my time turner to return with them to the same moment I left this world, I provided a brief explanation and suggested they get on a train back to central or they could stay in Liore for a little while and learn more about what had happened to them when Edward and Alphonse Elric arrived back in town after their expedition looking for magical creatures. I stayed only long enough to provide a brief explanation to Rose, then entered the Gate again to help Sloth through her transition.
"They made it home safely," I said once my past self had left.
"I'm glad," said Sloth. She tapped the Grief Seed to her Soul Gem once again, and the Grief Seed seemed to glow with the gathered darkness.
"Now it's dangerous," said Kyubey. "If it absorbs any more grief, the witch will revive. Give it to me."
Sloth offered the object to Kyubey, who balanced it on his nose for a moment. Then, a trap door opened up on his back. Apparently, the red, egg shaped markings were a seam. He flipped the Grief Seed into the opening, then the trap door on his back closed.
"What did you just do?" I asked.
"Disposal of filled Grief Seeds is one of my many duties," he replied.
"At this rate, I'll be working off my debt for a while," said Sloth. "Taking out the serial killers and other people I don't want to revive, I'm going to need about a dozen Grief Seeds to bring back the innocent people I killed.
"You started on two people who's deaths you had no part in," I said.
"You knew I wasn't going to leave them dead," she said. "Whether it happened at the start or the end shouldn't matter, really."
"Just pointing out this isn't all about clearing your slate," I said with a smile. "Since we're here for the long haul, we can't keep living out of hotel rooms. What do you say we find a place to set up a lab?"
A new underground lab was easy to transmute. Kyubey was left outside while Sloth, Loki, and I climbed down. After I transmuted her a new set of clothes out of some old Hogwarts robes, she ended her transformation and got dressed. I set up the planters for the philosopher's flowers and set up the red water feeder. We'd need to learn more before we could say how safe exposing Sloth to red water was now.
Back on the surface, I stomped and the tunnel leading to the lab vanished. Sloth was holding her egg shaped Soul Gem in one hand. Loki couldn't detect Kyubey, but he loyally followed us as we conversed with the catlike creature telepathically.
"A witch leaves behind a magical signature like a trail that your Soul Gem can detect," explained Kyubey. "When it pulses, it's picked up a witch's trail."
It wasn't long before Sloth's Soul Gem picked up the trail, and we followed it to a set of train tracks. A man dressed in a business suit was lying down on the tracks. He didn't stir when a loud whistle blared from a train coming down the tracks.
I hopped down, grabbed the man, and hopped out of hte way of the train, then laid him down for the others to examine. Kyubey pointed out a faintly luminescent mark on his neck that Sloth could see, but my normal eye couldn't detect. Kyubey called the mark a witch's kiss, and explained they formed when a person has fallen under a witch's power. Effected humans are then compelled to kill themselves or someone else.
Sloth held her Soul Gem in the palm of her hand and it glowed red for an instant. The red light burned away the witch's kiss and revived the man.
"What happened?" asked the man. "I-I laid down on the tracks. Why did do that? IF you hadn't come along..."
"It's all right," said Sloth. "You should go home."
When the man left, Sloth held up her Soul Gem again and said, "This way." She led us a short distance until a black and white disk of light appeared in midair. We stepped into the labyrinth.
Once inside, Sloth transformed into her magical girl battle outfit, I donned the Ultimate Shield, and Loki transformed into his chimera form. The labyrinth's entrance was a set of crisscrossing train tracks leading off in different directions. Looking off into the distance, along one of the tracks, the tracks gave way to black and white checkered tiles. That was the direction the witch would be in, so we headed that way.
"You should summon your weapon," suggested Kyubey. "There's no way of knowing when the familiars will decide to attack."
Sloth held out her hand, and in a flash of red light, she was holding an object. She stared at it incredulously.
"A yo-yo?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?"
Before Kyubey could answer, a snakelike creature made of shadow lashed out from a hidden position, camouflaged against one of the black tiles. Sloth threw the red yo-yo at the creature, and the impact crushed its skull, causing the creature to disintegrate.
Flicking her wrist, Sloth returned the yo-yo to her hand and said, "I guess I didn't do anything wrong."
"Was that a familiar?" I asked.
"That's right," said Kyubey. "I'd suggest staying on the white tiles so there'll be some warning if more strike."
As we progressed, the white tiles became smaller and the contrast in the environment grew stronger. Soon, the ground was completely black, the sky completely white, and our own bodies dark enough to blend in with the ground. Only at that point did the familiars risk attacking again. A dozen trickles of red blood broke up the visual monotony and were the only way of seeing where the familiars had attacked Loki and Sloth.
Not overly reliant on his sense of sight, Loki crushed a familiar in his powerful jaws and brought a heavy clawed paw down on a second. Sloth threw her yo-yo half a dozen times, killing a like number of familiars who'd bit into her legs. The odd lighting conditions aside, it was clear that nothing more than superficial damage had been done.
To address the possibility of more familiars lying in wait, I snapped my fingers and employed flame alchemy to firebomb the area except that immediately surrounding our party. The alchemically induced flames shone stark white in this area, and we could see dozens of familiars along our path obliterated before the flames died and we moved on.
A perfectly black, humanoid figure was kneeling ahead. As we approached, black spines protruded from its back and extended at us fast as if they'd been shot from a gun. I was thrown backward as the sharpened points struck the Ultimate Shield. Sloth and Loki were impaled in a dozen places each. A pained yelp came from Loki.
Sloth gave a grunt of pain and threw her yo-yo at what I now suspected was the main body of the witch. I drew my wand and extended a blade from the end. The usually blue alchemic light shone stark white here, and I used it to cut the vine like tentacles that impaled Loki.
More fines impaled themselves into Sloth's body, but she just reeled her weapon back in and kept striking. "Get Loki healed, Greed," grunted Sloth through the pain of her own injuries. "I've got this witch right where I want her."
As I banished my blade and pointed my wand at Loki to close his wounds, Sloth swung her yo-yo in a wide arc over her head and wrapped the string around the witch's neck. Gripping with both hands, she pulled and the head was severed. That didn't kill the witch, though. Instead, a dozen more fines sprouted from the neck and shot through Sloth's body. More vines lashed out toward me and Loki, and I had to shield him with my body.
Once Loki was healed, I ordered him to stay back out of range. Then I reignited the blade on my wand and leapt at the witch. I severed the vines impaling Sloth and caught her as she fell. Rings of crimson light appeared over the wounds and healthy flesh vas visible for an instant before disappearing into the darkness of this place.
"Thanks for the assist," said Sloth, getting back to her feet. "If you can keep those vines off me for a bit, I think I can finish this."
"I think I can manage that," I said, then stood in front of her, my blade held in a defensive pose. As vines lashed out at us, I parried them, severing each one cleanly.
Sloth threw her yo-yo up in the air, once, twice, then shot it down with enough force that it was spinning like a car tire peeling out. Rather than slow, the rotation increased in speed and she began walking it forward. Chunks of the witch started flying in every direction on contact with the rapidly spinning weapon. Shrieks of pain from the witch accompanied renewed vigor in its attempts to kill us, but my defense was up to the task.
Finally, the remains of the witch's body were still, the labyrinth dissolved around us, and a Grief Seed fell to the ground. Now no longer subject to the unnatural lighting conditions, I could more readily assess the damage. None of the vines had actually penetrated Loki's scales. The attacks had all slipped between them. His carbon hardened bones had redirected the impaling vines away from anything vital, and the repairs I did during the battle were basically all he needed.
Sloth's body was uninjured, but the multiple holes in her bodysuit showed exactly where she'd been run through. Her hear, lungs, liver, intestines, and stomach had all been penetrated, some of them multiple times. A lot of blood had run down her chin from choking and vomiting it up during the battle.
"Well, it looks like I do have regeneration still," said Sloth.
"Because your wish was for the power to heal, your own body heals much faster and more efficiently than other magical girls," said Kyubey.
Looking over her shredded outfit, Sloth asked, "Is there some way to fix this?"
"It gets created new every time you transform," explained Kyubey.
"I see," said Sloth, nodding. Then she ended the transformation. The damaged scraps of cloth disappeared and were replaced by the shorts, sandals, and t-shirt she'd been wearing earlier. "Bonus. Apparently the stuff I was wearing stays safe while I'm transformed."
She eyed her Soul Gem. There was some corruption visible, but not enough to dim it significantly. The level of magic she used in that fight wouldn't use up her magic if she did it twice a day for a week.
"Can I make a request?" I asked. "Can we save up Grief Seeds until you've got enough to bring back all the people you want in one batch? I'd rather not make a fresh trip every time you revive someone."
"That seems reasonable," said Sloth. "I think we should call it quits on witch hunting for the day. What do you say we get something to eat and talk some more?"
"I'm okay with that," I said. "Are you hungry?"
"No," admitted Sloth. "Will I get hungry?"
"Your body's processes are being sustained by your magic now," said Kyubey. "You can eat if you want to, but it's not really necessary."
"How about sleep?" asked Sloth as we walked down the street looking for a restaurant.
"The same," said Kyubey. "It's a luxury, not a necessity for magical girls."
"Will I age?" asked Sloth.
"That's a very interesting question," said Kyubey. "You see, generally magical girl candidates are human females in their second stage of growth. Your apparent age is well below the normal, but your behavior doesn't seem to match your apparent age. How old were you when you made your contract?"
"That's a complicated question," said Sloth. "I was an artificial human created to replace the little girl you saw me bring back to life. I have her memories. I spent a couple of years as a brainwashed slave before Greed set me free. After that, it was a couple years working on that rescue mission, then seven years at Hogwarts with a little bit of time travel thrown in."
"That would explain the anomaly," said Kyubey, cheerfully as we sat down at an outdoor noodle shop. "The selection process is based on emotional age rather than physical development."
"Why teenagers?" I asked.
"We've found magical potential is at its highest in girls of about that age as a general rule. In answer to your original question, no. Your body won't continue to age, though if you wanted, you could use your magic to make whatever changes you want to it."
One advantage of communicating telepathically was we didn't need to stop talking as we slurped our noodles. "I get the feeling there are a lot of powers I haven't tapped yet," thought Sloth.
"It'll come with time and experience," said Kyubey. "You're already doing very well. Incidentally, you don't need to keep your Soul Gem out like that. It can turn into a ring for convenience."
Holding up her Soul Gem, the gold wrapped crystal glowed and shrunk down into a small silver ring around her middle finger with a tiny inlaid red gem. I noticed that the fingernail of that finger had a crimson flamel symbol seemingly painted in the middle of it. Sloth didn't seem surprised as she admired the ring, suggesting it'd been like that since becoming a magical girl. I just hadn't noticed until now.
"None of this really looks like the magic we learned in school," I said as we left the noodle stand to head back to the lab.
"It isn't," confirmed Sloth. "Just like with witches, it looks like a different thing with the same name."
"Is this other kind of magic you studied what you use to fight with?" asked Kyubey.
"No," I said. "Neither one of us could do any kind of magic before the contract. I use alchemy."
"I wasn't aware humans had abilities like that," admitted Kyubey. "Where exactly do you come from?"
"A parallel universe," explained Sloth. "Remember when Greed took the people I resurrected through that portal? That's where he was bringing them."
"Fascinating," said Kyubey. "The only way we've previously been able to observe alternate timelines is when a magical girl makes a wish to alter the past. And even then, it's usually only an indirect observation."
"It took a lot of practice learning to travel between worlds safely," I said. "If I weren't immortal, I never would've survived the learning process."
"Okay, Kyubey," said Sloth. "We're going to head down into the lab for the night. We'll meet you back up here for a fresh witch hunt in the morning."
I took Sloth's hand and Loki's collar and used the transmutation circle tattooed on the back of my shoulder to pass us through the solid matter of the street and enter the sealed underground lab.
Author's comments:
Experience in combat, tools from other worlds, and abilities foreign to this world, our heroes are more prepared to face the life of a magical girl than most. Whether that is going to be enough is another question altogether.