A/N: This is just the result of a burst of inspiration I had the other day for an idea about the post-anime timeline… The main idea that began this story, however, isn't explained in this first chapter, so just to clarify, yes this chapter is supposed to be a bit confusing and nonsensical. It's mainly just a ton of world-building. The next chapter will have some more explanations in it, as well as a few familiar faces. :3
This is my second story published on here (I deleted the first one, though), and I'm excited about how it'll go. I haven't actually dedicated myself to writing something this ambitious or epic in a while, so I hope I'm not too rusty. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading, in advance.
Spoilers will be abundant, seeing as this is post-anime. I don't even see why I should mention that, but y'know, just in case...
Also, the title may or may not be changed, since my ability to name things is probably one of my weaker points.
Chapter 1: Dust
The sky was dark like it was any other day of the week, and the air was thick with an ever-present shroud of dust. It was cold as well – the sort of cold that crept under one's skin and didn't go away, no matter how many layers you put on.
But overriding all of that was the miasma, that was so heavy and powerful that even the humans had begun to sense it. They could feel it like an icy claw gripping their hearts that slowly extended to numb their entire bodies. They threw around different explanations, saying that it was the cold or the fact that it was always dark. But it unsettled them all the same, perhaps even more so than the perpetual dusk and the layer of dust and soot that covered everything.
Melanie tried not to pay attention to any of it when she was hunting. The darkness or the cold or the humans or even the miasma. Under 'normal' circumstances (but what was even normal anymore, she wasn't sure), the thickening miasma would help her track her targets, but now it served only as a constant hindrance, pervading her thoughts menacingly and causing her to shiver. She would have counted herself lucky to not be able to feel cold while transformed, but the miasma quickly replaced it, and her heightened senses as a magical girl allowed her to sense it more keenly. The demons were so numerous nowadays and the accumulated grief so high that she hardly needed the miasma to hunt now, so it was just another punishment that came with the accursed world. She simply had to move into a bad area, which was pretty much anywhere she went. She'd seen more death and suffering in the matter of a few months than the average person would have seen in their lifetime only a year ago, and she was one of the few who was still managing to keep their wits together somehow. Demons were everywhere. Humans were nearly extinct, and magical girls were following close behind.
After all, the apocalypse had already happened and now the world was well on it's way to decaying for good, with no hope of revival.
Everyone knew it, but everyone was in difference stages of acceptance. Melanie tried to move forward, even with that knowledge. She hated to give up, so she would keep fighting until she exhausted herself. And the demons would just keep coming – never exhausting themselves – until she was dead. It was already bad enough that they were invincible, but then the world had turned on its head too. Now the world was covered in dust and had become a place of death and despair – a sort of trap in itself. And the demons continued to spawn, completely unaffected, as the populace tried to deal with both at once.
It was all such a bad joke that she could have laughed. In fact, she sometimes came across girls nearing their ends who were, in fact, laughing as if all of it were a joke – as if the whole world was a joke.
But she'd never really laughed at all, even before all this had happened, so she saw no reason to now. Doing so would be a sign that insanity was taking her too – as it had taken so many others. She found solace in quietness, which rarely happened nowadays. Ironically, the only time it did was when the demons actually appeared. They were terrifying in their silence, but they were also calm. Regal, even. Many were unhinged by the eeriness of it, so they would go overboard with unnecessary battle cries while they fought.
But Melanie liked the silence. It suited her far better than this world where cries of pain and suffering had become noises she was well accustomed to. So she fought wordlessly, almost thanking the demons for their short-lived and double-edged gift.
It was at that moment that the sounds of the world seemed to fade, signalling the approach of her prey. She was standing on a rooftop of a partially intact home with worn shingles that was half caved in on one side, and still scorched from a fire. From the formation of the surrounding houses, it was clear the area used to be a cul-de-sac, although it was now coated in a layer of dust and plaster. As the sounds around her – distant battle shouts and screams, the wind, and of course cries of pain – dimmed completely, Melanie raised her hand and felt the familiar round smoothness of her Soul Gem as it enlarged from its ring form, fitting perfectly into her palm. In a flash of lavender light, she had abandoned her old, tattered clothes for a simple light purple skirt, a matching sweeper, and a white blouse. Her Soul Gem fitted itself onto her silver headband. Transformation complete, she walked forwards to meet the demons.
Compared to the grey-brown sky, they were like beacons of light, messengers of hope.
Or that was what they would have you believe.
Melanie summoned her weapon – an ornate staff – and stood on the rooftop, waiting. If she was patient, they would come to her. There was no reason to go charging in and tire herself out. (She'd learned that the hard way.) There was no longer anything she was protecting from the demons, so she could wait as long as she liked. She was there for one reason, after all, and it had nothing to do with the interests of humanity.
There was no need to wait for very long. The demons had already sensed her magical presence and were slowly drifting in her direction, almost lazily. If the humans could see them, they would think they were spectres of the newly fallen… and there was certainly no shortage of them.
"Oi," a voice said right in her ear, causing her to flinch violently.
Another girl was standing there, garbed in a royal blue dress that hugged her body and extended past her knees. Her Soul Gem (Melanie had fast learned to always keep track of where a girl's Soul Gem was, just in case) was located on her neck, a very common place. She held a trident and wore an almost smug smile, like she'd already won the fight. There was a sort of halo around her of clean air as she used her magic to expel dust – something Melanie never bothered to waste her energy doing.
She strode forward confidently, passing Melanie. "Let a real fighter do the fighting, if you know what I mean," she said briefly over her shoulder before vanishing on the spot.
A teleporter, Melanie thought in interest. So that's how she snuck up on me. She watched as the girl reappeared in the middle of the crowd of demons, thrusting her trident forward almost tauntingly. Melanie didn't move to join her. Instead, she raised her staff ever so slightly, and her brows furrowed as she concentrated. The girl below continued fighting, taking down demon after demon, and even yelling taunts as she did so.
Surprisingly, girls like that, who thought they could handle anything, were not uncommon. It was either that or accept that you couldn't do anything to change the way things were and eventually fall into despair. Melanie had seen it happen often. Too often. She herself was still balancing precariously between the two attitudes, not sure which one suited her.
The girl was good, though, she had to admit. Melanie could tell she was a veteran by the way she fought with precise strikes, and wise use of teleportation, and well, you had to be that way if you wanted to survive in this world. She'd already picked off several of the demons and was now flitting in and out of sight to continuously avoid them. Sometimes it didn't happen, but usually the demons would come in numbers too great for one [strong] girl to handle. Often too great for more than one girl. So it was mostly about dodging attacks, gathering as many Grief Cubes as you needed at that moment, and then making your escape as quickly and quietly as you could. Melanie, as well as a majority of other girls, had already come to accept that way of fighting, however pride-damaging it might be.
Anyways, it was a lot more pride-damaging to know that any efforts to eliminate demons in the immediate moment always amounted to nothing, so there was no point fighting more than you had to.
Fortunately, the girl's strength allowed her to finish off all of the demons in the area, although Melanie could still sense one or two lingering nearby. In a flash of blue light, the girl appeared next to Melanie again, panting heavily.
"You know… some help would have been appreciated," she gasped. "I mean I'm gonna be nice enough to give you some of the Grief Cubes, but you might not be so lucky with the others if you slack off, you know."
"I did help," Melanie said in her soft voice. She tried to avoid talking whenever she could, but in this case, it was important to break her vow of silence to maintain whatever generosity the other girl was currently feeling towards her. "I protected you in that battle."
The girl straightened, still breathing hard, and looked sidelong at Melanie in a sort of studying way. "I guess now that you mention it… I did feel a sort of a power around me while I was fighting. Just assumed it was me or the demons. That was you?"
Melanie responded with a nod.
"Ah," the girl said briefly. "Well, I won't question it, I guess. As long as I'm alive. Here, I can spare these." She held out her hand and dumped three Grief Cubes into Melanie's hand. "Take care of yourself, okay? I'd go find some friends if I were you. Whatever your power is, it's not enough by itself." And then she was gone, vanishing on the spot.
Melanie gripped the cubes tightly, banishing her magical girl garb. That wasn't the first time she'd been given such advice by another magical girl. It never meant much to her, but she couldn't help feeling a little… upset about being called weak over and over. Or at least, not a 'fighter'.
But she was enough to take out the right amount of demons to keep herself alive, and that's all she cared about. She didn't need companions (especially since the likelihood of dying at any moment either to corruption or demons was rising each day, meaning she wouldn't have them for long) to make her strong. She was strong by herself, relying only on herself. It was easier that way.
Even though she felt that way about companions, she didn't mind it when other magical girls arrived to help, either with fighting or healing. In fact, she welcomed it. It wasn't uncommon for magical girls to help each other either. Usually, it was the few healers who were left that lent a hand, but now and then, a strong fighter who was willing to share their haul of cubes would jump in. It happened more often than not, although the motives weren't always selfless. Sometimes magical girls would aid someone who had promising powers, hoping to recruit them to their team. Or sometimes the reason was as simple as them wanting to help rid an area of demons for the time being and collecting twice as many Grief Cubes. Sometimes theft happened, although it occurred less and less. The stark truth of the situation was: the more magical girls there were, the better. So they would often help each other mainly for the sake of their own survival. Competition was no longer too much of an issue.
Of course, she didn't mind. As long as she got her share of the Grief Cubes afterwards, she was fine with someone else jumping into the battle. Her powers were associated with defence, after all, so it was true that she wasn't much of a fighter type.
She still hated to be automatically seen as weak, though.
The miasma around the area was thickening ever so slightly, but it was enough of an indicator that more demons were converging on that spot. Melanie shoved her Grief Cubes into the pocket of her jacket, turned, and ran nimbly along the rooftop in the opposite direction.
The roofs gradually began to decline, and Melanie leaped off at the lowest point she could find, landing as gracefully as she could on the ground below. Her landing sent up a large, choking cloud of dust and she had to pause for a few minutes, coughing and waving her hand in front of her face to clear her mouth and nose, as well as her vision.
That always happened whenever she jumped from a high place, but she had never gotten used to it.
She also winced as her feet began to throb from the impact. She landed as softly as she was able, but her "shoes" offered barely any protection against the cold, uneven ground. Her "shoes" were pieces of cardboard that she'd tied to the bottom of her feet using worn and mud-caked shoelaces she'd found in a dumpster. At the end of the day, the laces were worth much more than the pieces of cardboard, since the cardboard always wore down whenever it rained (and it didn't help that the rain was usually toxic or otherwise polluted), so she had to scavenge for a new pair every time that happened. But having cardboard shoes were better than wearing nothing at all and accidentally stepping on a sharp piece of rubble or a shard of glass in your bare feet. The cardboard shoes didn't offer much more protection, but to someone without shoes, they would be like a comfort. And a vast majority of people had nothing on their feet and couldn't heal as quickly as magical girls.
The dust swirling around her slowly settled back into the haze that she was used to. One of the good things about the ground was that the dust was a little less dense. She rubbed her eye, which had become slightly irritated by the dust during her trek over the rooftops. That was apparently a bad thing to do, but it was hard to stop herself. Her nose was also itching, but that was a constant thing, and it had already grown red and raw from her constant rubbing. In fact, her whole body felt sore and itchy at the same time. It was easy to ignore while she was focused on hunting, like everything else (and her magical presence helped ward it off altogether), but now that she was back on the ground, it all came rushing back to greet her with rude force.
Melanie would have liked to stay away from the ground altogether, but it was easier to breathe down there, what with the lower amounts of dust, and many of the roofs were dangerously unstable. At a time like this, she couldn't afford to get injured by stepping on a weak point in a roof and falling through. What little magic she had was precious, and couldn't be wasted on healing.
Her thoughts having returned to her magic, Melanie looked around for a safe place to use her Grief Cubes. It wasn't really necessary to get away from the open, since magical girl ambushes were becoming rare and many of the humans were too weak to attack someone like her, or too scared to step outside whatever was left of their homes. There were a few homes that stayed intact and families that remained alive, but no one ever really saw them. They stayed out of sight and kept a low profile for obvious reasons. As for the rest of humanity… Melanie wasn't even sure if there were any large groups of survivors. There were several 'grave sites', which were large areas basically heaped with corpses that were brought there usually by magical girls who were trying to clear the streets. It was more out of a concern for fighting space and the smell than anything else (although the sites stank from miles away), but it was still unnerving to see a dead body, no matter how many times she came across one. The small nagging voice of realism inside her wouldn't let her forget that it could be her one day.
Still, whether the streets were clear or not, Melanie didn't like just standing there and cleansing her Soul Gem. It just seemed wrong somehow. She was used to living the magical girl aspect of her life in secret after all, even if it was the end of the world and most likely, the only people who would accidentally stumble across her would be other magical girls.
She picked a random direction and headed to the left. Along with the dust, her vision was constantly clouded by a light reddish haze. She wasn't exactly sure where it came from or if it was just her, but it stained the world around her in a strange sort rustiness. The dark, angry sky didn't help with the unease it brought her. She could just never get used to that part of the world's end.
A pained moan from nearby caught her attention, and she stopped mid-step. A person was huddled on the ground, covered in rags, and coughing weakly. They had somehow noticed her passing because they reached out to her with a grimy hand that looked severely chafed.
"Healer," they croaked, just loud enough for her to hear. "Please."
Melanie stopped. Whoever it was, it was a magical girl. No one else would say something like that. And they couldn't have guessed anything about her ability since she wasn't transformed, so they must just be hoping that she was one.
Against her better judgement, she turned towards them.
Melanie was anything but a proper healer, but she could do it more proficiently than most other girls. Most of the magical girls still alive were ones who had made wishes centred around fighting and survival – wishes that often didn't come with the power to heal. Her wish barely allowed for it. Although several healers had survived the catastrophe, they weren't strong enough to survive alone for very long. The few healers that were left were parts of teams and mostly saved their magic exclusively for their fellows. Wounded and dying magical girls were the only exception. Except when they were beyond aid.
As Melanie approached the pile of shuddering rags, she realized that the girl was, indeed, already beyond her help. Her Soul Gem was enlarged into it's gem-form and lay on the ground as if it had rolled there from her hand. It was stained black, the angry, dark swirls dominating most of what appeared to have once been a white-yellow surface. The girl herself was huddled to the side of the building, coughing out dust every now and then and groaning. What was left of her clothes were covered in filth and dried blood. Whatever had happened to her was taking its toll slowly and – obviously – painfully.
Melanie crouched beside her and the girl looked up weakly. Her face was gaunt and sunken from starvation. Melanie wondered briefly if she had been one of the girls who had made it through the catastrophe, but had slowly let despair take them. Certainly, that's what it looked like more than anything, since there wouldn't be this much left of her if she'd been outnumbered by demons and she wouldn't still be alive if she'd been directly injured by the catastrophe.
But then again, the girl had asked for help. So she must still have hope.
"You…" the girl rasped, her breath wheezing in her chest. "You're… one of us… aren't you?"
Melanie decided to opt for the truth. "I am," she said simply, raising her voice slightly in case the girl's hearing had been damaged. "Hold on," she added, trying to sound encouraging. "I'll see what I can do."
The girl smiled as much as she could through her pain. "There's nothing you can do. So don't… waste your energy. I… I know you're not a healer."
Melanie was slightly taken aback at that, but the girl continued before she could speak. It was one of the few times she was actually cut off when she tried to say something.
"Have you… heard of the… Solen Bridge?"
Melanie nodded without a word, although she was baffled by her words. There were few who didn't know about that bridge – the last remarkable feat humanity had accomplished before its demise. Named after the ingenious architect who had planned its structure and building, the bridge spanned across the Pacific Ocean, linking the Asian continent with North America. Just as everybody had been celebrating humanity's latest step forward, it happened. And of course, the bridge was was no longer there. Even a bridge that crossed the Pacific Ocean couldn't do much against the apocalypse.
"It exists," the girl said, in close to an inaudible murmur. "It exists."
Of course the bridge existed, so Melanie was confused by what she said at first (she wasn't exactly sure she'd even heard it right). It could just be mad ravings of someone near death, but somehow, it didn't sound like it. The girl's eyes were focused on Melanie and she repeated it over and over, although it was obviously to Melanie, not to herself.
At last, Melanie found her tongue, although her voice was unsure and nervous. "What do you mean?"
The girl shifted painfully, and a cough forced its way from her cracked lips. "It still stands," she croaked. "Managed… by us. I was… sent to tell… anyone I could… to go there. We are converging… to save… this world. Please." She took Melanie's hand before the other could pull away. "You must go there! You must all go there!"
Her eyes were wide, almost crazed. Now Melanie was almost sure that she was finally breaking down mentally. Glancing quickly down at her Soul Gem, she saw that it was almost completely corrupted. The end was near.
"We are… the last," the girl croaked, and her hands began shaking so much she was forced to drop Melanie's hand. "Please… we must…" Her eyes widened, nearly bulging as she gasped out the last word. "…survive."
Melanie watched almost sympathetically as the girl's body began convulsing. She could do nothing but watch. Nothing she said or did would make a difference. It would soon be over. As if to make a point, Melanie got to her feet and backed a respectable distance away, giving the girl room. Somehow, she felt it was appropriate. They were all alone at the end anyways, and she hadn't even known the girl in life, so it felt wrong to be the last one near her in death. Or at least, that was her ideal, even though she had been the last one near her before she died. That was something that never stopped bothering Melanie, no matter how many dying people she came across.
Slowly, the girl's thrashing grew feebler until she was lying still in a heap of rags and dust. Her Soul Gem, still visible on the ground, was completely black.
Melanie waited. She knew what would happen, having seen it dozens of times before. For some reason, it never stopped transfixing her, no matter how many times she saw it.
Slowly, the blackness of the gem began to recede and drain away, as if an invisible being were cleansing it. As it happened, the girl on the ground opened her eyes and they seemed to fix on a point above her. A peaceful smile spread across her face at whatever she was seeing. That was the part Melanie never understood. The whole process itself was bewildering, but that was the strangest part.
As the last of the corruption faded from the girl's Soul Gem, Melanie could see tears of happiness in her eyes, and saw her lips moving as if speaking a word or a name. Of course, she could never tell exactly what it was they were saying. Then the girl's eyes closed and her Soul Gem seemed to dissolve in her hand as a last sigh left her lips. The look of contentment did not leave her face, even in death.
Melanie just stared. If she waited long enough, she would witness yet another phenomenon: the girl's body mysteriously vanishing on the spot. But despite that knowledge, she continued to stare. Of course, it was upsetting to see anyone die, let alone a magical girl, but she wasn't sure what to make of this girl. She'd heard lots of the crazy things people had to say in their last breaths, but this girl probably won for the strangest thing she'd heard. The Solen Bridge? Who would even think of such a thing as that when they were dying? And had she said it was still standing? Given the state of most of the buildings around her, Melanie assumed the rest of the world was in the same situation. It seemed ridiculous to think a bridge was unaffected. And yet…
She shook her head, trying to tear her eyes away from the girl's motionless body. She was just another magical girl, struggling to survive, struggling to keep herself sane… and failing in the end. That's always what happened. There was no point at all in taking her last words seriously. She had to move on, like always, and accept that that was what happened when you died, and it would probably happen to her someday. She took one last glance at the girl before turning and swiftly heading the way she'd been going before coming across her... before she had time to watch her disappear. Moving on was always best.
Once she was a safe distance away, she stopped to take a breath (the dust made it difficult) and summoned her own Soul Gem. There were a few noticeable trails of corruption running through it, which surprised her. Perhaps she'd been more disturbed by the encounter than she'd thought. She pressed two of the three Grief Cubes she'd been given against the hard surface, watching as the blackness was sucked into the cubes. Then she dropped the two squares onto the ground, kicking them away from her. They'd soon respawn into more demons that she'd have to fight to get more Grief Cubes. It was a hopeless, unending cycle. It was the whole point of her life. Maybe she'd just been glad to hear something a little different, even if it was so far-fetched.
A scream from nearby spiked her adrenaline instantly, and she turned her head in the direction of the sound. The dust, of course, didn't allow her to see very far, but whoever had made that sound wasn't in the area anyways. And the scream had sounded more vicious than anything, so it was probably someone engaged in battle. She could never catch a break, what with the wave of new magical girls who had been flooding into the already crowded state in the last few days to escape danger elsewhere. Most of them were strong – survivors, in other words – but Melanie felt obligated to find out what was going on, especially after she'd been helped earlier that day.
In a flash, Melanie had transformed. She searched for the lowest point she could find on the rooftops and leaped. The roof creaked underneath her, but thankfully didn't give way. She craned her neck to see what was happening. In front of her lay what probably used to be a park, although it was really hard to tell what anything was in the haze. Below her, there was a large group of demons all floating in tandem towards a particular source.
Another magical girl, Melanie thought in surprise. That had to be a record, meeting three in one day, and not a single human (dead or no).
Instantly, Melanie searched for a better vantage point, summoning her staff as she did so. There were a lot of demons in the area (she was surprised she hadn't been able to sense them) and, by the sounds of it, only one magical girl.
At last, she was able to find a spot where she had a clear view, atop a chimney that half crumbled as she stood on it.
The demons in the area seemed to have latched onto their target because they were all aiming in the same direction, breaking the haze now and then with brief bursts of light as they attacked whoever it was fighting them. Melanie squinted and could see no one at first.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an orange flash glowed brilliantly, and something that looked like a tendril of orange light coiled around one of the demons, squeezing it out of existence. A second later, the wielder appeared herself – a red-haired girl clad in an outfit composed of several shades of orange – holding a long whip in her hand that was blazing with magic.
Melanie quickly raised her staff, concentrating. Her power lay in defence, as she'd demonstrated in the earlier battle, most specifically barriers. As long as she had the will to defend someone, they would be defended. But she had to be able to see them and focus on them. She could defend herself as well, of course. But usually, this was how it was. She would protect from afar so she didn't have to worry about herself.
The girl didn't seem to notice the outside interference because she kept cracking her whip, swinging it at demon after demon. As the demons began closing in on her, she leaped into the air, letting out another of her shrill screams, and somersaulted somewhere mid-jump, disappearing from Melanie's view again and rendering her shields useless. This time, neither her nor her whip reappeared, but the demons still seemed to be focused on something. A bad feeling rose in Melanie's gut and she took a deep breath before launching herself off of the roof towards the cluster of demons, readying her magic as she did so. There was no time to think, no time to question what she was doing. She just had to do something before it was too late. It could end up being her last battle with that rationality, but that was the way it always was anyways.
She willed herself to be protected, focusing a sum of her energy on that. Her basic barriers were invisible, so she just had to trust herself. Then she raised her staff and moved it in a sweeping arc in front of herself. It released jets of lavender light that rushed towards the demons, causing several to disintegrate on the spot. The others were instantly alerted to the new threat and turned almost lazily in her direction. Melanie didn't wait for them to move in on her. She sent another barrage of magic at them, slowly backing away as she did so and looking for a strategic position for herself. Once the demons were closer, she would retreat to the rooftops again, but she had to keep them distracted. Wherever the other girl was, she must be injured if she wasn't still fighting. That… or she had collected her share of Grief Cubes.
But no. As the demons drifted towards Melanie, she spotted a heap of orange behind them, unmoving. Good. So she was fighting this battle for a reason.
She sent more jets of light from her staff as the demons neared her position. She wasn't yet in range of their attacks, but it was getting dangerously close. She decided that was a good time to move.
The demons' masks began shimmering even more than usual. It may have been pretty to anyone other than a magical girl. Melanie knew it meant they were preparing to blaze a hole right through her. She quickly ran to the side, still remembering to think about protecting herself. As long as her barriers were in place, she could survive a couple hits. That was the worst case scenario, though.
She turned mid-run, flinging several beams of lavender light towards the demons. If they were focused on her, they wouldn't be focused on the other girl. That was the plan anyways.
The demons were silent as they stalked their prey. Melanie liked to think of silence as being her 'domain', even if it was intangible. Like always, the demons almost aided her with it.
Still, she wasn't a born fighter and her stamina was subpar, to say the least. There were far too many demons for her to handle alone. This was the point where she'd usually gather the Grief Cubes she'd earned and make her escape. In this situation, however, she had to use her trump card to get out of it.
She banished her staff, knowing she would need all her energy for it. She sucked a breath in, trying not to think about the dust that clogged her throat as she did. Dust was constant, and it could no longer bother her now. She concentrated, pouring all her energy towards herself, thinking of herself being protected and shielded from the demons until they could no longer think about harming her…
She waited before a faint lavender veil appeared around her before she made her move. She dashed forward as quick as she could straight into the centre of the horde, only pausing to snatch up the Grief Cubes that had been dropped during the battle. The demons did not even hesitate. They continued to drift towards the place she'd been seconds before, not even noticing that she'd moved.
After gathering her spoils as well as the other girl's, Melanie hurried in the direction of the fallen magical girl, extending her shield to surround her as she did. Her breath came in pants and sweat was beading on her brow. This certain ability took a lot of magic, so she would need some time to recuperate later. For now, however, she had to keep her focus until the demons lost interest.
She knelt by the girl, inspecting her closely. She was one of the few girls who had trousers as part of their outfit, and her auburn hair was pulled back in a braid. She was, by the looks of it, tall, and older than Melanie (at least appearance-wise). The side of her outfit was stained with blood – she'd probably been nicked by a beam – and she was out cold. There was a sort of determined hardness to her face and even while unconscious, she was frowning.
To Melanie, that sight was more natural than the weird smile girls had when they died.
Melanie waited as the demons in the area continued to drift around, searching for their prey. She passed the time by pressing the hem of her sweeper against the girl's side to stop the bleeding. It didn't really matter if she dirtied or ripped her magical girl outfit, since it was always somehow repaired by magic the next time she transformed.
Just as she felt her magical supply dropping to a dangerous low, the demons began to move off in a random direction. Hopefully there were other magical girls in the area who would pick them off in case they decided to double back.
Melanie released her magic with a heaving gasp, falling forward to catch her breath on all fours. Hiding her presence using barriers was difficult enough, let alone extending the effect to more than one person. She fumbled for the Grief Cubes and quickly cleansed her gem, sighing in pure relief as she did so. Then she turned her attention to the girl.
The wound in her side turned out to not be very deep, but she also had a gash in the back of her head and, judging by her position, she'd probably been flung backwards into the side of the building. She was lucky the wall was firm or the damage could have been a lot worse, as Melanie observed.
Melanie got right to work, summoning up her powers again, but this time to heal. These were wounds she could manage at least, and not fatal, at least not short-term. Magic tingled at Melanie's fingertips and she moved her hands over the girl's side, watching the wound slowly close as she did so. She wasn't talented enough in healing magic to close internal injuries, so she hoped there weren't any of those. She could deal with the surface wounds only.
As she moved to the girl's head, reaching around as best she could, the girl began to stir and moan. Melanie paid little attention to it. None of it was anything she hadn't experienced before. There were few who would say this was new.
The girl's eyes blinked open slowly. They were hazel, and still slightly unfocused as she was pulled out of unconsciousness.
"What're you…" she began groggily, trying to sit up, but slumping again from exhaustion.
Melanie didn't respond or offer any explanation. In fact, she'd been so focused on sealing the girl's wound that she jumped at the sudden voice, not expecting her to question what was going on. It wasn't unusual for girls to help each other out if they found someone in a tough situation. And Melanie was feeling extra generous that day, for whatever reason.
And it (sorta) made her feel good afterwards.
At last, Melanie finished her handiwork and sat back. The girl was still regaining full awareness, so she waited patiently until she was strong enough to sit up, before silently offering her a handful of Grief Cubes.
The girl didn't notice at first, instead sitting and clutching her head, groaning slightly. "God, these migraines," she complained. "It's this damn miasma. If the demons don't get me first, it's gonna be this." She clearly hadn't noticed the dried blood on the back of her scalp.
Melanie didn't comment, but waited with her arm still outstretched.
The girl finally let go of her temple, noticing Melanie offering the Grief Cubes. Her eyes widened. "All of 'em? You sure you don't need any?"
Melanie simply shrugged and pointed towards her clear Soul Gem, nested in her hair.
"Okay. Thanks," the girl said, shrugging herself. She took the cubes and instantly pressed them against her Soul Gem, which was located on the shoulder of her outfit. She sighed blissfully as the corruption drained away. Melanie understood the feeling, having been close to her limit several times in her short life as a magical girl – the last few minutes included.
Once the girl was finished cleansing herself, she grasped the Grief Cubes in her fist and stood very slowly, wobbling slightly. Melanie also rose, although still wordless, and watched as the girl drew back her arm very deliberately and flung the Grief Cubes away, as far as she could throw. Then she turned to face Melanie, appraising her carefully. Melanie just stood, folding her hands in front of her. She expected the girl to just walk off, like most of the others did, or even try to steal any Grief Cubes she might have on her (that had also happened). But she just stared, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
At last, she said, "You got a name?" She spaced her words out a bit, almost as if she were speaking to a child. Judging from appearance, she must have been only a few years older than Melanie at most, and even then, Melanie was no child. But of course, she didn't mind. She'd been spoken to in multiple ways in her life after all, and this wasn't the worst way to be addressed, by any stretch.
Melanie remained silent, even to such a simple question. She preferred silence, and if she had her way, she wouldn't ever have to talk. She reserved that for times when it was necessary in order to avoid trouble. Anyways, talking was painful. Words were painful. She felt more comfortable around her own thoughts, where she was safe. Speaking her thoughts was like putting herself in an uncomfortable domain, where anything could happen. And other people, who she understood even less than herself, were even scarier what with their own unique thoughts and motives.
Needless to say, it seemed illogical even for Melanie to go around helping others and opening up the prospect of conversation. But up until now, none of the girls she'd saved had ever offered opportunities to exchange words. They'd simply come and gone, in and out of her life. So why was this girl different? Why was it that everyone was talking to her that day?
When Melanie didn't reply, the girl relaxed into a more casual stance and crossed her arms. "Well, my name's Anita, if you want to know. And uh… thanks again for saving me just now. I was in a tough situation there, and your barriers really helped. Nifty ability, if I do say so myself." Then she looked at Melanie closely, a frown forming on her face. "Okay, I know you're not deaf. So are you not saying anything for a reason or are you just flat-out ignoring me?" A moment later, her frown deepened as if she'd seen something she disapproved of. "I see. Well, I don't bite, however stupid that sounds. I like it when people talk to me. I don't think that's a bad thing or whatever." She must have seen the look of brief surprise on Melanie's face because she chuckled. "And before you ask, I can read minds. So I know you're not talking for a reason, although you're doing a pretty good job of hiding that reason." She peered at Melanie curiously, but the other girl's lips remained shut. "I know what you're thinking – well, duh, of course I do. It's not really the generic response either. If you're so afraid of me reading your thoughts, why not block me? You're a shield, so theoretically–" She broke off mid-sentence, and a grin spread across her face. "Aha. There we go."
Melanie didn't even remember doing anything different. It was as if the girl's comment about her shielding her thoughts had triggered the appropriate response, just like how she normally defended herself during battle. She felt a deep sense of relief. The thought of someone digging around in her head and knowing what she was thinking at that exact moment terrified her. Her head was the only place where she was safe, after all.
The girl – Anita – continued talking after a short pause. "I'm kind of interested, you know. Normally, I wouldn't stand around talking after a fight, but I'm a bit curious about you. That's not saying much actually, but you seem a little different. I mean, it doesn't look like you have a team or anything. Usually girls like you have at least one or two companions, you know." She leaned forward as she said that, almost as if she was giving out some very important life information. (Melanie tried hard to keep a straight face.) "Me? I'm sort of a loner. But girls like you usually don't do that well alone. So what? Do you make it your duty to go around helping others selflessly or something?" Her brow furrowed slightly. "Your thoughts are back, by the way. Good. This'll stop sounding like a one-sided conversation." She grinned half-heartedly at Melanie, but the girl didn't react. "I know you want me to go away, but before I do, can I ask you a quick question?" She paused, raising her hand to tap her lip almost thoughtfully. "What was your wish?"
Melanie's reaction was instant. She actually physically recoiled from surprise. She had been thinking of any number of other questions, but asking a girl what her wish was was almost a taboo. It was something even companions didn't share with each other, let alone strangers.
The girl laughed. She actually laughed! "Calm down. I'll admit, that was rude, but I wasn't expecting you to tell me or anything. Just wanted to get a reaction." She sighed disappointedly. "Although the reaction was a little more physical than I was hoping. I didn't really get much from your thoughts at all."
Melanie couldn't help it anymore. She tried to regain control, smoothing out her skirt (more from habit than anything else), and then swung her head up to meet the girl's eyes defiantly. "Stay out of my head!" she snapped, her voice coming out much sharper than she'd imagined.
This seemed to startle Anita. "Whoa, she speaks! Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just really curious about people in general." She dropped her arms to her sides, swinging them casually. "That was my wish, you know, and I don't really care who knows it. I wanted to understand people. The problem is, most people I meet don't like me, so I suppose it didn't exactly work out the way I wanted it to. That's why I have to stay away from most people, and admire from afar." She looked at Melanie almost apologetically. "I'll let you keep your thoughts to yourself from now on. I know I'm breaking more than a few social rules every time I read someone's mind without permission, but I can't really help myself." With that, the girl turned on her heel. "You're probably not happy with me right now, not that you ever were to begin with. I mean, this is one hell of a way for me to pay off a debt, right? And a nice conversation to have in the middle of doomsday. So I'll leave now. Sorry again. And thanks for saving my ass. Really."
As she turned, her costume flickered and vanished with a flash of orange light (so at least now, she couldn't do her mind-reading trick anymore). Melanie's eyes instantly widened at the sight of the girl's regular clothing. She was wearing leggings that were actually intact with no holes or tears, a long comfortable-looking sweater that seemed brand new, and although her braided hair had been slightly mussed and bloodied during the earlier fight, it was threaded with silky white ribbons that tied it off at the end. Other than the fine layer of dust coating her (no one could escape that), she looked very well groomed compared to the norm.
Melanie couldn't stop staring. She hadn't seen such a well-dressed girl in a long time, let alone a magical girl. Most magical girls wore rags that barely covered their bodies. Melanie herself had been wearing the same regular clothes for over two weeks now, and she was nearing the time where she would become so desperate that she might consider searching for remains of stores so she could try to scavenge a new set of clothing. Transforming was almost a relief because somehow, her magic preserved the clothes she fought in.
"Yeah," Anita said, seeing the way Melanie looked at her. "I'm a rich kid. Or about as rich as you can get around now. I'm not proud of it, but there's no point in moping about it either – not when half the people I come across are starving. It's a pretty messed up world, right?"
Melanie, of course, didn't answer.
Anita shifted rather uncomfortably, pulling awkwardly at the hem of her sweater. "Look, I don't know how to say this properly, so I'll just come out and say it the way I'm thinking it. This will sound really strange to you because you just met me and all, but I sorta like you. Just from your thoughts, mind you, since you've said a total of five words since we met. But they're a lot more complicated than others, and they're not focused on things I'd expect a typical magical girl to be thinking about. I'm interested in people in general, but you're sort of a stick-out for me." She became even more focused on fumbling with a loose thread she'd found on her sweater as she continued. "I don't usually make this offer because most people I come across just up and leave and don't listen to me go on and on all day, or they try to beat me up when they find out I'm digging into their stash of secrets… but I'm guessing you look pretty rough when you don't look like that, right? I can help you. I'll get you some new clothes, maybe some refreshments while I'm at it. And I'll even throw some Grief Cubes into the deal; I've got some clean ones stored at my house."
Melanie stared at her. The girl really could talk. She briefly wondered if Anita was making the invitation so she could get the opportunity to read her mind on a deeper level, and said, "So you can read my mind, right?"
The other girl only laughed. "Nice, you talked again! Well, I won't say that's not what I'm after, but you can always block me if I go too far, right?" She shrugged. "I'm not gonna force you or anything. I mean, I'd offer to take in most homeless people if I could, interesting or not. We have to help each other while we still can. But I guess there's just something they find wrong with the whole thing, and I don't blame them. That's why I don't go around pretending I'm something I'm not. I'm not very street-smart, but I'm people-smart, at least. And to me, those are two different things." She turned away again, still speaking. "Well, I'm gonna go before the miasma around here thickens again. God knows I'm done with hunting for the day. I just wanna get out before this area's swarmed again. And I need to prepare for some journey I have to go on soon." She waved briefly, just raising her hand an inch. "It was nice meeting you, however strange that might have been. Keep on, uh… thinking."
Melanie blinked and she was gone. It didn't surprise her. Magical girls could generally move quite fast. What bothered her was the encounter itself. That girl had not acted normal at all. Of course, she wasn't living off the street, scrounging off of what little other people left behind, sleeping in dumpsters, and constantly on the run to avoid demons. She was probably living in a nice, urban (that word was almost historical now) place that was so cheerful that no demons ever approached. She probably hunted more for the thrill of it, not the need. And what had she said? She had spare Grief Cubes at her house? Melanie had never met another magical girl who had extra Grief Cubes (although some desperate girls would go ahead and try to look for them on others anyways). But besides that, the girl was a mindreader. The was never a good thing, although Melanie had only ever come across one other mindreader, and she had been with a group of other girls, assisting them during the battle in reading the demons' hardly human train of thoughts. That's usually where their skills worked best. But this girl not only worked solo, but also thought she could go around and read the mind of anyone she wanted to. That was something akin to arrogance; few people took kindly to having their thoughts spied on, and even fewer wouldn't raise a fist against it. Melanie had just been taken aback by the girl's forwardness and her willingness to breach social protocol. To say she was strange wasn't even close to describing her.
And yet she'd called Melanie 'interesting'. Melanie was a girl who liked to be invisible – no, she wanted to be invisible. How could she possibly be interesting? All she did was live to survive, like most others, helping when and if she could. She'd seen her fair share of tragedy and unnecessary violence, just the same as everyone else. She wasn't anything extraordinary. Even having a not-so-pleasant past wasn't unusual for a magical girl, especially in this day and age. She hadn't even been a magical girl long enough to call herself a veteran (although just managing to survive that long should give her some commendation). No, there was nothing she could think of that would make her a stick-out.
That girl was most likely trying to trick you, she told herself firmly. She was probably going to force me to cooperate with her or protect her until she got home or something. It wasn't like that hadn't happened before, what with her ability.
So she shouldn't think anything of it. That girl had just talked a lot more than the average person she came across. There was nothing else to it. That day had been a little more social than usual, that's all. And the apocalypse tended to have odd effects on people. It shouldn't be something that made her feel so uneasy.
But it still did. Solen Bridge and that girl, Anita. Even something she saw a lot like Soul Gems that mysteriously vanished at death. She couldn't quite figure out why, but the Solen Bridge incident had disturbed her the most. Now that some time had passed after the encounter with the dying girl, she took a moment to actually think about it. What she'd gotten out of it was that she was supposed to go to the bridge because that's where other magical girls were headed. All… converging in one spot? It seemed a little odd to think about. After all, she'd never had such close interaction with any magical girl until the catastrophe and even then, magical girls only helped each other when strictly necessary, so bringing every surviving girl in the world to one place seemed crazy – no, impossible. The catastrophe had forced them to reluctantly cooperate, but even then, they saw little of each other. And why would they even want to gather in the first place? There was only one reason she could think of, but even then, it seemed unlikely.
It's nothing, she tried to convince herself, irritated that she was still worrying over it. And irritated even more at the fact that she was still thinking about the offer the girl she had just saved made. What was wrong with her? She never usually dwelt this much on random encounters, even if there was more talking than usual.
Silence. That was her companion, her only friend. Silence was her protector and it had failed that day. Against that girl who had spoken of something unimaginable and Anita, who had bypassed several social rules in the matter of a few minutes. And what had she said about a journey…?
…She had to find her. For no other reason except that maybe she could score an easy meal.
No, no. She couldn't afford to be that impulsive. She had only lived for herself up until then, so why would she start relying on someone to feed her? Why open herself up to the prospect of being read like a book again?
She realized she was standing there, almost stupidly, biting her lip as her thoughts conflicted with each other. She really was too much of a thinker. If she was going to do something, she may as well just do it. Doing something sounded a lot nicer than sitting and waiting for action to come to her (or being killed by a demon).
She didn't know why. She didn't know if she could stop herself.
She headed in the direction Anita had just left in.