Chapter the second, in which we are introduced to the main cast, and a contract is signed.
May 18, 11:07 AM – Fifty-six days, twelve hours, fifty-three minutes remaining.
"It should be working." Eve said, tapping her foot impatiently against the pavement. Hitomi said nothing as Eve snapped her fingers, sparks flying from them as she attempted to activate the world gate for the third time. The markings on the stone lit with a blood red glow for a moment, then faded as they had the previous times.
"Perhaps you have the wrong spot?" Hitomi ventured. She was new to this whole magic thing, sure, but even still she had figured a world gate would be somewhat more glamorous than a graffiti covered rock in the middle of her middle-school grounds.
"No, this is definitely it..." Eve said, kicking the rock in frustration. "Why won't you work?"
There was a coughing of red sparks from the rock, and the markings began to emit a deep purple glow seemingly on their own. The symbols danced across the surface of the stone slowly, arranging themselves in a circle.
"Finally." muttered Eve. "It must be rusty from disuse. We might very well be the first people to try to use this gate in decades, even centuries."
Hitomi watched as the symbols floated slowly off of the stone, forming a sphere in the air just next to the rock. She looked around anxiously. "Won't someone see this? It's rather flashy."
"Oh, you'd be surprised at how much magic people can ignore, especially in a world like this one." Eve said. "Even in magically saturated worlds, some humans seem to have a hard time seeing it. You'd be surprised to what lengths people's brains will go to keep their world making sense. To be honest, the surprising thing is how little trouble you're having. The more magic you get exposed to the easier it is for you to see it, but I'm the first magical thing you've met." Eve paused, then shrugged. "Oh well. Some people are just more disposed to seeing magic than others, I guess."
The purple sphere solidified, turning into a deep violet aperture about two meters in diameter. It swirled and twisted like a dark whirlpool in the sky. Hitomi shivered. It felt off to her, for some reason.
"Got the chills?" Eve said, grinning. "Yeah, precursor magic can do that to you. Don't worry about it. They think only about one in eight hundred world gate transfers end in vanishings!" She cackled. "Not too bad for cross-universal travel, I say."
Hitomi laughed nervously. "Eh... if you say so." She looked at the portal with considerably more worry.
"I'm just kidding." Eve said. "It's really more like one in twenty million. Now, give me a moment to set the coordinates..." she closed her eyes, and the portal's edge flashed red briefly. "There. All set. Portal to Tepamegen now receiving travelers!"
"Tepamegen?" Hitomi asked. "Is that what your world is called?"
"In gate-speak, yes." Eve said. "Don't worry, you won't need to know more than, like, two or three names unless you plan on using the world gate network extensively. As for what the people who live there call it, you'll find that it's almost always 'earth' no matter what world you're on, which can get rather confusing to be frank."
Hitomi nodded slowly. She could see this getting confusing very quickly. It was a magical world, after all, and they tended to have plenty of strange names for things. She was suddenly glad she had her notebooks with her. They would likely come in handy.
"Well, come on." Eve said. "In you go. Don't worry, it's not painful."
Hitomi looked at the ominous dark portal for another three seconds, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stepped into it.
It was like floating through a cool, moist fluid. Hitomi opened her eyes, but she couldn't see anything at all, not even her hands in front of her. Whatever the substance was, it was less dense than water but considerably more so than air. It felt like it was clinging to her, getting into her skin. She shuttered. At least Eve had been right; it wasn't painful, just extremely uncomfortable. She felt herself being blown down in a current of the stuff. Something brushed against her, and she gasped in fright. The fluid went down her throat. It felt weird, but it didn't do much to her as far as she could tell.
"Shh... It's just me." Eve sent her. "It's almost over."
Hitomi shuddered again, barely keeping her gag reflex from trying to expel the substance inside her. Going into a coughing fit now would only get more of the stuff in her lungs.
Suddenly, her vision cleared. Hitomi didn't waste time looking around, coughing the fluid out of her lungs as violently as her body would allow. A few wisps of dark energy flew from her lips, and she fell to her knees.
"Oh, you breathed it in?" Eve said, shaking her head. "That wasn't a good plan. Still, can't be helped. You'll be fine."
Hitomi got back to her feet, still coughing. "You..." she coughed again. "could have warned me."
"It was only, like, ten seconds!" Eve said. "I figured you'd be fine."
Hitomi put her hand up, waving Eve off. "It's fine." she shook her head. "I'm okay. And I certainly won't do that again."
She put her head up, shook it again, and looked around to see just where they were. The portal they had exited was much, much larger than the one they had entered, almost fifty meters in diameter. More impressive still was the room they were in. Built to house the portal, the domed enclosure was massive, arching high above her head. It appeared to be constructed entirely out of marble. There were four large exits, their sides gilded and adorned with massive intricate silver statues. The apex of the dome was a sterile white, which struck Hitomi as a shame. It would have been perfect for one of those ceiling murals. The floor wasn't completely abandoned, but Hitomi guessed there were perhaps fifteen other people standing around, a quite small number for a room so large.
"Quiet day." Eve said. "Usually there are a few hundred people here. Well, there used to be, anyway." She extended her arm, putting her fingers through the holographic screen. It flickered, and expanded. A set of charts and numbers appeared.
"2.3 ppm..." Eve muttered. "Already up by 0.1 in only twelve hours..." she flicked her wrist, and the screen retracted to the idle state. She sighed. "Well, Hitomi, off we go." Eve gave Hitomi her hand, which she took. "We're still about five minutes from our destination. Might as well get there, huh?"
"2.3 ppm of what?" Hitomi asked as they walked. "Is there a poison in the air?"
"You could say that." Jaxx said, appearing on Hitomi's shoulders. She managed to not throw him off in surprise. "You could also say that about oxygen, though, if you asked the right creatures. And the void thinks you're all-"
Eve put her hand over Jaxx's mouth. "Yes. He means yes. It's the miasma. The world is beginning to reek with it. And it does poison you, but not in the way you think of poison normally. It infects your soul. Corrupts you. Turns your thoughts dark and saps your will."
"Is that what we're trying to stop?" Hitomi asked. Eve laughed darkly.
"Not really. It's just a side effect of the world dieing. At the rate it's building, it won't break 50 ppm before everything ends anyway. Just a little extra effect to add to the destruction." Eve said. "It's just an unrelated effect caused in part by what we really fight."
"Those shadow things, then?" Hitomi said, but Eve shook her head again.
"No. Those were just some lackeys of the king of shadows who I pissed off two weeks back. We might have to deal with them a bit, but they have even less to do with this than the miasma does." Eve said. "Just hold on. When we get to base, I'll explain everything. But we really shouldn't talk about it in the open like this."
Hitomi nodded, looking paranoidly around to see if anyone had noticed them talking. No one seemed to be looking at them, luckily. Eve walked quickly, and Hitomi had some trouble keeping up. Jaxx wriggling on her neck wasn't helping. They exited the building quickly, opening into what looked very much like a modern city. People filled the streets, bustling from one place to the next. Hitomi glanced at the people as they passed. Wings, horns, pointy ears, tails; if there was any question of whether she was still on earth somewhere, it left her mind. She sped up slightly, keeping a little closer to Eve. Eve squeezed her hand hard, and looked down at Jaxx.
"Are you sure you found the right girl?" She quipped.
"Yes, yes." Jaxx said. "Give her two days. Trust me, you won't question it then."
Hitomi swallowed hard, relaxing her grip on Eve. She was here to save the world. Now wasn't the time to be having second thoughts, or to get scared by the unknown. This is what she had signed up for. She took two deep breaths.
"Where are we heading?" she asked. "Do you have a apartment building, or a laboratory, or what?"
"An abandoned castle." Eve said. "We're heading to the local teleport gate. Just over there." She nodded her head at a black obelisk in center of a nearby city square. "That will take us the rest of the way."
Hitomi shuddered. "Another gate?"
"Not a world gate, a teleport gate. This one will work near instantaneously." Eve said. She smiled coyly. "It must be confusing to you, but I assure you it's just culture shock. You'll get the hang of it quickly. Intelligent beings everywhere share one trait in common. We all like things to be simple to use. Everything will make sense soon enough."
Hitomi nodded. She supposed that she had gotten the hang of stranger terminology and mechanics in video games and storybooks before. It was just much more important now; now mixing up terms could get her killed.
As they approached the obelisk, Hitomi marveled at just how large everything was, and how modern it all seemed. When she thought of magical worlds, she imagined villages and castles, princesses and knights, not great cities with populations in the millions. She wouldn't be surprised if this place was larger than Mitakihara, even.
Still, it didn't take all that long to make their way to the stone. Eve approached it smoothly. "It's very user friendly." Eve said. "All you need to do is keep holding my hand, okay?"
Hitomi nodded.
"If everything goes well, you won't -" There was a brief flash of light, and Hitomi felt her feet jerk slightly. The view around her changed suddenly.
"Even feel anything." Eve finished. "Welcome to the forest fortress, Hitomi!"
Hitomi found herself standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking an old castle, the light of the moon casting the area in a strong silver glow. A river lazily trailed around behind it. The forest had claimed much of the east wing, but the west wing of the structure seemed to be mostly intact, and she could see lights in some of the windows.
"It's..." Hitomi said slowly, trying to take it in.
"Not much, I know. But it's our home base. You might as well get used to it." Eve said.
"...night." Hitomi finished. "It's night. It was morning just a few seconds ago." She looked up at Eve. "Where did nine hours go?"
Eve laughed. "It was a bit of a long teleport, Hitomi. A good few thousand kilometers. The planet's a sphere. We jumped timezones, that's all. If you think this is bad, just wait until we visit a world that doesn't have a 24 hour day."
"EVE!"
There was a cry from the plane below them. Hitomi turned her eyes downwards. A figure was running up a wooden ramp built on the cliff's face, carrying a lantern. She rushed upwards, the lantern bobbing up and down erratically as she ran.
"EEEEEVVVVEEEE!"
Eve sighed. "Yes, I'm back, Alice. I've brought a new friend. She's your age this time."
"Ohhh!" Hitomi took a sharp step back as Alice somehow appeared in front of her seemingly from nowhere. She had long black hair tucked beneath a pointy black hat, a black nightdress covering her body. Her dark brown eyes looked deep into Hitomi's. "Hello! Who are you?"
"S-Shizuki Hitomi." Hitomi took another step back.
"Oh, that's a pretty name." Alice said, twirling back on the points of her black long toed shoes. She extended her hand to Hitomi. "My name is Alice. Nice to meet you!" she giggled.
After a slight hesitation, Hitomi shook the offered hand. "Nice to meet you." she said, feeling Jaxx untangle himself from her shoulders.
"Oh, it seems like Jaxx has taken a liking to you, too!" Alice said, grinning as Jaxx began to rub against her. "Was he a good kitty, Eve?"
"Very helpful." Eve said. "Found our little charge here in only seven attempts."
"Only seven?" Alice said, looking down at Jaxx. "That's much better than usual."
"Can I have a treat, master?" Jaxx said, rubbing against Alice with more vigor and beginning to purr. "For being such a good kitty?"
Alice laughed, leaning down. A bright blue-white glowing pentagram floated over her hand for a moment, and a small fish manifested itself for her. She offered it to Jaxx, who seemed very happy with his reward.
"Alice is our utility mage." Eve informed Hitomi. "She can't use much combat magic, but she knows every cantrip in the book and then some."
"Sixty-four thousand, two hundred ninety-one spells memorized and counting." Alice giggled. "I try to get at least fifty new ones a day." Her face darkened. "And I'm not a mage. I'm a spectral witch."
Eve put a hand up in defense. "Sorry, sorry, Alice. I know how you feel about that. I'm just a bit tired."
"You're a witch?" Hitomi said quietly, looking back to her clothes. "I couldn't have guessed."
"So what are you?" Alice asked, turning from Eve to look back at Hitomi. "You look like a little anime schoolgirl."
"We don't know. She's from a nearly magicless world, and has no talents that we can see." Eve said. "But Jaxx is sure that she's important."
"Then she must be." Alice said. "Jaxx is never wrong about these things."
Hitomi put a hand to the back of her head and laughed nervously. "I'm sure we'll find out eventually."
"Can I show her around?" Alice said. "Pretty please?"
Eve shook her head slowly, chuckling. "Go ahead, Alice. Try not to wear her out too much."
"Will do!" Alice said, standing straight and giving Eve a sharp salute. She turned back to Hitomi. "Come on, Shizuki!" She paused. "No, wait. Anime schoolgirl. First name last." Hitomi watched her look skywards for a moment, thinking. She turned back to her with a smile. "Come on, Hitomi!" She giggled again, dragging Hitomi by the hand down the wooden platforms, Jaxx following behind them.
"I can tell that I'm going to like you a lot." Alice said as they ran. "You seem so kind and innocent, but you've been observing, thinking, and planing this whole time, haven't you? I think you would make a great witch, Hitomi." She flashed her another smile. "Do you want to be friends?"
"Uh..." Hitomi was having considerable trouble keeping pace with Alice, barely managing not to fall over. "Sure. I mean, we're going to be working together anyway, so we might as well."
"Oh, I'm so excited!" Alice said, and Hitomi believed her. She began to skip-bounce her way down the platforms, nearly dragging Hitomi at this point. "I don't have too many friends, so I always like getting new ones."
"You and Eve seem to get along." Hitomi said, glancing briefly over the side. They were almost at the bottom, perhaps three quarters of the way.
"Yeah, but she's old." Alice said. "I meant friends my age." She came to an abrupt stop, Hitomi slamming into her as she turned around. Alice caught her seemingly effortlessly, an even more impressive feat given that she was almost twelve centimeters shorter that Hitomi. "I'm really glad you came." She leaned in close to her face, pitching up on her toes, only a few centimeters separating them.
Hitomi blinked twice, looking deep into Alice's eyes, their noses almost brushing. "Uh..."
Alice giggled, spun on her toes, and started running again. Hitomi was jerked by her left hand, and only managed to keep upright by releasing it before she was pulled over. Alice sped off, running down the last platform and onto the stone plane. She stopped about one third of the way across it. "Come on! Don't you want to see inside?"
Hitomi sighed. Apparently, Alice had a poor grasp of the concept of 'wearing out too much'. She felt a smile cross her face. She kind of reminded her of Sayaka, in that respect. Shaking her head, Hitomi continued out after Alice. "Slow down!" she called. "I can't keep up!"
"Oh, silly." Alice said. "The faster we get this done, the more time we'll have to do fun stuff!"
Hitomi looked up at the moon. They were on a time schedule, right? She wasn't sure they had the time to spare.
"Don't worry about the whole 'world ending in a month and two thirds' thing." Alice said. "If she needs us, Eve will let us know. So we should use any time we have, right?"
Hitomi supposed she was right.
The two girls made it to the castle entrance with little trouble. The doors were missing; unsurprising, really, given its age. There was no one in the doorway, which surprised Hitomi for a moment. Then she remembered that Eve had said that she brought their number to eight. With Eve and Alice accounted for, that only left five others. She supposed given that, it wasn't that unlikely that the entrance would be left unguarded.
"Well, come on!" Alice said. "Time for the tour!"
She bounded inside, and Hitomi followed her. The entrance looked as if it might have been rather impressive fifteen hundred years ago, but now the dark cracked stone just made Hitomi shiver. Alice swung her lantern back at Hitomi. "This place looks a lot more cheery in the day." she said. "I keep telling everyone that we need some dedicated light-sources, but no one listens to me." she frowned briefly, then smiled again. "Though I guess it does make a foreboding atmosphere, which is good for a fortress."
"I guess." Hitomi said. She had to agree. A few lights would really help this place.
"So, we don't really have an east wing, but that just makes things easier to find if you ask me." Alice said, leading Hitomi to the far wall. Three intact doors faced them, one straight, one headed left, the other right. She nodded at the straight door. "That's the meeting room. Used to be the throne room, but the throne's missing. Still, it has a big table." she opened the left door. "And this way is the east wing."
Hitomi looked in. The hallway was closed by crumbling stone only six meters from the door. Alice closed the door.
"See, we're two thirds done already!" Alice said. Hitomi was pretty sure it didn't work like that, but she didn't say anything. "Just the west wing left." She opened the door, a long, well lit hallway beyond. "Come on!"
Hitomi entered the hallway. For a second, she was surprised at the light, but then her eyes landed on the LED strips lining the corridor. She looked at them with a vacant expression for a moment, before shaking her head and sighing. If they wanted to light their fantasy forest fortress with electric lighting, who was she to complain.
"The entrance to the basement is behind the first door on the right." Alice said as they walked. "The first room on your left is the pantry. The second on your right is the kitchen. Those next two both lead to the library, and the one after that is a storage room. Then there are the stairs, and finally the armory is down at the end, beyond those far double doors."
Hitomi nodded. It seemed simple enough. She looked curiously at the armory. "Can I use all the rooms?" She asked.
"Of course! Only the personal rooms are off limits." Alice said. "You're allowed to go anywhere else, and use anything you find! I'd check out the kitchen as soon as I could, if I was you." She giggled. "The food here is great."
"So there are no rules here?" Hitomi asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say that." Alice said. "Stabbing one of the others would probably get you yelled at, and stabbed back. But short of that, pretty much. I mean, we're an adventuring party. We're here to save the world. It would be a little stupid to give us bedtimes, don't you think?"
Hitomi had to agree, that was a good point. "So, where to next?" She asked.
"The second floor, of course!" Alice said. "We still haven't introduced you to anyone else yet! I'm sure they'll all like you."
Alice skipped up the steps, Hitomi following. "Feel free to ask me any questions, too." Alice said. "I hear you're from a non-magical world, so I could understand if you're confused with some stuff." She paused. "And, you know, if we're going to be friends, we should get to know each other better!"
"Do you live here?" Hitomi asked, curious. Alice smiled back at her.
"Yep. Been here for almost six months now. Eve's been taking care of me. She's really amazing, you know?" Alice sighed. "When I'm older, I want to be just like her. Well, minus the wings." She shuddered. "They look a bit frilly, to be honest."
Hitomi laughed softly. "I guess. I wouldn't really know." Hitomi sighed. "So she is a good person, then?"
"Well, yeah." Alice said. "I mean, you've met her."
Hitomi shook her head. "Yeah, and the only thing I really know about her is that she's okay with asking thirteen-year-old's to die for her. She seemed nice, sure, but she could have been hiding something. Still, if you haven't become suspicious in six months, it's probably nothing."
"Oh, Eve wouldn't have asked you if it wasn't really important." Alice agreed enthusiastically. "It took me two weeks to convince her to let me join, and I'd been living with her already!"
Hitomi turned to her, cocking her head. "Wait, Eve contacted you before the world ending thing?"
"Yep. We were together for almost five months by then." Alice said. "We've only known about this quest for about twenty days. Do you think we would just now be getting our last member if we'd known about this thing for six months?" She laughed. "That would be terribly slow of us."
Hitomi was about to ask why she had been living here before, but just then Alice threw open the doors at the top of the stairs, leading to another hallway. "Here we are, the second floor!" She said. "Hi, De-De! Hi, Max!"
"Oh, hey." Two seventeenish looking boys turned towards Alice, their greetings made simultaneously. One was in dark mages robes, a spell book tucked under his arm. The other pushed his glasses up farther on his nose and closed the laptop he was holding.
"How's things going?" The mage asked.
"I see you've found a new friend." The other commented.
"Oh, things are fine." Alice said. "And this is Hitomi! She's going to join us in our quest."
The mage took a few steps forward, extending his hand. "Well, Hitomi, my name is Derick, though everyone calls me De-De for some reason." he pointed back at the other boy. "And that nerd over there is Max." Max scowled briefly, then rolled his eyes. Derick grinned. "Welcome to the team!"
Hitomi bowed to the two of them. "Very polite, isn't she?" Max commented.
"Indeed." Derick said.
"I'm guessing you're a mage?" Hitomi said to Derick, then put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, sorry. I mean a magic user of some kind. I know you can be offended by the wrong terms."
Derick and Max looked at each other briefly, then laughed.
"You'd think that." Max said, snapping his fingers and letting out a spray of blue sparks, similar to Eve's.
"Yes, you would." Derick said, opening his spell book and scrolling through the holographic readout.
Alice sighed. "De-De's from a Type II civilization, so his technology is basically magic at this point. He's the most scientifically advanced person here, but he knows next to nothing about how it works. Max's culture developed advanced magic theory until it basically became physics for them. He's a scientist, no question about it. So, yes. De-De's a mage, and Max is our technology expert. Even if they like showing off their weird circumstances."
"Sorry." Max said. "But she's the new kid. It's tradition at this point."
Derick closed his holographic spell book. "Gets them every time." he said.
"Whatever." Alice said, flicking her wrist, blue-white pentagrams covering their mouths. "It's still confusing. We're trying to make this easy for her, not as hard as possible."
Derick waved impotently at the barrier in front of him, glaring at Alice. Max just rolled his eyes and went back to working on whatever he had been doing on his laptop.
"Well, we still have a few more people to meet. Come on!" Alice said, dragging Hitomi by the hand past the two silenced boys.
"How long..." Hitomi started.
"About forty seconds." Alice said. "They'll be fine."
Hitomi nodded. She had figured it would be pretty short term, but Alice did seem to have a little bit of impulsiveness behind her actions. Better safe than sorry.
"Just to clarify," Hitomi said, looking back at the two. "Derick is a mage, and Max is the tech wizard, right?"
"Yes." Alice said. "Everything else is details."
Hitomi nodded. "So, that gives us a leader, a utility mage, a combat mage, and a technology expert." She paused. "I'm guessing one pure warrior, one thief, and one healer are left?"
"Well... not exactly." Alice said. "This is the real world, not a RPG. Things don't work out quite that neatly. But close enough, I suppose." She paused. "And I'm not a mage. I'm a spectral witch."
Hitomi nodded. "Sorry." She looked around the hallway, trying to see the rooms beyond. "Who next?"
Alice tilted her head upwards, thinking. "Well, Fox will only be found if he wants to be, and Silvia is probably in the library, so most likely Lilly."
They continued down the passageway, Alice telling Hitomi who's room was who's. At the fifth one down, she paused and knocked.
"Lilly!" She yelled. "I have a visitor!"
"Oh, you do?" A soft female voice came from inside. "Well, please, come in!"
Alice opened the door, leading Hitomi inside. The inside was lit softly, and a sweet fragrance filled the air. There was a very plush looking bed, adorned with gossamer white sheets. A young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenty's, was sitting at a desk, combing her silky blood-red hair in front of a mirror. She turned to them.
"Oh, hello!" She said, looking at Hitomi with a smile. "And who might you be?"
"Shizuki Hitomi." She said, instantly feeling trusting of the woman. "But you can call me Hitomi."
"What a beautiful name. Tell me, Hitomi, where are you from?" The woman asked kindly. Hitomi blushed sightly.
"Well, I'm from the greater Mitakihara city region in Japan. Though I doubt you've heard of it; it's only a city of about a million on a small, disconnected world."
"Do you like it there?" The woman asked kindly.
"Well, it's sort of boring, but I have lots of fun with my friends." Hitomi said. She found herself very willing to tell this woman everything she asked. After all, she seemed so nice, so trustworthy.
"And who are these friends?" The woman asked.
"Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka." Hitomi said. "Oh, and Alice, now." There was a slight hesitation. "And, well..." she paused.
"There's a boy, right?" Lilly said. "Who's he?"
"Kamijou Kyousuke." she said without hesitation. Why had she hesitated before? She should trust Lilly. "But I'm not sure it's mutual."
"Uh..." Alice said, pulling on Hitomi's shirt. "Hitomi, snap out of it."
Hitomi shook her head, Alice's words bringing her back. She looked to Lilly with shock, and she smiled back at her. "Don't feel too bad, Hitomi. You were actually more resistant to it than most, believe it or not. I actually needed to prompt you. Usually, people just tell me their life stories when I ask for a name."
"So..." Hitomi said, still shrinking back from Lilly slightly. "You're an interrogator."
"As an aside." Lilly said. "I can't really control that part."
"She's a siren." Alice explained. "It's just a natural property of her voice."
"Oh." Hitomi said. "Sorry. I thought you were trying to control me on purpose."
"Why would I do that?" Lilly laughed, and Hitomi couldn't help but forgive her. Literally. "I can't be whispering in your ear all the time, and that seems like a really good way to lose a potential ally. Trust me, if I could stop this, I would. Still, I'm sure we'll find some use for it."
"So, what do you normally do?" Hitomi asked politely.
"I'm a beastwarden." Lilly said. "Animals listen to me. It's much more useful than you think, trust me. Plus, I'm decent with a bow." Lilly sighed. "Though I don't really have that much combat experience, to be frank."
"Oh, don't worry." Hitomi said. "I have none at all, so I won't be able to tell the difference."
"I'm not sure that's comforting, Hitomi." Alice said.
"I'm sure you'll pick it up quickly." Lilly said. "You seem like an intelligent girl."
Hitomi beamed. "Thank you!" She said with enthusiasm.
"Well, if you'll excuse us..." Alice said, dragging Hitomi to the door. Hitomi resisted slightly. She wanted to stay here with Lilly.
"Of course." Lilly waved the two of them off. "Please, finish your tour."
Hitomi nodded, following Alice out of the room. She felt a fog lifting from her as she stepped out of the room, and shuddered.
"Yeah, that's Lilly." Alice said. "We're pretty sure she's on our side, but, well, I'm not entirely sure we'd be able to tell if she was just using us, to be honest."
Hitomi nodded. "You seemed fine in there. I'm guessing you used some magic?"
Alice shook her head. "No. She never addressed me, that's all. And even I was getting pulled in at some points." She sighed. "When I said there are no rules, I wasn't completely right. There is one. No one is allowed to talk to Lilly alone, for any reason. Still, she's agreed to help us, and so we have to just hope she's telling the truth."
"I see." Hitomi shuddered again. "So, who's next?"
"Uh..." Alice paused. "Well, I guess it's back downstairs to the Library. Silvia's usually there."
Hitomi nodded. "Sounds good."
The two walked in silence for a few seconds, reaching the stairs and beginning their decent. Hitomi opened her mouth, then closed it again. Alice looked up at her, smiling. "What?" She asked. "I said I'm open to questions. Don't worry, I won't think it's stupid."
Hitomi sighed. "Sorry. Well, I mean, I'm pretty sure that the answer is just 'magic', but... Well, I can't imagine that all of you are speaking Japanese. How can we understand each other?"
"Yeah, magic." Alice said. "Sorry."
"Fine by me, as long as it keeps working." Hitomi said. "Will it work for written words too?"
"Probably not." Alice said. "It's just a interpersonal communication thing. You won't even be able to understand anyone outside of our group." She giggled as Hitomi sighed. "We can get you a better one soon enough. For a quick, nearly costless spell, I think this one does a pretty good job keeping everyone sane long enough for the more intensive one. After all, we had no idea if you'd be joining us when Eve first contacted you, and we weren't going to expend the time and energy to cast a big, complex translation spell on you if you might have just said no."
"Fair enough." Hitomi said. "Still, I would like to be able to read things in the Library, seeing as we have one. Who knows, I might find something useful. After all, as you said, I'm a schoolgirl. Right now, the only useful skill I know I have is research ability. It's not much, but I might as well help where I can."
"Fair enough." Alice said. "I get the feeling, trust me. Just because we're young doesn't mean we're not useful!" Alice stuck her chin up into the air.
Hitomi stifled a giggle. "I wouldn't worry about that; you seem very useful. You are the utility spellcaster, after all."
"Yeah, I am!" Alice said. "I do plenty of useful things for the whole party!" She seemed somewhat defensive for some reason.
Hitomi didn't respond, letting the conversation die as they reached the Library doors. Alice opened them slowly. "Be quiet." She hushed Hitomi. "It is a library."
Hitomi stepped inside, looking around. Shelves of books, floor to ceiling, filled the room. It wasn't the largest library she had been in, but it was certainly big. The books all looked ancient. The middle of the room was cleared, a few desks and a couple of tables sitting there. The surface of two of them were covered in open books and chemical equipment. A woman, perhaps in her forty's, was watching a vial of green liquid bubble slowly, seemingly fully engrossed.
"Watch yourself, you little disaster." The woman said, and Hitomi could detect ire mixed with sarcastic distaste. She looked up from her work and rolled her eyes upon seeing Hitomi. "Oh, great. There are two of you now."
"Don't be like that, Silvia." Alice chided. "Or I'll break all your vials this time."
"I'd like to see you try." Silvia laughed. "You wouldn't get half way done before you succumbed to the fumes of something." She reached under the table, taking a flask from the shelf below her. It was filled with a clear liquid, which she mixed quickly with a deep purple syrupy substance. There was a puff of smoke, and she stuck two stirring rods into the mixture, pulling them out a few second later covered in a semi-solid pink substance. She held them out to the girls. "Well, here you go. Don't you go telling Eve I ruined your dinner, though, or that'll be the end of it."
"I won't." Alice said, taking the proffered sticks. She handed one to Hitomi. "Come on, take a bite!" Alice said. "It's perfectly safe." She bit it, her face contorting for a moment. Alice shook her head, then grinned. "Go on! It tastes a bit weird, but it's not terribly bitter or anything."
Hitomi looked at her with some suspicion, but took a small bite. Her mouth was filled with a not unpleasant but overwhelmingly sour taste, which faded into a sweet, thick syrup as it melted on her tongue. She shuddered, then smiled. "Not half bad." She said.
"Silvia, as you may have guessed, is an alchemist." Alice said. "She's a darn good one, too."
"That's right." Silvia said, a poof of smoke covering her face as she tinkered with some of her concoctions. "You know, once you get tired of that spell-casting mumbo-jumbo, I'd be willing to teach you. You certainly have the mind for memorizing components if I ever saw one."
"I'm sure you'd love to have a little assistant to run the menial tasks." Alice countered. "But I'll stick with my witchcraft for now, if it's the same to you."
"Eh, you're a disaster waiting to happen anyway." Silvia waved at them, not looking up. "Shoo, out with you, before you go and hex something important."
Alice laughed, and took Hitomi's hand. "Come on. We still have a fox to find."
"Good luck with that." Silvia barked, her laughter coming out in short bursts.
Hitomi and Alice left the Library, the door shutting behind them. "She seemed nice." Hitomi ventured.
"Don't let that fool you." Alice said. "She's just the worst." she laughed. "It's our sworn duty to pester her, as she's the oldest and we're the youngest."
"I see." Hitomi said.
"Now..." Alice looked around. "Where could the fox be hiding..."
"Boo."
Hitomi nearly jumped into the air. A young man of twenty-something had his arms around them, standing between the two girls. "And who would this new face be?" The man asked Alice.
"Hitomi." Alice said. "You really shouldn't do that, Fox. You've made the poor girl go for a high jump record!"
"I'm fine." Hitomi said, calming down. "Though I would appreciate it if you didn't do that every time you showed up." She turned to face the man, getting a better look at him. He had orange hair and two bushy orange ears, and was wearing a orange shirt and orange pants. He looked like the least camouflaged person she had ever seen, certainly nothing like she was expecting.
"This is Fox." Alice said. "He's our stealth and striker. His weapon of choice is a battle-axe, and his combat style is swing until the other thing stops moving."
"I am the sneakiest person in the world, and all I want to do is run into battle screaming at the top of my lungs." Fox said. "It's really frustrating, to be honest. Still, my stealth has its uses, I suppose."
"His footfalls have a volume of -2.7 decibels at one meter." Alice said. "And he fades into the background at will. People are naturally inclined to look away from him, and to forget him if they do see him. He could walk right between us dressed as he is right now until he was halfway down the hall and then call us, and we'd be surprised as to how he got there."
"I don't know." Fox said from about ten meters in front of them. He was casually opening a banana, leaning on the open kitchen door. Hitomi blinked. "I can't help but trip your proximity spells, Alice. I'm sure you'd figure it out eventually."
"Ohhhh." Alice shuddered. "That really gets to me, Fox."
"Sorry, sorry." Fox said. "But I figured a demonstration would help Hitomi."
"Oh, I definitely believe it." Hitomi enthused. "No question about that." she looked around. "This place is really amazing. A siren beastmaster, a stealthy berserker, a technological mage, a magical technology expert, an angel leader, a candy-making alchemist, and a spectral witch." she shook her head.
"Oh, and an anime schoolgirl!" Alice said, nudging Hitomi. "Don't forget that."
"Yes, and an anime schoolgirl." Hitomi said. "What a strange group."
"Well, I figure that it has to be a wide enough range to cover everything we need." Eve said, entering the hall from the kitchen. A wonderful smell wafted in from the open door. "What better a collection to save the world?"
"Whatcha cooking?" Alice said, leaning in to look through the door. Eve smiled.
"Well, I figured since everyone seemed to be up, I might as well make us a midnight snack." She rustled Alice's hair, knocking off her hat. Alice grinned up at Eve. "I'm sure you'll all enjoy it, if you give me another five minutes."
"Okay!" Alice beamed. "That'll give me enough time to show Hitomi my room!" She danced away, waving Hitomi on. "Come on!"
Hitomi laughed, following. She was sure this happiness couldn't last forever, sure that there was certain to be real conflict at some point. Fifty-six days, twelve hours. Still, that was no reason not to enjoy the moment. Whatever else happened, this had certainly been the most interesting hour of her life so far.
Alice lead her to the second room from the stairwell, entering with a flourish. "Welcome to my witch's lair!" She cackled. "Make yourself at home."
Hitomi entered the room. It was well lit inside by hundreds of deep red candles, which floated in the air around the room. There was a small bookshelf in the corner with several very large, ancient looking tomes, next to a desk equipped with parchment, inkwell, and feather-pen. A table with a large pentagram adorned with magical symbols was on the far wall, next to the bed. A few spell books were open on it, illustrations of herbs and magic circles on the pages. A human scull, missing the lower jaw, was in the center of the pentagram. The bed was quite large for her, though slightly smaller than Hitomi's was, to be fair. It was covered completely in pitch black sheets and covers. The pillows were blood-red, as were the drapes. A black and purple chest was at the foot of the bed, a rack of vials with what looked like human blood sitting on top of it. Alice jumped into the bed, bouncing once and sitting up, facing Hitomi. "Well, come on." She said. "Join me!"
Hitomi glanced around apprehensively. She was pretty sure Alice wouldn't do anything to her, but still, the atmosphere in the room was almost suffocatingly evil. Cautiously, she sat down on the bed next to her.
"The room is... nice." Hitomi commented.
Alice giggled. "I know, right? I always feel so invigorated when I'm in here."
"So, you're really a witch, then." Hitomi said. "Like, the dark magic, evil curses, deals with the devil, honest-to-goodness classical witch."
"Yep." Alice said. "I even have the black cat." Jaxx appeared suddenly at her feet, leaping onto the bed and into Alice's lap. She grinned at Hitomi. "Hitomi, would you be willing to trade me your soul for magical power?"
"Would I..." Hitomi blinked, going sheet white. She felt herself shaking. Alice laughed.
"Oh, the look on your face." Alice said, shaking her head. Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not really all that bad, you know." Alice said. "And a lot less scary then it sounds."
Hitomi's nervous smile fell again. "You're... serious?"
"Yep." Alice said. "Come on, Hitomi! You'd make such a great witch!" She looked at her happily. "Please, won't you join my spectrum?"
"I mean..." Hitomi shrunk back as Alice leaned in to her.
"Come on, you're getting a really good deal here!" Alice said. "Usually witches have to trade their souls to the devil for power, but I'm a spectrum leader. You can go through me instead!" Alice grinned. "I don't have anyone in my spectrum yet, so you could chose any color you liked."
"Your spectrum?" Hitomi said, afraid to leave the bed lest Alice take offense. She wasn't sure if Alice had ulterior motives or if she really just couldn't think of any issues with this, but either way she had suddenly become potently very dangerous.
"Right." Alice said, nodding and smiling at Hitomi. "I told you, I'm a spectral witch. I'm my spectrum's white witch, the spectrum leader. I have enough control to have five other witches in my spectrum right now. Of course, no one wants to be part of my spectrum because I'm not very powerful, so I haven't gotten anyone yet." Alice frowned. "But I know I'd make a great spectrum leader." She looked into Hitomi's eyes. "I wouldn't do anything to you, you know. As I said, it's a lot less scary than it sounds. We're really just entering a contract. You pledge yourself to me, and I make you a witch. You'll be magically bound to me, but I promise not to do anything with that. And when I say that you'd be giving me your soul, I mean that I'd have control over what you could do with it. You couldn't, for instance, trade it for anything else unless I gave permission. Otherwise, it would be like nothing changed."
Hitomi began to clam down. "Really?" She asked. "So I just couldn't give to any one else?" She paused. "That doesn't sound that bad."
Alice nodded. "Now, with you being bound to me and all, I could do all kinds of terrible things to you, or make you do all kinds of tasks for me, which is what most spectrum leaders get out of the deal. But I wouldn't hurt my friend, you know that!" She giggled. "Really, this is all magical talk for me becoming basically your superior officer."
"And you're sure it works like that?" Hitomi said.
"Of course!" Alice said. "I would never lie to you."
Hitomi paused. She was fairly certain that Alice wasn't trying to trick her; from what she could tell, she really, truly thought of this as something to help her. Alice looked at her with earnest, wide eyes, waiting for her response. Hitomi sighed. "Okay. It looks like this is the easiest way for me to get magic, anyway – perhaps the only one. And if I have to sell my soul to someone, I suppose you're better than most."
"Yes!" Alice giggled, grabbing Hitomi in a hug. "You won't regret this, Hitomi, I promise! We're going to make such a team!" She danced off the bed, going to her desk and taking out a few sheets of paper. Hitomi leaned in to Jaxx, who was still sitting on the bed.
"She's not making a mistake, right?" Hitomi asked.
"It's more complicated then she thinks." Jaxx informed Hitomi. "And I'm sure some hardship will come of it. But she's right about the most important part, which is that she only exercises control over you at will. She has to attach the strings herself."
Hitomi nodded. "In that case, I think everything will be fine."
Alice took one of the vials of blood and opened it, dipping her fingers in and streaking them across the parchment. She held the sheets outstretched, her blood leaking into the pages slowly, a crimson spot spreading from the point of contact. She shook the pages violently, as if she was unrolling a scroll. There was a flash of white light, and the pages transformed, turning dark and becoming covered in glowing white text. Alice handed the demonic contract to Hitomi with a smile and a flourish. "Just sign your name on the third and fifth page, and we're done."
Hitomi took the pages. The text was large, scrolling, and written in strange runes, but Hitomi attempted to read it anyway. If Alice had made it, the translation spell should still work. And, indeed, after a brief translation gap, the words began to form into familiar shapes.
In exchange for certain magical powers and abilities, the contractee must read, sign, and date this document indicating that the undersigned has read, understood, and agreed to all terms and conditions that apply to them. This contract enters effect immediately upon the contractee's signature, and may not be modified in any capacity after signing. All agreements are final.
I. Agreements.
1. Rights.
The contractor and the contractee both reserve certain rights, enumerated below. Immediately upon the final signing of this document, the undersigned relinquishes any rights not included in the document. The rights of the contractee are:
The contractee reserves the right to free will.
The contractee reserves the right to life.
The contractee reserves the right to self terminate.
The rights of the contractor, hereafter refereed to as the spectrum leader, are:
The spectrum leader reserves the right to modify the terms of this contract at their will and without warning, excepting the reserved rights of the contractee.
The spectrum leader reserves the right to dissolve the contract without the consent of the contractee at any time for any reason.
2. Benefits.
The undersigned, upon the final signing of this contract, is entitled to certain benefits. These benefits include:
The granting of certain magical powers and abilities, detailed in full in section II subsection 2.
Freedom of movement to and from any location under the control of any member of the spectrum.
The protection of any member of the spectrum.
One (1) Witches barrier. (Non-replaceable.)
One (1) personal focus. (Non-replaceable.)
3. Responsibilities.
The undersigned, upon the final signing of this contract, is obligated to preform certain duties, and relinquish certain items and abilities to the contractor. These obligations include, but are not limited to:
Follow any and all orders given by their spectrum leader.
Provide protection to any spectrum member, regardless of personal risk.
Relinquish control of their soul to their spectrum leader.
Develop their magical ability to better serve their spectrum leader.
Relinquish any and all honors to their spectrum leader.
Inform their spectrum leader of any and all abilities.
The spectrum leader reserves the right to enforce the completion of these responsibilities in any way they deem appropriate.
II. Terms and Conditions
1. Use of powers.
Upon the final signing of the contract, the contractee is permitted to make use of their powers in any manor they might desire, excepting any case which invalidates part of this contract. The contractee, immediately upon final signing of this document, will be designated as a spectral witch. This title implies certain regulations as to what situations are appropriate for the undersigned to make use of their magical powers and abilities. Situations in which the use of magic is permitted include:
Any time the contractee is unable to contact their spectrum leader.
Any time the contractee is in physical danger.
Any time...
Hitomi sighed, looking away. It was thick legal nonsense, as far as she could tell. She shook her head twice to clear it. Alice was still smiling at her. "Oh, feel free to read the whole thing." she said. "I'm not trying to hide anything from you."
"I know." Hitomi put the document down. "I trust you. I'm sure everything is fine." she turned to the third page. "Do you have a pen I could borrow?"
Alice snapped her fingers, summoning a small, stamp like object. She handed it to Hitomi, who turned it over curiously. It seemed to have a button on the top. When she pressed it, a small ring of blades extended out about three millimeters from the base. They looked very sharp. "You sign in blood." Alice explained. "Just nick your finger and put a dab on the doted lines."
Hitomi hesitated for a second, put the stamping mechanism on her thumb, and pressed the button. It stung, but wasn't really all that painful. She pressed her thumb to the blank line on the third page, leaving a clear ring of blood behind. She turned to the fifth page and replicated the mark.
"Okay." Alice said, dipping her finger in the open vial of blood, marking a few lines quickly herself. "So, just a few preference questions. You can be a violet, blue, green, yellow, or red witch as part of my spectrum. Is there any color you specifically prefer? There's no difference in the positions at all, but it changes the color of your magic circles and focus. The little things, you know?"
"Um, I guess I'll take green." Hitomi said. Alice laughed.
"I thought you might." She said, a few lines of white text adding themselves to the document spontaneously. "Okay. Now, what do you want your magic focus to be? It can be anything, but should be something small so that you can keep it with you easily at all times." Alice reached into her shirt and pulled out a dark, black gemstone on a silver chain. "This is mine." She slid it off her neck, placing it in Hitomi's hand. "Careful with it. I can't cast magic if it gets lost."
Hitomi looked at the gem in her hand. It was beautiful, almost stunningly so. She tried to look through it, placing it in front of one of the candles, but no light shone through. The sliver chain which the gem was set in was very plain, though the housing for the gem itself was somewhat more intricate, filamentous lines of silver webbing keeping it locked in place. The edge was set in a simple silver ring, a few runes carved into the edge. She looked at Alice. She wasn't even looking at it, her attention drawn to the contract as she read through it, making any last second corrections. Hitomi was filled with a sense of importance. She looked back at the gem. Somehow, she doubted that witches usually let other people handle their focuses, certainly not with such lax watch. It suddenly dawned on Hitomi that Alice was very, very naive.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like something just like this one." Hitomi said, careful handing it back to Alice. "Perhaps with a square gem instead of a circular one."
"Easily done." Alice said. A few more lines of text were added to the document, and a sixth page appeared. "Well, that's it." She handed the contract back to Hitomi. "One last line to sign on the sixth page, and you're done." Alice said. "Just a little blood on the last line, and you're a 100% certified spectral witch."
Hitomi felt apprehension build in her chest. She knew that this was rash. She didn't know nearly enough to be sure she was making the right choice. But, with only fifty-six days on the clock, she was going to need to take some risks at some point. The earlier she made a mistake, the more likely it would be that she would be able to correct it in time. And, besides, if Alice was any indication, being a witch was pretty cool.
She took a deep breath, turned to the last page, and placed her thumb on the line. She expected the contract to burst into flame, or to feel terrible demonic energy fill her body. Nothing happened for about four and a half seconds. Hitomi let her breath out slowly, sighing. That was that.
Slowly, faintly at first, the rings of blood Hitomi had left on the pages began to glow emerald green. The light grew. Hitomi felt her thumb beginning to tingle, the sensation spreading to the rest of her body. The text on the pages began to turn green as well. A wind started in the room, the flames of the candles bending and waving wildly. The tingling got worse, and Hitomi began to feel uncomfortably warm. Without warning, the contract vaporized spontaneously into green dust. The wind grew. There was a flash of green light, and all the candles in the room went out in a audible whoosh. Hitomi gasped in shock as the heat built. Her body was now glowing, casting evil looking green shadows about the otherwise dark room. She floated off the floor, hovering nearly half a meter off the ground. The light grew stronger still. She gasped again, the burning becoming terribly painful for a moment, passing through her in waves.
She felt something touch her, hold her. She looked down. Alice had grabbed her hand, smiling up at her. "You'll be fine. Stop resisting the power. Let it flow through you." She gave her a squeeze. "I'm right here. You're doing great."
Hitomi shuddered, then let herself relax. Let it flow. She could do this. She took another deep breath, calming herself. There was one final moment of violent heat, and then she felt the power course through her in unstoppable waves, filling every part of her with its light. Heat-less green flame erupted from hands and feet, and the light jumped dramatically in brightness. It wasn't painful anymore. Rather, it was invigorating in a way she couldn't have imagined before. She felt more alive than she ever had. Hitomi began to laugh. Her light filled the room, brighter than the sun. Her hair whipped back from her face with the tremendous winds. Hitomi laughed again. She couldn't help herself; she felt so alive, so powerful! She extended her hand slowly, deliberately, somehow knowing that it was the right thing to do. She gripped the air, feeling a cool, solid object deposit itself in her hand. There was a final, blinding flash of light, and then the room went dark.
Hitomi fell to the floor, managing to land on her feet. Alice clapped rapidly, let out out a shrill trilling shreek of happiness, and hug-tackled Hitomi to the floor. "Yes! Yes!" She laughed, Hitomi joining her. Eventually, Alice got off of Hitomi, laying down next to her in the dark. "Are you alright?"
"Alright?" Hitomi said, laughing. "I feel better than I ever have in my life!" She turned her head towards Alice. "Tell me, how long does this feeling last?"
"From my experience, at least seven years." Alice said. Despite the fact that she couldn't see the other girl, Hitomi could tell that she was grinning. "It fades a bit, but I haven't really lost it yet."
Hitomi giggled. "Oh, this is wonderful. So, I'm a witch now. Who would have guessed." she sighed contently. "Not what I thought was going to happen today, but I suppose I can't complain."
"Alice! Hitomi!" There was a bang, and the door flew open. Eve rushed in, her blade drawn. Fox stood behind her with his battle-axe. "What happened here! Are you two okay?"
Hitomi and Alice looked at each other, and started to laugh. "Oops." Alice said, after about five seconds. "I suppose the two of us lying here on the ground in the dark after a huge magical outburst would worry you. Don't worry, everything's fine."
"Fine?" Hitomi said, smiling up at the others. "Everything is great!"
Eve hung her head. "You made her a witch, didn't you." She said flatly. "Alice..."
"I'm sorry." Alice said. "I know I shouldn't have, but you said that she didn't have any magic! I just wanted to help."
Eve shook her head slowly, then sighed. "No, it's fine. I just wish you would have told me first, so we could have told Hitomi all of her options before she made such a... drastic, permanent choice. I'm not mad, Alice. I know you won't do anything. But still." She turned to Hitomi. "You, however, are in trouble. You just went and signed away your life to someone you'd only known for about an hour. That shows complete lack of basic common sense. These things aren't a joke, Hitomi. Just because in your world you can't sell your soul doesn't mean you can't do it here. If Alice felt like it, she could torture you for the rest of your life for fun, and there isn't a thing anyone could do to stop her short of killing one of the two of you. She could order you to tear your own hair out by hand, or to bite off the tips of your fingers, and you would be forced to obey. Heck, she could order you to kill your friends and bring her the corpses, and you'd be unable to resist her command. What you've done is very, very serious."
"I..." Alice said, putting a hand to her mouth. "I could never..."
"That's just it." Eve said. "You could. You really, really could. I don't even think you realize to exactly what degree you have control of Hitomi's life, now. The purpose of her existence is now to serve you, whether you intended that or not."
Alice began to cry. Hitomi felt a cold, chilling feeling sweep her body. She suddenly felt frighteningly empty.
"Eve, that's enough." Fox said, putting a hand on Eve's shoulder. "Yeah, what they did was dumb, but I think you've gone a bit to far. We know full well Alice won't do anything like that. And think about poor Hitomi, the girl you whisked into a magical world with no explanation and then expected to somehow have a good grasp of the workings of complex magical contracts." Eve opened her mouth to defend herself, but Fox cut her off before she could start. "Yes, I know you just want them to be very aware of the seriousness of what they've done. But I think they get it, Eve. They aren't five, you know. They still have growing to do, sure, but they're old enough to make choices for themselves. It's too late to stop it, and you know that full well. Initiation is the most important day in a young witch's life. Let them enjoy it, if you haven't ruined that already."
Eve growled, then sighed. "I'm sorry. You're right. Everything will be fine, I know. Still, I wish you had at least told me first." she leaned down, looking directly into Hitomi's eyes. "What I described is worst case only. I'm sorry I scared you. This is my fault, really. I brought you here, so I feel at least some measure of responsibility for your well being. I know you'll be fine this time. But if you do something like this in a different circumstance..." Eve sighed. "I just want you to be okay. I can only think of how awful it would be if things had gone worse. You two will make a great spectrum, I'm sure. Just, please, think before you do something like this again, okay?"
"I..." Alice said, looking up at Hitomi. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think... I never meant..." Hitomi saw Alice avert her eyes when she looked at her, unable to meet her gaze. "Please don't hate me." she said quietly.
"Of course I don't hate you." Hitomi said, shaking her head. "I agreed to this too, remember? Besides, you need to expressly exercise control for it to take effect." She forced herself to smile. "You're my spectrum leader now." she nudged Alice. "Are you really going to cry in front of your new green witch?"
Alice sniffed, then looked at Hitomi with determination. "No. That would be unbecoming of a powerful spectrum leader. I should be strong in front of my spectra." She shook her head a few times, a weak smile finding its way back to her lips. "I promise that I'll make this as easy for you as I can, Hitomi."
Hitomi hugged Alice, who hugged her back. Fox nodded to Eve. "See? They'll be fine. The only thing you've done is ruin the moment."
"I guess you're right." Eve sighed. "Well, you two, whenever you're ready, I've finished the food. Feel free to take as much time as you need, though." With a final glance at the two girls, Eve and Fox walked out, closing the door behind them.
Fifteen seconds of silence passed. Neither Hitomi nor Alice said anything. Eventually, Alice separated herself from the embrace. "I should probably re-light the candles, huh?" She said, laughing softly. "It's a bit ridiculous, us sitting there on the floor in the dark."
"Yeah, a bit." Hitomi agreed. Alice's face was temporarily lit by her magical circles, and the candles re-lit with a pulse of energy. The room was an absolute mess from Hitomi's magical storm. Alice looked around, sighing.
"Great." She shook her head. "Look at the mess you've made." She smiled at Hitomi. "Hey, how about I teach you your first spell? I could use the help cleaning."
"That sounds wonderful." Hitomi said. "A cleaning spell? I can see that being useful almost immediately."
Alice nodded. "Do you think you can find any paper about? Learning spells is very easy, but does require some visual aid."
"Uh..." Hitomi glanced around the room, spotting a few sheets blown under the bed. She picked them up, handing them to Alice. "Are these good?"
"Perfect." Alice said, summoning a feather-pen and drawing a simple magical circle on the page. "Now, Hitomi, do you still have that blood-marker I gave you?"
Hitomi glanced around, but couldn't find it. "Sorry, I must have dropped it in the chaos."
"That's fine." Alice snapped her fingers, summoning another one. "You'll need to trace the circle in blood to cast the spell the first time. After that, you should be able to do it just from your focus."
"Okay..." Hitomi quickly reopened the wound on her thumb, carefully tracing the lines with her blood. "I suppose this explains the vials of blood." she commented.
"Yeah. I draw a cup or two at a time so that I don't need to keep pricking my finger every time I want to learn a new spell." Alice said. "That usually lasts me about a week, but I learn an awfully large number of spells a day. You shouldn't need nearly that much."
"All I have to do is trace this, right?" Hitomi said.
"Yep." Alice said. "There's an art to being able to make them yourself, but that will come with time."
Hitomi finished the circle. There was a brief pause, and then the circle began to glow with emerald light. Hitomi saw a green magical circle float above the page, exactly like the ones Alice made when casting spells. Despite the somewhat dampened tone the whole event had taken on after Eve's speech, she couldn't help but feel strangely happy. She was casting magic. This was something that she could just do now. It was so easy.
Their was a rustling, and the clutter around Hitomi cleared and organized itself in a flurry. Books flew back to their shelves, sheets and pillows making there way back to the bed. Hitomi giggled.
"Not bad." Alice said. "Especially for a first time. Now, try casting it again."
"How?" Hitomi said.
"Just imagine it in your mind." Alice said. Hitomi frowned, then gasped.
"I... can see it so clearly!" She exclaimed.
"That's magic for you." Alice grinned. "The hard part is remembering what spell does what, and finding the one you need quickly, not actually memorizing the circles. The magic does that part for you automatically. Once you've cast a spell once, you can always cast it again."
Hitomi nodded. She extended her hand, like she had seen Alice do. Nothing happened. She frowned. "What am I doing wrong?"
Alice laughed. "You don't have your focus on, silly. You can't cast spells unless you either draw the circles in blood or have your focus on. For reasons that are likely obvious, most witches just use the focus."
Hitomi nodded. "I must have dropped it when Eve came in." she said, looking around. She found her focus very quickly. The green gem sparkled in the light beautifully, a simple but elegant golden chain allowing Hitomi to easily place it around her neck. Again, she stuck her arm out, thinking of the circle. With a flash of green light, the circle appeared in the air before her, and the spell took effect again, clearing more of the clutter from the floor. Hitomi laughed. "I did it." She jumped into the air, clapping her hands together. "I can actually cast spells now."
"Heh." Alice said, waving her hand across her body, a series of seven magical circles left in its path. With a final flick, the spells went into effect, the remainder of the room quickly returning to order. "Oh, this is just the beginning, believe me."
Hitomi nodded. "I can't imagine knowing sixty thousand spells. You must be able to do anything."
"Hardly." Alice said. "I'm not very powerful, and my strong point is in utility magic, so I can't really do any of the higher level spells, and even the few combat spells I do know aren't all that impressive. Still, I do have a bit of an advantage. For whatever reason, my head's better organized than most. Most witches have a hard time keeping more than one hundred or so spells in their memory at once, but I can easily access any spell I've ever cast. Nothing magical, I just happen to be good at that. Still, most witches know one hundred spells well, and I know sixty thousand poorly. Most of them I've only ever cast once, maybe twice."
"Still, having such a large selection must be useful." Hitomi said. "Especially for a dedicated utility spellcaster like yourself. The group depends on you being able to always have the exact right tool for any situation, no matter how random or unlikely."
"Yeah..." Alice said, letting her voice trail off.
"What is it?" Hitomi asked. "Every time I mention your role, you seem to get upset." She paused. "Are you frustrated with your job? I mean, sure, it's not as cool as being a combat expert, but it's just as important."
"No, no..." Alice said. "It's just... well..." She looked at Hitomi sheepishly. "They've never actually let me join them on a mission. I have no idea if I'll be useful or not, because I've never actually been allowed to help. But, now that you're here, and Eve considers the party complete, I bet they'll let me join in. After all, things are going to get really serious soon, I'd think."
"Oh." Hitomi said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"Eh, it's fine." Alice said. "I'm sure it'll change soon enough."
Hitomi looked at Alice. She stared off into the distance for a few seconds, then turned back to Hitomi with a smile. "But that's enough about me. What about you?" She giggled. "I heard you mention some friends. What are they like?"
"Oh. Um..." Hitomi looked up. "Well, Miki Sayaka is a bit impulsive, and a bit naive, but she laughs a lot and always pulls through when you need her. You're very much like her, actually, except that you seem a little smarter but perhaps a little less open. Kaname Madoka is a really kind, sweet girl. She's very reserved, but I wouldn't call her shy. I always feel happy when she shows up. She just has that kind of aura about her, you know?" Hitomi sighed. "I wonder, would they be jealous if I told them about becoming a witch?"
"Why don't you find out?" Alice said. "I mean, it's not like the fact that witches exist is supposed to be some kind of big secret. You can just go ahead and tell them, you know." she giggled. "Hey, and when they decide to get in on the action, send them my way, will you?"
"Heh..." Hitomi laughed softly, then sighed. "No, I can't do that. Eve told me that knowledge of what was going on made people more likely to be attacked. I have to keep this a secret, at least until this whole world ending thing is over."
"Oh, bummer!" Alice said. "But I suppose that makes sense. Oh well. Keeping secrets from your friends isn't a nice feeling, I know, but you'll be doing it for their sakes."
Hitomi sighed. "Yeah..." She looked at Alice for a moment before a thought dawned on her. "Hey, Alice?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Alice looked at her.
"Um, well, I just remembered..." Hitomi said, looking down. "There's something my friends and I came up with to make our friendship hold. It's not magic, but it is a promise, and it means something to me."
"If you need to have a secret handshake or something, I don't mind." Alice said. "People do stupid things for their friends all the time. If it'll make you feel better, I don't care."
"Well..." Hitomi went to the desk, retrieving the feather-pen and writing a few lines on a piece of parchment. "Will you read this?"
Alice read the paper quickly, smiling up at Hitomi as she finished. "What were you so worried about?" she asked. "This isn't stupid at all."
"So you'll read it, then?" Hitomi asked.
"Of course." Alice said. "Are you going to start, or should I?"
"No, I'll go first." Hitomi said, taking in a deep breath. She held her hands out to Alice, who took them in hers.
"I swear to never forget you." Hitomi said softly.
"I swear to always protect you." Alice said strongly. She let a few seconds pass. "I swear to never forget you." Alice said, looking deep into Hitomi's eyes.
"I swear to always protect you." Hitomi said. The candles flickered.
"Forever together, and never apart," they said in perfect, unpracticed unison. "I'll keep you forever locked safe in my heart."
Seven seconds of silence passed. Alice started to laugh. "Never mind." She said. "That actually was pretty stupid." She shook her head. "Still, it's sweet."
"Well, we were only nine at the time." Hitomi said, blushing. "It's not going to be prize winning poetry."
"No, I get it." Alice said. "If it's important to you, it's important to me."
Hitomi leaned against Alice, closing her eyes. "Did you cast a spell on me?" Hitomi said softly. "Because I don't usually become best friends with someone in under an hour."
"I think it's just the new world. You said I reminded you strongly of one of your friends, so you attached yourself to normalcy where you could find it." Alice said softly. "I never lived in a world where I wasn't clearly aware of magic, inter-universal travel, and fantastic creatures. I've been a spectral witch since I was six. All of this must be horribly shaking for you, whether you realize it or not. Your entire world has changed in a flash, turned on its head in an instant. Of course you're looking for an ally." She nudged Hitomi. "That doesn't make it any less real."
Hitomi sighed. "This year is looking like it's going to be very interesting." she shook her head. "I don't even know yet exactly what we're facing, and we have only a month and a half to stop it."
"The king of the devourers is building his assault in the high tower of Amerki, and his army will sweep the world in a reign of absolute destruction at sunrise on the summer solstice." Alice said. "Blood will flow into the rivers and the plants will shrivel and die as they pass, spreading their corruption. Eve says once the army starts its march, there's nothing we can do. Once the sun rises, one devourer is created for every sentient creature on the planet. In our case, that's four and three fourths billion. Not even the gods could stop them then."
Hitomi shivered. "Four billion, seven hundred fifty million enemies?" She looked at Alice. "That sounds like suicide. What do we intend to do?"
"Stop him before that." Alice said. "Eve says that the rate at which his force builds is roughly linear until the solstice, and not all that fast. She estimates he only has about one hundred thousand right now, and won't break a million until the day of."
"One hundred thousand still seems like pretty poor odds." Hitomi said. "I don't like the sound of twelve thousand to one."
"That's exactly the point." Alice said. "If there's only eight of us, we don't stand a chance of taking him on directly, and he knows that. There's no way he'll bother sending his whole army after eight people."
"Oh." Hitomi said. "That's a good point, actually. I always wondered why the villains in stories didn't just send ten thousand men after the band of heroes. I suppose it would be rather hard to justify using that many men to take out such a small group. It would make them seem weak."
"Now, with the fact that teleportation appears to be a simple task, you would think that we could just gate in there and stab him." Alice continued. "But they have very powerful barriers up, and we can't get through them. However, each of the six barriers are controlled by one of the king's champions. So if we can defeat these champions, we can take out the barriers one by one, until the tower is open to us. That's our goal. Defeat the six, gate in, and face the devourer king."
Hitomi looked at Alice with worry. "Wait. If we attack the champions directly, won't that make it very clear that we are a threat to him? I can't see them just letting us go and take them down one at a time after the first one. Once we kill the first one, won't he send the whole army?"
Alice's smile froze. "Uh..." she didn't move for a few seconds. "I'm sure Eve's thought of that." she said quickly. "I don't know all the details."
"Okay." Hitomi nodded. "Well, this makes some more sense now." she sighed. "It really is just like a story. I could see myself reading a book with this as a plotline. Take out the six mid-bosses, then onto the final boss. A clean, uncomplicated setup." she sighed. "I just hope this is one of those stories where everyone makes it through to the end."
"I'm sure it will be." Alice said. "We're the most rag-tag unprofessional group of underdog heroes you've ever seen! There's no way we can lose."
Hitomi giggled. "I suppose you're right."
The two girls stood there, both lost in their own thoughts for a moment. Hitomi's stomach growled. Alice giggled. "Sounds like your hungry."
"I guess it would be about lunchtime for me normally." Hitomi said, her stomach growling again.
"Well, then, let's eat!" Alice said, taking Hitomi's hand and exiting the room with her in tow. Hitomi couldn't help but smile. She knew that she had made the right choice. No matter what else happened, she had made a new friend today, one she planned on keeping as long as she could. There were still things to lean, battles to fight, and hardships to face, but for today, even if only for a few more hours, Hitomi let herself be happy.
It could be the last time in a while that she was allowed.
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End Chapter Report:
Shizuki Hitomi has gained 1 combat class. Shizuki Hitomi is now a witch.
Shizuki Hitomi has unlocked the achievement 'Magic and Miracles are Real' for casting her first spell.
Shizuki Hitomi has unlocked the achievement 'Unfortunate Naming Conventions' for becoming a witch.
Authors Note: By now, you're probably thinking to yourself, 'self, this is barely Madoka Magica related!'. That's because it's barely Madoka Magica related. At least, so far. The stories will become intertwined later, but things are just starting now. After all, this takes place more than a week before Akemi transfers in. The first episode hasn't even happened yet. A little faith, please. I will get to it, I promise.