They weren't training in the large practice room. The reason for them being there was entirely because they found that it was not used. They didn't know why, as Theodora's group was disciplined, but perhaps that was the reason why. They just didn't need it.
Estelle paced in a circle around Nadine, who stood in the center, unmoving, not even to follow the girl's movements. "So Erwine ran off with Liselotte…" Estelle said. She'd muttered several facts like this in the past ten minutes of her pacing, and Nadine had not responded to any of them.
Estelle finally changed up her routine with this one. "But why? What did I do wrong? How did I mess up?"
"You beat her," Nadine replied. "Adrianne never did that to her. Even when she raped her, Erwine let it happen because Adrianne gained some kind of pleasure from it. Did beating Erwine, assaulting her, give you any happiness?"
"No,"
"Then it would not make Erwine happy. She is so forgiving, and caring for others. She'll take any punishment, but forgive it readily, because she doesn't want to be held by bonds of hatred or dislike. It would go against the way she lives her life, wanting to be free of control. Hating someone would guide her actions against that person."
"But why won't she forgive me?" Estelle asked.
"She needs time. And Estelle, you don't mean anything to Erwine. From the very start, you were an interloper. You've been trying to exhibit dominance over her from the very start of your cooperation with her. Adrianne was practically her mother, but you're just an enemy. There's a big difference there."
"How do you know all of this? How can you remain so effortlessly calm?" Estelle slowed down, her eyes looking into Nadine's.
"I've been through a lot. This isn't all that much. Erwine will get back on track eventually, just give her some time."
"You're certain?"
"Certain," Justinia said. The ship was in the warp at this point, having slipped in behind Elle's vessel. There was not a chance Erwine would escape once they reached Jincelle, the planet which their trajectory indicated was their destination."
There was a concern amongst them, however. That perhaps the damage incurred by the Rosie would render it incapable of continuing on. That would mean it would be stranded in interstellar space. As such, Elle was to drop out of warp halfway through the voyage, scan the area for a sign of life, and then reenter if nothing was found.
If the Rosie was located, then it would be rescued. If nothing, then it would be in the warp on its way to Jincelle. Both the inquisitors in the large practice range hoped that the inhabitants of the ship would be alright. If they were not, then a lot would lost.
There was always the slim chance that the ship could be lost in the warp. But that slim chance was increased due to the damage incurred, as well as the turbulence that even Theodora's craft had a bit of trouble with.
"I hate to say such a cliché phrase," Estelle muttered, looking down at the ground, "But I have a bad feeling about this."
"I don't think that can be considered a cliché when it's just a truth," Nadine said, "There's something wrong about all of this. Something that we're not seeing."
"Any ideas?"
'Had I any, you'd the first to know."
"Can we trust Theodora?"
"Do we have a choice at this point?"
"True," Estelle said. She looked up at the ceiling, silently praying that everyone would safely make it through the warp.
However, she really didn't know what that bad feeling was a portent of. She hoped it wasn't too bad. She even prayed.
Laelia and Celestine were still a ways from the spot out in the wilderness. It had been two days since they were taken. The Rosie had twelve days left before it would reach the planet of Curia.
The spot out in the wilderness that had been their destination for so long as a mansion. It was a mansion that had been destroyed around a year and a half ago. No one had bothered to rebuild it, as it no longer hand an owner. So it had been left to decay out there, nature beginning to slowly reclaim its property.
Now the two magical girls cautiously made their way through the woods that led towards the place. Laelia's shield was up. Celestine's invisibility was active as well. Theoretically, nothing was going to be able to find them. At least if telepath was not being used. So that was good.
However, they knew that even a novice telepath could track them down, so they hoped that the Hadiens Sect was somehow still occupied with the attack that had been commenced. Of course, neither girl had any idea who was responsible for that attack.
This really wasn't the time for such speculation, however. Laelia and Celestine had no choice but to keep going, having chosen to get involved in all of this, despite what the letter had advised.
They both froze. There was something ahead of them. A figure. A dark figure, leaning back against a tree. The girl was not looking at them. She didn't even seem to notice that they were there. Laelia and Celestine moved to the side even as they kept walking.
The invisibility field prevented any sound from coming out of the area it covered, and obscured ever other way to sense something or someone. So both girls figured that they wouldn't have to worry.
It was dark out. The forest resonated with the sound of nocturnal animals. Laelia and Celestine froze. They were in ten feet of the girl. She stepped away from the tree. She turned right on her heel to the right. She was in the middle of their path.
Her whole body was shrouded in a black cloak, with the hood raised. She had been staring down at the ground. She looked up. Her face was invisible. Despite the night vision of the two girls that pierce right through the dark, they couldn't make out a single detail. A shadow obscured her face from all sight.
"Greetings," the girl said, her voice neutral. "By sunrise, you will certainly reach your destination. " She did not move. Not in the slightest. "I am afraid I shall not allow you to pass me."
"Who are you?" Celestine demanded, voice uneasy. Her invisibility was still up. She dropped in, realizing that it was pointless. She summoned her rapier. Laelia kept her shield up, a dozen guns floating in a ring behind her, all aimed at the girl.
"None of that is necessary," the girl said in response. "Turn around now. You may return to the sect, or you may find some other place to scurry off to. The details do not matter. But your current destination is not somewhere you will go."
"I assume you represent the interests of the Hadiens Sect?" Laelia asked. A shiver ran through their bodies just at the sound of the girl's voice and her very presence there.
"You could say that," the girl agreed.
"A bit incriminating, that such a girl would be working for them," Celestine commented.
The girl's voice was smug as she replied, still holding that air of aloofness at the same time, "Who said I work for them? I am merely working for their interests. And at the moment, Arietta would prefer that you remain on this planet, and in a place where no one can get to you."
"That's not an option," Celestine shook her head.
"That is your choice," the girl reminded her. "Everything that is about to occur will be as results of your choices."
Laelia and Celestine took one look at each other. We go the left. Activate your invisibility, Laelia instructed. We go as fast as we can, put some distance, then try to get closer. I'll be ready to fight if we need it. As it is, we outnumber her.
They jumped in that direction. Their leaps were long, taking them two dozen feet each time as they propelled themselves with magic. They did not spot the other girl pursuing them, so they continued on in that direction before turning.
Right before they would have jumped in the direction of the mansion again, they were stopped. The girl from before was standing in their way again. "Not going to work," she explained, "It's just not going to work."
"Get out of our way, we don't want to fight anyone here!" Celestine called.
"Then just turn around…" the girl replied, speaking the obvious answer, "Nothing shall be done if you leave now. It's incredibly simple."
Let's go, there's no chance of convincing her. Laelia insisted. We can't slow, lest we be caught ourselves.
You're right, Celestine realized. Celestine dashed forwards, Laelia followed her. The latter girl opened fire her twelve machine guns. The barking sound of them echoed through the woods as the bullet tore through the air.
The girl disappeared. The two came to stop, going back to back as they looked around. She was nowhere to be seen. The woods were silent now. There was no trace. Teleporter, invisibility, or time stopper. Celestine said. It was obvious, but it was more of a reminder than a suggestion.
Laelia was facing in the direction Laelia and Celestine had come from. Laelia saw the girl appear in a strange manner. She didn't actually just appear there, like a teleporter might. A strange cloud of dark mist, or something, preceded her appearance in the midst of the dissipating cloud. Face still invisible, the girl said, "I gave you fair warning. You shall not succeed."
Laelia dropped to one knee, her guns following her and opening fire. Celestine spun around. A foot was planted on Laelia's head for a second as she used her to propel away, rapier in her hand. Laelia lunged forwards, her guns flying farther from her body so that they wouldn't hit Celestine.
Laelia spun about as she heard the girl behind her. She barely managed to knock aside a strike from her, which was carried out with a jagged knife, with a serrated edge. The girl disappeared again, and Celestine came back in. They once again stood back to back. Laelia closed her shield in. It now covered only the two girls.
They were also invisible. Laelia yelped out as something stabbed into her foot. Then something into the other foot. The same thing occurred to Celestine. They looked down, unable to spot anything there. They tried moving. Then Laelia felt a sharp pain in the back of her leg, and she fell over. She looked down, seeing that something had sliced into the muscles of her shin, even touching the bone.
Celestine hauled her off the ground, jumping away. She cried out as a wound appeared in her gut. She was in the air, in mid-leap. And before she hit the ground, the backs of her legs were cut out as well.
The girl appeared beside them as they lay on the ground. Laelia fired a barrage from all directions. The girl disappeared. She was in between the two now. "It is not my intention nor desire to kill either of you. Should you continue, my hand will be forced. Please, think rationally before making a decision."
"Who are you?" Laelia asked.
"I already said you don't need to know," The girl disappeared. Neither heard anything more from her.
"What do we do?" Laelia asked, as she sat up to start tending to Celestine's more severe wounds.
"We keep going," the girl replied. "If someone like this wants to stop us from reaching our destination, then obviously it's incredibly important."
"What if she comes back? She has to be watching us somehow?" Laelia wondered, "I'm thinking we should just turn around. I know that there's something much bigger going on at this point…but this is just too much. We can't even come close to doing damage to her."
"You go," Celestine said, "I'll do my best to distract her. You'll make if farther if you can tighten up your shield."
She started running forwards, making long leaps. Laelia got to her feet, running as fast as she could to follow. She expected herself to be struck at any second. There was a flash of light. She paused to see that it was sent at the ground right below here. A few wisps of a dark fog were there, just like the kind that accompanied the girl's teleportations.
"Huh?" Laelia wondered. She leapt forwards, tightening her shield around herself, thinking about what could have done that. Several more flashes of light came out at various intervals. Celestine noticed.
"What are those?!" she shouted.
"I've no idea! Someone is firing all around me. Nothing has hit me, so they don't seem to be aiming at me!" Laelia cried.
Suddenly someone leapt from the tree line. It was another magical girl. Not the one from before. She was dressed in a grey cloak, the hood pulled up so her face could not be seen as she crouched down, staring forwards. A multitude of silver swords levitated around her. Laelia and Celestine paused, before backing away, scared of who this newcomer was.
"Fear not," the girl said. Her voice's tone resembled that of the other's. It was distant, but stern. "I'm not on your side, but I don't want this girl to kill you. Keep going, don't look back. Don't slow down." Laelia realized the swords could have been the things that were fired at her.
She explained this. She's obviously fighting our enemy. Laelia said, but we can't assist, so let's get moving. Agreed.
The two kept moving, Celestine opened her mouth. "I'm not doing this for you," the girl said, "Don't thank me."
The two continued on throughout the forest as the battle behind them ensued. Do you have any idea who either of those two were? Laelia asked.
No clue, Celestine replied, the first one was some kind of teleporter, and the other one can't be identified. I wonder what they had to do with one another.
Well, the one in black is working for the Hadiens Sect. Maybe not on their side, but she's doing their dirty work. The one in grey…she can't be working for Juno, or else she would have been on our side. The only other possibility is one of Ishna's, but then she wouldn't be on our side.
So there's a fourth, and then maybe a fifth, group involved in all of this…Celestine sighed. This is big, isn't it?
It is indeed, Laelia agreed, as they came upon their destination.
She took a deep breath. Her eyes didn't move. She took another one. Her eyes didn't move. That is how it had been for the past ten minutes. Justinia had just stood there, staring unwaveringly at Liselotte. She didn't move an inch from where she stood.
Liselotte did her best to meet the gaze equally, but there was something about the girl's eyes that made her want to avert her own. Something about what lay beneath the surface, down in her depths, made Liselotte afraid. Of what, she couldn't tell.
Eventually breaking away once again, Liselotte asked with consternation, "Just what do you plan on accomplishing, standing there?" Justinia didn't reply. Liselotte gritted her teeth. "Don't you have something better to do?" It wasn't just the girl standing there that put her on edge.
The fact that this ship was adrift in the warp with barely any power, and with failing Gellar fields was the main cause. She didn't understand why Justinia didn't show an ounce of fear. Perhaps it was just hidden, but she still felt as though it ought to show somewhere.
"You didn't tell me everything," She said, a minute after Liselotte's previous words. "I want to know everything. If you continue to refuse to speak, then we'll have a problem, won't we?"
"What do you want to know?" Liselotte snapped. Justinia shrugged. Knowing that she couldn't pressure the girl into speaking, she said, "I won't talk unless you assure me that my life doesn't depend on my information."
Justinia raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm?" She questioned. Then she cracked a grin, "Ah, I see. So you believe I'll kill you when I get everything out of you?" She didn't wait for a reply. "I can assure you that not talking will play a part in your eventual demise, so you have things a bit mixed up."
Liselotte sighed. "It's your choice." Justinia said. "Besides, I'm sure having your soul devoured by daemons will be an interesting experience." She turned around. "Tell me when you're ready to talk."
The blonde in the chair narrowed her eyes. I can't stay here. She's right. I have no choice but to talk at this point. The idea had been to remain captured for the sake of everyone's safety, better to be united against the coming threat then running around chasing her, but if she had to choose between talking and dying, Liselotte knew what to do.
She summoned a blade into her right hand. She was able to slice it down enough to cut off the other cuff. She was free. Striking out with her left hand as she summoned a blade into it was unsuccessful. Justinia slid backwards, barely avoiding the sideways stab at her head. Her right arm came about, swinging in a wide horizontal arc.
Justinia dodged back again, barely preventing the sword from cutting into her. Her knife was drawn from her belt, but she didn't move in. She stepped back again, elbow knocking on the door to signal trouble. Liselotte held her arms out. Three dozen blades formed in the air around her.
She smirked as they fired forwards. Justinia shrugged as she was cut down. Blood flew out at every possible angle as she was turned into a pincushion. She slid down the door, eyes shut, blood spilling from the three dozen wounds. Five blades pierced her head alone. The weapons disappeared as Liselotte approached, having done their job.
Liselotte was wary as she went towards the door, figuring that somebody had to be out there. A series of gunshots fired through the door confirmed the suspicion. She had another dozen swords floating about her, and the pellets were deflected off the wall of sharpened metal.
She flung her arm out, and a storm of cutting edges descended upon the door. Except this time they stabbed. She made sure some were sent to cut the hinges. Then she leapt forwards. She hit the ground, conjuring another dozen blades as she converted the momentum into a slide. She kicked out at the door.
The magic energy she emitted out of her foot pushed the door out of the frame. At the same time, the dozen weapons shot outwards. The door was punctured even more. It slammed into the door across the hall as Liselotte came out into the hall. A chuckle behind her revealed why Sechylia was not crushed and stabbed under the door.
Liselotte's head would have detonated. In the end, she did take multiple hits as she rolled forwards. She decided to get risky, burning a high level of her magic to jump up, spin around and fire a massive cloud at her opponent. Around fifty weapons traveled down the hall at Sechylia, who ducked into the room.
One managed to catch her leg Liselotte jumped forwards as Sechylia turned towards her on the ground. Liselotte threw a scimitar at her, the blade knocking the gun out of her hand. Sechylia was never the fastest. The blonde-haired girl curled her fingers around another sword.
Sechylia died as well. Liselotte took a deep breath, seeing the growing pool of blood that was coming from the combined vitals of the two girls. Liselotte realized Erwine had to be awake now. She ran down the hall right as the door opened. The corner rounded as Erwine looked out.
"What the-Liselotte!" She shouted. Erwine ran to check on the two, ensuring that they were still alive. Their soul gems were completely untouched, so there was that. She turned around, "Victoria," she said, "Make sure these two are alright, please!"
The astrotelepath had gotten up at the same time Erwine had. "You'll be fine?" She asked.
"I'll be fine," Erwine promised. She took a deep breath.
"You sure this is the best idea?"
"Innocent people don't run like this," Erwine replied, "So yes, I think it'd be better to chase her down now rather than later."
"Good luck, then," Victoria said, watching Erwine follow the trail of slightly bloody footprints.
Victoria looked down at the two other girls beside her. "Well, you two aren't doing so well, are you?"
Liselotte ran for any place she thought would be safe. She knew that she was out numbered, four to one. If Erwine is really on their side. Chances are she is, so that's not good. I have to get somewhere I can hide. If we really do have to drop from the warp, then I'm in trouble…
She brushed aside the humans in her way, thinking about where the others might be. Hopefully Ayelen and Sanae were in that same hallway, probably in Ayelen's former room. That means the only one unaccounted for, if I'm lucky, is Wei. And what is the chance of running into one person on a ship this large?
She got to an elevator, and went upwards. She knew that telepathy could not be used to find her, so as long as she stayed out of sight or disabled those who tried to report her presence, she would not be found for a good long while.
The elevator went as upwards as possible. The door opened. She frowned. They say someone out there is fighting for you…but it looks like someone also doesn't like me…Wei turned around as the elevator opened.
The massive screen above the observation deck window closed, the girl looked at Liselotte, who had spatters of blood on her clothes. Liselotte was about to go back down, but Wei ran towards her. She had no way to immediately strike, While Liselotte did.
A dozen swords flew out at Wei. She barely managed to dodge aside with a side step, but one sword still hit her in the right arm. The elevator door was closing, but Wei managed to leapt forwards again. Her hands caught onto the door right before it shut, her fingers almost getting sliced off by the door closing.
She knew in an instant her attempt was in vain. Liselotte was just going to slice her fingers off. Then the door opened suddenly, Wei stumbling as her force pushed herself to the side. Liselotte grabbed her, pulling her into the elevator. Her right arm was severed before the offending blade was placed against her soul gem.
Wei froze, seeing the action take place. Another chop from Liselotte's left arm cut off Wei's left. The elevator was going down now. Wei couldn't do much without her arms to perform the proper movements to actually create a program.
Liselotte held Wei's throat with her left arm while her right blade was held to the girl's gem. The elevator opened before her, and Liselotte was pleased to find no one was there. She waited a second, before she closed the elevator again, having it head back up to the observation deck. Exiting out into the space, a barrage of blades destroyed the control panel before snapping the cables.
After looking around for other entrances, she was pleased to find seemingly none. Probably a secret one, but we can find that one later. She looked at Wei, sitting on the floor, arms still regenerating. "Well," Liselotte said, "Do you know of any other way up here?"
Wei shook her head. "Honest?" Liselotte asked.
Wei nodded. "I guess I'll have to accept that as an answer," Liselotte muttered. She tore off cloth from Wei's clothes, and wrapped it around the stumps of her arms to prevent regeneration. Then the legs were severed at the knees, and given a similar treatment. "Sorry," Liselotte said, checking that Wei's gem had enough magic to keep her alive, "But it's just necessary."
"Perhaps you could just calm down and not act so rashly, we-"
"Shut up!" Liselotte ordered. She walked back over to the girl, balling up a piece of cloth she tore from the shirt itself and shoving it into her mouth. Another strip bound that ball in there to prevent it from being pushed out.
Liselotte took a deep breath. "Alright." She muttered the single word before canvassing the entire room again. She did find a set of stairs behind what looked like a bookshelf. She actually had to punch a hole through the thing to find nothing impeding her.
Beating down the rest revealed a staircase going down to a landing, which then went down to another level. Liselotte looked about for something to block it. Eventually she decided it was pointless. She looked down to the bottom, then she had an idea.
"Actually…" Liselotte realized she had to make a decision of a different sort. She walked back out, looking at Wei. "Well, you don't have the magic. I do…" She turned her blade around, stabbing herself through the chest. She fell down dead in front of Wei.
"Do we have any idea where she is?" Erwine shouted into the vox at her ear, communicating to Bolton.
"We're scanning the ship now, looking for any lifeforms. Wei is still on the observation deck, she's the only person there. The last time we saw Liselotte was when she was headed in that direction, but the elevator went up, then back down, according to our logs for that. So she probably ran when she found Wei up there. But sorting her out amidst the other members of the crew is going to be hard."
The ship shook massively. Erwine, Ayelen, and Sanae were all knocked over by the quake. The lights flickered, and sparks flew as minor detonations occurred. "What was that?" Erwine shouted into the vox. "Turbulence?"
"The engines!" Bolton shouted. "It's really bad. We're losing systems fast. Power is going down. We need to consolidate everything we have to the Gellar field, get as much out of it as we can, or we won't be able to drop out of the warp when we want to."
"Can we just do it now?" Erwine asked.
"Not at the moment. We need to get crews down there to even get the engines back up to full, or we can't even breach out of the warp!" Bolton shouted, he was frantic.
"Damn it!" Erwine shouted, "Keep the Gellar field as up as long as possible. Turn off everything else. Liselotte can wait till normal space, so don't even worry about scanning. We'll find her eventually!"
"Roger that." Bolton's line went dead as he was pulled away to other duties. Erwine looked at Ayelen and Sanae. "We need to go together. Liselotte is older than any one of us, so we can't take the risk of splitting up. We're going to be methodical and calm in this search, but remember to not waste too much against Liselotte. If daemons breach the ship, we'll need everything we've got."
"Let's go!" She shouted, leading them off.
Victoria tended Justinia back first, knowing she was the more important of the two. The crimson-haired girl came back after about ten minutes of being dead. "Just how old are you?" Victoria asked as the girl came back, commenting as explanation, "That was a speedy recovery."
"True," Justinia said, saying nothing more. "Where is Liselotte?" she looked about, "What happened to the lights?"
"Unknown for the first question. The engines are breaking down as we speak. Power is being lost, and everything is being diverted to sustain the Gellar field. The engines have to be repaired before we can breach from the warp." Victoria explained. She did not sound too grim.
"Damn it, this came at the worst time," Justinia shook her head, "I knew Liselotte would try something, but that was my intention. If I forced her into it, and we caught her, she wouldn't want to try again for some time. I expected to die, and honestly trusted Erwine to hunt her down…with the power out, the job is a lot harder."
"Last known location?" Justinia asked.
"Liselotte went to the observation deck, then went back down."
"Wei's still there?"
"Yes," Victoria replied.
"Then she's wounded, by Liselotte most likely. Get Sechylia up, hold the fort here. If necessary, get Sechylia into your sanctuary and stay there. Any crew member who does not have a vital job is to come with you."
"You're expecting something bad?"
"This ship is going to down," Justinia replied, "IF things are deteriorating at this rate, we're going to lose the Gellar field in about…well, three hours. And if the engines aren't back at that point, which I doubt they will be, then we're as good as gone."
"Save who you can," Justinia said, wiping the blood off of her suit. "But don't endanger yourselves. Good luck."
She walked out the door, before she fell to the ground. Her eyes went wide, her body shook. Victoria saw it occur. "Oh no!" she audibly cried, knowing what this was all a sign of. Possession.
She looked into Justinia's eyes, seeing something else there for a brief second. Then Justinia flailed once, and came out of whatever trance she fell into for a couple seconds.
The girl looked at Victoria, "It's happening, isn't it?"
Victoria sadly nodded. "I may be able to get it out when we get into normal space, but there's a higher risk for me. If I get a daemon in my head, it will only spread wildly from there. I'm sorry, Justinia."
Justinia took a deep breath. "This is a risk I have to take. Get away from me, before you get in danger as well." She stood up, steadying herself. "I've found the parasite, it's isolated, and I'm collapsing the mind it's in…" she sounded sad, tears even coming to her eyes as she said, "I'll have me in roughly one hour and thirty-seven minutes." She looked at Victoria.
Giving the typical magical girl salute, she said softly, "If I don't see you again, then goodbye."
"The Goddess Protects," Victoria said. Justinia ran off, and Victoria added the part customarily given as a farewell for the dead, "May She guide your soul."
Liselotte woke up quickly after the wound she inflicted to avoid the scans. She then ran towards the secret entrance. Summoning as many blades as she could muster, she fired them downwards. The storm of magical metal, traveling at hundreds of miles per hour, cut up the staircase, collapsing the thing down to the floor, thirty feet below.
It would only delay them, but she hoped that it would give her some time. Liselotte moved Wei to a back corner of the room, where she could keep an eye on both potential entrances. This corner held a small seating area, complete with a few small trees in pots, bamboo it seemed, they were even real trees.
She moved them about in front of her and Wei, while she took a seat in one of the chairs. All Liselotte wanted was to give herself as much time as possible. And now that the power seemed to be out, she knew that she would have plenty of time, maybe even enough to hold out until real space.
Sechylia woke up. She saw Victoria's face above her. She was being carried by the small girl. They emerged into the astrotelepath's sanctuary. She shut the door, putting Sechylia down on the bed. A few human crew members were following them.
Victoria turned around to look at them, "We have at best an hour before everyone who can get in here needs to be in here. Go out and find as many as you can. Assist those in need, and try to round up some supplies as well, only for yourselves, us two will be fine."
The men and women nodded, before running out of the room, and the various doors blocking it off from the rest of the ship. "What's going on?" Sechylia asked.
"Power is failing," Victoria replied, "Gellar fields will go down in a few hours. This room can hold about fifty people, such is the size, in relative comfort. We're going to have to accommodate them, as we don't know if the engines will be fixed. We need them in working order so that we can breach from the warp. But at this rate, we won't escape in time."
"Where's Justinia?"
"Wei seems to be wounded. She's going to check on her…" Victoria wanted to tell Sechylia the truth. So she did. Withholding it would only hurt the girl later. "Justinia's mind is in danger. A daemonic entity entered it. I barely avoided it, and we're entirely safe here, but Justinia is not. She'll be gone within two hours."
"We have to save her!" Sechylia shouted, leaping up from the bed, "Come on! You can do it!"
"I could try," Victoria said. "But I'm an astrotelepath. The most probable outcome is that I get possessed as well. Then it spreads to Melody. Then the ship has no navigator. And with the Gellar fields already failing, we could do our best to purge ourselves, and would most likely succeed, but with all the turbulence, there's not much of a chance. The ship would be torn apart. As it is, one magical girl is lost. If we try to help, and fail, then we are all undoubtedly lost."
Victoria picked up the vox from the side of her bed. "Melody, when can you disengage?"
"We still have a chance," the girl insisted, "Give me some time."
"Melody, you're a navigator, you know the risks,"
"Exactly, just give me some time. My capsule is resistant to the warp. If anything happens, I'll make it through just as well as you will. Don't worry."
"Fine, but don't push yourself," Victoria looked back at Sechylia. Then she called up Erwine, "Where are you?"
"Currently searching the lower decks," Erwine replied.
"You have an hour and a half. After that point, you are going to come back up and enter my sanctuary. You three need to live."
"Understood," Erwine replied. She did not complain against the orders.
"What about those humans?" Sechylia asked, "What about them? The ones trying to fix the engines?"
"They shall be unfortunately lost," Victoria replied, "We cannot save everyone. We can only save those who are the most important."
"I know…" Sechylia said sadly, looking down with sorrow on her face. "But I wish it…it was different."
"Bolton will go down with his ship, he's dedicated to it." Victoria explained, "But we will try to save the more important personnel. Hopefully, Estelle, Nadine, Theodora, or someone amidst them, will expect something like this, and they'll be looking for us."
"If so, then we won't have to wait long before we are rescued. If not, then we will most likely die of natural causes, but we will at least not lose our souls to the daemons."
"Can we fight them off?" Sechylia asked.
"The daemons? If they do breach?" Victoria asked. She shrugged, "Most likely not. It would be foolish. If we do die, then we'll be lost to the warp. If we somehow fight them off, then I suppose we'll have an easier time. Even if we do manage to exit, chances are there will still be a daemonic presence onboard."
"So what do you want to do?" Sechylia asked.
"We remain here," she replied. "And we wait for whatever card fates deals us."
What's interesting is that you're trying so hard…the voice said. It had been talking for just a bit as Justinia walked towards what she knew to be the elevator to the location of Wei. In the end, you're going to lose. You're even counting down the seconds.
Justinia…such a brave, stoic girl. No emotions, but you're still crying. Why? Because you're scared. It was a hushed whisper in the back of her head. Not a cacophony, not a loud ruckus. Just a quiet, gentle stream of ever-more convincing words.
Justinia didn't listen. She did not even reply. She just kept stepping forwards. She now looked at the elevator. It was damage, inoperable. Calmly, she turned around, walking away. A rocket launcher came into being behind her, aimed at the shaft.
The detonation shook the area, but the shaft was clear. Justinia was about to leap up through. Then suddenly, you don't need to do that. Justinia froze in place. Her muscles struggled against some invisible force that was controlling them.
It was like she was moving through tar, everything seemed to restrict her, clamping down as she tried to move. She couldn't breathe anymore. She felt a higher density of warp energy. It had only been twenty minutes since the parasite first entered her.
At this rate…the Gellar field is deteriorating even faster…I have…some twenty-seven minutes left. Justinia felt an actual tear come to her eye. She didn't want to die, not now. She had people like Wei left, to make sure they became good people.
The girl had no desire to become a plaything of daemons for the rest of forever, either. But that looked like the direction she was going to take. She could only pray that the Goddess would guide her.
But then she thought of Wei. That Wei had to be wounded. That something happened to her. And what if…what if that girl was possessed as well? Justinia couldn't just let her die.
She struggled against the daemon's control. It took elimination of half of the dozen minds she had left, significantly reducing her capabilities as she had to being centralizing control in one mind once again.
But she pushed forwards. Justinia looked up the elevator shaft. She jumped upwards. Kicking off the wall multiple times brought her to the top. She stumbled, nearly falling as she got there. The ship shook massively.
Justinia felt metal buckle and crack. She looked up at the ceiling. It was breaking down. If it collapsed, then both Justinia and Wei would be hopelessly lost.
As Justinia stumbled, she noticed something on the ground. A red liquid. Blood. She looked up. There was something of a trail. She approached the back corner of the room. Some small bamboo trees were arranged in a strange fashion.
Half a dozen rocket launchers were summoned around her body. Liselotte leapt out, firing a volley of swords. Justinia returned fire. The explosion knocked both girls onto their backs. Justinia pulled her knife as she felt the daemon resurge in power, pushing forwards to try and seize control of all her mind.
If it take me while the ship is still intact…then I might kill everyone on this thing…I could…if I use my rockets, start blowing things up…reduce the integrity, open the ship to the warp. Then we'd all be dead. Justinia fought back, as Liselotte stood up.
"Come on then!" the crimson-haired girl shouted as she raised her knife. Their eyes met. "Let this be a glorious dance if it is to be my last!"
I can't go now! She swore to herself, Wei has to be here! She lunged at Liselotte. Flipping the knife into a reverse grip, she swung at her opponent. Liselotte struck out, attempting to destroy the weapon. Justinia twisted her arm to avoid the downwards chop of one sword, then coiled it back in to avoid the swing of the other one.
She recoiled, striking out like a snake with the built up energy. She twisted her whole body into the strike. Liselotte barely managed to step back in time to avoid a knife through her chest. Justinia reverted to a normal grip, before raising her arm and swinging the weapon down at the blonde girl's arm. It was perhaps the worst thing to do with the size of the knife she had.
There was a flash of silver light, and Liselotte's blade removed the arm, the right one, that held the knife from Justinia's body. Theoretically, at least. Justinia swung her right foot backwards, the sword skimming down the side of her suit as she dodge. The knife was now down by her gut, in the perfect position to strike.
Liselotte had to step back again as Justinia stabbed out at her. Liselotte was running dangerously low on magic. Between all the things that had been done to her on Curia, as well as the amount she had to spend in the various fights she'd been in, the girl was low. So Justinia could have an even fight with her.
Justinia lunged forwards, three quick slashes going towards Liselotte. Liselotte tried to retaliate by simply severing Justinia's hand, but she managed to curve around all the strikes. Neither landed a blow on the other.
Justinia jumped backwards, giving ten feet of space between her and Liselotte. The enemy closed the gap quickly, a multitude of strikes coming at her faster than the human eye could actually see. But being an older magical girl, the eyes of the crimson-haired girl were anything but human.
She stepped around half of them, parried another couple, and barely dodged one. It sliced into her left leg, leaving a long trail of red down an otherwise unmarred suit. Liselotte kept up the assault, knowing that Justinia had no real way to actually fight her in a straight brawl.
She has to keep dodging with that knife of hers. She also looks tired, probably from all that's been going on. Hopefully I can disarm her soon, that's all I need to do to win. But Justinia did not back down. She kept fighting, stepping left and right as Liselotte forced her back across the room.
However, Liselotte was tired as well. Justinia was still skilled, and fast. Liselotte faltered in a couple slashes, the strikes not as fast and powerful as they should have been. Slicing into the gaps made by these failures was the weapon of Justinia. Liselotte was stunned as she the knife make three shallow cuts on her chest.
This short moment of distraction gave Justinia a chance. She rolled around behind Liselotte. As she came out of the role, her knife was reversed, being pushed towards the back of Liselotte's head. Severing the brain stem of the girl would result in an instant body death.
It was so easy. It would have been, at least, if Liselotte let it be so easy. She did not. She stepped to the left, spinning around to swing her right arm blade at Justinia's gut. Her left arm swung for her head. Liselotte stepped in as she did so, ensuring that the girl would still be hit even if she did dodge.
Time seemed to slow down for Justinia as she stood there. The blades were coming towards her, ever so slowly. I could jump in, stab her. I can kill her at this distance, hit her in the soul gem. She'd cut me up, however, and that would mean the daemon would take me. Wei has to be in here. I would murder Wei, and then most likely destabilize the rest of the ship by going around blowing things up. Not an option.
Only other option is to somehow get out of the way. Jumping back would still mean my throat and gut are still cut open. To the right? Yes, to the right. Justinia's blade flashed a little to the side. With perfect precision, Liselotte's blade was parried just enough so that the girl could roll to the side.
With perfect precision she managed to dodge both blades, getting up to stand shakily on her feet. Liselotte was not going to be deterred so easily, however. She was certainly surprised by Justinia's ability to dodge, but the girl was not in an exploitable position.
Come on, a voice in her head said. You want to win, right? You want to defeat Liselotte? Save Wei, save the rest of the ship…? I can help with that. Justinia was dazed. The ship shook again, wildly.
The ceiling groaned, and Justinia dared not look up at it, for fear of the cover above the window breaking away, and the warp itself staring back at her. The entire ship moaned, and Justinia thought she could hear something else.
Wailing, moaning. Like a million people were all around her, crying out in unison. It stopped suddenly, right before Justinia felt something dribbling down her face. It was blood. Her left hand, free, traced the source. Her right eye, it was crying blood. I'm crying? I was crying? Justinia went to her left eye, the same fluid came out as the right.
Liselotte froze, seeing Justinia in that state. "By the Goddess…" she muttered, "Justinia…is something wrong?"
Justinia wanted to stay strong. She held her ground, defiantly staring back at the girl. She tensed her muscles, raising her knife again as she ignored the things that were going on. "Justinia…Justinia wait!" Liselotte shouted as the girl jumped forwards again.
Justinia felt…something else. It wasn't just her in her head. Who is that? She wondered, thinking it was perhaps some telepath intruding. Maybe Liselotte?
Hello there. It was a voice. An otherworldly one, something Justinia didn't recognize. I can help you.
You can? Justinia asked.
Of course I can. The voice replied, It's all I want to do, help you.
I'd like help, Justinia confirmed. She felt an immense pressure on her mind. It felt as if a planet was being balanced on her fragile consciousness. Liselotte was frantically shouting at Justinia, over and over again, as she tried to make her stand down. But her attempts to strike back at her did not succeed.
Yet Justinia was becoming wilder and wilder. Her skill, her experience, her calm, her patience, all were seemingly thrown away as she rushed at Liselotte over and over again. Liselotte knew the capabilities of the girl, and knew that she was a clairvoyant who didn't seem to be past her thirties or forties. Yet she was moving faster than she had any right to.
You can help me, promise? Justinia asked. A spike of pain rammed through her mind. It didn't come from outside, but from within. She felt something threatening to burst out, a whole avalanche prepared to pour forth into her mind. And in that moment, as a shock that could tremble a primarch ran through her mind, it was not her own.
Just had things over to me. The voice replied. Then she felt something else. She had been distracted, wild emotions propelling her. She came to a stop, Liselotte continuing to shout things at her. She raised the knife, a grin coming onto her face.
Tears of blood still dropped from her eyes as she looked up. "Time to die…" she muttered. She leapt forwards with unnatural-for-a-magical girl speed. Liselotte struck down, thinking the girl was still in her ferocious state. Liselotte dropped the blade in her right hand. Justinia had grabbed the wrist, with her left.
She did put it into an effective lock, but the speed and power she had with it had caused the sword to fall right out. Justinia swung her right foot in incredibly fast, her elbow hitting Liselotte's left wrist and preventing that sword from hitting.
The knife rushed forwards, finding a place in Liselotte's chest. Justinia yanked it out. Liselotte's soul gem was on an earring. Justinia did not target it. She kept shoving her blade into Liselotte's chest, again and again. Blood spewed out in every direction, droplets of it staining both girls.
Liselotte was barely alive when it stopped. She was running out of magic fast, but she did the best she could to keep herself awake. Justinia smiled at her, giggling maniacally. The girl stood up, still giggling.
She spun around, looking at Wei. Slowly, she walked towards that girl. "Well hello there…" Justinia cocked her head to the side. Wei was confused. It looked like Justinia was thinking. Of what? Did she forget my name?
"Wei," Justinia grinned, "That's your name, isn't it?"
Wei would have cried out in terror if she hadn't been gagged. That's not Justinia. She realized. She knew the dangers of daemonic possession, but she'd hoped that it would never occur to someone close to her, much less herself. Something besides Justinia looked at her now.
"She let this happen, you know." The Not-Justinia chuckled. "She let the daemon in, allowed it to take over her body. She wanted to beat Liselotte, cared about you so much."
Justinia knelt down in front of Wei. She put the knife right under her chin. "In less than forty-five minutes, the Gellar field that keeps this ship safe shall fail. And when it does, you shall be shown the true beauty of what lies beyond even your comprehension."
Justinia stood up. No, not Justinia, Wei thought, it's a daemon. It has to be lying. Justinia would never let a daemon possess her. Not-Justinia looked up. She summoned a rocket launcher into her hand.
She pointed it at the ceiling. "Do you wish to see true wonder?" Not-Justinia asked.
Wei shook her head, hoping that something would get through to the Justinia that she desperately hoped still existed in there. "Too bad," Not-Justinia said. Her finger pulled the trigger. Wei shut her eyes, praying for some miracle.
The lower decks were entirely clear. Erwine rushed upwards towards the higher decks. "We have no idea where she is. She's not in the lower decks, or near the engines," Erwine spoke into the vox.
"It doesn't matter now," Victoria said.
"Why not?!" Erwine shouted.
"We have less than forty-five minutes. Everything is deteriorating faster than we previously predicted. You need to get here as fast as you possibly can. Don't worry about the others, they'll have to find their own way here. Justinia may not even make it at this rate."
"What?! Why not?!" Erwine shouted. Sanae and Ayelen followed as they pushed through darkened corridors, running up collapsing staircases, pushing their way through raving mad crewmembers.
"A daemon entered her mind. There is a good chance that it will have gained some measure of control by now. Unless Justinia can fight it off, I doubt she'll be able to make it back here in time. That means Wei will be gone as well."
"Wei too?" Erwine shouted, "I can't let her go, how long to the observation deck from my current position?!"
"You cannot do this, Erwine," Victoria's voice was harsh. "Not even alone. It'll take you a good fifteen minutes to get cross the ship, and who knows how much time you'll spend there. The engines won't be repaired before the field breaches. We're not going to make it out of this alive if we don't all get in my sanctuary as soon as possible."
"Shut up!" Erwine shouted, "I am in control of my own life! Don't give me orders, or tell me what to do!" She spun around to face the other two girls. "Get to Victoria. Stay there, don't leave." She took a deep breath, "If I don't come back, then it was an honor."
Erwine ran off in a different direction, hoping that the route she was taking was the correct one. Ayelen and Sanae watched her go, before they ran off on towards their destination. "Do you think she'll make it?" Sanae asked.
"She's Erwine," Ayelen replied, "She was, maybe is still, at the center of Ishna's plans for a good reason. I say she has a more-than-likely chance of destiny favoring her."
Justinia opened her eyes. She was in a place she didn't exactly recognize. She looked around, struggling to remember where she had just been. Strangely enough, the location didn't come to her.
Everything was white, shining bright white, to the point where it blinded her. She covered her eyes as she stumbled around wherever she was. Then the light began to die. She would finally be able to open her eyes when the blinding brightness went away.
Still having a glimmering sheen of impossible light on them, Justinia saw that the world was something she could begin to understand. She bumped into something. Looking down, as the world came into focus, she saw it was a railing. She looked out, seeing that she was on an elevated space. She saw a grassy field in front of her sloping down towards a shimmering blue lake.
The sky had only a few clouds in it as the sun approached its midday point at the top of the sky. Justinia looked down at herself. She was dressed in a small, light blue dress. Not something she would ever wear.
She turned around, looking out at a terrace. Beyond the terrace was a building, it looked like a small café of sorts. Yet there was only one person in sight. A girl, sitting at one of the tables. She was a magical girl.
The girl sipped from a cup of coffee, leaning back in the seat. From what Justinia could tell, it was a young girl. "Now now, Justinia," the girl said, a scolding tone in her voice, "You've messed up pretty bad?"
"What?" Justinia asked.
"I don't think saving Wei is equivalent to letting a daemon take your mind," the girl said, shrugging, "But how should I know? Not like I know the girl myself. And given the face you made right before it happened, something tells me that it wasn't completely consensual." Justinia looked at the girl.
She wore a dark green coat, over a short green skirt of a lighter hue. The coat covered down her arms save for her hands, which were covered by the same color of gloves. A dark purple bow was tied round her collar. Beneath the coat she wore a green vest. Her shoes were dark green boots.
Justinia felt as if she recognized the girl from somewhere, but couldn't exactly place it. "What are you talking about? What did I do? Where was I? What…what happened to Wei?"
"Well, it's certainly doing a good job, if I do say so myself," the girl said. "The daemon, I mean. At suppressing your ability to think. You were really messed up. The Gellar fields are pretty close to failing. The outside world is, of course, progressing at a thousandth of the speed this world is progressing. We have plenty of time to talk, hopefully so that you can reclaim your mind, and prevent your body from pulling the trigger of the rocket launcher you're aiming at the ceiling."
An image flashed into Justinia's mind. It was of Justinia, the Not-Justinia, smiling as she looked upwards, aiming her weapon at the fracturing ceiling above. "Who are you?" Justinia asked. She felt like she knew who that image could have been from.
The girl looked at herself. "I have no idea what this form is. However, I am Liselotte. The daemon is dedicating itself to controlling you, so I managed to get in. This girl I'm taking the appearance of, she must have been important to you, but I don't know who she could be. I don't know where we are. Your mind is just putting me in a form that will make myself more presentable."
"How do I break free?" Justinia asked.
"Well, right now, we're just in a somewhat nonexistent construct. This whole environment was made to entertain you, most likely with memories of your past, while the daemon fully assimilates you. However, the daemon has to have a presence within this environment, or it can't fully control it."
"So we find that presence, and destroy it?" Justinia asked.
"Correct," the girl, the avatar of Liselotte, said, "But the issue is that we don't know where that thing is. It's going to take you about one more second to pull the trigger, so we have about an hour in here."
"How big is this place?"
"Can you remember?" Liselotte asked, "This is an important memory. The daemon will be suppressing your ability to remember anything, it's trying to make you think that everything past this point was just an imagination. But try to break through. This café," She gestured to herself, "This girl, they were important to this memory. But there has to be more."
Justinia wracked her brain, closing her eyes as she tried to think through it. "I-I don't know," Justinia shook her head, "I can think of that girl…this place right here…but…wait a minute." She turned around, looking out at the lake.
"Something happened there," she raised her finger, pointing out there. "Something happened out there."
"Then let's go." They left the café, waking down a path out onto the field, making their way towards the lake. Justinia looked around, trying to think of where this was. When this was. Why this was important.
Something came from nowhere. Liselotte yelped out. The avatar of her did, at least. Justinia spun to look. A black, formless entity held her. A cloud, a rolling ball of strange-colored smoke, held the girl.
Liselotte struggled as the thing suffocated her. "The daemon…" she choked out, "Get…it…" Liselotte disappeared. The avatar was gone. Justinia tried to summon her weapon. She found that she could not. She looked all around. Her soul gem was not on her body.
"I'm not contracted yet!" She shouted, thinking aloud as the daemon rushed towards her. "This is…" her eyes went wide. "Yes…" She knew when this was now. She looked towards the lake. "That's why that was important…" she muttered.
The seal the daemon had on her memories broke. She watched as the thing stopped in front of her. A pair of flaming orbs came to the front of the shape, staring at her as eyes would. She didn't know why she wasn't being destroyed.
"This is my mind…" she said, as the memories came back to her. She had been tricked. The pressure of the battle against Liselotte, the failing Gellar fields, the daemon had convinced Justinia's defenses that it was not a daemon, and that it should be trusted. So trust it she had. And now it was going to destroy the ship.
"I deny you!" she shouted, "Get out of me!" The daemon recoiled. Justinia had a brief moment of clarity. Suddenly she was looking out at the observation deck. A rocket launcher in her hand. She threw it aside.
Then she was back in her mind, the daemon's form was larger now, more intense. It was drawing power away from controlling her to destroy her entirely, it seemed. Justinia gritted her teeth. If it won this battle of wills, her mind would be shattered, and she would be reduced to nothing more than a puppet, a vessel for the daemon.
She stared defiantly at the creature within her. "Then let us begin." She muttered to herself. The thing lunged. She fought back.
Justinia fell to the ground, her body twitching as the two beings within fought for control of the flesh. Liselotte stood up, barely clinging to life. She ran for Wei, going as fast as she could to the girl. She ended up stumbling over, barely managing to make it without falling.
She tore away the strips of cloth, and unbound the girl. "I've managed to give Justinia a chance." Liselotte shook her head, pain obvious on her face. "But you know…never use telepathy while in the warp."
"Liselotte?" Wei's eyes went wide.
The telepath shook a little. "I'm going to get out of here. Once you get healed, take Justinia and get to the sanctuary. I'll be worse than she is…don't come looking for me."
Wei watched as the girl struggled to stand up. She saw her soul gem. It was almost pitch black. "Your gem…" she muttered
"I'll be fine," Liselotte promised, "Just get out of here before it takes me too…"
"Liselotte…were you…the good guy all along?" Wei would have frowned at her childish vocabulary. But there were more important things at the moment.
"I don't know who's right and who's wrong. I'm just trying to save as many as I can…" Liselotte explained. She walked away, stumbling towards the entrance door.
Wei watched her go, desperately hoping that she would heal faster.
Erwine went to the elevator. The elevator itself was gone. But the shaft was clear, despite the fact that it was collapsing. She jumped up it, landing on the upper level. She looked around, seeing Liselotte stumbling for the secret opening, Justinia writhing on the ground, and Wei in the corner with her limbs gone.
"Erwine!" Wei shouted, "Help Liselotte, she's about to turn!"
Erwine cursed as she ran towards her. Her sword emerged into her hand as she ran for the girl. She stopped Liselotte, holding had back as she looked into her eyes. Erwine saw the gem. It was close.
She pulled out a box of cubes from her pocket. Grabbing the gem, it was submerged in the box. She sat Liselotte back against the wall. "She was possessed as well!" Wei shouted, seeing this take place. "I think the only way out is death!"
"We need her!" Erwine replied. "Unless she's right about Theodora, Liselotte is the only lead we have right now! If she dies, for any reason, then we lose all the progress we've made, and I'm not giving up now!"
Justinia was standing up from the ground. She was shaky as she got to her feet. Erwine raised her blade, approaching cautiously. Justinia giggled as she looked up at Erwine. "Hello little one," Not-Justinia said softly. "Nice to see you here."
"Justinia," Erwine said, calmly and carefully, "This is Erwine. I don't want to hurt you, and I know that you're in there somewhere. Take a deep breath and relax. Fight the daemon."
"Justinia let this occur!" the creature in Justinia's flesh shouted. "She wanted it. She could have fought it, but she was too much of a fool for that!"
Erwine shook her head. "I don't believe you."
"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not!" Justinia laughed, "All that matters is that what I say is the truth!"
Erwine took a deep breath. She looked at Wei. "We have to disable her. If we can do that, there's a chance we can get her back to Victoria's sanctuary."
Erwine thought about the time in her head. "We have about half an hour to get her and then get back." She shook her head, "Maybe not enough time."
"Wei, I'm going to get you out." Erwine promised. She made to move past Justinia, but the vessel of the daemon blocked her.
"No, not without Justinia!" Wei shouted, "Just take Liselotte and leave if you must! Please Erwine, she's more important. You can't save Justinia at this point, but there's a chance you can be safe in the sanctuary with Liselotte! Go! Now!"
Erwine fiercely shook her head. "Wei, my wish failed. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be existing for, but at the very least I'm not abandoning anyone now!" She took a deep breath as Justinia bent down, picking up her knife. "I'll save you all if I must!"
"You're mad!" Wei screamed, "Get out of here! Save yourself!"
Erwine chuckled. "I think we've established that fact already." She said. Grinning, "I will not leave without all three of you being safe, I swear to that."
"You're going to lose your soul!' Wei shouted.
"So damned what?!" Erwine screamed, as Not-Justinia approached her, adopting a fighting stance. "My wish couldn't come true because I wasn't powerful enough! I'm just a pawn in Ishna's game." She laughed maniacally, "If that's true, and I'm just a tiny little pawn, then why would my soul matter? All I can do now is pretend that I'm strong, pretend that I'm brave enough and powerful enough to change my own fate."
She stood firm, "Running away here would just be acknowledging that powerlessness." She explained, "Even if I die, I'd rather die dreaming a happy dream that living a cruel reality. But…" She adopted a stance of her own as the Not-Justinia rushed forwards with impossible speed.
Erwine declared with absolute certainty, "Destiny or no destiny, I won't die here! I'll never die until no man, magical girl, or god can make me bow before them!"
"What is going on up there?!" Victoria demanded, shouting into the vox that was communicating to that of Melody's.
"I have no idea!" the navigator replied, Victoria hearing the strain in her voice. "We ran into some severe turbulence, but it was relatively nothing. So I kept pushing forwards, but now we're caught at the edge of something far worse."
"What do you mean?" Victoria said, realizing that her shouts would not help the attitude of the panicking girl.
"A warp storm! It came out of nowhere!" Melody cried back, "Everything was so muddled, hard to see, but I figured it would pass, it showed no signs of seriously disturbing the voyage. But a warp storm just came out of nowhere!"
"Fool!" Victoria screamed, "You know warp storms send out tides!"
"These weren't tides! Tides come and go, pushing the ship about! We were continuing on a steady course, there was just a rough patch of active energy! As I said, there were no signs of a warp storm being present. It's like it just formed from nothing!"
"Impossible!" Victoria screamed.
"A lot of impossible things have happened, a warp storm appearing from nowhere is nothing when one takes into account the nature of the Immaterium!" Victoria could hear tears amidst Melody's words. "I'm sorry I messed up!" the girl shouted, her voice echoing about the space where Victoria stood, "Disengage your mind from my own, you'll need your power when we drop from the warp. We can't have you being possessed, centralize your defenses!"
"I'm the only thing keeping you alive as long as you look out into that mess! Shut yourself down, just wait things out, you'll be safe!" Victoria shouted desperately. "You can't die!"
"I can die!" Melody said, "This storm will rip us to pieces. As it is, if we keep going, the engines will be broken even more! I need to change course, and the only way I can do that is if I am up here."
"The Goddess Protects!" Melody shouted. The vox was shut off. Victoria went silent. The whole room had gone silent. There were a few dozen humans, amidst the four magical girls.
"May she guide your soul…" Victoria muttered. She switched the channel to Bolton. "When can we drop?"
"Never." The answer was delivered immediately. "We don't have the power to do it. We're caught in the storm as well. The crew working on the engines are all insane, possessed, or dead. I'm going to get as many men as I can into the other safe rooms aboard the ship. Melody is going to try and get us out of the storm as best she can. We'll have a slim chance at that point."
"Understood," Victoria said. She shut the link off. She looked around her, at the assembled people. There was terror on their faces. They had every reason to be afraid. "Shut the doors," she ordered Ayelen.
The button was pressed. The series of airtight, blessed, anti-magic, and theoretically anti-warp doors all closed. Each was over a foot thick, save for the last one, which was three feet in width.
It would take a group of magical girls almost a day to cut through. They could only hope that the same applied for denizens of the warp.
Melody, she said, speaking over the telepathic link though she should not have. Don't do this…
It's been a good run, Melody replied, but the life of any navigator has to end at some point. I apologize, Victoria. Please, sever this link before you too are hurt. I don't want to die knowing that you're coming with me.
We've been a pair for…for all our lives, Victoria complained, let's just all die together.
Nonsense. There's something bigger than any one of us going on here. I won't let all of our hard work be for nothing. Melody telepathically sighed. Goodbye, Victoria. May you find a happier ending than I.
The link went dead. Victoria desperately tried to reconnect. She broke down in tears, and Sechylia could tell that she could not be trusted. A sharp blow to the back of the head knocked Victoria out.
"She would have kept trying to talk to Melody otherwise," Sechylia explained, "She would have been possessed…" The girl laid Victoria on the bed, sitting down next to her. She looked about the assembled humans.
A single tear rolled down her face as well. Everyone in the room had a good reason to be scared. After all, their immortal souls were on the line.
Erwine looked the daemon thing in the eyes. It was not Justinia. It was a daemon. She had become nothing more than a daemonhost. Erwine felt a pang of guilt in her heart, like she was somehow responsible for this.
But deep down, she knew that she was not. If I get Wei on my side, we can defeat her. Just hold out till then. Erwine raised her blade, stepping every time the daemon lunged. With incredible speed, the thing leapt forwards.
Erwine held her blade, stepping to the side. Metal on metal as the knife and sword clashed. Erwine tried to strike in as she dodged, to destroy the knife. Justinia twisted her wrist in a way that her bone should not have allowed to pass the blade away. Her left hand struck out, fingers reaching.
Like claws they ripped into Erwine. No, they were claws. The fingernails weren't normal anymore, protruding through Justinia's gloves in twisted constructions of flesh, nail, and bone. Then the girl noticed what was going on with the girl. She had a strange aura about her. A dim crimson and black glow surrounded her body as she leapt at Erwine.
Erwine swung her blade in a wide arc. I could try my magic. But she's a daemonhost, it would most likely not work. In less than a blink of an eye, the daemonhost leapt back. Then it leapt back in before the swing was even completed.
Erwine used the momentum to spin herself around, completing a full rotation in order to dodge the initial strike and attack again. Whatever was in Justinia had enhanced her abilities to incredible levels. She was now moving faster than Erwine could actually track, even with her all her advanced eyesight.
Erwine felt cuts appear on her body, from the knife and the claws, despite her best efforts to resist attack. Indeed, she understood that were it not for her defense, she would already be dead.
She spread her wings. Justinia was not knocked away. She flipped right as Erwine summoned the blue spreads of ethereal feathers, landing perfectly even as Erwine rushed back inwards. Three slices with Erwine's great sword missed the daemonhost entirely. Erwine flew back up into the air, above where Justinia could attack her.
The daemonhost cackled wildly, before lunging for the still recovering Wei. Erwine expected this, and swooped in towards the creature. Charging her blade with energy, Erwine swung in at its back.
A knife was embedded hilt deep in Erwine's back. The daemonhost leaned close to Eriwne's ear as it's free hand grabbed her hair. "Checkmate…"
Erwine was thrown onto her back while the daemon held her down. The knife was raised high. Erwine looked into Justinia's eyes. The daemon's power…it must be a powerful entity on its own, but possessing Justinia it can amplify its power greatly! I didn't even see it move. Didn't come close to seeing it. The knife was traveling down towards Erwine's soul gem.
Erwine was not going to die here. Panic spread through her boy, but determination surged up at the same time. A massive wave of energy coursed through her body and erupted from her mouth as a thunderous cry, "Wake up!" she shouted at Not-Justinia's face. The knife paused. Erwine felt weak. She was depleted just from that shout.
Shakily, the knife traveled downwards, but slower this time. Erwine already had her sword again. Justinia's right hand fell to the floor. Her left hand followed. Erwine stood up quickly, an uppercut as she stood knocking the daemonhost away. Propelled by her wings, she flew inwards, swinging her blade downwards.
The host's head was cloven in half. Erwine stopped there, not wanting to damage her soul gem. She stepped away, inciting her magic to heal the wounds all across her body, as the daemonhost crumpled to the floor dead. She took deep, slow breaths. She looked at Liselotte, to ensure that she was alright.
She was twitching wildly, her body shaking. Erwine took a deep breath. She'd won. Wei stood up. "Erwine!" she cried, running towards the girl. "You take Liselotte, let's get back down to the sanctuary before things get worse."
"That won't be necessary." The words surprised Wei. Till she, and Erwine, realized that they did not come from Erwine. The vessel stood up.
Both took several steps away as the daemonhost grinned. The head was cut in half, but bits of brain, muscles, blood vessels, they were all going to reconnect with one another, slowly pulling the head back into one piece.
It looked like the normal regeneration process for such a wound, but it was happening too fast. And what's more, the mouth, though the whole head was still in two halves, was still moving. Making sounds. The hands were still severed. "You thought you'd won?" the daemon chuckled, "Silly little thing…"
Six rocket launchers appeared around it. They were aimed at the ceiling, "Ready yourself. For this is how you end."
The projectiles went upwards. Erwine was already flying. Her sword sliced into two. Her wings knocked away two more. Two were left. Then another volley was fired. More and more were fired upwards. Erwine chased down the remaining two, before she had to start dealing with the rest.
Wei was already formulating a program to attempt to deal with the stream of explosive projectiles aimed for the collapsing ceiling. Erwine was tired. The explosions started hitting her. Then the first rocket touched the ceiling. The metal buckled under the pressure. More and more began to impact. "Let's get out of here!" Wei shouted, her program done.
Erwine sighed, then realized she had no choice. She couldn't die. The buckling of the ship under the pressure of the warp storm had severely damage the cover over the window. That window was now gone. Erwine touched back down, running to get Liselotte.
The daemonhost began to turn its weapons on Wei and Erwine. It did not get the chance. Wei activated the program. A bright flash of light preceded a loud bang as Justinia was blown backwards, a hole in her chest. She immediately stood up, but it bought the two girls some time.
Then the world ended. Or it seemed to end for the two girls who were not vessels of daemons. The ceiling broke away right as they leapt out the opening. Like a million souls crying out in anguish, a massive wail spread out. Neither of them gazed upon the warp, but even being in the same area hurt them both.
Erwine felt an intense pressure on her mind, something trying to worm its way inside. She fought it off, the daemon not putting up with much resistance. More and more came, and corporeal manifestations began to occur.
As Erwine and Wei ran through the corridors, nexuses of not-colors formed, preceding the arrival of gibbering masses of flesh. Wei, as they ran, formulated a program to act as a shield. A number of hexagrams rotated about them, driving back the daemons who touched them.
They ran wildly as reality itself began to warp thanks to the warp's touch. The two girls found themselves at the end of hallways when they started down them. A distance of a foot lengthened into a space that took minutes to traverse.
And they could not even find solace in that the thing pursuing them was slowed down as well. The daemonhost that Justinia had become continued walking steadily towards them. That was the part that scared Erwine the most.
Not that a daemon was chasing them, not that the ship was collapsing amidst a warp storm, but that the creature pursuing them was not even moving faster than a slow walk. That told Erwine that the thing knew that it would catch them eventually. It did not need to worry. It would win at some point.
Erwine still had Liselotte over her shoulder, Wei's shield holding firm as wailing screams of anguish and pain echoed around the halls. Erwine couldn't tell where they came from, but they were there. The walls bled as they twisted and warped. Colors that did not exist flashed around, as a stench of rot and decay came to their noses.
Erwine kept her mind strong, knowing that a single slip would result in her losing it. Something truly powerful must be in Justinia if it managed to get in before the field collapsed entirely. Erwine shuddered a little, knowing that a greater daemon combined with an older magical girl was going to be completely unstoppable for them.
The mutation of the craft around them continued, and Erwine knew at that point that they were not making it out of this alive. She wanted to live. She'd made that vow. But she could escape and die at the daemonhost's hands, or she could fight now and let the others have more of a chance. She activated the vox. The signal barely got trough. "Victoria!" She shouted, "Wei will be arriving there shortly, with Liselotte. I'll be staying back."
"Why?!" the astrotelepath screamed back.
"I need to slow down the daemonhost. I'll do as much as I can. I don't think it's fully destroyed Justinia yet. This is our one chance to do something serious against it!" Erwine explained.
Wei looked to the side as Erwine came to stop. "I'm staying here as well!" she declared.
"This is my life!" Erwine shouted, "I don't need your help!"
"Tough luck," Wei replied as Justinia approached. "Liselotte's close to being gone anyways. I won't make it in time at this rate."
"So we're going to fight?" she asked, as Erwine paused.
Erwine turned towards the approaching daemonhost. The thing grinned sickly. "Yes," Erwine said. She leaned Liselotte against the wall, "Yes we are." She accepted Wei's assistance. She knew the girl was correct.
"Goodbye," Erwine spoke into the vox, as the link went fully dead. The two girls were now isolated in the tight corridor as the daemonhost approached. "Well," Erwine took a deep breath, "Wei, it's been fun. I'm sorry I wasn't able to deliver on my promises." Her voice spoke of a regret beyond comprehension.
"You're making it out of here," Wei said sternly, leaving no room for denial. "I know you won't go now, but you'll go once I'm dead, right?"
"No," Erwine replied, just as certainly.
"You will," Wei insisted, the words almost a command. "If I die, then you need to get out. I'd prefer to stay here on my own, but if you insist, we can do this together."
Erwine hesitated. She didn't want to die here. It was her life. She wanted to keep living it, to obtain the ending she wanted. "You're serious?" Erwine asked. Her voice was shaky, distant.
"Of course I am," Wei replied, "Get out of here. I will do what I can. Don't worry about Liselotte. Just go."
Erwine took a deep breath. She looked at Wei. "Goodbye," she said. Erwine turned around, facing in the direction they'd been running in. "Given the situation, we won't be seeing each other ever again, unless things turn out really bad."
"Yes, I know…" Wei's voice was distant, far away. She was accepting of what she was about to do. The girl was ashamed of her selfishness as she said sorrowfully, "I'm doing this for you, you know that right?"
"I know," Erwine said angrily, "And I really, really hate it." The daemonhost had paused. She was waiting for them to finish. Erwine took that as a sign that she was going to lose her life here as well, even if she did run from this one fight.
"The Goddess Protects…" Erwine whispered softly.
"That She does," Wei agreed.
"May She guide your soul," Erwine whispered. She started walking. It turned into a run. Wei didn't watch her go. Wei felt herself crying as she walked forwards. Her arms glowed as she started to weave a program, looking the daemonhost in the eyes.
"Justinia…" Wei called, "If you're in there…please, fight this."
The daemonhost laughed. It grinned madly. "Let us finish this quickly. I have more important things to attend to than you, little one."
"You shall not pass," Wei assured the girl. Her voice was shaky, but she wouldn't back down. Not when it was for Erwine. "Not until I am well and truly gone,"
The daemonhost threw its head back, laughing. "Then I shall be passing by you quite shortly, I imagine."
Wei felt a tear slip down her cheek as the daemonhost attacked. Erwine…I'm sorry.
The chronology with Laelia and Celestine's scene is a bit awkward. A lot of stuff was written later on in the original draft, mainly because it's revealed as it is relevant. Given the couple paragraphs near the end of In Someone's Name's latest chapter, I figured I should at least put that scene with Laelia and Celestine into this chapter.