A Rude Welcoming
Kyoko stared down at the half-fish girl that sat in front of her. "Uh…huh? Oktavia von…Sectorwhatever? What are you going on about?"
Sayaka scratched her head. "I could ask you the same thing. That's my name, not Sayaka Miki."
"The hell it is!" Kyoko thrust a finger at Sayaka's face. "I know you're all kinds of messed up right now, but you've got to at least remember your real name at least!"
"I do! Oktavia von Seckendorff! Do you want me to spell it out for you?"
Kyoko growled. Any happiness she might have felt at having Sayaka alive and…reasonably humanoid again was swiftly evaporating. She opened her mouth to start yelling again, but then a horrible thought occurred to her.
Despite having hunted them for some time and knowing quite a bit about how to fight and kill them, Kyoko admittedly didn't know much about what a witch actually was. She had learned the hard way that they were born when a Puella Magi's soul gem became corrupted beyond repair, and that fragments of the girl they had once been were used to construct their labyrinths, but beyond that she hadn't had time to learn more about the subject. Still, there were several possibilities. One was that they actually were the soul of Puella Magi, only twisted and mutated by the forces released when their soul gem succumbed to corruption. Another was that they were an entirely new entity created by those same forces, given form and life. And finally, it could be true that they were a combination of the two, that it was in fact the Puella Magi themselves, but with their entire identity wiped clean and a new one programmed in to replace it. Which could mean any number of changes: a new personality, a new set of motivations, maybe even a new name, known only to the witch itself.
Kyoko was no scholar, but given what she was now witnessing, her support was now for the final theory. In which case, Sayaka was not truly back at all. Her witch was simply wearing her face and using her voice.
Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that right?" She kicked her spear up to her hands and thrust it forward, so that the tip was mere inches away from the other girl's forehead. "So you're still a goddamned witch? Is that it, 'Oktavia'?"
Oktavia's body froze. Her eyes crossed as they tried to focus on the spear's point. "H-hey now," she stuttered. "Wh-what d-d-do you think you're d-doing?"
"Gimme a second, and I'll decide," Kyoko growled.
"Uh, okay." Oktavia slowly brought her hands up, empty palms outward. "L-let's not do a-a-anything cr-crazy now. Please. Put…Just put that spear away. Okay?"
Kyoko did not. Her grip tightened.
Oktavia swallowed. "Look, if y-you wanna call me S-Sayaka, go ahead. Th-that's fine! Just put that thing away."
Kyoko stared down at the thing wearing Sayaka's face. She could feel the urge to jam the spear the rest of the way through its head well up in her. Her mind rebelled against the idea, but her body wanted to do just that. It wanted to do it very badly.
She took a deep, shaking breath, closed her eyes and slowly let it out.
A moment passed, and then Oktavia said, "So, are you-"
Kyoko let out a scream of frustration and drove the point of the spear forward.
"-No!" Oktavia screamed. She instinctively flinched back and covered her face with her arms in a futile attempt to defend herself.
A few seconds ticked by, and then she slowly lowered her arms. Kyoko was still standing over her, breathing heavily and clenching the pole of her spear with trembling hands. The point had been driven into the wall right next to Oktavia's head.
They stared at each other, and then Kyoko slowly pulled the spear out.
"Why?" Oktavia asked.
Kyoko shook her head. "Because…I don't know. Because I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I don't know where we are. I don't know who you really are, or what. But I'm gonna find out. And I want you to be there when I do, so I can decide."
"Decide? Decide on what?"
"What, are you an idiot?" Kyoko growled. "Decide whether or not I should kill you!"
She turned around to look out on the bizarre city. The haze of the neon lights shone still through the curtain of rain.
"Right now, I'm gonna go find some answers. Obviously I can't be carrying your scaly ass with me, so we're gonna have to find a place to hide you until I get back-"
"Wait a minute!" Oktavia interrupted. "What makes you think I'm going to do anything with you? I don't even know you! And you almost killed me just now! Like I'm going to hang around with you and give you another chance!"
Kyoko glanced at her over her shoulder. "You think you can get anywhere without me, go ahead and try," she said with a laugh. "Maybe you can try rolling your way to that river over there. You might make it. The current looks pretty strong though, and there's probably a whole mess of monsters swimming around. But hey, worth a shot, right?"
"What are you…" Oktavia's voice trailed off when she glanced down at herself. She stared down at her tail, as if she were seeing it for the first time. Maybe she was.
"I'm a mermaid," she said flatly.
"No," Kyoko said. "Really?"
"And I'm naked!" Oktavia cried. She quickly covered her breasts. "What the heck did you do with my clothes?"
"What, you think I did that to you?" Kyoko turned toward her and stuck the butt of her spear in the ground. "I saved you from getting boiled alive and that's the gratitude I get?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
Kyoko took a deep breath. "I found you like that in that apartment!" she shouted, pointing a finger at the door in question. "In the bathtub! Getting yourself scalded like a lobster by superhot water! I'm the one that pulled you out and got you out of there, so you'd better be grateful!"
Unfortunately, Kyoko's explanation didn't seem to have cleared anything up for Oktavia. If anything, the (former?) witch now looked even more confused. "But…what…"
"I don't know, I just got done telling you!" Kyoko growled. "That's what this is all about! You're supposed to be dead, we both are! Why do you think I'm in such a bad mood?"
"We're supposed to be…WHAT!"
"Ah, forget it," Kyoko said wearily. "It's a ridiculously long story. But hey, for what it's worth, I promise I won't try to kill you unless I find out that you're lying to me or if you try to kill me first. Deal?"
"Lying about what?" Oktavia cried. "What the heck are you babbling about?"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't know? Ask me again, and you'll really piss me off."
Oktavia frowned. She tilted her head to one side as her sapphire eyes studied Kyoko's face.
"We really did know each other, didn't we?" she asked.
Kyoko stared right back. "What kind of question is that? You think I'd go through all this trouble for some stranger?"
"No." Oktavia shook her head. "All…right. I'm trusting you. I don't know why, but I'm trusting you."
"Fantastic," Kyoko spat. "All right, let's find some place to hide you until I get back."
At Oktavia's insistence and to Kyoko's reluctance, they tried the apartment door but found that it had been locked. So were all the other doors they tried. Finally they had to settle for hiding her in a corner and pulling a trash can loaded with refuse in front of her.
"This has got to be the lousiest hiding place ever," Kyoko growled as she forced the can into place. "Seriously, stay out of sight and don't make noise. You'd better still be here when I get back."
Oktavia looked down at her tail. "I don't think I'm going anywhere very fast."
"Not on your own, maybe. But who knows what's out there?" Kyoko turned to leave.
"Wait."
Kyoko sighed. "Oh, what is it now?"
"What's your name? You haven't told me that yet."
She had, actually. Back when Sayaka had been human. But that had been in another existence entirely. "Kyoko Sakura," she said, her heart heavy that she had to do it again. "I guess you don't…"
Oktavia shook her head. "Sorry."
"Of course you are," Kyoko whispered under her breath. She turned to leave again.
"Wait," Oktavia said again.
"Yeah?"
"Uh…can I borrow you jacket? It's freezing, and I'm kind of naked."
Kyoko stared at the rainbow-finned girl. Then she wordlessly unzipped her jacket, pulled it off and tossed it her.
"Thanks," Oktavia said as she slipped it on and zipped it up. "I think."
Kyoko didn't answer. She just turned and leapt into the rain.
...
Unbeknownst to Kyoko, she was being watched. Two small figures crouched on the apartment's rooftop, hidden in the shadow of a large air conditioner. A pair of violet eyes tracked Kyoko as she headed deeper into the city while two yellow eyes remained focused on the huddling shape of Oktavia. They exchanged a glance, and while no words were exchanged an understanding passed between them. The one with violet eyes dropped to the parking lot below and followed after Kyoko while the yellow eyed one remained crouching in place, watching.
...
Given the disappearance of her soul gem and the fact that she was not in uniform, Kyoko had feared that she had lost all of her power as well. But within moments of leaving the apartment complex she was relieved to find that such was not the case. She was just as fast, strong and agile as ever, and soon was leaping across the rooftops, searching for some sign of life.
The strange city seemed deserted. Though all the lights were on, there was no life to be seen. Very few of the buildings had windows, and those that did were completely opaque.
Finally, when she grew tired of leaping around aimlessly, Kyoko sought out the tallest building she could find and finally settled on a radio tower adorned with green, red and blue flashing lights. She quickly scaled the structure until she was clinging to the top of its broadcast tower. From there, she could see the entire city.
Unfortunately, the new view did not give her much information. The city stretched out far in three directions, an expanse of concrete, water canals, and neon. Beyond the city limits Kyoko could see nothing but an empty wasteland. Not a very inviting path to take.
But in the fourth and final direction, the one she had come from, the city ended much closer. There, the streets emptied into open water. Kyoko couldn't tell if it were a large lake or an ocean, but given that all the streets were flowing toward it, that was probably their best bet for escape. Unless she wanted to carry Sayaka on her back all the way out of the city.
First things were first. She had to find some kind of boat. And food. And clothing. And some more weapons wouldn't hurt. Kyoko slid down the side of the radio tower and vaulted back into the city. From there, she leapt from roof to roof, searching the rushing streets anything she could use.
…
Oktavia peeked out from behind the trashcan. The apartment's court remained as empty as before, with the falling rain providing the only movement.
She huddled back and hugged her loaned jacket close. She had no idea what was going on, and it terrified her. She didn't know where she was, how she had gotten there, who that strange, angry girl was, or why in the world she had a tail. In fact, save for her name, she couldn't remember much of anything.
Which isn't to say she was a complete blank. She still knew things. She knew that the sky was blue (or at least, as she noted with a fearful glance at the morphing clouds above, it was supposed to be), that water was wet, that you weren't supposed to run a red light, that Tokyo was the capital of Japan, that cake was delicious, and so on and so forth. But the actual specifics from her life, the faces and names and events, were all gone. The only name she was left with was her own, and if that crazy girl was to be believed, even that bit of information was in dispute.
With a grimace, Oktavia clawed at her head as she tried to remember something, any at all. The music, she could remember the music quite clearly: the strumming of the violins and cellos, the clash of the cymbals, and the tinkling of the piano's keys. Unconsciously she started humming it to herself. The familiar (but from what?) melody comforted her.
But the rest…everything was all muddled up in her head. Flashes of color, flitting images, and the odd obscured face or two. She could vaguely recall a broken hand trying to hold a violin, a tear-streaked face framed by pink hair and an overwhelming feeling of resentment and despair. Also, the spear that the strange redheaded girl had carried, that was important somehow.
But there was no context for those brief, fractured images, nothing that allowed her to piece them together into full memories. And, given what Kyoko had told her, she wasn't sure if she wanted to.
Oktavia whimpered. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she was in a lot of trouble.
And then she straightened up. Though she might have imagined it, she thought she had heard something: the sound of something, or someone, lightly dropping down onto the sidewalk nearby.
"Hello?" she said.
For nearly a minute, there was no sound but the pattering of the rain. Oktavia started to relax. It had just been her imagination after all.
And then there was a rustle of fabric, and a soft, mewling voice said, "Ticky-ticky, what do we have for Nikki?"
…
After a few minutes of desperate searching, Kyoko found success. A shopping center, one that held a supermarket and a sporting goods store. The windows were pitch-black and the parking lot was empty, but it was a step in the right direction.
Kyoko crouched in the shadows of an alley across the street (or rather, river) from the complex's side. Though the surrounding area was as lifeless as the rest of the city, she was far from ready to let her guard down. She glanced around, tensed her muscles and charged forward. The butte of her spear struck the ground, and she vaulted across the river.
She hit the ground with a pounce, rolled over her shoulders and landed in a crouch in the cover of the stores' overhanging. A brief glance told her that she was still alone, so she straightened up and wondered which store she should loot first. While her instincts told her to raid the supermarket first, practicality reminded her that she was going to need something to hold the food. As such, she went up the front of the sporting goods store, ready to jam her spear into the crack and pry the door open.
She needn't have worried. The door dinged and smoothly slid open, revealing a brightly lit store.
Kyoko paused. The checked the window from the outside and found them as black as before. Then she stuck her head in. they were perfectly clear from that side, revealing a perfect view of the rain-slicked parking lot.
A small chill swept through Kyoko's spine, one that had nothing to do with her soaked state. The windows were all one-way. Which meant that the abandoned city might not be so abandoned after all. A thousand eyes could have been watching her every move.
Paranoia was a healthy trait for a Puella Magi to have, and Kyoko was long accustomed to listening to hers. She had to get moving.
First order of business was to see to her own poor condition. She couldn't see any towels, but there were several racks of hooded sweatshirts nearby. Kyoko grabbed two, using one to dry herself off before pulling the other over her head and slipping her arms through the sleeves.
That done, she headed toward the hiking section and picked out a large black backpack. She unzipped it, pulled out all the brown tissue paper and slipped it on.
All right, now it was time to find a boat. Kyoko searched the aisles until she found the inflatable rafts.
And just what do you intend to do with those?
"What do you think?" Kyoko muttered to herself as she looked for the one that looked the lightest. "Looking for a way to get us out of here."
And who is us?
"That's a stupid question. Me and Sayaka. Who else?"
Sayaka? Don't you mean Oktavia?
Kyoko grimaced but didn't answer. She found a line of self-inflating rafts and yanked one off the shelf. After tearing the box open, she pulled out the roll of rubber and found the small, metal cylinder attached to the raft's side.
With a hiss, the raft expanded and filled out. It flopped onto the tiled floor, ready to go.
Good, they worked. It was a small one though, little more than an inner tube with a bottom, clearly designed for only one person. Still, there was no way she was lugging one of the bigger ones all the way back to the apartment. They would just have to pack themselves in the best they could. Kyoko grabbed another boxed raft and stuffed it into the backpack. The top stuck out, but she could carry it without worrying about it falling out.
But though she hadn't answered, her doubts continued to whisper to her.
She's still a witch. It doesn't matter what she looks like. She doesn't remember being human. All she knows about is her music, the same music she tried to kill you and her friend to protect.
Kyoko searched until she found a couple of duffel bags. She filled half of one with a few changes of clothes. Over at the camping section, she smashed the display case and pulled out a couple of survival knives, the kind that had an unscrewable handle that hid matches and flint; a Swiss Army knife; a butterfly knife; and a machete.
Sooner or later she's going to turn on you. It's their nature. Witches are your enemy. It's the way things are.
"Shut up," Kyoko growled.
I thought you had learned your lesson. Don't trust others. Always look after yourself. Why are you burdening yourself with someone you can't even trust?
The question actually made Kyoko pause. After all, as much as she hated to admit, it was a legitimate point, one that had been gnawing at her as she had made her rounds over the city's rooftops. If the Sayaka she knew was truly gone, what good was there in looking after the witch that remained?
Finally she said, "Part of her came back, even though it was supposed to be impossible. The rest can come back too."
Are you sure?
"Of course I am!" Kyoko snapped irritably. "I'll show you…me…you!" She angrily picked up her bags and sulked her way out of the store.
Outside, things were unchanged. Kyoko cast a reproachful look at the empty parking lot and the gaudy city that lay beyond. Making her way back to Sayaka while encumbered by so much was not going to be fun. Then, with a sigh, she entered the supermarket.
Again, the door slid open as if everything were as it should be, and again the store beyond was brightly lit and completely normal looking, with only the lack of any sort of human presence indicating that something was wrong. Despite the ominous seriousness of the situation, once Kyoko was inside she started to feel a whole lot better. An entire store full of food stood unprotected before her, just waiting to be pillaged. It was too good to be true, which unfortunately added to her growing suspicion that it wasn't.
Still, nothing was gained by passing by such a bounty. Kyoko set to work, filling the remaining space in her bags with loaves of bread, packets of snacks, canned meats and fruits, boxes of sushi and, to her delight, an expensive slab of prime rib. This almost made up for the horrors she had destroyed back at the apartment. Almost.
The door dinged as it slid open.
Kyoko's hungry plundering stopped instantly. She ducked into an aisle of pasta and tomato sauce and dropped into a crouch. Remaining still, she strained her ears, trying to catch some sign of movement.
Nothing. The only sound was that of her own breathing and the beating of her heart.
Moving with all caution, Kyoko slipped the duffel bags from her shoulders and set them on the ground. This was followed by the heavy backpack. Now unencumbered, Kyoko peeked out of the aisle at the sliding door. Again, there was no sign that anyone other than herself was in the store.
But the door had opened. Of this, Kyoko was certain.
She waited, her heart pounding in her ears. When nothing leapt out at her, she slowly straightened up.
The shelves across from her exploded outward, showering her with boxes of pasta. Kyoko threw herself to the floor, just in time to avoid the flying body that sailed over her to cling to the opposite shelf. Kyoko snarled and slashed up with her spear. Her attacker evaded the strike and leapt back-and-forth along the shelves, moving quickly across the shelves.
Despite the fact that she was now fighting for her life, Kyoko felt a whole lot better. Earlier she had been jumping at every shadow, unsure if there was someone out there who wanted to kill her. Now she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone wanted to kill her. It simplified things.
"Hey!" she shouted. She scampered to her feet. "Get back here!" She ran after her new enemy, slashing out again with her spear. As it swung, the handle came apart and doubled in length, allowing Kyoko to thrash the aisle before her, shredding the boxes of pasta and smashing the jars and cans of tomato sauce. Unfortunately, the black-swathed stranger managed to keep just out of reach, rebounding off of each shelf a split-second before Kyoko destroyed it.
Then the fleeing figure reached the end of the aisle. Kyoko kept running, expecting it to keep going toward the registers beyond or perhaps turning into another aisle. Instead, it gripped the edge of the shelf on the left and swung itself up and back around, hurling itself at Kyoko.
Kyoko whipped her spear around but realized half-a-second too late that it was far too long. Her opponent twisted itself out of the way and tackled Kyoko's stomach. The next few seconds were a frantic whirlwind of madness as they rolled across the pasta-strewn linoleum.
Kyoko's opponent managed to get behind her and wrapped its skinny arms around her neck. Kyoko gasped as her windpipe closed. She fumbled around until her hand fell upon a jagged shard of glass from one of the smashed jars of pasta sauce. She seized it up and stabbed it into her assailant's arm.
The black-clad figure let out a scream of pain and Kyoko suddenly found herself free. She spun around to see her opponent lurching away from her, clutching its wounded arm with its pencil-thin fingers.
Something was wrong, though. The wound wasn't bleeding; no trickle of red marred the ivory skin. Instead, wispy tendrils of white vapor seeped from the cut.
Well, that was different. At least it proved that her enemy wasn't human. Thought that in itself made no difference in the end, it did mean that there was going to be less of a mess.
With a sharp flick of her arm, she reattached her spear's segments into a single pole again. Then, roaring her battle-cry, she slashed her enemy across the stomach. White vapor billowed up as it fell back with another scream. Kyoko rammed it with her shoulder, driving it all the way to the ground. One of her hands closed around its throat while the other held her spear high, ready to drive its point straight down.
It was then that she finally got a good look at her attacker's face.
It was a girl, perhaps a couple years older than Kyoko. She was thin, almost painfully so, with sticklike limbs, a long face and a sharp, pointed chin. Her skin was so white that it might have been bleached, and there certainly was a great deal of it showing, with her garments consisting of nothing more than a long skirt, what honestly appeared to be a nun's headdress covering her hair and a narrow strip of material covering her small breasts, all of it made from black cloth. Two stabbing blades were fastened to the back of each hand by more cloth strips. In fact, the only color to be found were her eyes, which were a startling shade of violet, and wide open with fear.
"W-wait," the girl stuttered. She held up her hands, palms forward. "D-don't…"
Kyoko's grip tightened around the girl's throat. "Hands down," she hissed. "Palms flat on the ground.
The girl obeyed.
"All right," Kyoko said. "Now, you're going to answer some questions, and if you refuse, or if I don't like your answers, I'm going to peel off your face. Understand?
The girl nodded.
"Good. Okay, to start things off: who the heck are you, and why are you attacking me? What is this place? Why am I still alive? What did you do with my soul gem? What happened to Sayaka? Why is she half human, and why can't she remember anything? Are you a witch? Is this your labyrinth? And-"
It was then that Kyoko made a rather disquieting discovery. The girl had no legs. Nor did she have a tail like Sayaka's. Her skirt was empty.
"-what in the heck happened to your legs!" Kyoko exclaimed in amazement. "How do you get around? Can you fly or something?"
The girl stared at her in uncertainty. "Um…what questions should I answer first?"
"Pick one," Kyoko growled.
"Are you…are you Kyoko Sakura?"
Kyoko blinked. Then her grip tightened. "Okay, add 'How do you know my name?' to that list."
The girl's eyes widened even further, though not with fear. "It's you, then," she whispered. "I really found you first, and you've just arrived!"
Now Kyoko was even more confused, which just made her angrier. "Hey! You're supposed to be answering my questions, not giving me new ones! Are you saying that there's more of you creeps, and you're all looking for me?"
"Mmmm-hmmm!" The girl's thin lips spread into a triumphant smile. "You're pretty famous around here. After all, Oblivion's had us watching for you for months!"
Even more questions! And from the look of things, she wasn't going to like the answers. Still, at least it was a step in the right direction. At least she now had a name. "Oblivion?" she said. "Is that the person behind all this?"
In response, the girl opened her mouth and started cackling. Kyoko was dumbstruck. It was as if she didn't even care anymore that there was a pointy blade mere inches from her face.
"You don't have a clue," the girl gibed. "You don't have a goddamned clue."
Kyoko released the girl's throat long enough to smack her face. "Watch your language," she hissed. "And you better start making sense, or I swear I'll-"
"Oh, come on, Miss Sakura!" the girl said, rolling her eyes. "I already told you that there's more people like me. Did'ja think I'd really jump you without backup?" With that, her gaze flitted from Kyoko's face to focus on a point somewhere beyond her head. She smiled in recognition and waggled her dark eyebrows.
A sharp chill swept through Kyoko as she realized what the girl was implying. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see another figure in black clothing hovering at the end of the aisle.
There was no one there.
Before Kyoko realized how thoroughly she had been suckered, the arm holding the spear erupted in red-hot pain. With a cry, she fell back and stared in horror at her right arm.
The legless girl had taken advantage of Kyoko's distraction and slashed her with all four blades. That was bad enough, but instead of leaking blood, crimson mist seeped from the wounds to swirl in front of her face.
Kyoko screamed.
…
Oktavia was no longer alone.
Another girl now crouched in front of her, one that was even younger than she, barely in the cusp of puberty. Her skin was so pale that Oktavia wondered if she were wearing full-body paint or makeup. Her outfit was certainly…unusual, consisting of a black leotard slashed in strategic places to prevent glimpses of the bone-white skin beneath, knee-length boots, elbow-length gloves, and a headdress that looked vaguely Egyptian, all made from the same featureless black material. Her face was round, her cheeks dimpled, and her yellow eyes shone with gleeful delight. On a fully grown woman, her get-up would distinguish her as a dangerous, if eccentric, femme fatale, someone who was well used to using violence and seduction in equal amounts to get what she wanted. That, or a professional dominatrix. But on someone so young-looking, it was a bit sickening.
Either way, the girl was clearly not sane. And the oversized steel knife she was turning between her fingers was not making Oktavia any more comfortable with the situation.
"Looky, looky, who do we have for Nikki?" the girl sing-songed. "A little fishy, and on dry land! Silly fishy, there's no water here!" Then she blinked at if something had just occurred to her. After a glance over her shoulder at the rain, she amended, "Well, maybe there is, but Nikki really don't think it's enough. Besides, you're hiding here, away from all the water! Silly fishy, why are hiding from the water?"
Oktavia had no idea how she was supposed to answer that question, so instead she asked, "Who…who are you?"
The girl sucked in a surprised breath between her teeth. "Oh, what a dunce Nikki is!" she cried, slapping a hand across her forehead. "She completely forgot her manners! So sorry, fishy. To her friends, she's known as Ticky Nikki. Pleased to make your acquaintance!"
"Ticky Nikki?" Oktavia repeated. It was certainly as unusual as its owner. And it somehow fit, in its own bizarre way.
All friendliness melted away from the girl's face in an instant. "NO!" she snarled. She lunged forward and pressed the razor-edge of her knife against Oktavia's throat. "Don't call her that, it's insulting!"
"But, but…" Oktavia sputtered, doing her best to keeping from swallowing. "You said…"
"She said that her friends call her Ticky Nikki! How can you be friends with her? You just met!" The girl shook her head in disgust. "No, you just get to call her 'Nikki'."
"Okay, okay!" Oktavia said. "I get it! Nikki. Understood."
"Oh! Well, that's good then." The knife went away and Nikki backed off a couple steps to sit on her ankles, but Oktavia was far from relieved.
"So," Nikki said. "What'cha waiting for, ticky-ticky?"
"Uh…what?"
Nikki tsked. "Mind your manners, fishy. Nikki gave you her name. Now it's your turn!"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Oktavia von Seckendorff."
The sound of her name seemed to delight Nikki. She threw her head back and cackled, a harsh, grating noise that made Oktavia flinch and cover her ears. "Ah, lovely!" Nikki crowed. "A proper witch's name, and the best one Nikki's ever heard! You witches are so lucky. You come here with no nasty pasts dragging you down, and you get the best names. Nikki sometimes wishes she got to be a witch like her big sis. Then she'd get a cool witch name too!"
Oktavia seized upon that word: witch. Kyoko had called her that, before she had run off. She knew what it meant, of course. A female magic user that flew around on a broom and wore a pointy hat, with black cats occasionally serving as pets. However, given the context, she was reasonably certain that this wasn't what either of these crazy girls meant.
"That's the second time I've been called a witch," she said, speaking slowly and carefully so as not to anger Nikki again. "What does that mean?"
Nikki stared at her. Then she snapped her fingers and said, "Oh, that's right! You're a noob! Sorry, Nikki forgot."
"Noob?"
"Uh-huh. New to this place. Annabelle Lee was the same way, when we first got here. Nikki had to tell her everything. It took forever!"
"Who?"
"Nikki's big sister," Nikki said, waving off the questions as unimportant. "She went after your friend, that girl with the big spear."
"You mean Kyoko?"
Nikki sucked in another breath. "Kyoko?" she said eagerly. She got down on all fours and pushed herself uncomfortably close to Oktavia's face. "Kyoko Sakura? That's her?"
Oktavia tried to keep away from the mad girl's face as best she could. "Yes! At least, that's what she said. Why, do you know her?"
"Nope! Do you?" But before Oktavia could answer in the negative, Nikki said, "Oh, wait! You wouldn't know! Sorry, forgot again, ticky-ticky. But we saw her shouting at you." She grinned, and Oktavia suddenly wished that she hadn't. The sight of her teeth was not pleasant. Apparently this world did not have dentists. "I think you did know each other."
"So do I," Oktavia said. "I just wish I knew how."
Nikki grinned. "Eh, you'll figure it out. We did, big sis and Nikki."
"I sure hope so," Oktavia muttered. Then her mind seized upon something Nikki had said. "Wait, you said your sister was going after Kyoko?"
Nikki nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! We've been looking for her for months!"
"You have? Uh, why?"
"Dunno," Nikki said, shrugging. "Was hoping you could tell us. But Reibey says that Oblivion wants her bad, and what Oblivion wants, Oblivion gets!"
There was a change in the mad girl's demeanor. As she spoke the name Oblivion, her eyes misted over, and her tone became one of devoted longing. It was clear that this was someone Nikki revered. While that was useful information, it did mean that Oktavia was going to have to choose her words carefully. One imagined slight, and Nikki might start thinking with her knife again.
"Okay," Oktavia said. "And did this…Reibey?"
"Uh-huh. He's our boss!"
"Right. And is…Oblivion his boss?"
"Uh-huh!" Nikki said again, with a quick nod of her head. "Whenever Oblivion wants something, she tells Reibey! And then Reibey tells us, and we make sure it gets done! And then Oblivions gets happy, and someone gets released!"
"Released?"
"Freed! Sent off! Only Oblivion can release us from this world, and she only releases those who serve her best!" Nikki's starting twitching with excitement. "And…and if we bring her Kyoko Sakura, she's going to be so happy with us! Maybe she'll even release us both, at the same time!" She placed a hand on her cheek, closed her eyes and sighed wistfully. "Wouldn't that be perfect? We're always together, you see. We grew up together, became Puella Magi together, and died together."
"HUH?" Oktavia gaped. "What? Died…what? But you're alive!"
"Oh, right." Nikki chortled to herself. "Sorry, forgot again, ticky-ticky. No, we're not. Wouldn't be here if we were."
Oktavia's arms started trembling for reasons that had nothing to do with the cold. "So then, Kyoko and I really are…"
"That's right," Nikki said, baring her horrible teeth once again. "Sucky news, I know. But you'll get used to it. Welcome to Hell."
…
Kyoko grabbed at her arm, desperately trying to stifle the flow of red vapor. She screamed the whole time.
"Surprised?" the pale girl gibed, cutting into the horror that was numbing Koyko's mind. Laughing, she shoved herself out from under Kyoko. "Oh man, are you for a rotten week."
It was then that Kyoko learned exactly how the girl managed to get around without legs. She rose into the air like a wraith. Letting out a bloodthirsty shriek, she swooped down, blades extended and zeroing in on Kyoko's stomach.
Now acting purely on instinct, Kyoko threw herself back and thrust her hand forward. Several chains, all made from diamond shaped-links, materialized in the air before her, coming together to form a barrier. The pale girl's eyes widened as she realized what was happening less than a second before collision and tried to arrest her own momentum, but by then it was far too late. She slammed into the barrier and was knocked sprawling to the floor.
With a grunt of satisfaction, Kyoko banished the barrier. Good, that still worked. Then she focused on the pale girl, who had still to come to her senses.
Kyoko swept out with the pole of her spear. She caught the pale girl by the throat and, gripping both ends of the pole, swung the girl up and slammed her back-first against the nearby shelves. "What's going on here already?" she shouted into the girl's face. "Why wasn't I bleeding?" She held up her wounded arm. "And what's this red stuff…Huh?"
The red vapor was no longer issuing from her arm, and nor was it wounded any longer. Though the sleeve of her hooded sweater still sported four gashes, the skin underneath was unharmed. And come to think of it, the pale girl was no longer leaking that white smoke either, and the cuts Kyoko had given her had closed up as well.
Where in the world was this place?
Instead of answering, the pale girl stopped trying to push the pole away from her throat and slashed out at Kyoko again. This time, Kyoko had enough presence of mind to dodge the swipes. She twisted her body left and right, sought out an opening, and found it. Her right foot lashed out, catching the pale girl right on the bellybutton, slamming her back against the shelf.
"TALK!" Kyoko roared.
The pale girl gasped for breath, but managed to retain her self-satisfied smirk. "I'll…let Oblivion fill you in," she said. "After all…you two are going to be spending…a lot of time together."
"Like hell we are!" Kyoko growled. "The only time I'm spending with him is until he runs out of ass for me to kick!"
She drove her spear forward. This time, the pale girl managed to roll out of the way just in time, barely avoiding what most certainly would have been an impaling blow. She leapt into the air, once again bounding from shelf-to-shelf all the way down the aisle.
"Her, not him!" the pale girl shouted over her shoulder. "Oblivion is a her!"
"Like I care!" Kyoko shouted back. "And you're not getting away with that trick again!" She thrust her finger forward, and another barrier sprang to life midway through the aisle, stopping the pale girl before she could go any further.
This time, the pale girl recovered more quickly, and managed to pick herself off the floor and turn around. But she still was too slow, as Kyoko was already on her.
Again the pale girl found herself with the pole of Kyoko's spear jammed against her throat and shoving her backwards. But unlike last time, there was no shelf in the way, allowing Kyoko to keep driving her back. Broken glass and scattered noodles crunched under her boots as she pushed the pale girl back through the aisle, out past the registers and directly at the one-way windows.
Kyoko briefly wondered if the windows would withstand the impact, or if they would allow her to crash right through. It didn't matter, as neither result was in the pale girl's favor. Her black wearing opponent knew it too, as right before impact she seemed to realize where they were heading and squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation.
It turned out to be the latter. The window shattered, and Kyoko only stumbled for half-a-step before regaining her balance. She slammed the pale girl against a concrete pillar, whirled her spear around to thrust the butte into her opponent's stomach and slammed the heel of her boot into her face. The back of the pale girl's head cracked against the pillar and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Behind her, the door dinged and slid open, blissfully unaware that Kyoko had missed.
Kyoko considered finishing her opponent off right then and there. It would certainly be the smart thing to do. But she still hadn't gotten any of her questions answered. And, as she had had learned one unfortunate rainy night a few months ago, killing your only known source of information just meant you had to waste time looking for a new one.
But then there was something else, something that Kyoko realized with a gasp, something even more pressing than information. The pale girl had said that there were others like her, other servants of this "Oblivion". And while she had been lying about having immediate backup, there was no reason to doubt that there were other strange persons in black skulking throughout the city, ones just as deadly as the one she had knocked out.
This realization was followed by another, one just bad. Sayaka's cutlass, forgotten in the confusion, was still tied around her waist.
She had left Sayaka all alone, with no means of defending herself.
That did it. She had to go, now. Kyoko glanced at her fallen adversary, grimaced, and slashed out with her spear. White vapor billowed up and formed a thick cloud. Kyoko, however, was already moving, sprinting across the parking lot to vault back into the city, all the while praying that she wasn't too late.
…
"Hell?" Oktavia gasped. "Wait, are you serious? We're in Hell? Fire, devils, pitchforks, all that stuff?"
Nikki shrugged. "Eh. Hell, Heaven, Purgatory, Hades, Nirvana, Aaru, Netherworld, Valhalla, Yomi, whatever. Does it make a difference?"
"I think it does, yes!"
"Maybe. But Heaven or Hell, it really doesn't matter, ticky-ticky. This is the place all good Puella Magi and witches go when they die. And all the bad ones too." She shook her head and giggled. "Guess they forgot to mention this place when they asked us to make a contract."
"Contract?"
"Jeez, what is it with you and the obvious questions? It's Annabelle Lee all over again." Nikki stood to her feet and put one hand on her hip, the other still gesturing with her knife. "But don't worry. Everything will be made clear, soon enough." She turned, looking out to the rain. "Big sis will be back with Kyoko Sakura, and we'll all go back to Oblivion together!"
With a happy squeal of delight, Nikki clasped her hands together and jumped up and down. "Oh, I can't wait! She'll be so happy! She'll smile at Nikki, and pat her head, and say 'Good job, Nikki! I knew I could count on you!' And then Reibey will say, 'Yes! You're the best Void Walker of all time!' And then big sis will give Nikki a hug and kiss her cheek, and we'll have a big party! With cake and balloons and those clever little monkeys with the funny hats and those music boxes you crank and peanuts…"
So intent Nikki was on her private daydreams that she forgot to keep an eye on Oktavia, who had, at that moment, decided that she didn't want to go anywhere near this Oblivion person, even if she would answer all her questions. And she certainly had no intention of waiting around for Annabelle Lee to return. She had been awake for less than an hour, and already she had been threatened by two crazy girls. A third was just plain overdoing things.
But what could she do? She couldn't walk. She could barely crawl. And she wasn't armed. Whereas Nikki had working legs, a large knife, and absolutely no inhibitions about using either. As Nikki danced around and ranted to herself, Oktavia scanned the surrounding area, looking for something, anything that could be used as a weapon. But there was nothing. The only things within reach were the jacket she was wearing and…
The trash can.
Keeping a wary eye on the celebrating Nikki, Oktavia reach up and grabbed the trash can's aluminum lid. She then carefully lifted it up and brought it close to her, holding it like a shield. Of course, the odds of her hitting Nikki accurately enough and hard enough to knock her out were so astronomically high that they might as well be non-existent. But it was the only shot she had.
Unfortunately, Nikki chose that exact moment to return her attention to her.
"No!" she cried. She lunged at Oktavia, knife-first. "Bad fishy!"
Acting on instinct, Oktavia shoved the metal lid directly into the blade's path. There was the sharp sound of metal tearing, and the next thing she knew, she was staring the knife's blade, protruding out of the back of the lid, less than a foot from her face.
On the other side, Nikki growled and tugged on the handle. Realizing that the knife had gotten stuck, Oktavia tried to wrestle both lid and knife out of Nikki's grasp. Unfortunately, while they were an equal match for strength, Nikki had the advantage of leverage and legs.
"No! Fishy let go!" Nikki shouted. She released the knife's handle, grabbed the metal lid's edge, and threw herself back, wrenching the whole thing out of Oktavia's grasp.
Oktavia flinched, bracing herself for the feeling of sharp steel cutting into her flesh. But while Nikki's angry sputtering continued, the fatal strike never came.
Oktavia opened her eyes. Nikki seemed to have forgotten her entirely and was instead struggling to free her knife from the hold the lid had gotten on it. She was now holding it by the edges with both hand and banging it repeatedly against the wall.
"Stupid thing! Give Nikki back her knife!"
Not knowing how long it would take Nikki to calm down and start attacking the problem from a rational mindset (if ever), Oktavia decided that she didn't want to be here at all. So, while Nikki was distracted, Oktavia slowly eased the trash can out of the way, flipped onto her stomach and started crawling away on her elbows as fast as she could, all the while cursing the fate that had saddled her with such a useless tail.
As Oktavia made her slow but panicked way toward the parking lot, she found herself actually hoping that Kyoko would return quickly. She much preferred the redhead's anger and death threats to Nikki's childish madness. At least Kyoko seemed to be willing to consider other options before gutting Oktavia like the fish she appeared to be.
…
As Kyoko leapt from building to building, she eventually came to realize an unfortunate truth: she had forgotten to mark out the apartment's location. And, with all the building hopping she had done, she had completely lost her way.
Panic threatened to rise up, but she beat it back down. No, she couldn't lose her head now. Every second she delayed lessened Sayaka's chances.
The radio tower. Right, it had been visible from the apartment, and not too far at that. Kyoko found a tall enough building, leapt her way up its fire escape and, once at the top, quickly scanned the city's skyline.
There! Though difficult to make out through the haze of the rain and neon lights, she could see the blinking radio tower rising high above its neighbors. Grinning, she bounded her way toward the tower's location.
And then something slammed into her. Hard.
Kyoko gasped as she was knocked off course. She slammed into a nearby wall, felt her teeth rattle, and tumbled down into an alleyway to crash land into an open dumpster.
The impact knocked her silly, and for a few terrifying moments the world swam around her. But then her vision cleared enough to make out what had hit her.
The pale girl was there, somehow managing to crouch on the dumpster's side despite her lack of legs. Her teeth were bared in a snarl of pure fury, and, to Kyoko's dismay, there wasn't a mark on her.
"Hey!" Kyoko said as she scrambled to sit up. "The hell? I killed you!"
The pale girl turned her head and spat. "Please! Like cutting me open would kill me! If that worked, I would have done it myself ages ago!"
Kyoko rolled back onto her shoulders and leapt back to her feet. So, her opponent was a black-wearing pale-skinned teenaged girl who talked about suicide and cutting herself. At least she now had a better idea of what she was up against.
Freaking emos.
She struck out with her spear, but this time the move was expected. The pale girl ducked the swipe and grabbed the spear right under the head as it swept by.
The next thing Kyoko knew, she was flying straight up into the air, dragged along by her own spear.
"I don't care if I have to cut you to pieces and stick you in a box!" the pale girl shouted down at her. "But you're going back with me to Oblivion whether you like it or not!"
"Like hell I am!" Kyoko shouted back.
Then she released her spear.
It took the pale girl nearly five seconds to realize that she had lost her passenger. She looked down to see Kyoko standing on the rooftop below, with a triumphant grin on her face.
The pale girl stared down at her. Kyoko could see the thoughts going through her mind, as clearly as if she had said them out loud. Why, she was wondering, had she let go and left herself defenseless?
Then Kyoko drew Sayaka's cutlass, and the pale girl's confusion gave way to understanding.
And then Kyoko stomped the ground with one boot. In response, the rooftop cracked apart, allowing a second spear to rise up to her other hand.
"That's right," Kyoko said to her. "All my powers still work. I figured it out." She pointed at the fuming girl with Sayaka's cutlass. "And three guesses to what you're still holding, the first two don't count."
The pale girl glanced down at her hands and remembered, to her horror, that her opponent was, soul gem or no soul gem, a Puella Magi. And Puella Magi had an empathetic connection to their weapons. And she was now holding one of those weapons by the neck.
Before she could drop it, the spear's pole separated into segments and snaked up to wrap around round her body, binding her skinny arms to her body.
"Hey!" she cried as she struggled to free herself. "Let me go!"
At this point, Kyoko was disinclined to acquiesce the pale girl's request. Instead, she settled for screaming her battle-cry and leaping toward her bound enemy, spear and cutlass alike crossed in front of her.
The anger on the pale girl's face gave way to terror when she realized just how much this was going to hurt.
Seconds later, a mass surrounded by billowing white smoke tumbled through the air to splash into one of the nearby waterways and Kyoko was once again leaping her way toward the radio tower.
…
If there was one good thing Oktavia could say about Nikki it was that the mad girl took her distractions seriously. Indeed, she had managed to speed-crawl more than three-fourths of the way to the parking lot before Nikki finally came to the conclusion that slamming the trash can's lid against the wall until it was a shapeless lump wasn't getting her anywhere and decided to change tactics.
She grabbed the handle of the knife and angrily wiggled it back and forth until the tear widened enough for her to finally yank it free. Grinning in triumph, she held up her free weapon and lovingly stroked its side with her other hand.
"There we go!" she exclaimed. "Nasty fishy, trying to-"
Then she glanced to the side and saw Oktavia doing her best to scurry away from her. "What? No, bad fishy!" she cried again and she ran after her. She slammed her boot between Oktavia's shoulder blades and shoved her down, making her cry out in pain.
"Where do you think you're going?" she demanded. "Trying to get away from Nikki? Bad, bad, fishy! You're so rude!" She brandished her knife. "Maybe Nikki should take away your arms, see how well you crawl when-"
"Hey. Ugly."
The voice was not Oktavia's. Nor was it Nikki's. Nor was it that of Nikki's adored older sister, Annabelle Lee. Nikki looked up from her tormenting of Oktavia to see something that was both unexpected and wholly terrifying.
A red spearhead the size of an automobile hovered in the air, its tip pointing directly at Nikki's head. Holding the spearhead aloft was a series of poles as thick as tree trunks joined together by heavy chains. The whole apparatus was now rearing up out of the nearby canal like an angered cobra, or a perhaps a scorpion's tail.
And there, standing right behind the spearhead, with a silver cutlass in one hand and a spear that was a perfect miniaturized version of the one she now rode in the other, was Kyoko Sakura.
Kyoko's eyes focused on the dumbstruck Nikki, and it was clear that her intentions were not at all friendly.
She said, "I'm the only one who gets to threaten her."
Oktavia closed her eyes, though not out of fear. As much as she disliked Nikki, she had a feeling that the next few seconds weren't something she would want to witness.
Fortunately, it was over quickly. There was the sound of some heavy hitting something soft, a ripping noise, and a shrill shriek. Nikki's boot disappeared from her back, and then there was the sound of a splash.
"Freaking emos," she heard Kyoko mutter.
The next thing Oktavia knew, Kyoko was crouching next to her. "Sayaka!" she said, worriedly shaking her by the shoulder. "Hey, you okay? Did she hurt you? Come on, say something!"
Oktavia coughed and pushed herself up. "Yeah, I'm okay," she grunted. "I'm fine."
"Sure you are," Kyoko said, her tone less than believing. She flipped Oktavia onto her back and started patting her down, searching for any hidden knife wounds.
"Hey, knock it off!" Oktavia said as she pushed her away. "I told you, I'm fine!" She glanced around. Nikki was nowhere to be seen.
Kyoko still didn't look convinced. "Who the hell was that?" she demanded. "What'd she do to you?"
"Mostly just ranted nonsense and acted really weird. She didn't start getting serious about that knife until right before you showed up." She looked Kyoko up and down and frowned.
Kyoko took a step back. "What?" she said, her tone defensive.
"You came back."
"Well, yeah. Any reason why I shouldn't have?"
Oktavia shook her head. She smiled. "No. It's just…you came back."
Kyoko was growing visibly irritated. "Hey, just because I might have to end up killing you doesn't mean I want to, or that I don't like you. I went through way too much trouble to get you back. I'm not going to let you get knifed by one of these freaking emos."
With that, she knelt down to pick up Oktavia by the armpits. "Come on," she grunted. "We gotta get out of here, now. Before she wakes up or more of them show up."
"Wakes up?" Oktavia looked around again, expecting to see Nikki lying unconscious against one of the walls. "I thought you killed her."
"Yeah, turns out these guys can't die. I ran into another in the city. Trust me, that nut with the knife is gonna be back soon." With that, Kyoko reached down and picked Oktavia up onto her shoulders in a fireman's carry.
"Hey!" Oktavia protested. "What-"
"Unless you can fly too, get over it!" Kyoko started jogging toward where her giant spear still sat in the nearby canal. She talked as she went. "There's a whole bunch of these creeps! They're working for some chick named-"
"Oblivion, I know!" Oktavia said as she clutched at Kyoko's arm for dear life. "Nikki kept going on about her, like she worships her or something!"
"Nikki's the nut with the knife, yeah?"
"Yeah! She said her big sister was looking for you, someone called Annabelle Lee!"
"Is that what her name was?" Kyoko stopped on the wet sidewalk, in front of the canal. "Yeah, we met."
Oktavia looked up at the giant spear hovering over them. "Wait, is that-"
"The thing I killed us with? Yeah, you remember?"
"A little."
"Well, it's a start," Kyoko muttered. Oktavia then cried in surprise out as Kyoko swung her off her shoulders to unceremoniously drop her on the concrete.
Kyoko snapped her fingers, and the spear lowered itself to settle in the rushing water, the blade flat against the surface. Another snap, and the pole's segments connected and became whole. The pole's length shrank down until it was only about the length of its smaller cousin, though the thickness remained the same.
It was then that Oktavia realized what Kyoko intended. "Hold up!" she said, pushing herself up on her palms. "You don't actually intend for us to ride that thing, do you?"
"Oh, you got a better idea, do you?" Kyoko snapped at her as she tossed the cutlass and the smaller spear on board. "I lost the raft I found, so unless you want me to carry your scaly ass everywhere we go from now on, quit your bitchin'."
"Yeah? And where are we going, exactly?" Oktavia demanded.
"I dunno, we'll figure it out when we get there. Now, stop talking and hold still!"
"What? Why do you-AGH!"
That last cry of surprise was due to the fact that Kyoko had just reached down and scooped Oktavia up into her arms. At another time and another place, the gesture might have been mistaken for protective, affectionate, even sweet. Alas, while Kyoko was known for being occasionally protective, she did not have a reputation for affection or sweetness. And this was only further punctuated when she simply tossed Oktavia onto the flat of the spearhead before leaping on board herself.
Making sure that the weapons were secured, Kyoko crouched near the spear's tip and shouted over her shoulder, "Okay, this is gonna be fast! Hold on!"
"Hold on?" Oktavia looked around at the oversized spearhead. "To what?"
"To me, you idiot! Hurry up!"
Oktavia raised an eyebrow, but she crawled up to where Kyoko crouched and wrapped her arms around her waist. "Uh, okay. So, when you said this thing was going to go fast, how fast did you-WAHHH!"
The spearhead shot forward, riding the current quicker than any speedboat. Rain splattered against their faces and the glowing lights of the city and the morphing lights of the sky flashed by, blending together to form a nauseating display. Energized by the speed and the success of their escape, Kyoko threw her head back and laughed maniacally in exhilaration. As for Oktavia, she just held on tight, closed her eyes, and did her best not to be sick.
…
In another part of the city in another canal, the water was rushing just as quickly, but it was otherwise unremarkable, just another strange street in a strange city that was filled with them.
And then a thin, ghostly pale hand bound with black strips of cloth and sporting two steel blades on its back thrust up out of the current to seize the nearby sidewalk. It was soon followed by its twin, and Annabelle Lee surfaced with a gasp. Panting and growling, she hoisted herself onto the sidewalk and flopped onto her back.
She lay there with her eyes closed, ignoring the rain that fell onto her exhausted body. The only thing that concerned her was getting her breathing under control.
Once she was sure that she had recovered adequately, Annabelle Lee flipped over onto her stomach, pushed herself up onto her palms and shot off into the air. She gained speed and altitude and was soon soaring high above Genocide City on a direct course for the apartment complex where she had left Nikki. She had no thought of seeking out Kyoko Sakura. By now she would be long gone and impossible to find. Now the only thing to do was collect her deranged sister.
However, Annabelle Lee had every intention of finding her very soon in the future and repaying her for certain grievances before delivering whatever was left to Oblivion and Reibey. While she had never had a negative thought about Oblivion throughout her years of service, she now grimly thought that whatever reward was to be obtained for successfully capturing Kyoko Sakura, it had better be worth the trouble of bringing her down.
As expected, neither Kyoko nor that blue-haired witch with the mermaid tail was to be found at the apartment. Neither was Nikki, for that matter. While Annabelle Lee wasn't especially concerned for her sister's well-being (an inability to die tended to decrease her feeling in that aspect), she was mildly worried that Nikki had been taken prisoner. Or that she had forgotten what she was supposed to do and done something incredibly stupid. Given her track record, the latter was the most likely.
"Nikki!" she called as she circled over the complex. "Hey, where are you? Come on, you were supposed to be watching the mermaid! Don't tell me you went and screwed up again!"
And then she saw her.
There, in a nearby canal, where the waterway forked into two other branches, forming a Y shape, was a black and white bundle. It had somehow gotten stuck right where the two branches separated.
Annabelle Lee rolled her eyes. Oh, she couldn't wait to hear Nikki explain this one.
Swooping down, she grabbed her younger sister by the arms and yanked her out of the water. "Hey!" she said, smacking Nikki's cheeks. "Ticky Nikki! Wake up!"
In response, Nikki's head just lolled back and forth. Her eyes remained closed.
Annabelle Lee got behind her and wrapped her arms around her middle. She bunched her clasped her fingers into a fist, brought it up under Nikki's ribcage, and shoved up. Hard.
Nikki's eyes bulged open and water spewed out of her mouth like a fountain. She fell onto her hands and knees, coughing.
Annabelle Lee waited for her sister to gather herself (or at least, as much as Nikki could ever gather herself) before asking, "Nikki, what the hell happened to you? You were supposed to be watching the mermaid, remember?"
"Was," Nikki gagged. She sat back onto her heels. "Then we talked, and she thought she was Nikki's friend, but then she told her that she wasn't, so she made everything all clear, and then she told her where she was going to go, but she didn't know anything and got all confused-"
Annabelle Lee, whose head was swimming from the pronoun confusion (a common hazard of dealing with Nikki's tendency to address herself in the third person in a world completely inhabited by females), interrupted her sister with, "Yeah, whatever. How'd you end up in the water?"
"Oh! That! Redhead girl showed up, riding a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig spear." Nikki held her hands apart for emphasis. "And then things started to hurt a lot."
This news just made Annabelle Lee grunt. While she still wanted to gouge out Kyoko Sakura's eyeballs, she had to admit to a certain amount of grudging admiration. Newly arrived Puella Magi very rarely reassumed mastery over their abilities so quickly. True, Annabelle Lee had given Kyoko plenty of motivation, but to already regain use of her ultimate attack…it was impressive.
Still, if there was one silver lining to be found, it was the knowledge that Kyoko Sakura could not possibly know what expending so much energy at one time was going to cost her. The thought made Annabelle Lee's thin lips twist into a smile.
"Hey," Nikki said as she stood up. "Annabelly. Was that really Kyoko Sakura?"
Annabelle Lee scowled at her sister. "What did I tell you about calling me that? And yeah, it was."
"Did she beat you too?"
"Yeah," Annabelle Lee said with a sigh. "She did."
Nikki pondered this. Annabelle Lee could practically see the synapses racing through her sister's fragmented brain.
Finally Nikki said, "So…we found her, like Reibey told us to. But she beat us both and got away, didn't she?"
"Yep," Annabelle Lee said with another sigh. "That she did."
"Oh." Nikki's eyes flitted back and forth. She whimpered. "Reibey's gonna be mad, isn't he?"
Annabelle Lee laid a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Yeah," she said, wincing in anticipation of what promised to be a very unpleasant debriefing session. "Reibey's gonna be mad."
…
Yikes, this is turning out to be much more violent than expected.
Anyway, it seems I forgot to introduce myself last chapter, which is kind of embarrassing. So let's do it now. Hello everyone, TakerFoxx here. I'm mainly known for my Touhou Project stories (an awesome Top-Down Shooter series, if you've never heard of it), but have been wanting to write a PMMM story for some months now. And now that it's finally going, I must admit, I'm anticipating the remainder of the project with equal measures of nervousness and excitement: nervousness because I've spent the last two years working with the same universe and characters only to now venture into a wholly new world, and excited because, well, I'm getting to write a Puella Magi Madoka Magica story! So yeah, here's hoping things go well.
However, on a less cheerful note, I do currently have two Touhou stories already actively updating, and as they've been around longer they do unfortunately get top priority. So while I do intend to give Resonance Days a great deal of attention, I can't promise any sort of consistent update schedule. The only reason this chapter came out so fast was that it was already halfway done when the first one went up.
And finally, one little bit of pointless trivia. The name "Resonance Days" doesn't actually mean anything significant, but is actually taken from the Mohican Sandbag album of the same name, as its fifth track 脳内金髪少女メリー was a partial inspiration for this story and serves as its unofficial theme song. If you're curious, just copy and paste the title into Youtube.
Anyway, I think that's everything. Until next time, everyone.