"Well, we've come this far..." Celica thought out loud, "and it seems like there's something very dangerous hidden in this place."
"Have you gone mad?" Sonya sneered, "that's exactly why we should get out of here while we can!"
"No, quite the opposite," Celica explained, "if we leave it be, it could get out and hurt innocent people. I cannot allow that to happen."
"Indeed," Palla agreed, "we should see what exactly this 'High Witch' the inscriptions speak of is."
Sonya huffed. "Very well. Whatever it is will be no match for us."
"Yeah!" Mae cheered.
"Well then, let us proceed," Celica declared, drawing her sword.
The new hallway was dark, despite the strong light from the room nearby. Palla noticed the ceiling was getting lower as they ventured further in, until it was just above their heads. This was unsettling for the puny pegasus knight; it meant that she could not make any of her friends bigger. The entire company was nervous. They could sense an unnatural energy pulsating through the air, as if something truly dreadful was lying in wait for them.
"There's some light ahead!" Celica said, seeing a burning flame far in the distance. In silence, the group continued, until they reached the source of the light. Celica entered the room first, a large dome-shaped chamber with three torches set around the walls. On the ground was a large, round disc-shaped object that was gold in color. Celica's soldiers gathered around the object, staring down at it in wonder. It was clearly very old, with significant wear, but it still shined in the torchlight.
"What is this thing?" Mae asked.
"It's like a huge coin of some sort," Catria observed.
Palla crouched down for a closer look. She noticed small, dome-shaped protrusions lining the edge of the object.
"Could these be bolts of some kind?" Palla speculated.
It was one of the features in the middle that worried Celica the most. Huge cracks splintered the golden surface.
"Keeping something from getting out, perhaps?" Celica suggested, "but it seems like it's almost broken free..."
Suddenly there was a loud bang coming from the object, making the girls jump back. Est and Catria raised their lances, while the others prepared their best spells.
"Fantastic timing," Sonya complained, "what have you gotten us into this time, little girl?"
"Stay focused!" Palla commanded, "we need to be ready!"
More loud noises from beneath the golden seal. Then there was silence for a moment, before a loud crash as the object broke into pieces. A masked woman with purple hair levitated from the now open hole. She was twice the size of Celica and her shrunken comrades.
"She is a witch after all..." Sonya noted.
"She's just like the others! We need to attack!" Celica commanded.
The witch moved before any of the others could, holding out the palm of her hand towards Palla. A green sphere of magic formed around the pegasus knight.
"Palla!" Catria called out, running to her sister's side. She attacked the magic with her spear, but it merely bounced off.
"Let her go!" Celica shouted, firing a volley of spells at the witch. Her efforts merely fizzled out before they reached her target. The witch gestured, bringing her index finger and thumb closer together. The ball of magic contracted, Palla growing smaller with it. Shrinking the pegasus knight small enough for her to hold the tiny prison, she levitated it into her hand. Catria reached out for her sister but was too slow.
"Give her back!" Catria yelled, lunging with her lance.
"Catria, no!" Celica shouted, but she was too late to warn her friend. With her other hand, the witch fired another spell, hitting Catria and making her vanish instantly.
"No!" Palla and Est yelled. Their sister was gone.
Est moved, fueled by revenge, but Sonya stopped her. The other mages continued to attack, bringing out their strongest attacks, while Genny healed them.
"Keep a hold of yourself! We can't lose you too!" she commanded.
"But my sisters!" Est argued.
"She's right," Celica said, her sword forward, "magic doesn't seem to work on her, so we are the only ones who can damage her."
"That's if weapons even work on her," Sonya pointed out, watching their enemy. The witch seemed to be staring back, carefully studying her enemies.
"I think they will work. We've all been attacking, but she hasn't responded to anyone but Catria," Celica noted.
"True, but there's more to it than that," Sonya said, "she immediately attacked Palla, so she must be threatening to her in some way."
"I see. Then we should focus on saving Palla first," Celica said.
"But we can't reach her!" Mae pointed out, nodding at the green ball in the witch's clutches.
"Then we need to distract her, first! Est, you take the left side!" Celica commanded, as she walked to the opposite side.
"All right!" Est agreed. She would just have to hope she could get her sisters back somehow, steeling her resolve. Following Celica's orders, she thrust her lance towards the witch's arm. Celica did the same on the other side, though she had a harder time reaching with her shorter sword.
Est hit the witch in her arm. The witch was quick to retaliate, firing another spell at Est, but Sonya attacked with one of her own. Colliding in the air, the two spells canceled each other out.
With a hint of primal frustration, the witch turned towards Celica. Palla in her hand on this side, she could only act defensively, moving her arm out of the way of Celica's strikes. She threw the ball behind her and it floated gently to the ground, behind the witch. She then attacked Celica but was blocked by one of Mae's spells.
"She's dropped Palla!" Celica shouted, "quickly, get round her!"
Celica started running towards Palla. The witch responded with a click of her fingers. Celica was immobilized by an unseen spell and shrunk to half an inch tall. Est got closer but was reduced in size too. They were too small to reach their target now. The witch unleashed a barrage of attacks at both girls, narrowly intercepted by Sonya and Mae. Genny healed the mages but was starting to strain with the effort. All their efforts were focused on protecting their friends, how could anyone aid the tiny Palla?
Palla's prison suddenly shattered. Now free, she cast a shrinking spell at the witch. Too focused on attacking Celica and Mae, she had no time to defend herself. Struck by the magic, she started to shrink. Forced to stop her assault, she threw a spell at Palla, but she quickly avoided it.
"How do you like that? A taste of your own medicine!" Palla taunted.
"Palla!" Est cheered at her sister.
"But how did you...?" Sonya wondered.
"I had a little help." Palla said. Landing, she cast a spell into her palm. Catria appeared in her hand, Palla putting her down as she grew back to an inch tall, quickly doing the same to Est.
"Catria!" Est shouted, overjoyed her sister was safe.
"Ready, girls?" Palla asked.
"Yes," Catria nodded.
"You know it!" Est cheered.
Est and Catria dived across the hole, lances outstretched, as Palla grew the witch just large enough for their attacks to connect.
"Triangle attack!" The three sisters shouted. Struck from both sides, the witch's body was split in half, an unnatural shriek echoing in the arena. The split halves disintegrated into dust.
"And that's that!" Palla cheered.
"Well done, everyone!" Celica smiled.
Palla smiled back. "We couldn't have done it without all of your help."
"So, how did you escape anyway?" Est asked her older sister.
"I got her out," Catria said, "it certainly wasn't fun running so far on tiny legs!"
"I've learned quite a bit about magic during this little adventure," Palla explained, "I simply had to tell Catria where to strike to free me from the spell."
"As fascinating as this is, we should get out of here," Sonya sneered.
There was suddenly a low rumble, the entire room shaking. Mae wobbled, nearly falling into the hole, but the small Celica pulled her back.
"We need to get out, right now," Celica said, "It seems like this place is falling apart!"
"Leave it to me," Palla said, conjuring a spell. She shrank down all the other ladies, then gathered them up in her hands. She then flew as fast as she could down the corridor, the hole in the ceiling of the previous chamber her destination. But would she make it out in time?
