Chapter 37

Goddess of War and the Calamity Witch Part 3

Shadow Garden charges at Aurora. The Calamity Witch thrusts her hand forward, shooting bloody projectiles at them. The Seven Shades use their super speed to evade them all and spread out in all directions to confuse her. Alpha, Gamma and Epsilon rush toward the violet haired woman, swinging their weapons from all sides. Aurora glares, looking around and ducking and dodging every swing. She summons her scythe to parry Epsilon's own and strikes her on the side. Aurora's scythe disappears and turns toward Alpha and Gamma, who are ready to strike her down as well. Aurora slides to the side to evade and then slides to the left to easily dodge Gamma's swing. Alpha glares at the witch and charges at her. Aurora is too distracted with Gamma, so Alpha finds the perfect chance to swing her sword back and forth at a very fast pace, making Aurora stumble back from being hit. With one last swing, Alpha kicks away the witch to create distance.

Beatrix jumps high, her sword ready to strike Aurora down. However, the Calamity Witch turns her head to notice her and thrusts her hand out. Bloody chains appear and bind her just like before, this time tighter. Beatrix struggles to break free and Aurora grins in satisfaction. Alpha sees this and rushes chuck her blade at the Calamity Witch. It hits the violet haired woman with perfect accuracy, making her stumble forward and the spell is broken. The chains disappear and Beatrix falls to the ground.

Alpha quickly comes to her aid. "Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine," The platinum haired elf replies.

Alpha turns to her remaining members, who are struggling to fight the Calamity Witch. Delta and Zeta charge at the violet haired woman with their signature weapons, Delta's large talons and Zeta's ring blades. Aurora dodges them easily and summons a bloody great sword from her blood magic. With one strike, she successfully hits both of the beast-kins. They fall to the ground, injured. It leaves Beta, Epsilon and Eta left to deal with. Aurora grins and raises both arms.

A large pool of blood appears at the bottom of the three. Eta gasps and mixes some chemicals to hopefully dissolve the blood before anything else happens, but Aurora is too fast for her. She claps her hands together, turning the pool of blood into a large sphere that closes in on the three. They are trapped inside the sphere, unable to escape.

"No!" Alpha cries.

Aurora snaps her fingers, firing projectiles from inside the sphere, injuring Beta, Epsilon and Eta from all directions, like a bunch of arrows being fired at them. They keep on firing until they fall down, severely injured. The sphere disappears and the three fall to the ground.

Gamma rushes toward the witch, but trips on her own foot, making her throw her blade at the Calamity Witch. However, Aurora holds out her hand, stopping the blade from coming to her. Gamma gasps and is unable to react when Aurora grins and flicks her fingers, making the blade come back and hit her with the hilt, knocking her off her feet.

Aurora then turns to Alpha and Beatrix, who recovered from her injuries.

"This is the end~" Aurora says. "Prepare for a most painful death~"

She raises an arm, creating a large spear to annihilate both of the elves. But before she has it fire straight forward, something stops her.

"ARRGGGH!" Aurora groans as she clutches her chest. She drops to one knee as her spell depletes. She clutches her golden necklace with a green jewel that is flashing red. "What is...happening to...me!?"

Alpha gasps. "What's going on!?"

The other manage to recover to witness the Calamity Witch fighting for her life. Beta rushes in and notices the necklace. "It has to do with her necklace! Something is draining her power, but I don't know how!"

The glowing stops, which means the pain has subsided. However, Aurora collapses on the ground unconscious. Alpha rushes in to check her pulse and thankfully, she has it.

"We have to take her to Eta's lab to examine her!" Beta says. "Hurry before anybody finds her!"

"Right!" Alpha picks up Aurora bridal style, much to Beatrix's surprise.

"Alpha...you're very strong," the platinum haired elf says.

The blonde just smiles and proceeds to carry Aurora all the way to the palace, followed by her fellow Shades, who recovered from their injuries."

*Hours Later*

Alpha and the others wait for the news of Aurora's condition. Eta is trying her very hardest to examine the Calamity Witch. Some wires are stuck to her, plus an oxygen mask is over her mouth for some extra data, for Eta's case. Aurora is sleeping on a large white bed under some warm covers while being examined like this. Eta jots down notes, looking over at the heart rate monitor every now and then and looks over at her computer for some data.

Aurora's DNA finally comes through and it surprises the mad scientist at what she just saw. She looks over at the sleeping Aurora and then back at the computer to make sure she is not just seeing things. When she concludes that she is not, she hops off her chair and opens the door to rush toward the common room to give her report.

"WHAT!?" All of the ladies shout in unison. "Aurora...is a demon!?"

"Not just...a demon..." Eta says. "She's the one who they call...Diablos. Chaos...of Mass...Destruction..."

"N-no way!" Beta says. "I've heard of this before!"

"What do you mean?" Gamma asks.

"Aurora is a Calamity Witch," Beta explains. "Or...she's called that by her...testers. She wasn't always like this from the start. When she was little, she was kidnapped by the Cult and was experimented on. Things went wrong and it turned her into a monster. However, three brave heroes were able to defeat Diablos and imprisoned her for 1000 years."

"So how did she get out?" Epsilon asks.

"I am not sure," Beta says. "But maybe she used all of her strength to be free and suddenly roamed here. Which comes to one conclusion: Aurora is not in her own dimension."

"EH!?" The rest of the members gasp.

"I get it," Gamma says, rubbing her chin in thought. "As powerful as she is, she is not a being of this world. Her power depletes slowly over time, but if she uses her powers more frequently, well...she will no longer live to see another day..."

"It can't be!" Epsilon gasps.

"We have to do something, nanodesu!" Delta says.

"It's possibly why she killed the Cult members," Alpha says. "So her intentions were good after all. Eta, is there anything we can do to restore her power?"

"No...not that...I know of from her own world..." Eta says. "But...a special elixir...should do the trick." She holds up a large vial with blue colored liquid. "Bui..." She puts on a "V" sign.

"It can heal anything~!" Gamma happily says as she clasps her hands together. "At least it should restore her health in some way~"

"Yeah..." Eta nods. "One simple drink should be enough...for her. This is very...powerful elixir...I made."

"I cannot thank you enough," Alpha says as she walks up to the mad scientist, petting her.

"Bui...bui..." Eta holds up two "V" signs.

*Later*

Alpha arrives in Eta's lab, with the mad scientist heading toward her own bed to sleep. The blonde elf pulls a chair and sits at Aurora's bedside, holding the vial close to her chest. She prays this will work. However, instead of waiting for the right moment for her to wake up, Alpha decides to transfer the drink. The blonde takes a sip and then leans over to remove the oxygen mask and press her lips against Aurora's, transferring the elixir to Aurora's mouth and the violet haired woman swallows the liquid immediately.

Alpha slowly pulls away, opening her eyes (she had them closed before). Aurora's eyes flutter open and her vision is blurry for a bit before it clears up. She sees the blonde elf looking down at her with a weak smile.

"Mmm...uugh...wh-where am I...?" Aurora asks softly.

"You're in my home," Alpha says. "The palace. This is my friend's lab you are in."

"Lab...?" Aurora clutches her head. "Funny...it feels like I'm remembering something familiar when you say that. I don't know what.."

"Well there is nothing to worry about it now," Alpha says. "You are safe and sound."

Aurora slowly sits up and looks over at Alpha, who is wearing her iconic black long dress with a V-cut shape at the side to show off her lovely white legs and high heels. "You...helped me?"

"Of course," Alpha says with a small smile. She holds up the vial. "This elixir should help you feel better in a few hours."

"Wait...I thought I felt...lips...touching mine..." Aurora holds up her gloved fingers to her mouth and then gasps, turning toward the blonde elf. "That was you!?"

Alpha nods. "Correct. I gave you mouth to mouth with this elixir."

"Goodness..." Aurora looks down at the sheets. "It's been...a thousand years...and this is the first time I have been touched by the lips like this."

Eta moans softly as she shuffles around in her bed.

"Who was that?" Aurora looks around and then sees Eta in bed, back turned and covers are over her.

"That's Eta," Alpha says. "She was the one who examined you and figured out at least a little cure for your...condition."

"Oh...yes, that," Aurora looks down at her necklace with a green jewel on it. "I don't belong here, but...the Cult somehow found out where I was and wanted to capture me. I was imprisoned in my own dimension for so long that I had no choice but to use all of my power just to create a portal to transport myself to your world. This necklace indicates my power level. When it flashes red, that means my power is failing. And if the jewel goes black, not only does my power run out..but also my life..."

"Why live in a dimension that acts like a prison?" Alpha asks.

"It's actually my home dimension," Aurora says. "I was unfortunately isolated and left alone until...who knows what happened next. I don't remember. But it's been forever since I was free."

Alpha thinks hard about this. Aurora is in grave danger from the Cult and if she uses her power again to just create another portal, who knows if she wears herself out before she can enter it? All Alpha can do is protect her. To be sure the Cult doesn't do anything bad to her or worse, hurt her in any way.

"Listen," Alpha says as she takes Aurora's hand in hers and gestures toward herself. "Let us handle the Cult. We will find a way to create a portal to your own dimension and you can be free once and for all. Sound good?"

"You are...actually willing to help me?" Aurora asks.

"Absolutely," Alpha says. "You don't have to worry about fighting your battles alone. Us Shadow Garden will fight for you."

Aurora smiles at the offer and giggles. "Ufufu! Well then, I am very grateful for that. I apologize for accusing you as the Cult."

"It's all behind us now," Alpha says.

The two share a tender hug.

*A Few Days Later*

Aurora's condition is getting better and better. While recovering, she got to know a little of the Seven Shades, including Beatrix, which the both of them called a truce as well, and Alpha offered to show the Calamity Witch around the district. Aurora is amazed on how the whole place looked to her. Nice restaurants, the many stores and little shops, some parks and museums and so on. The Calamity Witch seems a little challenged in modern times since she lived very long ago, so it would take some time to get used to. Alpha doesn't mind teaching her a thing or two.

The very next day, Alpha is busy with Shadow Garden stuff, so she is unable to spend time with Aurora. However, Beatrix has plenty of free time, so she offers to take a very long walk with Aurora down the streets and the Calamity Witch immediately accepts the offer.

Once the two exit the palace, the two take a stroll downtown, finding anything and everything to observe about the real world. It is then that Beatrix makes a quick stop to buy a bunch of burgers inside a large paper bag. Aurora tilts her head in confusion, as she wonders who in the world would eat this many. But she just goes with it and waits for Beatrix to take her order and then pay for the said food. Once that is done, Beatrix is all smiles, clutching the bag of burgers until she approaches Aurora. She gives a shy expression as she takes out one of the wrapped burgers and holds it out to the violet haired woman. Aurora giggles and happily accepts the food. The two of them head over toward a bench at the edge of the sidewalk and begin to enjoy their burgers while people pass by them, minding their own business.

Aurora observes the people while eating her burger. It's been a few days but she is starting to get used to the real world little by little. She finishes it and throws the wrapping in the ok trash. She goes back to sit down next to Beatrix, who is still eating her burger. The platinum haired elf glances over at the Calamity Witch and then offers another burger.

"Do you want more?" She asks.

Aurora shakes her head and waves a hand. "No, thank you. I'm full. That was really good though. I wonder how they make these things so well~"

Beatrix chuckles as she puts the wrapped burger back in the bag and starts to finish the rest of her own. "I'm a very good cook. I may make some of these burgers with my own hands."

"I would love to try them someday~" Aurora clasps her hands together, smiling.

There is a bit of silence while Beatrix finishes up her burger. Aurora keeps casting glances at the platinum haired elf. She doesn't know why, but being next to the Goddess of War makes her feel...so safe. She saw how strong Beatrix was in their first battle. So now when they are together like this, it makes her heart race. Beatrix throws the wrapping in the trash and sets aside the large bag. She notices the Calamity Witch glancing at her from time to time. Beatrix blushes at this and slightly turns away.

"Wh-why are you staring at me...?" The platinum haired elf says. "It's...it's embarrassing..."

"O-oh!" Aurora blushes as well, waving her hands back and forth. "I-I-I was just admiring you! You look so strong...like...like a knight in shining armor, willing to protect his princess!"

Beatrix turns to the Calamity Witch and they found themselves gazing at each other. Aurora's beautiful visible eye staring into Beatrix's ocean blue ones. The Goddess of War swallows hard, feeling her heart beating out of her chest. Aurora, up close like that, just looks SO BEAUTIFUL. She never realizes how breath-takingly BEAUTIFUL the Calamity Witch is. When was the last time Beatrix ever fell in love? Did she even have a lover before her sister passed away?

"Well then," Beatrix says. "Maybe I should become the Knight in Shining Armor for you. You...look like a Princess yourself."

Aurora cups a hand to her mouth as she blushes. She smiles a shy smile, a fist to her chest, nodding. "Yeah...I think I like that..."

The two sit there in silence with their faces going redder and redder the more they stare at each other. It is then that Beatrix grabs her bag of burgers while jumping to her feet.

"Come!" She quickly says. "We have a lot more to explore!"

"S-sure!" Aurora stands up as well, straightening up her dress. "Where do you want to go next?"

Beatrix thinks about it for a moment, gently clutching the bag to her chest. "Wherever...you want to. My niece at least showed you most of this place. Same goes for me."

"Hmmm...there's this cake shop I wanted to try out," Aurora says, putting a finger to her chin. "Have you ever had cake?"

"Indeed," Beatrix replies. "I can give you a few recommendations."

Aurora smiles and nods. "That would be wonderful~! Lead the way...my dear knight~"

Beatrix smiles as well with a slight blush. "As you wish...my princess~"

Without thinking, the two reach out and hold hands, much to their surprise. But they just go with it and take a walk to the cake shop while holding hands.

A/N: Two things:

1. Iris x Beatrix is nice, but honestly, I never paid much attention to Iris. And after the fact that fans started to hate her, I just couldn't picture Beatrix with Iris.

2. Aurora in canon doesn't interact with ANY female characters, which makes me sad that she doesn't have at least one true waifu.

So, that's why I am shipping Beatrix with Aurora, hence the title.

One more chapter to go. It's going to be big.

Have a nice day!