Chapter the third, in which everything goes perfectly fine and nothing suspicious happens, and a hospital heist occurs off screen.
May 19, 7:42 AM – Fifty-five days, sixteen hours, eighteen minutes remaining.
Hitomi blinked her eyes blearily, sitting up on her bed. She shook her head, yawning and stretching out her arms above her head. Without thinking, she flicked her wrist, summoning a glass of water in a flurry of emerald power. She drank the water slowly, waking up. She'd only been out for about twenty minutes, but she felt as if she had gotten a full, though perhaps slightly short, night of sleep. She smiled to herself quietly. That was magic for you.
Yesterday had been very interesting. After heading to eat, (Eve was a very good cook, it seemed) Hitomi had spent almost six hours just learning spells from Alice. She now had nearly forty memorized, though she still felt mentally and physically tired from the effort of such sustained casting. She didn't think she would hold herself to anything like the fifty a day Alice did. It was already getting confusing to find the correct ones, and she hadn't even learned any combat magic yet. She touched her focus, feeling the cool gemstone against her neck. So much had changed in so little time.
Touching a silver buckle on her new belt, Hitomi was both pleased and relieved to see her scabbard and sword materialize. She'd picked it up from the armory at Eve's request. It was lighter and weaker then most blades, and not as sharp, but its ability to disappear at will was very useful to Hitomi in her situation. She giggled. Only a few hours in, and she'd already gotten her first magical weapon.
She sighed. She needed to put this out of her mind, for now at least. She still had a day of classes to attend, after all. Day one of fifty-five, hiding her double life.
Hitomi acquired breakfast easily enough, leaving her home quickly with little trouble. She wasn't sure why her parents seemed so lax and unconcerned at her eighteen hour disappearance, but she supposed she should just be glad that they were, for whatever reason.
Hitomi walked quickly towards the school. It wasn't very long before she was looking at the backs of two very familiar people. She ran up to them, joining them as they approached the building.
"Oh, hey!" Sayaka giggled up at her. "Fancy that! You're usually the first one on your way here. You must have been really sick yesterday."
"You never even went to the nurse." Madoka said, concern in her tone. Hitomi almost flinched. Using sickness as an excuse was made much more difficult when you were best friends with the nurse's aid.
"Oh, I'm fine." Hitomi said, laughing nervously. "I just felt really sick for a few minutes. It turned out to be nothing. But after such a sudden acute problem, we figured I should spend the day in observation."
"Well, if you're sure you'll be okay." Sayaka said, putting her hands behind her back and continuing to walk. Hitomi let out a sigh of relief. It seemed her reputation for normalcy was helping her for once.
"That's a really pretty necklace, Hitomi." Madoka said, looking at her focus. "It looks nice on you, but you never really struck me as the jewelry type. Where did you get it?"
"Oh, this?" Hitomi said, her mind racing to come up with some kind of reasonable explanation. After all, from the size and quality of the gemstone, the piece was clearly no small trinket. "Uh..."
"I mean, Hitomi's probably got tonnes of really expensive jewelry in her room." Sayaka said. "Her family is stupidly rich. She just doesn't show it off because she doesn't want us to feel bad." Sayaka grinned. "So, which boy are you trying to attract this time?"
"Oh, nothing like that..." Hitomi said.
"Being mysterious, are you?" Sayaka grinned. "That won't do. Come on, tell us!"
The three girls walked into school, talking of boys and their studies, and Hitomi let herself relax back into normalcy.
Hitomi went through the day in a half-haze, her mind never fully tuned into the world around her. She kept one eye out for the mysterious magical girl she had seen yesterday, but she didn't recognize them if she saw them. It was noon, then four, then eight, and before she knew it she was standing back in the Mitakihara Middle-School grounds, in front of a graffiti covered stone, the ground lit only by streetlights.
Hitomi paused, looking around. She was fairly certain she couldn't activate the world gate on her own, and she definitely couldn't use it correctly. She hoped she hadn't missed them.
A light wind blew across the grounds. Hitomi looked up to the dark sky, the stars twinkling beautifully. Did the fact that magical worlds existed, that people felt the need to bridge the gap between universes, mean that there wasn't life on any of the worlds out there? She sighed. These were thoughts for philosophers, not thirteen-year-olds.
"What are you doing here?"
Hitomi turned around, then froze. Not ten meters from her, a girl with golden hair, still in her school uniform, stood. She recognized her instantly as the mysterious figure from the day before.
"Oh, just looking up at the stars." Hitomi said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"It's dangerous to be out this late, you know." The girl said. "Especially alone."
"Mitakihara is a very safe town, especially in this area." Hitomi said shortly, hoping that the portal did not appear now. "Besides, you seem to be having an okay time of it."
An uncomfortable silence fell. The two girls looked at each other. Hitomi couldn't help but be confused. As far as she was aware, this girl shouldn't have any knowledge of her.
"Are you sure that you're alright?" The girl said after another moment.
"Yes." Hitomi said airily. "But it's very nice of you to be concerned."
The girl looked at something glowing in her hand. Hitomi couldn't see what it was, her fingers obscuring it from her angle. It couldn't have been very big. "Well, be careful." The girl said kindly, closing her hand and turning to leave.
The stone began to glow behind Hitomi. She didn't make a sound as the other girl walked away slowly. The runes began to solidify, and the portal formed. Hitomi let out a sigh of relief. She saw something begin to emerge from the portal.
"Thank goodness you came when you did." Hitomi said, smiling. "Five seconds earlier and we would have been-"
Hitomi stopped speaking as the person, now easily identifiable as Alice, passed through fully. She tipped down, limp as she emerged. Hitomi barley managed to catch her. She felt warm blood soaking through her clothes.
"H-Hitoim..." Alice said, putting her hand up to Hitomi's cheek, streaking it with blood. "Help..."
Hitomi's eyes went wide. "How! W- what do y-you need?" She hugged Alice to her. Alice was silent. Her blood began to drip onto the walkway below. Hitomi considered her options for a second, then took out her cellphone. Quickly, fingers shaking, she typed 119 and hit call. Someone picked up within three seconds.
"Mitakihara emergency services, please state the nature of your emergency." The voice said calmly.
"I..." Hitomi said, trembling. "She's bleeding so much..."
"Where are you?" The voice said calmly.
"M-Mitakihara Middle-School g-ground level courtyard." Hitomi choked out, feeling her throat beginning to close. "Please..."
"We're sending an ambulance to your position." The voice said. "Please, stay calm and on the line."
Hitomi gulped and tried to force a few breaths into her. She needed to calm down.
"Now, can you explain exactly how you came across this person?" the voice said.
"I... was walking by the school... and I saw her collapsed on the ground..." Hitomi said, trying to steady her voice. Hopefully, any problems in her lie would end up being written off as shock. "I went up to her... I tried to poke her, to get her attention... my hand was covered in blood..."
"Is there anything else visibly wrong with her, aside from the bleeding?" the voice asked. Hitomi looked at Alice briefly.
"No. It... It looks like that's it." Hitomi said.
"Can you see a puncture wound of any kind?" the voice said, clarifying. "I know this must be scary for you, but any information we can get will let us help her faster."
"Um..." Hitomi looked her over, shaking as she did so. Her clothes were covered in Alice's blood, and she felt sick as she looked for a wound. "She's... been stabbed twice in the chest, once in the hip, and once in the left leg. Maybe more. I can't tell for sure." Hitomi said softly.
"Is she conscious?" the voice asked.
"No." Hitomi shook her head slowly. "No, she's..."
"Do you hear breathing?" asked the voice.
"N-no." Hitomi said. "But she's still b-bleeding more, so she has to have a pulse."
The voice on the line went quiet for a few seconds. "Is there anything else you can see which you think would be important for the medical team to know?"
"I... don't think..." Hitomi said. Alice convulsed, coughing loudly. Hitomi gasped. "She's wakening up." Hitomi said quietly.
"Hitomi..." Alice said softly, tugging on her arm. Hitomi leaned down to her.
"I've called an ambulance." she said, realizing after a second that Alice would be unfamiliar with what that meant. "Some people are going to come and take you to a place and try to make you better."
"Hitomi." Alice said. "I'm... not as bad as I look." she grinned weakly. "Most of the blood isn't mine."
"You've been stabbed twice in the chest." Hitomi said.
"Really?" Alice murmured. "I only remember the first one." She reached up to her neck, slowly pulling off her focus. "I need you to protect this." Alice said. "Please. When I'm better, give it back to me. If someone else gets it when I'm like this, I might never get it back. I need you to keep it safe for me, okay?"
"Okay." Hitomi agreed. Relief was flooding through her in waves. From what she could tell, it looked like Alice would be hurt for quite some time, but in all likelihood she wouldn't die. "I'll keep it safe."
"And don't tell the people about me being a witch and all." Alice murmured, her eyes fluttering closed again. "I don't want to have to... deal with... the press..." she lost consciousness again.
Hitomi put the phone back to her ear.
"-okay? Please, tell us what is happening. We need to know of any developments." the voice was saying.
"I'm sorry." Hitomi said. "It seemed that she really needed to tell me something."
"What did she say?" the voice asked. "It could be important."
"Just incoherent nonsense about some anime, I think." Hitomi said. "But she woke up, which has to be a good sign, right?"
"Is she still conscious?" the voice asked.
"No. She's out again." Hitomi said. There was a screech of tires nearby, and Hitomi saw an ambulance pull up near them. "I can see the ambulance now."
"Okay, now, please follow all instructions given to you by the medical personnel." the voice said. "You may hang up now if you wish."
Hitomi hit the end call button, putting the phone numbly into her pocket. The paramedics approached them, lifting Alice from Hitomi's lap and placing her on a stretcher. Hitomi sat there silently, not moving, lost in thought. One of the men went over to her, putting a blanket over her.
"Do you know her?" The man asked kindly.
"No." Hitomi shook her head slowly. "I've never seen her before."
"So you wouldn't know her name, or any contact information, then." The man said. Hitomi shook her head slowly again, not speaking.
"You're in shock, understandably." The man said. "But everything is going to be fine, I promise."
Hitomi nodded, watching the doors of the ambulance close on Alice, obscuring her from view. Across the street, the girl with the golden hair looked on. Hitomi raised her head, and the girl looked away, walking swiftly off. Hitomi watched her go for a moment. The ambulance pulled out from the middle-school, passing between Hitomi and the girl. When it had passed, she was gone.
"What's your name?" the man asked. "Is there someone we should call for you? You must want to get home after this."
Hitomi nodded. "My name is Shizuki Hitomi." she said softly. "My home is only a few hundred meters from here."
"Can you call your parents?" the man asked. "I'd like to speak to them."
Hitomi slowly took her phone out of her pocket, entering her number after a few attempts. She held it to her ear to make sure it was ringing, then gave it to the man. He took it cautiously, the waterproof case covered in partly-dried blood.
"Hello?" the man paused. "I'm with the Mitakihara emergency medical service." he paused again. "No, Hitomi is fine, though she's in shock. She found another injured girl and alerted us." he listened for a moment, then looked down at Hitomi. "Well, her outfit is covered in blood, but as far as we can tell none of it is hers. The injured girl was bleeding a lot. She's shaking, and seems to be only partly conscious of what's going on around her. Other than that, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with her at all." the man paused. "Yes, I'll tell her." he hung up. "They'll be here in a few minutes." he handed the phone back to Hitomi. "You did a really good thing today, Shizuki Hitomi. You might have saved this girls life."
Hitomi nodded numbly again. The man stood up, looking around for the arrival of her parents. Hitomi began to cry softly. Thirty-six hours. No, more like thirty-four. That was all it had taken for a wonderful world of magic to turn into a nightmare. She had hoped to get at least a few weeks in before something like this happened. The heroes weren't supposed to get killed on the first day. That just seemed too cruel.
Fifteen percent survival chance. That's what Eve had said when they met. She had a fifteen percent chance of living to see the end of June. Fifty percent that everyone in the party would be dead by then. This, then, is what that really meant. What it really looked like.
The world gate activated again. Looking up, Hitomi felt fear disrupt her shock, knocking her back into action as adrenaline began to pump into her system. Whatever was gating in now had a good chance of being whatever had attacked Alice. The man seemed completely unable to notice the magical circle, though Hitomi thought she heard him mutter something about the light looking strange. He did notice Hitomi stand up suddenly, however.
"What's wrong?" he said. "Nothing's going to hurt you. Please, calm down."
The magic circle flared brightly, and the portal opened. The man blinked. "What on earth...?" Hitomi made a note that overt magical effects were apparently easier to see then smaller effects. She hoped whatever it was which gated through was far enough over the threshold for the man to react with some intelligence.
"Please, stand back." Hitomi said, touching her belt buckle and drawing her blade. The man took a few steps backwards, shock spreading across his face. Hitomi, filled with fear, rage, and sadness, stood ready to face whatever dared to appear before her. There was a flare of magical energy, and her blade began to radiate spectral green flame, her eyes glowing. A complex magical circle appeared beneath her, and she felt a wave of energy pass over her. With a flare, her hair doubled in length, and small magical markings appeared on her hands. Behind her back, a curved green line appeared, joined quickly by a second. Together, they made a clear quarter circle centered at her core. Hitomi didn't bother to think about what was going on. She just prepared to attack whatever emerged.
The figure appeared, and Hitomi swung down hard, a wave of uncontrolled power rushing down her blade. A red barrier rose to block it, shattering under the force of the blow but successfully scattering the strike. Hitomi spun, slicing out at the approaching figure again, but her blade was met strongly with another, easily parrying her blow and returning a strike of its own. Hitomi attempted to defend herself, her strikes far stronger than those of her opponent but far less skilled. Each wild swing of her blade left the air humming in its arc, but the approaching figure had no trouble blocking each and every blow.
"What the hell are you doing, Hitomi!" Eve yelled, breaking Hitomi from her blind rage. "Stop attacking me!"
Hitomi gasped, looking into Eve's eyes. She stopped moving for a moment, just standing there, looking at Eve with a stunned expression. Her grip failed her, and her sword dropped to the floor with a clang. Hitomi looked at her hands, saw them catching her tears. With a burst of light, the two glowing curves behind her head turned to dust, along with her extra hair. The markings faded from her hands slowly. "I..." Hitomi said through her tears. "I couldn't think..."
"Damn, girl." Derick said from behind Eve. He must have followed just after her. He was looking at Hitomi with a mix of shock and... awe, perhaps? It was hard to tell. "You have quite the sword arm, that's for sure."
Hitomi looked around through her tears. The path in front of the middle-school was torn with deep gashes leading as far out as two meters from her. Hitomi blinked. "How..." she looked at Eve. "Did I do this?"
"Yes." Eve said, walking up to Hitomi and giving her a hug. "But its okay now. You're fine." she gave Hitomi a smile. "Luckily I'm used to things like this. You didn't even manage to scratch me." she looked around. "We'll discuss what happened here later. First, though, we need to find Alice."
"What happened to her?" Hitomi said, brushing off her tears with a small patch of her shirt not covered in blood. She needed to focus now. There would be time for crying later.
"We had hoped you would be able to tell us that." Eve said. "It looks like you're covered in her blood."
"She said it was mostly not hers." Hitomi said numbly. "I didn't know what to do when she appeared, so I called emergency services. They got her off to a hospital."
Eve sighed. "Not the greatest choice in the world, but at least that means she should be safe for now. And given your options, you did the right thing, Hitomi."
"When she wakes up, she won't be able to understand the doctors, and they won't be able to understand her." Derick said, flipping through his spell-book's holographic display. "There's going to be a lot of confusion, but other than that, it should be okay. She is human, after all. Put Fox or Lilly or Eve under there, and there might have been trouble, but I can't really see a problem with Alice being at a hospital."
"So, do we know anything?" Hitomi asked.
"Well, Alice wanted to go and get you herself, so we let her go off." Eve said. "After that, we don't know what happened. We waited an hour, and when you two didn't show, we followed. Most likely, she was attacked very nearby the world gate, making her attempt to get to you the better option for her. We found some blood in the hall, but not nearly enough to explain..." Eve pointed to Hitomi's shirt. "That."
"Who..." the emergency services man said, looking at them. "are you people?" he finished lamely.
"No one." Eve said, taking two steps and hitting him with an arc of red sparks. "Sleep now."
The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed.
"Oh!" Hitomi said, shaking her head. "My parents are going to be here any second!"
"They shouldn't be able to see me, and Derick looks normal enough." Eve said, then paused. "Though, give how easily you see through magic, I'm not sure that will work, to be honest." she looked into the air, thinking. "Normally, I'd just wipe your parent's memory, go to the hospital, and remove Alice. Everyone who knows your name would be unaware of the event, and Alice would just be some weird case to talk about in years to come. But with you having called the emergency services yourself, it's not really practical to wipe all trace of your involvement anymore. As such, the discrepancies in the stories would just end up casting suspicion on you. So..." Eve paused. "As much as I hate to say this, act like a normal, scared girl for tonight. We'll try to gather tomorrow and figure something out once this has hopefully blown over at least a little."
Hitomi nodded. "Okay." she looked to Eve. "From what I could tell, Alice was pretty hurt, but I don't think she's really in any danger of dying."
Eve shuddered a little, turning to smile at Hitomi. "Thanks for that, Hitomi. I needed that." Derick and her stepped back into the portal. "Be strong. We'll see you tomorrow, and figure out just what the heck is going on." The two vanished.
A car pulled up to the path, two worried parents rushing to their daughter. Hitomi took a deep breath. Somehow, she was sure acting the part of a scared little girl wasn't going to be that hard.
-*%*-
Hitomi sat in her room, looking out her window at the city outside. Today was a Sunday; no school, no work, no plans. Her parents had been very nice about the whole event, really, giving her as much space and time as she wanted. Her skin still tingled lightly from the shower she had taken eight hours ago. She had spent a long, long time getting all the blood out of her hair. She wondered what her parents would say when next time the blood was hers.
She looked down at the back of her hands, the memory of glowing runes etched into her mind. Perhaps the tingling had a different origin. She still had no idea what had happened to her to cause such a transformation. It was magic, obviously, but she hadn't cast any spells that she could recall. It had just sort of happened.
Hitomi looked across to her dresser, a beautiful black gemstone hanging on a silver chain in her jewelry rack. She wondered if it was feasible for her to visit the hospital to check on Alice. It wasn't that suspicious for her to want to check in on the girl who's life she might have saved, but she figured the fact that they would be able to talk to each other would at draw at least a little unwanted interest. Still, the sooner she figured out what had happened, the better equipped she'd be to deal with whatever it was if it decided to show up here. And, to be honest, she was feeling a strong compulsion to attend to her. Whether it was concern for her friend or due to the contract, she wasn't sure, but it was definitely real.
"Miss Hitomi, there is someone to see you." One of the family servants informed her from beyond the door. "I assume you wish to be left alone?"
"Who is it?" Hitomi asked.
"I believe it is Miki Sayaka."
Hitomi paused. It made sense, she guessed. There was no way she would have known about what had happened last night, and Hitomi vaguely remembered agreeing to walk with her today. She looked out the window for a few more seconds, then sighed. She really needed to take this off her mind. "No, tell her I'll be down in a minute." Htiomi stood up, grabbing Alice's focus and putting it in her pocket. For whatever reason, she felt that she should be near it at all times. She touched her own focus briefly. It had been nearly impossible for her to take off her own focus, even just to take her shower last night. The anxiety she felt from removing it was incredible. She could only imagine how hurt Alice had to be to give this to her, and how incredibly dead set on convincing her to join the spectrum she had to have been to let her hold it on the first day. Perhaps it faded with time. Hitomi certainly hoped so.
A minute later, Hitomi was greeted by Sayaka at the door. Sayaka's voice fell as she looked at Hitomi.
"You look awful." she said, concerned. "What happened last night?"
"I don't really want to talk about it, if that's okay." Hitomi said quietly. "Perhaps later."
Sayaka seemed to want to say something more, but she just sighed. "Okay." she took a few steps away from the door, turning back to Hitomi with a smile. "Come on then!"
Hitomi shook her head. That was Sayaka for you.
The two walked around the city. Today was a beautiful day at least, and fairly warm. Hitomi found herself largely unable to concentrate on the conversation, simply nodding when it seemed appropriate. She was too lost in her own thoughts. She knew that she should be stronger than this. She had specifically agreed to take this upon herself, and yet she was failing to maintain her charade at the first hurdle. Fifty-four days left. She couldn't stop herself from shaking slightly. Fifty-four days of lying, fear, hate, and pain. Why had it all crumbled so quickly?
"Okay, now I know something's wrong." Sayaka said as Hitomi walked into a lamppost. Hitomi shook her head, stunned. She must have been really out of it.
"..." Hitomi paused, rubbing her head. "I'm so sorry, Sayaka. You're right, something is wrong." She paused. How much could she say before she would put Sayaka in danger?
"We don't have to talk about it here." Sayaka said. Hitomi looked around. They had at some point wandered into the shopping district, a good half-hours walk from her home. She must have been really, really, really out of it. "Why don't we get something to eat?" she looked at Hitomi. "Whatever it is, if it's shaken you this badly, it must be serious. Sometimes, all friends can do is listen, but just being able to go through it with others will help."
Hitomi nodded slowly. "Alright." she felt her mouth go dry. She had such good friends. She wanted so badly to tell Sayaka what was going on. She started shaking. How could she possibly survive a month and a half of this? She could barely take twelve hours.
"Hey." Sayaka took her hand. Hitomi looked down at her concerned face. "Everything's going to be okay."
Hitomi took a deep breath. "Your right. I'm so sorry about this, Sayaka." she looked up at the sky. "I guess I'm not as strong as I thought."
Sayaka shook her head. "Did someone die?" she said incredulously. "Because you're really, really scaring me, Hitomi."
"No. Not quite." Hitomi said. "Please, can we talk about it somewhere more private?"
Sayaka nodded. Hitomi sighed. "Is there anyplace in particular you want to go?" Sayaka asked. Hitomi shook her head. "Well, then, follow me." Sayaka motioned for Hitomi to follow. "I know of somewhere nice and quiet."
Sayaka lead Hitomi quickly to a nice path overlooking the river. There was a lone bench on a stretch of land next to a bridge, separated from the other benches lining the sides for some unknown reason. Sayaka bid Hitomi to sit down, and she complied.
"What's up." Sayaka said, taking Hitomi's hands in hers. "No one else will hear us as long as you don't shout."
Hitomi nodded slowly. "Sayaka..." she looked at her. "What's the most blood you've ever had on you?"
Sayaka's eyes went wide. "Hitomi..." she said softly.
"Have you felt it soak through your clothes? Has it turned your hair brown, the ground red, until you couldn't even find a clean part of your shirt to cry into?" Hitomi was beginning to hyperventilate. The images were coming back to her in a rush, and now that her body was no longer filled with adrenaline, now that she felt finally safe again, there was nothing to stop her from shaking. She looked at Sayaka, her vision blurring. "I found a girl yesterday." she said softly. "She was bleeding so badly, Sayaka. So very, very badly. I was sure she was going to die. I held her, Sayaka, as she passed in and out of consciousness, reached out to me for help." Hitomi touched her cheek where Alice had dragged her bloody hand across it.
"Did she..." Sayaka said slowly.
"No." Hitomi said. "Somehow, no. I called emergency services and they picked her up. I don't know what happened next. It's a bit of a blur."
"Hitomi..." Sayaka said again. "That... I can't even imagine seeing that." she looked at Hitomi. "Did you know her?"
Hitomi paused. "Yes." she said quietly, tears beginning to fall. "The only friends I cherish more are you and Madoka." she gave Sayaka a strong, steady look. "But you mustn't tell anyone that. Please. I can't explain exactly how I know her. It could put her, and and anyone you tell, in danger."
Sayaka seemed troubled, but she nodded after a short while. "I promise I won't tell anyone." she said. "I don't understand it, but the last thing you need right now is me going and making your life more difficult. As long as it doesn't put anyone in danger to keep quiet, I will."
"Thank you." Hitomi said, leaning into Sayaka. She held her crying friend, letting her simply weep until she simply couldn't form tears anymore.
"This is being strong, you know." Sayaka said, when Hitomi had finished crying. "Crying now, with friends, after having taken care of the situation? That's just a reasonable way to react to what happened. Me?" She laughed softly. "If I saw you or Madoka covered in enough blood to soak through my clothes, I wouldn't be able to move from shock. But you managed to call emergency services, get home, and go on a walk with a friend just a few hours later." Sayaka looked into Hitomi's eyes. "Being brave and strong isn't a matter of not being afraid. It's a matter of being afraid and doing what you have to anyway." there was a brief pause, and Sayaka got to her feet. "Come on." she took Hitomi's hand and lifted her to her feet too.
"Where are we going?" Hitomi said quietly.
"To the hospital." Sayaka said. "What you need right now is to see that she's doing fine. We're going to see her. Heck, why don't you introduce us? Any friend of yours, weird circumstances or not, is a friend of mine."
Hitomi let out a breath. "You're right." she looked at Sayaka. Tears built again for a moment, but she brushed them away. This was why she had decided to become a part of this quest. To keep her friends, her wonderful, kind, innocent friends safe. If magical worlds existed, if the creatures and evils of fairy-tales could come here, then there needed to be someone to fight the monsters of the night. Sayaka was why she would survive, no matter what it took. Madoka was why she would keep it a secret, no matter the pain she had to keep inside. Alice was why she wouldn't give up on the quest, even if it killed her. She would save their world, and keep hers from needing saving, no matter what it took.
Hitomi followed Sayaka to the hospital. The girls approached the front desk. A secretary looked down over the large desk at the girls. She seemed to recognize Sayaka.
"He's in his room right now." she said kindly to Sayaka. "We'll let him know you're coming."
"Actually, we're here to see someone else." Sayaka said quickly. Hitomi nodded to herself. It was very kind of Sayaka to visit Kyousuke so frequently as to be considered a regular. She always meant to come more often herself, but she never seemed to get more than one chance a week, if that. She supposed they could both stop in on the way back.
"I see." the secretary paused for a moment, before a light seemed to go on behind her eyes. "Oh. You must be the girl who called the ambulance for our little miss 'jane doe'." she paused. "Unfortunately, no one except family is allowed to approve visitors, and seeing as she doesn't have any family that we know of..." she trailed off. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you where she is."
"Come on!" Sayaka said. "This has to be some kind of special case. She saved the poor girl's life! Can't she at least be allowed to see that she's recovering?"
The secretary shook her head. "I'm sorry. Nothing can be done on that front, I'm afraid." she paused. "I might be able to get you some kind of status report, but that's the best I can do, and I might not even be able to do that."
Sayaka kicked the ground, grumbling under her breath. Hitomi bowed briefly to the woman. "Thank you. I'd like that very much, if it's possible."
The secretary paged one of the doctors, talking into her microphone. Hitomi sat Sayaka down in one of the chairs.
"This isn't fair." Sayaka said. "They should let at least you in."
"It is what it is." Hitomi said. "They can't just let anyone into any room they want."
"I know..." Sayaka fumed silently. "It's still stupid."
Hitomi didn't say anything for a moment. "Thank you, Sayaka." she said quietly. "I wouldn't have convinced myself to come here on my own. Just the fact that they're refusing visitors means she has to be at least still alive."
"I guess." Sayaka said.
Hitomi's vision blurred, then sharpened. "Where are you?" Eve's voice sounded in her head.
Hitomi blinked, then shook her head. "At the hospital with a friend. We were trying to get to Alice, but they won't let us in."
"Are you okay?" Sayaka asked.
"Yeah. Just a bit... preoccupied." Hitomi said. Sayaka seemed to accept this pretty easily, turning back to scowling at the secretary.
"Hold up. I'll be joining you shortly." Eve sent. "Can you get rid of your friend?"
"Sayaka?" Hitomi almost laughed. "Not a chance."
Eve didn't respond for a few seconds. "We'll deal with her later, then. I'm just glad the memory wipe spell has no side effects. I've had to use it every time I've come to your world." There was a brief pause. "Though I guess if everything goes well, we won't have to use it at all. I have a plan to get her out of there."
"Alright. I'll see you soon, then." Hitomi closed the connection, her eyes going back into focus.
Sayaka and Hitomi waited there for a few minutes, Sayaka getting more and more frustrated as time went on. "You'd think she'd at least know if she could get us something or not by now." Sayaka said angrily.
"Just give it time." Hitomi said. "I'm sure she's trying."
Just then, the doors to the hospital opened. Though they were disguised well, Hitomi could easily identify the three people as Eve, Max, and Lilly. She was unsure as to why this particular group had decided to come, but they looked normal enough on the surface, she supposed.
"Hello?" Eve said, going to the desk quickly and alerting the secretary to her presence immediately. "I'm sorry, but can you please check if you have a certain patient here?" Eve showed the lady at the desk a picture of Alice. "It's very important."
"Hold on." The secretary typed a few things into her computer, looking briefly from the picture and the screen. "May I see some form of identification?"
"Sure." Eve handed her a card. It looked like a normal ID card to Hitomi from this distance. Max saw her looking at them and winked at her. Hitomi sighed. She supposed it was his job to make fake ID's and the like, but still.
The woman attempted to scan the card, but the system didn't accept it. She swiped it again. Hitomi saw Eve give Max a dirty look. He grinned nervously.
"Is there something wrong with your RFID tag?" the woman asked. "Because you're not coming up in the system."
"You know, just for future reference, how advanced is your civilization, anyway?" Max asked Hitomi.
"You should have checked before hand!" Eve shot him mentally.
"It would have been far more suspicious to include a RFID tag before they were invented than to not include one!" Max shot back.
"Oh, it's been on the fritz for a few days now." Eve said quickly. "I was meaning to get a new one, but I don't need to use it too often, and it's only been broken for less than a week, so I haven't had the time yet."
The woman looked at the card. After a moment, she sighed. "Alright, miss Eve Winters." She handed the card back to her. "Now, what is the relationship between you and the..." she paused. "Wait. Can I see that card again?"
"Sure." Eve handed it back. "And I'm her older sister. Max is her brother, and Lilly drove us here."
The woman looked at the card again, then gave Eve a dark look. "Oh, really?" she said flatly. "From the date of issuance included on here, I'd think you were her grandmother."
Eve paused. "What? No, that can't be."
"Well, it says March 1962 as the time of issuance." The woman said. "Either that or 2062, but I don't think you're from more than forty years in the future."
Eve didn't say anything. Max looked down.
Lilly stepped forward. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She said sweetly. Hitomi saw the secretary's face melt from distrust to blank acceptance in an instant. "There must have been a terrible mistake. I assure you, these two are indeed related to that poor girl. I know this looks bad, but can't you see their faces? They really do care dearly for the girl. Can't you please let us in?"
"Oh, of course." the secretary nodded. "I'm so sorry for this. Of course there's been a mistake." she laughed, handing Eve her card back. "She's in room 318."
"Thank you." Lilly said, smiling at the woman. She smiled back like she was greeting her oldest friend. "You've been very helpful."
Eve waited until she was sure that all attention was on Lilly, slapping Max hard on the back of the head with a glare. He rubbed his hair and looked down at his shoes.
"Would you happen to know who found her?" Eve asked the secretary, her composure back to normal.
"As it happens, she's sitting right there." the secretary pointed at Hitomi. Hitomi smiled up at Eve, then turned to look at how Sayaka was reacting. Unsurprisingly, Sayaka was giving the three strange looks.
"Hey." Sayaka said, tugging on Hitomi's arm. "I don't know what that lady just did to the secretary, but I don't think we can trust these people."
"Oh, wonderful!" Eve said, walking over to Hitomi quickly. "I wanted to thank you. You have no idea what this means to me." she sniffed, giving Hitomi a sad smile. "I owe you her life. I couldn't imagine what I would have done if she'd..." she trailed off. Hitomi had to give her credit, Eve had planed this out fairly well. Still, she wasn't sure why she was bothering with the act at this point. They were basically brute forcing it now anyway.
"Oh, it was nothing." Hitomi said.
"Sayaka's really suspicious." she sent.
"I'll take care of it, don't worry." Eve sent back.
"It's not nothing to me." Eve said, hugging Hitomi awkwardly. Hitomi stood stiff for a second, then returned the hug.
"Please, come with us." she said. "I'm sure it'll take a weight off of your mind to see her."
"Hitomi..." Sayaka pulled on her arm again. "This is a really bad idea."
"Do you think we'll have any other way of getting in?" Hitomi hissed. "I know this is a bad idea, Sayaka. You don't need to come if you don't want to." she gave Sayaka a smile. "It's a fully staffed hospital. It's not like they plan on kidnapping me and taking me out in the middle of the day."
Sayaka sighed. "Fine. But if we do get kidnapped, you have to pay my ransom." she smiled at Hitomi.
"Deal." she said quietly.
Hitomi turned back to the three. "Okay. We'll come." she said.
"Onwards to 318, then!" Eve said, walking out with the others. Hitomi and Sayaka followed at a few meters distance.
They walked through the hospital in silence, reaching their destination fairly quickly. Sayaka eyed them suspiciously the whole way through, but didn't say anything. Lilly opened the door, and the five entered the room.
The moment she stepped in, Hitomi could feel dark magic saturating the air. She shivered. There was something lurking here. Perhaps it was just something about hospital rooms? They had to see enough deaths to leave some mark.
"Hey, fancy seeing you four." Alice said, sitting up in her bed. "Well, five." she looked at Sayaka. "Is she Madoka?"
"No, this is Sayaka." Hitomi said. "Sayaka, this is Alice."
"Very nice to meet you." Sayaka said, bowing lightly.
Alice giggled. "It really is just like anime." she said. "You are all so over-polite."
Eve rounded on Max. "The wrong year." she said flatly. "You put the wrong year on the card." she shook her head. "Hitomi, what year is it?"
"2018." Hitomi said.
"You see?" Eve said. "It would have taken you all of twenty seconds to figure it out. 1962! What the hell!"
"Sorry." Max said. "You did only give me forty minutes warning, and half that time was spent just getting to the world gate and then to someplace with a wireless internet connection. The fact that I managed to get as close as I did under these conditions is a miracle in and of itself."
"Did you bring my focus?" Alice asked Hitomi.
"Of course." Hitomi said, taking it from her pocket and handing it to Alice. She took it quickly and put it back around her neck.
"Thanks for this." Alice said. "I know yesterday must have been really scary for you. I tried to tell you I was okay, but I was so exhausted at the time I couldn't think straight."
"You certainly look fine." Max said. "Hitomi told us you were in a bad way last night."
"You know these people?" Sayaka asked Hitomi. She looked around the room, confusion playing across her face. "What the heck is going on here?"
"Nothing important." Eve said. "Well, not to you anyway." she took a few steps forward, red sparks collecting in her hand. Sayaka had just enough time to take a step back before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.
"You know, I think you just like using that spell on people." Lilly said coyly.
"It wouldn't have been necessary if things had gone as planned." Eve said.
"I'm sorry." Max said. "Geez, give me a break, will you? This is the exact reason we brought Lilly along. Everything went fine in the end."
"What memories did you take?" Hitomi asked, putting Sayaka down in a chair.
"When she wakes up, she'll think you and her managed to get in here on your own, and found an unconscious but recovering Alice." Eve said. "That's all."
Hitomi nodded. She could live with that for now, she supposed. She turned to Alice. "How are you doing?" she asked.
"Perfectly fine." Alice said, getting out of her bed and brushing off her hospital gown. She flicked her wrist, a series of magical circles appearing. With a flash of blue-white light, she was back in her normal, solid black witches outfit. "I told you last night, I wasn't as bad as I looked. I heal fast." she looked around at the assembled crowd. "Sorry to worry you."
"You were bleeding so much that you fell unconscious!" Hitomi said. "What happened to the stab wounds?"
"What happened in general?" Eve said. "Perhaps if we get the story from the beginning, things will make more sense." Hitomi could tell that she was relieved at Alice's strange recovery, even if she didn't say anything outright.
"Heh." Alice said. "Well, it's quite the story, that's for sure."
"Don't keep us in suspense." Lilly said dryly.
"Well, you all remember me leaving to get Hitomi, right?" Alice started. "Everything went fine for a while. I made it to the world gate without trouble. But before I could cross it, something grabbed me in a magical hold. I saw some weird black and red creatures, half flesh and half shadow, approach me. There were only two of them, I think. Obviously, they had no idea of how to deal with a spectral witch. Even with my sub-optimal combat ability, I was easily able to destroy them before they reached me with a few well timed magical strikes. Unfortunately, when I did that, instead of leaving me alone they decided to step up their game. Even as the hold disintegrated, I felt myself being pulled into... something. I can't really describe where I ended up all that well. Pocket dimension seems to fit best, but it wasn't really that. Anyway, in this strange little space, there were, like, one hundred of the things. Now, I might be a little impulsive, and perhaps a bit want to overestimate my own ability, but even I could clearly see that I didn't really stand a chance of beating them all at once. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to have a choice, as they began to attack me almost immediately. To say I did a little bit of reckless spell-casting would be an understatement. I'm personally surprised to say that I managed to keep the whole group suppressed on my own for nearly a full minute. I must have been casting three, four spells a second the whole time. The sub-space glowed in blue-white light as I tried desperately to fight them off. But I soon felt myself tiring. By then, I must have killed thirty, maybe forty of the things, a great feat to be sure. But my perimeter began to collapse, and while impressive, I'd only managed to get perhaps a third of their number. By that time, I was soaked in blood, so much so that I was having a hard time running. One of the things managed to get at me from behind, stabbing my leg. I blasted it into little pieces for its trouble, but it really opened me up. The next minute or so is a bit of a blur. I know I was doing more running than fighting at that point, and I recall being stabbed at least once more. I don't know how it happened, but the next clear memory I have is being back on the floor of the gate-hall. By this point, I knew I was finished if any more of those things got to me. I had spent all my magic, probably overcast to be honest, and I was losing my strength quickly. The only person I could possibly get to in time was Hitomi, so I went for it." Alice paused. "That's what I was trying to say when I came through. I wanted you to defend me, Hitomi. I wasn't in any medical trouble. But by then, I could barely keep my eyes open, I was so spent. I don't really remember what I said after asking for help. For all I know, I fell unconscious right away. The next thing I recall is waking up here, some doctors exclaiming in shock at how quickly I was recovering." Alice finished her story, turning to Hitomi. "Sorry about your clothes, by the way. I hear bloodstains never really come out."
No one said anything for a moment. Alice looked at everyone curiously. "What?" she asked. "Is there something fishy with my story?"
"It does seem strange that none of the creatures came through after you." Max said. "There were eight or nine minutes between your appearance and when we showed up, and Hitomi didn't see anything."
"No, that makes sense." Eve said. "I think I know what those things were. Though the fact that they tried to attack Alice is really, really bad news if I'm right."
"What were they, then?" Lilly asked. "Since you seem to know."
"Well, I can't be sure. Understandably, Alice's description wasn't the most detailed thing in the world." Eve said, pausing. "But from what she said... I think they were corrupted souls. The weakest of the devourers."
Silence fell on the group. Sayaka stirred, then settled down again. Everyone looked at each other.
"Why is this a problem?" Hitomi asked after she felt an appropriate length of time had passed. "I mean, aren't we supposed to be facing these guys?"
"It's a problem, Hitomi, because that means they know we're trying to stop them already." Eve said. "And we haven't even done anything yet. They made the first move. Somehow, they knew. They obviously don't consider us that much of a threat, as they haven't attacked us with much force. They seem to be trying to scare us. That's why they singled out Alice, who was traveling alone. That's also most likely why they let her go." Eve turned to Alice. "Sorry to say it, but you really shouldn't have done as well as you did."
"Oh, I know." Alice said. "I was shocked as much as you are. I'm fully aware that I shouldn't be able to hold myself at one hundred to one. I shouldn't really be able to do ten to one."
"They weren't trying to kill you." Eve said, nodding. "This was a message." she ruffled Alice's hair. "Though I dare say they probably thought you'd be an easier target than you proved."
"So, what do we do now?" Max asked. "They know we're coming, apparently. How does this change our plans?"
"It doesn't." Eve said. "Well, maybe we'll start a little sooner than I was originally planning. I figured we'd spend the next two weeks training and getting used to working as a team. That's not really an option now, though. So, in that respect, I suppose it has changed things." Eve looked at everyone in the room. "We start our assault tomorrow."
Silence fell again. Ten seconds passed as everyone collected their thoughts.
Eve spoke again. "Now, there is something else I want to talk to you all about, but I think it should wait until we have the whole group together." she nodded at Hitomi. "I think you know what I'm referring to."
Hitomi nodded. Oh, yes, she knew. She just had no idea what it was or how she had done it.
"Can you take her home and follow us to the gate?" Eve said, gesturing to Sayaka. "I understand that this probably wasn't what you were planing to do with your day, but it's sort of important that we get ready."
Hitomi nodded again. "Trust me, I get it." she looked to Alice. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Heh." Alice said, rolling her eyes at Hitomi. "Did you seriously think something as small as four stab wounds could stop me?" she giggled. "I'm tougher than that."
"I mean, you are only human." Max said. "To be frank, I'm surprised myself."
"Magic." Alice said. "Isn't it wonderful?" she looked around at the others. "What, did you think in all of the sixty-four thousand spells I've learned, I never came across anything to boost my own healing ability?"
"Fair enough." Max said. "Though I'd imagine that it would require a significant amount of power."
"About one third, actually." Alice said. "I traded about a third of my power permanently for twenty times normal regeneration speeds, oh, three years ago?" she sighed. "You people just never ask."
"Well, to be fair, I've never seen you get seriously hurt before." Eve said. "I figured you just used some simple patching spell on scrapes and burns."
"Nope." Alice said, smiling at the others. "I'm full of little secrets."
"Regardless of why, she is okay now." Lilly said. "I'd figure that would be the important part."
"I disagree." Eve said. "Knowing how someone does something lets you more accurately figure out what they are capable of. She can get back on her feet quickly but wouldn't be considered a tank, for instance. In combat, you'd want her to take a knife for you, but wouldn't send her out against explosives. She's more resistant to weaker blows, but an instant kill for us is still an instant kill for her. It matters."
"Urngh..." Sayaka turned over in the chair.
"Can we take care of the girl first, and talk about this when we get back to base?" Max said. "I don't think Hitomi can carry her on her own, to be honest."
Hitomi snapped, a emerald pentagram appearing for a moment before dispelling. Sayaka was enveloped in green light for a moment, then dimmed to normal. She picked her up easily.
"Well, well." Eve said. "You've been learning quickly."
"I showed her a few dozen spells that I figured she might be able to use immediately." Alice said. "One to make objects weigh one tenth as much was on the list." she gave Hitomi a smile. "Though I'd hurry. It's not a cheep spell, you know. You'll wear yourself out pretty quick with that one."
"I know." Hitomi said. "I'll meet you all at the world gate in half an hour." The others nodded.
"Be safe." Eve said.
Hitomi nodded, and exited the room with Sayaka in her arms. No one seemed to comment on the impossibility of her carrying another girl her size so easily, for which she was very grateful. Humanity's normal tendency to ignore magic came in handy again, it seemed. She spared a short thought to how the others planned to get Alice out of the building, but eventually decided it was best that she just let them handle it. They'd think of something. She couldn't help but be happy, despite the obviously growing hardship which faced them. Alice was still okay. The group was moving. Everyone seemed to be so cool and collected. Eve was calm, Max was logical, and Lilly was surprisingly snarky. No one seemed particularly concerned. If they weren't worried, Hitomi figured she shouldn't be. She wouldn't go in expecting everything to be roses and sunshine, not anymore – but that was no reason to be afraid. The heroes always had to face challenge. And she would meet it.
With a group like theirs, what did they have to worry about? So long as they kept their heads, they'd all be fine.
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End Chapter Report:
Shizuki Hitomi is now level 2
Shizuki Hitomi has unlocked the achievement 'The Power Inside Me' for preforming her first form shift.
Shizuki Hitomi has unlocked the achievement 'Psycho logical' for reacting reasonably to her suffering.