Chapter the fifth, in which people do most of the things they talked of in the previous chapter, and Alice is surprisingly useful.
May 20, 03:53 PM – Fifty-four days, eight hours, seven minutes remaining.
"That's everyone, then." Eve said as Lilly walked in, bow and quiver equipped on her back. "We're ready to go."
"A bit short notice, Eve." Silvia said, scowling. "What happened to the other two hours we were supposed to have?"
"Spy, remember? We can't give them any time to report back to their masters." Eve said. "We're going right now, and we're hitting the second closest. Otherwise, the plan is unchanged."
"Yeah, but I don't have all my potions done." Silvia said. "Lilly is missing half her arrows, Fox is only carrying two weapons, and Hitomi is still bleeding from the last spell circle she traced. We're not ready, Eve. Five hours was ridiculous to expect. Three hours without warning is impossible."
"We'll be fine." Eve said. "We have the best team in the worlds gathered here. The impossible is our mundane. Against us, they don't-"
"We don't need a pep talk." Silvia snapped. "We need more time. Eve, if we go in there now, we will be killed."
"I'm ready." Fox said.
"You're always ready." Lilly said flatly.
"That said, I don't think things are quite as bad as you're making them out to be, Silvia." Derick said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Just because it takes you hours to set up doesn't mean the rest of us need that long. I'm sure the extra hours would help, but for most of us we're about as good now as we'll ever be."
"Whelp, I'm out, then." Silvia said. The others turned to look at her. She rolled her eyes. "I prioritized making healing potions. I don't have anything for combat. I didn't get to it."
There was a brief pause. Eve shook her head slowly, laughing softly for a moment. "I'm sorry." she said. "I should have given you some advanced warning. It completely slipped my mind that you actually have to make your weapons before each fight."
"Nah, it's okay." Silvia waved her hand dismissively. "I was just being difficult because I knew if you went I'd have to sit out. You seven will kick plenty of ass without me, I'm sure. Just don't go and get yourselves too hurt, okay?"
"I thought that was what your healing potions were for." Eve said playfully.
"They can only do so much." Silvia said quietly.
"Well, that's that, then." Eve said, turning to the rest of the group. Hitomi felt a chill pass over her. She swallowed hard. Alice squeezed her hand gently, and Hitomi returned the gesture. "We're off. Derick, do you have the coordinates?"
Derick swiped through his spell book, selecting a few readouts from the screen. "Ready whenever you are."
"Good. Teleporting in five." Eve said. "four... three... two... one..."
Hitomi shut her eyes.
"Now." Eve said. Hitomi felt a tingling pass over her, and then nothing. She opened her eyes. They were in an open field somewhere now, though she could still see the forest surrounding them on all sides at a distance. Derick flipped through his spell book a second time, and Hitomi closed her eyes again. Alice leaned into her.
"Just two more." she said quietly.
Hitomi nodded as the tingling washed over her again. She kept her eyes closed this time, just waiting for the jump.
"Last one." Derick said. "Get ready. When we drop in, we have no idea how they'll react to us. I'm going to put us down five hundred meters from the edge, so depending on the area, they could spot us immediately. We'll have to be set to fight within one second of appearing. Are we good?"
"Let's do this already!" Fox said eagerly.
"Okay. Here goes." Derick said, and Hitomi felt the tingling again. As soon as they appeared, she opened her eyes, looking around quickly to get an idea of the surrounding area. Her eyes went wide. There was an obvious encampment within a minutes run from them across a clear desolate landscape. A few piles of dirt, seemingly recently overturned, were distributed irregularly around the camp. Perhaps twenty tents stood there, and she could see people walking between them clearly in the lights of the bonfires scattered about the camp. If they hadn't been spotted yet, they would be shortly.
"There are... thirty-seven of them." Derick said, reading from his screen.
"That's not quite eight for each of us." Fox said. "Not fair. I thought this would be more interesting than that."
"Heh." Eve drew her pistols. "Don't knock it. Derick, can you introduce us?"
"On it." he began to type rapidly into his spell book, and Hitomi saw the ground around him begin to glow. Lilly had taken out a little wooden flute and was playing a song on it, though Hitomi heard no noise. Max drew a large glowing weapon which looked like a cross between an assault rifle and a miniature cannon that someone had strapped glow-sticks to. Alice snapped, several large white magical circles floating around her at the ready. Hitomi swallowed hard, tapped her belt buckle, and drew her sword.
Derick pointed his hand upwards with a flourish, and a wave of flame shot forth, coalescing into a tight stream of fire which arched upwards rapidly. The people in the camp turned to the small group, and Hitomi thought she heard shouting between them. They only had about three seconds to react as Derick's attack closed in on them at half the speed of sound. There was a flare as the bolt hit the ground, and half the tents caught fire.
Hitomi looked to the others to see what they were doing, only to find them already running into battle. Eve had nearly covered the distance already, her flight ten times as fast as Fox's run. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, and Hitomi could see the grin on his face from where she stood. Lilly was running purposefully and quietly towards a small collection of rocks about fifty meters from the edge of the camp from where, Hitomi assumed, she intended to provide archer support. Max was lagging behind Fox, but seemed to have similar intention.
"You two stay safe." Derick said to Alice and Hitomi, tapped his spell book's screen, and disappeared.
Alice tugged Hitomi's hand. "Come on!" she said, pulling her towards the battle.
"I thought we were supposed to be backup." Hitomi said. "We should stay here."
"Yeah, but they're not looking at us now." Alice said. "Don't you want to get in on the action? This is our chance to show them we can handle ourselves."
"Alice..." Hitomi started, but Alice was already dragging her, laughing. Hitomi sighed and started running with her. "Slow down a bit. I can't keep up!"
The two witches ran into battle, slowly catching up with the others. Hitomi heard gunshots begin to ring out, and saw Eve's weapons discharging. She rained bullets down from the heavens, and the people below began to scream out as she landed and drew her blade. Derick and Max were standing back to back, three small fireballs floating in Derick's hand, each blast of Max's weapon blowing a hole in whatever he pointed it at. Fox was in the thick of it, his enemies unable to figure out exactly where he was, unable to block his strikes as he cut through them.
"Oh, come on." Alice said huffing. "By the time we get there they'll be done!"
"Then why don't we worry about the fourteen people who aren't there?" asked Hitomi. Alice paused, looking at her.
"What?"
Hitomi sighed, shaking her head. "This is a military camp, right? No general dispatches thirty-six men and a commander. They dispatch fifty and a commander, or perhaps forty-nine and a commander. Thirteen or fourteen men are unaccounted for."
"That's..." Alice paused. "A very good point, actually." she spun on her heal, facing backwards. There was a brief pause.
"Nope. Don't see anyone." Alice said. "And it's not like they have anywhere they could hide on an open plane like this."
"That can't be right." Hitomi said, looking around as well. "They should be here somewhere." her eyes settled on the plane, and she went numb. "Alice, we need to get to the others right now."
"Why?" Alice said. Hitomi pointed to the ground.
"You see those piles of dirt?" Hitomi said. "I don't think they're piles of dirt."
Alice's eyes flickered across the ground quickly. "Sixty-four piles, to bring us to one hundred men and one commander." she shook her head. "But that can't be. They would have had to know we were coming."
"It's not important right now!" Hitomi hissed. "We need to warn the others!"
There was a flash of light from behind the girls, and they turned to see the aftermath of a large explosion, Eve removing herself from the blast rapidly while still discharging her guns repeatedly. It looked like the camp was nearly destroyed by now. The ground shook as the blast-wave overtook the two girls.
"Signal?" Alice asked, and Hitomi nodded curtly.
"Could be. Prepare for combat!" she saw some of the dirt piles begin to shift. "We need to hold here for long enough for the others to notice."
"Got it." Alice's spell circles once again glowed, and Hitomi waited, prepared to cast her spell as soon as she had a target.
One of the things popped out only a few meters from her, and Hitomi gasped. It wasn't a man, that was for sure. Its face glowed with sickly red markings, and it seemed to be half shadow. It turned its eyes to Hitomi, looking deep into her with the pitch black pits in its head. It opened its mouth and let out a low cackle, drawing a evil looking blade from its belt.
Hitomi flicked her wrist, a flash of green light briefly illuminating the face of the creature before it was torn apart by her spectral blades. Turning on her heal, she pointed at the next target, her blades following her command. She spun, killing anything that got closer than five meters. Alice wasn't letting them get that far. She waited until a group of eight had closed in on her, then released all her spells at once. The three nearest attackers were torn to shreds while the five behind only suffered major blast damage, being thrown backwards. Hitomi sighed, watching her last blade break and summoning herself a second set. "You know, you have to teach me how to hold precast spells like that at some point." she growled, and Alice giggled.
"Once we're done here." she said, pointing over Hitomi's shoulder and knocking back one of the things who had gotten too close. "How are you doing?"
"Better than I expected." Hitomi said, flicking her wrist and drawing her blades to her. She stood back to back with Alice. "I think I've gotten five of them so far."
"And this'll be ten for me." Alice said, letting loose a wave of small blast spells. "You feeling any drain?"
"Starting to." Hitomi said. "I'm also getting the feeling that this is to easy."
"Yeah, me too." Alice said. "What do you want to bet that the things we've killed aren't actually dead?"
"Wouldn't surprise me." Hitiomi flicked a motion with her sword, and the spectral blades engaged three of the creatures as they approached. "We won't be able to hold this for much longer."
"Oh, drop!" Alice said, and Hitomi did so. There was a flurry of blast spells over her head, and she saw a few of the creatures that Alice had taken out get hit again just as they began to rise. Hitomi spun upwards, quickly recasting her spell as the line broke.
"Okay, scratch that." Alice said as the creatures in front of her rose again as well. "I've gotten three of them, I think. So much for being ahead of you."
"Well, I'm the one with the combat magic proficiency." Hitomi said, summoning a second set to help the first, now commanding nine blades at once. "It makes sense that I'd be doing better in combat."
"Fair-" Alice grunted, letting a wave of energy forth and knocking back her attackers, one of them exploding into dust. "-enough."
There was a screech, and the men in front of Hitomi parted, two large black beasts snarling down at her. They were two meter tall wolf like creatures with glowing eyes, ivory white teeth and claws, and a stench like death. One took a step towards her, barking loudly. A thin vale of black smoke trailed off it. Hitomi felt a chill go down her back.
The nearer creature lunged at her, bounding five meters through the air and landing just in front of Hitomi. She reflexively slashed out at it with her sword, and felt it slice the beasts flesh. It howled, and she sprang backwards, attempting to put distance between her and it. She steadied herself, sword at the ready, drawing her spectral blades back to her to hit it from behind.
It lunged at her again, lower than she had expected. She was given about a quarter of a second to be shocked before she felt its teeth clamp around her right leg. Her spectral blades impacted on it, and it unclasped as the magical weapons sliced deep into its hide. The creature reeled, collapsing in front of Hitomi.
Hitomi had just about long enough to witness this happen before her mind finally caught up with the pain in her leg. She'd never really been hurt before, not like this. Sure, she'd had scrapes. She thought those had hurt. She was ready for that. She figured that was pain.
It wasn't.
That was the slightest, palest facsimile of what pain was. That was nothing. That was closer to perfect condition than it was to real pain. That was closer to ecstasy than it was to real pain. Hitomi saw black spots playing across her eyes. Her leg was burning inside with a million fires, torn to part by a thousand hooks, stabbed into oblivion by a billion needles. She felt sick. Her mind went blank. This was it. She was done. Nothing existed outside of her agony. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. Nothing else registered. A little voice inside her head helpfully informed her that she was probably going to die if she didn't snap out of it, but she ignored it. She couldn't think about that right now. She was in too much pain to think about that right now.
Inside her head, blinded by her pain, she spun into dark circles of internal torture. Nothing could escape it. No thoughts broke her perfect misery. There was nothing left of her to break it.
Hitomi hadn't the slightest idea of how long she stayed like that. It felt like hours, but it couldn't have been more than a couple seconds, really. Her eyes fluttered open. She saw the creatures coming towards her, saw the other great wolf bare its fangs. She saw, but it didn't really matter. She couldn't think straight anyway. She was sort of disappointed in herself for failing so quickly, but there wasn't all that much she could do about it at this point. Any moment now, she would fall into a blissful sleep of non-existence, and it would be over with.
There was a flurry of white blasts over her head. Hitomi watched, almost in slow motion, as a few of the nearest creatures were flung backwards. It seemed so silly to her. Why didn't they just end it already? She wouldn't stop them.
The second wolf-thing leaped over her, and her eyes followed it as it flew through the air towards Alice. Something in her tugged at her foggy mind. Alice deflected it with a shield, but she was knocked to the ground in the process. Some of the other creatures began to advance on Alice as she lost concentration. They swarmed around her, preparing for the final assault.
She's going to die if you don't do something.
Hitomi felt a strange charge build through her system. In all the stories, they say the pain melts from the hero and they fight on, regardless of their wounds. But stories lie. The pain did not go away. The pain didn't change at all. What changed was her will.
Letting out a scream of abject anguish, Hitomi stood up, her mind clearing as she prepared to help Alice, regardless of what was in her way. Her vision went white from agony, but she fought through her pain anyway, preparing herself to attack again. It just didn't matter anymore. Either she did this, or Alice died. It was that simple. She had someone to protect. She couldn't quit now.
Hitomi felt power flush through her system. Her eyes glowed green, her sword lit with spectral flame, her hair exploded in a rush behind her. Two marks, then three, silhouetted her in emerald light. She let herself buzz with energy for a moment, then turned to her foes.
Still screaming in pain, she ran at the dark wolf and sliced it clean in two with a single strike. Spinning on her good leg, she flicked her hand, summoning a cloud of twenty-seven blades, sending them dancing around her. With a feral bellow, she threw her hands into the air, another rush of power overcoming her. Her hair began to shimmer with light, the final third turning gold. A fourth marker finished a half-halo behind her, lending her power. From her body pulsed a wave of emerald light, throwing back their assailants nearly fifteen meters and searing them across the front. Hitomi glanced down to Alice, who was looking up at her in shock.
"You look... good." Alice said lamely.
Hitomi turned to face the attackers. They were regarding her wearily, and seemed unwilling to approach. She snapped, drawing her blades to her. If they wouldn't attack her, she would go to them. She sent her blades whirring out, the still shaky line collapsing under her assault. Hitomi kept the pressure on, summoning more and more weapons until she began to feel the drain even in her fourth form. She concentrated on the swords, commanding them to strike as feverishly as she could force them to.
Slowly, her wall was pressed backward. Hitomi flicked her wrist, confused, concentrating on area after area as they one by one drew in to her. Suddenly it struck her that, though she easily had the power to summon and maintain one hundred blades, she had no where near the skill required. She felt a panic rise in her chest as her first row shattered, the simple patterns of attack leaving her magic easily open to retaliation. A thrown dagger slit her arm; she faltered slightly, and the enemy pressed up two meters before she regained control. Furious, she redoubled her efforts for a moment, then recoiled as her wild strikes left her even more open. The enemy approached again. The spectral blades were shattered one by one, emerald flashes lighting up the night, jeweled green dust carried by the wind. Alice's blasts joined her, but even still, they were fighting a losing battle. The numbers of active weapons dwindled, until only seven remained. Hitomi had gotten perhaps ten of their number in this all told, another ten between the two of them prior. Forty men still surrounded them, their weapons gleaming.
Hitomi gritted her teeth and prepared to tear them apart, gathering her strength for a final, overwhelming attack, when a glowing pink arrow sprouted from one of their backs. Relief washed over her. Not pausing, Hitomi threw her magic at them as the others arrived, attacking them from the side. Fox swung into action immediately, Max and Derick drawing in to protect Hitomi and Alice. Eve landed at the edge of Hitomi's perimeter, joining her spectral weapons with her own sword. From her position, Hitomi could not see Lilly, but her arrows thinned out the crowd, strike after strike making its mark. Internally, Hitomi let out a sigh of relief. For all her display of power, she had no idea how to actually fight. Had they not shown up, she would have most likely lost within a few moments.
Between the seven of them, they didn't have too much trouble. Hitomi didn't manage to kill to many more, but her blades kept them inclosed as her allies tore them apart one by one. By the time Hitomi's will failed her, they had gotten over fifty of the sixty-four. Hitomi felt her power leaving her in a rush, her hair turning to dust behind her as she collapsed. Max caught her on her way down as Derick slammed a fireball into three of the stragglers. Within twenty seconds, they were all dead.
"How is she?" Eve said, pointing to Hitomi who groaned piteously in Max's arms.
"I think her leg is shattered." Max said. "Really badly. Like, possibly permanently injured really badly."
Hitomi didn't comment except to moan especially loudly as Max shifted her.
"We'll treat her as soon as we get done here." Eve said. She took a few steps towards Hitomi, and placed her fingers on her forehead. Hitomi shuddered, then felt the pain going away. After a few seconds, it was no more than a dull ache.
"I'm surprised you could stand with that." Eve said. "That was pretty impressive."
"What did you..." Hitomi started, then sighed. "Magic, right. I'm guessing you didn't actually fix anything, though?"
"Yeah, just a painkiller. A really good one, but a painkiller." Eve said. "Don't move."
"I don't plan on it." Hitomi said. There was a pause. No one seemed to have much to say, their thoughts still in shock from the battle. Hitomi took a deep breath, breaking the silence. "So, we won."
"Yeah, we won." Eve said. "Thanks to you and Alice." she glanced away for a moment, then looked straight at Alice. "You did a lot better than I thought. Better than I gave you credit for. I'm sorry."
Alice's face lit up despite her exhaustion, and she smiled happily at Eve, not saying a word.
"It was a bit harder than I expected, but I think this turned out well." Fox said. "Hitomi was the only one seriously injured, and we managed to fend off a surprise attack and destroy the camp in only three minutes. One hundred to seven, and we did just fine."
"Where is the commander?" Max asked, lying Hitomi on the ground. "We still need to find him to interrogate, don't we?" he paused, then groaned. "Don't tell me we killed him in the fray."
"No, he's hiding here somewhere." Eve said. "I can smell it."
"They were under the piles of dirt." Hitomi said. "Maybe he didn't come out?"
"Wait, let me check." Alice said, quickly scanning the ground. "Yep, there's one pile of dirt that hasn't changed from before." she pointed out at it. "He'll be under there."
"I'm curious as to how they knew to hide." Fox said. "You'd think that a spy would have a hard time informing them so quickly."
"You'd think." Eve said flatly. "I think I've figured part of that out, and it's just as I feared. On the plus side, we can all stop being as paranoid, but the explanation can wait until we finish up here."
"Sorry I wasn't much help." Lilly said, joining the group. "There weren't any animals in range to command, I'm afraid."
"It's fine. You still got at least ten of them." Max said. "Heck, even our utility mage got four or five."
"I'm a spectral witch, not a mage." Alice huffed, not really paying attention.
"What can I say?" Eve said, turning to the group with a smile. "We're really quite good at this."
"Don't get cocky." Lilly said. "These were the weakest troops, and we start out strongest. Triple their number and we would have been hard pressed to get out alive. We can't keep up this level of damage for very long. Don't go throwing us at any armies just yet, Eve."
"I wasn't planing on it." Eve said. "I figured we could use a break after this, actually. We are two weeks ahead of our initial schedule after all."
"Can we just get this done?" Derick asked. "Preferably before Hitomi's leg starts to set on its own."
"Right. Sorry." Eve said, walking over to the pile of dirt. She waved her hand, and her red sparks cocooned the mass of dirt, removing it quickly. Beneath the dirt, there lay a large iron box. Runes were etched in the sides, and Eve took a step back.
"Don't touch the box." she warned, shuttering. "It'll wipe the last six months of your memory if you do."
"So, we need to get inside?" Max asked, walking over to the box. "How do you propose doing that? There doesn't appear to be a latch or door of any kind."
"You did bring a utility proficient witch along with you for a reason." Alice said, walking to the box. "Give me a moment..." she closed her eyes, then flicked her wrist, reaching her hand through a pentagram in front of her. She pulled out a cutting torch from thin air, clicking it into action and putting it to the metal. She sliced through a few of the runes on the edges first, breaking the spell. Moving onto the box, she began to cut a hole in the top.
"The box is pretty thick. This might take a while." she said.
"We just need you to punch a small hole." Eve said. "So long as we can hear through it clearly, that should be enough."
"Got it." Alice said. Sparks flew as she slowly cut through the top. "Thirty seconds, maybe."
Eve drew her blade and stepped up behind Alice, tapping her shoulder and casting a shield of red sparks around her. "Just in case they try something." she said quietly.
"Oh, come on." Alice pouted over the sound of rending metal. "I can handle someone trapped in a locked box. You don't need to-"
The cage shook, and a bolt of black energy hit Alice square in the chest, throwing her five meters into the air and shattering the shield. She landed next to Hitomi, who turned her head to look at her friend. Alice gasped for breath violently, coughing. With the shield, it seemed that she had only been winded.
"You were saying?" Eve said playfully.
"Gah." Alice got back to her feet. "Lucky shot." she rolled her eyes, then sighed. "Thanks, Eve."
"Don't mention it." Eve said, snapping her fingers and letting her power engulf the box, flooding it. The box shook for a couple seconds, and red light flashed from the crack Alice had cut. There were a series of banging noises, and then everything went quiet.
"Should be fine now." Eve said. "Cary on cutting."
"On it." Alice returned to her work, finishing without trouble. There was a clang, and a panel ten centimeters on a side dropped in. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Alice peered over the hole, careful not to touch the still molten metal on the edges.
"Hello?" she asked airily, to no reply. Alice waited a few seconds, then queried again. "Hello?" again, there was no response. She sighed, turning to Eve. "Are you sure you didn't kill him?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Eve said. "Here, let me try." Eve took a few steps forward, then spoke clearly in a language that Hitomi understood despite having never before heard it. The words seemed to shimmer in the air, and Hitomi could feel their power as Eve spoke.
"I, Eve, warrior of the light, challenge the spawn of darkness which rests inside this cage. You will respond to me."
Hitomi shuttered. It was unsettling, hearing Eve say these words. The sounded old somehow, almost like they made things what they were and not simply described them. Inside the box, noises began to rise.
"You'll get nothing from me, Valkyrie." a deep voice spat from inside the cage, gravelly and twisted. "You are but the lowest warrior of the light. You have no power over me, despite your pretty words."
"It's not my pretty words you should concern yourself with." Eve said. "I just needed to wake you up."
"I will not fall for your tricks, Valkyrie." the voice hissed. "I will die before I tell you anything, pawn of the day!"
"Oh, now, that wasn't very nice to say." Lilly said softly. "You should apologize to Eve." Hitomi nearly gagged. Even from ten meters away, facing in the opposite direction, and not directed to her, she had a hard time not following Lilly's command. Her voice was layered with mesmerizing tones. Eve might be able to speak the language of creation, but Hitomi had no question that Lilly's words were stronger. This is what a siren could do when they actually tried.
"Forgive me." the voice said without hesitation. It sounded sincere enough to Hitomi. "I'm sorry I insulted you, Eve."
"Oh, I'm sure she'll forgive you." Lilly said. "Now, if you wouldn't mind telling us where the first champion of your master is, I would be ever so happy."
"Of course." there was a flash of light, and a black scroll appeared before Lilly. "With this, you'll be able find him."
"Oh, thank you ever so much, dear." Lilly said.
"Don't mention it." he said shortly.
Lilly stood up, looking at the scroll. "It looks real enough to me." she told the others. "It seems to be a location beacon map. Should point us in the right direction as long as the set target is somewhere on the planet."
"Well, that's all we needed." Eve said. "Mission complete. Let's head back to base, team!"
Everyone nodded, gathering together. Max picked up Hitomi, supporting her from below. Derick began to fiddle with his spell book again, preparing to teleport them home.
"Hey..." the voice grumbled, seeming to be coming out of its stupor. "No, I can't give you..."
"Oh, dear?" Lilly called. "Do me a favor and kill yourself, will you?"
There was a brief pause. "Please?" Lilly asked, her voice layering again. The box was silent for a moment more. "Pretty please?"
The box shook briefly, the sound of rending flesh and bone emanating from the hole. Lilly sighed. "Tough one. I usually don't have that much trouble."
Hitomi shuttered.
"Did you have to do that?" Max said, sighing. "That's really creepy, Lilly."
"Should I have not? Were you planning on letting him live? Is there a problem with how I chose to kill my toys?" Lilly snapped, and Max took a step back.
"Of course not." Max said quickly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have questioned you. Of course you're right." he cast his eyes down, as if he felt that he had truly overstepped his bounds, mutely submitting to Lilly.
Lilly shook her head, a smile twitching on her lips. Hitomi watched a battle of wills cross her face, as if she was enjoying this but knew that she shouldn't be. Lilly took a deep breath, and seemed to clear her head, regaining a measure of control.
"Sorry." she said quietly. "There is a reason I don't like using my power to its fullest. It... changes me."
"No kidding." Derick said, finishing the work in his spell book. "Can the take-over wait until we get back to base?"
"I'm..." Lilly said quietly, but let it trail off. Hitomi thought she might have seen a tear drop from Lilly, but she couldn't be sure, as at that moment the teleport went off. She tried to close her eyes, but it was too late; the experience, as she had assumed, was not pleasant. She shuddered as they rematerialized. Her brain couldn't really make much sense from the quarter-second of non-existence she had witnessed, but it had left her about as shaken as she had expected. She shook her head, clearing it, and clamped her eyes shut this time before the teleport went off a second time, then a third. She opened her eyes to find their group just outside of the castle. Silvia saw them materialize, and she walked smartly towards Hitomi and Max.
"What happened to her?" she asked flatly. "If a tough little girl is letting you carry her, it must be serious. How many bones are broken, and where are they?"
"Her right leg." Max said. "It got hit real bad. Some dire wolf thing bit it pretty hard."
"Then it's even worse that I thought." Slivia said, poking Hitomi's leg with a finger. Hitomi winced. It didn't hurt, Eve's spell was still working, but she was pretty sure that there was no joint there to let her leg giggle like that.
"Why do you say..." Max started, then stopped, his eyes going wide. "Oh, no."
"What?" Hitomi said. "What's wrong?"
"You're leg's so broken that I can jiggle it with a touch." Silvia said. "And you said that happened from a bite." she poked it with a finger again. "So, by now, my hand should be soaked in blood, right?"
Hitomi felt a pit fall in her stomach.
"Now, I'm no medical expert, but I would have thought that there would be at least a little blood." Silvia said. "I can't be sure exactly what it means yet, but it can't possibly be good." she turned to Alice. "Is there any witchy thing we should do before I try to stabilize her?"
"We should take her to her room." Alice said. "It will help."
Silvia nodded, turning to the others. "And how about you? Any other injuries I need to worry about?"
"Some cuts and bruises, but Hitomi is the only one in need of immediate attention." Eve said. "We got lucky this time."
"Aw, only one challenge? I had hoped for something more interesting." Silvia said. Hitomi and Alice both gave her a long, long look. She put her hand up to stave off their stares. "Sorry, that was in bad taste. Max, do you mind caring Hitomi the rest of the way to her room? I'll be right with you once I get my supplies."
Max nodded, and Eve waved her hand. "You're all dismissed." she said. "Go get Hitomi to her room."
The group broke, each attending to their wounds and recovering in their own ways. Max carried Hitomi through the halls, up the stairs, and to her room, careful not to hit her against anything. Alice followed closely behind, never taking her eyes off Hitomi as they passed through the building. It wasn't long before the three were standing outside of Hitomi's room, Max tapping against the invisible wall of Hitomi's witches barrier impotently.
"Do you mind letting me in?" he asked Alice, minor tones of exasperation in his voice.
"Oh, shoot." Alice said, shaking her head. "I never actually showed you how to..." she shook her head. "Never mind. Hitomi, I'm really sorry about this, but you need it." Alice put her hand on the edge of the barrier, and Hitomi felt a tug in her heart as the area around the door flashed blue white, Alice claiming her for a moment as she took over. Hitomi felt a profound sense of loss, like something internal to her had been stolen, like her core didn't belong to her anymore. She whimpered, unable to keep the feeling inside.
"I'm so sorry." Alice said. "It'll just be a few more seconds." she closed her eyes for a moment, then tugged on Max. "Come on. In you go. I don't want to keep this up any longer than I have to."
Max dutifully entered the room, and Alice let her hand fall from the barrier, the green light overtaking the discolored patch quickly. Hitomi felt control returning to her mind, and she let out a sigh of relief. Max put her down on the cot in the corner, and Alice kneeled beside her, grasping Hitomi's hands in hers.
"Does it hurt?" she asked anxiously.
"No." Hitomi shook her head. "Eve's spell is still working." she squeezed Alice's hand. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
"You really saved me back there." Alice said. "I was stupid, and I got us in the middle of that mess. If we'd waited where we were told to, we could have warned the others without..." Alice trailed off.
"This wasn't your fault." Hitomi said. "Besides, I'm glad that I was there to help you when you needed it." Hitomi squeezed Alice's hand. "That's what friends are for. If something had happened to you, again, so quickly... I'm not sure I could have taken it, Alice."
"But I feel that way about you, too." Alice said. "I can't stand to see you hurt like this. You..." Alice said, tears brimming on the edges of her eyes. "You're my only friend, Hitomi."
"Hey." Hitomi squeezed Alice's hand again. "I'm not going anywhere, Alice. I bet I'll be up and about by this time tomorrow." Hitomi paused, then shook her head. "I better hope it's faster than that, actually. I have school in only about sixteen hours."
Alice giggled lightly. "You even have the obsession with school." she poked Hitomi. "You really are just a little anime schoolgirl." she gave Hitomi a coy look. "Chasing any senpai?"
"No!" Hitomi said, giggling. She was glad that Alice seemed to have lost her worry. After what had happened, she felt she had earned a little bit of chatting time with a friend, at least until her medical aid got there.
"Come on, I won't tell." Alice said teasingly. "It's not like we go to the same school or something. We don't even live on the same planet. I won't give away your secret love."
"I'm not interested in any upperclassmen." Hitomi said. Her mind briefly flashed to a boy in a hospital bed. "I have enough on my class level already."
"Yeah, you mentioned some boy, right?" Alice said. "Kami-something?"
"Kamijou Kyousuke" Hitomi sighed.
"I suppose it makes enough sense, anyway." Alice said, grinning at Hitomi. "From what I could see, you fit better into a magical girl anime then one of those middle school dramas."
"What?" Hitomi said, shaking her head. "I think this is a little too dark for a magic girl anime."
"Are you kidding me?" Alice laughed. "A middle-schooler with a secret hidden power taken from her normal life to save the world with a team of other magical people? Fighting at night while holding a normal life, keeping your identity hidden to keep your friends safe? You even had the transformation sequence! You're totally a magic girl."
"I suppose you're right." Hitomi paused. "Alice... I'm sorry for not telling you about that whole transformation thing before, but Eve told me not to."
"It's fine." Alice waved off Hitomi's apology. "I understand. Besides, that was one of those things you just had to see." Alice's eyes glowed with admiration as she remembered. "Your hair flowing out long behind your head, trapped in a wind of its own, the end shimmering with golden light as you pointed your hand purposefully at your enemy, your eyes aglow with terrible power..." Alice sighed. "I wish I could do that."
"I wish I could do it on command." Hitomi sighed. "Though I do suppose having life or death situations as a trigger isn't that bad, all things considered. At least it goes off when I need it most."
"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." Alice said confidently, and Hitomi felt herself believing her words. She was glad Alice was with her. She felt better with her around, somehow, despite all that had happened.
"I wonder what's keeping Silvia." Max said, looking out of the room. "She should be here by now. I'll go see where she is." he took a step, hitting the barrier again. "Or, you know, not." he sighed.
"Sorry." Alice said. "This isn't my barrier, it's Hitomi's. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to teaching her how to let people in and out before we had to leave. I can pass through fine, 'cuz I'm her spectrum leader, but no one else can get through yet. I'd rather not disrupt her barrier if possible. It's not a very nice thing to do to another witch, disrupting their barrier. Like ripping at their soul. The fewer times I have to do it, the better. So, please sit tight until we get this sorted."
"Fine." Max grumbled, sitting down. "Would it kill you to have some chairs in here, Hitomi?"
"Sorry." she said. "I haven't really had the time for that yet." she winced briefly as a pang of agony passed through her leg. It seemed that Eve's spell was beginning to wear off. She hoped that Silvia got there soon.
Silence fell in the room. Alice sat with Hitomi, holding her hand tightly as Hitomi's pain slowly returned. Hitomi was grateful for the gesture. Max took out his weapon again, cleaning it and making sure it was all in one piece. "Oh, that's a good idea." Alice said. "Hitomi, would you give me your blade? We should clean it before it pits from the blood." Hitomi nodded, touching her belt and drawing her blade.
Presently, Slivia arrived, pulling a cart of potions behind her. "Sorry." she said, knocking on the barrier. "I took more then I probably need, just in case. I'm probably worried over nothing, but a bite with no blood is worth considering carefully." she paused, looking from Hitomi to the blade and back to Hitomi. "I would appreciate it if you didn't stab me, Hitomi. No need to draw weapons."
"Sorry. Bad timing." Hitomi said, handing her blade to Alice quickly. Alice laid it down on the floor, stood up, and went to the edge of the barrier.
"Brace yourself." Alice said, and Hitomi shut her eyes, preparing for the emptiness which soon filled her bones and chilled her core. It only took a few seconds this time, for which Hitomi was very grateful.
"Okay, let's see here..." Silvia leaned over Hitomi, prodding at her leg and examining it thoroughly. Hitomi winced with pain every time she touched it, but kept as still as she could. "Well, good news, finally. I know why you're not bleeding. No puncture wounds. The thing didn't have any teeth, any real ones anyway. Makes enough sense, creature of shadow and all that. Still, this leg is in a really bad way." Silvia scratched her head. "I think I can fix it, but it's going to take some time. Three, four days at least."
"Three days?!" Hitomi said. "But I need to get back to class in sixteen hours!" she sighed, then shook her head. "And, beyond that, I can't just disappear from my home for seventy-two... no, eighty hours without warning. Everyone will be worried sick!"
"If we let you back, they'll stick you in a hospital for a few months, and your leg still won't actually heal right." Slivia said curtly. "We'll come up with something to explain your absence."
Hitomi sighed. "I don't really have a say in this, do I?" she said lamely. Silvia grinned.
"Now she gets it." she drew a vial from her cart, giving it to Hitomi. "Now, be a good girl and take your medicine."
Hitomi groaned internally, tipping back the vial and choking down the potion. As she gagged on the last sip, Alice squeezed her hand again, and Hitomi relaxed. It wasn't ideal, to be sure, but they had all made it out of their first real battle alive. All in all, she supposed, things weren't really that bad.
Hitomi laid her head down on her cot, happy in spite of herself. How could she not be? After all, despite all that had happened, she had managed to end the day surrounded by friends.
##########
End Chapter Report:
Shizuki Hitomi is now level 3
Shizuki Hitomi has unlocked the achievement 'Four a Friend' for reaching form four while defending an ally.