Magia, Pacem, Bellum Terrarum - False Synthesis
The Inspection Team
June 20, 1939 - Tuesday
It was early in the morning, just as the sun was about to rise, when Elise de Lamarliere and Serafina Larivenko disembarked from the Ukrainian's small but reliable boat and onto the storied wharf of Port Arthur. The tall, Ukrainian lady brought out a heavy, wooden crate from her boat's hold and then effortlessly set it down on the wharf while the lithe French girl emerged with a leather suitcase in her right hand.
Elise was still groggy from her two-day journey at sea, so she shielded her eyes from the fledgling light of the morning sun. She then saw the frail sparkle of lilac in the gem of her silver ring. Serafina's sharp eyes saw Elise's gem, so the Ukrainian hummed,
"Don't tell me you didn't cleanse your Soul Gem when we left Manila. You know - when a Carissima nurses an unclean gem, it doesn't bode well for her Branch."
Elise grumbled and asked,
"Is that some sort of Oriental superstition?"
Serafina chuckled, "Yes - the Carissimas in East Asia seem to believe so. Even the Carissima of Vladivostok."
The French girl tilted her head,
"Even the Russians, huh? The Orient is such a strange place."
Serafina heaved a sigh and then sat on the crate on the wharf as she said,
"And yet you chose to stay and lay your roots down in this region too, Carissima Elise."
"Did you wish I wasn't here, Maultier Serafina Larivenko?"
Serafina snickered in reply,
"Of course not, Carissima Elise de Lamarliere of Manila. The Edificio Gumamela is in such great shape because of you! The Art Deco is a little too fancy for my tastes, but I'm just a simple Maultier."
Elise folded her arms and said,
"You can blame the Spaniards who built that building and the Americans who renovated it. I haven't touched the building yet."
Serafina then chuckled, "As long as you don't ask me to bring tons of paintings from France or something to suit your lofty tastes, we'll be fine."
The Ukrainian then dug into the pocket of her coat and brought out a small pouch that sounded with glassy dings. Serafina then took out a jet black Grief Seed and offered it to Elise,
"Come on - I'll clean our Soul Gems for us before you go."
Elise refused at first, but the Ukrainian insisted with a smile. The French girl had no choice but to oblige. The two magi transformed their silver rings into their egg-shaped gem forms - Serafina's crimson red gem and Elise's lilac gem. Serafina set the Grief Seed between their gems which drew out streams of corruption from the crimson and the lilac.
As the two were cleansing their gems, Serafina watched Elise who was staring into her lilac gem with unusual focus. There was nothing that the Ukrainian could think of saying however, so she held her tongue and listened to the lapping of the waves against the wharf instead.
Once their gems were clean, Serafina and Elise heard the solemn tune of the Japanese national anthem playing out on distant speakers throughout the port. Elise raised her eyes up from her lilac gem and towards the port where she saw flags of the Japanese Empire rising up on the flagpoles - the banners of the rising sun. Alongside those stark banners, smaller and curious flags were raised as well - the yellow-bodied flags of the puppet state of Manchukuo.
In the presence of the banners of the rising sun, the flags of Manchukuo seemed like nothing more than afterthoughts to Elise. The French girl was no stranger to flags of occupying powers flying alongside those of their subjects. She had seen the flags of the Allied powers flying in the occupied Rhineland in Germany after the Great War ended. Her own Edificio Gumamela in Manila was surrounded by flags of the United States flying above the flag of the Philippine Commonwealth.
Despite this, Elise couldn't help but feel some sort of spite between the Japanese and the Manchukoan flags that didn't sit well with her in the slightest.
Serafina turned her eyes to the tandem of flags rising in Port Arthur and said,
"This is your first time here in these parts, so let me introduce you. Right now, we're in what's called the 'Kwantung Leased Territory' - technically territory of the Japanese Empire that covers this entire peninsula and a little bit of the mainland to the north of here. The Japanese renamed Port Arthur and the nearby towns into the 'Ryojun District' when they occupied it after the Russo-Japanese war. Just don't expect the natives to call this place 'Ryojun'... or 'Port Arthur' for that matter."
Serafina hoisted up her crate and carried it with her strong arms as she continued,
"This whole area - the 'Kwantung Leased Territory' - and the rest of Manchukuo is a mess, in my honest opinion. It's traded hands so many times in the last century. It was part of the Chinese Qing dynasty at first since before either of us were born. The Japanese occupied it next but gave it up after a short time. Then the Russian Empire leased the area - only to surrender it to the Japanese again after the last Tsar's war. Now, for the past seven years, it's 'Manchukuo'. The people who live here don't even know who they are anymore after these past few decades."
Elise hummed with sympathy as she said,
"So you're saying this place doesn't have an identity."
Serafina shook her head somberly and said,
"I think it has multiple personalities - which is why I think that their yellow flag feels kinda wrong. But it's not up to Salvae to play the geopolitical game and decide who should own what. Let's leave that to the League of Nations, yes?"
Elise nodded and the two of them started walked down the wharf together towards the entrance of the passenger platform of the Ryojun Train Station - the southernmost station of the South Manchuria Railway. The two magi were quickly greeted by the brass nameplate at the front entrance of the station which was written in Chinese, English and Russian - '旅順', 'Port Arthur' and 'Порт-Артур' respectively.
Serafina set the heavy crate down on the freight-loading area then dusted off her hands as she said,
"The tri-lingual signs are going to be there in and around the train stations only. When you get off at Hsinking, you'll have to get used to seeing only Kanji."
Elise tilted her head and asked,
"Kanji? Surely, you mean Hànzì. Kanji is the Japanese term for it, but they are Chinese letters."
"Ah, right! Sorry about that - I overstayed in my last port call to Yokohama, so the Japanese terms kind of stuck. As expected of the Magni Domina's right hand - you're already a master of the languages! I shouldn't have been worried about you knowing Mandarin!"
"You flatter me, Serafina. You should know that the Edificio Gumamela is in the Calle Escolta - the heart of Manila's Chinatown in Binondo, so I am used to seeing Hànzì from time to time. Quite a few of my Aspirants are from Binondo too and they speak and write more Chinese than English or Filipino - though their Hokkien is closer to Cantonese than Mandarin."
Elise then put her right hand on her hip and chuckled lightheartedly as she said,
"The 'right hand of the Magni Domina' also only came about because Lorelei always brought me around on every excursion she went on. This mission of ours is more or less the same. I am nothing more than a glorified interpreter and errand girl at this point."
"An interpreter and errand girl who speaks softly in many languages but carries the biggest and sharpest sword in all of Salvae."
Elise raised her brow and said,
"Theodore Roosevelt would cringe at what you just said."
The French girl and the Ukrainian then shared a hearty laugh.
As the two of them were waiting at the platform, a group of twenty, fashionable Han Chinese girls approached them. The eldest one among them - a tall girl who tied her straight black hair back into trendy twin buns - greeted Serafina with a bow and spoke in passable, albeit accented English,
"Ah, Maultier Larivenko! You're here early - given that you were coming from Manila by sea."
Serafina smiled at the girl who greeted her and pleasantly returned the gesture,
"It's a Maultier's job to be early, Zealot Tian. If we aren't - how will the Branches of Salvae feed themselves? In any case, I hope your Carissima Xiao is doing well."
The Zealot Tian leaned upwards toward the taller Serafina's ear and whispered,
"Carissima Xiao was a little under the weather when we left from Shanghai. I think she's worrying too much about the Hsinking mission and all. But I think we have nothing to worry about."
Zealot Tian then joined her hands behind her back and turned towards Elise with a smile and said,
"After all - we have the right hand of the Magni Domina herself joining us on this mission on the last minute. You grace us with your presence, Carissima Elise de Lamarliere of Manila."
The Zealot then gave Elise a deep, respectful bow and the other nineteen girls behind her followed suit. Elise gracefully returned the gesture as best as she could and then said,
"Well met, Zealot Tian of Shanghai. I assume that these nineteen girls are your wards."
Zealot Tian nodded and said,
"Nineteen Aspirants and a Zealot of the Shanghai Branch of Salvae - we are yours to command, Carissima De Lamarliere. We all wield powerful magic and are among the best Witch-hunters of our Branch."
All twenty Chinese magi formed ranks and showed their silver rings to Elise like soldiers raising their rifles for inspection. A complex expression settled on Elise's face however as she turned to Zealot Tian again and said,
"I admire the ensemble of talent you have here, but we were not summoned to fight Witches in Hsinking. Hopefully, we will not need to use any force at all."
Zealot Tian then said,
"May our ancestors bless us with good fortune then, Carissima Elise. If things play out well - we'll have a banquet with the eight hundred and fifty magi of Manchukuo, and there will be peace for our time."
Half an hour later, as the Puella Magi were gathered at the benches of the Port Arthur station, the iconic 'Asia Express' train of the Southern Manchuria Railways sounded its whistle as it rolled into the station platform and came to a halt. The girls watched the strange, futuristic train with awe while Serafina folded her arms with admiration.
The train had two Third Class coach cars, a Second Class passenger car, a cargo carriage, a dining car and a First Class state car at the very end. All of those cars were pulled by the sleek and streamlined steam locomotive - the first of its kind in the world - labeled the 'Pashina 13'. It looked nothing like the dated steam locomotives of the Manila Railroad Company that Elise had seen in the Philippines nor did it resemble even the more modern locomotives of Europe.
Serafina leaned over to Elise and whispered,
"It looks like something that came out of the World's Fair, doesn't it? It's the fastest train in the world too, what with the streamlining and all. She normally runs smooth at eighty kilometers per hour, but the engineers I talked to say that she can go up to one hundred and twenty if she had to. A modern marvel, right here in the Orient!"
A cadre of Port Arthur station staff then promptly assembled before the train and prepared it for boarding. Porters tended to the cargo on the bay while maintenance crews ran alongside the entire length of the train for a quick check. As soon as they finished their prep work, the staff members faced the passengers and all said in tandem,
"All aboard!"
Elise checked the standing clock at the platform and was amazed by how quickly they got to boarding. Serafina noticed Elise's awe and she snickered,
"I see someone's falling for the Japanese."
"Hmph… maybe all your time at sea has dulled your eyes then."
"Ah! Defensive!"
Elise raised her brow and said with a crafty smirk,
"Spare me your jests, Serafina. We have to go."
Zealot Tian joined in on their conversation and gasped,
"You're not joining us, Maultier Larivenko? We've purchased twenty-one tickets for this journey - another one shouldn't make any difference!"
Serafina put her hands on her hips then proudly replied,
"I appreciate the offer, Zealot Tian, but a Maultier cannot rest. I have to make sure that the branches here in the Orient are well-stocked and that the magi here are well fed. I'm supplying Shanghai after this, then I should be back in Manila by the time you wrap things up in Hsinking. Send me a telegram when you get there instead!"
Elise then extended her hand to the Ukrainian and said,
"We will have good news for you and Lorelei before long, then."
Elise and Serafina shook hands and the whistle of the Asia Express resounded in the platforms of the Port Arthur station once more.
With that, Elise, Zealot Tian and the nineteen magi from Shanghai boarded the train at the foremost Third Class coach car as the Ukrainian waved and bid them farewell. The Port Arthur station staff then closed the doors and the Asia Express began its northward journey.
Elise was watching as Serafina and Port Arthur disappeared into the distance when the conductor for their car - a middle-aged Japanese man - approached their group. He wore a kindly smile for them and then spoke - with a great deal of effort - in Mandarin,
"Tickets, please."
Zealot Tian and her nineteen-girl cadre brought out their tickets from the pockets of their traveling coats while Elise took hers out from out of her leather briefcase. The conductor diligently verified the tickets of the Chinese girls with routine swiftness but then seemed puzzled when he went through Elise's ticket.
Was there something wrong with her ticket? Elise wondered as the conductor took a pair of reading glasses and a company notebook. After a tense few moments, the conductor then smiled and gave Elise the 'OK'.
Then, the conductor also said,
"I have good news for you girls. All twenty-one of you have been upgraded to the First Class car. Please, follow me! I will take you there."
The Aspirants and the Zealot from Shanghai were all quickly delighted by the stroke of good luck and gladly followed the conductor down through the train. Elise, on the other hand, was unfazed and followed a few paces from behind. This was all too sudden, Elise thought. Something wasn't right.
The conductor led the twenty-one girls through the entire length of the train - through both Third Class coach cars, the Second Class car, the baggage carriage and the dining car in that order. Elise's eyes swept through their surroundings and she quietly took note of the layout of the cars and the faces of the passengers and the crew. She even took a quick look into the cargo hold of the baggage carriage and found the crate that Serafina brought with them there in a corner.
Elise noticed that most of the passengers were in the Third Class cars while the Second Class car had many empty seats - just shy of being enough to seat all of twenty-one of them. Bumping them up from Third Class to Second Class would have been quite the feat, but going all the way to First was something else.
As they were going through the dining car, Elise called the attention of conductor and spoke in Mandarin,
"Excuse me. We appreciate the upgrade to First Class, but this is just too strange. All our tickets were Third Class ones. How did we end up going all the way up to First?"
The conductor innocently scratched the back of his head as he replied,
"I do not know much, miss. All I know is that a wealthy patron in Hsinking paid for the upgrade and sent instructions to provide you girls with every luxury that the South Manchuria Railway can provide! If there is anything at all that displeases you, please feel free to tell me or any of the crew on board and we will do our best to put you at ease."
Elise was dissatisfied by the reply, but Zealot Tian spoke to the Carissima through telepathy,
"That 'wealthy patron' of ours might be Carissima Hou. She probably wanted to roll out the red carpet for us and charm us to make amends before we arrive at Hsinking."
The French girl faced Zealot Tian and sternly replied in telepathy as well,
"I know that - which is why I do not like this. How did she know there were going to be twenty-one of us?"
"She might have paid a large sum in advance - who knows? If we really are in danger, then it wouldn't make a difference if we sat in First Class or in Third. The Magni Domina herself informed her that an Inspection Team is coming as well. If the Magni Domina can give Carissima Hou the benefit of the doubt, then shouldn't we also?"
The conductor was watching the two girls staring at each other quietly during their telepathic exchange and was about to call out to them when Elise suddenly turned to him and asked,
"Excuse me again - but how long will it take for us to reach Hsinking?"
The conductor brought out a chained timepiece and then said,
"In roughly twelve hours from now. The Asia Express is the fastest train in the world, after all."
The French girl heaved a sigh and said,
"Alright then - let us continue on to the First Class car."
Elise and the Inspection Team were then brought into the luxurious First Class car - a carriage decorated with wooden panels, paintings and an actual red carpet that wouldn't be out of place in a wealthy European chateau. There were large and spacious seats beside windows on both sides of the car and a glass-walled observation deck at the very rear with a panoramic view of the Manchurian countryside behind them. A handful of young, Han Chinese women wearing attires similar to those of Victorian maids welcomed the girls with trays of English scones and platters of Russian caviar.
What caught the Inspection Team's attention the most, however, were the miniaturized air conditioning units - among the first of their kind - affixed to the walls of the First Class car. In the face of the heat of the Manchurian summertime, the few degrees of coolness was a godsend for the girls.
Zealot Tian and the girls from Shanghai quickly settled into the room and eagerly helped themselves to the refreshments like fascinated tourists. Elise, however, kept to herself and breezed past the servants without taking anything from their trays. One of the servants noticed was surprised by the snub, so she asked Elise in English,
"Is there anything you would like, madam?"
Elise didn't bother to look back at the servant and replied in English as well,
"A can of tomato soup - an American brand one, if possible - and a can opener, please. Have it sent to the observation deck. I'll open it myself."
The French girl then sauntered over to the observation deck at the rear of the train and sat at the viewing benches there apart from the rest of the Inspection Team. She stayed there throughout the whole journey and only left to use the washroom or to stretch her legs before coming straight to her lonesome post. The canned tomato soup she ordered and opened herself was the only the only thing she ate, along with a roll of Filipino pan de sal bread that she had brought from Manila.
At the tenth hour of their journey to Hsinking, the Asia Express train was leaving Siping Station - their last stop before Hsinking. Elise was about to help herself to a second pan de sal roll when she heard a knock at the glass door to the observation deck.
The French girl turned to the door and saw Zealot Tian there with a pot of tea and a pair of teacups in hand. Elise sighed and opened the door for the Zealot who said in Mandarin,
"You've been holed up here since Port Arthur, Carissima. The other girls wanted to have lunch with you and maybe play some cards to pass the time."
"I'm not fond of games of chance, Zealot Tian. I want absolute certainty about anything and everything, so I cannot rest until we set the record straight in Hsinking with Carissima Hou."
"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't drink anything, Carissima Elise. Here - I brought you some tea. It's something that the girls have been drinking since Port Arthur. We think it's really good, and we just got a fresh batch from Siping Station."
Elise brought out her timepiece and heaved a sigh,
"We're two hours to Hsinking… so I guess some tea wouldn't hurt."
"That's the spirit, Carissima!"
Zealot Hou poured tea for the both of them and they toasted each other. The Zealot gamely drank from her cup, but Elise cautiously sniffed the tea. The tea was some sort of Earl Grey that smelled like flowers, she thought - but not ones that she recognized. It was at times like that that Elise wished Serafina was around. The Ukrainian would probably have known what kind of tea it was in an instant.
Still, Elise tasted the tea and was impressed. It did taste rather good and its careful blend seemed to sooth her nerves. Before she realized it, she had downed an entire cup and poured herself another. Zealot Tian chuckled as she sipped her own tea with a smile of relief.
After a few minutes of drinking their tea, Elise set down her cup and then turned to Zealot Tian with a question,
"Tell me, Zealot Tian. You're the most senior of your cadre. When did you become a Puella Magi?"
"1932 - when the Japanese first invaded Shanghai. A lot of Witches manifested in our town because of that… so a lot of Puella Magi rose up to fight them as well."
Elise leaned back into her chair and said,
"That means that you're too young to remember the time when Puella Magi still fought each other. By that time, Salvae had already united most of the Puella Magi of the world under one banner already after all. So, I assume that you and your wards have not fought other Puella Magi."
The Zealot thoughtfully hummed as she poured herself a fourth cup and said,
"The magi of the Shanghai Branch spar with each other for training, if that's what you're asking. But I will admit that we have not actually fought other magi. But we're not worried. We think that it shouldn't be too different from fighting a Witch."
Elise quickly shook her head and said,
"I disagree, Zealot Tian. Fighting a Witch and fighting another Puella Magi are two different things. We have no qualms about fighting Witches and would destroy them without a second thought, but we hesitate when it comes to fighting other magi. There's a certain guilt that comes with that and it gnaws away at our hearts if we even think about it."
The French girl then look a look at her own reflection in her teacup and said,
"There are only a handful of magi left in Salvae who know what it's like to fight other magi, Zealot Tian - our Magni Domina Lorelei Sankt, Maultier Serafina Larivenko and the Carissimas of every Branch of Salvae in the world today - myself included - and only a few others. We all know the horror of having to raise up our blades against our sisters-in-magic - but we all did it because it was what needed to be done. We defeated our opponents and made them yield. Most of them even swore loyalty to Lorelei after that and joined us."
She then turned to Zealot Tian with a grim expression and said,
"But there is a worse guilt that a Puella Magi can carry - the grief of killing other Puella Magi."
A chill ran up Zealot Tian's spine as Elise said this, so she took a big gulp of her tea to calm her down. Elise also started to sip her tea as she continued,
"I am one of those unfortunate ones who have had to kill other Puella Magi. Carissima Lianmeng Hou also knows that grief well."
"W-why are you telling this to me, C-Carissima De Lamarliere?"
"I am telling you this because I am prepared to greet force with force. I do not know what Lianmeng Hou has prepared for us in Hsinking, but I am willing to do what needs to be done to protect our Magni Domina and to protect Salvae, Terrae Magicae. If that means destroying a Carissima with my own hands, then I am prepared to do that as well."
Zealot Tian fell silent as she struggled to grasp Elise's words, so the French girl continued,
"I need your full cooperation on this matter, Zealot Tian. If things are just as you say, then I will stand back and enjoy the festivities at Hsinking with you. However, if my suspicions are founded, then I want you and your team to help me do what needs to be done - or to get out of my way."
The Zealot shakily set down her teacup and then gave Elise a sheepish nod as she said,
"Understood… Carissima De Lamarliere."
When the Zealot tried to pour herself a fifth cup, no more tea flowed out of the teacup. Zealot Tian then stood up and said,
"P-please excuse me. I shall get a fresh pot of tea for us."
Elise nodded and the Zealot headed out of the observation deck with the teapot in tow. The French girl heaved a reminiscing sigh and looked out through the glass walls of the observation deck. For the first time in their ten-hour journey, Elise felt a wave of sleepiness sweeping over her and coaxing her lean back into her seat and to close her eyes.
The French girl's thoughts were starting to drift away when she suddenly heard the crashing of a ceramic teapot. Elise jolted back from her near-slumber and rushed to the entrance of the observation deck. Zealot Tian was standing there at the threshold facing the First Class car while the broken teapot and the remnants of their floral black tea lay at her feet.
Zealot Tian turned back to Elise with a horrified face and said,
"C-Carissima De Lamarliere… c-come quickly!"
The Zealot stepped aside and Elise saw the nineteen girls of the Inspection Team writhing on the red carpet of the First Class car, croaking weakly for help in obscure Chinese dialects. The girl who was closest to the observation deck door was on her belly and was struggling to crawl towards the Zealot and the Carissima.
Elise and Zealot Tian rushed to the girl's side and the girl pointed to the broken teapot at the threshold. The girl then whimpered in Mandarin,
"Dúcǎo míng… dúcǎo míng…"
The French girl's brow furrowed as she asked,
"What does that mean, Zealot Tian? In English, please."
A shadow then formed over the Zealot's eyes as she laid both of her trembling hands over her heart and said,
"Hemlock."
To Be Continued