Magia, Pacem, Bellum Terrarum - False Synthesis
The First Taste of Blood
The sun was starting to set over the temperate plains of southern Manchukuo as the Asia Express' 'Pashina 13' train darted northwards on the last leg of its journey to the capital Hsinking. Orange sunlight flooded in through the observation deck at the very rear of the train and illuminated the darkened First Class passenger car.
Elise de Lamarliere and Zealot Tian stood at the threshold of the observation deck and stood still and silent as they looked into the First Class car with horror. The warm sunlight revealed their companions, the nineteen other members of the Inspection Team from Shanghai, writhing in pain on the car's posh red carpet.
All nineteen of them were curled up into balls on the ground and had dry, blackened lips that croaked weakly for help. Splatters of the strange, black, floral tea sullied the carpet along with fragments of shattered teacups and the soiled playing cards that the girls had been using to pass the time. Meanwhile, the shattered teapot at Zealot Tian's feet soaked the carpet and, in the orange sunlight, turned blood red.
A shadow hung over Elise's eyes as she walked past the shattered teapot. She then knelt down before the magi who had been trying to crawl towards them and Zealot Tian followed suit. The two of them laid the magi down on the carpet and Elise gave her a quick once over. However, the shadow over the French girl's eyes only grew more grim as she said,
"We have been drugged, Zealot Tian. It's just like this poor girl said - hemlock has been mixed in with the tea. You said that you and the other girls have been drinking this tea since Port Arthur, right?"
"Y-yes. But all of us have been fine for the past ten hours."
"That means that the hemlock was only mixed in after we made a stop at Siping Station half an hour ago."
"This doesn't make sense, Carissima Elise. Aren't Puella Magi immune from poisons?"
Elise took the incapacitated girl's hand and then took the silver ring that she wore on her finger and observed it as she said,
"Naturally, yes. It is our magic that maintains our well-being after all. Our magic is where we get our strength from and it keeps our bodies in fighting form. It's a link between our hearts, minds and souls that allow us to unleash this magic too. Only someone who knows about that link could have pulled off something like this. That's why I have a feeling that this tea severed those links somehow and stripped us of our immunity without us knowing."
Elise then took a look at the blackened gem on the silver ring as she said,
"Serafina told me stories of her journey through the Middle East. She talked about a black tea that smelled of poppies that was served in the shadier parts of the port towns there. It went by many names, but Serafina simply called it opium tea."
"Opium…?"
"Yes, opium. It's a powerful opioid drug that has been used an ingredient for tranquilizers and painkillers in the past. We Puella Magi are shielded from these effects too, but if these girls have been drinking this tea since Port Arthur, then their immunity has been dwindling for ten hours already."
Elise then carefully set the incapacitated girl's ring back on her left middle finger as she finally said,
"If we don't get these girls treated, then even this one dose of hemlock would become lethal for them."
"How could anyone do such a thing…?"
"You'd be surprised what people by what people are capable of doing, Zealot Tian. When they have their hearts and minds set on something, they will do everything they can to reach it - no matter what the cost. The person we are dealing with here is no different."
Just as Elise was about to stand, the door at the end of the room creaked open. Elise then saw a pair of grenades that were lobbed into the First Class car. Without a second thought, Elise pushed Zealot Tian down onto the floor with her and pulled her into a nook beneath the hardwood booths.
The two grenades went off and rattled the First Class car with powerful blasts. The hardwood booths were chipped and the porcelain teacups and saucers on the tables shattered while the bodies of the defenseless Puella Magi were thrown mercilessly about like ragdolls. Sawdust, soot and shrapnel rained down upon the booth where Elise and Tian were hiding but there were no cries or shrieks of pain. The girls who survived the blast were too weak to even make a sound anymore and their silence was deafening.
Even before the dust had settled, Elise heard the sound of four pairs of boots bursting into the devastated First Class car. The footsteps spread out around the car and were muffled by the posh red carpet. Elise reached up to the booth's table and picked up a knife that she raised up to use as a mirror.
Elise and Tian looked up to the knife and saw the reflections of the four figures sweeping through the First Class car. The four figures were all young girls who were wearing the distinct light blue uniform of soldiers of the Republic of China army, but Elise recognized their faces. They were the maid servants who served the First Class car earlier.
The four uniformed assassins went around to the bodies scattered about and checked to see if there were any survivors. As soon as they found a survivor, the four assassins brought out large-framed Mauser C96 pistols and released their safeties. They would then meticulously search for Soul Gems and, without a second thought, shoot them at point blank range.
It was a systematic execution with swift and terrifying efficiency. The sight of this shook Zealot Tian to the core, reminding her of the horrors that she herself saw in Shanghai. The loss of her comrades rattled her and the sharp sound of gunfire made her shiver. However, it was the lack of remorse on the eyes of the assassins that chilled her heart.
Zealot Tian then turned to Elise, but the shadow that had been hanging over the French girl's eyes became terrifying - much more terrifying than the assassins themselves. Elise noticed the frightened Zealot's eyes fixed on her, so she lowered the knife and held it close to her own heart. She then spoke to Tian through telepathy,
"It is clear as day to me now. Lianmeng Hou has become an enemy of Salvae, Terrae Magicae and a threat to the girls of our organization. In the name of our Magni Domina, Lorelei Sankt, help me fulfil my duty, Zealot Tian. Let us avenge our sisters-in-magic."
Zealot Tian was hesitant at first, but the sounds of gunfire continued. With every shot she heard, her fear was replaced twofold by resolve. She then looked Elise in the eyes and gave a firm nod.
Elise and Tian kept their heads low as one of the assassins approached and turn the corner near their booth. Once the assassin was close enough, Elise sprung up with her knife in hand and then slashed the assassin's throat at breakneck speed. The French girl then swiped away the assassin's Mauser pistol from her hands and then pointed it at a the assassin's left middle finger where her silver ring was.
Without a second thought, Elise pulled the trigger and shattered the assassin's gem. The assassin's fierce eyes turned blank as if a light had turned off.
The other assassins pointed their guns at Elise and shot at her, but the French girl took the dead assassin by the collar and used her corpse as a shield. Elise then raised up the corpse higher and hurled it at a pair of assassins who were standing close to each other and struck them down.
Then, with a flash of lilac light, Elise summoned her heavy greatsword. She swung the large blade with ease and then cut the corpse and the two assassins it struck neatly in half.
The last assassin snarled at the French girl and then summoned her own magical weapon - a Chinese longsword that she swung through the air skillfully. As the assassin was about to charge at Elise, the sound of playing cards being shuffled reached her ear - followed by the sound of footsteps rushing towards her.
All of the sudden, Zealot Tian too sprung out from the booth and swung a hatchet made out of playing cards at the longsword assassin. Zealot Tian dug her hatchet deep into the arm of the longsword assassin who screeched in pain from the sudden blow.
It was a sound that mortified Zealot Tian. Carissima Elise was right, the Zealot thought. Fighting another Puella Magi was nothing at all like fighting Witches. The sparring practices she had in Shanghai didn't prepare her for the sounds of pain, the feeling of her card hatchet tearing flesh and breaking bone or the blood that splattered about.
Still, the Zealot had no time to think as the longsword assassin pulled back and managed to slash at Tian with her blade. Zealot Tian then summoned a fan of playing cards with her free hand and blocked the assassin's strike. She then pulled her card hatchet out of the assassin's arm and she roared as she struck her opponent again - once then twice.
Before Zealot Tian had realized it, the assassin had stopped moving and was a mess of blood, flesh and bone. The bloody hatchet in Zealot Tian's hand trembled as the assassin's blood stained her face. She dropped her hatchet and her fan and felt that she was going to be sick.
When Tian turned to Elise, however, the bloodied French girl kept her calm expression and was already searching the bodies of the assassins. Elise picked up another Mauser pistol and stripper clips of ammunition. She then skillfully loaded the pistol and handed it to Zealot Tian as she asked,
"Do you believe me now, Zealot Tian? Carissima Lianmeng Hou doesn't want our team to make it to Hsinking. These assassins were all prepared to kill Puella Magi to that effect, so we have to be prepared to defend ourselves from hereon out."
Zealot Tian fell to her knees, still unable to process what was going on around her. Elise extended the pistol towards Tian again, however, as she said,
"This is how it always starts, Zealot Tian. Killing other Puella Magi never gets any easier, but we have to do what needs to be done."
As Elise was speaking, the sound of a pair of rushing feet coming from above the First Class car reached their ears. The French girl then took Zealot Tian's bloodied hands and made her hold onto the pistol.
Elise then reloaded her own pistol and pointed at the threshold to the observation deck as she urged the Zealot,
"Hurry! They're going to come in through the deck!'
Zealot Tian took a deep breath, steadied her heart and gathered what resolve she could. She dissolved her card hatchet and fan and held the Mauser pistol with both hands.
Then, just as Elise predicted, the glass walls of the observation deck shattered and a pair of Puella Magi wearing the Republic of China army uniforms crashed in with MP 18 submachine guns.
Before either magi could bring their submachine guns to bear, however, Elise and Tian fired and unloaded their Mauser pistols at the assassins' reinforcements. The sudden volley of accurate lead pushed the submachine gunners back and out through the shattered glass walls of the observation deck before they fell back-first off the train.
Elise then tossed her empty Mauser pistol aside and then summoned her heavy greatsword again. She turned to Tian and saw that the Zealot seemed less terrified than before. Elise carefully pried the empty, smoking Mauser pistol out of the Zealot's hands and said,
"Serafina loaded a crate into the cargo car. It had weapons and provisions that were meant for our Inspection Team, but I'm sure that there's something there that can help the survivors of our team recover."
Zealot Tian nodded firmly in reply. However, just as she was about to speak, the Zealot lost her footing and she brought her hand to her forehead. Elise caught the Zealot in her arms and asked,
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah… I just felt a little bit dizzy."
Elise heaved a sigh and then said,
"All the more reason for us to reach that crate."
The French girl then brought out a Grief Seed from her coat pocket and gave it to Zealot Tian.
"Cleanse your gem. It should help prop up your immunity a little bit until we get proper medicine. I have a feeling that we're going to have to fight our way through the dining car, after all."
The Zealot did as she was told and cleansed her blackened Soul Gem with the Grief Seed. The seed didn't completely cleanse Zealot Tian's gem, but it managed to regain most of its light. Zealot Tian then summoned a new deck of cards and, with a flick of her wrists, turned them into a pair of fans as she said,
"I'm ready, Carissima Elise."
To Be Continued