Chapter 30: Nagisa and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Nagisa blew on her trumpet, sending out a barrage of red bubbles that quickly surrounded the fox masked Magical Girl.

That should stop her from getting closer. Now they could just talk this out. They were about the same height and were probably around the same age, or at least the same age when Nagisa had fallen to despair, so she really didn't want to fight her.

The fox masked girl stared at the bubbles blankly, or at least Nagisa assumed so under the mask, before moving forward and stabbing one of them with a knife.

"Wait!" Nagisa shouted. "They explo-"

The bubble didn't explode though. Neither did any of the other bubbles that that girl's knife seemed to touch.

Nagisa raised the trumpet to her lips and shot out a bubble beam, hoping to knock her back. Instead, the girl simply raised her knife and intercepted the beam. All the bubbles quickly disappeared into nothingness wherever they struck.

Oh boy. That was not good.

Nagisa ducked under the girl's first swing but was unable to get out of the way of the second. She simply whispered a prayer as she raised her trumpet to block it.

A loud clang filled the air and Nagisa found that her prayer had been answered. Her trumpet had blocked the strike, though she was unable to do anything about the straight kick to the gut.

"Ooph," Nagisa let out as the air expelled from her lungs and she was sent to the ground. She didn't actually need to breathe… but well it wasn't pleasant. She quickly got up, likely surprising the other girl with her quick recovery, and began to hop away.

That girl's knife seemed to cancel out any Magic it hit, but it couldn't break through a Magical Girl's weapon. It meant that Nagisa at least had some line of defense, no matter how small it was. It was certainly better than learning what that thing could do if it ever touched her body. Charlotte might be able to handle it through sheer mass and force alone, but people would definitely notice if she did it before she set up a labyrinth. Unfortunately, she wasn't the best at doing that, compared to her other Messenger at least, and needed time to form her labyrinth.

Nagisa quickly ducked as a spear made of asphalt flew by her head.

She glanced back and saw the girl still giving chase. The girl reached her arm out, grabbed a nearby lamppost, and somehow ripped a good chunk of it apart. The material she gathered then shifted in her hands and formed into a spear of aluminum and electric wire.

Oh boy. What did the Goddess call it? Magecraft? That wasn't good, especially when Nagisa still had that knife to consider.

Eventually they reached the end of an alleyway.

Nagisa blew on her trumpet and used the bubbles as platforms to hop out of it and then quickly scanned her environment. Soon enough, she found what looked to be an abandoned building and made her way toward it.

If she couldn't use her magic directly, then she just had to use the environment instead. The knife was meant for Magical attacks and there was only so much the girl could alter with her Magecraft.

As Nagisa entered a building through a window, she blew on her trumpet. Bubbles flew out and spread throughout the building. It's walls, ceilings, and floor, every single hole and crevice she could find. She would've liked to completely cover the place with her Magic, but she had to stop and turn around once the girl hopped through that same window.

"We don't have to fight," Nagisa said. "We can be friends."

"You're a Witch," the girl finally spoke. She sounded young. They really were the same age.

"I'm a good Witch!"

"There are no good Witches."

"Uh huh!"

"Nuh huh," the girl replied before rushing forward, dual wielding her weapons.

"Sorry," Nagisa replied as she began blowing on her trumpet, detonating the bubbles underneath the floors.

Rather than fall through the floor though, the girl reached out with her spear and had it somehow sink into the remaining floor. She then used it as leverage as she vaulted toward Nagisa.

Nagisa then blew up the bubbles in the ceiling, blowing it up and sending it collapsing toward her opponent. The masked girl simply reached out and turned the falling wood and stone into a makeshift shield. Left with no other choice, Nagisa blew up the bubbles underneath herself and used the newly made hole as an escape route. She then ran through a doorway, into a hallway, and blew up several holes in that hallway's floors and walls. Nagisa quickly jumped through one of them, hoping to confuse the girl with the rest as she gave chase.

That entire time, Nagisa's mouth never left her trumpet, constantly streaming bubbles to set up traps and create new escape routes. She needed more time and more bubbles in case she couldn't get away, which meant continuing to lead this girl on a merry chase as long as she could.

This continued on for several minutes, until Nagisa paused for a second and noticed that the girl was no longer behind her. She stopped blowing on her trumpet and listened for any sounds of movement.

A light crash underneath.

Nagisa silently jumped through a hole and made her way back up. She had already set up the bubbles she needed, but if she could just get away unseen, then maybe she wouldn't have to use them. Once she reached the top floor, Nagisa made her way toward a large inviting windowsill. She would jump out of it and escape into the night.

Or at least she would, until a hand suddenly came out of the wall and grabbed her in the face.

Nagisa was slammed to the ground as the rest of the masked body's broke through the wall and left behind a nice Magical Girl shaped hole. Bits of wood, concrete, and plaster scratched Nagisa's body as she desperately tried to slap the girl's hand off her face with her trumpet. She only got a few weak swings though before the girl grabbed Nagisa's hand, wrenched the trumpet out of it, and then lifted Nagisa by the face before slamming her into another wall.

Ouch.

Unable to do anything else, Nagisa simply commanded every bubble she had set up to explode. The place shook, but that didn't help much at the moment as she was stabbed with a knife and thrown straight through a doorway.

Nagisa whimpered as her transformation undid itself and she hit the floor. Her Soul Gem was still there, but she could no longer seem to draw from it. Even Charlotte was silent. It was a wonder how she was still conscious and had control over her body.

"I'm a good Witch. You don't need to hurt me!" Nagisa said frantically as she looked around the room she had been thrown in. No windows, no other doorway apart from the one the girl was blocking.

"There are no good Witches. They're monsters that all need to die," the girl replied as she slowly stepped forward.

Nagisa had always been warned about Witches and the Incubators, but right now this murderous Magical Girl with a very sharp knife seemed scarier than any of those things.

Before the girl could stab Nagisa though, a loud rumbling could be heard throughout the building, the worst of it coming from the very bottom. The foundations of the place had finally broken, Nagisa had been worried that she hadn't put enough bubbles down there.

The girl pounced, but Nagisa quickly rolled to the side as the entire room tilted and began to collapse into the floor below it. Nagisa closed her eyes and prayed as they fell into the destruction and the building collapsed around them.

It was a miracle, likely from the Goddess, that Nagisa hadn't been completely crushed and was able to dig herself out of the edge of the rubble. Her Soul Gem was intact, and the wounds were just really really painful, but not fatal. That was how she was able to limp away from the wreckage despite looking like a near mangled corpse.

Nagisa had to be quick though. A collapsed building likely wouldn't kill the other girl, not with her Alteration, but it would at least keep her busy trying to dig herself out.

Thankfully at some point Nagisa's magic returned to her, which allowed her to transform again and quickly run away despite the bleeding. It seemed that the girl's ability to cancel magic had a certain range, or maybe it was only for a brief period. Either way she was relieved to have Charlotte returned to her. She was also relieved to sit down in a park she had found and start healing some of her injuries.

They really hurt.

Nagisa leaned against a slide, bleeding profusely onto the ground, as she began the long process of knitting her wounds.

After she dealt with the more critical injuries, mainly the ones to her internal organs and limbs, she realized how tired she was.

Still bleeding, she closed her eyes and let her head rest against the wall. These injuries wouldn't kill her so she could leave them alone for the time being. All she really wanted was to take a nap.

Then she felt a pair of hands grab her chest.

Nagisa stopped breathing.

This was it. She was going to die. Not even get sent to the Goddess. No, this time it would truly be over.

She opened her eyes, ready to accept her fate. Instead of a purple kimono though, Nagisa saw a white dress with blue frills. Instead of a dagger she saw what looked like a giant Bento Pick that you'd find in a packed lunch. Instead of a white fox mask she looked into a pair of concerned blue eyes.

"It's okay. I just want to help," the girl said to Nagisa. They also seemed to be around the same age.

"Thank you," Nagisa sighed as she relaxed and let the girl do her work. Eventually her wounds were healed, though the girl's Soul Gem was notably darker. "Do you have a grief seed on you?"

The girl shyly glanced away. "No. I was going to hunt tonight but… then I found you."

If the girl fought the Witch now, she could get killed or fall to despair. Nagisa didn't want to happen, especially since she used so much Magic to heal her in the first place.

"What's your name?" Nagisa asked.

"Riko Chiaki."

"I'm Nagisa," Nagisa replied cheerfully. "Nagisa Momoe. Could you close your eyes for a second?"

"Why?" Riko asked.

"It's a… surprise! Yes. A surprise!"

Riko looked at her confused before eventually closing her eyes. "Ok…"

Nagisa quickly grabbed the gem off her belly and put it against Riko's Soul Gem. It only took a brief moment for her to absorb the girl's darkness and then put her gem back on her belly.

"Oh, a Grief Seed!" Riko cheered happily with her eyes still closed.

"You can open them now," Nagisa replied.

Riko opened her eyes and smiled at Nagisa. "I'm glad you're okay!" She began to frown. "You looked really hurt back there. What happened to you?"

"I was fighting a Witch," Nagisa lied. "I got it, but it really hurt me. I used up the seed on me and you."

"Well, I'm sure we can find another one." Riko offered a hand and Nagisa took it.

"I don't want to fight anymore tonight," Nagisa whined as she was pulled up. "I just wanna get some sleep."

"Do you need help getting back home?" Riko asked.

"No…" Nagisa glanced away.

"Nagisa… do you have a home?"

"I do!" Nagisa quickly denied it. "It's far away right now. Like really far away."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't have a Mama or Papa," Nagisa replied quickly. "Someone better takes care of me."

"But they're not here right now?"

"No…"

"Then do you want to stay at my house tonight? My parents aren't coming back until tomorrow afternoon."

Nagisa looked at Riko carefully. The Goddess had told her not to go to a stranger's home or van, whatever that meant, but Riko seemed really nice. Also, it'd be nice to have a friend her age.

"Sure."

Using the makeshift shield she had made from some of the falling stone, wood, and concrete, the fox masked Magical Girl slowly dug her way upwards. She had been able to protect herself from most of the debris, but it was still a pain having to dig herself out of the wreckage.

If that Witch was still alive, then it would pay.

Eventually she saw small beams of moonlight and with one last push was able to emerge from the rubble. She took a deep breath and reveled in the night air before looking around for any sign of that Witch.

No sign of it. The Witch had escaped.

She gripped her knife tightly.

Whatever. She'd find it again. And she'd make sure to put it down. It wasn't the first time she had to track down a particularly evasive Witch while living on the streets.

"Could I ask why you felt a need to destroy a building we were planning on renovating?"

The girl turned and found herself facing another Magical Girl. This one with blue hair, a blue eastern style outfit, and a pair of long claws on her hands. A martial artist most likely, someone who excelled in hand to hand combat.

"It was a Witch," the girl replied as she made sure her mask was secured to her face. "Who are you?"

The blue Magical Girl put her hands together and bowed slightly. It was respectful, but brief and left little openings that the masked girl could see. "Meiyui Chun. Third generation of the Blue Seas family, and that was our territory you destroyed."

"I told you it was a Witch," the masked girl replied.

"A Witch would've had a labyrinth and caused little damage to its surroundings upon its defeat," Meiyui argued.

"It was a weird Witch. Disguised itself as a little girl. I'm going to hunt it down."

"You're rather young to be hunting by yourself. Especially at this time."

"We're Magical Girls. It's what we're Contracted to do."

"It doesn't have to be alone, nor should it be done in a way that causes this much destruction," another voice called out.

The fox masked girl turned around to find that she had been surrounded by three more Magical Girls. One with green hair and a staff, one with grey hair and gauntlets on her firsts, and one with purple hair and a long sheathe that held a pair of swords on each end.

Likely one ranged and three melee combatants. A single scratch with her knife would take away one girl's magic but the rest would quickly notice and adapt accordingly.

"I'm sorry about the building. Is there anything we can do so we don't have to fight?" the fox masked girl asked as she discreetly glanced at the girl with the staff. Looked like the smallest and most demure of the group. That would be her best bet at breaking free.

"I am Nanaka Tokiwa," the Magical Girl in purple stepped forward. "As for what you can do." Nanaka seemed to appraise the fox masked girl carefully. Like Meiyui, Nanaka seemed to put on an air of poise and elegance. "Tell me, what are you doing in Kamihama? We have not seen you around"

"I hunt Witches," the girl responded curtly. "Kamihama has a lot of Witches."

"How long have you been here?" Nanaka asked

"… Couple of weeks."

Or at least that was what the masked girl assumed. She had lost track of the days recently, fully focused on hunting the many Witches that seemed to gather in Kamihama. She was a soldier in a war she had committed herself to, one that wouldn't end until her death. That was the price for her Contract, the one she had accepted to save a girl she once called family.

"Alone?" Nanaka asked

"Yea," the masked girl replied.

Nanaka seemed to ponder her words. "You certainly seem capable… and we could use another Magical Girl for our mission."

"Mission?"

"Yes. We have an enemy we must hunt."

"A Witch?"

"My magic allows me to discern our true enemy. The one that manipulated a Witch to interfere with our lives."

"Revenge then, well if I run into them, I'll tell you."

"No," Nanaka stepped forward. "What is your magic?"

"I don't want to tell."

"Then perhaps a duel with me."

"And if I refuse?" the masked girl asked.

The girl with silver hair stepped forward only to have Nanaka stop them by holding out a hand. Nanaka must've been the leader of this group then.

"I propose to you a duel," Nanaka offered. "One on one. If you win, you'll be allowed to leave and your debt for this building will be repaid. If I win, you'll work with us until our mission is complete."

"You'll be my opponent," the fox masked girl asked as she looked at her opponent properly.

Nanaka's ability to discern her enemy would likely have little to no application in combat. That meant the swords she had in her hand were likely her only method of attack.

There would be no Magical attacks that the girl's knife could erase, and she couldn't destroy a Magical Girl's weapon itself. However, all it would take to end the fight though was single scratch.

"Fine. I accept," the girl replied as she took a stance with her knife.

Nanaka grabbed the hilt of one her blades and pulled out a fairly plain and average length katana. There was a tassel and some decorations on the hilt but nothing strange about the blade itself. That blade had a longer reach than the girl's knife though, that meant she would likely have to take a hit if she was going to land a scratch.

The fox masked girl lowered her stance and presented several openings to her opponent.

That was fine. She was used to getting hurt after all.

Nanaka rushed forward and began to thrust.

The girl tilted her body slightly to take the blade in her stomach while she swung with her knife, only to find that blade never came. Instead, she found her knife blocked by the hilt of Nanaka's weapon.

A feint.

Once it became clear that baiting Nanaka wasn't working, the girl decided to take several quick swings. These two were all blocked and soon she found her knife locked against the flat of the sword.

Poise and elegance, that was what Nanaka seemed to have in spades. Almost like an artist on the battlefield.

"Your intention is clear," Nanaka said as she pushed the girl away with a single swing of her blade. "To purposefully take an injury in order to land even a glancing blow with your knife. Your Magic is applied to the blade itself, but it would bring dishonor for one of the Tokiwa family to be struck by such shoddy bladework."

The masked girl stepped forward and swung again. Each time their blades connected sparks flew and the sound of clashing metal reverberated through the air. Like miniature fireworks being lit up and shot every time they swung. It was a strange, almost rhythmic battle, unlike anything the masked girl had fought before. It soon became clear though that one of them was just a beat too slow

"Aggressive, like a wild beast," Nanaka commented as she sidestepped another swing. The blade flew harmlessly by her side, not even scratching her hair that seemed to move naturally with the wind. "That might work against Witches and more reckless Magical Girls." Nanaka grabbed the masked girl's arm midswing and then jabbed her in the stomach with the hilt of her sword. "But not one trained with the blade."

The girl gripped her stomach after she was knocked back. Nanaka had held back on purpose, otherwise she would've likely broken a few ribs.

It made the girl mad.

She put a single hand to the floor underneath her.

Analyze the structure. Fill the openings with Magical Energy. Undermine the target's existence in the World.

The stone and brick turned to putty in her hands as she went through the steps of Reinforcement. With the material's existence now undermined, it was now more susceptible to manipulation.

Analyze the resulting material. Create a diagram within the mind. Change the structure.

And then the trigger in her mind, the one she used to complete her Magecraft. A knife stabbing forward, cutting down all her enemies.

Stone and brick hardened and warped to become sharpened steel. Her Alteration complete, the knife in her hand, the Magical Girl swung it at her assailant. She didn't draw blood, but the surprise of the attack had forced the Magenta girl to back away.

"Interesting," Nanaka said calmly and with poise, as if she wasn't wide eyed just seconds ago. "That isn't a part of your Magic."

The Fox remained silent as she took her stance, her twin daggers held to her sides. Reminiscent of a man she once knew, another person that she had left behind for his safety.

What would he think if he saw her like this? To see her care little for her own life like he did his own?

"A dual blade style… I shall answer in kind then," Nanaka said as grabbed the top end of her sheath and pulled out a second katana of the same length. She hung the now empty sheath along her waist before standing composed with the twin katanas in her hands. "For that is what is demanded of me, as is the pride of the Kashin-ryu."

The masked girl charged, both blades at the ready. A single strike with her ornamental dagger. That was all it would take to end things.

Four blades danced in the air. If what was before could be called an ensemble, than this would be an orchestra. The roaring sounds of steel against steel as the masked girl swung with near reckless abandon.

And yet no matter how much the girl swung, no matter how much steel clashed against steel in her frenzy, she could not land a single hit.

A powerful wide swing from Nanaka was enough to force the masked girl back, the difference in their reach clearly apparent. The Magenta girl then crossed her arms and held her blades above her head.

Instincts were what saved the masked girl in that moment. Or perhaps it was bone chilling fear, the imminent realization of death in front of her that forced her to jump back. What was a beheading blow instead became one that snapped her head to the side and threw her onto the ground.

The girl's mask fell off, miraculously still intact, though her face was revealed for all to see. A face she hadn't let anyone see since she had left her old home.

"You truly are a child," Nanaka commented.

The girl picked up the mask and returned it to her face. "We're all children here," she said with grit teeth as she stood up and raised her blades once more.

"Perhaps," Nanaka admitted. "But you are clearly the youngest one here."

"What does that matter?"

"You're inexperienced. Clearly dependent on your Magic to finish fights. When forced to use your blades for extended periods it is clear that there is no beauty in your swings," Nanaka said as she lowered her blades to her sides. "You lack technique and proper instruction. Most importantly of all though is that you have no pride in your blades. Such weapons swung simply as tools… they will never touch me."

Beauty? Pride? What did that matter? These daggers were meant to kill. To destroy her enemies, slaughter as many as she could with the little time that she had. How dare this woman, this Magical Girl, lecture her on things that she didn't understand?

If Nanaka had so much pride in her blades, then she would have to be the one to topple her from her lofty pedestal.

Pushing her Magical Circuits to the limit, the masked girl created a pair of daggers from the ground that she then threw at her opponent. Then another pair. Then six more. Dagger after dagger thrown as projectiles in quick succession as she closed the distance with her opponent once more. Countless knives were created, thrown, swung, and destroyed in the ensuing melee. It got to the point that the girl was grabbing the debris from the air just to have some sort of makeshift weapon to swing.

Eventually the masked girl threw a knife, forcing Nanaka to jerk her head to the side. She then swung with a bare fist.

Nanaka raised her arm to block the punch.

Midway through the swing the masked girl Projected a mundane dagger from thin air and finally struck the Magical Girl's arm. It barely got through the cloth, and it wasn't the ornamental dagger, so all that resulted was a small scratch that could easily be ignored.

It was still the first strike the masked girl had been able to land though.

Nanaka immediately retreated.

The masked girl was unable to follow simply because she was too exhausted from her assault. She was quite grateful for the mask at the moment, it made it hard for others to see how much she was struggling to breathe.

Nanaka glanced down at her arm and looked at the scratch. "I underestimated you. That was my mistake." She tensed her arms and took a stance. "I won't do that anymore. I'll end this now."

The lack of formality, the sudden steel that Nanaka's voice took, that was all the warning the girl needed to raise her knives to block the next attack.

"Kashin-ryu first arrangement."

Nanaka took a single step forward.

"White Camelia."

A single swing that didn't even reach her, and yet the girl could hear a light whistle in the air.

The masked girl didn't blink. Didn't even realize what happened until her knives shattered in her hands. And then blood erupted from her body from a singular strike to the chest. Like a geyser, the flow could not be stopped, and she fell to her knees.

The strength left her body as the rest of it fell. She didn't even hit the ground before she blacked out.