"Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in to him into the ark.
And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, see, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again to him any more."
Gênesis 8:8-12
Sunlight broke through her eyelids and Leona opened her eyes. She got up slowly, her body sore from sleeping on a hard surface, but the teenager did not complain, as the rock wall she had used as a rest for her back was large and provided a few hours of shade. The location, in the Renca Hill, was also difficult to access, far from the trails used by most people.
She felt her bladder full. Leona looked around to make sure no one was there, and then pulled down her pants to do her biological need. Her pants were getting short again, and she had recently stolen them. The shirt was dirty and torn, but at least it was quite loose. She squatted down, taking care not to hit her bare feet with the piss.
Blood.
It was those days. One of the few things Leona would like to make stop, but it was impossible. Not even when she stole birth control pills.
After emptying her bladder, Leona put her pants back on, noticing that they were already stained red and would soon stink.
Her tongue was dry and her stomach empty.
Leona was no longer at the rock wall, but behind a bush, near the top of the hill. She was familiar with teleporting in that hiding place, as there could be people on the summit. The last time she was seen by someone when she reappeared, the person fainted from fright, followed by rumors of hauntings in the area, with more people visiting the place. Quite a nuisance.
The Sun was low, it would not be long before it set. It was a summer's afternoon, the soil was hot, but there was already a cool breeze. Certain that no one was around, Leona went to the summit and saw the cityscape of Santiago, Chile's capital, and the Andes mountain range, with very little snow on its peaks.
It was a fantastic horizon. A horizon she could reach, and no one could stop her. Ever again.
Suddenly, Leona was surrounded by the sounds of vehicles. It was no surprise to her, as she was now on top of a building in a residential area of the capital. She started looking in the windows of the other buildings for a place to invade.
That was a part of patience and risks. The best windows were those without curtains, so that she could see whether or not anyone was in the room. Then she would teleport into the room and teleport back immediately. In the short time she was in the room, she would listen for sounds such as conversation, television, snoring... She also checked to see if there were any lights on. If the place seemed empty, Leona felt safe teleporting back inside. Some homes had alarm systems, but most only had detectors installed on the doors and windows, and she was not going to use any of them.
It took her seven attempts, with a rather dangerous one, as she saw the shadow of a person in the hallway. She finally found an apartment where the silence was total and all the lights were off. Even so, she walked carefully around the place, trying to confirm that there was no one sleeping in the rooms. Only then did she speed towards the kitchen.
There was a jug of water and an open bag of crispy cookies in the fridge. She drank straight from the jug, in long gulps, ignoring the pain in her teeth caused by the icy water. Then she attacked the bag of cookies.
There was also a pot of dulce de leche in the fridge.
Leona looked at the stove. On top of it was a basket with a half of a roll of bread. She ran to get the bread and returned to the fridge, where she opened the pot and used her fingers to scoop up a portion of the dulce de leche. She spread the brown cream on the bread and put it into her mouth. The bread was stale and hard to chew, so she kept pushing it, waiting for her saliva to soften it, while enjoying the sugary taste of the cream.
When she finally swallowed the bread, the feeling of her stomach being filled was like her body being filled with relief and happiness, comparable to when her soul gem was purified.
Leona sighed, feeling her body's impulses calm down, as she put what was left back in the fridge and closed it. Only then did she notice that there was a picture frame of a woman in the kitchen, the probable inhabitant.
Leona had hit the jackpot.
She looked for the bathroom. As soon as she found it, she went in and opened all the drawers. Soon she found what she was looking for: tampons. She pulled down her pants to put one, in a hurry, it was a bit painful, but it was done.
It was then that she noticed her reflection in the mirror. Her short dark pink hair, together with her baggy shirt, gave her the appearance of a boy, it was better that way. Her face was dirty, with sleep in her eyes and trails of dried snot coming out of her nostrils.
There was a shower. It was tempting, but someone could enter the apartment at any moment. She settled for washing her face in the sink. Afterwards, she grabbed more tampons, planning to stash them in the pockets of her pants, but she remembered that her pants were dirty from her period and came up with a better idea.
She left the bathroom and went to the woman's bedroom. She opened the closet and took out some pants. The pants were wider than she was wearing, which was good, but they were too wide, the owner of those clothes was fat. This did not faze Leona, who chose a pair of pants and put them on, taking an available belt and tying it tightly around her waist.
The sound of a key unlocking the door.
Leona widened her eyes and hurried to put the other pants back in the closet. While holding the dirty pants, she teleported to the bathroom and put the tampons inside the new pants, while listening to voices and lights being turned on. As soon as she closed the last drawer, she heard the wind and the sounds of vehicles below. She sighed, she was back on top of the building.
The sky was darkening, the Sun letting the other stars show their brilliance. Leona was now in a public park, feeling the temperature of the dry air drop further. She put her old pants in a garbage can, maybe some beggar would take an interest in it. Her stomach rumbled, she had not eaten enough.
A festival or event for a large public would be good to solve this, but she could not think of any taking place in the capital, or in the surrounding regions.
It was then that she saw a flyer stuck to a post. It had tears in it, indicating that it had been there for a while, but it was still possible to read the logo and the name of the place:
Rock in Rio
Río de Janeiro
It was a big musical event, promised to be the biggest in the world, and it was starting tonight! There was a picture of a large statue on a round hill, with its arms open. Leona remembered that it was a famous statue, but she could not remember the name.
Fortunately, she did not need that.
Leona felt the chill of a light rain on her skin. The wind was strong and she took care to keep her balance, as she was now standing on one of the statue's arms. It was already evening in that place and Leona realized that the festival must have already begun.
The problem was that she had no idea where exactly it was. She was counting on seeing the place from the high point where she was, especially as the event promised to be the biggest of all.
She could see that behind some hills there were dancing lights, which illuminated the clouds. She teleported to the lights and reappeared in the air, soon hearing the sound of rock music. In the brief moment of freefall, she could see that she had found it. The place was vast and colorful, with a sea of people, she had not seen anything like it.
Leona teleported again and her feet hit the muddy ground, feeling a twinge of pain in her knees and hips. Leona considered that if she was not a magical girl, she would not be so lucky. However, these thoughts soon gave way to music. She recognized the melody; she had heard it on television in a bar in Santiago.
"~~Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a poor boy
I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go
Little high, little low
Anyway the wind blows
Doesn't really matter to me~~"
It was the band Queen! It was their concert! It really was the biggest festival of all. The only thing separating her from it was a wall on the other side of the street, just another wall.
She felt the cold mud on her feet again, but now she felt the warmth of the people around her, the music was louder. Under the rain of water and lights, Leona could see that the people were just as dirty as she was, and just as happy; it was chaos, freedom in tune with the song.
"~~Oh, mamma mia, mamma mia!
Mamma mia, let me go!
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me!~~"
It was the perfect moment. Leona's experienced hand reached into a man's trouser pocket and pulled out a wallet with her fingertips. She walked away, carrying with her the fruit of her theft. She searched all the compartments for money notes and coins, letting the rest fall out and sink into the mud.
Bumping and sliding between the bodies of the large audience, she was now looking for the place where they sold food. Her deduction led her to a covered area sheltered from the rain, where there were several stands, each with a long queue. She had no idea what to eat, any food would do, nor what she could buy with that foreign money in her hands. She chose one at random and waited patiently.
When it was Leona's turn, the man at the stand asked, "O que você quer? Seja rápido."
Leona did not understand what he was saying, but she already knew what she wanted. She pointed to a fried dough that was inside the glass oven.
"Uma coxinha, é?" The man quickly opened the oven to get the snack.
Leona placed a cash note on the counter.
The man took the paper and read the value, then he looked back at the girl, frowning.
The awkward silence made Leona gulp. She could feel that she was being scrutinized.
"Onde você conseguiu esse dinheiro?" the man asked.
She placed another cash note on the counter.
The man picked up the new note. It was not the answer he wanted, but he looked at the growing queue. Then he shook his head and sighed, picked up a plastic cup and filled it with juice.
Leona only had to wait a little longer to receive the cup and the snack wrapped in a napkin.
The man said harshly, "Agora chispa daqui."
And Leona did. She went to another part of the covered area and tasted the fried bun. The dough inside was warm and soft, with a generous filling of cooked and shredded chicken meat. It was well seasoned! She drank the juice, it was orange.
The music continued. It was turning out to be a better than average day.
After finally satisfying her stomach, Leona returned to the mud and rain. She enjoyed the show until the band left and was replaced by a singer she did not know. Remembering the only reference she had in the city, Leona returned to the arm of the large statue.
The rain was a little worse and colder. It must have been late at night. A good time to look for a witch. From the statue, the girl could see an urban area and a curved line of lights, delimiting a beach and its bay. That was where she teleported to.
From the tops of buildings, she kept changing positions in her search, until she felt another magic. This brought her to a construction site.
Over the cab of a crane, Leona saw the entrance to the witch's barrier. The strange floating symbol was vibrating and flashing. Was there already another magical girl inside? That was perfect, she would not have to wait.
She plunged into the entrance and the world distorted. She was now in a kind of factory, a dark and gray environment. There was the constant noise of machines working on the production line. She saw that what was being assembled were supposed to be colorful dolls, but everything was wrong. The position of the arms, legs, mouths and eyes, and the quantity, did not make sense. Even so, when those constructs fell off the conveyor belts, they became alive and shrieked like babies. In accordance with their respective bizarre bodies, they moved in one direction.
Leona knew where the witch's minions were going, because she could sense the source of the magic. The other magical girl must have been in battle. Leona decided not to use any magic to avoid attracting the creatures' attention. Fortunately, there was a ladder leading up to some suspended footbridges near the ceiling of the factory.
There was no evident danger on the footbridges, but the girl walked cautiously to a door. When she opened it, a sweet smell, like honey, invaded her nostrils.
It was a continuation of the factory shed. There was the same production line, with an even greater concentration of these bizarre constructs. The minions were gathering on the other side of the shed, where the wall had been demolished, which must have been the work of the other magical girl.
Leona hurried along the footbridge, the smell was nauseating, the cacophony of screeching creatures was an invitation to insanity. She reached another door and opened it without a second thought. The smell got even worse, making her put her hand over her nose. She arrived in a room that was even more infested with familiars to the point where it was impossible to see the floor.
Except at one point, around a grown woman with long white hair and more ornaments than clothes. The creatures formed a circle around her, but did not attack her, instead, when the woman walked, they moved out of her way.
Leona frowned, she had never seen an adult magical girl. Would it be like this in Brazil? Besides, that woman did not seem to be bothered by the smell.
The white-haired woman gestured with her arms as if she were pulling aside a curtain, and the clusters of familiars in front of her were thrown away by an invisible force, revealing what they were covering.
A giant honeycomb, a wall of combs with its characteristic hexagonal pattern. However, what was inside each hexagon was not a larva, but humanoid fetuses. They even had an umbilical cord and a placenta, which pulsed.
Then came the sound of a buzzing. The sound soon became louder and the factory began to shake. Leona covered her ears, expecting what was coming next.
The ceiling collapsed and a giant monster landed in front of the woman. Its body resembled that of a wasp, but its abdomen was a collection of glass bottles, with labels of alcoholic beverages. The thorax was a cushion of pins, which held the delicate plastic film wings. Its head was a skull of a dog bathed in honey, fillets of the golden liquid dripping from its long canine teeth.
There was no doubt for Leona, that was the witch.
Despite having no lungs, the witch roared at the invader like a mother protecting her spawn.
The woman did not go into a combat stance, she simply extended an arm, palm open towards the giant monster, and uttered, "Abjuration."
It was a night of many surprises for Leona.
The witch stopped and lowered her head, as if she were going to sleep.
The woman approached the monster without hesitation and touched it with a fingertip. At the same moment, the bottles in the witch's abdomen burst, the pins stuck in the pillow twisted and the dog's skull split in two.
Leona was wide-eyed as the barrier began to dissipate. The shrieks of the familiars, the sweet, intoxicating smell, the factory, everything was gone. She was back in the construction area, on one of the upper floors of the unfinished building, while the woman was on the ground.
A grief seed slowly descended, until its sharp tip at the base touched the muddy soil.
This was the moment Leona had been waiting for. She conjured her soul gem and transformed, being enveloped by a flash of pink light.
The woman turned around and looked at her.
That was exactly what Leona wanted. At the same moment, she teleported to the grief seed and quickly collected it. However, something strange had happened: her magical girl 'uniform', her pink second skin, began to glow. Leona was baffled, but then cursed herself for being distracted by it and teleported to the top of another building in the city.
The second skin stopped glowing.
It was the first time Leona had witnessed this, without understanding what was causing it. Fortunately, she had gotten the seed, which should be enough for the month.
"Com licença."
Leona felt a tightening in her heart when she heard that. She turned around.
It was the white-haired woman! At such close range that it was now easy to see how tall and strong she was, and her soul gem was very dark.
Leona teleported back to the arm of the great statue. She gasped. Could that woman teleport too? But how had she managed to locate her so quickly? These were questions that the girl did not have time to look for answers to as she heard the voice again.
"Por favor, não fuja. Eu quero conversar."
It was the woman again, she was even smiling now. Compelled by terror, Leona teleported into the darkness. She felt an intense cold wind punish her skin. Although it had been a random choice, she knew it was a familiar place. It must have been somewhere in the Andes, not far from Santiago.
"¿Habla español?"
Leona felt bathed in a warm light.
It was the woman, accompanied by a floating ball of fire. "Perdona, pensaba que eras brasileña."
Leona, hearing the woman speak in her language, only increased the feeling that she was cornered. "Here!" The girl offered the seed, her arm trembling, either from cold or fear, or both. "I stole it because I had no choice. Please! Don't kill me!"
"Oh, poor thing... I won't hurt you," the woman said in a soft voice, "but I'll only accept your offer if you promise not to try to run away. Can you do that?"
Leona glanced at the fireball. The warmth it provided was comforting, but it was also threatening. She nodded. "I promise."
The woman approached without haste and took the seed.
Leona struggled to wait, so used was she to using her teleportation at the slightest sign of danger.
The woman brought the seed close to the large corrupted gem in her tiara. Then a stream of darkness transferred from the gem to the seed.
However, Leona soon noticed that something was wrong, because the woman's gem was not getting purified at all.
The woman moved the seed away from her gem, which was still completely blackened. After a sigh, she offered the seed back. "There's still enough for you."
"W-What?" Leona raised her eyebrows.
"Come on, hold out your hand," the woman insisted with a tender smile.
Leona timidly obeyed.
The woman held the girl's hand and placed the seed in it with affection. "You can call me Estér."
The wind stopped, but Leona felt cold again. The warm light was gone, there was no more fireball, but now there was the light coming from a charming lamppost. They were now in a park of a city. Santiago? Leona was not sure, the air was... different.
"Come with me." Estér started walking. "There's a more comfortable place for us to talk."
Leona hesitated, wary of the exotic woman's invitation, but running away was not yet an option. At that moment, she realized that she was still virtually naked, with her second skin dancing over her slender form. She undid the transformation, returning to her 'borrowed' clothes.
Estér turned around. "Come! You'll love it!"
Leona followed her. As they left the park, the girl saw the woman crossing the street towards a sumptuous building. It must have been early in the morning and there was little movement of people, but Leona could not understand why the woman was still wearing the magical girl's attire. With her half-naked body in that cold, plus the myriad of jewelry she was wearing, the woman would attract a lot of attention!
However, there was a uniformed man standing next to the entrance to the building. He nodded and smiled at the woman, at the same time as he opened the door for her and her guest.
Upon entering, Leona felt the cozy warmth. It seemed to be a hotel, a very luxurious one. She found something written in gold letters on a large column in the lobby, but it was not in Spanish. They were definitely not in Santiago.
Estér approached the counter, where another uniformed, smiling man was already waiting for her, offering a key. She took the object and turned to the girl, offering her hand. "Come on."
"Huh?" Leona hesitated again.
"It'll be faster that way," Estér said.
Slowly approaching, Leona touched the woman's hand and then her surroundings changed. They were now in a small corridor, facing a varnished wooden door with sophisticated carvings. The woman had deliberately used magic in front of that man... Leona had given up on understanding, it seemed to be a dream.
Estér used the key to open the door and entered the room, turning on the lights. "Please, make yourself at home."
Leona's eyes grew wide with amazement. The room was spacious, the apartment must have taken up half the floor, and it was equipped with wooden furniture of the highest refinement.
"This hotel has recently undergone renovations. They've knocked down walls to create an open concept environment," Estér commented as she scrutinized her guest, "pretty modern for such an old building, don't you think?"
"Hmmm..." Leona noticed the huge bed and then looked at a small table with a chessboard on it. It looked more like a work of art, was it made of ebony and ivory? The girl wondered how much money it could worth.
"Do you know how to play?" Estér asked.
Leona stopped looking at the board and shook her head.
"I'll teach you then."
Chess? Leona preferred to pretend she had not heard, what was the point? There were more important things, like knowing where she was. She walked towards a large curtain, everything was large in fact, without being able to ignore the quality of the carpet beneath her feet. It was like stepping on clouds.
Oh no...
Leona looked down at her mud-soaked feet; she had left a muddy trail ever since she entered that room.
"Haha! No problem." Estér sat on the bed and lifted her leg. "Look, mine are dirty too. After, I'll prepare a spell to clean that."
Leona looked at the woman, not expressing any relief at hearing this.
Estér raised her eyebrows. "Go on, look in the window."
Now being a mixture of obedience and desire. Leona opened the curtain and looked out at the cityscape. It was a big city, but she could not find any landmarks to establish where she was. However, there was something peculiar, not far from the hotel, the city was much darker and gloomier, but it was not a power cut, there were some lights.
"One city, two worlds," Estér said, "welcome to Berlin, Leona."
The girl looked at the woman again, her eyes wide this time. "How do you know my name?"
"It's written on your ring," Estér replied.
Leona looked at the ring on her left hand, specifically at the strange markings. "Is that my name here? Can you read it?"
"Yes, and I can teach you." Estér smiled. "I can teach you many things."
Leona frowned. "Why would you do that?"
Estér sighed and was brief, "Boredom."
Leona grimaced. "Boredom?"
"You've already realized that I'm powerful," Estér explained, "there's not much more I can aim for. So I got into the habit of mentoring people who catch my interest and getting the best out of them."
"So I'm not your first," Leona concluded.
"No, but that doesn't make you any less special." Estér's pink eyes sparkled for a moment.
Leona mustered up the courage to ask, "What if I don't want any of it?"
Estér stopped smiling. "I'll let you go, with the seed."
Leona felt the metallic details of the grief seed she was still holding.
"I'll let you go back to your life as a thief." Estér shrugged. "I just can't guarantee that the next magical girl who manages to catch you will be as merciful."
The girl gulped.
Estér cocked her head to one side. "You really value freedom, don't you?"
Leona lowered her head, replying in a weak voice, "That's my wish."
"Oh... But do you feel free?" Estér asked, "You run away because it feels like you have no choice. Is that freedom for you?"
Leona did not answer, she did not even make a gesture.
"If you let me take care of you, running away will be a choice, but you won't even feel like you need to." The woman then exclaimed, "Oh yes! I almost forgot to tell you! This is not a pact, agreement or contract. I'm not Kyuubey. You can change your mind and leave at any time, no pressure."
A risk-free offer seemed too good to be true. However, what that woman had said earlier was a fact. Leona sighed and gave her answer, "In that case..."
"In that case you're going to take a shower."
Leona looked with surprise at Estér. "Huh?"
The woman with the long white hair pointed to a door. "The bathroom is over there. There should be towels and everything else you need. The Sun will come out soon and it would be good if you had some rest, as I want to take you to some stores."
"S-Stores?" Leona frowned.
"Relax." Estér opened her arms. "It's just things girls do."
Leona preferred to change the topic. "And where am I going to sleep?"
Estér ran her hand over the fabric of the bedding to feel its velvety quality. "Heeere~~"
Leona stared for a while before uttering, "Am I... Am I going to share a bed with you?"
"It's big enough for both of us." Estér smiled. "Do you have a problem?"
"N-No..." Leona turned to go to the bathroom. The night had gone on long enough.
/人 ◕‿‿◕ 人\
Leona left the fitting room wearing a thick pink coat with a faux-fur hood, gloves and black leggings.
Estér approached. "Uh-huh..." With great satisfaction, she circled the girl, making small adjustments to the fabric of the clothes. "Let's see if they have any summer clothes in stock."
All sorts of clothes and shoes were bought. All from the latest fashion and best quality.
Actually, buying was not the best term.
After many stores, they went to a snack bar. Quietly, Leona examined what the waitress had brought her: a mug of hot chocolate and an apfelstrudel; a kind of bread filled with a baked apple pastry. Next to the table where she was sitting were myriad bags, all with products for her alone.
Estér was sitting on the other side of the table. In her magical girl garments... or lack of them. The gem in her tiara looked like a hole that absorbed all the light. "Something seems to be bothering you."
"Huh?" Leona returned her attention to the food. "There's nothing..."
"Stop running away, Leona," Estér said, "if you're going to live with me, you need to express your opinions for the sake of our relationship."
Leona took a deep breath.
And Estér waited with a smile.
"Look..." Leona said, "you're still transformed as a magical girl."
Estér nodded. "Uh-huh..."
Leona continued, "And you're huge..."
"Are you telling me I'm fat?"
Leona widened her eyes and looked at Estér. "No! No! I-"
"Fufufufu..." Estér shook her head, showing a big smile. "I know what you meant, I just didn't expect that word. I couldn't resist and I teased a bit."
Leona saw a smiling waitress approach and place a glass mug containing a weird red beer in front of Estér.
Estér nodded to the waitress and the snack bar worker left.
Watching the waitress walk away, Leona said, "THAT'S IT!"
"What?" Estér turned the mug to take a long sip.
"We walk around the city, with you looking like that, and nobody cares!" Leona explained, "and... they smile at you and give you things, without saying a word!"
"Hmmm!" Estér put her mug back, revealing a 'white moustache' caused by the beer foam. "I don't want them to talk, I don't want to waste my voice either."
"You..." Leona shivered. "You hypnotized the whole city..."
"'Hypnotized', another unexpected word." Estér raised her eyebrows. "Let me try to explain what's going on. Do you remember what you ate yesterday?"
"I do!" Leona replied curtly.
"Oh..." Estér blinked, and smiled wider. "Because you're very special, Leona. Many people have trouble answering that question, because their lives are a set of forgettable routines. What I do is simply insert you and me into that set."
Leona grimaced. That explanation did not explain at all!
Estér's gaze became penetrating. "Do you think I'm hypnotizing you, Leona?"
"Huh?" The girl lowered her gaze at the sudden question.
Estér whispered, "Don't run away..."
"I don't know," Leona said, failing to hide her anger, "I don't think so, because I'm still afraid of you."
"You're clever." With an air of satisfaction, the woman tossed back her long white hair and drank more of her beer.
Leona looked at the bags with the products from the stores. "We didn't pay for these things."
Estér took long sips.
"We're not paying for that food, are we?" The girl shook her head in disappointment. "You talked about my life as a thief, but you're one too."
"Ahhh..." Estér put the empty mug on the table. "That's not stealing, it's a way for people show their gratitude."
Leona blinked, confused. "Gratitude for what?"
Estér put the mug away and bent over the table.
The girl recoiled in the face of that pair of sparkling pink eyes.
"I'll tell you a little secret," Estér spoke, "this world only exists because of me."
Leona stammered, "W-What world?"
Estér looked up. "That diner. That building." Then she looked at the waitress. "That woman over there... Oh! She's remembering the stretch marks she noticed this morning, but there's no problem. Her ass is in great shape."
Leona frowned. "Do you read minds too?"
"Yes." Estér returned her attention to the girl. Smiling, she returned to her seat. "But I wouldn't dare read yours. I want to get to know you like a book, page by page..."
Leona exhaled, but the tension remained. "So your world is this cafeteria?"
"Huh?" Estér was confused at first, then she closed her eyes tightly. "Oh no, how stupid of me. Of course not! I meant that I prevented the extinction of all mankind, more than once."
Leona was amazed. "Are you a superhero?"
"Superhero?" Estér could not contain her laughter, shaking her head. "Fufufufu! You're so adorable, Leona. I swear on my existence that I'll give you a more dignified future."
Not so sure about the quality of this future, Leona lowered her gaze. "About that... hmmmm... training..."
"That will have to wait. A few weeks or more."
Leona was surprised by the sudden seriousness in Estér's voice. "W-Why?"
"You're skin and bones. You eat poorly." The woman was no longer smiling. "You don't feel weak because you're deceiving yourself, you're not using your soul gem properly. This is limiting your potential. I'm going to teach you how to pilot your body."
"Pilot my body?"
"Oh yes." Estér crossed her arms and nodded. "For the first few weeks I'm going to give you an intermediate course about magical girls, about things that a certain Kyuubey omitted. And chess too! This game is a good exercise in putting your emotions aside, they're just distractions when it comes to solving problems." She then raised her voice in a professorial tone. "But don't throw them away! You need them to make judgments, we're human after all."
Leona nodded slowly, somewhat lost in thought. Was that not already a training? Or had that eccentric woman understood that the 'training' would be about something more physical?
Estér pointed. "Finish your drink before it gets too cold."
/人 ◕‿‿◕ 人\
Indeed.
Leona did not know which country she was in, Estér had teleported both of them. It was a hot and humid place, on the banks of a large river in a valley, surrounded by a forest, with no sign of human presence. The ground on the bank was littered with small, smooth, colored stones; the river must have covered the area frequently.
But now, that would be the 'training' site.
"Let's get started," Estér ordered, "transform."
Leona sighed and put her left hand forward, palm open. Her ring glowed and jumped, momentarily becoming the soul gem's egg shape, and then an explosion of pink light. When the light dissipated, the girl was using one arm to cover her breasts and the other to cover her belly and groin as best she could.
"Oh?" Estér raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember you being that embarrassed on our first encounter."
"It was dark, and I was afraid for my life!" Leona gave up covering her body, as there were too many gnats bothering her. In a fit of rage, she declared, "I hate the way I look, okay? I hate it!"
"Why?" Estér smiled. "Your body is perfect, and I can see that the diet has worked. You've already got some curves."
"THAT'S THE PROBLEM! I'M NAKED!" Leona did not know where else to put her arms. Blushing, she turned her face away and lowered her voice. "You're half naked too, but at least there's some fabric covering something..." She then pinched a portion of her 'pink skin' that was moving over her normal skin. "And not this crappy paint, or tattoo, or whatever. Why don't I have a pretty uniform like the other magical girls?"
"Hmmm... You have absolute freedom of movement like that." Estér nodded, appearing convinced of her own conclusions. "You don't make much noise either. Those are qualities in a fight."
"I can't fight," Leona said, "I don't even have a weapon."
"Really?"
"I've tried so many times." The girl looked at the palms of her hands. "I can't summon a weapon, a tool, any object. Kyuubey told me that this is quite unusual. That's why I have no choice but to steal seeds to survive."
Estér made a ball of pink light appear in her left hand.
Leona watched as the light solidified into a small scepter, but it had two heads, one at each end, each made up of eight curved rods that started from the baton and met again at the tip, forming a hollow chamber. The object appeared to be made of solid gold, with a delicate design that would be worth a fortune if sold as an ornament.
"That's my weapon," Estér said, "it's called vajra. What do you think of it? Pretty weak, isn't it?"
"Ahm... You have to be pretty close to hit, but it looks heavy. You should be able to crush something with it."
Estér made her weapon disappear. "Do you think I need that to smash something?"
"No... You kill witches just by poking them." Leona shook her head, even more defeated. "I've seen magical girls shoot lasers out of their eyes. I've seen many girls manage to turn ordinary objects into magical weapons. I can't even do that! Kyuubey once said that a girl's potential defines what she will be able to do. I don't have any, he was wrong about me."
"Nonsense," Estér declared firmly, "a human can kill another human with their bare hands. A magical girl can do the same against a witch."
Leona lowered her gaze.
"Follow me."
The girl obeyed the woman. They approached a large rock, which must have weighed tons, with traces that it was gradually being carved away by the river.
Estér stood next to the rock, asking, "I want you to punch it."
"Punch? The rock?" Leona questioned.
"Yes, with all your might."
The girl's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"
The woman did not say a word.
Realizing who she was speaking to, Leona lowered her head. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that..."
"You're only being adorable, I would never be offended by that," Estér said, "But you have to trust yourself more. By the way, a magical girl is much stronger than an ordinary person."
Leona looked at her closed fist and then at the rock. She came closer to her target and looked at Estér.
The tall woman nodded. "Put magic in your muscles."
Leona sighed. Seeing the hard surface, she turned her torso to prepare her punch.
"IIIAAAAHHH!"
It was a straight shot. As soon as her fist connected with the rock, Leona felt a terrible pain. "AIE! AIE! AAAIIIIEEE!" Pulling back, she looked at her hand. She was afraid to move her fingers, as the skin was flayed and they were bleeding. A patch of pink skin had moved to cover the wounds.
"Was that a punch?" Estér enquired.
"OF COURSE IT WAS!" Leona held back tears. "And I broke my hand because of it."
"Your hand is fine." Estér raised her eyebrows, smiling. "I healed it."
"Huh?" In fact, there was no more pain. Leona examined her hand. The pink skin receded, revealing there was not even a scratch underneath.
Estér narrowed her gaze. "Interesting. You can control that 'pink body paint'..."
"That was instinct." Leona opened and closed her hand, still impressed. "But... I can control it a bit."
"Can you make it cover your hand like a glove?"
"Like this?" Obeying the woman, the girl concentrated on her hand. The pink skin moved and covered it from wrist to fingertips.
Estér was satisfied. "Now punch the rock again with that hand, harder."
Leona stared at her wide-eyed.
"Don't worry, I'll heal you."
There was no escape. Leona shook her head, already certain of the pain to come. She approached the rock again and prepared her punch.
"EEEIIIAAAHHH!"
With her eyes closed and gritting her teeth, the young magical girl felt her fist hit the hard surface and the pain... But it was not the lancinating pain of before, it was something easy to tolerate. She opened her eyes, perplexed, and looked at her hand. The pink skin had dispersed, showing the healthy skin underneath.
"Looks like we found your weapon," Estér commented.
With her mouth open, smiling like a baby who has just learned to walk, Leona consulted her mentor.
Estér nodded. "Go on, punch that rock."
With much more enthusiasm, Leona covered her hand with pink skin and did as the woman asked.
"IIIEEEAAAAHH!"
Estér continued to give instructions. "Use your other hand too. Can you cover both?"
"IIIIEEEEEAAHH!"
After each punch. "Weak! Put more magic into those muscles. Your will is the only limit."
"IIEEEAAAAWWW! AW!" Leona punched so hard that her shoulder dislocated. "AWWww..." The pain immediately went away.
"There, I've healed. Go on."
And she continued. "IIIEEEAAAAHHH!"
"Do you really need to shout at every strike?"
The punches continued for a long time, so long that Leona's inebriation at her newfound strength had worn off. She stopped, sweating profusely, in front of the rock with no apparent damage. "Do you want me to... break this?"
Estér said, "I hope so."
"That's impossible." Leona lowered her head. She was stronger, but still very weak.
"You have a lot to learn." Estér moved away from the rock. "Let's diversify a bit."
"Huh?" Leona saw the woman stop and turn to her, arms outstretched.
"Punch me."
"You?" The girl frowned. "But... it's you!"
Estér rolled her eyes. "That's training."
"Right..." Leona pressed her lips together and moved closer to her.
Estér kicked her.
The movement was so fast and sudden that Leona did not realize it until she was already flying with the force of the blow. Her back and head hit something hard, and everything went dark. The light returned, however, when her whole body was seized with pain, as if she were receiving a strong electrical discharge. "GGGGNNNNNNNN!"
"Do you think I'm a rock?"
The voice was distant. Dizzy, Leona could not see clearly, her eyes were still adjusting to the light, as if they had been closed for a long time.
"DO YOU THINK I'M A ROCK, LEONA? ANSWER ME!"
The voice became clearer. Leona realized that she was fallen, her back resting on the rock.
Estér kept talking, "Do you think I'm going to let you attack me?"
Leona stood up. There was no pain or injury, had she been healed? "But you said it was training."
"Of course it is! That's why you're still alive!" Estér calmed down. "Let's continue. By the way, I've heard rumors that you're able to teleport..."
There was a slightly sarcastic tone in the last sentence. Leona understood exactly what she wanted. This time she did not take a step, yet she was immediately at the long white-haired woman's back. She closed her fist, about to throw a punch.
Estér turned at once and delivered a blow with her elbow to the girl's head.
"Aie!" Leona fell face-first against the pebbles.
"I can't believe it." Estér shook her head in disappointment. "You're aware that your opponent knows that you can teleport, and yet you decide to do the most obvious thing in the world."
The girl was on all fours with her head down. Her hands and arms were shaking, tense.
Estér felt no remorse. "Your punch could already break that rock, it could already split this planet in two! None of that matters if you don't use your head to think."
All of a sudden, Leona disappeared.
"Hm?" Estér turned around quickly. She saw Leona for a moment before she disappeared again. The woman smiled as she watched the girl constantly change position, each time showing that she was preparing a punch.
Then Leona appeared next to her opponent, while already throwing a punch.
However, Estér held the girl's fist with one hand. "You're getting better, but it's still slo-" Water invaded the woman's mouth violently and also covered her eyes. She felt her body whirling around, easily carried by a force of nature. The moment she realized it, Estér teleported back to the shore. She coughed and vomited water. She teleported me into the river?
Leona was not on the shore.
Estér looked around, already thinking that the girl was in the river too, drowning. Until she noticed something else missing.
The rock was gone, there was only a marking on the ground of where it had been resting.
Estér's eyes widened. An instant later, a shadow appeared above her. The massive rock had reappeared above the woman, and in a supernatural reaction, Estér used telekinesis to keep it in the air.
At that same moment, Leona reappeared behind the woman, throwing a punch. Just as her fist was about to touch the woman's back, however, she disappeared.
The rock fell with a loud crash, causing the local fauna to flee. Soon, Estér reappeared next to the rock. "That was creative, but the execution still leaves something to be desired."
There was no reply, there was no Leona.
"Oh..." Grimacing as she realized what had happened, Estér used her magic to levitate the rock.
Leona's crushed body was revealed.
"Your pink skin couldn't save you from that, huh?" Estér moved the rock, putting it back in its original place. Then she levitated Leona's body, as well as all the blood and guts that had escaped. With mere gestures, the blood and guts were commanded to enter the body and the wounds were closed.
As if nothing had happened, Leona's body was in perfect condition, but lifeless.
Estér blew.
As if an electric current had passed through her, her body convulsed and Leona woke up with a jolt. "Ah! What happened?!"
"Congratulations," Estér said, "you managed to hit me."
"Huh? Did I? I don't think..." Leona looked around, confirming that she was in the middle of a crater. She then saw the rock. "I've been crushed, haven't I?"
"Oh yes, but it doesn't matter, you hit me." Estér smiled. "I told you you were special, didn't I? As a reward, you won't have to punch that rock anymore."
Leona's eyes grew wide. "Yeah?"
Estér smiled more. "At least not today."
"Hmm..." Leona lowered her head, making a pout.
/人 ◕‿‿◕ 人\
The overcast sky was dark, gloomy. Inside a labyrinth of trenches and razor wire, Leona could smell the mud. Small annelids emerged from the walls, their elongated bodies struggling and falling to the ground. There were so many of them that the ground seemed to be alive.
Leona tolerated this disgusting situation because it was her hiding place from what was chasing her.
The ground began to shake. Leona then realized that there were no hiding places. She could run away, but that was what she always did.
The ground shook more and the sound of the engine could be heard. The walls of the trench began to collapse when a battle tank appeared. The turret of the vehicle was pointed right at where Leona was standing.
The girl was quick to teleport, reappearing above the vehicle. Gathering all her will and strength, she punched the thick armor, making a loud impact, but no damage. "Shit!"
Leona had considered teleporting inside the tank, but there was a good reason for her to give up the idea.
An immense annelid came out of the mouth of the tank's cannon. Unlike the small ones that infested the trenches, this creature saw the magical girl as a prey.
Leona teleported away from the tank, into the trench. This was just to prepare herself, as she had already faced another of these creatures.
The annelid was able to move through the earth like a fish moves through water, quickly locating the girl.
Leona gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
The creature only had a small hole for a mouth, but that was all it needed. From the orifice, the creature launched a jet of digestive fluids at its would-be meal.
It would not be that easy.
Leona disappeared, escaping the acid, and reappeared beside the creature, hitting it with a punch. The annelid's body was soft, but Leona contained the force of her blow, because when her fist hit the body, it expelled its corrosive fluids. Leona immediately teleported to avoid the splatter, and her second skin did its best to protect her, although she already had some chemical burn marks.
Meanwhile, the annelid showed no pain, continuing its relentless hunt, ignoring the strength advantage its prey had.
Disappearing and reappearing, Leona struck more blows until the monster's body looked as if it had been completely crushed. Parts of its body still showed timid movements, nothing that was a threat.
It was a vain victory. The battle tank would soon release a new annelid. The vehicle had to be destroyed for the nightmare to end, but its armor was too strong. Feeling helpless, Leona looked down at her pink-skinned fists, still soiled with the monster's fluids.
That was when she had the idea.
Leona grabbed a handful of the corrosive fluid from the monster's body. She spotted the approaching battle tank in the distance. Using teleportation, she landed on the turret of the vehicle and poured the liquid over the hatch. There was the sound of something burning, the liquid bubbled and gave off smoke. The girl was surprised by the result, it was better than expected, perhaps it would not be necessary to bring more.
The tank stopped. The vehicle could not aim at the girl, but it did not need to.
Leona saw that a new annelid was crawling out of the cannon. There was no more time to wait! She started punching the part of the hatch that had been undermined by the acid. The armor began to crack, which gave her more enthusiasm to keep punching. Finally, her hand pierced the metal.
And the tank popped like an air balloon.
"AAAAHHHH!" Leona was thrown high into the air. She teleported, crashing into the mud. She looked to where the vehicle would be, but now there were only the tracks. The annelid that was coming out of the cannon was lying with only part of its body remaining, writhing in its last moments.
Did I win? Leona stood up and prepared herself, for the unnerving silence was already the answer.
The soil suddenly quaked and a large worm, the biggest the girl had ever witnessed, emerged from where the tank had been, throwing away the earth and the tracks. Its skin was human in texture, with hair and veins.
Leona was flabbergasted.
The worm's head was a huge, stretched human face with no eyeballs. Because it was stretched out, it looked like the worm was smiling at the girl. The monster launched itself at her with its immense body, making a huge thud as it landed.
Fortunately, Leona thought quickly, reappearing next to the worm and throwing a punch with all her might. Although there was no armor this time, the result of the attack was minimal, as the monster's body was larger and more muscular than the annelid she had faced before. "No way..."
The monster rolled its body to crush the girl.
Leona narrowly escaped by teleporting. As she had little time to decide, she reappeared in mid-air, just above the monster.
The giant worm flailed, and the mass of its body hit the magical girl.
"Agh!" Whirling uncontrollably, Leona teleported and rolled over in the mud, coming to a stop on a razor wire. "O-Ouchie!" She felt the pain of flesh being cut. Moving carefully, she examined her body. The pink skin had prevented the worst, but she had acquired some deep cuts. With her fingertips, she removed the wire, it was very sharp!
That was when she had another idea.
She saw that the worm had lost sight of her and was searching. Leona grabbed the razor wire and used a lot of force to twist it, thanks to the protection provided by her second skin, and break it in two, thus getting a long piece of the wire. She then stood up and shouted, "HEY!"
The worm turned to her.
Leona gritted her teeth. "Come and get me, you overgrown sausage."
The worm made a tremendous leap, crossing the sky as if it could fly.
Leona looked up, breathing rapidly, each hand holding one end of the razor wire. She watched the worm's stretched face grow rapidly as it fell.
The worm's face met the ground, causing a large area of trenches to collapse with the shockwave generated.
Leona had avoided being crushed, reappearing on top of the worm's head. She then lassoed the monster with her razor wire and pulled, like a garrote.
The blades cut through the worm's skin easily and it emitted a shrill squeal of pain. The monster wriggled its body in despair.
The girl stood firm in her position, pulling the wire with all her might. "Die, die, DIE!"
The worm's movements only worsened its situation, burying the blades even further into its guts. A bright red liquid squirted out, mixing with the mud.
However, the monster showed no signs of stopping. Leona then began to pull each end of the laminated wire she was holding alternately, turning it into a kind of saw.
The worms' squeals became erratic grunts as the creature drowned in its own blood.
"DIE! AAAHHH!" Leona gave the wire another tug, but she slipped. "NO!" She fell, a longer fall than expected, and her back met the damp sand.
Stars.
The girl forgot all about her pain when she saw the sky. It was not as gloomy as before, but brushed with the lights of the Milky Way. There were no more sounds of agony and death, just the sound of the ocean waves.
Leona raised her torso. She was back on the beach, somewhere in Vietnam. After enjoying the peaceful view of the sea bathed in pale moonlight, she noticed a dark object between her legs. A grief seed. Just then, she began to hear someone clapping their hands.
It was Estér. "Congratulations."
Leona took the seed and stood up, excited. "Ow..." The sudden movement caused her a twinge of pain, reminding her that she was dirty, bruised and bleeding, but that did not quell her jubilation. "I did it! I defeated a witch, all by myself!"
"And it only took a few months of training." The woman with the long white hair gestured towards the girl. "Now you believe in yourself?"
Leona felt a chill on her skin and then she saw her blood flow back into her wounds before they closed up. This was nothing new, and it always gave her a feeling of defeat. "Maybe, but that witch gave me a lot of trouble. It's not like you, who only has to say that one word... What is it? 'Abduction'?"
"Abjuration?" Estér raised her eyebrows. "It's a powerful anti-magic spell that I learned from a magical girl. As witches are beings born of pure magic, it's very effective." The woman was reaching for the corrupted gem in her tiara, but stopped when she realized it. "Unfortunately, for magic to work, I need to say that word. It's a stupid condition, but I didn't create it."
"Did a magical girl teach you that?" Leona got excited again. "Teach me!"
"I'm not capable of teaching you that," Estér said with an air of coldness.
"Really?" Leona frowned. "You can do so much, you're practically a goddess."
"Goddess? Me?!" Estér's eyes lit up.
"Ah!" Leona was startled when the woman instantly translocated in front of her.
"Fufufu... It's true that I can do many things." The woman's pink eyes returned to normal. "But there are things that only you can do, Leona."
"Like what?" The girl shrugged. "I can only teleport, and you can do that too."
"I'll always have to open your eyes, won't I?" Estér said, more serious, "I'll show you the difference between me and a power without limits."
Leona saw Estér turn towards the sea and the Moon. She looked in the same direction.
"It's a full moon. Today its presence is as majestic as it is serene..." Estér closed her eyes and raised her head, feeling the sea breeze. "Let's go there."
"Huh? What?"
With her eyes still closed, Estér said very casually, "Let's go to the Moon."
"There's no way!" Leona shook her head.
"Of course it's possible," Estér said, "even I can do it."
"B-But we can't breathe and... and..." Leona felt herself rising, she could no longer feel the beach sand beneath her feet. "W-What?"
"Magical girls can survive in space for much longer than an ordinary human." Estér also began to levitate. "But I'll make it more comfortable."
Leona was hugged by the woman. "How?"
Estér looked deeply into the girl's eyes. "You can't see it, but I've formed a bubble that contains the atmosphere around us."
"Will this work?"
"Look around."
Leona complied. The sand was brighter, reflecting more light, and a different color. Then she realized that there was an intense silence, she could hear her own breathing and Estér's, but not the waves. She turned her head to look for the sea, but only found an inhospitable vastness that ended in a clear sky, a perfect night. "We... We..."
"Yes, we're on the Moon," Estér replied, "I recommend that you don't look directly at the Sun."
"Is it that bright white light?" The girl asked, "I... just saw it."
"Leona?" Estér was worried.
"What's it?" Leona turned to her. "Is something bad going to happen?"
Estér was surprised to see that the girl's pink skin had formed a blindfold over her eyes. Even so, the girl could see with no difficulty. The woman smiled at this small discovery. "No, it's fine. What did you think of this place?"
"I dunno..." Leona moved a little away from Estér, levitating inside the invisible bubble that contained the pressurized air. "I can hear my heart beating, but I don't know if it's from excitement or because it's so quiet in here."
"That's as far as I can go."
Leona was a puzzled by this sudden statement.
Estér explained, "I could even go a little further, but the cost of that on my gem grows exponentially, and I have to pay that before I even leave."
"Ah..." Leona had no idea what to say about this revelation.
Estér asked, "Do you have any idea how much magic you use in your teleportation?"
"No..." The girl grimaced, somewhat embarrassed. "It must be very little, but I've never used my magic to travel that far. I've never been to another continent with it."
"Your teleportation always costs the same," Estér stated, "regardless of the distance."
Leaving the girl dumbfounded, "You... You could tell."
The woman nodded. "My best translocation magic eliminates time from the cause and effect equation. It allows instant repositioning, without the interference of obstacles, but I still have to respect the fabric of space in this universe. I have to pay the energy I would need to get from one place to another, as if I had accelerated to near the speed of light."
"Oh, ok..." Leona raised her eyebrows, looking like someone who understood almost nothing.
"Your magic is different." Estér smiled. "I can feel you leaving this universe."
Leona still had her eyebrows raised. "Whaaaa...?"
"It's instantaneous, but I felt like a portal was opened when you teleport. A portal that sends you out of this universe."
Leona shook her head in confusion, "But where?"
"I have a good guess," Estér said, "your wish for freedom must have created a mirror universe. A copy of that one."
"Mirror universe? Are you sure?" Leona put her hand on her own chest, stating, "I've never seen another universe, or a portal, or anything!"
"In this mirror universe, time shouldn't exist. You wouldn't want to be restricted by it, would you?" Estér nodded. "Naturally, your senses don't have time to perceive it, but you can immediately go anywhere in the mirror universe and then 'emerge' back into ours. Your only cost is having to open the portal, and it's always the same cost as I told you."
Leona closed her eyes tightly, this was too much information to absorb. "T-That's insane!"
"You'll have the chance to prove that I'm insane." Estér pointed to the sky. "See that little bright red dot? That's Mars, and you'll teleport us there."
"Mars..." Leona knew it was a planet, but she could not remember if she had ever seen a picture of it on the news. "It's very far away..."
"It's not far for you." Estér hugged the girl. "Nothing is far for you."
Leona exchanged a pleading glance with the woman. "I-I could make a mistake! A mistake at this distance... We could end up nowhere in space, with no idea where the Earth is!"
"I trust in what you're capable of. You should do the same with yourself."
The advice was encouraging, but Leona was still reluctant. She rested her head on the tall woman's torso. "I..."
Estér spoke in a soft voice, "Let's get close to that little red dot. You know where it is, your heart will do the rest."
Leona nodded shyly and returned the hug. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her mouth. She let the air escape between her gritted teeth, the loudest sound in that environment. Finally, she mustered the courage to open her eyes again, first seeing Estér's chest, then looking sideways.
There was no longer the landscape of the Moon, nor a red planet, much less the Earth, only the dark vacuum.
"Oh no..." The girl's heart tightened.
"Leona," Estér called out.
Hearing her name was the trigger for her tears. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't..."
"Turn around."
Leona was turned around by her mentor and faced a colossal rust-colored orb floating in space.
Estér commented, "Not so precise, but you did it."
With her heart still tight, Leona could not believe it.
But Estér whispered in the girl's ear, "Let's get closer."
Leona just blinked and nodded, after which the scenery around her changed.
An endless desert of dust and rocks, with a sky of shades between brown and orange on the horizon.
Leona had teleported just a few meters above the Martian ground. They were floating, safe and comfortable inside the invisible bubble.
"Kukuku..."
Surprised by Estér's laughter, Leona broke away from her and turned around.
"Kukuahahahaaa!" The woman's laugh grew into a guffaw. "Hihi! HAHAHA! AAAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Leona had never seen her like this, there was still anguish in her chest, "Ah... Why are you..."
"Why do you ask? Hehe..." Estér raised her eyebrows, accompanied by a broad smile. "We're the first humans on Mars!"
"Ah..." Leona took a deep breath and made an effort to smile.
"I've never been here. No one else has ever been here," Estér seemed to say to herself, nodding excitedly, lost in her thoughts, "it's possible! With you..."
"Uf..." Leona put her hand to her chest, frowning. "With me... What?"
"With you..." Estér's excitement was gone, her eyes blinked as if she had woken up from a dream, her smile became more modest. "I... You're very special, Leona. I told you you were..." Then she noticed the agony in the girl. "Leona? What are you feeling?"
"It hurts to breathe," she replied, "the air... uf... must be running out."
"No. There's still a lot of oxygen inside the bubble." Estér's eyes widened. "Show your soul gem, NOW!"
With the aggressive demand, Leona raised her right arm a little. From the armpit, a patch of pink skin moved along the limb, containing a small bulge. When the patch of pink skin reached her palm, it retreated, but left behind a gem in the shape of a curved X holding a human eye at the top. The gem was very dark, with faint flashes of pink.
Estér furrowed her brows in confusion.
But it was clear to Leona what had happened. "I have limits too," she said with a resigned smile.
"No, you don't."
Estér's affirmation was as succinct as it was serious. Leona saw the woman shake her hand rapidly, causing a grief seed to appear in her palm, like a magic trick. It was the grief seed of the witch she had defeated on the beach.
"But I was negligent when it came to interpreting the wish you told me you made," Estér explained as she purified the gem with the seed, "you wished for freedom, your freedom. This miracle cannot be shared, not without a price."
Leona felt her chest lighten again as she watched her intensely shiny gem being covered by her pink skin and transported to some different point on her body. "So, if I transport other people through this mirror universe, I have to pay for their distance. I'm sorry..."
"Why do you apologize? Your magic is still far superior, and it seems you only pay once you've reached your destination, there's no distance you can't cover instantly." Estér smiled again. "Besides, there's something else that makes you very special."
"What else?" Immediately after asking, Leona's pink skin began to glow. "Huh?! That..."
"So you remember our first meeting," Estér said.
Leona's skin stopped glowing and she exclaimed, "So it was you!"
The woman giggled. "Fufufu... When you went to steal the seed, I paralyzed you, body, mind and soul. You couldn't use any magic to escape."
Leona frowned, "But..."
"Yes, Leona, nothing has happened apart from your 'garments' glowing. This is another result of your wish. There are no horizons you can't reach, and there's nothing that can stop you from doing so."
The girl lowered her gaze and conjectured, "Then, that time, if I had kept teleporting, you wouldn't have been able to keep up with me?"
"If you didn't hesitate," Estér said, offering the grief seed, "but you don't have to hesitate anymore."
Leona accepted the offer, but was confused: "What do you mean?"
Estér pointed to the sky: "Based on the position of the Sun, the Earth should be more or less in that direction. If you make a mistake, don't worry, as you'll be teleporting on your own, it'll cost you next to nothing and a magical girl can stay in the vacuum of space for hours if her soul gem is clean. Just don't despair."
"E-Estér?" The girl was aghast.
As the woman continued to explain, "I have no way of getting off this planet with my magic and I have no way of controlling you. I could kill you, but I'd still be stuck here."
Breathing heavily, Leona looked at the seed she was holding. She held the dark, metallic object tightly.
"Do you understand now? You're free, I'm not. I never will be." As a gesture of veneration, Estér opened her arms and bowed. "The one you see as a goddess is at your mercy."
A hand was offered.
It was Leona's hand, and Estér exchanged glances with her again.
A brief silence, and the girl smiled at her mentor as she uttered the only response she could think of. "Let's go home."
Without words, the woman smiled at her disciple while holding her hand.
/人 ◕‿‿◕ 人\
In the most luxurious apartment of a hotel in West Berlin, a game of chess was drawing to its conclusion.
"I've taken your last pawn!" Leona said triumphantly.
"Congratulations on promoting your pawn before me," Estér replied, looking at the situation on the board. She had to move her only piece, the black king, against the white king and its queen.
"You should have already conceded." The girl was very excited, with a big smile.
"Don't you want to give your first checkmate?" Estér moved her king.
"Fine!" Leona moved the queen, threatening to take the black king on the next turn. "Check."
Estér moved the only piece she had again.
"Check!" As Leona chased after with her queen. "You're very calm."
"It's just a game." Estér escaped the check situation.
"It's not." Leona again threatened the king with her queen. "It'll be my first victory over you."
Finally, the black king of Estér arrived at one of the corners of the board.
"End of the line." Leona moved her queen. "Now, I'll make sure your king doesn't go anywhere else."
"And you did it." Estér grinned. "It's a draw."
Leona blinked. "Huh?"
"A stalemate," Estér explained, "I can't move my king to a position that isn't safe. As I have no legal move to make, we have an automatic draw. I had explained that rule to you."
"If your king can't escape, then it's checkmate!" Leona exclaimed with anger.
"And why does he need to escape? He's safe where he is, you haven't put my king in check this time." Estér sighed and shook her head. "You should have moved your king too. It's impossible to checkmate with one piece with that board state."
"I was going to move him after I cornered you with my queen... I was going to..." Leona stood up from her chair, shouting, "That's bullshit! You never mentioned that stupid stalemate to me!"
"Yes, I haven't mentioned that term before." Estér shrugged. "Right, let's ignore that rule. Since it's my turn and we're not playing with a time limit, I decide not to move my king for eternity, or until you accept my draw offer."
Leona gritted her teeth, but suddenly she calmed down and looked away. "I knew it."
Estér raised her eyebrows. "You knew what?"
"Something was wrong, the match was too easy for me," the girl revealed her conclusion, "you did it on purpose, didn't you? You wanted this result."
"Cunning as ever." Estér nodded. "I was tired of winning, so I wanted some variation."
"I'm a fool." Leona closed her eyes. "I'll never beat you."
"Don't use 'never' so casually." The woman with the long white hair crossed her arms. "You're getting better. It takes me longer and longer to beat you. I think it's time we put a time limit on our matches. How about you have a total of half an hour to think about your turns, while I only have three minutes?"
"That's just to make me play more, lose more..." Leona shook her head. "It's impossible."
"What? Beat me at chess? You have no idea what's REALLY impossible."
The emphasis was strong enough to make Leona look at her mentor again.
However, Estér was wide-eyed, with a very happy countenance. "Ah! I have a surprise." She stood up from her chair. "Just wait a moment." Then she disappeared.
Leona did not have time to ask questions, but she was speechless anyway. That moment reminded her that Estér was a magical girl, who was always half-naked with those thin cloth pieces covering the bare minimum and lots of jewelry. She was more used to the appearance than the height of this exotic woman, who still held many mysteries.
To pass the time, the girl decided to put the chess pieces back on the board, but then noticed that they were all in the correct positions.
And soon Estér returned. "Tchamram!" She was holding a large round cake.
Indeed, Leona was surprised. "What?"
Estér suggested, "Let's go to that bigger table."
Leona followed her, looking at the cake. It was white, covered in icing, with a small pink festive candle on top.
Estér placed the cake on the table and touched the wick of the candle with the tip of her index finger to light it. Then she turned to the girl. "Do you know what this cake is for?"
"Hmmm... Party?"
Estér raised her eyebrows. "Why do you think I've chosen this hotel room again for us to spend the night?"
Leona shook her head, not knowing the answer.
"A year ago today, our paths crossed for the first time!" Estér exclaimed.
And Leona still said nothing.
The tall woman commented, "Time flies for you, doesn't it? I bet you thought it happened yesterday."
Leona lowered her gaze. "No, on the contrary."
Estér's smile faded.
"So much has happened... I feel like I was living with you for much longer."
Estér strengthened the smile and joy in her voice. "Then it's even better! It's been a productive year."
"Yeah." Leona looked at the cake again. On top of it was a drawing made with edible ink. There were two happy stickmen holding hands, one taller than the other. There was also a drawing of two soul gems in their egg shapes, both pink, but one was darker than the other. Leona recognized that the dark pink soul gem was hers.
"This cake is a sponge cake with a touch of lemon juice, filled with whipped cream, grated coconut and chopped pineapple," Estér said, "I love pineapple, so I was very generous. It's a cake with a citric but refreshing flavor, and it doesn't feel heavy in the stomach."
"Wait a minute." Leona looked at the woman, dumbfounded. "You made that cake?"
"I used the hotel kitchen, they had everything I needed." Estér furrowed her brows. "Did you think I couldn't do it?"
Leona had found Estér's absence that day strange, but she had never imagined it. "I've never eaten your food, I think. You always make other people do it for you."
"Oh, but today is a special occasion. This cake is for you, it needed a personal quality from someone who cares about you." Estér's countenance became more serene. "And seeing you smile, it was worth all the effort."
Smile, was she smiling? Leona paid attention to her own lips and, yes, there was a smile, albeit a shy one. At that moment, a flood of memories swept through her mind and her eyes watered.
Leaving Estér worried. "Leona?"
The girl sniffed her nose and said, "I've never had a cake made for me. At the orphanage, we didn't celebrate birthdays. It was a bad thing, it meant it would be harder to leave the place. Whoever came looking to adopt someone always wanted the younger children and babies."
"It must have been a boring place," Estér commented.
A silly comment, which was enough for Leona to pull herself together. "Did you have a family? Or do you still..."
"You mean parents? Yes, I had them. In fact, a lot of who I am today is due to my mother..." Estér grimaced, shaking her head. "Don't be jealous, it's overrated. As a child, in the best case, you can see them as heroes, but they're just people who don't know what they're doing most of the time."
"That's not the case with you, is it?" Leona said in jest, "because you're a superhero."
And Estér joined in. "What a sharp tongue, huh? Should I be afraid of what I'm raising?"
The girl hugged the woman.
Estér froze, she had not expected that.
"Thank you for taking care of me."
The words came in a somewhat tearful whisper. Still shocked, Estér slowly returned the gesture, letting herself be enveloped by the warmth.
"Thank you..."
When was the last time she heard that, when was the last time she felt that? Estér still remembered some of the names, but not the faces that were supposed to accompany them. Thinking it was for the best, the woman interrupted the moment with a suggestion, "That cake isn't a decoration. Let's get plates and cutlery together."
After enjoying the cake, the two went to sleep. Sharing the same bed, Leona was in her pajamas while Estér was still in her magical girl uniform.
"Have a good night," Leona said.
Looking at her, Estér did not answer.
Finding her expression suspicious, Leona asked, "What's wrong?"
"Ah, I was thinking, since we've been together for a year." Estér raised her eyebrows. "Do you want to have sex with me?"
Leona blinked.
The woman gave a cheeky smile, to make it clearer that it was not a joke.
The girl then looked away, making a sulky face.
"Fufu, I expected that reaction, but I also expected more surprise."
"Surprise?" Still not looking at her bedmate, Leona did not hold back her irritation. "With you devouring me with your eyes every time I'm wearing my magical girl outfit, your sexual comments, us always sharing the bed... I thought you were going to molest me long before that."
"Molest?!" Estér reacted with incredulity. "I would never do that! I only do it with consent, we both have to enjoy the act, otherwise I wouldn't even consider it sex. I wouldn't feel any pleasure!"
Was it for real what they were discussing? They were sharing a cake just before. If there was one thing Leona could not get used to, it was this woman's social notions. "Well, you don't have my consent." She turned over to go to sleep. "Good night."
Estér said, "Why don't you want to do it with me?"
"Are you still going to ask THAT?"
"Of course, I always want to get to know you better, Leona." Estér continued the inquiry. "Do you see me as your mother? Is that why you don't want to do it with me?"
"I never had a mother!" That was the last straw for Leona, she did not care if she died, she glared back at Estér, vociferating, "I don't know what it's like to see someone as 'mother'!"
"So it's because I'm a woman?" Estér speculated, "are you strictly sexually attracted to males?"
"How about I'm not sexually attracted to anything, huh?" Leona retorted, "can you understand that?"
"That worries me." Estér became more serious. "Someone your age would at least be curious... Haven't you ever masturbated?"
Leona made a disgusted face. "I don't need to answer that."
"Let me massage your clitoris." Estér licked the fingertips of her hand. "I'm quite skilled."
Leona's heart raced and she gritted her teeth. "You'll be molesting me if you do that."
"If that's molesting you, then I can't help it, but I'm doing it to help you." Estér gave a slight smile. "And you're always free to leave."
"You crazy..." Leona did not need to be reminded of that, she knew she could teleport away, never to return. However, her heart grew heavy every time the idea came up. "Okay, you can touch there, but don't give me that crap about helping me."
"I'm being serious." Estér unceremoniously slipped her hand down Leona's pajama pants and then into her panties.
Leona stared firmly at the woman.
Estér kept her small smile while her hand did all the work.
It only lasted a few minutes, and all that could be heard was the girl's tense breathing.
Finally, Estér withdrew her hand, pronouncing a verdict, "Yeah, you didn't get excited."
"Satisfied?" Leona said, "have I had enough 'sex' with you?"
Estér's smile grew, to the point of showing her teeth. "Heheheee."
"What's so funny?"
"I lied to you. I didn't massage your clitoris." Estér showed the fingers of the hand she had used, there was blood. "No, I pinched it until I cut it off."
Wide-eyed, Leona looked down at her pants and saw a red mark. She pulled down her pants and saw that her panties were bloody.
"Don't worry, I've already fixed it," Estér stated, "I just didn't put the blood back so that you wouldn't have any doubts about what I've done."
Leona was stunned, still processing it.
"To be so surprised, you weren't even aware that you had used magic to cut off any sensation down there." Estér became serious again. "Someone abused you? Is it trauma?"
"No... Nobody... I... I..." Leona covered her face with both hands. "Oh my God."
"So it's just you. The orphanage where you grew up must be run by nuns, right? Quite common in a country where the Catholic church is predominant," the woman went on, almost whispering, "let me guess. You experimented with masturbation, once, but then you started to feel something strange, it was an intense sensation, you feared getting lost in it. You stopped and felt wet, dirty, guilty... That's what you were taught. As a magical girl, these ideas shape what you can and can't feel in your body, because it has to obey your soul, never the other way around."
"Why..." Leona looked at her, a pleading look. "Why do you want me to be interested in sex so much?"
"What you have is an emotional weakness, and you're wasting magic on it," Estér explained in a cold tone, "I told you I'd make you strong. Now, offer me your soul gem."
Leona complied with the sudden demand, her mind still occupied with the rather harsh explanation. The ring on her left hand became the egg-shaped jewel.
The faint pink glow of the gem bathed both of them on the bed. Estér touched the surface of the gem with the tip of her index finger and the pink glow grew stronger.
"What're you gonnaahh..." Leona felt a warm tingling sensation rise in her lower back and flow quickly down between her buttocks to her genitals. "Ah!"
"Your soul gem can control and prevent what your body feels," Estér spoke, "but it can do nothing in the face of a direct stimulus."
Leona was feeling the sweat on her body, her skin was more sensitive. Her genitals were pulsating, begging for attention. She looked there and then noticed her own breasts, the nipples were hard.
Am I naked?
The girl was as surprised as she was confused when she realized that she was no longer wearing her pajamas or panties, but this did not dampen the myriad of sensations she was experiencing; on the contrary, it seemed to have inflamed even more a sweet desire to be groped.
Estér rolled partially onto Leona, fitting one of her legs between the girl's.
Leona saw that the tall woman was also completely naked. One of the woman's breasts gently covered the girl's modest bust, the smooth, soft skin of the two bodies molding together, becoming one.
"Fufufu..." Estér's eyes looked more alive. "Consider that my last gift for today." Her lips gradually met the girl's. "I'm going to show you the pleasures a woman can have."
Time lost meaning for Leona, enveloped by lust. Her eyes watered, her muscles contracted involuntarily with each wave of pleasure. It went on until she was exhausted, her legs weak and trembling, but there was a satisfaction that remained, as if she were floating.
Stroking her pupil's head, Estér asked, "Did you like it?"
Leona felt sleepy, but fought it off. "I... I still have to make you feel pleasure too."
"Huhuhu! No need!" Estér shook her head. "Watching your body squirm and your eyes roll back was entertaining enough."
"Okay..." Leona replied, lowering her gaze in an air of introspection.
"Oh? What are you trying to hide from me?" Estér questioned, joking, "I was just being polite when I asked if you liked it. I know you did, don't try to trick me, but maybe you still feel it's wrong."
"It's not about what we did tonight." Leona closed her eyes and sighed. "It's just that something inside me still says it's a grave mistake to be with you, but I can't imagine living without you either."
"Well, to help you with this dilemma, I can remind you that I never said I was a good person." Estér shrugged. "I've been worse, but... Yeah, I'm definitely not good-hearted."
Leona reopened her eyes, with a question as sudden as her exchange of glances with the woman, "Have you ever killed anyone?"
"Yes," Estér replied without hesitation.
Leona pressed her lips together and said in a whisper, "Me too."
"You?" Estér blinked, surprised. "What? You used to run away, wasn't that always the case?"
"I was a thief. I stole grief seeds from other magical girls," Leona paused for a moment before continuing, "when I started doing this, I followed them, it was more convenient. Then I started following just a certain girl, it was even more convenient. I even followed her during her mundane routine. I still know her home address, even the name of her pet cat."
"She shouldn't be happy about that," Estér commented.
"Of course she tried to kill me when I was stealing from her, but her magic was too slow to catch me. The traps she tried were useless. She was alone, there were no other girls who could help her, she was easy... So I stole and stole." Leona took a deep breath. "At first it was hateful words and threats, but then it was crying and pleading, but I didn't care. I thought it was fair, because I didn't have a weapon and I didn't believe I could defeat a witch. I stockpiled the seeds, I didn't even need that many, 'just in case', I thought. Until one day, when I stole it again, I heard an inhuman scream and she turned into a witch in front of me."
"I felt you already knew the truth about witches when I told you. You didn't even blink." Estér raised her eyebrows. "But I never imagined this context. Has it changed you?"
"Yes." Leona nodded. "I kept stealing, but I avoided doing it with the same girl."
"And in that we are different," Estér said with displeasure, "many have died because of my ambitions and, even if those ambitions have lost their meaning, I will kill many more."
"I haven't seen you kill anyone during this year with me," Leona said, "why do you say that?"
Estér pointed to the dark gem in her tiara. "That."
Leona understood, "So you're going to become a witch soon?"
"I don't know if it will happen, much less when, but I do know someone who would like it to happen." Estér narrowed her gaze. "Kyuubey."
"Huh?!" The girl was surprised by that name, which she had not heard in a long time.
"Time to teach advanced stuff. Kyuubey gets energy when magical girls become witches, and that's all that matters to him in the end." Estér's eyes sparkled. "I'm a powerful magical girl, you can imagine that he'll be able to get a lot of energy from me."
"I didn't have a good relationship with that thing, it kept insisting that I had to hunt witches, but I never saw it as evil. I feel grateful for the wish it granted me..." Leona pondered, "So that's why it never visited us. You must not be letting it happen."
"Exactly." Estér's eyes stopped shining, but she widened them to emphasize what she was about to say. "I thought you'd understood, but I see I've softened the truth too much. Kyuubey is an enemy of humanity, no less than a genocide. If he shows up, don't trust anything he says. Not a single word!"
Leona nodded.
Estér recomposed herself. "As for how I got my gem into this state... Like you, in order to survive, I committed sins. I'm now at a point of no return, surviving isn't enough. I have to find a way so that my sins don't destroy the world. That's why I have a mission for you."
"M-Mission?" It was the first time the girl had heard that word addressed to her.
"We're going to the United States soon," Estér explained, "where there's a magical girls' organization that's thriving, known as Souls' Sisterhood. You will be part of that organization."
"Is there an organization of magical girls? Isn't it a small group?" Leona was gaping. "And... And how? I don't even know English!"
"That's perfect." Estér smiled. "You'll pretend to be an illegal immigrant. This organization has prioritized the recruitment of immigrant magical girls, as they work full time, since they don't have a place, sometimes not even a family."
"Aren't you going to be part of the organization too?"
"Look at me." The adult woman gestured towards her corrupted gem and then to her strong naked body. "They will treat me as a threat and they will suspect you too."
Leona looked away and muttered, "So you do have a notion of that..."
"What did you say?"
"N-Nothing." The girl smiled awkwardly.
"I'll be with you, but I'll be hiding my presence from the others," Estér spoke, "I'll have to be extra careful, as there will be lots of magical girls with different abilities there, but that's my problem. Don't worry."
Not complying with the woman's request, Leona made a worried face. "How do you know about this organization? What will I have to do there?"
"I'll leave those details for tomorrow, there's no hurry." Estér stroked Leona's head. "Rest, you need to digest all this information. I'll protect you, but I can't say it won't be dangerous. Remember that you will always have the freedom to refuse to do this."
"But if I refuse, many will die," the girl replied, "as you said."
"I said maybe yes, maybe no..." Estér sighed. "The truth is... I'm not used to asking a favor from someone. Therefo-"
Leona smiled.
"Huh?" Estér furrowed her brows. "Don't be proud of that!" She turned over in bed. "Let's sleep."
Looking at the woman's long white hair and her naked back, Leona continued to smile, until she let her eyes close.
Both went to sleep, but only one actually did.
Even if she wanted to, Estér could not, because it was the invitation of nightmares. None of which were hers.
She just waited, paying attention to the sound of the girl's breathing, until she confirmed that she was in a deep sleep.
The woman carefully left the bed and took one last look at Leona, then the cold winter air enveloped her naked body, making her skin shiver.
Estér now stood on a small balcony of the hotel, with a view of the divided city. The overcast sky was gloomy; morning would take a long time to arrive.
She turned around.
Defying gravity, there was a creature with its four paws glued to the wall. Its red eyes glowed in the shadows and its two pairs of ears, one long and one short, were raised, as if tense.
"I allow you to speak." Estér gave a polite smile. "Qu'ube."
The creature leapt from the wall to the balcony railing. Leaving the shadows, Kyuubey presented the whiteness of its fur and the gracefulness of its long, voluminous tail. [Can I?]
"Please," Estér confirmed.
Kyuubey sat on the railing and stared at the woman. [What do you think of Leona Julieta Contreras? Does she meet your specifications?]
The woman nodded. "Oh yes, you've finally found the right girl. I'd even say you've surpassed my requirement."
[Good to know, but that raises another question.]
Estér showed no surprise. "Go ahead."
The image of the woman was reflected in the creature's red eyes. [Why haven't you taken her soul yet?]
"Because she fears me, hates me, loves me, trusts me... And it's all genuine." Estér smiled. "I'm sure that the magic I possess can't influence her opinion of me. I don't even know the last time I had a real relationship."
[I don't understand.] Kyuubey swung his long tail. [What's stopping you from fulfilling our agreement?]
Estér rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'll translate for you: she's very unique and precious. It would be a waste to put her together with the scum inside my gem."
[Precious and unique to you, I suppose...] Kyuubey closed his eyes and nodded slightly, as if pondering. [Leona knows that you absorb the souls of other magical girls?]
"Almost." Estér sensed the creature's poisonous intent. "Your information that she had already killed a magical girl proved useful." She raised her eyebrows, smiling. "Tonight, she confessed to me about it, and then I began to associate her story with my own. She'll understand that lives are taken in the name of survival, it's how the universe works, isn't it?"
[Even after so long studying how to have a cooperative relationship with you humans, we still continue to learn new approaches]. Kyuubey's eyes glowed crimson. [However, you've decided to break an agreement again.]
"The win-win deal continues. I surrender my will and become a witch, you'll have all the energy that's in my gem." Estér nodded. "With your guarantee that the Earth and its inhabitants remain safe." And then she smiled. "That would be easy if you took me away from this planet with your technology."
[We've already told you that we won't accept it. You betrayed us once and your magic is dangerous.]
"Aaawww, Qu'ube, are you scared of me?" Black sparks erupted from the gem in her tiara. "Well, I'm preparing my own escape plan, plus I'll be helping you with Souls' Sisterhood."
Kyuubey's little ears turned to the woman. [What do you know about them?]
"Are you interested now?" Estér said, raising her eyebrows, "I know they've prospered so much that they've started investing in research facilities. Matriarch really wants to get rid of you, but I intend to redirect their efforts towards aerospace development." She looked up at the dark sky. "If there's one good thing about the last few decades of tensions and conflicts between nations, it's the advances in space vehicles. Two probes have been launched, Voyager 1 and 2, both designed to reach the limits of our solar system. It's quite inspiring."
[Do you intend to leave this planet through human technology? With a convoluted plan involving Souls' Sisterhood?] Kyuubey used his tail to point at the hotel window. [You should claim Leona's soul while you still can.]
"Why the impatience?" Estér expressed a sarcastic smile. "You've already waited so long, why shouldn't wait more?"
[There's a quota.]
"Quota?" The woman stopped smiling. "What kind of quota? Energy?"
[Exactly.] Kyuubey stretched, arching his back and raising his rear. [We have already estimated, with great precision, the energy you will release when you become a witch. Eventually, this energy will be enough to reach the quota. In that case, we'll make a decision.]
"I can't say I understand this quota thing, but..." With a slight look of disgust, Estér asked, "What decision?"
[This world will be destroyed.] Kyuubey said with his inhuman indifference. [Everything you cherish and protect will be taken from you.]
"Oh really?" Estér replied with disdain, "that didn't work last time."
[We've already anticipated this, but this time you'll be left wandering in the vacuum of space. Even if you're not afflicted by despair, you'll have nowhere to go, no seeds to purify your gem. It will only be a matter of time.] With his paw, Kyuubey pointed to the window of the hotel apartment. [But you still have a choice. Take the girl's soul right now, teleport away from this planet, become a witch. This world will remain safe, that's our agreement.]
The naked woman's long white hair swayed in the cold breeze as she cracked a smile. "That's your weakness."
[Excuse me?]
"With the exception of that quota, which seems like a cheap excuse, everything else doesn't surprise me. Your blackmail couldn't be more logical, from a being who has set reason as the absolute virtue. That was predictable, that IS your weakness." Estér's pink eyes sparkled. "Estimate all you want, you don't even understand the power I have now, history will not repeat itself." With a triumphant expression, she declared, "Humans will reach the stars, and when that day comes, you'll have a lot to answer for."
[Eisheth Zenunim.]
When she heard that name, the woman stopped, every muscle in her naked body tensing.
[Cradle of faith, keeper of humanity.] Kyuubey turned around, looking at the city. [Do you still have this delusion? After all this time, haven't you noticed what's happening to those you swore to protect? Not only is technology evolving, but society, ideas. Humanity has reached a point in history where they are aware that the actions of each individual are interconnected with all the others of their kind. Peace, order, cooperation, balance... These values are gradually becoming more present in this world.]
"Do you really see that?" Estér pressed her lips together, her body trembling, threatening to lose her composure. "Humanity has reached a point in history where they can extinguish themselves."
[For this there are contracts I can make with certain girls. And there's you to protect them, as you've just admitted.]
She gritted her teeth.
[We have witnessed the evolution of many societies, we can foresee what must happen, of course, because that is the only way of survival.] Kyuubey looked up at the sky, at an opening in the clouds, with the moon revealed. [If the humans reach the stars, we won't need to give them any answers, because they'll be just like us. I just wonder, if that day comes, what you will do...] An invisible force compressed the creature's body and made it levitate. [What are you doing? You allowed me to speak.]
"I didn't allow you to use that name." Estér made a gesture with her hand, as if she were flicking the air.
Kyuubey flew at the speed of a bullet, hitting the wall of another building, marking it in red.
The dove and the lion
In the arid region of Australia, sitting on a rock, Estér waited.
'Wearing' only her second pink skin, Leona appeared, first at a point far from where the other woman was, but she corrected almost instantly. She held five grief seeds in her hands, blood dripping from her mouth and nostrils.
Estér raised her eyebrows. "You've run into trouble."
Leona said nothing to the comment, just walked towards her, but her senses and legs failed her. She fell forward.
"Leona!"
She felt Estér's immediate embrace, who should have teleported. [I was stupid. I thought I'd killed a witch, but she healed her wounds. I-]
"I don't want explanations," Estér said, "show me the wound."
Taking short, quick breaths, Leona struggled to stand. A patch of pink skin moved, leaving the chest area, revealing a wound that squirted bright red blood over the other woman.
"The left side of your heart has been punctured, your chest cavity has been filled with blood, preventing your lungs from expanding." Estér's eyes flashed brightly. "Simple."
The blood that had just gushed out stopped in mid-air and began to return to the wound. Then the same happened to the blood on Estér and on the soil.
"Ah..." Leona drew in air, feeling her lungs inflate, while the expelled blood also returned through her mouth and nostrils. She felt her cheeks redden.
Seeing the wound close without leaving a mark, Estér said, "It's done." She turned and went back to the rock where she had been sitting before. The five grief seeds that had fallen to the ground began to levitate and follow the exotic woman.
Leona stayed where she was, breathing slowly, carefully. Nothing was wrong, the healing had been perfect as always.
Estér sat on the rock while the seeds orbited her arm. They finally approached and landed gently in the palm of her hand.
One problem solved, but that was the smallest of them all. Leona approached. "What are we going to do?"
Estér answered promptly, "We can leave."
The woman with dark pink hair frowned. "Leave?"
"Yes, and return to our life before when I put you in the Souls' Sisterhood. We've already talked about it." Estér smiled and shrugged. "Just you and me, living together, hunting witches... No training this time. You don't have to-"
"Hunting witches?" Leona interrupted her. "These new witches? That's all you'll get from now on. Their disguise is virtually perfect. How are we going to hunt them down? Are we going to kill all the magical girls we find? Or do you intend to consume their souls? Can you take a witch's soul?"
"Oh, please!" Estér shook her head, annoyed. "This is no time to be childish."
"How do you think it's going to be like before?" Leona spread her arms. "How am I going to live with you and that corrupted gem of yours, always reminding me that everyone will die when you become a witch."
Estér sighed and said, "If."
Leona raised her voice, "It didn't sound like an 'If'!"
And Estér raised an eyebrow.
"You kept asking me about the progress of the rocket. Always hinting that it had to be ready at any cost." Tears of anger rolled down Leona's cheeks. "I felt like I was racing against time! And it must be something about Kyuubey that you haven't told me, because you always avoid the subject."
Estér turned her face away and brought her hand to her lips, thoughtful, her fingers trembling.
"But you're different now..."
"Different..." Estér repeated what the other woman had said.
"Yeah. Lately, you seem more... relaxed. You started coming up with these ideas about leaving. You were asking less about the rocket."
"Lately..." Again she repeated.
Making Leona more impatient. "Yes! Since last year, I think. Look at me!"
Estér closed her eyes and murmured, "So much time... I forgot..."
"What did you say?!" Leona pointed at herself and shouted, "LOOK AT ME!"
"Nothing." Estér looked at her lover again, regaining any trace of composure she had lost. "There's nothing to say, Leona. I'm sorry."
More tears flowed from Leona's eyes, as she pressed her lips together and sniffled. She then shook her head and said, "The rocket was destroyed, our decades-long plan, and you don't care. It's like you've given up."
Estér replied coldly, "I've lived long enough to be used to life's setbacks."
"It's my fault, you know that. I wanted to keep Inquisitor alive, but that's not all, I can't lead. When things got out of hand, I felt lost, looking for you." Leona nodded. "You knew I would fail, that's why you're acting like this to protect me."
"You did better than I expected." Estér's eyes widened, pleading, "Stop not having faith in yourself!"
Another of Leona's tears fell. "I can still fix this."
Estér froze for a moment, becoming very serious. "How?"
Leona walked even closer to Estér, in slow steps.
So close that the white-haired woman had to lift her head to keep looking into that pair of dark pink eyes.
Leona gave a slight smile. "You could always have taken my soul. The world would have been saved."
"We've talked about it. I've lost count of how many times," Estér affirmed, "I didn't do it because I love you."
"You have a long and lonely existence, I discovered that part of you as I became an adult." Tears moistened Leona's smiling lips. "I used to imagine this dull ache when I thought about this rocket plan working out. Then I started to feel it too."
With controlled breathing, Estér chose the words, "Leona, please, don't..."
"You don't have to take my soul," Leona said nodding, more determined, "I'll teleport you to the ends of the universe. You'll be so far away that even Kyuubey won't be able to find you."
Estér said as bluntly as possible, "If you do that, you'll become a witch immediately."
"You won't be alone," Leona replied without hesitation, "and I'll be where my heart belongs."
"Show me your soul gem."
Leona saw the grief seeds leave Estér's hand and float back into the air. "You're not thinking..."
"Yes, I am." Estér demanded, in all seriousness, "Show me, now."
As Leona expressed her displeasure, a small bump on her left heel, covered in pink skin, began to move. The bump traveled through the connections that formed between the portions of pink skin, until it reached the palm of her hand. The pink skin receded, revealing a soul gem with a darker pink tone than usual, which could be mistaken for purple.
Seeing this, Estér looked deep into Leona's eyes as she picked up the gem.
Leona saw one of the floating seeds approach her gem, then a thread of darkness was sucked from the gem to the seed. "My gem is polluted, but I'm experienced enough to know that this amount isn't enough to influence my mental faculties."
Without answering, Estér closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she finished purifying the gem.
Feeling ignored and seeing her gem shine with purity, Leona shouted, "My decision hasn't changed, because it would never be despair that moves me, but my freedom to be with you!"
Estér brought the gem in her hand to the corrupted gem in her tiara. The gem in her hand dissolved into a dark pink essence, which spiraled towards the gem in the tiara.
No more words. Estér stood up and hugged Leona's collapsed body, feeling its full weight. With her eyes still closed, she felt and heard the desert air, as well as the air in her lungs.
When her arms could no longer feel any weight, and her fingers could no longer feel the touch of skin, Estér opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred, she blinked and felt a couple of trails of warm liquid run down her face. She touched the liquid with her finger and then licked it off. Slowly, she savored the salty taste.
"Why do I still cry?"
The person who had a chance of answering this question was no longer there. It would be a negligible chance, Estér concluded, no better than the others.
Then, Estér saw a black spot rapidly approaching in the sky.
A girl wearing a funeral dress landed, retracting her majestic wings of dark energy. Her lilac gaze was one of animosity and caution.
The illustrious guest had arrived on time. Estér smiled. "Good morning, Homura-chan."
Next chapter: The arbiter
