For five days and five nights, the MGA has been battling against the forces of Ul'tharion the Unclean in his realm.
Reality itself has warped in this hellish place. The sky has cracked and broken. A black sun shines amidst a starless sky, a void in the world lit by a white corona of un-light, casting grotesque shadows against the writhing, fleshy terrain. Terrain that's being marched upon by tens of thousands of Ul'tharion's minions – a seething mass of undead human thralls, weeping blood from their empty eye sockets, shedding putrid rotting flesh like leeches. The zombie horde marches silently, lungs empty of air, mouths frozen in twisted, silent screams.
Strange, many-limbed monstrosities loom over the thralls – Ul'tharion's elites, born and bred in this eldritch environment. Voidspawn, alien abominations glutted on the mana of a hundred dead worlds. Almost aquatic in form, their tentacles undulate, reaching out as if to grasp the very essence of sanity; their smooth carapaces reflecting the mad light of the baleful sun above.
Ul'Tharion sends his hordes forth to fend off the invaders – and they're repelled.
"Hold formation! Hold formation!" Phoenicia Herodota barks, and with a wave of her hand she sends forth a jet of bright, purifying flame that annihilates a swathe of the aliens. "Rally to me. Rally to me!"
"Aye-aye, captain!" A chorus of voices call out, and Phoenicia Herodota rolls her eyes, a fond smirk on her face. These girls are such nerds.
"I can't hear you!" Phoenicia Herodota yells, making the calculated decision to play into the joke. Because it'll boost morale, and goddess knows everyone here could use a boost in morale right about now.
They've been fighting for five days and five nights.
"AYE-AYE, CAPTAIN!" The assembled Magical Girls of the MGA call out. They make for an eclectic, motley bunch, these Magical Girls. A ridiculous tableau by any standards with seemingly no place on a modern battlefield, let alone this eldritch hellscape. Magical Girls, Magical Girls in their hundreds with their flashy raiments, wielding ridiculous weapons like archaic swords and oversized bows and comically clumsy-looking flintlock muskets…
Magical Girls that are fighting the horrors and winning. In the skies above, a grand aerial duel plays out. Luminescent spells burst into showers of light and color, vaporizing grotesque creatures with leathery wings and shrieking maws. Lances of lightning crash down from the cloudless sky, spears of fire, tendrils of frost. There's a flash, a thunderous bang, and in the distance, Phoenicia Herodota watches as an alien starship lists, then begins to crash to the ground, trailing smoke and fire across its mangled hull.
"That's the last of their landing ships, Phee-phee. They're not getting off this rock," Nihil Eschaton reports.
Good. That means that there's just the ground battle to worry about. Phoenicia Herodota casts her gaze downward, where the MGA's maintaining a perimeter around their portal. On the ground, Magical Girls tear into the alien infantry. Girls with clumsy-looking swords and spears and axes cut through the alien hordes with supernatural strength. Girls with bows and elaborately decorated rifles or just wielding pure mana smite the horrors from afar, piercing their bodies with shafts of quivering light, blowing them apart with mana bullets, or just cutting them to ribbons with their mana.
No, the ground fight's the fight Phoenicia Herodota's least concerned about. And that's mostly because Infinity Princess is there, at the very center of the line, where she's been for the last ten days. It was Infinity Princess who established this beachhead. Infinity Princess, who held off Ul'tharion's forces long enough for the support teams to establish a base camp.
Infinity Princess, who's holding off Ul'tharion's forces long enough for the MGA to escape. Mana pours off her form in torrents – raw, unsuppressed, limitless mana so thick and potent it creates a rainbow shimmer in the air around her, swirling like a tempest. That same rainbow of light arcs out every time Infinity Princess swings her crystal sword, waves of coruscating energy that turn entire swathes of Ul'tharion's minions to ash.
The endless hordes of Ul'tharion the unclean come for Infinity Princess, and the endless hordes of Ul'tharion break against her. The undead thralls charge forward swiftly, and just as swiftly they're dispatched with clinical ease – sliced in two, their decaying bodies collapsing into heaps at her feet. Bludgeoned with her bare hands, her elbows, her knees, sent sprawling by the shockwaves created by her freakish strength. Infinity Princess cuts and thrusts and slays dozens with every sweep of her sword, shattering bone, crushing exoskeletons.
Lumbering, tentacled beasts throw themselves at Infinity Princess, pummeling her to no effect. Infinity Princess shrugs off their blows without a care in the world, and her counterattacks carve her attackers up like sashimi. Cackling cultists hurl lances of entropy and decay at that stalwart knight, and their unholy attacks bounce off the invincible forcefield shielding her skin and armor. The endless tide of eldritch horrors throw themselves at Infinity Princess, and they're found wanting. Indeed, the sheer number of bodies that have piled up at her feet are a testament to that – Infinity Princess isn't standing on the 'ground' anymore.
Infinity Princess is, in fact, standing on top of an increasingly tall pile of corpses.
A small hill of bodies dripping with thick, green ichor and bright blue blood, bodies that the hordes of Ul'tharion are struggling to climb up because Infinity Princess continues to reap her exceedingly bloody, horrific toll. Green eyes stare out mercilessly from her emotionless face as she slaughters and kills, even as her golden hair flutters behind her like a banner. Eyes that are only fixated on her next target, only focused on exterminating the alien threats that have placed themselves in front of her, completely devoid of mercy.
Eyes that send shivers down Phoenicia Herodota's spine, because of how empty they are. It's as if Ul'tharion's forces aren't even enemies to Infinity Princess – It's as if she's treating them like inconveniences instead of enemies.
One shudders to even imagine what a girl that driven's thinking, especially after she's been fighting for ten days...
-
Thrust sword. Slice. Stab. Move onto next target.
Polling next target – Decapitate. Move onto next target.
Polling next target. Apply fist. Pulp skull. Target eliminated, move onto next target.
Idle comment: This unit has killed 965,947 targets since it has entered this space.
Polling next target. Apply mana. Carve armor. Target eliminated, move onto next target. 965,948.
Querying timer: It has been 672 hours, 53 minutes, and 7 seconds since this unit last saw its wife.
Infinity Princess frowns, briefly pausing as she skewers a zombie with her sword.
965,948th target eliminated. Moving onto next target… After answering this query.
Query: Is Alice Takanashi this unit's wife?
Analysis: No, Alice Takanashi is this unit's girlfriend.
Supposition: Is there a meaningful difference between these two appellations? This unit resides in Alice Takanashi's residence. This unit has had sexual intercourse with Alice Takanashi. This unit has created a daughter with Alice Takanashi…
Correction: This unit has created two daughters with Alice Takanashi. One should currently be gestating in her womb, if all is well. If Alice Takanashi is safe. Is Alice Takanashi safe…?
Supposition: Return to the original topic. For all intents and purposes… Marriage by law in Terminus City requires a marriage license. A ceremony and ring are also custom, according to Mitsuko. However, courts will also recognize common law marriages which do not occur without a ceremony or a marriage license. While the status of one's marriage does not depend on the presence of children, Mika's presence does mean that-
Infinity Princess pauses as a talon bounces off of her face. She frowns, pursing her lips, and flicks her wrist, disemboweling the offending tentacle-beast with her gauntlet-clad hand even as she twists her sword and decapitates a cultist who thought he could sneak up on her.
Supposition: Distraction noted. Resume combat programming. Polling next target. 965,967th target eliminated. Move onto next target...
"All units, evacuate through the portal, Reality Bombs have been planted and they're going off in five minutes," Infinity Princess registers Nihil Eschaton's voice over the communications bead embedded in her ear. "Delta and Gamma echelons, move it. Alpha, Beta, cover our asses!"
"Beta copies," Infinity Princess hears.
"Alpha copies," Infinity Princess reports, before getting back to killing. There's no time to think about more pleasant things. No time to think or dream about what could be. Not when Infinity Princess needs to focus on what is.
Not when Infinity Princess still has a job to do.
The one feeling, the only feeling that Infinity Princess does feel beyond the bone-weary tiredness of fighting for ten whole days? Is satisfaction. Relief.
Supposition: This unit will finally be able to go home and see her girlfriend again.
-
"All remaining units accounted for. Portal integrity stable," Nihil Eschaton's voice rings in Phoenicia Herodota's ear, cutting through the din of combat. "Detonation in T-minus two minutes."
The Supreme Commander of the MGA tilts her head, briefly registering her words before casting her gaze across the battlefield one last time. What remains of Ul'tharion's forces are scattered, disorganized. Thralls mill about aimlessly, their masters' commands severed. Voidspawn recoil, their bloated forms dragging themselves back into the twisted folds of reality from which they emerged. Even the most fanatical of the cultists have faltered, their screaming chants turning into desperate pleas.
… At least there's no sign of Ul'tharion himself. No sign of the Dark God, the king and architect of this nightmare realm. Thousands if not millions of his followers slain, Reality Bombs ticking away in his very realm, and his Avatar has yet to show himself.
Phoenicia Herodota breathes out a sigh of relief. The MGA really did arrive on time, before Ul'tharion's avatar could be awoken. A minor miracle-
On cue, the black sun above quivers. The writhing void at its heart expands, oily tendrils of darkness spilling down onto the battlefield like corrupted rain. The stars in the broken sky flicker and dim as Ul'tharion's Avatar manifests, and Phoenicia Herodota feels a chill running down the back of her neck at its mere presence.
She sighs, and her breath begins to mist as warmth leaches out of the air. "… Dammit, I spoke too soon, didn't I?"
Ul'tharion's avatar descends, its presence impossibly vast and incomprehensible. A roiling sea of pitch-black ichor, its "body" is ever-changing, shifting from a cascade of writhing tendrils to glimpses of alien forms—eyes too numerous, maws too wide, shapes that shouldn't exist. A deafening, formless roar reverberates through the realm, shattering what remains of its fragile geometry. The ground quakes, splitting apart to reveal gaping voids beneath.
Its presence threatens the once orderly retreat. Phoenicia Herodota sees the girls retreating through the portal stumble and falter as they behold the true form of their enemy.
"Fall back – FALL BACK!" The Commander-in-chief of the MGA bellows, flaring her mana, and heat returns to the world as flames leap into existence. "Goddammit – Nihil! Get your ass over here, we need to drive this thing off-"
"I have the Avatar," a new voice speaks up. Steady, measured, cutting through the commotion.
Wind billows into Phoenicia's face as Infinity Princess leaps into the air, her golden hair streaming behind her like a comet's tail. A tempest of mana surrounds her, painting the battlefield in a kaleidoscope of rainbow light, so thick and dense it makes Phoenicia flinch.
… Well.
That's certainly one hell of a distraction.
"Come on – Move, squad, move!" Phoenicia bellows, instinctively moving to help one of the girls who's fallen, hoisting her up on her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches a glimpse of the battle above.
It's something out of legend. The world shrieks and howls, reality itself bends and fractures as Infinity Princess clashes with the dark avatar's amorphous mass. Each swing of her crystal sword carves great swathes of light into that abyssal form. Tendrils of darkness lash out at her, each as large as a battleship, but that knightly figure dances between them with ease. Rainbow light shimmers as Infinity Princess pushes off the very air itself with her armored boots.
Nihil Eschaton materializes from the shadows, next to Phoenicia. "Thirty seconds, Phee-Phee, why are you still here- Oh. Oh…"
The black sun above pulses as the avatar surges forward with renewed ferocity. Tendrils of entropy, manifestations of that all-consuming void swarm the knightly figure holding back the darkness. Baleful unlight crashes down on Infinity Princess, battering her forcefield. But still she fights on. Her mana spikes, blazing even brighter…
And then it cuts out as Infinity Princess lets herself fall, fall to the ground, plummeting toward the portal. Which is Phoenicia's cue to start running like hell. There's only ten seconds left before the end of this world, after all.
"Five, four, three, two…"
Infinity Princess reaches terminal velocity, and all the breath leaves Phoenicia's lungs as she's tackled through the portal. Just in time to see the Reality Bombs detonate, explosions beginning to ripple through Ul'tharion's nightmare realm. For a brief instant, Phoenicia sees the sun rise in that sunless place.
And then the portal snaps shut behind her a heartbeat later.
-
The other girls are celebrating. This much, Infinity Princess can tell. They're cheering, laughing. Grateful to be alive.
Their emotions wash over Infinity Princess. She does not move, does not cheer. Her crystal sword dangles loosely in her hand, its light dim as she just stares blankly around the camp set up at the portal's base.
Processing input. Query: Confirm status.
Analysis: Battle concluded. Reality Bomb detonation confirmed. Enemy forces neutralized. Zero hostile targets detected.
Idle comment: This unit has eliminated 1,083,412 targets since entering this engagement.
Polling next objective.
… Query: What is this unit's next task?
Infinity Princess frowns, looking around the room. Magical Girls laugh, weep with relief, collapse into each other's arms. Commander Phoenicia Herodota stands nearby, offering comfort to her troops. And yet…
Supposition: Should this unit join in celebration?
…
Negative. This unit feels no inclination toward such behavior. This unit has been operating continuously for 673 hours, 14 minutes, and 32 seconds. It has been that long since this unit has seen Alice Takanashi...
"Come on, IP, celebrate with us already!" Phoenicia Herodota slaps Infinity Princess across her pauldron. "We won! You won! That was a hell of a thing you pulled-"
Infinity Princess exhales, long and slow, letting her commander's chatter wash over her. 673 hours, 14 minutes, 53 seconds. More than a month since Infinity Princess – Kaina Shikinami – last saw her girlfriend. Last saw her family.
Query: Is Alice Takanashi safe? What is she doing right now? What is Mika doing right now? Have they named our second child yet? How much has this unit missed…?
Something twinges in her chest. Something sharp, and twisted and painful.
Analysis: This unit misses its girlfriend.
"You coming to the after-party? C'mon, you should get a drink with us. We could chat about placing you somewhere else – you know, there are a lot of places that could really use you-"
More chatter. More idle comments. In times past, this wouldn't have bothered Infinity Princess. Her main goal, after all, was to create a better, more perfect world. The world Mitsuko dreamed off. But now, now that Infinity Princess has been away from Alice for so very long...
Query: What does this unit want?
Answer: To go home. To go home to Alice Takanashi.
To go home to my family.
Analysis: … I miss my family.
"I would like to go home now, Commander," Infinity Princess interrupts, cutting Phoenicia Herodota off mid-speech.
Phoenicia Herodota raises a red eyebrow, her eyes sparkling. "Come again?"
Infinity Princess hesitates – then de-transforms. Her white raiment flickers out of existence, her sword dissolving into a shower of rainbow sparks, and Kaina Shikinami lets out a slow, bracing breath as she stares her commander in the eyes.
"… I'm going home," Kaina says, her voice steady but softer than anyone has heard in days. "I – I'm going home. I miss my girlfriend – I want to hug my girlfriend so… So I'm going home. Please let me go home."
Phoenicia Herodota stares at Kaina for a long moment, the words hanging between them like something fragile. Around them, the after-battle celebration grinds to a halt. Muffled whispers prick Kaina's ears as the other Magical Girls start gossiping.
"Infinity Princess has a girlfriend?!"
"She wants to go home?! But she's a workaholic!"
"Uh… Sure. Go – Go get some rest," Phoenicia Herodota says, looking a little punch-drunk, and Kaina finds herself smiling as relief hits her.
"Thank you." Kaina promptly walks off to her tent. She has things to pack, after all.
-
Silence lingers for a heartbeat, maybe two, as Kaina Shikinami strides away from Phoenicia Herodota, leaving the commander blinking after her. Then the camp erupts.
"She has a girlfriend?!"
"No way! The Infinity Princess? Our Infinity Princess?"
"Did you see her face? She smiled! Like, actually smiled! She looked so… normal!"
"And soft! I didn't even know she could be soft!"
The camp bursts into frenetic energy, voices overlapping in a whirlwind of speculation. Hands wave wildly, some pointing in the direction Kaina disappeared, others gesturing animatedly as if trying to physically untangle the shock of what they'd just witnessed.
"She's always so… stoic! This has to be some kind of prank, right?"
"Who's her girlfriend? She never talks about her personal life. Hell, I didn't think she had a personal life!"
"Wait, wait, wait—what if it's another Magical Girl? Oh my god, what if it's someone here?"
"No way. It's got to be a civilian. Maybe a reporter or something? Those types are always poking around during battles!"
Phoenicia Herodota stands rooted in place, her crimson eyebrows twitching as she pinches the bridge of her nose. Her lips move in a silent prayer for patience. Magical Girls. Ugh. Such gossipy hens. "Girls, come on, focus. The fight's over; we've got cleanup to manage-"
For a brief moment, her words seem to take root. The girls quiet down, murmurs replacing the earlier uproar.
And then they just keep talking. "Well, I'm just saying, whoever it is must be something special."
"Right? I mean, it's Infinity Princess. Can you imagine dating someone like her? Talk about intimidating. I'm so jealous..."
"I bet her girlfriend's super cool. Maybe a secret agent or a badass mercenary! Ooh, or a shadowy antihero type!"
"No, she's definitely dating an idol!"
"Guys, come on. What if it's something normal, like… a schoolteacher or a barista?"
"A barista? Are you out of your mind?"
"She has a human side! You saw it!"
"Does she even like coffee?"
From the shadows near Phoenicia, a figure materializes with liquid grace, her black cape flowing like smoke around her.
"Oh, Phee-Phee, what a mess you've got on your hands," Nihil Eschaton purrs, her smirk widening as she takes in the spectacle, her faintly glowing eyes glinting with mischievous amusement.
"Don't. Call me. Phee-Phee," Phoenicia grumps, glaring at her comrade.
Nihil Eschaton leans casually against a nearby crate, folding her arms. "You've got to admit, though, this is hilarious. The great, gallant Infinity Princess drops the bombshell of the century, and you get stuck handling the fallout. Beautiful. Just beautiful."
Phoenicia lets out a groan, throwing her head back as if asking the heavens for strength. "You know what? If it gets everyone's mind off the fact that we've spent the last ten days battling literal hellspawn, I'll take it. Gossip away, hens. Go nuts. What the heck, we could all use some downtime anyways."
Nihil Eschaton chuckles, her voice low and velvety. "… You realize that this is what you're going to have to be dealing with in the next council session, don't you? You were the one who wanted to try poaching Infinity Princess after all…"
Phoenicia lets out a muffled curse under her breath as a sharp headache twinges within her skull. "Oh goddammit all..."