"Do you think it's the end of the world?" Asked Ken, as he flipped from channel to channel in the living room. However he was getting nothing but static. The rat-boy's whiskers bristled a bit.
Steve, the flower girl looked at the darkened sky. "The flowers... are not too happy with things."
"Heh," laughed Ken. "You talk to flowers?"
Steven fumed. "No- 'they' talk to me. Sort of. It isn't like with people- urgh! Why am I even bothering to talk about this!" She sat on the couch looking quite annoyed with things, and smoothed over her pink petals.
Ken sighed. "I hope it's not the end of the world. I never even got to kiss a girl."
"Me neither" said Steven kind of- on automatic.
Ken looked at her. "Well... it might be cliché but... if it is 'the end'... we could... kiss?"
Steven looked at Ken. "Are you high?"
"No! Look- its a genuine end of the world situation! I mean... if the sun 'doesn't come back... we're all doomed. Who knows what that barrier is. Do you... really not want to at least try it?
"No! Not with you- urgh.. dude!" Steven put her hands over her face in embarrassment. Trying to be 'best friends' with his best friend as a girl was probably the worst idea she ever had. It could not have gone more cliché. Really.
Suddenly the lights went out- and Steven nearly screamed. Everything was pitched in darkness, but Ken had a little light from a candle. "Er.. scented candles. Hope you don't mind," he said.
Surrendering to the cliché situation, Steven went close to Ken...
..."Maybe... it is the end of the world," admitted the flower girl, looking quite afraid.
Ken, seeing her afraid... went closer... he just wanted to assure her that everything would be okay, even if he didn't know that it would be. The scent from the candles, combined with the scent from Steven was driving him a little on edge. He just... leaned closer to Steven...
and the two shared a brief, if awkward kiss....
The battle of the Heart, is where Lucas existed. He was within the Enemy, as it encompassed a young universe... but still, a universe in its entirty. The Enemy encompassed levels of reality, just as much as it existed within multiple levels of the reality it 'existed' within.
Like mirrors of reality, webs and strange mechanisations of causality... and now, there was a completely random element existing within the Heart of the Enemy.
Lucas emerged in the darkness, seeing one, large bright sun... surrounded by a strange balance of black holes. The blackholes and star were in perfect balance between creation and destruction... The angel girl was surrounded by a white light, that protected her from this strange and surreal reality.
Indeed, the sun was not actually that big... if Lucas wanted to she could reach out and...
oops. She knocked 'the sun' over...
Quickly the dark black holes moved of their own accord, attracted by the disturbance of gravity.
help me said a voice.
Lucas flew, approaching the voice... it sounded like a.. girl? Here? It was coming from 'inside' the sun! The angel girl approached, and curiously enough the closer she got to the sun, the larger it became. Physical reality was... very... very strange here.
The sun was about her own size now, and reaching out did not cause any sudden 'stretch' within the local environment...
"Is someone there? Hey I'm here to help you!" Said Lucas.
who am I, Where am I, What am I, Who am I, What am I, Where am I the voice repeated.
"Eh. Dunno, somewhere, you are, and that's about it."
I... am? said the voice. Should I... be?
Lucas reached in the star, and pulled the hand out. "What's your name?" asked Lucas as the strange girl emerged.
I.. don't know... but... I am the center. I am... a... thing. I am all and nothing of Them...
"Heh. Heart of the Enemy eh? Let's get you out of here."
Heart? Yes... I... guess... I am free... thank.. you...
Lucas blinked as the strange girl disappeared, in a blaze of light. However it was far from over... strange... webs appeared from the darkness, trying to draw her into this new star.
The Equation must be balanced... Write the equation upon her
Lucas swiped at the tendrils angrily as one tried to mark her face, with a sizzling wound. "Oh heck no, I ain't going to be your new prisoner." She then flew in a massive circle, as the strange gravity wells gave chase... colliding into one massive, black hole...
Lucas used the axe once more, and smashed the star...
Lucas emerged at the end of the dome. "Somone need a trapdoor back to Lakeside?" she asked with a grin.
The magic girls gasped and quickly went down the passage way, at the hole Lucas had made.
The magic girls leapt into action, quickly attacking the strange body of the enemy on the outside of this dark dome, surrounding the entire town.
Magic Girl Four carried Lilly down to the ground, her body... not quite 'flying' but certainly moving with lightness and grace. She placed her hidden behind a warehouse of some kind, before joining the other magic girls.
One, Two, Three and Four.. all attacked, in unison at the final battle of their dark adversary. Creatures fell from the dark clouds, as if they were reversed volcanic eruptions. They were indistinct.. hazy darkness, literally made from the unknown.
The battle continued... in a dazzling display of light against dark...
Lilly looked up in awe at the fight, hiding behind a small building, holding her blue stick. The magic girls were winning! Shadows fell easily by their combined power and the animal-girl shivered with excitement at seeing it. But the beasts kept on coming, each eruption of darkness was striking them.
Her magic stick was glowing.... Stepping out from hiding, the wind blowing gently, she knew she could help.
She concentrated on the energy of her blue stick, allowing a beam of light to hit one particularly large 'troll-like' creature that was getting close to the magic girls from behind. The light was like a laser to the creature, as it disintegrated into a haze of blue energy- hitting the bird-like being behind 'that' one, and punching the cloud to the stars above, like a comet.
Lilly gasped at the power... but also at how much smaller, her stick became from it. Now it was like a small wand... she had to use the power with absolute precision.
"Subject Lilly. Common," said a voice.
Lilly turned to the voice, to see a very strange creature. It seemed to be made of a black light, held in white cloud. "What are you?" she mouthed looking with surprise. She tensed a little reaching for her blue stick again.
"I am Soul," it said. glanced up at the magical battle. "The enemy- I have no real concept for it. Your angel friend is tearing at my body... your magic girls are destroying my mind... my constructs as I try to imagine what the monsters of this world are to be through your eyes. But that still leaves my soul... the only part that is genuinely unknown, even to me, and how... they- we are now able, to use magic."
Lilly looked a bit to this creature, her fur bristling. "So you're..."
"I'm the soul of what you call the Enemy, yes Lilly. I am how they are able to cast spells... and I am tasked with your destruction." It paused a moment. "Why are you here? You are not a magic girl" it spoke with clinical detachment.
"I gotta be,"said Lilly holding her wand and stepping back defensively.
Soul regarded her with apparant indifference. "You are associated with magic girl Four. You wield the Keystone power... speak where it is, and you will not be harmed."
"I won't tell you anythin'!" Not that she knew what it was asking her for.
"Very well... you will be subject to the only spell we know to cast... from this, all will be revealed..." It prepared the spell of Truth.
"Wait!" Lilly shouted. "if- if you can think then you don't have to fight! You can stop this!"
The soul shimmered in strange dark light. "Lilly... we are at the end of the story now. I have no choice but to fight you, as it is demanded."
"There's gotta be some other way. I... I know what its like tryin' to figure out who you are an' I know this ain't who you are. You know that too! You don't have to fight!"
The soul being gave an indistinct smile."I'm am but a soul... I have no choice, only moral consciousness... but I must do as they demand..."
The soul creature suddenly rippled with raw energy. The dark clouds seemed to pulse in tune to the soul aspect of the enemy, as it cast it's spell of Truth.
Lilly took a step back, holding out her blue stick against the creature, reeling from the psychic onslaught. The enemy's soul sent out a strange wave of powerful, primal dark energy to the squirrel girl, as every little doubt she ever had bubbled to the fore. All of it, true... all those little voices inside her, telling her...
you are not really a girl...
you don't really have any magic of your own... you were only 'lucky'...
A real magic girl would get stronger at each battle... you only get weaker
Your name was Billy....
You are really human... just an ordinary, human teenage boy, that wanted to be more..
In an instant, the stick became even smaller as almost all of it was gone. It was nothing but a little twig the size of her thumb. The squirrel girl concentrated, gripping what was left of the blue stick in her fist, trying to mimic the same energy back- and succeeded... the Enemy-Soul was thrown back as the two battled with the strange magical force. Neither one of them truly a master of it, but each knowing a different aspect that worked for them... each trying to achieve a victory by raw power.
But Lilly's power came at significant price...
Lilly glanced back- the power... she had used too much- it was now consuming her body. She lost one of her tails! But she had to keep fighting. Even if the power was now consuming her physically, with so little of the magic stick left.
The young animal-girl launched a furious magic blast at the Soul creature, throwing it clear another several feet. The stick was now just...insignificant. A little dot of blue, on on her paw-like hands... Lilly had to correct her balance, with just a single tail left, that had lost a quarter of it's mass. She felt strange... slightly.. more human?
The soul being sighed. "I am sorry Lilly... really I am. Truth will hurt you more, then anything..."
"You can't hurt me!" said Lilly. "I know the truth! I know I'm really a boy turned into a girl! An' I don't care! This might not be my own magic but it hurts you an' I found it! I found the magic girls an; I -am- gonna beat you, jus' like them!"
Soul studied Lilly. "If you were not here... I would be fighting one of the magic girls, instead," It lamented. How would they handle the truth? Still, Lilly seemed to have been prepared to face this spell.. she resisted it so well- but was still succumbing to it, just not as quickly as predicted.
Parts of Lilly had turned human, under the influence of the spell. She had become a little taller, and lost some of her fur... her face was more human... the spell was working. But the spell was not effective, to someone that had examined themselves as much as Lilly had .But there was something else hidden... and... Looking at her... she knew what it was. Truth found a lie greater then any Lilly had... something the Enemy had always known. "There are many truths... look up there, to magic girl four. Jenny..."
Lilly looked up as her friend destroyed yet another of the huge monsters. Jenny was so powerful and wondrous.. like.. an angel, fighting for their world."She's beatin' you." she said, simply.
"Yes... now... The Truth..."
Suddenly Lilly was paralysed as image after image danced on her. People, faces... blood... "W-what's this! What's happening!" She saw horror upon horror. Almost too terrible for her child mind to take, and it took the more mature elder side of her psyche to filter out all that she saw.
Soul stared at Lilly. Now the spell was working. "Her victims..."
"W...hat?.. N-No... No.."
"Magic Girl Four...Who she used to be, Lilly. A killer. She murdered those people. That is who you fight for Lilly... that is your friend. The truth... the absolute truth. On my soul, literally."
"No No! It- can't be.. No!" She screamed. Those people.. she saw every single face... dead. She saw him, as he killed them. Just for money. He did so many vile and horrible things. Jenny... Jenny did that. Jenny was a criminal. The worst. She felt the pain like a stab in the heart. The girl she admired... the one who helped her, the one... who was so nice, and wished she could be like...... she... could even... she was worse then Julian! "W-w-why.." Lilly said felt her eyes tear up as she felt herself collapse to her knees, her body turning almost completely human... her features becoming more the teenage boy again, very quickly.
Lilly had made... the same mistakes... the same as Billy... all over again...
The creature shook it's head, as it seemed to loom over the strange hybrid being that Lilly had become, of his old and sun-self, its body cocooned around her like an ethereal ghost. "That's the world you are fighting for 'Billy'. A world where the criminals can become powerful pawns on the side of 'good'. A world where bullies still gain power. And... do you really want to know why you couldn't become a magic girl?"
"W-why..." he repeated choking on his own words, unused to the male voice he had now... as if he was waking up from a dream, where he was that strange animal girl... but now he was awake and himself again. Just.. just a teenager. A human teenager, looking as if he had just lost something...
The ghostly creature leaned its head right to his face. It.. looked a little pained as if it was fighting itself from speaking this.
"Because...
...It...
...wouldn't have been...
.interesting."
Billy felt himself break down at the words. The Enemy-soul had ripped a gaping hole right inside his heart. He felt.. beaten... even if he beat the creature... why was he even fighting if this was true? "I... I wasn't... I couldn't be interesting? A-as a magic girl?" he stammered, not really asking the enemy... just asking the entire universe... if one person could.
"No..."
"W-why? W-Why... i-interesting?" she whispered hollowly.
The trap had been sprung... the spell reacted to the question using the combined knowledge of all who had been exposed to the nuances of the Enemy. Question identified... and answerable. It was wished for... by your Mentor... Jon
Billy clutched his head. "J-Jon? She- never.. told me?!"
"... This entire situation is the result of your mentor, wishing on the Earth Keystone. One of the defining feature of this world...She never told you... and likely never would have." Truth had now given them who held the stone...
Billy closed his eyes. he... he lost his friend... he couldn't be a magic girl because... because... it wasn't interesting? Was... that the whole reason for everything? Because it was more interesting for someone like that to have the power then someone... like him? Just an ordinary teenage boy...
He felt his body get very cold...
The soul creature looked at him pitiably, and turned away. it is done, as you requested. I broke the subject's soul Soul spoke to the others.
One victory achieved then. All is not lost. Even if the magic girl's and the angel defeat us... begin next step. Jon Meadows has been identified as the keeper of the Earthstone. The magic girls are busy and can not protect her. Go to her location, and use the Truth spell on her.
I'm afraid all is indeed lost... interrupted Soul glancing behind, at the curious flow of wind.
Unknown force detected... Explain Soul?
Our actions... just made it... interesting, The subject... is breeching...
Scanning.. Subject Lilly Gordon. Common. Breech probability was less then 1%... re-evaluating scenarios... Dimensional breech can not be identified... detection is an anomaly. We do not exist within the event?
Soul felt a strange tension as it had the feeling of... something so very powerful. Billy's eyes were glowing... he was using magic.. without the stick!
Billy looked so furious the ground itself was shaking. .. suddenly he was bathed in glorious light. From his body of pillar of energy was thrown out and into the clouds high above, punching a hole right through the nebulous curtains that was the body of the Enemy.
The Enemy reeled in pain. Impossible. Subject is no longer a girl. Why can she perform magic?
She has the heart and soul of a magic girl even if she is not one physically explained Soul, knowing they would not understand just how bad things were for them now. This is why Soul pleaded with them not to do this.. why it knew they would fail with this spell.
Rainbow light from the sun shone downwards at the resulting cloud break, exposing Billy to the iridescent sunlight. Like a body starved of food it bathed and healed him. He started to change... becoming smaller... lighter.. younger... much younger. The twin tails twirled behind her, flaring like fire. The rainbow light coalesced itself around as the squirrel-girl's body became whole again, fed by an infinite energy that restored her sun-form.
The energy didn't stop there.
The restored animal girl levitated in the pillar of light, a cascading rainbow in the artificial night... her twin tails spread outward, her fur glowing in silver. She shone as a bright star, burning the Enemy in that brilliant light. More clouds disappeared, as the sky started to become visible.
Soul... stood there, watching this star, knowing there would be no escape. The nature of this power from the little girl, seemed to burn dimensional wall upon dimensional wall in her wake.
Within the glorious light, Lilly screamed... she screamed in fury and anger, and the pain of loss in her broken heart. The Enemy was suddenly absolutely nothing before her power, as the thick clouds were cut to pieces with this new evening star raised itself in ascension with her at the center.
"JENNY!" She shouted as the daughter of Venus shone, knowing now scorn and feeling a hellish fury, so heavy for one so young...
Jenny was all finished in destroying another of the weird creatures, as she jumped back to the empty street. She saw the strange ball of light, and an energy that was way beyond any magic girl... It appeared to be a glowing bright star, a ball of light that was lashing out at the dark cloud.
Artemis was suddenly at Jenny's side. "Stay back," She said quickly.
"What? What is it?"
"It's Lilly. She's... she's... she's hurt."
Lilly gasped concerned. "How? Can we heal-"
"No- she's hurt in- in her heart." the moon girl stammered, feeling a very large dose of fear in this.
"I don't understand. What hap-"
Suddenly a huge blast nearly hit them. Artemis however shielded Jenny with her moon-light cancelling out the power.
"She's feelin' so much fury!" explained Artemis. "She's tappin' into powers way beyond anything the gods even can. Nothin' can stop her like this, an' right now she just might do somethin' she is gonna regret horribly! Jenny! Mother says we have to get you away from here quick. I gotta take you to the dark side of the moon. You'll be safe there."
"Why! We're friends! I was only tryin' to keep her away from getting' hurt! I didn't want anythin' bad to happen to her!"
"I dunno. Mother won't say why. Only that she now knows a really bad thing an'- oh Goddess mother!" She quickly shielded Jenny again from another pulsing magic from the giant ball of light. The star was burning so brightly in the sky. Many of the last of the monsters got caught in it and were instantly vaporised.
"Let me talk to her!" said Jenny. "I know Lilly is a nice person. She won't hurt me!"
"Jenny you don't know what she knows an' if its made her this angry I dunno what it can be! I- I think- she really is Venus's daughter! An entire planet that's got volcanoes an' energy an everything more then Earth does! I'm Selene's daughter an' even I can't hold her off forever!"
"No! I'm stayin'! I trust Lilly! I won't leave." If Lilly was so angry... this angry... she was not going to run. She had to stay and face this. Something inside her... was telling her, she had to. She... wanted to.
Artemis looked very fearful at Jenny's stance, but nodded. "Okay.. I'll stay out of it, but I'm puttin' up a barrier just in case. Cosmic moon power shield!" She shouted quickly.
A strange monotonous sound echoed across the domain of the gods, reporting on this new surge of power. It chimed like a bell, as each dimensional wall, was impacted.
Energy of third dimension breeched...fourth dimension breeched.. fifth dimension... sixth.. seventh... eight... final known dimension breeched... Theoretical dimension detected, and breeched....
Lillyfloated in the center of the ball of light as she clutched her body, reeling from the Truth spell, and knowledge of who her 'friend' was. The world was like a curtain of light, and with a wave of her hand she destroyed more of the enemies... she didn't know how she was doing this... but it didn't help. Nothing would help... She cried her eyes out, lashing in fury, seeing magic girl Four from her new place as a star... and... Artemis shielding her. Lilly backed down quickly, as they looked at her in fear, like she was a monster...
Lilly didn't know what to do. Jenny was vile... wicked... evil!
"Jenny... Artemis..." she said softly staring at them curling into a ball, as the star she encompassed levitated to her thoughts. Was she really going to exact judgement on them? Jenny didn't even know what she used to be... it was impossible.... her crimes... it just couldn't be true! But as much as she denied it... the Truth spell couldn't lie to her.
Suddenly, chains of golden light appeared... restraining her. They attached themselves to her wrists, interrupting her thoughts. It was strange... she was restrained, but she knew there was nothing that could restrain her.. Why would anyone try to bind her though?
...For knowing the unknowable. The most forbidden of knowledge... it made a certain sense. Lilly was in the wrong. The thorn in the plan... in destiny... the one that did not yield to what she should have been... and was now, paying the price for that.
All the magic girl animal companions had somehow materialised in a circle around her. Vertex, Tetra and Trident... They were glowing in an ominous light, but it was Tetra who's eyes were glowing most of all. Lilly looked down at the magic chains restraining her, each link had the number Four written on it.
"Lilly Gordon..." said Tetra formally, stepping forward as a judge and summation of 'the crime'. "You are aware of my companion's secret... a secret so powerful, even I am not allowed to know. I don't have a lot of options for this situation," she said calmly, each of the magic animal companions glowed with their own coloured light. They watched silently as witnesses to this. It was clear that this was Tetra's responsibility first, after all.
Lilly looked dumbstruck. Honestly, what could they do to her? Did they even realise, what she had lost? "... jus' leave me alone," Said the squirrel girl, folding her tails over her body as a cover.
Tetra shook her head. "I can't... because I have to protect my companion. If you willingly allow your mind to be erased, we can have things go back to normal."
"Erase... my memory? So I won't know the truth?" Lilly asked- almost- almost hoping that this really could work. She released her tails to look at them directly.
"That's the deal," said Tetra hopefully. Jenny was too important to be destroyed by whatever Lilly was... though she had a feeling, the child would never do that.. but even to have her secret known... Just that alone, was too dangerous. Even with the destruction of the Enemy, the world still needed the magic girls... it still needed Jenny. Lilly had now become a threat to that.
"An' if I want to remember?" Asked Lilly warily.
The glow from the cat girl's eyes flared briefly. "Not... an option." she stated with utmost seriousness in her voice. "I don't know what you discovered, but if its summoned us- all of us like this...it can only mean my partner's greatest secret is in danger... and if you want to, we can ensure that she never goes near you.. we can keep the two of you apart. This would probably be the safest thing to do so you wont rediscover the secret. In time, Jenny won't think of you- hopefully."
Lilly stared at them. Forget.. she ever knew Jenny? Let Jenny forget her? Erase all the joy she had in following her, since meeting her? Even if... she now knew she wasn't the nice person she thought? Was she finally seeing the truth of the world, and what it was like to be a magic girl?
"No! I don't want my memory erased!" cried the girl in the end. She shivered upset at them to even suggest it.
"Lilly please reconsider," said Tetra calmly. "You're a nice girl but.. a magic girl companion, must guard the secrets of the magic girl... that is our purpose. It's always been our purpose."
A black cat suddenly materialised in between the two.
Lilly gasped "Sakira! Y-You're okay!"
My contractor is under my protection said Sakura, with an exhausted tone in it's vocalisation. You will not harm her, while I live At least that's what she said... but all that came out, was "meow."
The companions of each magic girl took a step back, understanding Sakura's language perfectly. "We saw how much energy you have expended.. turning back time, and even halting it. With the enemy defeated, we are even a match for you, Time Devourer. You're nothing more then a simple talking cat now," said Tetra. "So If you want to make this a fight-"
SHE IS ALSO UNDER MY PROTECTION.
Everyone looked up to see... the goddess... the Lady... Venus herself. Woman... personified.
By her presence, all the tension melted away and everyone else cast out from the strange light. The chains that held Lilly, dissolved instantly. It was just mother and daughter now... Lilly felt the rage inside her dwindle into just simple regret, as she cried into her God-Mother's arms. She felt exhausted and tired. "S-sorry" she said. "B-But Jenny..."
"There there sweetheart," said Venus sadly. "You only know half the story..."
"W-why did she become a- m-magic girl.. w-when she was such a- a bad person? I could have been a magic girl!"
"I know... but listen to me. Being a magic girl is what they are... it wasn't a choice... though if you like, you can see Jenny's situation as more. It is also a penance... a chance to redeem herself. Many of the powers that come from their numbers, have a personal sacrifice to make. To make magic girl one, two lives were sacrificed... Magic girl two put the gods to sleep, and suffers a penance for many actions of betrayal... to make magic girl three, a cheater and bully was capable of redeeming himself... and you know what magic girl Four was like. But her skills- all of their skills, translated into something very useful. Skills that only a particular kind of person would have... they were always going to be the magic girls... but their lives granted them all useful skills in this new part of their lives."
Lilly sighed. "T-There are people that would volunteer. I would have! I wanted to protect my mom an' dad... my brother... my friends I would have volunteered to be a magic girl!"
"I know you would have, Lilly... I know," said Venus, brushing the child's hair. "It just... couldn't be... It wasn't who you are... it's who they are. If it were up to me, I would have made you a magic girl," she said ruffling her hair.
Lilly leaned to the touch comforted by the woman, though... sad still.. "Jenny..."
"Yes... Jenny...her life was changed for the better... and just as Lilly isn't completely Billy, but someone new.. and full of incredible potential, so is Jenny... more so, Jenny is more herself now, then she ever was before. Think of it as... changing back, instead of being changed into. Would you honestly want to deny allowing Jenny to be, simply because of where she came from?"
Lilly looked down.. was she being selfish? "An'... Jon.. this is... Jon's world. Is she.. a goddess too?"
Venus sighed. "Not exactly. She just... opened the door, and let all this into your world... something was going to happen, at some point... someone was going to open that door... it just happened to be Jon."
Lilly sighed, in sheer exhaustion now. If... it turned out, that.. the squirrel girl was not meant to fight.. and therefore couldn't... was that it? People were turned into things and were just expected to be what they had become? Even if she tried to be more.. and tried so hard...
She looked down, as the energy around her started to quieten, like a hurricane becoming a gentle breeze. "What am I fightin' for... jus'... why? Why...?"
Venus waved her hand, and suddenly.. Jon, the slug girl, appeared in front of them. "Apologies, Merlin... but someone very important to me, has a question only you can answer..."
Jon looked wild eyed around the strange light. "What the- who are you? What is going on? Am I dreaming?" She must have fallen asleep. Who was this?
"Jon?" Asked Lilly, looking at her with sad eyes, that almost broke Jon's heart. "W-W-what am I fightin' for? The magic girls? For you? For the world you made? Jus'.. what are you gonna do with us once the Enemy is gone?"
Jon stared, glancing at the woman. The Woman that had to be one of the most beautiful she had ever seen.
She knows... Venus said without moving her lips.
Jon looked back to Lilly visibly tense. "I... I don't know," said Jon swallowing. "I didn't mean any of this. Please believe me," she said shakily.
Venus looked back to Lilly, before looking back at the slug girl. "She believes you. You may go now- though young Merlin, I hope you realise you have certain responsibilities to the world now... There are many, just like her... asking the same questions... you are responsible, for all the future children of this world..."
Jon instantly disappeared, leaving Lilly to stare as she contemplated the situation. "I'm gonna have to go, aren't I... I... I'm gonna have to have my memory go, aren't I?" I know too much.. seen too much... An' I can't know this. The magic girl guardians will go after me."
Venus sighed, and wrapped her arms around the squirrel girl, picking her up. "I know this isn't what you thought would happen... but... I am very proud of you. Lilly Gordon. As is Mars, of your courage... many of the gods have watched your struggles to defy fate... many different fates... fighting alongside those who were chosen to fight, and showing honour in one so young... Believe me, that is something you can be proud of.. it is something every god will remember, even if no mortal will..."
"Am I gonna get to remember?"
Venus hugged her daughter. "If you wish to... yes..."
Lilly sighed. Maybe she wasn't so alone after all. She leaned onto the goddess, thinking... all in all, this was probably a day she should forget. "But... how can I be Jenny's friend now..."
"Because... she might need you. One day... it might not be apparent now, but one day... she will need you, more then ever..." Venus spoke softly. "You are the only one, that knows her secret... and I will make sure, the animal guardians not harm you... do not feel anger on them, these safeguards were placed for a reason. "
Lilly sighed. She could understand why now... but... still...
Venus looked to her compassionately. "You have a difficult choice to make now, my child... many in fact... I will take care of the companions... someone else has need of you." Venus kissed Lilly's forehead, as the two were bathed in light...
The light from Lilly's star exploded brightly, sending a massive shockwave in a circle, around the entire battlefield and beyond. it impacted Artemis's moon shield, shattering it.. and the star itself, vanished.
"What was that light?" asked Magic girl four.
"I'm not sure," said Artemis, as they saw the strange pulse of light pass through them. "Something to do with Lilly. Mother says... she'll be okay now."
The two shared a glance, that made them... wonder now, just what in the world was going on with that strange animal-girl...but right now they had another problem. "Mother can see Earth now... oh- she says- one of the monsters has gotten close to the school! There are kids there!"
"Maybe... the enemy is trying to make sure, another magic girl isn't made?" gasped Jenny. They had to get there!
They ran as quickly as they could to the school... and already they could see evidence of a battle being waged here. But it wasn't a magic girl, nor even the Angel, who was fighting this construction of the enemy...
it was Anneza.
Anneza saw the dark black clouds, and knew what it meant. Those who tempted her with a return to her normal form, had returned... and given that they were going after the school that time, they might do so again. She had stayed, guarding the school as a sentry, watching and waiting in case anything came by...
...and they came. Many of them came. Most of them were small undefined shadows, so she used her flying to move the smaller creatures back up the clouds in her wake. It was certainly very curious what she discovered. If she flew just right, she could catch them in her 'stream' and push or pull them back up into the direction of Earth's nearest gravity well.. the sun.
It was because of what these creatures were made of... they had mass and were without mass at the same time. Exactly as she was, when she travelled using Lagrange points. It made them vulnerable to her locomotion. However that worked.
She didn't know how far they got, without her full presence on the journey, or if they survived the trip... but these things were not living, not even animals. She had no idea what they were, only that they meant to harm the children.
She stood alone, and... glancing behind, she saw to her amazement, the children cheering for her in the school windows, as if she was some kind of super heroine. If only that were the case... this was just a very unique situation.
suddenly, another of the Enemy-constructs appeared... it was big, and was getting dangerously close to the school. Anneza tried to use her gravity power... but it didn't work! This one was... too heavy? They were adapting maybe. It looked quite nasty, a strange mix of a scorpion-like face, on an ape-like body. It swiped at her with mighty hands, grabbing her... then throwing her back.
Anneza was stunned, and tried to move away- when the strange scorpion tail stung her. She felt weakness, as her body... floated downward to the ground, no longer able to sustain flight.
Magic girl Four was now there, and dispatched the last of the constructs, with ease. She ran to the fallen space-girl with Artemis.
"You.. saved the school!" said the moon girl.
Anneza looked a little shocked and confused as she looked up, aware that the poison inside her was making her.. fade away. She glanced up at magic girl four and smile serenely. She tried to say something- but her language was incomprehensible.
"I don't understand. What does that mean? Please just hold on- we're gonna get some help!" Said Jenny.
Anneza gave one long look to her... should she know this girl? Did.. she? What was she saying?
And with that... the space-girl, faded into the dark..
Anneza glanced around the void.
"Hello Anneza," said Death.
She gasped. "I.. understood you. Can... you... you can understand me?!" She asked hesitantly.
"Of course," said the goth-woman with a faint smile.
Anneza rushed over her to a warm embrace. "Thank you! Oh thank you, thank you..."
The goth woman patted her hand. "There there child. Come with me, I think you deserve a nice cup of tea wouldn't you say?"
Anneza could only follow as the strange goth woman took her to her house- no castle, lead by the hand. This was a strange dark lit world of greys. The castle stood with curious gothic designs much like the woman's dress. She felt a strange comfort here, even if it didn't feel like she would have been.
Curiously enough in the corner, she saw a lot of children toy's and games, as well as cakes and balloons... like a little party? It was a little chilling to see such a thing here, a contrast to the dark and greys... "Were you... expecting someone else here?" asked Annza cautiously.
The Goth woman nodded. "Yes, I was..." she said. "I suppose I should put those away. Come, please sit down, while I get the tea."
They sat on a table, and Anneza was served what she could only describe as the finest tea she ever had. It loosened her so much, as she spoke to the goth woman about everything inside of her of everything she endured... everything she wanted to say, since this whole thing started.
Her sadness at the loss of her manhood..
The strangeness of having friends...
The loneness she endured
The beauty she saw in the clouds and space.
The hatred she felt of people
The emptiness she realised deep inside herself.
The void she tried to fill..
Over and over, and over it went. Her throat became dry, but still she continued as the months and months of everything that had happened to her, spilled out. Finally she could tell someone, anyone exactly how she felt. She left nothing unturned.
Death did not say a lot back, just listened to everything with the patience of eternity. Finally she smiled. "Well, that was quite a story," She said to her sipping her tea.
"Yes... I am ready now," said Anneza.
"Ready for what dear?" asked Death.
"I... I know I died. But... I think I did something very important there."
"It was... extraordinarily important Anneza," said Death gently. "If not for you, the school would have been attacked... the magic girls, could not be everywhere at once... and with two souls in the balance, it was all... a very tricky, situation."
"What happens now?" Asked Anneza.
"That's.. up to you." said Death. "Someone... has decided to sacrifice, the last of their magic, to save your life. The nature of magic, requires your consent... consider carefully. Do you want to return? Even knowing how... difficult your life is?"
Anneza didn't really have to think about it that much. "Of course I want to live!"
"Then... live," said Death.
Magic girl Four gasped as Lilly appeared in a blaze of blue light... she carried a blue stick, that looked to have been cut and buried in Earth. It glowed with an eerie light, as if it had been soaking up power from the iridescent sun.
She looked quietly to Artemis and Jenny for a moment, with a sad look. The look stunned the two girls, especially Jenny... what in the world happened?
The little squirrel girl placed her glowing blue stick onto Anneza's wound, and by some strange magical light she drew out the poison... the stick.. the last of the magical blue sticks, disappeared completely.
Anneza woke up, in some surprise. It felt like she had been gone a long time... but suddenly she was here again? She flew upwards a bit wobbly. She saw the strange animal girl and smiled. "T-T-ank- yu,"she said in very broken English.
Lilly smiled at her. It.. it was worth it
"W-wait!" said Magic girl four before Anneza looked like she was about to go.
Anneza turned back apologetically, the default look she had when she didn't understand and someone called her.
Magic Girl Four, gave Anneza a warm hug. "Thank you... Thank you... you saved the school. An' we couldn't... we didn't know."
Anneza tilted her head smiling a little at the hug. She said a few words in her alien language... but she felt quite at peace with herself now. She... just needed to rest... somewhere... now.
Lilly looked at Anneza sadly. Lots of people knew who she was... she was quite famous in the news and people talked of her a lot, even to the point of ridiculing what she turned into. Still... she wished.. and hoped, that now people could at least remember her as a good person, and not the bad person she started as... She then thought of herself, and the person she used to be... wanting to be in Julian's gang... to be someone special- who knows where that would have ended?
Who was she to judge?
But still... Julian never killed anyone, and neither did Anneza. She glanced at Jenny, with that thought in mind. The girl, who came from that horrible man... and yet was so gentle, and kind. What if she found out?
...A secret, Lilly had to keep forever... until... until she does, find out.
Jenny looked back to Lilly, who had not yet said a word. "Are... you okay? That... was the last of your magic sticks wasn't it?"
Lilly nodded. "Yeah.. it was... I... I'm gonna.. go home now." The squirrel girl walked away, her twin tails dragging down on the ground. They won... it was a victory... but this hurt... it hurt so much.
Jenny looked to Artemis, still feeling.. a bit strange over all that happened. "Does this mean..she ain't gonna be able to help any more?"
"That light.. I don't think it was her magic stick, not all of it" replied Artemis. "I'm gonna have to ask mother what happened... but I'm not sure she knows either."
