Magical Fracas, Episode 3: Recovery
 

Alex moved in front of the Talisman, flying sparks flared into a solid aura of red light.

"I'm ending this. But not because someone told me to." He began to walk forward toward the talisman, "Because I know what I believe in. It isn't for her that I'm doing this, its for my beliefs. Everything I've done tonight is because I've believed it was right. Its right to avoid bloodshed, its right to do everything in your power to stop people from hurting. It isn't right to walk away from this, I never intended to. I will stop this!"

With a clap of thunder, he threw out his magic all at once, crimson light washing over it to engulf it and the engimatic points of light and sliding, pearly shells of its defences, to hold it in place.

The unnatural flower went berserk. After its single, unsuccessful attack reacting to Iriumi it had remained enigmatically silent, marshalling its power. Its reconstructed shields slid, changing their arrangement to open a vertical gash staring at Alex like a slitted pupil. A shimmering energy ray leapt from it, smashing on the crimson shell about it like a hammer blow.

"Isn't it obvious why we're here?" Akari said. "It isn't this! I don't care who's right or who's wrong in the past, the talisman was safe, and now it isn't. We've got to put it back to sleep, and then we can chuck it in the sea for all I care if it makes you happy!

"We've got to change things, even if it's one little thing at a time... You claim you're defending magic, but one day into it we're already talking about killing each other and destroying the world! How do you or even I have any right to think we're better than the last? We're SUPPOSED to be better than the last though, and from all I know about you Verda people that should ring true for you even more than it should for me!"

Akari stepped up beside her sister. "Sis... I'm not gonna let you down." She whispered, "I'm scared, but for everybody here, I can't let myself be afraid."

Mitsuko flourished Bright Day in an arc to make it vertical, the Device in its sealing mode. Her ultimatum to Alex had gone unanswered.

"Then we can't fail." she replied.

She looked up at Bright Day's core. "Let's seal it."

Bright Day flared with light as she raised it high, bursts like her Impulse Wings flaring from the opened vents. ["Orbit Dagger, Ritual Seal."]

A crimson ring of light appeared, centered about the talisman and with Alex and Demi within its confines. Lines sliding outward, it became a band, patterns interrupted by twelve empty circles spaced eqidistant about it.

As Alex worked, the talisman's outer shields shimmered and evaporated. Tightening about the shields guarding it, holding back the strain of the flower's blows, Alex's magic threaded together with Demi's and Anzu's, red strings twinned with black, set in its pattern by harmonious dancing motions and the harp chords.

Expression as pitiless as the Sun, Mitsuko watched the spell grind against the inner shields, the flower's attacks undiminshed in their fury. The flower's inner shield held, sparks leaping off Alex's bind. One by one, a smaller magic circle appeared within the empty spaces of her spell, each one glowing with golden light.

Complete, the twelve smaller circles reorientated, all facing the centre. They glowed with power, twelve projectiles appearing within them. Conical, vaguely dagger-like, the weapons hovered, tapering points turned inward. Alex and Demi were still within the ring.

"You should move." Mitsuko told them. She paused a moment. "SHOOT!"

The ring of daggers energised and flashed inward, colliding simultaneously on the shield with the crash of breaking glass and exploded. The twelve blasts merged into one, a pillar of light created as the symmetrical eruptions left nowhere else for the escaping energy to go.

Cast into stark relief of golden light and blackest shadow, Mitsuko stepped forward into the light, where the floating, crytalline shape of the sealed talisman gently descended to the ground.

She held up Bright Day again and the core flared with light, sun rays wandering at random before converging on the sealed artifact. The talisman become a stark shadow in the golden beam shone from the gem. It appeared to break up, darkness flitting down the beam into the Device and the light cut off.

The sealed flower nowhere to be seen, Bright Day's jewel flashed once and chimed. ["Retrieval successful. Designated Capture Code #02"]

"My Device has a speciality in dimensional magic; the talisman is now stored inside her." Mitsuko announced, standing straight and resisting her need to pant for breath. "There's only one way you'll get it off me."

Bright Day flared its opened vents and retracted that section, returning to normal length, out of sealing mode. Mitsuko leveled the weapon defensively at Alex and Demi.

"Now, are you going to fight me for it, or are you going to leave?" she blustered.

Overview: Demi stands there sucking in energy as a low shrill whisper echos around her, contemplating how Mitsuko had enough energy left to break all the massive amount of energy she gathered, and the other energies in their seal and seal it up separately all in one action.

The magic for the seal was in place, her ally was weaving everything around, and it seemed that it was actually going to seal the flower up. However... the ending to all of this was sudden and unexpected, playing out very differently than Demi was thinking that it was going to. Suddenly, instead of pressing inwards completely and sealing it up totally, their own seal was shattered, Demi found herself leaping back from the flower, and then it vanished, going straight to Mitsuko.

No... It.. it wasn't supposed to end this way...
"But at least its sealed up and the world is safe from it now, right? No more plant attempting to destroy everything in sight."
"~That much is true, and ultimately, thats a good thing. And, unless I'm massively overestimating the Autekka, then they will be certain to guard it with all they can. Unfortunately, there is a downside to all of this. The Autekka have won the day, er, night. But this victory turns over into a loss for the magic community as a whole. We were going to make the flower docile, so that it wouldn't give off those nasty creatures, and only the things that were beneficial, such as the mage awakenings.~"
Yeah...
"But... isn't our solution better? More magic for us to defend it with, more magic overall for everybody?"
"~Yes, but thats not what they want. The Autekka don't deem magic safe for mainstream usage. They believe that they are the only ones with the right to have magic.~"
If only our seal was stronger...
"Thats a little obnoxious, isn't it? Nobody else is trustworthy or deserving enough to have magic?"
"~Precisely. Thats where we Verda differ. But... it doesn't matter now. They have it, and will eventually destroy it for good, preventing that vast amount of magic from reaching everybody as a whole. It indeed is a sad loss.~"
"..."
But I siphoned all I could... and she still broke through it. She broke through my energy, Alex's energy, and the musical energy like it wasn't even there. And she had already used up most of her energy...
"~Don't get too upset by their victory here, there will be other chances. I said large battle, not war. We can still restore the beauty of magic to its rightful place, so don't let it get to you that much Demi. You just need to get better at this.~"
Shut up.
"~Demi?~"

They stood there for those several moments, seemingly not reacting at all, no glow beneath the mask, only very slight aura siphoning in tiny breaths as the strings in front of her face hid all expression. Demi however, wasn't even hearing the other two very clearly. She clenched her fists, taking a deep breath...

Aw... so close... * But hey, you did marvelous! Don't sulk like that. * I mean, yes you totally failed, and how close you came to success doesn't do a damn thing towards actually accomplishing the good succeeding would have done...
Yeah...
But normally your failures are utter and complete. * Its almost like you had a chance this time. * Yeah, I for one honestly thought you were going to finally succeed at something for once. * Same here.
If our seal was stronger...
But it wasn't. It got broken like a twig. * Yeah. Its totally your fault. That person was depending on you to gather magic for the seal, it was your power that was going to do it. * But you didn't have nearly enough. * You failed, its all your fault. * But hey, as I've said before, you don't totally fail at this like you do most thing, just in a minor fashion.
But I siphoned all I could... and she still broke through it. She broke through my energy, Alex's energy, and the musical energy like it wasn't even there. And she had already used up most of her energy...
I know what you're thinking. How come her exhausted state was able to flick the proverbial finger and just knock all of you aside like that. * Simple really. You're pathetic. Worthless. No power at all. * I must admit though... that girl with the spear... pretty strong. I mean, even if you are weak as anything, to knock all that energy away as if it wasn't there... and then to do the seal afterwards... * Thats power. * A power you can never measure up to. That you can never beat to accomplish all this 'good' you want to.
Shut up.

She was breathing very deeply, eyes glowing a bright violet through the mask, but other than that and the clenching of her fist, she had done and responded to almost nothing during those eight to ten seconds but simply glared into space, breathing in, taking in all magic from around her and

Oooh... look who's getting upset. * I'm sowwy crybaby, did we offend you or anything? *Only speaking the truth here...
I said shut up.
"Make sense, please."
But... you're very potent. I will admit. * With enough practice, you might be able to protect those which you're trying to. * Practice makes perfect after all, right?
Alright...
"~Good, now seriously, I know you're upset by this, but come on, this isn't the whole war. We'll get more chances with different artifacts... ~"
But remember that perfect only means your best, and even your best might be too little to save anything. * Especially if she's the one taking it away.
Silence!

Demi fumed on the insides, nothing of it visible on the outside though, spare her eyes. Slowly, the voices ringing inside her head grew louder and louder, making her insides feel all hollow and frozen. It was able to be heard in a whisper, echoing in that whisper a small distance, but generally in a non-threatening manner. Spare to the one here who had already heard them before, and knew exactly what those voices were and what they were able to do.

Miranda had broken Alex's spell trance in time for him to dodge Mitsuko's sealing spell and get away from the pillar of light that took his own spell's place.

Of course, with all his inner strength shattered by Mitsuko's spell, Alex wasn't able to stay up for long. The priestess collapsed to his knees, auburn hair falling over his eyes.

"My Device has a speciality in dimensional magic; the talisman is now stored inside her. There's only one way you'll get it off me." Miranda's mental eyes watched at Mitsuko leveled her weapon at them. "Now, are you going to fight me for it, or are you going to leave?"

Alex didn't reply, Miranda wasn't even sure how conscious he was. She had to hope Demi was in better shape, but Alex's spirit links had evaporated, she had no way to tell.

...Then I must.

White light flared before Alex, creating a shield between Mitsuko's spear and obscuring the priestess' semi-conscious form. It cleared mere instants later, a new sort of shield taking the light’s place.

Miranda now stood before Alex, her ebony hair stark against the greyed phantom sky. Her white wings spread out protectively before her partner, and her equally white ornate armor glowing with soft white light. A pair of swords were sheathed in gold at her waist.

The angel-familiar’s amber eyes moved to Mitsuko’s face, as she crossed her arms.

"Do you want us to fight?" She calmly replied, her voice cutting clearly through the night.

["Area Transfer Complete."] Ceres chimed at the conclusion of Mitsuko's sealing attempt, ["Thirty-six percent of peripheral energy collected."] her core humming to a halt with the sound like that of a dying turbofan engine. Each drone rotating around the flower halted it's orbit, and then retreated to dock with their master's weapon.

Akari felt a sinking feeling in her chest, as if devoid of something that was supposed to be there, and yet not physically exhausted. She was tired, but her body reacted in a way that decieved what her nerves suggested. Ceres had used what little energy she had left to reinforce Mitsuko's sealing attempt, utilizing the considerable ambient energy in the periphery not being drained already by Demi and her component souls.

The girl blankly stared across the scene to Demi and Alex, and the area the flower was, uncertain what had actually happened in the glowing maelstrom of conflicting lights. Something inside her wanted to relax, only opposed by the nagging disbelief toward the fact that they'd actually succeeded. Preoccupied by the queasy emptiness in her abdomen, Akari didn't speak, worried that she might have been wounded in some way or another.

"Now, are you going to fight me for it, or are you going to leave?" Mitsuko blustered, and a woman materialized from the fallen priestess to immediately contest her sister's accusation, and it was at that point that Akari understood everything. In a distant way, Miranda's phyiscal manifestation reminded her of Ceres' own avatar, and the connection as to whom the woman was to her mind was instantaneous.

Yet before Akari could muster the fortitude to speak, her weapon's core glew a soft blue as it normally did when Ceres was speaking or thinking rapidly. ["Take your master home, Miranda. Save fighting for when they know how, and why."]

There were voices. At least, she remembered voices. Angry ones and softly-spoken ones. Iriumi couldn't decipher what they were saying. She was too weak to feel anything but the insistent worried tug of Ivy's mind in the back of her subconsciousness.

Slipping in and out of the waking state, she vaguely felt arms warm and strong lift her from where she'd fallen. A young man's voice spoke. It took her a few moments to realise it was the very same man who had tried to attack the flower and the other boy in a white dress. Ivy's concerned murmurs in the back of her mind faded as she slipped back into the darkness again.

Then, she was awake again, but barely. The young man was trying to talk to her, awkwardly trying to get her to stay awake. Ivy's calming reaction to her being even slightly awake made her realise they were out of the phantom zone. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt like they were made of lead, and she felt so tired. She just wanted to sleep...

Please, Iriumi. Wake. You can sleep when we get home. Just stay awake a little longer.

"..." Iriumi managed to open her mouth, but only the tiniest whisper escaped.

Rei leaned in closer to hear what Iriumi was trying to say.

"...cake..." the delirious girl repeated.

"Stay with me now," Rei assured the half-conscious girl. Iriumi struggled to comprehend what he just said, despite its simplicity. She managed to open her eyes, and they were a clouded, confused green.

Rei had thoughtfully carried her under a streetlight, where he could see the extent of the damage and possible injuries. Thankfully, nothing serious was done. The brunt of the attack was weathered by Ivy, who was now struggling to repair the barrier suit under the power of the weak light, as well as keep Iriumi awake, but there were burn marks on the girl's face and hands, where she'd tried to block ineffectively. The plant familiar half-contemplated releasing the suit so as to give Iriumi some more strength to wake up. She'd managed to salvage the mask, but it looks like it won't matter right now.

"Listen to my voice. Please stay awake. I'm sorry for what I've done. It's hurt you. I want to take you somewhere safe. Can you tell me where? Take your time," Rei continued. Iriumi tried to focus her eyes on the masked young man, but failed. I'm so tired...

I'm sorry, Iriumi. I have to deactivate the Barrier Jacket for you to properly regain some energy.

For a brief moment, the girl glowed a brilliant green-gold. Gradually, the spiralling whorls of leafy motifs and ivy leaves retreated across Iriumi's body, folding away until it was nothing but a small green leafy necklace around her nape, the light fading into nothingness to reveal the young girl with long locks of hair unburdened by hairties or headband, the green eyes suddenly sharpening and taking focus on the man.

Jerking up from Rei's helpful hands, Iriumi recoiled from Rei's touch. Her eyes glared balefully at him, before closing shut in a wince. Her lips let loose a small whimper of pain as she tried to clutch her arms. They'd been bruised badly in defence, but nothing felt broken. Holding them close to herself, she warily eyed the kamen.

"... You attacked the priestess, then you help me," Iriumi's voice was soft, logically trying to process things.

He's also offered to take you home, Ivy helpfully added in her mind. Iriumi started at this, glancing at Rei before looking away.

"...I'm... sorry," Iriumi said, "I tried to do something stupid. I... I thought I could probably end the fight if people could understand if they didn't jump to conclusions. I'm sorry for making you sorry. I can make my own way home now, thank you." Iriumi tried to stand on her own, but her knees buckled underneath her, and she collapsed forward into Rei's arms.

"Eeeuuh!" Iriumi gritted her teeth, trying to will her legs to move under her command. It didn't work.

...Maybe you should accept his offer?

So very tired.

Mitsuko had made her ultimatum, Alex had fallen to his knees from the backlash of his interrupted concentration and Demi stood apart from everyone, dwelling on failure.

Light flared from Alex, an angelic guardian standing between him and Mitsuko. Armoured in ornate pale armour, her white wings were fanned to protect Alex she was lit with a soft white nimbus. Two swords hung at her side.

The angelic familiar’s amber eyes moved to Mitsuko’s face and the apparation crossed her arms. "Do you want us to fight?" she replied.

So very tired.

Mitsuko felt only a dull sense of surprise at this new enemy.

Akari's bow spoke. ["Take your master home, Miranda. Save fighting for when they know how, and why."]

They knew each other. This should be important... somehow.

So very tired.

With an effort, Mitsuko concentrated, meeting Miranda's gaze. "I never chose to fight." Mitsuko said. "So far, I've had no other choice."

Mitsuko raised Bright Day, keeping the spear from trembling as she lifted its heavy weight. "But don't doubt my courage! I will if I must!"

Miranda raised a delicate eyebrow at Mitsuko's declaration. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but something about the spear fighter's stance suggested that she was putting on an act.

Or it is just her eyes? The familiar wondered, holding the gaze steadily.

Then suddenly, she shrugged and turned away.

"Speak for your own master Aphelion." Miranda replied disinterestedly, sweeping Alex's semi-conscious form up in her arms. She looked over her shoulder at Mitsuko, giving her a small smile, "And try not to fall down."

Her wings flapped, lifting her a few feet from the ground. "Black Mask," she added just before she took off, "you'd best retreat."

Then, with a powerful surge of air from her wings, she flew high into the night sky. The phantom zone followed her, leaving the Autekka and Demi alone in the real world.

As Iriumi fell forward, Rei caught her in his arms, her body pressed to his for a moment, though he did not look down at her. There were parts of the young boy which definitely responded to having the pretty girl pressed against him and the sensation would certainly haunt him later, but now he could only think about the bruises on her frail body, which he had placed there, and the hardness in her eyes when she first saw him. He couldn't blame her.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said quietly as he carefully pulled her away from his chest, and looked down at her. "You protected your ally... I understand... as I understand you wanting to walk home on your own two feet."

He shifted her weight, guiding the girl gently to his left, placing her right arm over his shoulders and his left arm around her waist. "I understand, but at least allow me to bear some of the weight of your injuries."

The situation was cooling down, seems that now that the artifact was once again in their possession, they didn't want to fight anymore, as expected. Demi was being almost totally irresponsive, Mogura talking to her almost continually to attempt to get her to stop being the way she was, but she only seemed to be telling her to shut up and such. Sentinel however, focused on the Autekka. Obviously, since they had the artifact they had no more reason to hunt and pursue the Verda, and people were slowly drifting away, but Sentinel wasn't absolutely sure if it would heat right back up. Sure the Autekka won but the safety of Demi was top priority and that meant making sure no possibility went unattended to. Demi's fists clenched and Mogura's strings vibrated, the whispers growing ever so slightly louder, though her eyes almost softened despite no expression being seen. She gave a nod to Miranda as she left, and then glanced back at the other two, not seeming mad in some ways but at the same time fuming in others, mixed signals abound. Without a word or any sort of forewarning, Demi herself quickly turned on her heel in the opposite direction and stormed off, building into a swift run despite the buildup of strings. She was actually shrinking them to the point where they were essentially back to the state when she had first covered her face, but they still spread about in every direction chaotically.

She was storming about the streets, heading as far away from the area of the fight as she was capable of doing in the span of time she was given. She must have looked like a total black mass that blended in with the shadows to anybody who saw her, nothing but her two violet eyes and the shiny white frills on her dress visible in any realistic way. Finally, she stopped at a building, the very same one where they had left from to watch the Autekka and make this attempt in the first place. The voices in her head haunted her, making every though a massive headache. It was mind wrending, contemplating her failure to protect the flower and the magic of everybody here, moreso the mocking of it. She looked down from the massive perch she was upon, looking down on the various mages, able to actually sense them. It was a sense of awareness, of power, but a power which felt oh so hollow. Like when she used to watch a show, but was never actually able to get involved and stop something from happening, in fact, this was exactly what it was like. At least she was able to try she guessed, and with a cold smile, she removed the mask, letting her hair fly in the wind, going back to the outfit that she was in when she had only found out about it.

"Sentinel." She proclaimed out, staring into the moon, but knowing who exactly she was talking to.
"~You actually feel like talking now?~"
"You're going to teach me how to use these powers of mine. I will not let anything like that happen ever again."

The voices were dying away, becoming whispers in her mind, bugging her and egging her on to practice into futility. But she would prove them oh so wrong. She had her mind set on it.
"We'll start with this star. How exactly do I go about using it better?"
"~Hey, don't take that tone with me.~"
"You're the one who wanted me to focus, stop messing around, and actually learn these things."
"~...~"
"Well, now I'm ready, so are you going to teach me or what?"

"Ceres? I don' feel so good..." Akari wibbled, nearly swooning from her thundering headache. She watched Miranda and Demi leave, and turned to her sister, but her legs didn't move. They weren't sore, or anything, merely unresponsive.

["Purge Capacitor."] Without explaining herself, Ceres' drone racks slid out, and then rammed back into place. The lights of their standby engines dimmed to nothingness, and the bow's overheat valves opened, expelling a bluish mist with a gentle hiss.

A shock went through Akari's head, as her vision suddenly flashed white around the edges. It was painful, but her headache immediately stopped, and for a brief moment, she felt really, really good. "Ow! W-what was that for?!" Akari yelped anyway, expecting she'd been hurt somehow.

["I am emulating a device I wished to equip myself with."] Ceres explained bluntly, ["The effect is temporary. Go home, Now."]