Ooh! What an interesting first chapter!
Marcelina’s last line is a bit worrisome...
Marcelina’s last line is a bit worrisome...
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saltedsnails he/they majors in procrastination all-around soup enthusiast +8 FRT |
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TOPIC | Marcelina Magica [BOOK IN PROGRESS]
Ooh! What an interesting first chapter!
Marcelina’s last line is a bit worrisome...
Marcelina’s last line is a bit worrisome...
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails Second chapter is here, and we get a glimpse into the antagonist of the first arc!
“I’m gonna go,” Marcelina said suddenly, before turning and heading towards a section of the mall blocked off by yellow tape. She hoped that Zena and Aleah hadn’t noticed her leave, as she followed the glow of her Soul Gem. Her suspicions proved correct. As she descended the concrete staircase, she could see a young girl on the ground.
The girl looked up at Marcelina. She recognised her from school. Dorothy, her name was. “Hey, you?” She asked. “Can you… Can you leave? I can’t have anyone… Knowing who I am.”
“That’s your fault,” Marcelina replied. “You shouldn’t have made the contract. Tell me…” Marcelina knelt down. “What was your wish?”
“M-my wish? Uh… I think it was to… Have candy?” Dorothy answered sheepishly. “Why?”
Marcelina stood up. “...Of course you made that stupid wish. Why would girls like you ask for something meaningful, after all? You should have paid for something so needlessly stupid. In fact…” She pointed to the small orb-like objects on the ground next to her. “Give me those.”
“Wh-what? But I… I just earned these!” The girl stammered. “Why do you need them?”
“The witches nearby aren’t dropping any Grief Seeds. I need to purify my Soul Gem. And you need to pay for your stupidity. Give them. Or, better yet…” Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, summoning chains to block the entrance. “I’ll beat them out of you, right here, right now.”
The girl stood up and pulled out a giant hammer. “Th-then fight me!” She yelled, before charging at Marcelina, ready to give her the hardest blow to the head since 1963. Marcelina leaped into the air, threw a shackle at the girl’s legs, and yanked on her chain hard enough to throw the girl into the ceiling. As the girl fell and attempted to get up, Marcelina wrapped her spiked chains around the girl’s legs and tightened it, crippling her.
“Honestly. You should have just given up when you had the chance. This isn’t a fun little game. This life… It’s dangerous. It’s full of death. And it’s hard. Judging from your wish, and that little beatdown you just had…” Marcelina bent over to pick up the Grief Seeds. “You are not fit to be a Magical Girl.” She removed the chains from the entrance and headed back to meet Zena and Aleah, who were both carrying bags of clothes, at the entrance. “Sorry, guys. Just had a little run-in with a Witch.”
“Did it have a Grief Seed?” Zena asked hopefully.
“Yes.” Marcelina handed her the Grief Seed and turned towards the entrance. “My mom will be missing me. Let’s go.”
Zena and Marcelina looked at each other doubtfully, before walking with her back to the parking lot. Marcelina decided to go home with Aleah this time, to talk about some stuff.
“Marcelina, tell me the truth. Did that Grief Seed really come from a Witch?” Aleah asked.
“No,” Marcelina replied. “But-”
“No buts, Marcelina. Everyone knows about how you feel about girls who make meaningless wishes.” Aleah squeezed the steering wheel, only to sigh and relax her grip on it. “But you have to understand, Marcelina- What’s done is done. They already made the wish. All you’re doing is making them feel even worse about it.”
“But they need to know how dangerous this life is! The way they’re going about it, they think that it’s a game!”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” Aleah asked. “They’ll figure things out on their own, okay? But imagine this- Your kid comes home literally unable to walk, bruises all over their body, and they don’t tell you what’s going on. Or, worse, they do tell you what’s going on, and now everyone knows about who we are and what we do.”
“That’s what I’m trying to prevent, Aleah! I give them a taste of what being a Magical Girl is really like! They’ve gotta pay for their wish sooner or later, and by scaring them off, I’m keeping that payment from coming any sooner!” Marcelina exclaimed.
“Look, just… You gotta stop being so harsh towards younger girls, alright? Let their stupidity pay for itself. The way you’re acting, you could get kidnapped- or worse. Like, do you know how crazy your parents can get once they figure out what you are? There was a point where one parent killed her kid for being a Magical Girl! You don’t want that, do you?”
Marcelina and Aleah remained silent the rest of the trip. They both just waited until Aleah could drop Marcelina off at her house and then leave.
"Hi, honey!" Her mom called. "How was school?"
"Pretty boring," Marcelina replied. "Not much happened."
That night, Marcelina waited for her family to fall asleep before slipping out the back, pulling her Soul Gem out of her bag to search for Witches. She could feel the presence of… something here, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. She arrived at Zena’s motel to see that Zena was hunting a Witch, too.
“Hey, kid!” She called over. “My friends wanna see me hunt a Witch. I’m using a kind of cloaking magic to hide them, but they’ll see us. Wanna join?”
“Sure,” Marcelina replied, as she followed Zena around the building. Her Soul Gem was glowing a bright red, and Zena’s, a bright blue. Marcelina turned around to see a group of people with marks on their necks throwing wood into a pile and preparing to set it on fire. Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, before using her chains to tie the group of people together, and keeping them attached to a lamppost.
Zena transformed, too, and pulled two crystal blades out from in between her teeth, stabbing the wall of the motel to summon the portal to the Barrier. The two approached the entrance to the Barrier, having dealt with the hypnotized people. Marcelina leaped forward first, as the portal before her enveloped her in a blinding light. She could feel her feet sink into the ground as she landed in the Witch’s Labyrinth.
Opening her eyes, Marcelina decided to explore the Barrier she had found a little bit. All around her, the sand stretched out far beyond what the eye could see, with dangerous shards of glass poking out here and there. She could smell the seabreeze from here, although there didn’t seem to be any water.
“Dammit, looks like I forgot my swimsuit,” Zena sighed. “Oh, well. At least this one will be quick. C’mon, kid.”
The two decided to race each other to the Witch, flinging energy attacks at the squid-like creatures that rose out of the sand and shot ink at them. Marcelina brought down her flail on a particularly nasty group of these things Zena had tied up, causing them to seemingly disappear into nothingness. The pollution only seemed to get worse as they traversed the large beach.
As the two travelled further, they could see a giant woman wearing a sunhat and striped dress lounging beside the waves, with its Familiars flinging water and stabbing each other with glass shards. Plastic bags and bottles littered the beach, making it nigh impossible to see the sand.
“Ladies first,” Zena snickered.
Marcelina summoned balls and chains to wrap around its legs, and bludgeoned its head in with a flail. The Witch summoned a giant wave to wash over the beach in retaliation, attempting to pull her into the water, before picking up a handful of trash and throwing it at Marcelina.
“You can come in now, Zena!” Marcelina called as she dodged the attack.
Zena leaped forward as she extended her crystal blade and impaled the Witch, before dragging it upwards to create a large, gaping wound. She pulled out, her blade covered in black blood, as the Witch let out a horrifying scream and brought its hand down on her, pushing her into the sand.
Marcelina decided to counter this by tying a bladed chain around the Witch’s arm and tightening it to cut it off, freeing Zena, who leaped into the air and summoned a giant crystal shard to deal the final blow.
“Nice job, kid! Now, let’s see if I can get a Grief Seed outta this one…” Just as she was about to launch it into the Witch’s face, however, a voice boomed from above.
“Mannaia Tempesta!” It called, summoning a horde of cleavers, which launched at the Witch at high speeds, dismembering it and causing the Barrier to disappear. As the parking lot faded back into Marcelina’s vision, she squinted to see who had interrupted the fight. A short figure wearing a long overcoat approached the two, flipping her hair as she strutted forward.
“God, the way you two fight is so annoying!” The figure groaned. “I mean, seriously? Do you have to be as plain and boring as possible?”
“Oh, boy,” Zena sighed. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but we just do what gets the job done, alright? We don’t have people to impress. Just let us have this Grief Seed.”
“I’m not here for that, you idiot!” The girl spat, before standing up straight and calming herself. “I’m just here to… get you used to the system, you know? Take you to see a friend of mine, to share Grief Seeds… That sort of thing.” The girl gave a witchy smile.
“Zena, don’t-” Marcelina started.
“Kid, I’ll be fine. I can fight for myself. You should get home.” Zena shrugged. “Sure. Take me wherever, kid.” With that, she and the strange woman walked off into the woods, leaving Marcelina alone.
And, with that, she decided to go home.
The next day, Marcelina took out her phone and started texting.
are you okay? how was last night?
I’m fine. Nothing much happened. The girls gave me some tips, invited me to go Witch hunting today, and sent me off. I mean, they’re pretty shady, but I’ll be on my guard.
Marcelina dropped her phone and let out a sigh of relief. Of course Zena could handle herself. She was able to rip a Witch apart even before she became a Magical Girl, after all.
Marcelina decided to skip school that day to go down to the cat cafe and help out. As she entered the building, cats immediately padded up to her to rub against her legs and play with her hair and just be little sweethearts in general. She decided to fill their bowls with food, when she noticed a ring in the cat food. A ring that contained a Soul Gem.
Marcelina hastily stuffed it in her pocket, just in time for another girl to enter the cafe. Her red hair was swept in front of her face like an ocean wave, and she wore all sorts of jewelry, all of it containing a crystal of some sort. She wandered around a little bit, ignoring the cats, and grinned when she laid eyes on Marcelina.
“You.” She strutted up to Marcelina and grabbed her right hand, stroking it softly. “Such beautiful fingers… Have you seen a ring anywhere around here? Got runes on it, a crystal, that sorta thing?”
The first thing that came to mind was the ring Marcelina had just found. But something told her otherwise. She searched the girl’s fingers, and sure enough, she was wearing… Wait. There were multiple rings on her hand. All of them identical, save for the crystal in the middle. Several thoughts ran through Marcelina’s head. Why did she have so many rings? How did she know that Marcelina had found this specific Soul Gem? Who was she? Finally, it clicked.
This girl was hunting Soul Gems.
“I’m gonna go,” Marcelina said suddenly, before turning and heading towards a section of the mall blocked off by yellow tape. She hoped that Zena and Aleah hadn’t noticed her leave, as she followed the glow of her Soul Gem. Her suspicions proved correct. As she descended the concrete staircase, she could see a young girl on the ground.
The girl looked up at Marcelina. She recognised her from school. Dorothy, her name was. “Hey, you?” She asked. “Can you… Can you leave? I can’t have anyone… Knowing who I am.”
“That’s your fault,” Marcelina replied. “You shouldn’t have made the contract. Tell me…” Marcelina knelt down. “What was your wish?”
“M-my wish? Uh… I think it was to… Have candy?” Dorothy answered sheepishly. “Why?”
Marcelina stood up. “...Of course you made that stupid wish. Why would girls like you ask for something meaningful, after all? You should have paid for something so needlessly stupid. In fact…” She pointed to the small orb-like objects on the ground next to her. “Give me those.”
“Wh-what? But I… I just earned these!” The girl stammered. “Why do you need them?”
“The witches nearby aren’t dropping any Grief Seeds. I need to purify my Soul Gem. And you need to pay for your stupidity. Give them. Or, better yet…” Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, summoning chains to block the entrance. “I’ll beat them out of you, right here, right now.”
The girl stood up and pulled out a giant hammer. “Th-then fight me!” She yelled, before charging at Marcelina, ready to give her the hardest blow to the head since 1963. Marcelina leaped into the air, threw a shackle at the girl’s legs, and yanked on her chain hard enough to throw the girl into the ceiling. As the girl fell and attempted to get up, Marcelina wrapped her spiked chains around the girl’s legs and tightened it, crippling her.
“Honestly. You should have just given up when you had the chance. This isn’t a fun little game. This life… It’s dangerous. It’s full of death. And it’s hard. Judging from your wish, and that little beatdown you just had…” Marcelina bent over to pick up the Grief Seeds. “You are not fit to be a Magical Girl.” She removed the chains from the entrance and headed back to meet Zena and Aleah, who were both carrying bags of clothes, at the entrance. “Sorry, guys. Just had a little run-in with a Witch.”
“Did it have a Grief Seed?” Zena asked hopefully.
“Yes.” Marcelina handed her the Grief Seed and turned towards the entrance. “My mom will be missing me. Let’s go.”
Zena and Marcelina looked at each other doubtfully, before walking with her back to the parking lot. Marcelina decided to go home with Aleah this time, to talk about some stuff.
“Marcelina, tell me the truth. Did that Grief Seed really come from a Witch?” Aleah asked.
“No,” Marcelina replied. “But-”
“No buts, Marcelina. Everyone knows about how you feel about girls who make meaningless wishes.” Aleah squeezed the steering wheel, only to sigh and relax her grip on it. “But you have to understand, Marcelina- What’s done is done. They already made the wish. All you’re doing is making them feel even worse about it.”
“But they need to know how dangerous this life is! The way they’re going about it, they think that it’s a game!”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” Aleah asked. “They’ll figure things out on their own, okay? But imagine this- Your kid comes home literally unable to walk, bruises all over their body, and they don’t tell you what’s going on. Or, worse, they do tell you what’s going on, and now everyone knows about who we are and what we do.”
“That’s what I’m trying to prevent, Aleah! I give them a taste of what being a Magical Girl is really like! They’ve gotta pay for their wish sooner or later, and by scaring them off, I’m keeping that payment from coming any sooner!” Marcelina exclaimed.
“Look, just… You gotta stop being so harsh towards younger girls, alright? Let their stupidity pay for itself. The way you’re acting, you could get kidnapped- or worse. Like, do you know how crazy your parents can get once they figure out what you are? There was a point where one parent killed her kid for being a Magical Girl! You don’t want that, do you?”
Marcelina and Aleah remained silent the rest of the trip. They both just waited until Aleah could drop Marcelina off at her house and then leave.
"Hi, honey!" Her mom called. "How was school?"
"Pretty boring," Marcelina replied. "Not much happened."
That night, Marcelina waited for her family to fall asleep before slipping out the back, pulling her Soul Gem out of her bag to search for Witches. She could feel the presence of… something here, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. She arrived at Zena’s motel to see that Zena was hunting a Witch, too.
“Hey, kid!” She called over. “My friends wanna see me hunt a Witch. I’m using a kind of cloaking magic to hide them, but they’ll see us. Wanna join?”
“Sure,” Marcelina replied, as she followed Zena around the building. Her Soul Gem was glowing a bright red, and Zena’s, a bright blue. Marcelina turned around to see a group of people with marks on their necks throwing wood into a pile and preparing to set it on fire. Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, before using her chains to tie the group of people together, and keeping them attached to a lamppost.
Zena transformed, too, and pulled two crystal blades out from in between her teeth, stabbing the wall of the motel to summon the portal to the Barrier. The two approached the entrance to the Barrier, having dealt with the hypnotized people. Marcelina leaped forward first, as the portal before her enveloped her in a blinding light. She could feel her feet sink into the ground as she landed in the Witch’s Labyrinth.
Opening her eyes, Marcelina decided to explore the Barrier she had found a little bit. All around her, the sand stretched out far beyond what the eye could see, with dangerous shards of glass poking out here and there. She could smell the seabreeze from here, although there didn’t seem to be any water.
“Dammit, looks like I forgot my swimsuit,” Zena sighed. “Oh, well. At least this one will be quick. C’mon, kid.”
The two decided to race each other to the Witch, flinging energy attacks at the squid-like creatures that rose out of the sand and shot ink at them. Marcelina brought down her flail on a particularly nasty group of these things Zena had tied up, causing them to seemingly disappear into nothingness. The pollution only seemed to get worse as they traversed the large beach.
As the two travelled further, they could see a giant woman wearing a sunhat and striped dress lounging beside the waves, with its Familiars flinging water and stabbing each other with glass shards. Plastic bags and bottles littered the beach, making it nigh impossible to see the sand.
“Ladies first,” Zena snickered.
Marcelina summoned balls and chains to wrap around its legs, and bludgeoned its head in with a flail. The Witch summoned a giant wave to wash over the beach in retaliation, attempting to pull her into the water, before picking up a handful of trash and throwing it at Marcelina.
“You can come in now, Zena!” Marcelina called as she dodged the attack.
Zena leaped forward as she extended her crystal blade and impaled the Witch, before dragging it upwards to create a large, gaping wound. She pulled out, her blade covered in black blood, as the Witch let out a horrifying scream and brought its hand down on her, pushing her into the sand.
Marcelina decided to counter this by tying a bladed chain around the Witch’s arm and tightening it to cut it off, freeing Zena, who leaped into the air and summoned a giant crystal shard to deal the final blow.
“Nice job, kid! Now, let’s see if I can get a Grief Seed outta this one…” Just as she was about to launch it into the Witch’s face, however, a voice boomed from above.
“Mannaia Tempesta!” It called, summoning a horde of cleavers, which launched at the Witch at high speeds, dismembering it and causing the Barrier to disappear. As the parking lot faded back into Marcelina’s vision, she squinted to see who had interrupted the fight. A short figure wearing a long overcoat approached the two, flipping her hair as she strutted forward.
“God, the way you two fight is so annoying!” The figure groaned. “I mean, seriously? Do you have to be as plain and boring as possible?”
“Oh, boy,” Zena sighed. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but we just do what gets the job done, alright? We don’t have people to impress. Just let us have this Grief Seed.”
“I’m not here for that, you idiot!” The girl spat, before standing up straight and calming herself. “I’m just here to… get you used to the system, you know? Take you to see a friend of mine, to share Grief Seeds… That sort of thing.” The girl gave a witchy smile.
“Zena, don’t-” Marcelina started.
“Kid, I’ll be fine. I can fight for myself. You should get home.” Zena shrugged. “Sure. Take me wherever, kid.” With that, she and the strange woman walked off into the woods, leaving Marcelina alone.
And, with that, she decided to go home.
The next day, Marcelina took out her phone and started texting.
are you okay? how was last night?
I’m fine. Nothing much happened. The girls gave me some tips, invited me to go Witch hunting today, and sent me off. I mean, they’re pretty shady, but I’ll be on my guard.
Marcelina dropped her phone and let out a sigh of relief. Of course Zena could handle herself. She was able to rip a Witch apart even before she became a Magical Girl, after all.
Marcelina decided to skip school that day to go down to the cat cafe and help out. As she entered the building, cats immediately padded up to her to rub against her legs and play with her hair and just be little sweethearts in general. She decided to fill their bowls with food, when she noticed a ring in the cat food. A ring that contained a Soul Gem.
Marcelina hastily stuffed it in her pocket, just in time for another girl to enter the cafe. Her red hair was swept in front of her face like an ocean wave, and she wore all sorts of jewelry, all of it containing a crystal of some sort. She wandered around a little bit, ignoring the cats, and grinned when she laid eyes on Marcelina.
“You.” She strutted up to Marcelina and grabbed her right hand, stroking it softly. “Such beautiful fingers… Have you seen a ring anywhere around here? Got runes on it, a crystal, that sorta thing?”
The first thing that came to mind was the ring Marcelina had just found. But something told her otherwise. She searched the girl’s fingers, and sure enough, she was wearing… Wait. There were multiple rings on her hand. All of them identical, save for the crystal in the middle. Several thoughts ran through Marcelina’s head. Why did she have so many rings? How did she know that Marcelina had found this specific Soul Gem? Who was she? Finally, it clicked.
This girl was hunting Soul Gems.
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails Second chapter is here, and we get a glimpse into the antagonist of the first arc!
“I’m gonna go,” Marcelina said suddenly, before turning and heading towards a section of the mall blocked off by yellow tape. She hoped that Zena and Aleah hadn’t noticed her leave, as she followed the glow of her Soul Gem. Her suspicions proved correct. As she descended the concrete staircase, she could see a young girl on the ground.
The girl looked up at Marcelina. She recognised her from school. Dorothy, her name was. “Hey, you?” She asked. “Can you… Can you leave? I can’t have anyone… Knowing who I am.”
“That’s your fault,” Marcelina replied. “You shouldn’t have made the contract. Tell me…” Marcelina knelt down. “What was your wish?”
“M-my wish? Uh… I think it was to… Have candy?” Dorothy answered sheepishly. “Why?”
Marcelina stood up. “...Of course you made that stupid wish. Why would girls like you ask for something meaningful, after all? You should have paid for something so needlessly stupid. In fact…” She pointed to the small orb-like objects on the ground next to her. “Give me those.”
“Wh-what? But I… I just earned these!” The girl stammered. “Why do you need them?”
“The witches nearby aren’t dropping any Grief Seeds. I need to purify my Soul Gem. And you need to pay for your stupidity. Give them. Or, better yet…” Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, summoning chains to block the entrance. “I’ll beat them out of you, right here, right now.”
The girl stood up and pulled out a giant hammer. “Th-then fight me!” She yelled, before charging at Marcelina, ready to give her the hardest blow to the head since 1963. Marcelina leaped into the air, threw a shackle at the girl’s legs, and yanked on her chain hard enough to throw the girl into the ceiling. As the girl fell and attempted to get up, Marcelina wrapped her spiked chains around the girl’s legs and tightened it, crippling her.
“Honestly. You should have just given up when you had the chance. This isn’t a fun little game. This life… It’s dangerous. It’s full of death. And it’s hard. Judging from your wish, and that little beatdown you just had…” Marcelina bent over to pick up the Grief Seeds. “You are not fit to be a Magical Girl.” She removed the chains from the entrance and headed back to meet Zena and Aleah, who were both carrying bags of clothes, at the entrance. “Sorry, guys. Just had a little run-in with a Witch.”
“Did it have a Grief Seed?” Zena asked hopefully.
“Yes.” Marcelina handed her the Grief Seed and turned towards the entrance. “My mom will be missing me. Let’s go.”
Zena and Marcelina looked at each other doubtfully, before walking with her back to the parking lot. Marcelina decided to go home with Aleah this time, to talk about some stuff.
“Marcelina, tell me the truth. Did that Grief Seed really come from a Witch?” Aleah asked.
“No,” Marcelina replied. “But-”
“No buts, Marcelina. Everyone knows about how you feel about girls who make meaningless wishes.” Aleah squeezed the steering wheel, only to sigh and relax her grip on it. “But you have to understand, Marcelina- What’s done is done. They already made the wish. All you’re doing is making them feel even worse about it.”
“But they need to know how dangerous this life is! The way they’re going about it, they think that it’s a game!”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” Aleah asked. “They’ll figure things out on their own, okay? But imagine this- Your kid comes home literally unable to walk, bruises all over their body, and they don’t tell you what’s going on. Or, worse, they do tell you what’s going on, and now everyone knows about who we are and what we do.”
“That’s what I’m trying to prevent, Aleah! I give them a taste of what being a Magical Girl is really like! They’ve gotta pay for their wish sooner or later, and by scaring them off, I’m keeping that payment from coming any sooner!” Marcelina exclaimed.
“Look, just… You gotta stop being so harsh towards younger girls, alright? Let their stupidity pay for itself. The way you’re acting, you could get kidnapped- or worse. Like, do you know how crazy your parents can get once they figure out what you are? There was a point where one parent killed her kid for being a Magical Girl! You don’t want that, do you?”
Marcelina and Aleah remained silent the rest of the trip. They both just waited until Aleah could drop Marcelina off at her house and then leave.
"Hi, honey!" Her mom called. "How was school?"
"Pretty boring," Marcelina replied. "Not much happened."
That night, Marcelina waited for her family to fall asleep before slipping out the back, pulling her Soul Gem out of her bag to search for Witches. She could feel the presence of… something here, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. She arrived at Zena’s motel to see that Zena was hunting a Witch, too.
“Hey, kid!” She called over. “My friends wanna see me hunt a Witch. I’m using a kind of cloaking magic to hide them, but they’ll see us. Wanna join?”
“Sure,” Marcelina replied, as she followed Zena around the building. Her Soul Gem was glowing a bright red, and Zena’s, a bright blue. Marcelina turned around to see a group of people with marks on their necks throwing wood into a pile and preparing to set it on fire. Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, before using her chains to tie the group of people together, and keeping them attached to a lamppost.
Zena transformed, too, and pulled two crystal blades out from in between her teeth, stabbing the wall of the motel to summon the portal to the Barrier. The two approached the entrance to the Barrier, having dealt with the hypnotized people. Marcelina leaped forward first, as the portal before her enveloped her in a blinding light. She could feel her feet sink into the ground as she landed in the Witch’s Labyrinth.
Opening her eyes, Marcelina decided to explore the Barrier she had found a little bit. All around her, the sand stretched out far beyond what the eye could see, with dangerous shards of glass poking out here and there. She could smell the seabreeze from here, although there didn’t seem to be any water.
“Dammit, looks like I forgot my swimsuit,” Zena sighed. “Oh, well. At least this one will be quick. C’mon, kid.”
The two decided to race each other to the Witch, flinging energy attacks at the squid-like creatures that rose out of the sand and shot ink at them. Marcelina brought down her flail on a particularly nasty group of these things Zena had tied up, causing them to seemingly disappear into nothingness. The pollution only seemed to get worse as they traversed the large beach.
As the two travelled further, they could see a giant woman wearing a sunhat and striped dress lounging beside the waves, with its Familiars flinging water and stabbing each other with glass shards. Plastic bags and bottles littered the beach, making it nigh impossible to see the sand.
“Ladies first,” Zena snickered.
Marcelina summoned balls and chains to wrap around its legs, and bludgeoned its head in with a flail. The Witch summoned a giant wave to wash over the beach in retaliation, attempting to pull her into the water, before picking up a handful of trash and throwing it at Marcelina.
“You can come in now, Zena!” Marcelina called as she dodged the attack.
Zena leaped forward as she extended her crystal blade and impaled the Witch, before dragging it upwards to create a large, gaping wound. She pulled out, her blade covered in black blood, as the Witch let out a horrifying scream and brought its hand down on her, pushing her into the sand.
Marcelina decided to counter this by tying a bladed chain around the Witch’s arm and tightening it to cut it off, freeing Zena, who leaped into the air and summoned a giant crystal shard to deal the final blow.
“Nice job, kid! Now, let’s see if I can get a Grief Seed outta this one…” Just as she was about to launch it into the Witch’s face, however, a voice boomed from above.
“Mannaia Tempesta!” It called, summoning a horde of cleavers, which launched at the Witch at high speeds, dismembering it and causing the Barrier to disappear. As the parking lot faded back into Marcelina’s vision, she squinted to see who had interrupted the fight. A short figure wearing a long overcoat approached the two, flipping her hair as she strutted forward.
“God, the way you two fight is so annoying!” The figure groaned. “I mean, seriously? Do you have to be as plain and boring as possible?”
“Oh, boy,” Zena sighed. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but we just do what gets the job done, alright? We don’t have people to impress. Just let us have this Grief Seed.”
“I’m not here for that, you idiot!” The girl spat, before standing up straight and calming herself. “I’m just here to… get you used to the system, you know? Take you to see a friend of mine, to share Grief Seeds… That sort of thing.” The girl gave a witchy smile.
“Zena, don’t-” Marcelina started.
“Kid, I’ll be fine. I can fight for myself. You should get home.” Zena shrugged. “Sure. Take me wherever, kid.” With that, she and the strange woman walked off into the woods, leaving Marcelina alone.
And, with that, she decided to go home.
The next day, Marcelina took out her phone and started texting.
are you okay? how was last night?
I’m fine. Nothing much happened. The girls gave me some tips, invited me to go Witch hunting today, and sent me off. I mean, they’re pretty shady, but I’ll be on my guard.
Marcelina dropped her phone and let out a sigh of relief. Of course Zena could handle herself. She was able to rip a Witch apart even before she became a Magical Girl, after all.
Marcelina decided to skip school that day to go down to the cat cafe and help out. As she entered the building, cats immediately padded up to her to rub against her legs and play with her hair and just be little sweethearts in general. She decided to fill their bowls with food, when she noticed a ring in the cat food. A ring that contained a Soul Gem.
Marcelina hastily stuffed it in her pocket, just in time for another girl to enter the cafe. Her red hair was swept in front of her face like an ocean wave, and she wore all sorts of jewelry, all of it containing a crystal of some sort. She wandered around a little bit, ignoring the cats, and grinned when she laid eyes on Marcelina.
“You.” She strutted up to Marcelina and grabbed her right hand, stroking it softly. “Such beautiful fingers… Have you seen a ring anywhere around here? Got runes on it, a crystal, that sorta thing?”
The first thing that came to mind was the ring Marcelina had just found. But something told her otherwise. She searched the girl’s fingers, and sure enough, she was wearing… Wait. There were multiple rings on her hand. All of them identical, save for the crystal in the middle. Several thoughts ran through Marcelina’s head. Why did she have so many rings? How did she know that Marcelina had found this specific Soul Gem? Who was she? Finally, it clicked.
This girl was hunting Soul Gems.
“I’m gonna go,” Marcelina said suddenly, before turning and heading towards a section of the mall blocked off by yellow tape. She hoped that Zena and Aleah hadn’t noticed her leave, as she followed the glow of her Soul Gem. Her suspicions proved correct. As she descended the concrete staircase, she could see a young girl on the ground.
The girl looked up at Marcelina. She recognised her from school. Dorothy, her name was. “Hey, you?” She asked. “Can you… Can you leave? I can’t have anyone… Knowing who I am.”
“That’s your fault,” Marcelina replied. “You shouldn’t have made the contract. Tell me…” Marcelina knelt down. “What was your wish?”
“M-my wish? Uh… I think it was to… Have candy?” Dorothy answered sheepishly. “Why?”
Marcelina stood up. “...Of course you made that stupid wish. Why would girls like you ask for something meaningful, after all? You should have paid for something so needlessly stupid. In fact…” She pointed to the small orb-like objects on the ground next to her. “Give me those.”
“Wh-what? But I… I just earned these!” The girl stammered. “Why do you need them?”
“The witches nearby aren’t dropping any Grief Seeds. I need to purify my Soul Gem. And you need to pay for your stupidity. Give them. Or, better yet…” Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, summoning chains to block the entrance. “I’ll beat them out of you, right here, right now.”
The girl stood up and pulled out a giant hammer. “Th-then fight me!” She yelled, before charging at Marcelina, ready to give her the hardest blow to the head since 1963. Marcelina leaped into the air, threw a shackle at the girl’s legs, and yanked on her chain hard enough to throw the girl into the ceiling. As the girl fell and attempted to get up, Marcelina wrapped her spiked chains around the girl’s legs and tightened it, crippling her.
“Honestly. You should have just given up when you had the chance. This isn’t a fun little game. This life… It’s dangerous. It’s full of death. And it’s hard. Judging from your wish, and that little beatdown you just had…” Marcelina bent over to pick up the Grief Seeds. “You are not fit to be a Magical Girl.” She removed the chains from the entrance and headed back to meet Zena and Aleah, who were both carrying bags of clothes, at the entrance. “Sorry, guys. Just had a little run-in with a Witch.”
“Did it have a Grief Seed?” Zena asked hopefully.
“Yes.” Marcelina handed her the Grief Seed and turned towards the entrance. “My mom will be missing me. Let’s go.”
Zena and Marcelina looked at each other doubtfully, before walking with her back to the parking lot. Marcelina decided to go home with Aleah this time, to talk about some stuff.
“Marcelina, tell me the truth. Did that Grief Seed really come from a Witch?” Aleah asked.
“No,” Marcelina replied. “But-”
“No buts, Marcelina. Everyone knows about how you feel about girls who make meaningless wishes.” Aleah squeezed the steering wheel, only to sigh and relax her grip on it. “But you have to understand, Marcelina- What’s done is done. They already made the wish. All you’re doing is making them feel even worse about it.”
“But they need to know how dangerous this life is! The way they’re going about it, they think that it’s a game!”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” Aleah asked. “They’ll figure things out on their own, okay? But imagine this- Your kid comes home literally unable to walk, bruises all over their body, and they don’t tell you what’s going on. Or, worse, they do tell you what’s going on, and now everyone knows about who we are and what we do.”
“That’s what I’m trying to prevent, Aleah! I give them a taste of what being a Magical Girl is really like! They’ve gotta pay for their wish sooner or later, and by scaring them off, I’m keeping that payment from coming any sooner!” Marcelina exclaimed.
“Look, just… You gotta stop being so harsh towards younger girls, alright? Let their stupidity pay for itself. The way you’re acting, you could get kidnapped- or worse. Like, do you know how crazy your parents can get once they figure out what you are? There was a point where one parent killed her kid for being a Magical Girl! You don’t want that, do you?”
Marcelina and Aleah remained silent the rest of the trip. They both just waited until Aleah could drop Marcelina off at her house and then leave.
"Hi, honey!" Her mom called. "How was school?"
"Pretty boring," Marcelina replied. "Not much happened."
That night, Marcelina waited for her family to fall asleep before slipping out the back, pulling her Soul Gem out of her bag to search for Witches. She could feel the presence of… something here, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. She arrived at Zena’s motel to see that Zena was hunting a Witch, too.
“Hey, kid!” She called over. “My friends wanna see me hunt a Witch. I’m using a kind of cloaking magic to hide them, but they’ll see us. Wanna join?”
“Sure,” Marcelina replied, as she followed Zena around the building. Her Soul Gem was glowing a bright red, and Zena’s, a bright blue. Marcelina turned around to see a group of people with marks on their necks throwing wood into a pile and preparing to set it on fire. Marcelina transformed into her Magical Girl outfit, before using her chains to tie the group of people together, and keeping them attached to a lamppost.
Zena transformed, too, and pulled two crystal blades out from in between her teeth, stabbing the wall of the motel to summon the portal to the Barrier. The two approached the entrance to the Barrier, having dealt with the hypnotized people. Marcelina leaped forward first, as the portal before her enveloped her in a blinding light. She could feel her feet sink into the ground as she landed in the Witch’s Labyrinth.
Opening her eyes, Marcelina decided to explore the Barrier she had found a little bit. All around her, the sand stretched out far beyond what the eye could see, with dangerous shards of glass poking out here and there. She could smell the seabreeze from here, although there didn’t seem to be any water.
“Dammit, looks like I forgot my swimsuit,” Zena sighed. “Oh, well. At least this one will be quick. C’mon, kid.”
The two decided to race each other to the Witch, flinging energy attacks at the squid-like creatures that rose out of the sand and shot ink at them. Marcelina brought down her flail on a particularly nasty group of these things Zena had tied up, causing them to seemingly disappear into nothingness. The pollution only seemed to get worse as they traversed the large beach.
As the two travelled further, they could see a giant woman wearing a sunhat and striped dress lounging beside the waves, with its Familiars flinging water and stabbing each other with glass shards. Plastic bags and bottles littered the beach, making it nigh impossible to see the sand.
“Ladies first,” Zena snickered.
Marcelina summoned balls and chains to wrap around its legs, and bludgeoned its head in with a flail. The Witch summoned a giant wave to wash over the beach in retaliation, attempting to pull her into the water, before picking up a handful of trash and throwing it at Marcelina.
“You can come in now, Zena!” Marcelina called as she dodged the attack.
Zena leaped forward as she extended her crystal blade and impaled the Witch, before dragging it upwards to create a large, gaping wound. She pulled out, her blade covered in black blood, as the Witch let out a horrifying scream and brought its hand down on her, pushing her into the sand.
Marcelina decided to counter this by tying a bladed chain around the Witch’s arm and tightening it to cut it off, freeing Zena, who leaped into the air and summoned a giant crystal shard to deal the final blow.
“Nice job, kid! Now, let’s see if I can get a Grief Seed outta this one…” Just as she was about to launch it into the Witch’s face, however, a voice boomed from above.
“Mannaia Tempesta!” It called, summoning a horde of cleavers, which launched at the Witch at high speeds, dismembering it and causing the Barrier to disappear. As the parking lot faded back into Marcelina’s vision, she squinted to see who had interrupted the fight. A short figure wearing a long overcoat approached the two, flipping her hair as she strutted forward.
“God, the way you two fight is so annoying!” The figure groaned. “I mean, seriously? Do you have to be as plain and boring as possible?”
“Oh, boy,” Zena sighed. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but we just do what gets the job done, alright? We don’t have people to impress. Just let us have this Grief Seed.”
“I’m not here for that, you idiot!” The girl spat, before standing up straight and calming herself. “I’m just here to… get you used to the system, you know? Take you to see a friend of mine, to share Grief Seeds… That sort of thing.” The girl gave a witchy smile.
“Zena, don’t-” Marcelina started.
“Kid, I’ll be fine. I can fight for myself. You should get home.” Zena shrugged. “Sure. Take me wherever, kid.” With that, she and the strange woman walked off into the woods, leaving Marcelina alone.
And, with that, she decided to go home.
The next day, Marcelina took out her phone and started texting.
are you okay? how was last night?
I’m fine. Nothing much happened. The girls gave me some tips, invited me to go Witch hunting today, and sent me off. I mean, they’re pretty shady, but I’ll be on my guard.
Marcelina dropped her phone and let out a sigh of relief. Of course Zena could handle herself. She was able to rip a Witch apart even before she became a Magical Girl, after all.
Marcelina decided to skip school that day to go down to the cat cafe and help out. As she entered the building, cats immediately padded up to her to rub against her legs and play with her hair and just be little sweethearts in general. She decided to fill their bowls with food, when she noticed a ring in the cat food. A ring that contained a Soul Gem.
Marcelina hastily stuffed it in her pocket, just in time for another girl to enter the cafe. Her red hair was swept in front of her face like an ocean wave, and she wore all sorts of jewelry, all of it containing a crystal of some sort. She wandered around a little bit, ignoring the cats, and grinned when she laid eyes on Marcelina.
“You.” She strutted up to Marcelina and grabbed her right hand, stroking it softly. “Such beautiful fingers… Have you seen a ring anywhere around here? Got runes on it, a crystal, that sorta thing?”
The first thing that came to mind was the ring Marcelina had just found. But something told her otherwise. She searched the girl’s fingers, and sure enough, she was wearing… Wait. There were multiple rings on her hand. All of them identical, save for the crystal in the middle. Several thoughts ran through Marcelina’s head. Why did she have so many rings? How did she know that Marcelina had found this specific Soul Gem? Who was she? Finally, it clicked.
This girl was hunting Soul Gems.
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
Hey all! Do you want to have a discussion about the consciousness of Witches with me, because I sure as hell do! Mainly with Zena's Witch, because I really want to give that specific Witch (Who was my first ever Witch design, by the way!) a personality besides a monster who wants to destroy anything.
Any tips, y'all?
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
Any tips, y'all?
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
Hey all! Do you want to have a discussion about the consciousness of Witches with me, because I sure as hell do! Mainly with Zena's Witch, because I really want to give that specific Witch (Who was my first ever Witch design, by the way!) a personality besides a monster who wants to destroy anything.
Any tips, y'all?
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
Any tips, y'all?
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails Hey there! Soooo uh
I need ideas for a Doppel. Specifically, a Doppel that comes from a scriptwriter Magical Girl who's also very sadistic. I'll get chapter 3 up soon, and I promise the Doppel isn't affecting chapter progression, but I just need a Doppel.
I need ideas for a Doppel. Specifically, a Doppel that comes from a scriptwriter Magical Girl who's also very sadistic. I'll get chapter 3 up soon, and I promise the Doppel isn't affecting chapter progression, but I just need a Doppel.
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails Hey there! Soooo uh
I need ideas for a Doppel. Specifically, a Doppel that comes from a scriptwriter Magical Girl who's also very sadistic. I'll get chapter 3 up soon, and I promise the Doppel isn't affecting chapter progression, but I just need a Doppel.
I need ideas for a Doppel. Specifically, a Doppel that comes from a scriptwriter Magical Girl who's also very sadistic. I'll get chapter 3 up soon, and I promise the Doppel isn't affecting chapter progression, but I just need a Doppel.
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
Marcelina yanked her hand away, perhaps a little too harshly, as the girl’s fingers found their way to Marcelina’s ring. “N-no, sorry,” She replied, finally, before backing away slowly. “Maybe ask the front desk? They’ve probably seen it.”
“No, I’m sure you know where it is,” The girl pressed, getting a strange glint in her eye. “I just have a feeling you’ve seen it.”
“Look, I-I’m just the feeder here. Dunno why I’d find a ring here…” Marcelina looked off to the side, trying not to lose her temper. “Maybe you left it somewhere else?”
Marcelina had never felt so terrified. This girl was giving her this… Stare, this glint in her eye just screamed ‘creepy’, and she just would. Not. Blink. She hardly even seemed human, especially when the girl grabbed Marcelina’s shoulders. Marcelina looked around in search of staff who could help her, but she and the girl were the only ones in the cafe, save for the cats.
“Hmm…” The girl gave a slight frown, as if she were upset that her attempt to steal the Soul Gem was failing. Finally, she backed away with a seemingly triumphant grin. “Ah, perhaps I did. I’ll see you later, then!”
“Can I get your name and phone number, please? Maybe when I find it, I can let you know.” Marcelina made an attempt to hide her fear. “Or you could file a report-”
“Oh, that’s right! I never even introduced myself. My name is Alexis.” The girl smiled and left, leaving Marcelina alone with the cats. She took a few minutes to recollect herself, before continuing to feed the cats, who had started to get a little restless.
Soon, she was resting on the ground with cats sleeping on top of her, refusing to get up so that she could leave. When they finally got off of her, another girl entered the cafe, holding a pet carrier. When she saw that nobody was around, she set the carrier down and opened it, to which a cat zoomed on out of there and onto the main desk.
“Uh, hello!” Marcelina called as she got up. “Do you need help with anything?”
“Oh. I’m just here to give this poor guy some company.” The girl shrugged, before picking the cage back up. “It’s kind of what I do now. Pick up stray cats, take’em to the vet and bring them right here. They’re always thankful, trust me. Speaking of, have you seen a ring around here? I lost it last time.”
“Oh, here you go.” Marcelina pulled out the Soul Gem she found earlier. “You’re one of us, huh? What exactly do you do?”
“I protect and train weaker Puella Magis, so that they can fight Witches.” Christine gave an emotionless glare.
“Oh, really!” Marcelina beamed. “That’s… Actually, that’s great! A perfect chance for other Puella Magis! What’s your name?”
“Christine,” The girl replied.
“Marcelina.” Marcelina held out her hand for a handshake, to which Christine studied.
“Oh, I know who you are. You’re kinda infamous, y’know?” Christine sighed. “Why do you do it, kid? You’ve broken a lot of people by doing what you do.”
Marcelina froze for a second. “I… What?”
“Don’t play stupid, kid. I just wanna know the truth. Do you do it out of malice? Or do you have some ulterior motive?”
“I… Uh…” Why was Marcelina finding it difficult to talk all of a sudden? “I… I want to save them. From this… Hell that is being a Puella Magi. I want them to understand the true terms of the contract, and see if they’re ready to accept it.”
“I see.” Christine backed away and sighed. “You know, you really should stop trying to scare off the poor kids. With the abundance of Witches, we need all the help we can get.”
“I’m trying to send them a message. I’m trying to show them that this is a dangerous life, and I want them to back out of it.” Marcelina looked Christine in the eye, unwilling to back down. “I understand that it hurts them in the short-term, but in the long term, it’s better than living a life of constant battle.”
“But they’ll have to live this life of fighting Witches. This is how they pay for their wishes. They shouldn’t get to live a life of luxury after a miracle they asked for, they have to work for it. Look, I run a shelter for Puella Magis, and nothing pains me more than girls who want to give up and hide from their new lifestyle. Because no matter what, they’ll have to return to the call of the Witch hunt. It might hurt them, and it might scare them, but there really is no way to hide from the contract. What you’re doing… Is practically meaningless.” Christine stood up. “I… I just needed to tell you that. It’s almost time to go. Take this. I won’t need it.” Christine pulled out a Grief Seed from her pocket and gave it to Marcelina, before turning and walking away. “See ya.”
“You too,” Marcelina replied as she walked past her, back to her house. She turned on her phone to see 10 text notifications, all of them from Zena. They all seemed to be updates on how a Witch Hunt was going, but two stuck out to her.
Guess what? Reed’s a Puella Magi! She wanted us to stay together, even despite our differences and conflicts. I’m so glad she’s the same girl from last year, y’know?
Great, Marcelina thought. Another idiot. She scrolled down to read the next text from Zena.
You better stay away from her, kid. I know your games.
Marcelina rapidly tapped her thumbs on the surface of her phone, with a plan already formulating in her head. Maybe it was time to change.
I won’t do a thing to her, Zena. Promise. Just be careful. There’s a girl going around, hunting Soul Gems. Best you keep her out of sight.
The next day, Marcelina headed over to the new girl in class, who she assumed was Reed, just to talk to her. She was currently formulating a plan on befriending this girl, to get a head start on changing, but first, she had to get a feel for her.
“Hey,” She said, getting Reed’s attention. “Heard you made a contract with Spikey.”
The girl gasped, and started jumping in place excitedly. “Yes!” The girl beamed. “I’ve gone on a Witch Hunt already. It’s pretty tough, but you know what? With my friends at my side, I think that I’ll be able to take it! So, how about you? How do you do against Witches?”
“Oh, me? I like to say I do pretty well.” Marcelina stretched as she took her seat behind Reed. “I mean, this life is hell, but I manage. Fighting Witches is, surprisingly enough, what’s keeping me going.”
“Hey, I know!” Reed clapped her hands. “How about we go on a Witch Hunt together, and ditch class! I mean, I never really learn anything here, so now’s the perfect opportunity!”
“Exactly what I was thinking, little squirt.” Marcelina was cringing inside. How could someone be so happy about being a Puella Magi? She raised her hand to get the teacher’s attention. “Excuse me, Mr. Bright? I’m not feeling so well.”
“I’ll take her to the nurse’s office!” Reed suddenly exclaimed, as she rushed out the door, beckoning for Marcelina to follow. Soon, the two were out the doors of the school, poking around in the parking garage for a Witch.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me,” Reed sighed. “Ever since I came back, I’ve always felt like someone’s watching me, y’know? Like, everywhere I go, I can feel that someone there is… Wrong, that they’re here for me specifically, y’know?”
Marcelina’s Soul Gem started glowing. “Hey, I found one, kid,” Marcelina called over. “C’mon.” She transformed into her Puella Magi outfit and opened up the portal to the Labyrinth. Reed transformed into her own Puella Magi outfit and pulled out a crossbow.
“Alright!” Reed ran into the portal, with Marcelina slowly following behind. They found themselves in a world of a pink, cutesy palace. Cages full of wrapping paper danced around the palace, with the hallway they had found themselves in leading to a large door.
Reed leaped into the air and started spinning, unleashing a barrage of energy blasts at the Familiars of the Witch. Marcelina helped out by throwing several chained blades ahead of her, destroying any Familiars that stood in front of the door, granting them an easy entry.
“Hey, this is kind of fun!” Reed exclaimed. “How long have you been doing this?”
“A couple of years,” Marcelina replied. “It’s not really fun when you have to do it your whole life. Especially when you’ve seen what I’ve seen.”
“Then you just gotta make it fun!” Reed stopped in front of the door to the Witch’s room and turned to Marcelina. “I mean, my life was hell before this, y’know? We were pretty much on the run thanks to Zena wasting up all our money, but I still loved to make it fun, even if it was just climbing trees or mapping out the woods, y’know? And so did the rest of us! We were all pretty mad at Zena, yeah, but you know what? We all loved her just the same!” Reed came forward and held Marcelina’s hand, and only now did she realize how similar the two looked, even despite Reed’s skin color. Same height, same eyes, even the same hair… They could easily be mistaken for twins.
“So find something to enjoy in this life! I made this contract for a change, and to be honest? Even if I’m not gonna enjoy it later on in life, ‘cus I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff like you, I’m still gonna try to find some parts of life to make fun! Even when I’m knocked down, I’m still gonna find some way to smile! And maybe you gotta, too!”
“Is that how you live your life, huh?” Marcelina nodded. At first, this girl’s enthusiasm was sickening, and she seemed to not understand how a Puella Magi should live her life. But maybe Marcelina’s viewpoint was wrong. Perhaps life would be better if Marcelina could only try to find the fun in it. Maybe she shouldn’t try to seminate in the despair that being a Puella Magi causes “I see. Let’s take this Witch, alright?”
Reed nodded, and kicked open the door to reveal a giant rabbit-like creature standing on two legs, surrounded by pink frills and lace and all things cute. Candy, the Stuck Out Ears Witch. The Witch launched forward with giant claws, preparing to strike at Reed. Marcelina retaliated by whipping the Witch with her bladed chains, before cutting off the Witch’s arms with those same chains. In their place, two horrific claws grew, lashing out at Marcelina in an attempt to grab her and tear her apart. Marcelina simply leaped into the rafters of the room and launched two chained blades at the Witch to cripple its arms.
Reed leaped into the air and fired three bolts at the Witch, each one exploding on impact. The Witch let out a horrific screech and kicked at Reed, sending out sharp pieces of glitter at her. Reed defended herself with vines sprouting from the walls, while Marcelina wrapped her bladed chains around the Witch’s neck and yanked on them, decapitating the Witch.
Out of its neck sprouted two large jaws with sharp fangs, extending towards Reed and gnashing together with full intent on ripping her to bits. Reed shot a large bolt into the jaws, which promptly exploded seconds after landing and knocked the Witch backwards, leaving it defenseless. Marcelina launched five chained blades into the Witch’s chest, breaking its spine and killing it instantly, causing the barrier to fade away and leaving the two in the parking garage.
“Well, then!” Reed sighed. “That was pretty fun, don’t you think?”
“...Yeah, I guess,” Marcelina replied. “Hey, we still have a while til school clocks out. You wanna go down to the mall, or something?”
“Sure thing!” Reed transformed back into her regular clothes and pulled out a wallet. “My treat!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
I finally have Chapter 3 finished! Lots of revising involved here!
“No, I’m sure you know where it is,” The girl pressed, getting a strange glint in her eye. “I just have a feeling you’ve seen it.”
“Look, I-I’m just the feeder here. Dunno why I’d find a ring here…” Marcelina looked off to the side, trying not to lose her temper. “Maybe you left it somewhere else?”
Marcelina had never felt so terrified. This girl was giving her this… Stare, this glint in her eye just screamed ‘creepy’, and she just would. Not. Blink. She hardly even seemed human, especially when the girl grabbed Marcelina’s shoulders. Marcelina looked around in search of staff who could help her, but she and the girl were the only ones in the cafe, save for the cats.
“Hmm…” The girl gave a slight frown, as if she were upset that her attempt to steal the Soul Gem was failing. Finally, she backed away with a seemingly triumphant grin. “Ah, perhaps I did. I’ll see you later, then!”
“Can I get your name and phone number, please? Maybe when I find it, I can let you know.” Marcelina made an attempt to hide her fear. “Or you could file a report-”
“Oh, that’s right! I never even introduced myself. My name is Alexis.” The girl smiled and left, leaving Marcelina alone with the cats. She took a few minutes to recollect herself, before continuing to feed the cats, who had started to get a little restless.
Soon, she was resting on the ground with cats sleeping on top of her, refusing to get up so that she could leave. When they finally got off of her, another girl entered the cafe, holding a pet carrier. When she saw that nobody was around, she set the carrier down and opened it, to which a cat zoomed on out of there and onto the main desk.
“Uh, hello!” Marcelina called as she got up. “Do you need help with anything?”
“Oh. I’m just here to give this poor guy some company.” The girl shrugged, before picking the cage back up. “It’s kind of what I do now. Pick up stray cats, take’em to the vet and bring them right here. They’re always thankful, trust me. Speaking of, have you seen a ring around here? I lost it last time.”
“Oh, here you go.” Marcelina pulled out the Soul Gem she found earlier. “You’re one of us, huh? What exactly do you do?”
“I protect and train weaker Puella Magis, so that they can fight Witches.” Christine gave an emotionless glare.
“Oh, really!” Marcelina beamed. “That’s… Actually, that’s great! A perfect chance for other Puella Magis! What’s your name?”
“Christine,” The girl replied.
“Marcelina.” Marcelina held out her hand for a handshake, to which Christine studied.
“Oh, I know who you are. You’re kinda infamous, y’know?” Christine sighed. “Why do you do it, kid? You’ve broken a lot of people by doing what you do.”
Marcelina froze for a second. “I… What?”
“Don’t play stupid, kid. I just wanna know the truth. Do you do it out of malice? Or do you have some ulterior motive?”
“I… Uh…” Why was Marcelina finding it difficult to talk all of a sudden? “I… I want to save them. From this… Hell that is being a Puella Magi. I want them to understand the true terms of the contract, and see if they’re ready to accept it.”
“I see.” Christine backed away and sighed. “You know, you really should stop trying to scare off the poor kids. With the abundance of Witches, we need all the help we can get.”
“I’m trying to send them a message. I’m trying to show them that this is a dangerous life, and I want them to back out of it.” Marcelina looked Christine in the eye, unwilling to back down. “I understand that it hurts them in the short-term, but in the long term, it’s better than living a life of constant battle.”
“But they’ll have to live this life of fighting Witches. This is how they pay for their wishes. They shouldn’t get to live a life of luxury after a miracle they asked for, they have to work for it. Look, I run a shelter for Puella Magis, and nothing pains me more than girls who want to give up and hide from their new lifestyle. Because no matter what, they’ll have to return to the call of the Witch hunt. It might hurt them, and it might scare them, but there really is no way to hide from the contract. What you’re doing… Is practically meaningless.” Christine stood up. “I… I just needed to tell you that. It’s almost time to go. Take this. I won’t need it.” Christine pulled out a Grief Seed from her pocket and gave it to Marcelina, before turning and walking away. “See ya.”
“You too,” Marcelina replied as she walked past her, back to her house. She turned on her phone to see 10 text notifications, all of them from Zena. They all seemed to be updates on how a Witch Hunt was going, but two stuck out to her.
Guess what? Reed’s a Puella Magi! She wanted us to stay together, even despite our differences and conflicts. I’m so glad she’s the same girl from last year, y’know?
Great, Marcelina thought. Another idiot. She scrolled down to read the next text from Zena.
You better stay away from her, kid. I know your games.
Marcelina rapidly tapped her thumbs on the surface of her phone, with a plan already formulating in her head. Maybe it was time to change.
I won’t do a thing to her, Zena. Promise. Just be careful. There’s a girl going around, hunting Soul Gems. Best you keep her out of sight.
The next day, Marcelina headed over to the new girl in class, who she assumed was Reed, just to talk to her. She was currently formulating a plan on befriending this girl, to get a head start on changing, but first, she had to get a feel for her.
“Hey,” She said, getting Reed’s attention. “Heard you made a contract with Spikey.”
The girl gasped, and started jumping in place excitedly. “Yes!” The girl beamed. “I’ve gone on a Witch Hunt already. It’s pretty tough, but you know what? With my friends at my side, I think that I’ll be able to take it! So, how about you? How do you do against Witches?”
“Oh, me? I like to say I do pretty well.” Marcelina stretched as she took her seat behind Reed. “I mean, this life is hell, but I manage. Fighting Witches is, surprisingly enough, what’s keeping me going.”
“Hey, I know!” Reed clapped her hands. “How about we go on a Witch Hunt together, and ditch class! I mean, I never really learn anything here, so now’s the perfect opportunity!”
“Exactly what I was thinking, little squirt.” Marcelina was cringing inside. How could someone be so happy about being a Puella Magi? She raised her hand to get the teacher’s attention. “Excuse me, Mr. Bright? I’m not feeling so well.”
“I’ll take her to the nurse’s office!” Reed suddenly exclaimed, as she rushed out the door, beckoning for Marcelina to follow. Soon, the two were out the doors of the school, poking around in the parking garage for a Witch.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me,” Reed sighed. “Ever since I came back, I’ve always felt like someone’s watching me, y’know? Like, everywhere I go, I can feel that someone there is… Wrong, that they’re here for me specifically, y’know?”
Marcelina’s Soul Gem started glowing. “Hey, I found one, kid,” Marcelina called over. “C’mon.” She transformed into her Puella Magi outfit and opened up the portal to the Labyrinth. Reed transformed into her own Puella Magi outfit and pulled out a crossbow.
“Alright!” Reed ran into the portal, with Marcelina slowly following behind. They found themselves in a world of a pink, cutesy palace. Cages full of wrapping paper danced around the palace, with the hallway they had found themselves in leading to a large door.
Reed leaped into the air and started spinning, unleashing a barrage of energy blasts at the Familiars of the Witch. Marcelina helped out by throwing several chained blades ahead of her, destroying any Familiars that stood in front of the door, granting them an easy entry.
“Hey, this is kind of fun!” Reed exclaimed. “How long have you been doing this?”
“A couple of years,” Marcelina replied. “It’s not really fun when you have to do it your whole life. Especially when you’ve seen what I’ve seen.”
“Then you just gotta make it fun!” Reed stopped in front of the door to the Witch’s room and turned to Marcelina. “I mean, my life was hell before this, y’know? We were pretty much on the run thanks to Zena wasting up all our money, but I still loved to make it fun, even if it was just climbing trees or mapping out the woods, y’know? And so did the rest of us! We were all pretty mad at Zena, yeah, but you know what? We all loved her just the same!” Reed came forward and held Marcelina’s hand, and only now did she realize how similar the two looked, even despite Reed’s skin color. Same height, same eyes, even the same hair… They could easily be mistaken for twins.
“So find something to enjoy in this life! I made this contract for a change, and to be honest? Even if I’m not gonna enjoy it later on in life, ‘cus I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff like you, I’m still gonna try to find some parts of life to make fun! Even when I’m knocked down, I’m still gonna find some way to smile! And maybe you gotta, too!”
“Is that how you live your life, huh?” Marcelina nodded. At first, this girl’s enthusiasm was sickening, and she seemed to not understand how a Puella Magi should live her life. But maybe Marcelina’s viewpoint was wrong. Perhaps life would be better if Marcelina could only try to find the fun in it. Maybe she shouldn’t try to seminate in the despair that being a Puella Magi causes “I see. Let’s take this Witch, alright?”
Reed nodded, and kicked open the door to reveal a giant rabbit-like creature standing on two legs, surrounded by pink frills and lace and all things cute. Candy, the Stuck Out Ears Witch. The Witch launched forward with giant claws, preparing to strike at Reed. Marcelina retaliated by whipping the Witch with her bladed chains, before cutting off the Witch’s arms with those same chains. In their place, two horrific claws grew, lashing out at Marcelina in an attempt to grab her and tear her apart. Marcelina simply leaped into the rafters of the room and launched two chained blades at the Witch to cripple its arms.
Reed leaped into the air and fired three bolts at the Witch, each one exploding on impact. The Witch let out a horrific screech and kicked at Reed, sending out sharp pieces of glitter at her. Reed defended herself with vines sprouting from the walls, while Marcelina wrapped her bladed chains around the Witch’s neck and yanked on them, decapitating the Witch.
Out of its neck sprouted two large jaws with sharp fangs, extending towards Reed and gnashing together with full intent on ripping her to bits. Reed shot a large bolt into the jaws, which promptly exploded seconds after landing and knocked the Witch backwards, leaving it defenseless. Marcelina launched five chained blades into the Witch’s chest, breaking its spine and killing it instantly, causing the barrier to fade away and leaving the two in the parking garage.
“Well, then!” Reed sighed. “That was pretty fun, don’t you think?”
“...Yeah, I guess,” Marcelina replied. “Hey, we still have a while til school clocks out. You wanna go down to the mall, or something?”
“Sure thing!” Reed transformed back into her regular clothes and pulled out a wallet. “My treat!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
I finally have Chapter 3 finished! Lots of revising involved here!
Marcelina yanked her hand away, perhaps a little too harshly, as the girl’s fingers found their way to Marcelina’s ring. “N-no, sorry,” She replied, finally, before backing away slowly. “Maybe ask the front desk? They’ve probably seen it.”
“No, I’m sure you know where it is,” The girl pressed, getting a strange glint in her eye. “I just have a feeling you’ve seen it.”
“Look, I-I’m just the feeder here. Dunno why I’d find a ring here…” Marcelina looked off to the side, trying not to lose her temper. “Maybe you left it somewhere else?”
Marcelina had never felt so terrified. This girl was giving her this… Stare, this glint in her eye just screamed ‘creepy’, and she just would. Not. Blink. She hardly even seemed human, especially when the girl grabbed Marcelina’s shoulders. Marcelina looked around in search of staff who could help her, but she and the girl were the only ones in the cafe, save for the cats.
“Hmm…” The girl gave a slight frown, as if she were upset that her attempt to steal the Soul Gem was failing. Finally, she backed away with a seemingly triumphant grin. “Ah, perhaps I did. I’ll see you later, then!”
“Can I get your name and phone number, please? Maybe when I find it, I can let you know.” Marcelina made an attempt to hide her fear. “Or you could file a report-”
“Oh, that’s right! I never even introduced myself. My name is Alexis.” The girl smiled and left, leaving Marcelina alone with the cats. She took a few minutes to recollect herself, before continuing to feed the cats, who had started to get a little restless.
Soon, she was resting on the ground with cats sleeping on top of her, refusing to get up so that she could leave. When they finally got off of her, another girl entered the cafe, holding a pet carrier. When she saw that nobody was around, she set the carrier down and opened it, to which a cat zoomed on out of there and onto the main desk.
“Uh, hello!” Marcelina called as she got up. “Do you need help with anything?”
“Oh. I’m just here to give this poor guy some company.” The girl shrugged, before picking the cage back up. “It’s kind of what I do now. Pick up stray cats, take’em to the vet and bring them right here. They’re always thankful, trust me. Speaking of, have you seen a ring around here? I lost it last time.”
“Oh, here you go.” Marcelina pulled out the Soul Gem she found earlier. “You’re one of us, huh? What exactly do you do?”
“I protect and train weaker Puella Magis, so that they can fight Witches.” Christine gave an emotionless glare.
“Oh, really!” Marcelina beamed. “That’s… Actually, that’s great! A perfect chance for other Puella Magis! What’s your name?”
“Christine,” The girl replied.
“Marcelina.” Marcelina held out her hand for a handshake, to which Christine studied.
“Oh, I know who you are. You’re kinda infamous, y’know?” Christine sighed. “Why do you do it, kid? You’ve broken a lot of people by doing what you do.”
Marcelina froze for a second. “I… What?”
“Don’t play stupid, kid. I just wanna know the truth. Do you do it out of malice? Or do you have some ulterior motive?”
“I… Uh…” Why was Marcelina finding it difficult to talk all of a sudden? “I… I want to save them. From this… Hell that is being a Puella Magi. I want them to understand the true terms of the contract, and see if they’re ready to accept it.”
“I see.” Christine backed away and sighed. “You know, you really should stop trying to scare off the poor kids. With the abundance of Witches, we need all the help we can get.”
“I’m trying to send them a message. I’m trying to show them that this is a dangerous life, and I want them to back out of it.” Marcelina looked Christine in the eye, unwilling to back down. “I understand that it hurts them in the short-term, but in the long term, it’s better than living a life of constant battle.”
“But they’ll have to live this life of fighting Witches. This is how they pay for their wishes. They shouldn’t get to live a life of luxury after a miracle they asked for, they have to work for it. Look, I run a shelter for Puella Magis, and nothing pains me more than girls who want to give up and hide from their new lifestyle. Because no matter what, they’ll have to return to the call of the Witch hunt. It might hurt them, and it might scare them, but there really is no way to hide from the contract. What you’re doing… Is practically meaningless.” Christine stood up. “I… I just needed to tell you that. It’s almost time to go. Take this. I won’t need it.” Christine pulled out a Grief Seed from her pocket and gave it to Marcelina, before turning and walking away. “See ya.”
“You too,” Marcelina replied as she walked past her, back to her house. She turned on her phone to see 10 text notifications, all of them from Zena. They all seemed to be updates on how a Witch Hunt was going, but two stuck out to her.
Guess what? Reed’s a Puella Magi! She wanted us to stay together, even despite our differences and conflicts. I’m so glad she’s the same girl from last year, y’know?
Great, Marcelina thought. Another idiot. She scrolled down to read the next text from Zena.
You better stay away from her, kid. I know your games.
Marcelina rapidly tapped her thumbs on the surface of her phone, with a plan already formulating in her head. Maybe it was time to change.
I won’t do a thing to her, Zena. Promise. Just be careful. There’s a girl going around, hunting Soul Gems. Best you keep her out of sight.
The next day, Marcelina headed over to the new girl in class, who she assumed was Reed, just to talk to her. She was currently formulating a plan on befriending this girl, to get a head start on changing, but first, she had to get a feel for her.
“Hey,” She said, getting Reed’s attention. “Heard you made a contract with Spikey.”
The girl gasped, and started jumping in place excitedly. “Yes!” The girl beamed. “I’ve gone on a Witch Hunt already. It’s pretty tough, but you know what? With my friends at my side, I think that I’ll be able to take it! So, how about you? How do you do against Witches?”
“Oh, me? I like to say I do pretty well.” Marcelina stretched as she took her seat behind Reed. “I mean, this life is hell, but I manage. Fighting Witches is, surprisingly enough, what’s keeping me going.”
“Hey, I know!” Reed clapped her hands. “How about we go on a Witch Hunt together, and ditch class! I mean, I never really learn anything here, so now’s the perfect opportunity!”
“Exactly what I was thinking, little squirt.” Marcelina was cringing inside. How could someone be so happy about being a Puella Magi? She raised her hand to get the teacher’s attention. “Excuse me, Mr. Bright? I’m not feeling so well.”
“I’ll take her to the nurse’s office!” Reed suddenly exclaimed, as she rushed out the door, beckoning for Marcelina to follow. Soon, the two were out the doors of the school, poking around in the parking garage for a Witch.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me,” Reed sighed. “Ever since I came back, I’ve always felt like someone’s watching me, y’know? Like, everywhere I go, I can feel that someone there is… Wrong, that they’re here for me specifically, y’know?”
Marcelina’s Soul Gem started glowing. “Hey, I found one, kid,” Marcelina called over. “C’mon.” She transformed into her Puella Magi outfit and opened up the portal to the Labyrinth. Reed transformed into her own Puella Magi outfit and pulled out a crossbow.
“Alright!” Reed ran into the portal, with Marcelina slowly following behind. They found themselves in a world of a pink, cutesy palace. Cages full of wrapping paper danced around the palace, with the hallway they had found themselves in leading to a large door.
Reed leaped into the air and started spinning, unleashing a barrage of energy blasts at the Familiars of the Witch. Marcelina helped out by throwing several chained blades ahead of her, destroying any Familiars that stood in front of the door, granting them an easy entry.
“Hey, this is kind of fun!” Reed exclaimed. “How long have you been doing this?”
“A couple of years,” Marcelina replied. “It’s not really fun when you have to do it your whole life. Especially when you’ve seen what I’ve seen.”
“Then you just gotta make it fun!” Reed stopped in front of the door to the Witch’s room and turned to Marcelina. “I mean, my life was hell before this, y’know? We were pretty much on the run thanks to Zena wasting up all our money, but I still loved to make it fun, even if it was just climbing trees or mapping out the woods, y’know? And so did the rest of us! We were all pretty mad at Zena, yeah, but you know what? We all loved her just the same!” Reed came forward and held Marcelina’s hand, and only now did she realize how similar the two looked, even despite Reed’s skin color. Same height, same eyes, even the same hair… They could easily be mistaken for twins.
“So find something to enjoy in this life! I made this contract for a change, and to be honest? Even if I’m not gonna enjoy it later on in life, ‘cus I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff like you, I’m still gonna try to find some parts of life to make fun! Even when I’m knocked down, I’m still gonna find some way to smile! And maybe you gotta, too!”
“Is that how you live your life, huh?” Marcelina nodded. At first, this girl’s enthusiasm was sickening, and she seemed to not understand how a Puella Magi should live her life. But maybe Marcelina’s viewpoint was wrong. Perhaps life would be better if Marcelina could only try to find the fun in it. Maybe she shouldn’t try to seminate in the despair that being a Puella Magi causes “I see. Let’s take this Witch, alright?”
Reed nodded, and kicked open the door to reveal a giant rabbit-like creature standing on two legs, surrounded by pink frills and lace and all things cute. Candy, the Stuck Out Ears Witch. The Witch launched forward with giant claws, preparing to strike at Reed. Marcelina retaliated by whipping the Witch with her bladed chains, before cutting off the Witch’s arms with those same chains. In their place, two horrific claws grew, lashing out at Marcelina in an attempt to grab her and tear her apart. Marcelina simply leaped into the rafters of the room and launched two chained blades at the Witch to cripple its arms.
Reed leaped into the air and fired three bolts at the Witch, each one exploding on impact. The Witch let out a horrific screech and kicked at Reed, sending out sharp pieces of glitter at her. Reed defended herself with vines sprouting from the walls, while Marcelina wrapped her bladed chains around the Witch’s neck and yanked on them, decapitating the Witch.
Out of its neck sprouted two large jaws with sharp fangs, extending towards Reed and gnashing together with full intent on ripping her to bits. Reed shot a large bolt into the jaws, which promptly exploded seconds after landing and knocked the Witch backwards, leaving it defenseless. Marcelina launched five chained blades into the Witch’s chest, breaking its spine and killing it instantly, causing the barrier to fade away and leaving the two in the parking garage.
“Well, then!” Reed sighed. “That was pretty fun, don’t you think?”
“...Yeah, I guess,” Marcelina replied. “Hey, we still have a while til school clocks out. You wanna go down to the mall, or something?”
“Sure thing!” Reed transformed back into her regular clothes and pulled out a wallet. “My treat!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
I finally have Chapter 3 finished! Lots of revising involved here!
“No, I’m sure you know where it is,” The girl pressed, getting a strange glint in her eye. “I just have a feeling you’ve seen it.”
“Look, I-I’m just the feeder here. Dunno why I’d find a ring here…” Marcelina looked off to the side, trying not to lose her temper. “Maybe you left it somewhere else?”
Marcelina had never felt so terrified. This girl was giving her this… Stare, this glint in her eye just screamed ‘creepy’, and she just would. Not. Blink. She hardly even seemed human, especially when the girl grabbed Marcelina’s shoulders. Marcelina looked around in search of staff who could help her, but she and the girl were the only ones in the cafe, save for the cats.
“Hmm…” The girl gave a slight frown, as if she were upset that her attempt to steal the Soul Gem was failing. Finally, she backed away with a seemingly triumphant grin. “Ah, perhaps I did. I’ll see you later, then!”
“Can I get your name and phone number, please? Maybe when I find it, I can let you know.” Marcelina made an attempt to hide her fear. “Or you could file a report-”
“Oh, that’s right! I never even introduced myself. My name is Alexis.” The girl smiled and left, leaving Marcelina alone with the cats. She took a few minutes to recollect herself, before continuing to feed the cats, who had started to get a little restless.
Soon, she was resting on the ground with cats sleeping on top of her, refusing to get up so that she could leave. When they finally got off of her, another girl entered the cafe, holding a pet carrier. When she saw that nobody was around, she set the carrier down and opened it, to which a cat zoomed on out of there and onto the main desk.
“Uh, hello!” Marcelina called as she got up. “Do you need help with anything?”
“Oh. I’m just here to give this poor guy some company.” The girl shrugged, before picking the cage back up. “It’s kind of what I do now. Pick up stray cats, take’em to the vet and bring them right here. They’re always thankful, trust me. Speaking of, have you seen a ring around here? I lost it last time.”
“Oh, here you go.” Marcelina pulled out the Soul Gem she found earlier. “You’re one of us, huh? What exactly do you do?”
“I protect and train weaker Puella Magis, so that they can fight Witches.” Christine gave an emotionless glare.
“Oh, really!” Marcelina beamed. “That’s… Actually, that’s great! A perfect chance for other Puella Magis! What’s your name?”
“Christine,” The girl replied.
“Marcelina.” Marcelina held out her hand for a handshake, to which Christine studied.
“Oh, I know who you are. You’re kinda infamous, y’know?” Christine sighed. “Why do you do it, kid? You’ve broken a lot of people by doing what you do.”
Marcelina froze for a second. “I… What?”
“Don’t play stupid, kid. I just wanna know the truth. Do you do it out of malice? Or do you have some ulterior motive?”
“I… Uh…” Why was Marcelina finding it difficult to talk all of a sudden? “I… I want to save them. From this… Hell that is being a Puella Magi. I want them to understand the true terms of the contract, and see if they’re ready to accept it.”
“I see.” Christine backed away and sighed. “You know, you really should stop trying to scare off the poor kids. With the abundance of Witches, we need all the help we can get.”
“I’m trying to send them a message. I’m trying to show them that this is a dangerous life, and I want them to back out of it.” Marcelina looked Christine in the eye, unwilling to back down. “I understand that it hurts them in the short-term, but in the long term, it’s better than living a life of constant battle.”
“But they’ll have to live this life of fighting Witches. This is how they pay for their wishes. They shouldn’t get to live a life of luxury after a miracle they asked for, they have to work for it. Look, I run a shelter for Puella Magis, and nothing pains me more than girls who want to give up and hide from their new lifestyle. Because no matter what, they’ll have to return to the call of the Witch hunt. It might hurt them, and it might scare them, but there really is no way to hide from the contract. What you’re doing… Is practically meaningless.” Christine stood up. “I… I just needed to tell you that. It’s almost time to go. Take this. I won’t need it.” Christine pulled out a Grief Seed from her pocket and gave it to Marcelina, before turning and walking away. “See ya.”
“You too,” Marcelina replied as she walked past her, back to her house. She turned on her phone to see 10 text notifications, all of them from Zena. They all seemed to be updates on how a Witch Hunt was going, but two stuck out to her.
Guess what? Reed’s a Puella Magi! She wanted us to stay together, even despite our differences and conflicts. I’m so glad she’s the same girl from last year, y’know?
Great, Marcelina thought. Another idiot. She scrolled down to read the next text from Zena.
You better stay away from her, kid. I know your games.
Marcelina rapidly tapped her thumbs on the surface of her phone, with a plan already formulating in her head. Maybe it was time to change.
I won’t do a thing to her, Zena. Promise. Just be careful. There’s a girl going around, hunting Soul Gems. Best you keep her out of sight.
The next day, Marcelina headed over to the new girl in class, who she assumed was Reed, just to talk to her. She was currently formulating a plan on befriending this girl, to get a head start on changing, but first, she had to get a feel for her.
“Hey,” She said, getting Reed’s attention. “Heard you made a contract with Spikey.”
The girl gasped, and started jumping in place excitedly. “Yes!” The girl beamed. “I’ve gone on a Witch Hunt already. It’s pretty tough, but you know what? With my friends at my side, I think that I’ll be able to take it! So, how about you? How do you do against Witches?”
“Oh, me? I like to say I do pretty well.” Marcelina stretched as she took her seat behind Reed. “I mean, this life is hell, but I manage. Fighting Witches is, surprisingly enough, what’s keeping me going.”
“Hey, I know!” Reed clapped her hands. “How about we go on a Witch Hunt together, and ditch class! I mean, I never really learn anything here, so now’s the perfect opportunity!”
“Exactly what I was thinking, little squirt.” Marcelina was cringing inside. How could someone be so happy about being a Puella Magi? She raised her hand to get the teacher’s attention. “Excuse me, Mr. Bright? I’m not feeling so well.”
“I’ll take her to the nurse’s office!” Reed suddenly exclaimed, as she rushed out the door, beckoning for Marcelina to follow. Soon, the two were out the doors of the school, poking around in the parking garage for a Witch.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me,” Reed sighed. “Ever since I came back, I’ve always felt like someone’s watching me, y’know? Like, everywhere I go, I can feel that someone there is… Wrong, that they’re here for me specifically, y’know?”
Marcelina’s Soul Gem started glowing. “Hey, I found one, kid,” Marcelina called over. “C’mon.” She transformed into her Puella Magi outfit and opened up the portal to the Labyrinth. Reed transformed into her own Puella Magi outfit and pulled out a crossbow.
“Alright!” Reed ran into the portal, with Marcelina slowly following behind. They found themselves in a world of a pink, cutesy palace. Cages full of wrapping paper danced around the palace, with the hallway they had found themselves in leading to a large door.
Reed leaped into the air and started spinning, unleashing a barrage of energy blasts at the Familiars of the Witch. Marcelina helped out by throwing several chained blades ahead of her, destroying any Familiars that stood in front of the door, granting them an easy entry.
“Hey, this is kind of fun!” Reed exclaimed. “How long have you been doing this?”
“A couple of years,” Marcelina replied. “It’s not really fun when you have to do it your whole life. Especially when you’ve seen what I’ve seen.”
“Then you just gotta make it fun!” Reed stopped in front of the door to the Witch’s room and turned to Marcelina. “I mean, my life was hell before this, y’know? We were pretty much on the run thanks to Zena wasting up all our money, but I still loved to make it fun, even if it was just climbing trees or mapping out the woods, y’know? And so did the rest of us! We were all pretty mad at Zena, yeah, but you know what? We all loved her just the same!” Reed came forward and held Marcelina’s hand, and only now did she realize how similar the two looked, even despite Reed’s skin color. Same height, same eyes, even the same hair… They could easily be mistaken for twins.
“So find something to enjoy in this life! I made this contract for a change, and to be honest? Even if I’m not gonna enjoy it later on in life, ‘cus I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff like you, I’m still gonna try to find some parts of life to make fun! Even when I’m knocked down, I’m still gonna find some way to smile! And maybe you gotta, too!”
“Is that how you live your life, huh?” Marcelina nodded. At first, this girl’s enthusiasm was sickening, and she seemed to not understand how a Puella Magi should live her life. But maybe Marcelina’s viewpoint was wrong. Perhaps life would be better if Marcelina could only try to find the fun in it. Maybe she shouldn’t try to seminate in the despair that being a Puella Magi causes “I see. Let’s take this Witch, alright?”
Reed nodded, and kicked open the door to reveal a giant rabbit-like creature standing on two legs, surrounded by pink frills and lace and all things cute. Candy, the Stuck Out Ears Witch. The Witch launched forward with giant claws, preparing to strike at Reed. Marcelina retaliated by whipping the Witch with her bladed chains, before cutting off the Witch’s arms with those same chains. In their place, two horrific claws grew, lashing out at Marcelina in an attempt to grab her and tear her apart. Marcelina simply leaped into the rafters of the room and launched two chained blades at the Witch to cripple its arms.
Reed leaped into the air and fired three bolts at the Witch, each one exploding on impact. The Witch let out a horrific screech and kicked at Reed, sending out sharp pieces of glitter at her. Reed defended herself with vines sprouting from the walls, while Marcelina wrapped her bladed chains around the Witch’s neck and yanked on them, decapitating the Witch.
Out of its neck sprouted two large jaws with sharp fangs, extending towards Reed and gnashing together with full intent on ripping her to bits. Reed shot a large bolt into the jaws, which promptly exploded seconds after landing and knocked the Witch backwards, leaving it defenseless. Marcelina launched five chained blades into the Witch’s chest, breaking its spine and killing it instantly, causing the barrier to fade away and leaving the two in the parking garage.
“Well, then!” Reed sighed. “That was pretty fun, don’t you think?”
“...Yeah, I guess,” Marcelina replied. “Hey, we still have a while til school clocks out. You wanna go down to the mall, or something?”
“Sure thing!” Reed transformed back into her regular clothes and pulled out a wallet. “My treat!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
I finally have Chapter 3 finished! Lots of revising involved here!
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
Yo is anyone there? I'll post sneak previews of upcoming chapters if y'all come in and uhhh
Exist
Exist
Yo is anyone there? I'll post sneak previews of upcoming chapters if y'all come in and uhhh
Exist
Exist
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
Heya! I've got some explaining to do huh
Well, I completely forgot about this thread. But, good news is, I'm still writing this hellbook! I'm on chapter 9 at the moment, but if you would like me to post the updated versions of chapters 1, 2 and 3, and also the later chapters, then tell me!
Heya! I've got some explaining to do huh
Well, I completely forgot about this thread. But, good news is, I'm still writing this hellbook! I'm on chapter 9 at the moment, but if you would like me to post the updated versions of chapters 1, 2 and 3, and also the later chapters, then tell me!
@eternalFangirl @Everburn @Pikapoochi @Sumoru @Zemo @Yoaisami @FrozenGlacier @saltedsnails
Heya! I've got some explaining to do huh
Well, I completely forgot about this thread. But, good news is, I'm still writing this hellbook! I'm on chapter 9 at the moment, but if you would like me to post the updated versions of chapters 1, 2 and 3, and also the later chapters, then tell me!
Heya! I've got some explaining to do huh
Well, I completely forgot about this thread. But, good news is, I'm still writing this hellbook! I'm on chapter 9 at the moment, but if you would like me to post the updated versions of chapters 1, 2 and 3, and also the later chapters, then tell me!
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
Ooh, please do! It's quite an interesting read :p
Ooh, please do! It's quite an interesting read :p
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saltedsnails he/they majors in procrastination all-around soup enthusiast +8 FRT |
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@saltedsnails alright since you're the only one replying at this point-
I've got Chapter 9 done. Should I post the entire book so far in one post, or do it piece by piece?
I've got Chapter 9 done. Should I post the entire book so far in one post, or do it piece by piece?
@saltedsnails alright since you're the only one replying at this point-
I've got Chapter 9 done. Should I post the entire book so far in one post, or do it piece by piece?
I've got Chapter 9 done. Should I post the entire book so far in one post, or do it piece by piece?
Oh, but can't you feel it?! The void, it's calling me- Calling all of us! It wants to eat our souls, so that we never ascend to the heavens, it wants to absorb us! It needs sustenance, so that it may expand and envelop this whole useless world! All that muck and grime, the ooze, it will fill every crevice of reality, and it will change the world into a paradise! All you have to do is live to see it!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
And why aren't I scared? Because the void is the afterlife, and I am its Grim Reaper!
@CrystalPeacock
Hmm, piece by piece? Thank you~
Hmm, piece by piece? Thank you~
@CrystalPeacock
Hmm, piece by piece? Thank you~
Hmm, piece by piece? Thank you~
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saltedsnails he/they majors in procrastination all-around soup enthusiast +8 FRT |
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