[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/JyqXhSX.png[/img]

[color=#bd71e8]“You fuckin’ posers.”[/color]

[color=888888]— Veronica[/color][/center]

[sub][@Majoras End][@ERode][/sub]

Veronica dismissed Fine’s warning with a wave of her hand. [color=#bd71e8]“Beacon, Ascendancy, I don’t care what branch they come from. The lot of those righteous fools are as incompetent as they are stubborn.”[/color] She stepped towards the exit. [color=#bd71e8]“Though there are enough people fighting the monster queen at the moment. Eliza! Maura! Let’s go to the park.  The Horror may be more than the locals can deal with.”[/color] It was a simple matter for her to phase through the door and take up a seat next to Myria. [color=#bd71e8]“You don’t mind giving us a lift, do you?”[/color] 

[hr]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/COlSgMa.png[/img]

[color=PeachPuff]“Pro tip for doujin VNs: Second choice is usually the right one.”[/color]

[color=888888]— Su Fang [/color][/center]

[sub][@Erode][@Ariamis][/sub]

The fact that Justine was part of some legendary evil didn’t surprise Su at all. Nor did it such news scare her. Justine was a threat she had beaten before. They’d reduced her castle to ruble and thwarted her ritual. The only surprising part would be if she still served the same horror she had been serving. Su was no expert on it, but she heard they weren’t especially tolerant of failure. But how did Helga work for Justine and not know more about her? Wasn’t she part of Justine’s elite four? Something she’d have to ask her about when they were in better company.

When Helga cracked a silly joke, Su took her entire hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose. [color=PeachPuff]“I’m glad you’re feeling better.”[/color] Su grinned. Even if she felt conflicted about Helga right now, she admired her ability to live in the moment. She was already cracking jokes seconds after having a panic attack.

Su started to walk when Helga grabbed her hand, asking her about her last trip to the overcity. [color=PeachPuff]“We were running from-”[/color] She looked at the Ascendancy girls. Come to think of it, they could turn around and attack at any moment. It probably wasn’t a good idea to spend any more time around them then they had to. [color=PeachPuff]“…Point is, we went straight for an over city portal. We didn’t really do any sight seeing. Though there was this one place I saw. Later I’ll take you to see it”[/color]

After a short walk, they were at a bridge with something snoring underneath. [color=PeachPuff]“That’s not how the last portal sounded.”[/color] Su fret her brow. She hadn’t been with this group for a full minute and she was already sick of them. The Ascendancy girls could attack any second, that fire girl could explode any second, and Helga was, well, a handful. If Helga was going to do something to Su she had ample opportunities to do it already. But her true relationship with Justine was clawing at the back of Su’s skull, and she was all too oblivious to the danger. This was a situation she had to get out of as quickly as possible.

They came this way looking for a portal. The fire girl said it would be here. They could hear a snoring troll as well. Therefor…

[hider=There had to be a portal under the bridge]

Of course.

The troll was just guarding it. That made sense to Su. Trolls were dumb creatures, so they were likely unable to master magic. [color=PeachPuff]“I think she’s telling the truth. You can go eat or whatever you were going to do.”[/color] Su jumped off the bridge and landed under it. There wasn’t a troll, but there was a cave. The mouth of the cave was covered in trash, as well as some glowing green goo. It smelled, was wholly uninviting, but it was pretty fancy as far as troll hideouts went.  


Su waved the smell away from her nose before turning to Helga. [color=PeachPuff]“This is a perfect hiding spot for a portal.”[/color] She reassured Helga. [color=PeachPuff]“But it looks like the path ahead forks. I’ll follow the left wall and you the right. We should run into each other at some point. Then we can tell the other one if we encountered the portal.”[/color] Helga looked concerned. Su just snorted in response. [color=PeachPuff]“I have the wind on my side. If I get close enough, I’ll be able to feel the troll breathing. I’ll call for help if something’s amiss.”[/color] This was enough to convince Helga that Su would be fine. So they placed their hands on their respective walls and split at the different paths.

As Su walked along the wall, the passage started to get darker. The luminescent slime was getting covered by more and more trash. Meanwhile the snoring got louder and louder. There were several times when Su had slowed up because she suspected she was right on top of the troll, only to realize the wind wasn’t moving. She wasn’t sure how long she had been progressing like this. It had to be at least ten minutes and she had yet to join up with Helga. The light continued to dim, but never went out. Though it wasn’t long before every wall of the winding catacomb looked the same.. Su began questioning herself, wondering if she was following the correct wall. Depending on how the labyrinth of walls were assembled, it was possible that there was an “inner wall” that never connected with the one Su was following. That would make it possible to miss the location of the portal. She also had to wonder if Helga was still following her instructions, or if she had been attacked by those magical girls. The more she wandered, the more her mind did as well. 

Fifteen minutes.

Thirty minutes.

Eventually Su lost track of time, but it felt like she had been down here for hours. At least the slime was getting bright again, that was a sign she was getting closer to an exit. And she’d have to hurry towards it to. She could hear the sound of Helga doing battle with something.

[i][color=PeachPuff]“Hold on a little longer Helga.”[/color][/i]

Su immediately broke into a run, allowing her hand to slide along the left most wall. There wasn’t time to creep along quietly anymore. If she could hear fighting from here, it would likely wake the troll.

Actually, the snoring stopped, hadn’t it?

There was no time for caution. Su hopped into the air and flew as fast as she could. The winding tunnels slowed her down a bit, but Su was confident she’d make it to Helga. But this would turn out to be a mistake. A large object jumped out of the darkness and shoved Su. Its timing was a little off and they missed her torso. But catching her hips was enough to throw Su into the opposing wall. Once her hip bounced off the wall, Su fell out of the air and into the trash. She was on her arms and knees, and wasn’t sure if she had broken her hip. She wouldn’t have time to assess her wounds before her attacker grabbed her arms. She was hoisted to her feet and pinned against the wall. Once she recovered from the vertigo, she could make out her attacker.

It was the troll. He was stubby looking, but was easily three or four meters tall. His long nose had a wart on the tip of it, and his skin was as coarse as tree bark. A pair of overalls hung on his shoulder with a single strap. He also wore a straw hat on his head, but it looked like he had taken a bite out of it some time ago. Su attempted to pull her arms free, but it was no use. She was not a very strong magical girl, and the troll’s meaty fists enveloped her arms from wrist to shoulder. She’d have an easier time breaking out of metal shackles.

It became clear what had happened. There was a space between the walls where the troll had been hiding. He must have just woken up, heard Su coming, and sprung into action while she flew through. Had Su been more cautious, she would have picked up on the giant’s breathing and avoided an obvious trap. It was more than a little humiliating to be caught by something known for its stupidity. Though in hindsight, the number of errors Su made to get to this point were numerous. She trusted a stranger, she split from Helga, and it wasn’t like this was the only portal out of the over city. This was an earned failure. 

Su grit her teeth. Trolls were carnivores. The only reason they bothered to catch humans was to eat them. She was defenseless like this. What few spells she could use would not work on the troll. All it had to do was pull off her arms or bite off her head and it was over. She resigned herself to her fate. Then the troll used it’s foot to push an iron bucket towards Su’s feet. When Su looked at it, she noticed it was a dairy pale with the word "MILK" drawn on it with a crayon. 

[color=PeachPuff]“...What?”[/color]

[h3][right][i]Su ~ Not Really Fin[/i][/right][/h3]
[/hider]

[hider=There wasn’t a portal under the bridge]

It was silly to even consider it.

The fire girl didn’t seem too interested in anything but getting something to eat. Who knew what sort of mental mutations she had? It wouldn’t have surprised Su if all the smoke and fire wasn’t her doing. Sending a group of strangers towards a troll was exactly the kind of bullshit Su would expect someone like that to pull. And the Ascendancy was here as well. They likely knew who Helga was, and would Jump her and Su as soon as they got the chance. Su did her good deed for the day. It was time they split before something happened.  

[color=PeachPuff]“I think the queen of cinders should go fire up that portal for us. That’s a very strange sound for it to be making.”[/color] Su turned to look at Helga. [color=PeachPuff]“You wanted to look at a shop in the over city, right? There’s one on the way to a portal I know of. We’ll just stop there.”[/color] And then maybe Su could ask Helga a few questions and put these negative thoughts to rest. [color=PeachPuff]“But before I go, I’d like to know something.”[/color] Su turned to the Ascendancy girls. [color=PeachPuff]“I was offered purification a week ago. Circumstances made it impossible to accept at the time. I won't get into details.”[/color] Her hand tightened around Helga’s [color=PeachPuff]“But I’d like to know more about it.”[/color]

This was probably a mistake. They hadn't attacked her yet though.
[/hider]