Renose
BrokenPromise
Azure Bubbles
&
It had only been a small period of time since Alicia had departed the rooftop with one half of Penny in tow. She had chosen to walk rather than teleporting back, figuring she would give her companion time to adjust to everything before throwing her to the wolves of the Ascendancy and the rest of Beacon. It was only fair.
So for now they walked, a supportive shoulder offered to the machine girl when it was needed. There was a lot to think about, a lot to take in. Chloe might be having an easier time of it, but Alicia was not.
She had been silent for a while, but eventually she spoke up. ”So, which Penny are you? I mean, besides the one that has the Spark. There has to be some other kind of distinguishing feature, right?” Her curiosity could not be sated for very long, especially on a subject this important.
“I’d like to say that I’m the smarter half” Penny would reply, she sounded tired and she accepted the offered shoulder for the time, as she let her native magic work on bringing this new form into tolerance. “But I don’t think that’s what you meant”
A few dozen different distinctions blitzed though Penny’s mind as she worked to find the right answer. In the end she went with the one that was the most honest, something she hadn’t really been to Alicia. “A thing to realize about us, me and my other half, is that we’ve never been fully integrated with each other, we’ve both been here since she was dragged into the magical community.” It was something that Penny had always known even if she didn’t really do anything about that fact, other than try to ignore it. “This split broke along that division, and the witch worked within those parameters as well. What that ends up meaning is that you got... Me” Penny would say somewhat lamely. She was obviously uncomfortable but there was also a look of confusion on her face. “The easiest distinction. Is that I am a machine, and always have been. The Monster” She'd grimace at that but that too was quickly replaced with confusion. “That was within. She’d call me the Engine at times, but I always viewed myself as Penny.”
Alicia was silent as Penny responded to her question. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting honestly. Some completely different individual, some long repressed twin inside her mind. Whatever it was that she had wanted to hear, it was not this.
As Penny went on her head fell, slowly, not by much. Her pace slowed as well, even though it did not need to. ”I see,” she replied once Penny had finished. So that was how it was? It did explain a few things, she supposed. ”You also answered the other question I had, so we can skip that one.”
Instead she found something different to ask. “Is that division why only you ended up with the Spark, rather than both halves of the soul?”
“No” Penny would answer with a smile that faded slowly, but this time confusion didn’t replace it, resignation did “I sought to keep the Spark, Reasons were irrational and selfish. No prior data suggested that it could not be split amongst the two of us as well. Yet logic dictates that the witch would not have bothered to acquiesce to her… possession” She nearly spat the word venom dripping from her tone “To also be housing it. Nevertheless, the Spark you help me obtain freed both me and my other half from the tyranny of our prior Patron. It means far too much to me to be willing to part with it.”
As Penny spoke it would become increasingly obvious that her inflection and cadence were changing. Monotonous wasn’t the right word, but emotionless was.
”Yeah, you’re probably right,” Alicia agreed with the beginnings of a sigh. She didn’t know Chloe that well, but it seemed entirely possible that she would have tried to do something like that if faced with that particular situation.
Well, at least they could be together in being angry at Chloe. She deserved it after all.
Alicia did her best to keep them moving forwards, even with the fall in her mood. ”So what’s the plan now?” she asked. ”Go on a world spanning quest to find yourself? Defeat the other Penny Highlander style? Take up knitting?”
Penny for her part was fully functional, easily able to walk on her own if she wanted, but she didn’t break away from the support offered as from her perspective it was Alicia who now needed the support. “Current objectives are to work through the backlog of trauma that was being ignored. Continue my services to you and Beacon. No plans to fight my other half, though your reference is apt as in the end there can be only one of us.” A small ghost of a smile at the movie reference slipped through the passive look on her face
“Degradation of my soul is at risk if too much time is spent separated. Reformation will be simple however.” Penny would go on to say as she raised up her free arm and a Red coin slowly emerged from it “Mental and emotional trauma needs to be dealt with first. That way I’ll stop being an idiot” She let out a huff at her last statement obviously annoyed at herself.
Well, at least this Penny would be staying with them, that was nice. Unaware of the silent support that her friend was providing, Alicia would take on a surprised look at the Red Coin. For a moment she thought to ask, before deciding that she didn’t want to know how that had happened.
”That seems easy to say, but what if she doesn’t during her time with Chloe. It doesn’t seem like it would solve much if only one of you resolves your feelings,” Alicia pointed out. After what had happened, she was not prepared to take any chances when it came to how things with Penny would go. Now that she knew it was a risk.
Penny saw the question on Alicia’s face but chose to wait on that one “She won’t. She never did, but I am rather skilled when it comes to integration. It is part of the reason why we remained a Monster girl after the usage of the White Coin. I accepted and adapted to the Beacon’s magic” She would explain simply as she let the coin slip back into her frame “I will make sure that our traumas remain dealt with.” The conviction in her voice was subtle but as strong as steel.
“I was handed this Red coin by Cindy. Due to an agreement made at the Beach” Penny would go on to say “She had contracted me to start building safe houses and refuges for Dark magicals and Monster girls. It was something that I had already started doing in fact. My idea was to give them a place of safety and someone they could turn to that wasn’t the Mint or others that would take advantage of them. Or to act as a halfway house, before purification if they wanted it. Now it’s already filled with those who are in hiding from the Ascendency”
She couldn’t help but shake her head softly at that, her plan usurped so completely by someone that she didn’t fully trust. Part of her wondered if that was Cindy's plan all along. “I will not keep secrets from you anymore, I did that far too often before.”
Simply saying the ‘trauma would remain dealt with’ was not the most reassuring thing, but Alicia supposed she would have to take Penny at her word. It wasn’t like she had the ability to go into her soul personally and make sure one way or the other.
More interesting was the story that Penny provided as to how she had obtained the Red Coin. ”I...see,” Alicia replied after a few moments, her head falling. ”It’s odd. I had a similar idea some time ago. Things just kept coming up so I could never actually do it. And now that I’m in charge of Beacon I doubt anyone would show up if I did do it.” Once again, it seemed like the Ascendancy had taken the decision out of her hands.
She flashed Penny a weak smile. ”Thanks, I appreciate it, even if it might not mean all that much at this point.”
“If the girls out there knew that it was you who was running it, I think you’d have your hands full within a week” Penny would say softly “I wish I hadn’t been so afraid to bring the idea up to you before.” A small shrug and a shake of her head, it was too late to contemplate what if’s. “Once we’ve gotten Penrose back on it’s feet we can revisit the idea.”
“And the information I have is not yet obsolete. I know where to find Cindy, and know of at least two people she has contacted and made deal’s with other than myself. I know something about Veronica, and possibly have a way to contact her if you need, though I would advise against such an action. I know of one Mint held location. I know of a headquarters of the Penrose Independent along with the name and appearance of the Boss of said organization.” She would explain keeping eye contact with her friend, one who she had never treated with the honesty she deserved “I am very well connected, and any information that I know is yours. It is the least you deserve in return for staying by my side, even as part of me was throwing it all away.”
Alicia wasn’t so sure about that, but any consideration she may have had about her own ideas was lost in an instant as Penny explained the other things that she knew. The Penrose Independent stuff was less relevant, beyond Rebecca’s mission, but she knew where Cindy was, and a Mint location too? This was….unbelievable.
Their eyes met and Penny would see a glimmer in them. There was sadness, a bit of anger, even while she tried to make it appear like she was taking it all in stride. Then she flinched, breaking eye contact as she looked away. ”Well, we should probably look into the Mint location at the very least.” They couldn’t just let the Coin Brokers run around doing whatever they wanted. ”We can talk about that more when we get back to base.”
“Alicia” Penny would say, quietly bringing them to a stop so that she could face her friend “I am sorry, even if that doesn't amount to very much right now. I know that I might never truly earn you forgiveness and I recognize that is entirely my fault. So if you want to rage at me I understand, I deserve it. If you want me to find Aurelio or Kimbel or Serenity to help console you I will and I’ll stay away until you feel better” She would say softly “And if you have any questions for me, about anything, I will answer them the best that I can.”
“You are my friend, but I’ve not been a very good one. Just let me know what I can do to help you, even if it means giving you space.”
Alicia was silent, motionless once Penny had brought them to a halt. Emotions crashed against the barrier of her mind, threatening to wash over and consume her as the other girl spoke. Her vow of patience was as much of a hindrance as it was a help, for in many cases she wanted to hold back and restrain herself as much as it might be nicer to let go.
She remained motionless, lips trembling and fingernails digging into her palms as her mind went around again and again. Eventually something presented itself. The only thing she could ask in a situation like this. The only thing that she had to know.
So Alicia spoke, her voice low and almost plaintive in a sense. ”How long. How long have the two of them been….”
Together
Penny wanted to sigh, she knew that the mess with Chloe was going to hurt someone, she had just always thought it was going to be her. “That topic is more complex than you would think at first read.” She would start slowly, her eyes never leaving Alicia, she wanted. No. Needed to see how this secret affected her friend. “Full relationship, somewhere in the range of hours, shortly after the stage performance. We moved into her Apartment about two weeks ago from our perspective. My other half has harbored feelings for her for approximately Four months prior to this status change.”
“Chloe was the first non hostile that either of us had encountered in the magical world, and in a lot of ways she was our first friend in the magical community. Thalia was our second and you were out third, to add a bit of context to that. When we first met her, we were in critical need of repairs mentally and emotionally. We had spent the five and a half months leading up to that lacking any relevant data to the situation at hand, due to that I spent a lot more time in control then my other half did.” It would be the only time she paused during her explanation, as she recalled those fear filled months. Those were dark times for Penny and likely the cause for a lot of her issues.
A slight shake of her head and she would return to answering Alicia’s question. “Laat’s first reveal started with him forcefully uploading information to us so that understanding could at last be reached. The asshole also showed up just to give us orders to come here to Penrose to meet up with Chloe due to a deal that he had made with the Dragon that Chloe works for.”
“After the incident at the park, Chloe vanished, our access to her apartment was denied. It wasn’t until after the installation of the hover module that she appeared. It was also the beginning of the division within us.”
“Personal preference would have been Chloe never returned.
It was both better and worse than Alicia had expected. Better in that the full relationship had only happened fairly recently, after the stage show proper. It was worse in how much had been going on in the background for months, and she hadn’t even noticed. Had never suspected. There had not been a reason to, but that did not make her feel better.
”I...I see. I guess it’s true what they say,” she lamented with tightly clenched fists. ”You never really know someone…”
Frustration rose, threatening to surge to the surface. She wanted to hit something, break something, even though she knew nothing here could stand up against her strength as a magical girl. ”All the things we did, the sleepovers, the upgrades, the stuff with the Spark and getting rid of Laat, I guess it didn’t mean anything in the end compared to that murderer’s whirlwind romance.” And now she was left with the machine, who very well might have been obligated to come with because of that spark. It hurt to think about.
“If it meant nothing then I would not be here” Penny would reply, laying a gentle hand on Alicia’s shoulder. “Logic dictates that my greatest chance for survival would be with Cindy at the warehouse. Not with you and Beacon. I don’t care. Logic dictates that Chloe held the highest chance of fixing the damage to my soul or at least treating it. I don’t care. You have proven time and again to be a friend and I will not ignore that again” Penny’s mind was churning, at all the moments that her other half ignored or sought to forget due to such a pitiful reason as her feeling not being returned.
“It was a poorly thought out plan to ignore what it was I had gone through and a worse one to hide those things from you. I spent too much time feeling and not enough time thinking.” She would shrug lightly “Kimbel is lucky to have your eye”
Alicia flinched at the hand on her shoulder, her head slowly turning as Penny went on and refuted her claim. It was reassuring to hear it, to know it was not merely the Spark which compelled her to be here rather than genuine feelings. It did not put everything at ease, but it helped.
”She’s changed, actually,” Alicia admitted to Penny. ”The rest of us got put on trial for heresy while you were here. She and Serenity, Sylvia, Sally, myself. But we made it, and we got the ShineSpark too.” The corners of her mouth rose in an amused smile. ”She’s mostly not a catgirl anymore.”
For a small moment Penny’s features would nearly wash away as even diminished as her emotions were, the depth of her anger was still notable. But a moment later she would force a blank and shortly after she would return to normal. “Seems it was best that we were out of communication for as long as we were. I doubt storming the HQ would have gone over well for any of us.” she would say with perfect calm as she turned to continue the trek back to base.
“Question. How is she ‘mostly’ not a cat girl?”
”Verbal tic,” Alicia explained with a shrug of her own. ”Considering up to the trial the Ascendancy viewed the White Coin as witchcraft it’s definitely a strong step forwards. There’s just everything else that I have to deal with now that I’m running the local branch. And this on top of it, it’s all a bit much.”
She then sighed, shaking her head. ”I’ll be alright. I just need some time to process things.
“I understand” Penny would say with a nod “Take all the time you need and don’t forget that I am at your disposal”
The duo resumed walking, now that things were out in the open between them. It might hurt, it might take time, but hopefully they would come out the better for it. ”Thanks,” Alicia replied. ”But I’ll try to not take too long. I’m sure we’ll both be pretty busy soon enough.” With that, they headed on their way once more.
&
Sylvia Starshine
Entering Beacon HQ, Alicia couldn’t help the small jitters that ran through her as she neared her destination. A nervous energy had risen, overwhelming all the things that she felt as a result of her encounter with Chloe and Penny. There was one preoccupation that held her mind right now.
This was it, after all. Her first full day as the leader of the Penrose branch of Beacon. It still boggled her mind to think like that. She had so recently become a Seraph, and had barely earned her wings. And now she was in charge of all of this? Sure the Ascendancy was an issue, but that did not dampen her amazement or enthusiasm.
Coming to a stop at her destination, for a moment she merely lingered and looked at the door handle. All of the times she had come to this office to speak with Sylvia. Now it was hers. Taking a deep breath, she reached out and swung the door open before stepping inside.
Now it was just a matter of waiting. As her first day, she intended to meet with Sylvia, and have the former leader detail what she was supposed to do, the gaps that she might have had from mere observation before. So she busied herself with exploring as she waited for the other girl to arrive.
Alicia had seen the office a couple of times before in her career as a Beacon magical girl, usually when she had come to give out a report to Sylvia. Back then, it was a busy room, with plenty of decorations scattered on the walls, and a messy desk full of papers and documents. Now however, it was all gone, tucked into boxes marked “Sylvia” that were yet to be moved out. The desk was also empty, with only a small pile of empty papers stacked to the side.
After a while, Alicia heard a knock on her door, followed by the familiar voice of Sylvia. “Alicia, may I come in?”
As expected, there was not much to see. A lot of boxes, shelves, and a desk. Some papers remained, but those all seemed to be empty and ready for use at the moment. In lieu of something else to do, Alicia decided to test out the chair that came with the desk. As such she was quick to answer when asked for. ”Sure, come in,” she replied. ”I thought about keeping all those boxes for myself but I guess I’ll change my mind.” She wore a slightly teasing look, ready to get to work.
Sylvia made a lighthearted chuckle as she came in. "Hah. Very funny. Acting all big the moment you get a nameplate on a door," she joked back. "I thought about hauling my stuff with the Handbag, but then realized what an organizing mess that would be. Anyway, let's get started on this Boss Baby sequel of an orienteering day." She pulled out a thick book out of her Hammerspace, and dropped it on the table kicking up a cloud of dust. It was titled 'Beacon Common Way of Working For Dummies: the Comprehensive Guidebook.'
"Now, Beacon protocol states that you must read this whole book cover to cover. But that's baloney." She tapped the book. "This is best used as reference material. As for actually learning to do the job, there's two rules; practical experience is the only way, and realize you don't have to manage everything. I learned those two things way later than I should have, and all because I was simply following the word of the letter."
She activated the projector on the back wall. "You got your basic paperwork like shift schedules and inventory, and handling any family situations; the latter should be strictly left to Beckoners. As for the rest, delegate tribes to handle accountable duties on a squad basis, forget that actually exists and make up the plan of action on the spot. This is important: use continuous agile scrum waterfall systems thinking devops buzzword monster hunting as your manifesto, starting with a turnaround title and changing the name every few months until the fourth month when you switch to just assigning available people to get the job done."
She brought up an organizational chart. "Don't try to learn this until your second year when everything's completely changed, then forget the entire thing cause it's pointless anyway, pretending to remember names as necessary." She then brought up a training video. "Never use these; rookies only listen to live instructors. Use a stamp system if their score fails by twenty or more points cause you don't want to hear them cry about how much they've failed. Also never use live monsters for training, especially in HQ. And get someone on coffee brewing duty 24/7 to survive the horrible soulsucking grind." She suddenly turned quiet.
"Right, been rambling a while now. Uhh, any questions?"
”Of course,” Alicia replied to the joke in turn. ”I have to get it all in now before I become old and jaded.” But she fell silent afterwards as Sylvia began her explanation,
The book being deposited on the table earned a series of coughs, and frantic waving to get the dust out of her face. For a moment Alicia was intimidated, at least until the girl went on. The same could be said for the complex jargon, though she also as quickly caught on that that was a joke. In the end it seemed simple enough. ”Sounds simple enough. So just try and find ways to do things that work for me, don’t set loose monsters in the base, and get a taste for coffee.”
After a moment she leaned forward, hands clasped in front of her. “So how do we, you know, get information on things going on? Obviously big monster attacks with the ominous weather and spooky auras are easy. But if we’re going to put this city back together we need to get ahead of crises, not just react.” Hopefully Sylvia had some insights into that.
“Glad to see you get it,” Sylvia noted with a smile, and closed the projector. “It’s something you gotta figure out for yourself, really. Otherwise you’ll never be able to grow into the role.” After Alicia shifted the topic, Sylvia turned a bit more mellow.
“Remember our talk back during the whole beach getaway? Turns out the Ascendancy had the same idea. It’s not much, but they have set up some basic surveillance over Penrose downtown ever since they arrived.” She pointed out some files on her computer. “Elora shared these just now; it shows the current network of cameras and microphones, as well as the patrol routes the Ascendancy uses to cover between the gaps. Impressive work, I gotta say; explains the statistics they so proudly presented.” She rubbed her chin with two fingers. “We could adopt that strategy as well, maybe even add in some drones for better adaptation. But with the resources we currently have, we’d need to borrow tech from the Ascendancy. Which means you'd have to request stuff from Rachel.”
Alicia nodded as Sylvia went over the system that was now in place. So, the Ascendancy had beaten them to the punch? It made sense, so she couldn’t be too surprised by it. Of course that just left the fact that so long as the Ascendancy was here they would have to use their system rather than making one for the local branch.
”Something tells me she would rather have a tooth yanked out than help me,” Alicia mused with a sigh. ”Well, I guess it’s better than nothing.”
Sylvia shrugged. “Probably.”
Alicia nodded, shooting Sylvia a grateful look. ”Thank you for the help. This transition would have been a lot harder if I had to do it on my own. Now I just have to come up with a plan to restore peace and order to the city without everyone else thinking we’re just killers at the end. Easy as pie.”
“Just doing my job, boss. But thanks for the appreciation,” Sylvia responded with a smile. “A part of me is sad I can no longer make sure everything’s working, but...A bigger part is happy. You see, my true passion was always in engineering. Now I can devote myself full time to what I like to do best.” She gave a thumbs up. “You’re gonna pull through, Alicia. Anyway, you have any other questions?”
Alicia stiffened for a moment before recovering. ”Man, getting called ‘boss’ is going to take some getting used to. But I’m glad to hear you’re taking things well. I was kinda worried about that after how rough the trial was.”
Fingers drummed a momentary drumbeat on the desk before she added on to what she had said. ”I guess I’ll look forward to seeing what sorts of crazy things you come up with. As payment for saddling me with your job, of course.” It was mostly good natured ribbing, though she was curious to see what Sylvia came up with now that she could focus all her attention on it. Given what she had done for Penny in the past, it was sure to be worth it.
She was about to wrap things up when one thing did occur to her. ”Actually….what’s the word on the White Coins? I know back during the trial Rachel said she had Binky, Janet and Jenna locked up, I’m just wondering if anything has happened since then, and if they’re letting us have access or not.
"Yeah, that…" Sylvia looked unsure. "The Ascendancy put a hold to White Coin production when they occupied HQ. But since you and the Cardinal convinced Rachel that they're not witchcraft, she let those three to continue making more...On the condition she has exclusive access to them from now on." She sneered. "You should talk about that as well. We still want to upgrade the rest of our members, and they're real valuable on their own too."
Well, it was better than Alicia had expected. She had been worried that they would still be locked up. Rachel having exclusive access was more problematic, but once she saw that they weren’t some sort of trick she’d probably be more willing to part with them. Making the organization more protected wasn’t a bad thing after all. ”Alright, I’ll do that,” she agreed after a moment. That was another fun conversation to have.
”But I think that’s all for now. If anything comes up I’ll find you.” Neither of them would be going that far after all.
“Alrighty then,” Sylvia noted with a casual wave of her hand as she turned to leave the room. “I’ll start working on the drone implementation, and maybe some equipment for our soldiers on the field too. See you later.” She lifted up a box from the floor, and carried it out of the room.
Alicia nodded as Sylvia took her leave. ”Alright. See you around,” she called after her friend. She let the door swing shut before picking up the handbook that had been placed on her desk. Now where was she going to put this thing….
&
&
It was a dark night at the gates of the Beacon headquarters when the two guards looked up and spotted something moving in the sky; the black shape resembled a bat as it’s wings floated it up.
Then, the two Beacon girls let out a horrified scream, for they recognized the person addressing them.
“Bring me the leader of Beacon. I wish to meet with them,” Justine stated, her arms crossed before her as she looked down on the guards. She now wore the same dress she had back when she attempted to change the world, her smile evil and posture dignified, though curiously she lacked her hat.
“Quickly! My patience runs thin.”
It didn’t take long before a messenger rushed to Alicia’s office, dread apparent in her visage.
“B-Boss! You gotta come see this! It’s...She’s back...Justine is back!”
Eyes widened as Alicia rose from her seat. ”You’ve got to be kidding me.” Reaching over she grabbed her Scrying artifact. With a wave it sliced through the air, creating a small rift that let her see the present. And indeed, as she had been told there was Justine outside the base and looking very annoyed.
”You weren’t kidding,” she huffed, placing the artifact back before moving around her desk and for the door. She’d tell the Ascendancy but she suspected that Rachel knew already. Justine hadn’t been particularly subtle.
A few minutes later the door swung open as Alicia stepped out. Her black dress flowed around her, though she did not have her bow out yet. ”Well, I guess no one ever claimed you didn’t have a lot of guts. Either that or a death wish,” she called out. Keeping a respectable distance, she folded her arms over her chest. ”Talk fast. I’m not in the mood to play games after what you did.”
Alicia saw that the Ascendancy had already made a welcoming party to Justine; led by Rachel, they had their weapons out and pointed at the monster girl. “You’re Justine von Visceral, correct?” Rachel shouted, her hammer summoned and hoisted over her shoulder.
“Did you come here to turn yourself in?”
Justine laughed.
”So this is the infamous Ascendancy? A bunch of fanatical nutjobs without any common sense.” It was at that point that her eyes spotted Alicia; she seemed to recognize her.
”Oh, and who is this? You seem familiar, though I don’t think we have met...” It took her a moment before her eyes flashed.
”Oh, now I remember. You were the one who worked together with Mariette Pedersen.” She chuckled.
”The Reflective Witch had an odd sense of picking allies, it seems~”
Rachel now looked at Alicia. “Wait, is she referring to the assault you made on her castle?”
Well, this was going about as well as could be expected. True to Alicia’s guess the Ascendancy was already there and waiting, though Justine seemed fairly dismissive of them. Not that that was much of a surprise.
Teeth grit as annoyance rose, with Alicia taking a step forward in turn. ”She is,” she confirmed to Rachel.
”Justine here had Janet blow up our HQ while she was brainwashed. Desperate times called for desperate measures. A mistake I won’t make again!” Her voice rose as she finished, making it very clear just how she felt about that ‘alliance’ with Mariette. Being used like that, it was one of the major regrets she had over that whole series of events.
Anyone would have expected Justine to react negatively to Alicia’s threatening words, even if just with a small scoff or aside glance. Instead, the monster girl grinned, looking pleased. ”Yes...That is the exact kind of hatred that I wanted to see!”
Rachel looked confused, and adjusted her glasses as she grit her teeth. “What do you want? Surely you didn’t come here just to taunt us?” She asked, to which Justine sighed in response.
”That would be very entertaining, but unfortunately no. What I want is something you will benefit from.” She created a red sphere of blood in her open palm, and let it slip from her hand, causing it to drop down. However, instead of splashing, it seemed to bounce, morphing into the shape of someone Alicia immediately recognized.
”You will help me find and kill the Reflective Witch.”
Tsuki swung her staff aggressively. “Never! We will never help a horrible fiend like you!”
Hudie had her palms open and arms crossed, looking like she was ready to cast magic. “You are foolish to think we would even consider such an option.”
Rachel however didn’t look as angry; in fact, she looked calm as she looked up. “You have ten seconds to surrender yourself. Then, we will attack.”
Justine rolled her eyes as Rachel began counting, and put her hands to her hips.
”So that’s how you want to play? Very well then. In just a short moment, you won’t have a choice.”
The air was tense as Rachel continued counting, the Ascendancy’s weapons gripped tighter and tighter, their faces in tight scowls. But, when Rachel got to nine, Justine finally spoke:
”I know the Reflective Witch’s Bane.”
Rachel was in the middle of spelling ten when she stopped with an inhale. The rest also looked surprised. Justine smiled, and descended slowly towards the ground.
”That’s better. Now, listen closely, children. I will only say this once.”
Once she was hovering a couple of feet above Alicia and the others, she stated:
”Broken mirrors, and candlelight. These are the true identity of Mariette Pedersen’s Bane.”
Rachel still held her hammer, but she turned it to point the heavy end down, one hand resting on the pommel. “Why should we believe anything you say, you lying snake?”
Justine flipped her long hair back.
”You will, once you use those items against her. You and I are not so different you see,” she looked at Alicia.
”Deny it as much as you will, but we both share a grudge against her. She had used you, and she had destroyed Penrose. It is something I cannot forgive.” She looked up at the sky.
”Before I can return back to my peaceful, quiet life, I want to see her beg at my feet before I crush her like the aggravating insect that she is. Surely you want the same, no?”
“...” Rachel looked pissed. Yet, she couldn’t help but continue listening to the vampire girl.
“...Go on.”
”So you are listening. Very good. To further satiate your appetite, I shall tell you what I have come to learn since our last encounter. Not only has she stolen my fortune and slaves, she also stole the Black Mirror, a priceless artifact with the power to create a pocket dimension. I believe she has chosen to make her lair there. But fortunately for you, I have access to dimensional magic. Given the proper resources, I believe I can open a pathway there. What you do with that is all up to you.”
For a moment it seemed like a fight might break out. It would be a big one, no doubt, but Justine was at the seat of Beacon power in the city. That was a fight even she could not win, yes?
Fortunately it resolved itself as Justine revealed why she was here. Alicia stiffened, her attention fixed now as the topic of the conversation turned to Mariette. Smouldering anger lingered, and she couldn’t help but remember asking Chloe about this very fact earlier. If she was offering a way to find Mariette and stop her for good, that was a very tempting offer.
”She does have a lot of the magical girls that Justine had brainwashed, as well as a lot of money. In the hands of a servant of someone like that, it’s a very dangerous combination. Especially since we never had much luck tracking her down afterwards thanks to that portal magic,” she pointed out to Rachel. It was at least worth considering the idea.
Still, there was something nagging her, and her focus returned to Justine as she took a few steps closer. ”Why now?” she asked. ”It’s been months since that fight happened. Why wait until now to show up again and finish what you started before?”
Justine stifled a little giggle.
”Until now, I was content with living a simple life away from the drama that so surrounds the magical world. But as it was willed by the whims of fate, I found myself back here.” She looked around, as if reminiscing.
”On its own, Penrose is worthless; just a torn battlefield fought over by desperate people. But, it is still a home to someone I respect. And to see it torn asunder by that cyclops...” She had an unnerving smile to her lips, her sharp teeth glistening in the moonlight.
”...I must admit, it makes my blood boil, ohoho~”
Rachel interrupted. “So if I understood correctly, you want to use us to get revenge on Mariette Pedersen?” Justine scoffed.
”I suppose, if you want to put it in such plebeian terms. But I’d rather not waste my time discussing semantics. Will you accept the help I graciously offered to you?” She stared at Alicia.
”This may be your last chance to catch her. Will you let it slip by, like it has once before?”
Rachel’s knuckles were white from how tightly she held her weapon. “Grr...” However, she was not quite ready to call the negotiation over, evident by the fact she did not attack her.
“Seraph Paladin Alicia, you were involved with this demon...” She muttered. “Is she trustworthy?”
For a moment Alicia was silent, looking into Justine’s eyes as if trying to see into her soul itself. To see to the truth of the matter. ”Trust is a strong word I’m not sure I would use,” she replied after a bit.
She then turned, looking to Rachel instead. ”But from everything I’ve heard about what happened in that last battle, I think she’s being sincere in this case. And, well, it wouldn’t be the first time she tried to kill Mariette.” A modest shrug accompanied that. It was what had prompted Mariette to approach her in the first place after all.
Rachel was deep in thought after listening to Alicia. “We should burn this witch at the stake...” She spoke. “...But if you co--operate with us, we shall instead grant you a purification. Take it,” she lifted her hammer up, ready to strike. “...Or leave it.”
Justine’s smile turned wide, in fact just wide enough to look creepy, before it turned back into a courteous one.
”We have a deal.” She elegantly stepped down on the snowy ground, and offered a hand for Alicia to shake; if she were to accept it, she had to be careful not to cut herself on the monster girl’s unnaturally sharp nails. Afterwards, Justine snapped her fingers, and Sonia suddenly arrived with a teleportation next to her. Rachel and the others flinched, but Justine giggled.
”This is my maid, Sonia. She will aid us in gaining access to the hole Mariette has dug herself in.” Sonia curtsied without a word, and summoned a phone in her open hand. Justine took it, and then offered it to Alicia; she saw that it was a crimson red in color.
”Unlike the communication crystal I gave to Mariette, this one unfortunately lacks the capability to explode into a sphere of ruinous energy,” she explained, chuckling.
”However, it will have to do if we are to keep contact for the time being.” She then turned away, taking Sonia’s offered hand.
”You lot may be disgusting brutes...But when it comes to eliminating unsavory characters, I can imagine no better. Well then, until next time...” She leaned her head back, smiling at Alicia.
”Goodbye~” The two then disappeared, followed by the statue of Mariette dissolving into a pool of blood that stained Alicia’s shoes.
Rachel de-summoned her weapon with an angry grunt. “That witch! Who does she think she is?”
Taking the phone, Alicia could only marvel at how fast things had turned around. Here they were, allying with the very person who threatened everything, to stop another person who could very well do the same in the near future. She glanced at the phone before slipping it into her pocket.
”A magical girl of untold age who once nearly destroyed the world,” Alicia responded with a shrug as Rachel expressed her frustrations. She was going to need to get new shoes now too, great.
Idly kicking her feet to try and scrape off the blood that way, Alicia remained calm. ”You know she’s never going to take that purification. We may have to be prepared for the time after Mariette has been defeated. There still needs to be a reckoning for all of our Sisters that she killed.” And if Justine didn’t expect that, then she was more foolish than the Paladin gave her credit for.
Rachel, despite her anger, managed a smirk, adjusting her glasses. “For once, I fully agree with you, Paladin Seraph. I trust that you will handle this matter.” She gave a salute, and then turned to return back inside with the rest of the Ascendancy.
”Yeah, I’ll handle it.” As Justine had so autely noted, she had her own score to settle. One last look was given to the horizon, before she turned and headed inside as well. It was time to start planning.