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    1. Sonnambula 4 yrs ago

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Before Nessie could rise up on her broom, however, she was met with another offer. Her gaze followed Valeria's call, with the boisterous teacher and her equally flashy ride quickly coming into view. Sat next to her was another new tutor working with the class, one whom Nessie hadn't interacted at all with yet really. She seemed nice enough though, and she'd heard bits and pieces of conversations concerning her through hallways and in the dorms, all of which concerned something positive about her character and prowess. It just so happened that the young Scot hadn't been in much of a mood for the whole socialising thing in the last few days, which was the only thing stopping her from giving Stripes a characteristically energetic and and expletive filled greeting and expression of gratitude for all her help way back at the construction site. Though a reacquainting of some kind would surely be in order at some point.

Nessie looked up towards the others, now already on their way in their separate teams, already having to work together in order to make the trip possible for those without a means of transport. Suddenly she was starting to realise what she had been missing out on by being so reclusive, and with that cast her eyes back to Valeria and Maria again.

"Uh, yes. Thank you."

She managed a slight smile and a nod accepting the kind offer, dismounting her broom and letting it dissipate away before she'd carefully get into the back of the car. The last thing she wanted to do was to put a mark on this thing, lest she suffer the wrath of the somewhat volatile German Magical Girl sat in the driver's seat. She'd remain quiet for the rest of the journey, eyes mostly fixed on the views outside of the window while her mind wandered to various places. The mentions of Ozma did catch her attention though, her gaze and hearing flitting occasionally to the conversation the two seasoned Magical Girls were sharing, including some of Maria's more private mutterings. Perhaps even more interesting to the girl in that moment than the mention of a tragedy in Ozma's past, was Maria's description of her: A bright beacon for everyone... As her mind wandered further, those words conjured up visions of that night of the construction site in her mind's eye, the somewhat ethereal but recognisable voice that had encouraged her forward, to progress further as a Magical Girl right from the very off. A bright beacon that had enabled her to hit the ground running, one which had most likely saved her life that night and in other events since. Could it really have been her? But before there was a chance to dwell further, the car came to a sudden halt. They had arrived.

As opposed to where her patrol had been before, a place comprised of natural beauty, now she and the rest of her class stood within the confines of a manmade construct. That being said, in its abandoned and dilapidated state it seemed that nature had taken things into her hands with moss, grass, plants, even small trees and pools of water imbued throughout the run-down architecture of the mall. Once bustling with life, and now an incubator for another kind of life. As well as something else. Though Nessie couldn't distinguish it, she could feel a cold, dark tinge to the atmosphere, one that was growing increasingly familiar to even her deepest instincts. Even if her senses weren't as keen as anyone else's there, she wasn't stupid. And as soon as she noticed Ozma putting up the barrier around their location, it became pretty clear to the girl what exactly they were doing there. After all, it wasn't like this was going to be a shopping trip.

The mention of an extra 'someone' that the group was searching for, however, stirred up a little nervous anticipation within Nessie. If not a Pageless, who was this person they were potentially going to confront, and why would they have any reason to fight them? And the fact that this 'class trip' seemed to apparently be off the radar of even the Grand Ministry didn't do the girl any less of a concern.

Perhaps that's why, while trying to keep an ear open for Ozma's instructions, she found herself drifting back over to Maria. Not only did she seem to know a fair bit about the other redhead of Marrywell, but being a tutor there was no doubt that she probably possessed experience and skill far beyond almost anyone else present. Perhaps she could help with this whole witch's block thing she'd been experiencing.

"Excuse me, miss. I, ehm... I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I've been having lately with-"

Unfortunately not paying full attention cost Nessie the sight of a swarm of Pageless gathering behind Ozma, ones that seemed to specialise in stealth and appearing from out of nowhere. And so that's what they did, with one in particular almost blindsiding the girl if it weren't for the quick actions of her superior next to her who, in an awesome display of pure physical strength, drove the dark reptile into the ground and to its demise while Nessie stood dumbfounded to the side.

"Camouflage?!"

Nessie thought out loud, in an instant changing to her Magical Girl attire now that she knew what was at hand. And yet still she felt no more powerful or capable than she did without it on. This at least reminded her of her unfinished question to Maria which, though perhaps it wasn't the greatest time to choose, she endeavoured to finish asking.

"So basically I'm having some trouble right now with casting my spells and I was just wondering if you knew anything about how to help with it?!" She continued hurriedly, giving panicked looks all around to try and keep tabs on the Pageless chameleons, which was easier said than done when they constantly blended in with their surroundings. Nessie would take up her wand and attempt to ward the creatures off, but ultimately only displayed her current ineptitude as a pitiable stream of water was all that spluttered and spurted out in defence of the oncoming Pageless.

"See what I mean?!"

Nessie turned with a desperate look to Maria once more, backing up towards the teacher as the Pageless advanced closer and closer, undeterred, not surprisingly, by the young redhead's spellcasting.



The utter chaos of the stripped Abyss collapsing in on itself was an event that almost completely passed Thomas by. Countered by an unyielding power, unfamiliar to both the budding Gold Eyes and their host, the boy's lack of control, experience and strength was put on full display as the mighty stranger braced the full strength of his attack before delivering a blow so simple in nature, yet with such force that it felt like an anvil was smacking him across the face. His teeth were gritted alright, his body able to bear the brunt of the strike for a split second, long enough for the Eyes to lock gazes with the woman who'd kept them from their ambitions and whose echoing cry Thomas now heard loud and clear, before he was knocked clean off his feet by the pure force of that hilt against his jaw.

But the boy never hit the ground. Time seemed to slow down, though whether that was simply his own perception or the Floor itself was something Thomas couldn't be sure of. His golden irises rolled gradually to the back of his head, now loosing their grip on the boy as he slipped into unconsciousness, only seeing a sudden and piercing flash of pure white before all was consumed by an equally pure darkness.

The sensation of falling did not stir or wake the young man, in fact if anything the surrounding void pushed him deeper into slumber, but it certainly did not prepare him for the sharp and back-breaking pain that would awaken him out of nowhere. Thomas gasped, bolting upright immediately, his eyes opening wide to reveal their familiar violet hue as he took time to let the pain from the fall fade. His breathing was quick and shallow, as though he'd awoken from some kind of bad dream, but it slowly settled itself down as the boy's mind was suddenly bombarded by the new, vibrant surroundings he found himself thrown into. This certainly wasn't the Dangeki, but it didn't seem hostile at least.

Hostile or not however, the bright lights, loud noises and crowded landscape made for a somewhat oppressive environment for the boy if nothing else, and it certainly didn't help with the splitting headache he was left with after the events of the previous floor, not to mention the bloodied gash and bruise Farris' pommel had left on his jaw. Despite the little time that had passed since though, Thomas' memories of the Abyss, particularly the battle with Nephuna, had faded to a mere blur in his mind. Even moments that he could recall were somehow unclear, as though he was seeing them through murky waters or some kind of kaleidoscope. Of course, at this point he knew why. There was no ignoring what had happened but at the moment he wasn't going to dwell on it, in fact he couldn't bring himself to anyway. Especially as he realised, though he hadn't noticed anyone else in the group as of yet, the absence of one person in particular.

"Riku!"

The young Violet called out to his lost friend, wincing as he stood up to his feet and came to the realisation that there were probably a few more bumps and bruises hanging around the rest of his body than he'd at first thought. Still though, it was best not to just hang around in one spot. If anyone was around, not just Riku but Kanbaru, Akiko, Katie as well, they certainly wouldn't be waiting around in one place either. And with all of these new machines and bright lights that were completely alien to him all around, even the reserved Thomas couldn't help but be drawn in by his curiosity. Perhaps, as he wandered around alone through the bustling, overstimulating rows of slot machines, tables and even more, he'd even be taken in enough by that same curiosity to partake as well.

The days following the training exercise had been strange for Nessie. Not that anything in the world of Marrywell was exactly normal to the young Magical Girl just yet, but even within that context things felt off. No doubt it was connected to her failure to protect herself and assist her friends against the faux-Pageless Valeria had set the whole group up against. She didn't understand. She'd done it before, harnessed her grimoire's energy and inflict attacks of incredible scale and power upon her foes. So why not then?

This was what she spent the following hours and days contemplating; as her classmates began to understand their grimoire's better and trained to increase their capabilities, Nessie was stuck in limbo as her perceived understanding on her own grimoire slipped further and further away and her ability remained stagnant. Her free time and time in classes became consumed by her considerations, her mind in a totally different place than those around her as she dug to find an answer. In reality, the reason had simply been that at the time there had been no water around to help enhance her attacks, but in her overthinking and desperation she'd removed herself even further from the powers of her grimoire.

So caught up in her own thoughts was Nessie, that the redhead barely even took notice of the new faces in the group as they gathered outside Marrywell's entrance at the behest of Ozma and the other staff members who had supervised them as of late. She didn't even approach Stripes, her previous saviour and the very person who had guided her to her grimoire in the first place. Her usual fiery nature was gone and it was clear to anyone that looked her way that she wasn't entirely present, a somewhat numb expression on her face.

She kept to herself, with no real group to speak of given her lack of communication with even her closer friends in the time since the exercise. The young Scot appeared unemotive towards the instructions given to them by their teachers, simply conjuring her broom as they were told and mounting it in complete silence, save for a deep, sighing exhale. She wasn't thrilled at the prospect of a patrol at the moment, especially if she couldn't even do anything against any Pageless that might show themselves.

"Fuck's sake..." She muttered coldly to herself, before kicking off the ground sharply to follow along Ozma's lead with everyone else. It was time to return to London.
Sorry for the long absence, but I'm not dead! Will be posting and catching up soon. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.


Marianne's words were the only ones that seemed to come through clearly in Thomas' mind, all other noise but a muffled haze in his ears. Hearing them meant nothing though if the boy wasn't listening to them, and he wasn't. As the grip of the Eyes took hold on him further his mind became more single-focussed, his actions gradually more instinctive and animalistic in nature. All emotion seemed numbed and sapped from the boy's face, save for one of intense rage that fazed in and out of his countenance.

He stared blankly as the image of Nephy's father built itself up before the boy, an armoured giant standing in Thomas' way, Nephuna's own guard armed with a deadly looking naginata. It was proportionately large, with a length that put Thomas' glaive to shame in comparison, but the strength of the plated mammoth was more than enough to make up for that cumbersome side. Even the Eyes weren't expecting it: quick slicing strikes that dented the very ground they came into contact too, creating little quakes in their wake that shook the earth around them. If you could call it earth, or even ground, at this point. And though Thomas was fast with his dodging, shimmering around those quick yet heavy blows, he wasn't precise enough, and soon enough even the Eyes struggled to keep up as swing after swing descended relentlessly upon the boy. Eventually though, they'd had enough.

A sharp glow screamed out from those golden irises, as the power and influence of the Eyes grew further. Suddenly, the blows stopped. Not even Thomas realised how at first. He stood there, frozen for a moment, blood beginning to flow from a newly gained slash wound around one of his shoulders, before panning those cold eyes upwards. An arm was raised up above his head. His arm, but different. It had morphed, around halfway down his forearm, a veil of darkness layering itself over it, gradually enlarging and growing out more and more as it got down to his wrist, until it formed a giant hand of shadow, a hand that now gripped the naginata as it was mid-swing, gripping tight and holding it suspended there in an incredible display of strength. It was almost creature-like, slightly claw shaped with little particles of darkness flickering off and around it, before reuniting with the others in the conglomerate of shadow.

The Eyes were impetuous as ever though, and especially as they sensed a dangerous power building Nephuna they desired to push for their host to annihilate the spectre quickly and get to their fused target. A little more power and the boy would be able to tear through with ease before any harm could come to him. To them. But something deep within the young Violet prevented them from doing that. Their influence had suddenly hit a wall, something deep within Thomas that still tried to resist them, and so they were forced to work with what they had. But that didn't mean they wouldn't push the boy. Right to the very limit.

"Out of our way."

There was a dark undertone to Thomas' voice, in fact it almost sounded as though another voice was interlocked with his, as he icily uttered a command filled with such pure malice that it could make even a ghost tremble in fear. While his morphed hand continued to resist the goliath's swing, his other was raised straight forward to shoulder level to receive his glaive, as it materialised in a flash of violet and black. But it had received some changes as well. Though the form of the original glaive was still clearly there, its vibrant blades were now extended far, far outward by menacing shadow. Now the naginata was the weapon to be put to shame in terms of sheer length, not to mention the flickering flame-like texture of that keenly edged darkness that instantly gave away another facet of its deadly properties.

A familiar and overwhelming feeling came over Thomas now, an acute and searing pain that rung out through his entire body, coursing through as though his insides were being burnt to ashes. This level of exertion and power wasn't sustainable, he was at his absolute limit. For the Eyes, it was now or ever. The Violet let out a bestial cry, if not a roar, as he heaved the great weapon up high, so as not to chop himself to pieces in the process of using it, and hurled it forward into a spin. It would spiral, gradually at first but rapidly growing into lethal momentum, with mortal intent to rip right through the avatar of Nephy's father, and then collide into Nephuna herself. There was no care, no consideration to the others around them. Not Katie, not Kanbaru, not Akiko, not the newcomers, not even Riku. The Eyes did not bat even a glance at them, they didn't value them in the slightest. They just wanted to see their enemy suffer.

The look that Valeria had given Nessie earlier during her assessment of the patrol teams had not gone over the girl's head, and though she wasn't sure what the exact nature of that look had been, being herself she'd taken it as a challenge to be prepared for the evening to come. And so, though she'd been intending to take a long break after the long patrol of the night before, after a couple of hours of napping the Scot rose with fire from her bed, an energy which she carried over once she reached the Training Facility.

It seemed a slightly odd place to Nessie, filled with junk, scrap and debris, not exactly what you'd call well kept. From the central arena she could just about make out a few faces up in the viewing stalls, including Ozma and her trademark red hair, as well as a couple of others- both familiar and unfamiliar. The majority of those in the room were stood at her side however, various members from the two patrol groups. Almost everyone, if not everyone, had shown up it seemed. Mind you, given what she'd seen of Valeria earlier, she wouldn't want to be caught skiving off her class.

With Valeria's arrival to address the students from on top of a scrap heap, it now quickly became clear why exactly they were gathered in what essentially seemed to be a glorified junkyard. There was surprise, wonderment and anticipation in Nessie's eyes as the stern yet odd German Magical Girl sculpted a foe with her powers, creating complicated mechanisms from the junk strewn about the chamber to create a large metal foe. A fusion between a hornet and some kind of bear towered over the group, a mechanical monster that seemed to mimic a Pageless in its nature and build. And, like with many activities Nessie had partaken in so far during her time in the world of Magical Girls, the key was teamwork.

Once Valeria's explanation was over, as the walls of the scrapyard rose up to keep the battle as contained as possible, Nessie brought out her Grimoire, her uniform glowing before morphing into her witch attire. The Lady of the Lake was ready, and though the mention of explosive rounds added to the mix was a surprise for her, she at least had her broom to help with her mobility. And lucky she did as well, the metal Pageless' first attack coming fast right out of the gate, dirt and debris tossed hazardously around as the deadly drill bore its way towards the girls.

"Shit!" The Scot exclaimed her surprise in the way that came most naturally to her, hastily hopping onto her broom before zipping off in the nick of time, swerving around to the mechanical beast's side. Separated from the others in the party as she was, Nessie was fairly confident she could pull this off with them, just so long as she paid attention to when they all were attacki-

"Fuck, they're attacking!" Nessie's colourful language came out once again in a panicked spurt as she realised, a little late, that the rest of the group had already sent their attacks towards that vulnerable glowing core Valeria had referenced before. It was ok though, there was still time to send her own attack into the fray, especially with how quick her water spells usually travelled. Hurriedly she focussed her energy, pulling her hands back before forcefully thrusting them forward, and...!

Nothing, well, barely anything. A small spurt that you might see from a dodgy garden hose spluttered out towards the junkyard amalgamation, pattering uselessly against its armoured shell. What Nessie hadn't realised nor taken into account was that, as opposed to the environment she'd been in only hours before during the storm, there was no water in the training facility she could use to aide or boost her attacks. Her fight with the wraith Pageless had made her cocky; if she wanted to produce anything close to as powerful as she'd conjured up then, she'd need time and focus.

"You have got to be taking the pi-"

For now though, all she was getting was a sharp impact with the large pile of scrap Valeria had used as a standing podium, her lack of attention to her surroundings after her surprisingly disappointing display coming back to whack her across the face, quite literally. Her broom flung to the side, a small bruised lump quickly began to form on Nessie's forehead after she'd acquainted herself with a now slightly dented steel bar, leaving her temporarily vulnerable to attack.

"Uh, guys, I need a wee bit of help!"

Nessie scrambled nervously in place, afraid to move in case she fell off the scrapheap, but afraid to stand still like a sitting duck for the mechanical beast to take its drill to.



A look of apathy and stoicism remained on Thomas' face as immense changes in the battlefield took place around him. The sense of wonder he would usually feel had been displaced by his warped mind, and even as the whole team, including some new faces and Marianne from his very pocket, gathered around him, he seemingly paid little to no heed to them. Kanbaru's anger towards him was similarly lost on the boy and he didn't give the whale so much as a look, her words distorted and faint to Thomas as though he were underwater. The only thing that obviously fazed him was the birth of Nephuna, golden eyes narrowing as they tried to discern the best action for their vessel to take, sensing the danger of this new fusion. They watched on as Kanbaru moved into action, and was subsequently countered with a deadly barrage, observing what they could about this new foe.

Meanwhile the Abyss had completely dissolved to reveal the very fabric of the Tower itself, its brilliant core under a heavy assault from a small group of Nephuna clones in an infinite landscape of darkness offset by bright green data. Thomas responded with complete indifference once again, only reacting once again as the cry of the original Nephuna resonated into the void. Dark spectral wolves emerged, birthed from the self-inflicted open wound on her chest, a pack that rushed at the group immediately, primed and ready to shred anything in their path to pieces. But for all their hostility and instinct to do harm, the will of the Gold Eyes held, within Thomas, such terrifying malice and hatred that the boy didn't hesitate to face them. The thoughts and influence brought on by the Eyes replayed over and over again in his mind, his utter animosity towards Nephy carrying over to her fused form. No matter his feelings on Runa before, anyone who conspired with a mutt deserved to die like one.

In the blink of an eye he was gone, spiralling forward in a cloak of shadow that left him quite camouflaged in the mostly-surrounding blackness. When he reappeared again his glaive was at ready, twin blades shrouded in darkness, twirling it at a rapid tempo to tear up a few of the abyssal canines in his direct vicinity like blades of grass to a lawnmower. With a path to Nephuna cleared, the Eyes drove Thomas forward impetuously, continuing to feed him venomous thoughts and ideas to keep his mind warped to their destructive will. The boy, who would have usually stayed back to help finish off the remaining wolves with the rest of the group, leapt forward to meet Nephuna's verbal challenge, disappearing into darkness once again and erratically circling the caped warrior in a flurry of shadow at breakneck speed.

A faint, but piercing, golden glint from behind Nephuna finally gave way to Thomas' emergence from his dark veil, the young Violet launching himself at the horned foe. His glaive morphed seamlessly into its sword form, the same blade that had pierced Nephy earlier now ready to slice through her fused form's neck in the same way. He remained unspoken, as he had done all this time so far, a silent killer who wouldn't hear his own words even if he did speak. Besides, his countenance spoke for itself. Those glowing Gold Eyes locked onto their target, a wild and near inhuman look to them that communicated nothing but deep, deep execration.

Nessie had expected the others to join in with the sealing of the cloaked Pageless' fate, but certainly not with the fervour that Wilhelmina displayed. The redhead backed off as her teammate's clear and deep concentration indicated what was to come, shifting away on her broom to create a little distance. However, even that wasn't enough to keep her out of range of the majestic winds, which had gradually manifested from nothing to the most intense gale that Nessie herself had ever witnessed. She gripped her broom tightly, curling up slightly to protect herself lest she be blown away completely along with the targeted Pageless.

And it wasn't long at all until Nessie got to see the destructive capability of those winds, Goodhope's grimoire wreathed radiantly in gold. The very weather responded to her call, violent storm clouds rolling in just in time for the dark monster to be shredded to pieces by the utterly overwhelming power of the winds that assaulted it. What was left was tossed into the murky clouds overhead, a dazzling display of forks of lightning sure to erase any trace that the Pageless had ever existed, let alone faced off against the group.

It was enough to leave Nessie completely bewildered, her eyes in a wide frenzy of awe, fear and wonderment in equal measure. But, just like that, it was over. The Pageless had been defeated. In fact, not even that. It had been utterly obliterated. The young magical girl looked to her peers and their leader, still a little out of it after everything she'd just witnessed.

"Jesus wept... Nessie finally exclaimed quietly, before looking over to Wilhelmina, breaking out into chuckles. "Remind me to never piss you off, bloody hell!"

Settled back into high spirits now, the Lady of the Lake reflected privately about the battle to herself while following along with her comrades as Lucette led them off to meet with the other patrol squad.

It wouldn't be much later that the group arrived back at Marrywell, a wave of exhaustion setting in suddenly on the young Scot when she dismounted her broomstick in front of the main building, which was already growing into a familiar sight for her.

"I need some tea, and a good kip..."

Nessie muttered to herself, putting a hand up to her mouth to yawn and stumbling in the general direction of the dorms, before something else caught her eye. And her ears too, for that matter. Panicked cries and screams and a stampede of footfalls created a commotion that was impossible to miss, even outside the building itself. The explanation for this chaos was just as clear as smoke poured out from a classroom window, a few tongues of flame visible through the dark haze.

Even as the commotion began to settle, both audibly and visibly, Nessie's curiosity won out over any apathy that her tiredness attempted to bring on. She rushed into the academy, pushing past floods of students who were hurrying in the opposite direction, making her way to the right side of the building, all the while growing increasingly aware of the lingering smoke still in the air as she got close. Her hand wafted it out of her face as she approached the classroom that had fallen victim to... well, whoever or whatever was responsible for all of this. With that in mind, she poked her head through the open doorframe, her eyes settling on two figures in the centre of the room, in what looked to be a slightly uncomfortable embrace. One she didn't recognise, especially with the murkiness of the smoke, but the other one. That bright red hair, there was no mistaking it...

"Ozma...?" Nessie called out tentatively, approaching and addressing her fellow Magical Girl, a look of confusion and concern on her face.

"The hell is going on here?" She asked, wafting smoke out of her face again before it made her cough, peering at the girl she didn't recognise. Clearly her and the other redhead in the room were familiar though.
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