Lucy had witnessed a lot more in her life than she would ever let any of her friends know. Things that no one as young as her should have ever experienced, leaving a permanent scar on both her body and mind. Those things she considered terrifying, and when she had met Drew and Melissa she had finally managed to replace a large chunk of those terrifying memories with good ones. Not all of those memories involved them being smart – she still felt sick anytime any of them mentioned the anti-burger incident – but all of them were good memories that she wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.
At least, all of them had been good until she had heard the most abrupt, idiotic, and downright crazy thing that she had ever heard her trans friend say. She didn’t consider the fact that it was possibly her and Dragon’s slight mention of magical girl anime that put the thought into her mind, she just focused on the ridiculousness displayed before her. Melissa had just referred to herself as a magical girl with confidence that had come from seemingly nowhere. There was no hint of regret in her expression, just a mixture of bravery and joy that could answer exactly where the idea had come from.
Managing to turn away from Meliss, face still pale, she looked to Dragon.
“Dragon, I think she’s been talking with Cam in her spare time,” She told the girl worriedly.
Melissa waved her arms stiffly in front of the table. “I’m not, I swear! It’s just... you have to admit it kind of fits.”
“It… fits?” Dragon and Vee asked simultaneously, the former in pure fear while the latter was confused, tilting their head unnaturally far to the left.
“Yeah. Girl gets given magical powers to fight evil, typically with some sort of pretty feminine costume and an adorable mascot character,” Melissa replied. She glanced down at Vee for a moment and then stared off into the ceiling lights. “We will just have to scratch out the adorable part of the mascot thing.”
“What is that supposed to mean?!” Vee replied angerly, leaning forward. “I’ll let you know that by nightmare standards I’m actually unnaturally adorable!”
“Which would explain why Dragon completely ignored you in favor of the dragon that was dreamt up with you,” Drew said, his dry tone only adding to how unenthused he sounded. Vee once again hissed at the mention of the dragon.
Lucy ignored them and returned her focus to Melissa. “Obvious parallels aside… why?”
At being asked the question, Lucy watched as the trans girl got unusually quiet, holding her body close as if suddenly feeling vulnerable. That alone was enough for Lucy to realize exactly where Melissa’s declaration had come from. It wasn’t often the girl allowed herself to show vulnerability, to be open about her feelings to anyone. As she waited for the trans girl to speak, Lucy relaxed her body, forced the shock and horror off her face, and allowed color to return to her face.
“It… it feels nice to think of myself in that way,” Melissa whispered, something that was just as equally rare for her. “The idea of being a magical girl, despite having never even let it cross my mind before now, is validating. It’s like the universe also understands my true identity.”
“You’re valid no matter what the universe says, Melli,” Dragon reminded her. “You are what you believe yourself to be. I know this just as well as you do.”
Though Melissa smiled at Dragon’s words, it instantly disappeared as the trans girl brought her limbs even closer together. It hit Lucy at that moment just how much the idea of being a magical girl meant to her friend. While she had seen Melissa vulnerable before, there had only been one time prior that she could possibly think of where they had shown this much. That had been over a year ago, before Holly was shot in the leg. It was the time Melissa had first put on makeup, something that the girl had considered a gigantic step for herself.
Lucy closed her eyes and let a gentle smile show.
“If it means that much to you, then I won’t stop you from seeing yourself in that way,” Lucy said as she reopened her eyes, the first thing to greet her being an expression of pure joy on Melissa’s face, mouth open wide.
“If Lucy says ‘yay’ then I won’t be the one saying ‘nay’,” Drew replied, leaning back in his chair as he pulled his laptop case up onto his lap and opened it. He took out the battery cord for it and plugged it into the outlet under the table. “Only thing I’ll say is that, by the standards of that genre, you are a decent amount older than most magical girls.”
“That just makes me unique,” Mellisa states, hopping up and down joyfully. Dragon rolled her eyes at the sight. When the trans girl was done acting like she was on a trampoline, she turned to Vee. “What do you say, Vee? You were looking for someone to help you save the human race. Will you take me?”
Vee looked to the table, then to Dragon, then to Lucy, and then finally back to Melissa. Lucy couldn’t figure out what was completely going through their head, but she knew the doll was likely not happy with the arrangements. It had wanted Dragon to become a Magral Knight, not Melissa. She was certain it was feeling a bit frustrated, especially considering it had referred to Melissa as “Meany” earlier. Lucy wondered what had caused such a nickname to come up.
“Okay, I’ll work with you for now,” Vee said after a minute glancing between everyone at the table. Melissa pumped both her fists in joy at hearing the doll’s answer. “However, I’m calling you a Magral Knight, not a magical girl. Sounds icky.”
“That is probably for the best,” Dragon replied, pulling out a graphing notebook and a textbook.
“I’ll have to agree as well. It's for her safety,” Drew said as he opened up his laptop and signed in. Melissa looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he spoke.
“My own safety?” She asked.
“Actually, yeah, that probably is for the best,” Lucy said, ignoring her friend’s question as she nodded her head. “That really dark one is the only anime I can think of that straight up calls them magical girls. Probably best to just use the name Magral Knights for Melli’s safety, less we start dealing with witches and time travel.”
Melissa blinked three times in rapid succession, tilting her head.
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“Worthless imbeciles!”
The two nightmares flinched back in fear as the being before slammed their fist into the table. They shaked and shivered, only able to keep their eyes on the night terror because looking away would end their lives sooner. Already they were more than aware that their failures had put them on death’s row. A part of them said it was smart to flee, but no matter how far they ran the night terror would catch them. Bael would have the essence.
The night terror in question had a body that few, if any, could fully comprehend. It was like looking at a massive blob of darkness with nothing but numerous piercing yellow eyes visible at its center. One could make out the vague outline limbs when they moved, by otherwise blended into the void that was Bael’s body. That was perfectly fine, for all they needed to express their emotions was their eyes and voice.
“Your job was simple: guard the collected knights pins so that none of them could find a new body,” Bael replied. Their voice sounded almost childlike in some aspects, which would have made them sound far less threatening if it wasn’t for the sheer power they spoke with. To remind the two failures before them of this, slammed their fists even louder into their throne and stood up. “It was simple! How could you be so incompetent that even that is too much for you?!”
“W-w-w-we are sorry, our terror,” The first nightmare, calling itself Deam, apologized. It twiddled its abnormally lengthy fingers as it spoke, legs feeling like they could give out at any moment. “I-I-I-I am happy to r-r-r-report that, a-a-a-at the least, only… one was taken.”
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The sheer disgust in Bael’s eyes made it clear to Deam that his words did nothing to calm the night terrors' fury. Both him and his fellow nightmare, Zarlaus, could feel Bael’s abode begin to shake under the sheer rage they were experiencing. In an attempt to calm them, Zarlaus slowly and carefully moved past Deam. He turned back, motioning to his friend that he has this taken care of, and then focused his attention on Bael.
“My terror, while the fault lies in us for not keeping those heinous pins secure, it is that old friend of yours who is truly responsible,” Zarlaus said, hiding his fear the best he could. “They came to do a count to make sure none had been stolen, as they usually do, and then stole away one in their pocket. If you plan to see us executed as an example, I understand, but I had to tell you of this betrayal.”
Bael stood frozen for a second before sitting back down on their throne. They leaned against the back of it, digit’s thrumming the arm rests. Zarlaus could see him close his eyes for a second, and heard a sound he could only assume was the shaking of the night terrors head. When Bael reopened their eyes, there was a slight sadness visible in them.
“A betrayal that I saw coming, yet refused to see,” Bael admitted, their voice oddly downtrodden. Zarlaus and Deam had never seen them like this. “I had believed Vee to be an extension of my will for so long that I didn’t realize my control over it was loosening. I should have burned the doll when they first defied me.”
Zarlaus took a scared step back at hearing those words, arms close to his chest as if it would properly defend him. He looked at Deam, who looked back at him with the same fear in his eyes. They had thought they had seen their liege in an odd moment of weakness, but that was not the case. It only made it more clear how unsafe they were, and how little they meant in the night terror’s grand plan.
“You have greatly upset me, and it is clear now that you are useless at defending the magral pins,” Bael stated, watching as both Zarlaus and Deam stepped back in glee. “Yet you may not be completely useless. Roth Asta, where did that useless creature go?”
Before either nightmare could contemplate what the night terror meant, another figure appeared from Bael’s left. At first, it almost seemed like a dreamer woman, but there were oddities. A third eye above her left one, an appendage above her rear that looked like some strange mixture of a tail and third leg. She had a smile that was all too sincere, glancing every other moment at Zarlaus and Deam. Then, as she stopped walking and turned to them, she gave a malicious smirk.
“As you likely expected, my terror, it seems our runaway doll has chosen to take the pin to where we had planned to make landfall on the realm of reality,” the nightmare woman, Roth Asta, explained. Willing the very nature of the room to her will, she turned the center of the room into a replica of a small city sitting on a hill overlooking a lake. “The college city of Burlington in the United States of America. It was deemed our best entry point due to both its low number of actual residents, yet the large number of college students that temporarily call it home.”
“So it means not to run, but to intervene in my plans!” Bael responded. Roth Asta nodded, feeling not just confident but safe despite the rage in the night terror’s voice. “Plans that it brought to fruition. Plans that it fed for my benefit! Such a useless tool should have been disposed of long ago.”
Roth Asta nodded at all he said, like she was an automaton made for no other reason then to affirm how Bael thought.
“No doubt she plans to make a Magral Knight out of one of Burlington’s citizens,” She continued. The city replica changed, an ominous figure of pure light shining over it out of nowhere. “With a single Magral Knight guarding the city, things become more difficult. Thankfully, one is still manageable, but if Vee were to make more…”
The replica shifted again, this time showing even more figures of light and a cloud of pure darkness hanging over them. They all watched as the figures of light, each wielding swords, blasted away the darkness. With the darkness gone, the replica of the city now had a sun showing over it. Roth Asta looked to Bael as she wordlessly explained the dangers to their plan. She smiled a little wider, whisking away the replica city with a swipe of her hand. She could see Zarlaus and Deam staring at each other in fear.
“That is the threat Vee now brings to your plans, my terror,” Roth Asta said, taking a few steps back so she was no longer in front of Bael and the throne. “It is too late to go back from our plan, and if we wait for another crack in the barrier it will be too late. The Magral Knights will know our plans, and even with your power, I’m afraid our efforts will be for naught.”
“That is where you two worthless blotches come into play,” Bael explained, picking up where Roth Asta left off. Both nightmares winced at the way the night terror stressed “worthless”. “Your failure would, and perhaps should, leave you as nothing more than food for nightmares more deserving of your strength, but I’m feeling kind. Tonight, you two shall descend upon the realm of reality, deal with Vee, and retrieve the knight’s pin,” His eyes narrowed. “If necessary, pull it from the dead husk of a dreamer, but you are not to come back a failure. If you can’t do this simple task, then coming back here will spell your life’s end.”
Deam and Zarlaus would have felt relieved to be given this second chance if they were even more terrified. They could deal with Vee, for the nightmare was pitifully weak from recollection, having fed all their strength to Bael so they might ascend to become a terror. The possibility of facing a Magral Knight was terrifying, and the two couldn’t help but feel unqualified. After all, they truly did believe themselves to be as worthless as their night terror said.
Yet, they knew there was no negotiating with Bael. This was their only chance to possibly stay alive; they had to go for it.
“It shall be done, night terror,” Both of them replied, bowing.
“Then prepare yourselves and take your worthless carcasses out of my sight!” Bael commanded, the darkness of his form seeming to further engulf the room as his voice grew to a shout. Zarlaus and Deam didn’t even give a parting bow, the sight scaring them out more. With them gone, Bael relaxed and massaged his temple. “Another pair of rusted tools, too weathered to be salvaged.”
“You expect them to fail, my terror?” Roth Asta asked. She received a nod.
“Vee’s greatest asset was her wit and stubbornness, and it is all that I left her with,” Bael told the women. “Granted desperation will likely hide that wit, but she will have already made a Magral Knight of the first dreamer she encountered. They will die, but the least they can do is take Vee with them.”
Roth Asta closed her eyes and looked away from the night terror. “I see. A fitting way to martyr themselves, my ter–”
A sound similar to the crushing of a rotten apple hit both Roth Asta and Bael, both looking toward the wall. It seemed like there was nothing there, but both knew better. Bael gave a vague motion with his hand, and Roth Asta made her way forward. Her eyes started to glow crimson red, her figure becoming indistinguishable as if a cloud had surrounded her. With each step she zipped across the room, the distance not matching how far she had stepped. In the span of five seconds she had reached where the sound had originated from.
Her digits, seeming more like wicked curved scythes than fingers, sunk into the wall effortlessly and ripped into something. It moved against her, the strength of whatever she had caught more than she had initially expected. The creature tried to use the fact it had been caught to try and slam Roth Asta into the wall, but the nightmare had a firm stance. Roth Asta refused to budge, using all her strength to try and pull whatever it was out of hiding just as it tried to free itself and get away.
In the end, Roth Asta gave out first, but not without taking part of the creature with them. The skin and muscle she had hooked herself onto tore free, her stance the only thing keeping her from stumbling back. She looked at her scythe-fingers, noticing the sickeningly blue scales and bits of muscles she had taken with her, black ooze dripping from it like blood. Pissed, Roth Asta tore into the flesh of the dream she had attempted to catch.
“It’s that damned doll’s nemesis!” Roth Asta exclaimed, mouth filled with flesh. “They were spying on us again.”
“No doubt it plans to tell others of our goals,” Bael said. He let out a disappointed sigh, refusing to get up from his throne. “Make sure they do not.”
Roth Asta did not need to be told twice. With a salute to Bael, she took off to pursue her prey.
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At some butchered, twisted version of a church, a creature of glistening blue scales writhed on the ground in pain. Its muzzle was pulled into a defensive snarl as the two arms on the left side of their body, as well as the left wing, tried to cover the massive chunk of itself that had been ripped free by that accursed nightmare. They could feel the warm, black ooze of a dream or nightmare’s life pool underneath them. The more she turned the more said ooze covered the natural color of her scales. They hadn’t been sure up until getting spotted if checking on that horrid doll was worth it, and now the dream had its answer.
It was most certainly not worth it.
After rolling around for several minutes, the pain refusing to cease, the dream decided to do its best to move. It first tried to stand up, but despite the strength of it’s haunches it found itself unable to. They would fly if they weren’t afraid that the wound would ooze worse in doing so, which only left one option: crawl. It wouldn’t make her faster than her pursuer, but movement was needed. They couldn’t stay in this church, for it was the domain of a nightmare; she couldn’t will it to heal her.
Like a wounded dreamer, they started to use their free hands to claw their way out of the church. In an attempt to not think about the pain they were in, the dream thought about what it had learned and what to do about it. It was strange to think that the doll was trying to do some good, and they weren’t sure if they totally believed it. Nonetheless, it was clear that her enemy was no longer in the realm of dreams, and therefore she didn’t need to be there any longer. Where Vee went, she went, making sure that their horrid schemes didn’t become reality. That would mean leaving the comfort of her realm and venturing among the dreamers for the first time in her existence.
Before that she would have to heal up. Finding an ice breathing dragon of the realm of dreams dying in the streets wouldn’t make for a good first impression.