The advancing blue eyes in the darkness seemed almost dreamlike — their eerie luminescence cutting through the heavy darkness. Each step closer revealed a clearer picture of the nightmarish figures that lurked ahead.
Faceless humanoids, with nothing but blurry voids where their features should have been came into our view. Their sickly pale white skin was an eerie contrast from the razor-sharp, spindly black claws protruding from their fingers. There were six of them in total.
A brief silence hung heavy between Twilight Aster and me. The pressure of the situation was suffocating. Every instinct screamed at me to flee, but there was nowhere to run. The clang from the elevator shaft grew louder and more insistent, a reminder that our position was now hopelessly compromised.
Twilight Aster began to gather her magic, tendrils of purple energy wrapping around her hands. "Sienna," she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper, "Focus. We have to fight smart, not hard. Break through in one movement."
I started to form a concentrated ball of light in my own hands, ready to release a barrage of Luminary Bolts upon these abominations. "Got it," I responded, trying to keep my voice steady despite the trembling that had taken hold of me.
Without warning, the faceless creatures lunged at us in unison, their silent approach making them even more terrifying. They seemed to glide across the floor, closing the distance rapidly.
Then, out of the blue, the entire building rumbled. That seemed to give the creatures a split second of pause.
"NOW!" Twilight Aster yelled.
We charged forward, unleashing our combined assault in a perfect synchronicity. Vines erupted from the ground at Twilight Aster's command, reaching up to ensnare the legs and arms of the approaching monsters. At the same moment, my Luminary Bolts shot forward, crackling as it struck them, leaving holes in their chests.
One of the creatures managed to dodge the incoming vines, lunging directly at Twilight Aster. Reacting swiftly, she brought forth a large thorned whip, lashing it around the creature's neck and pulling it off its feet.
I couldn’t help but marvel at her fluidity and precision; she fought with the grace of a seasoned warrior.
Yet, even as we gained the upper hand, the unsettling sound from the elevator continued to echo, becoming more frantic. The building rumbled again, and I was beginning to wonder what was going on. Was the Refuge going to come down around us after all?
One thing was for certain. The big moth monster wanted out and it wanted out now.
"We need to move," Twilight Aster panted, her gaze darting back and forth from the sealed elevator doors. "Those things won't hold it for long."
“Yeah… let’s get out of here,” I muttered in agreement.
Suddenly, a shrill, echoing cry resonated throughout the corridor, causing us to freeze in our tracks. A cold chill ran down my spine as I heard the sound of metal scraping, followed by a loud, resounding pop as something burst through the elevator doors down the hallway behind us. The sound of collapsing cans and boxes, and metal being peeled apart filled the hallway as Twilight Aster and I shared a brief look.
"Run!" Twilight Aster shouted.
My legs propelled me forward before I even registered her command, the thudding of my heart synchronized with each step. The hallway seemed to stretch infinitely as the echoing screeches of the creature became louder and more persistent. The fact that I couldn’t see what was behind us only fueled my dread.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight Aster motion with her hands, causing walls of dense thorny bushes to sprout from the storage room behind us, forming barriers to slow down our pursuer. Their sharp edges dug into the metal walls of the corridor, entwining themselves around the ceiling lights. Every few meters, she summoned another.
As we turned a corner, a door with a luminescent sign reading ‘Exit’ glowed. My heart soared with a momentary relief, but as we approached, it became evident that the door was jammed. The handle wouldn’t budge. I could feel the vibrations in the floor growing stronger, the rhythm of an imminent threat. Panic surged.
“Sienna, remember that you are a Knight, dammit!” Twilight Aster shouted, jogging me out of my panicked stupor.
Swallowing hard, I pushed my palms forward, concentrating.
“Luminary Bolt!”
A brilliant glow of energy surged forth, hitting the door.
It buckled under the force, giving me the edge I needed. With a final kick, the door groaned and opened.
We spilled out into the main hall of Refuge Zeta. The vast space was a startling contrast to the tight and shadowy confines of the corridor and the tunnels below. High arching ceilings stretched upward, with practical rows of LED lights casting a faint glow. Or rather, what was left of the lights. Half of them had been smashed up and taken out of commission. The entranceway I’d walked through and escaped from yesterday had been completely obliterated. All that was left of the blast doors was a hole that looked suspiciously like the Juggernaut’s silhouette.
Desolate and eerily silent, it looked as though it had been designed to hold thousands, if not tens of thousands, of refugees, but now it stood empty save for the sticky bloodstains of the dead. The lack of bodies here from the skirmish the day prior, was unnerving. The massive, sprawling room was full of old benches, overturned tables, and discarded belongings. Death and despair had clearly marked its territory here.
The two of us quickly found cover behind one of the thick pillars dotting the expansive area. Every breath was ragged as we tried to collect ourselves and make a plan.
Twilight Aster was hissing with pain and still nursing her injury from the ride on the drones. I watched as her aura briefly shimmered with a bright purple glow before disappearing. The bruised and swollen skin seemed to recede slightly, but her wince told me it was only a temporary relief.
Techtron and Albert were somewhere upstairs. They’d come to our rescue, deploying drones to save us and carry us out as we’d gotten the civilians downstairs into Shelter 1. But where were they now?
My ears strained for any hint of movement, but the main hall's overwhelming silence only served to amplify our vulnerability. It was a vast arena, perfect for an ambush if we weren't careful. I could feel the weight of Twilight Aster's stare as I mapped out our surroundings.
"Okay," she murmured, her eyes darting around the expanse. "We need to find them. My best bet is that they're in the control room on the upper level."
"And how are we getting there without being ambushed by more monsters?" I whispered back.
My enhanced instincts were screaming that danger was right around the corner. We’d have to move quickly and carefully. Even as the vibrations beneath our feet grew more intense, I knew we couldn’t discount more nasties we hadn’t seen before coming out of the woodwork.
I blushed while I looked down at my glowing hands. I hadn’t quite figured out how to make it stop. That would put a hamper on keeping a low profile as well.
Twilight Aster eyed my glowing palms with an amused giggle. "Ah, the telltale aura of a rookie Knight," she said with a wry smile. She reached out, placing a hand over mine. The sensation was oddly grounding, as though an anchor tethered me. "Focus on your core, Sienna. Envision the energy being pulled inwards."
I closed my eyes, letting her voice guide me.
“Next, visualize your essence. Many think of the aura as a flame, or a beacon of light. Visualize it flickering smaller and smaller until it's just a tiny ember inside of you. Tuck it away safely, make it part of you. The brighter and more forcefully you want it to shine, the harder you push it out, but for now... just keep it contained."
Breathing deeply, I imagined the aura, that fiery brilliance, shrinking down, becoming an ember at my core. A warmth spread through me, comforting and controlled. Slowly, the bright luminescence of my hands began to fade. But then, just as it was almost gone, it flared back to life with a dim glow. It was barely a glow, but still very visible. I gritted my teeth in frustration.
Twilight Aster gave me an approving nod, "It's okay. It's your first time. We’ll have to make do with that for now.”
She turned her gaze towards the stairwell on the opposite side leading to the upper level. “We will need to be cautious, for certain."
I felt a pang of guilt, "I'm sorry."
She shook her head, her purple hair fluttering slightly with the motion. "It's not your fault, Sienna. You’re doing remarkably well for someone who just awakened their powers. We just need to adapt."
A resounding shriek and crash caused me to flinch. It came from the direction we had just fled, and by the increasing intensity of the noise, it was apparent that our moth pursuer had managed to break free from its confines.
“Not much time,” I whispered, glancing towards the stairwell.
Twilight Aster nodded with urgency. "We'll use the pillars as cover. Stay close to me, and move swiftly. And um. Sienna, if something happens to me—"
"Stop it. Don't you dare raise that flag," I interrupted, my voice quivering with a sudden surge of emotion. "We're getting out of this together. The civilians downstairs, too."
She gave me a faint smile, which matched her eyes, but those same eyes held a gravity I couldn't ignore. "Just remember. If it comes down to it... please, see yourself to safety."
I swallowed hard, my throat feeling constricted. "I won't leave you, and we’re going to make it through this," I murmured fiercely. "That’s a promise."
A sudden chittering noise echoed, followed by the distinctive flutter of wings. The moth. The sound was growing louder, a storm of sonic vibrations that made my skin crawl. I could feel my heartbeat thumping loudly in my ears.
Twilight Aster pressed a finger to her lips, signaling me to stay silent. I nodded, hyper-aware of every little movement, every little sound. My eyes flitted towards an old, discarded backpack, a cluster of metal camping gear sprawled out around it. One wrong move, one accidental kick, and it'd all clatter, revealing our position.
Memories of yesterday's blunder flashed through my mind, the momentary lapse of attention that had alerted a monster to our location because of a stupid can. I began to sidestep, placing each foot conscientiously, deliberately avoiding a clumsy mistake like that again.
But then, in my peripheral vision, I spotted a shadow’s movement. My heart rate spiked, and I instinctively readied a Luminary Beam, the soft glow in my hand intensifying. Before I could react, Twilight Aster's hand shot out, dragging me behind a pillar in a blur just a moment before shadow appeared in the space we had previously occupied.
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A shadowy figure appeared out of the blue, turning its head around facing the direction we’d just come from.
It was a creature almost identical to the one that had attacked me in the basement. It hissed, its distorted, blurry form contorting in agitation. It was clear that it had sensed our presence without pinpointing it exactly.
Its back was turned to us, revealing a horrifying mess of oozing, shimmering, and pulsating shadows. The creature was both present and not, like a distortion in the very fabric of reality.
The creature seemed to be a literal rift in space-time, the vacuum of another dimension sucking at the surrounding reality. Nightmarish didn’t even begin to cover it. It was the absence of all light. A void that was both there and not. Multiple shadowy tendrils slithered from its form, flickering, always on the verge of coming into focus, but never quite solidifying. And yet, it was that very intangibility that made it so dangerous. For all I knew, that creature could drag us into another world if we so much as touched it.
I felt a deep-rooted conviction that leaving this entity free was a gamble we couldn’t afford. A concentrated Luminary Bolt might eliminate the threat for good. I glanced at Twilight Aster — her face was a mask of contemplation as she stared at the creature as well, but she shook her head in caution.
She traced the outline of a moth on her palm, shaking her head and reminding me of the real threat. We had a monster already hot on our trail, and it was only a matter of time before it found us. Alerting it with a misfired attack could be the last mistake we'd ever make.
For a fleeting moment, I considered attacking the creature outright after all, letting out all the energy pulsing within me to end its threat once and for all. It was a risk, but one that might be necessary.
My hand tingled with the rush of power, each cell in my body urging me to strike. The instinctive certainty that this creature couldn’t be allowed to remain was a weight on my chest, compressing my ribs and making my breathing shallow. I was torn between the impulse to act and the gravity of my actions if I misstepped. A failed ambush could draw more of these creatures towards us. Or worse, it could alert the moth.
My eyes darted back and forth between the distortion creature and Twilight Aster. I felt like a cornered animal, tension and indecision tearing at my insides.
But before I could make a decision, a low rumble echoed through the concourse, growing louder and more intense by the second. The ground beneath us trembled, the shockwaves resonating with the urgency of an approaching freight train.
The monstrous distortion twitched, turning its head erratically. Its shadowy tendrils flicked and snapped in agitation. Even the echoing flutter of the moth monster ceased momentarily, replaced by the dull roar of chaos.
My mind raced to understand the source of the noise, but my body reacted on instinct, pulling me further behind the pillar.
The room rumbled again with more force, toppling a stack of abandoned bags and knocking over a vending machine. The metal crunched and dented, spilling its contents in a splash of colors.
Suddenly, without warning, a massive figure broke through the far wall, dust and debris scattering in its wake. A monstrous figure towered, its frame resembling the jagged silhouette of a mountain.
The way its eyes darted around the hall suggested not just a beastly fury but a calculating intelligence. Even its seemingly random movements had a horrifying deliberateness, an intentional malevolence. From my hiding spot, I could barely take in the full scope of the monstrosity.
The Juggernaut.
It had changed since my encounter with it a bit under an hour ago. Or evolved, even.
Its skin was dark and looked harder than steel, with bright luminescent veins pulsing with energy. Its singular remaining red eye scanned the room, an emotionless orb that radiated pure malevolence. Each step it took caused the ground to shake and quiver.
But it wasn’t alone.
As it burst through the wall, the harrowing scream of a translucent man shattered the air. I recognized the figure as the Chameleon.
He was semi-invisible and caught at the very brunt of the Juggernaut’s charge. Pain, fear, and defiance marked his features. He tried to push away with a visible telekinetic burst, but his motion was sluggish, distorted by the sheer force and velocity of the Juggernaut's assault.
A thunderous sound echoed through the hall as Chameleon was impaled by the beast's jagged arm, his translucency warping and distorting around the point of impact. His cry was a fusion of agony and disbelief. Blood, shimmering in hues of blue and red, dripped from the Juggernaut's arm.
For a brief second, the Juggernaut seemed almost puzzled, like it wasn’t sure how Chameleon had appeared right in its path. Then, it simply tossed the lifeless body aside like a child's discarded toy.
Behind the Juggernaut, two more figures emerged in a flash of light. One was a man with a green mohawk and glowing yellow eyes, and the other was a quiet woman with a blonde pixie cut. Voltage and Arsenal. Voltage's Boston accent was unmistakable as he shouted, "You bloody little pissa! What'd you do to Cham?!"
Arsenal said nothing. She took a moment to pause, eyeing the downed Chameleon with a mix of worry and anger before methodically assembling what seemed to be a complex weapon from parts strapped to her thigh and appendages.
Voltage vaulted into the hair, arms crackling with electricity. His yellow eyes flashed, betraying a potent fury. Sparks danced between his fingers as he clenched his fists. The Juggernaut, unimpressed by the show of energy, swung its massive arm in a wide arc. Voltage vanished, taking the form of a streak of lightning, dodging the swing to come up behind the beast’s head with a burst of lightning aimed at the back of its head.
As it flailed its deadly, jagged, arms looking for Voltage, Arsenal moved.
With swift, precise movements, she deployed a series of devices from her arm-like appendages, each one landing on the Juggernaut. Moments later, they exploded in a brilliant display of flames and smoke. The concourse lit up, casting a foreboding red hue everywhere.
The entire scene felt surreal. These were supervillains, people I’d read about in the newspapers or seen on the news. Yet here they were, battling a monster in a desperate attempt to stave it off. The line between hero and villain was blurring. It was clear: tonight, we were all on the same side.
From my vantage point, I could see the moth monster and the ghostly creature momentarily distracted by the commotion. Their heads snapped towards the source of the noise, their previous interest in our location forgotten. As soon as Voltage zipped into the air, the shadowy creature coiled up, as if it was preparing to intercept him.
Now or never.
Channeling all the energy I could muster, I unleashed the Luminary Beam. It struck the ghostly creature just as it prepared to pounce on Voltage, who was oblivious to the threat. The beam hit its mark, and the shadowy monster roared in pain. The brilliant flash of energy caught the ghostly creature off-guard.
It attempted to shift and distort away from the blast, but the beam enveloped it squarely, causing it to let out an otherworldly shriek. Its form rippled and shuddered before it was launched straight at a distant wall.
As the Luminary Beam pierced the distortion creature, its form began to waver, parts of it flickering out of existence. The entire entity trembled violently, sending ripples of pure energy throughout the room. There was a sharp intake of breath, a pause where everything seemed to hang in the balance, and then with a final, desperate cry, the creature crumpled into a shadowy, black heap.
The moth monster, startled by the sudden flash of light, turned its vast and looming form towards me. Its enormous wings beat the air, casting eerie, elongated shadows across the debris-filled concourse. Its stalked eyes fixed on me, gleaming with an ancient and hungry malice. I could feel the sheer coldness of its gaze, like a weight on my chest.
Twilight Aster grabbed my arm, pulling me to leave. "Sienna! We need to—"
But it was too late. The moth monster, with a surprising swiftness given its size, lunged directly at us from across the room. Its massive wings flapped powerfully, blasting us with gusts of wind and its stingray-like tail struck out. I managed to deflect part of the attack with a hastily thrown Luminary Barrier, but the force of the blow still sent me sprawling, banging my head onto a pile of debris on the ground.
Blinding pain seared through my skull yet again, and my vision split into double before quickly refocusing itself. I numbly brushed my hand over my side, only to numbly realize I was bleeding, and there was a faint blue glow surrounding my wound.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight Aster bravely charging the moth monster, her aura blazing purple with power.
With a deft leap propelled by a purple burst from her staff, she managed to land on the moth’s back, trying to steer it away from me even as I dizzily crawled off the debris. The moth thrashed and flailed, throwing her off its back.
Twilight Aster landed between us and flashed me a look of fierce, protective determination as she squared off against the monster.
The moth shrieked at her, extending its nightmarish, long, lamprey-like mouth from its mandibles. As if in response, her form lit up, blanketing the room with a radiant purple.
[“Verdant Art: Mirage of a Thousand Cherry Blossoms!”]
She conjured a whirlwind of vibrant petals, a dazzling display of purple and pink, which swirled around her, forming a protective shield. The petals met the moth's attack, producing a loud clanging noise upon impact.
I crawled to stand my ground, refusing to let her face this beast alone as I instinctively wiped away some blood covering my eyes. Just as I was about to fire another Luminary Beam, the Juggernaut let out a guttural roar, diverting my attention momentarily as it turned to face us.
I felt something zoom through the air, and my vision snapped to follow the trajectory, realizing too late that the moth had unleashed its deadly stingray-like tail.
"No!" I screamed, watching in horror as the tail pierced through the air. It impaled Twilight Aster through her flower shield, pushing her back several feet. Her form slumped against a pillar, her face contorting in pain as a pool of crimson seeped from the wound.
She reactively instinctively, sending a flare of blinding light towards the moth’s eyes. The creature reeled backward, releasing Twilight Aster from its deadly grip, but the damage was done.
The Magical Girl fell to the ground, her once vibrant aura shattered like glass, the light in her eyes flickering. She began to convulse as a blue energy wracked her body, causing her to shriek in pain and agony as she flailed. I tried to crawl towards her, to help, to do something, but my strength was fading, and the world was blurring around the edges.
The main hall, filled with the sounds of chaos only moments ago, fell into a haunting silence. Everything seemed to fade away, the battlefield, the moth, the Juggernaut. All I could see was Twilight Aster's fallen form, the vibrant petals that once protected her now falling lifelessly around her as she convulsed in agony.
Time seemed to freeze, every heartbeat pounding in my ears. And then, the moth took a slow, sadistic turn towards me, as if savoring the moment. Its large, faceted eyes sparkled, reflecting the dying lights from the concourse. An almost eerie glow played over its chitinous form, giving it an even more menacing aura.
A chill ran down my spine, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
I scrambled back, trying to find the strength to stand, to fight. But every inch of my being screamed in pain, the weight of true, final despair pressing me down. As the moth drew closer, the temperature seemed to drop, and an oppressive silence enveloped the room.
Just as when the light in my heart faded to acceptance, the entrance to the main hall was suddenly illuminated by a blinding light.
Two streaks of light — one brilliant gold and one silver, surged through the shattered entranceway. They moved with such sudden velocity that they momentarily dispelled the moth's looming presence and halted its march. The two radiant beams collided with the moth in mid-air, leaving a stunning explosion of color as the creature was launched across the room.
The two streaks of light settled on the ground, materializing into two distinct figures. The first, a girl with golden eyes, sun-kissed skin and an ankle-length braided platinum blonde hair in a radiant yellow dress, with patterns of blooming sunflowers shimmering across its fabric, stood tall and defiant. A longbow, glimmering in golden hues, rested in her hand.
As she drew an arrow, it seemed as though the room was momentarily bathed in the glow of the morning sun.
"Hope has arrived!" she declared, her voice ringing out with a clear and melodious boom as the emblem of a yellow water lily shimmered on her tiara. "Bearer of the golden sun, guardian of hope, and vanquisher of darkness! By the sun’s grace, you will not harm another soul in this hall! Magical Girl Dawn Lily, at your service!"
Sunlight itself seemed to emanate from her, the rays casting warm, golden glimmers across the hall. Drawing back a longbow that gleamed with golden hues, she aimed an arrow with sunflower petal fletchings directly at the monstrous moth.
Beside her, the second figure with pale white skin, silver eyes, and a messy, raven-black neck-length haircut stepped into the light, the deep navy-blue ribboned short-sleeve top and silver skirt she wore, shimmering with countless crescent moons. The patterns of moonflowers on her dress bloomed and closed as she shifted her weight. Her crescent moon pendant and moonflower bud-shaped earrings captured the ethereal beauty of the night sky. She brandished a pair of crescent moon-shaped sickles that glinted with an otherworldly luminescence, leaving a trail of twinkling silver light with every movement.
"And I am Magical Girl Midnight Blossom," she said with a hard, contralto edge to her voice as she side-eyed her companion, before sighing with a grin.
"Guardian of the evening's embrace, protector of secrets, and warden of the moonlit realm," she flourished with a smirk, catching her sickle's reflection. "Together, we stand united against the shadows that dare to infringe upon this world!"
She sighed again, and turned to look at Twilight Aster in concern. "...But seriously. Don’t get used to it."
The juxtaposition of their appearances was mesmerizing.
My vision blurred, but not from pain or exhaustion. Tears streamed down my face, and I didn’t really understand why.
I tried to speak, to thank them or offer my help, but words escaped me.
My head was still throbbing in agony, but I pulled myself to my feet, eyes firmly set on Twilight Aster’s convulsing form as my body began to move on its own.