The next two days were spent acclimating to her life again. Seika’s parents made sure that she was not lacking in anything, providing her with her favorite food and whatever books she would request, though she felt too awkward to make use of that.
Her mother held her more often than usual, almost clinging to her. Other times she thought about what clothes Seika could wear to hide the scar on her arm. For a time, Seika was happy with the additional attention, but on the second day she started to feel like a burden.
She paid attention to the news this time – and realized that at least two dozen people vanished since the incident. As far as she could tell she was the only survivor, only thanks to the fact that the creature used her for magic, as the wizard had put it.
There was film footage of the creature slithering through the streets, but naturally any gory details were censored – witnesses called it a ‘kaiju’, the police and JSDF declared readiness to strike whenever one of these things appeared again.
The doorbell rang and her father answered – Seika kept watching TV without paying it any mind until she could hear the angry shouting of a woman.
“My husband went missing, too! Why is only your daughter back?”
An argument broke out back and forth, with her father explaining as calmly as possible that it’s not Seika’s fault – but it was no use. The miraculous survivor of the incident had become somewhat of a scapegoat for the families of the missing.
She felt a pit in her stomach as her father came back, looking genuinely upset. She had a feeling that this was only the beginning.
***
When she returned to school people were friendly enough, but Seika could feel that something was off. Friends and classmates seemed distant to her and when she got to talk to them it appeared like they always steered the conversation to end as soon as possible. Teachers showed her the concern that was expected, but Seika felt the distance between her and the rest of the pupils grow by the minute.
She only found out what was happening as she was about to turn a corner in the hallway and happened to overhear a conversation.
“Did you hear about Hitoishi? They say she vanished and then came back after that monster attack.”
“Yeah… turned up at a police station like a ghost.”
“The others say that she’s cursed and if you are alone with her, you will be taken as well. Ugh! There she is, run!”
She finally turned the corner and stared the two boys who were talking down, only for them to run away.
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists by her side – but pointless anger was not going to get her anywhere.
***
She endured this for another week before she decided to do something. After school she made her way to the library her mother worked at, entering reluctantly. Her mother was working at the front desk, accepting returns and registering books that had been lent to local residents. At the moment she was writing something down on her computer and didn’t notice her at first.
“Mom?”
She looked up and gave Seika a little smile.
“Here to read again, dear?”
Seika shook her head.
“Can I switch schools? Somewhere outside of Kawaguchi. I’ll take the train if I need to.”
Her mother’s smile disappeared as it dawned on her what must have happened. She got up from her chair and stepped around the desk to get on her knees and embrace her child.
“I am so sorry, dear. You don’t deserve this.”
“I know. But people are scared. It’s better when I go somewhere where no one knows me.”
“If you think that’s best… what about your friends, though? And the literature club?”
Seika weakly shook her head.
“They are keeping away, too.”
“Some friends they are…” her mother trembled slightly but Seika put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay.” She slowly moved out of her mother’s embrace.
“I just wanted to ask you.” She walked to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Just meeting someone who helped me.”
***
It was a bit of a walk to the park – half an hour on foot, at least. She had to pay a small entry fee as well, but she was determined to meet that man again and to listen to his story.
Now that she had this experience and was shunned for it, there was no turning back. His words echoed in the back of her mind.
“If you want to know more… about that creature, about us, why it grabbed you in particular… and if you want to know how you can prevent it from happening to others…”
Prevent it from happening to others… Prevent it from happening to others… Prevent it from happening to others…
Those words turned into a droning echo in her head. If she could do anything so no one had to live through the same experience, she would do it.
But for now she needed to find the wizard and the woman who accompanied him. She assumed that they must have disguised themselves to not stand out in public – to not alert people who were already on edge due to the monster attack.
In that moment she saw a gaggle of children gathered in one place, noisily cheering someone on. Seika had been entirely wrong with her assessment, as the wizard, purple and glowing as ever demonstrated his powers with the showmanship of a magician.
“Watch me carefully, kids!”
He exclaimed as he made bolts of lightning jump between his stretched-out fingers in sequence – from little finger to thumb, to thumb and little finger of the other hand. He then lifted his hands in the air, holding a strong arc of lightning between them both. He clapped his hands together, making the lightning vanish and showed his open and unharmed palms to the enthusiastic crowd.
“A master of lightning bar none! That’s me!”
He let out a laugh as the children celebrated him with more cheers, then his eyes fell on Seika who stared at him in confusion.
“Oh, my! Too bad, kids, but I have a guest of honor! I’ll be back tomorrow! And the day after! For the entire rest of the month, promise!”
With that he walked straight towards Seika, offering her a hand in a chivalrous gesture.
“So? I’m guessing you wanted to have that talk after all.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/CdWLhkc.png]
Seika found herself in a more remote part of the park where not as many people passed by. The wizard’s female companion joined them, but she kept quiet as usual, leaning against a tree as she watched them both.
“First of all, I couldn’t help but notice how people have been treating you. I’m so sorry about that. And yes, I’ve been watching. I’m sorry about that, too.”
Seika blinked and opened her mouth, but closed it again – it felt like he would explain everything without her even having to ask.
“Now, first things first, who are we?” He turned to his companion, pointed a finger at himself and then at her. And then at himself again, repeating the motion a few times, faster every time.
“We are travelers. From another world.”
Another world? Seika thought.
“Another world!” The wizard replied.
“But not in the space sense, more in the… dimensional sense! We’re not from another planet, we’re from this planet! Or rather the planet that is in the same place in another dimension.”
He hastily began to draw on the ground with a stick. A big circle took shape.
“Imagine this is your planet.”
He drew another circle next to it.
“We’re from this one. And usually, we wouldn’t be able to interact at all. But last month the barriers of this dimension weakened. Now all kinds of worlds out there…”
He gestured with his hands and more circles appeared on the ground.
Why didn’t he just use magic to draw in the first place?
“…have been drawn together. Some worlds already overlapped.”
He demonstrated his point by having some of the circles intersect.
“But in this very specific case a giant mess has been created.”
The circles spun around each other, drawing closer and closer until each and every one of them intersected, creating the densest Venn Diagram possible.
“It created a dimensional fault at the center between all the worlds.”
The wizard pointed at the intersection in the middle.
“It has never been easier to slip from one world to another in specific places. People and creatures have taken note, like the Shadow that devoured you to become a Shadow Queen.”
“A Shadow? A Shadow Queen?”
“Oh, right. That’s what we call them. A very literal description, but yes. Shadows create their own pocket dimensions. They lure hapless victims into them to hunt and devour them unseen. Usually that’s the end of it, but…”
He suddenly pointed at Seika.
“In case they get a person with magical potential, they grow into Queens, draining the person’s magic to create more of themselves.”
Magic potential?
“Magic potential, that’s right!” He showed a wide grin after appearing to read Seika’s mind again.
“You, my dear, are magical. Or rather, you possess the talent to wield magic when it’s given to you.”
Seika listened intently, nodding along. She didn’t get it at all, though.
“The real issue will be… how do we generate magic with this world being as mundane as it is?”
“Huh? Why would you want to generate magic?”
Seika blinked and looked at the man with a confused expression.
“Didn’t I tell you I can help you prevent tragedies like your own?”
***
Seika was all ears after that.
“How? How can I prevent those things from happening?”
The man showed a little smirk before he tapped his forehead.
“We turn an idea into reality. Quite literally, actually.”
As he pulled his finger away Seika could see a red spot.
“Uh? What do you mean?”
“The way we fought the Shadow while you were trapped inside… you saw?”
“Well, you let your friend over there do most of the work.”
Seika pointed to the woman who was still leaning against a nearby tree and did her best to ignore their conversation.
“Aside from that!”
“I did see… she was so strong and fast!”
He nodded, keeping enthusiastic eye contact with her.
“The two of us will be moving back to our world and travel to a few others at the end of the month. We need someone to keep an eye out for the monsters in our place. And since you can channel magic, you seem like the most likely candidate.”
He grinned – the red spot on his forehead had grown a little bit more and was now shining like a jewel.
“Would you want to protect this place for us?”
Seika didn’t hesitate. She clenched her fist and nodded.
“If I can do anything at all to keep these monsters away from innocent people, I’ll do it!”
“Good. Then all we need now is an idea to manifest the magic for you.”
The red spot had taken a triangular shape, and he groaned as he appeared to suffer from a headache.
“Just a little more. All we need is an idea… mind if I have a look at one of yours?”
He reached out a hand and Seika seemed unsure what to do – she held out her own and he took it.
“Hm… hm, yes, I see something.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
He closed his eyes as if his eyesight was distracting, then he let out a sigh of relief as that red, crystalline spot on his forehead came loose and fell into his open palm as a triangular crystal.
“Magical Girls, huh? A beautiful idea for a world so bereft of magic.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/CdWLhkc.png]
After the weird display of the wizard simply growing a crystal from his forehead, she was handed the red thing and taken to another rooftop, away from prying eyes. The wizard and his companion simply flew through the skies with their magic, leaving purple trails in their wake as he carried Seika in his arms.
While Seika clenched her fist around the crystal, she felt like she could hear something whispering to her.
“So you’re my partner? Nice to meet you!”
“Uhm… mister wizard? It’s talking to me. Like, in my head.”
He didn’t seem particularly fazed by Seika’s words.
“They tend to do that. Or they merge their personalities with yours while using them. And if you’re not careful, they overpower you and take control.”
His words were anything but reassuring to her. They finally landed on the rooftop where the wizard continued his explanations.
“Now, this crystal. The truth behind it is a bit more complicated, but you can treat it like a transformation item in the same vein as those Magical Girls you like so much.”
Seika looked at the crystal in her hand.
“You can make its power your own. As long as you really want it.”
The wizard gestured, raising his fist up in the air to demonstrate how she would achieve that.
“It’s a mental thing. I think it helps if you add some kind of movement or exclamation to it!”
“Like a command?”
“Something like that.”
Seika grabbed the crystal tight and closed her eyes. Then she stretched her arm towards the sky, shouting “Transform!” at the top of her lungs.
A moment passed, then two and three more and before long her entire face was red as nothing happened except her making a fool of herself.
The man in purple held his hands out in a calming gesture.
“No worries! It’s a very specific mental impulse. You need to feel it once and then it’s like… what’s the expression in this world? Like running a bicycle shop?”
“Oh dear, you were off by quite a bit. You have to feel it a little more in your chest! You just cramped your stomach and clenched your butt a little.”
“Shut up!” Seika told her crystal, her head now steaming hot. Then she tried again.
“Transform!”
And again. And again. And again.
It took roughly a day for Seika to manage it. This time as she yelled ‘Transform!’ she could feel something. A tingle, like her whole being was about to change.
“It think this is it!” She looked over to the wizard in purple, trembling with excitement.
“Good! Then try it again!”
“Finally! Get me out and let me breathe!”
The crystal’s words were a little bit concerning to Seika, but she did it nonetheless.
She raised the crystal high above her head and closed her eyes before shouting yet again.
“Transform!”
A bright light enveloped her. Her uniform simply dissolved into floating orbs of energy and was absorbed into her crystal, before it shot out beams of light that hit Seika’s exposed body in various locations, forming the basis of her Magical Girl outfit. A red corset and skirt, garter, tall boots and long, white gloves appeared one after the other before it finished by giving her a uniform jacket as a cape. Her hair grew out, glowing like a blazing fire and her eyes became sharp enough to see without aid as they glowed with an emerald shine.
As she emerged, she looked at the wizard.
“Uhm, did you see?” she asked timidly.
“It happened in a flash and your entire body was covered in light, so no. No one sees.”
It relieved her – then she felt it. A personality that wasn’t her own seemed to seep through every fiber of her being. It wanted to break through the surface and greet the world.
“Oh, finally! I thought I’d be stuck as a crystal forever.”
She flew. She ascended into the sky and a laugh came from her mouth. A happy, almost mad laugh as Minerva announced her birth in this world.
“Oh, finally! Hello, World! Welcome your savior, Minerva!”
She grabbed into the empty air and summoned a cane. She spun it in a circle a few times before she drew arcs in the sky, filling it with lightning, fire and ice, all intermingling and creating a spectacle.
She wanted to paint the night sky in the colors of her magic, but just as she was about to set out the wizard appeared next to her and slapped her on the back of the head.
The confusion gave Seika control over herself again.
“Ah, what?”
“This will be your first lesson: The crystal has a will of its own. It may influence the way you speak and how you approach problems, but it must never be in full control.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/CdWLhkc.png]
The lesson was much harder than Seika had anticipated. Keeping in control of herself in face of the crystal’s influence turned out to be an exercise she had to repeat for at least a week.
“So that name I shouted?” Seika questioned while transformed, attempting to steel her mind against the takeover.
“It’s what she has chosen, it seems. She is Minerva. I suggest picking the same name, plus something else. Maybe a color. How about Minerva Crimson?” the wizard answered her question. His friend was still with the two but hadn’t exchanged even a single word with Seika. She got the impression that the armored woman hated her for whatever reason.
“What happens if she takes over?”
“Then she is in full control until you turn back. And that can take quite a long time. Your physical body still continues to experience hunger, thirst and needs to sleep even if your Magical Girl body doesn’t. If she forgets to feed this body, it can have dire consequences.”
Seika shivered at the thought and concentrated even harder on pushing out Minerva.
The wizard got up and shook his head.
“Maybe try a different approach.”
“A different approach?” Seika tilted her head but didn’t dare relax her concentration just yet.
“Don’t shut her out entirely. Invite her in, like a guest. Merge with her partially. Retain control but co-operate.”
Seika blinked at that – she relaxed her resistance a little and closed her eyes.
If you can hear me… let’s share.
The response to her invitation was a warm feeling that spread over her body like an invisible person embraced her from behind.
Her hair swayed in a nonexistent breeze and she could feel power surging through her – in that moment she ceased being Seika and became Minerva Crimson proper – a hybrid of Seika’s and Minerva’s wills.
“Much better.” The man with the wizard hat stepped closer and clapped his hands, then he allowed himself to have a proper look at Minerva from all angles.
“Quite an unusual form. A lot of these elements seem influenced by you, the young girl, rather than her, the gemstone.”
He lifted the uniform jacket up, inspecting it.
“Are you into books, by any chance?”
Minerva nodded, turning to face him.
“I love books. Light novels and manga, mostly. I always go to mother’s library to read.”
“No wonder then that you wear a librarian’s uniform jacket from your world’s history, then.”
“Uh, is it?” Minerva looked at the jacket. She didn’t consciously give it this shape – and she didn’t know what period or even country this uniform was from.
The wizard meanwhile seemed satisfied and gestured for his companion.
“Next lesson: fight her.”
Minerva blinked – and the woman readied herself.
“Hey now, I just mastered merging with the crystal, let’s not be hasty!”
She protested, but the woman was on her in a fraction of a second. All she could do was to summon her cane sword and deflect the first strike of her spear. She didn’t have any experience with weapons whatsoever, but the warm presence that had merged with her being seemed well versed in it instead.
It was all she could do to prevent her torso from being skewered by the heart-shaped spear tip. The ring of metal meeting metal sounded through the entire street, and more than a few heads were turned as the two ascended into the skies.
Minerva was initially fully focused on defensive. Survival instincts led her to dodge and deflect rather than to counterattack. The armored woman in the meantime kept striking with one-handed thrusts of her spear.
After a while Minerva finally used her magic. She summoned a magic circle right in front of herself, deflecting the spear strike while using it as a wall to push herself away and build distance.
Icicles formed around her as she tapped into her magic, shooting straight for her assailant. The woman didn’t seem to care much – all she did was hold her shield in front of herself – icicles broke on its surface and even those that looked like they would miss her cracked on an invisible barrier extending from the shield.
Her counterattack was a swing of her spear, hitting Minerva in the stomach with the shaft and making her fly away at breakneck speed.
“Darling, make sure you’re not catapulting her towards the ground. We’re not here to destroy the city.”
“Ugh, I know!” she barked back at the wizard before she continued her pursuit.
The two of them turned into crimson and purple trails in the sky, circling each other, sometimes clashing. The red one attempted to use various magic like fireballs or lightning strikes to keep the purple one at bay but their difference in experience became more than apparent in this sparring match.
In the end Minerva was back on the roof, breathing heavily while covered in bruises and cuts after the wizard had declared their bout over.
“So, how is it?” He asked her with an enigmatic smile.
“It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.” Minerva answered truthfully, looking over her battered body.
“That’s quite right. While wearing your magic armor you’re much more resilient than any old human would be. You can shrug off hits that would kill them, you could even lose limbs and keep going. Once you transform back you will only have bruises to show for it. However, your crystal needs a rest period if your transformed form was too damaged, so don’t think it’s a free ticket out of a dismemberment in the middle of a fight.”
Minerva gulped.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
In that moment the heads of all three turned in the same direction – Minerva’s due to danger that she could sense far away, and she assumed that it was the same reason for the two travelers.
“You’re in luck, girl.” The wizard announced.
“It seems like you’ll have your official debut as a Magical Girl today.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/CdWLhkc.png]
The action wasn’t far away. It seemed to be a repeat of what had happened to Seika herself. A poor soul had been swallowed by a Shadow, presumably one of Seika’s spawns, and transformed into a Queen after finding a host with high affinity for magic.
This one had the shape of a giant female centaur and was flailing around after emerging from its pocket dimension, causing panic among the civilians nearby. Its gigantic hooves smashed cars and broke through the surrounding houses’ walls as it kicked out.
“There it is. Now listen closely, girl. You will first have to get close and feel where the poor soul trapped inside is located. After you’ve done that, you simply dismember the creature until you can get some breathing room to safely extract the person inside.”
The wizard explained what was to do in a dry tone, like a schoolteacher going over multiplication tables.
“Locate the person inside… and then don’t aim for that spot. Got it.”
“Attagirl. Now go save a poor soul from their fate!”
***
The centaur slowly got itself up into a standing position, letting out an inhuman shriek while doing so. It looked around and set its sights on the surrounding people, reaching down with one hand to snatch them up – in that moment it got hit by a red comet coming in at high speed.
The comet, naturally, turned out to be Minerva Crimson. The surrounding people stopped in their tracks and looked at the unfamiliar figure. Bewilderment spread as did uncertainty: was this friend or foe?
Minerva in the meantime pushed against the Centaur’s human torso and felt with her hand against the shadowy mass. She could feel a human inside. A child, judging by the size. As she let go, she flew upwards and gave the creature a heavy punch against its chin, dazing it to grab its jaw and make it look at her.
“Don’t worry! I’ll get you out of there! I promise!”
After that she got unceremoniously smacked aside by the creature’s right hand. Stopping herself just in time before she would have crashed into a house, she accelerated again, summoning her cane sword.
Magic flowed into the crystal on top of the cane and was released in a bright beam, hitting the horse part of the creature’s body in the center.
It roared in pain as a hole was blasted straight through it and attempted to flee by withdrawing into its pocket dimension – to any bystander it simply looked like it became translucent and vanished entirely.
“Quickly! Follow it! Use Reality Shift!”
The voice was still there, despite their essences merging. Minerva appreciated it either way.
“Reality Shift!”
With that, the Magical Girl vanished just as the creature had.
***
On a nearby rooftop the visitors were watching – no interference, that was their rule for this engagement. They had prepared this girl to operate on her own, so she must vanquish at least this level of creature on her own as well.
“She is adapting to it faster than anticipated. Good. We won’t be able to stay in this world for much longer. We must return for a little recharge, ere we turn into crystals for mortal use as well.”
He pulled back the sleeve of his robes on his left arm, inspecting the pillar of purple crystal underneath that had replaced all of his flesh.
The only reply was a nod from his companion, causing him to let out a long sigh and turn to face her.
“You’ve been awfully grumpy for a while now, my dear. Is anything the matter?”
She looked at him and responded with venom in her voice.
“What a nonchalant question, dearest husband of mine, after giving birth right in front of me. Whose was it?”
“Metis,” he answered bashfully, looking away.
“Didn’t you execute her?”
His wife raised an eyebrow.
“I did! I depleted her energy to turn her into a crystal and swallowed it! But it seems that she was still alive enough to plot something. I had the most terrible headache that persisted even after our son looked at it.”
“I don’t recall any of our sons holding dominion over medicinal arts.”
“Well, he gave me a knock on the head with his smithing hammer. It gave me some relief, but it must have brought that child to my forehead to let her pop out.”
“That’s stupid. You’re stupid! And Vulcan is stupid for agreeing to do it!”
He let out a long sigh, again.
“Anyway. Don’t hold it against the girl, please. Or rather, both the girls.”
“I am more worried that you are willing to leave her alone in this world.”
“Well, a child has to do some growing up. Battling against creatures that threaten this world as its sole guardian would make for a good lesson.”
“And the human girl? Should she really shoulder the burden alone?”
He couldn’t help but smile after that question.
“My, Juno! You are actually worried about the mortal. Seeing you bare your warm heart like this makes me fall in love with you all over again!”
His words seemed to have an effect on her – she turned her head away to hide a terrible blush as he stepped closer and embraced her from behind.
“We will keep an eye on her by dropping in from time to time, alright? Maybe she’ll need someone to keep her company after a while? I would be happy to have another child with you and let it grow up in this world.”
Jove’s wife didn’t respond. But he could see a smile on the corner of her mouth.
***
Inside the Shadow Queen’s pocket dimension Minerva let loose.
Now that she didn’t have to worry about buildings or civilians anymore, she summoned fireballs that she tossed near the centaur’s legs.
Explosions obliterated houses and some of the creatures’ hooves, making it fall sideways and flatten a house.
Minerva flew as close as she could to the torso, putting her hand on it.
She could feel the creature’s heartbeat, which was simply an amplified copy of the child’s heartbeat inside. With some focus she would be able to pull her out.
She closed her eyes and focused on the hand touching the creature’s chest – and just as she felt the child’s body on the inside floating closer to her, she was struck again, slapped aside and flying through three rows of houses before coming to a stop.
Lying on the asphalt of the road and coughing from the pulverized cement entering her lungs she rolled on her back, staring at the sky with her brow furrowed.
Note to self: get rid of the arms before attempting that again.
The creature limped over to her, its hooves beginning a slow process of regeneration. It raised its arm with a flat hand, intending on squishing her like a bug.
The hand came crashing down, but before it could make contact with her a silver trail cut through its wrist, making the hand fly away and crash into another house as it spiraled out of control.
Minerva had finally drawn her blade against this opponent and went to work. Coating the blade with pure magical energies amplified its cutting power a hundredfold, allowing her to slice right through the arms that were flailing and trying to catch her.
The left hand closed around her with the intent to squeeze her to death, only to be rewarded with separated fingers. She summoned a magic circle as a platform beneath her feet to push herself towards the centaur’s left shoulder and separated the arm before she had to dodge the right one trying to flatten her with its stump.
“This is so annoying!” She complained to no one but herself as she floated above the creature.
“Can’t I make the attacks stop for a bit longer?”
In that moment she remembered how she lost all senses at one point during her captivity.
She was immediately following up on her thought, speeding towards the creature. A bolt of lightning struck the Shadow Queen’s right arm, paralyzing it for the brief moment that she needed to separate the creature’s head from its body.
I’m sorry. You won’t be in the dark for long, I promise.
She immediately dodged the swiping arm, shortening it by a few meters with another swing of her cane sword, then she slowed down, floating in front of the centaur’s torso as it stumbled around, blind, deaf and confused, trampling a few more houses underneath.
She reached out, careful to not directly touch the creature’s chest to avoid alerting it to her presence and mentally pulled again. A golden glow appeared under the creature’s coal-shaded ‘skin’, and after some more mental strain Minerva was able to see a face.
A young girl appeared, younger than her. Her eyes were closed, and the shadowy liquid ran out from under her eyelids. A little bit more concentration on Minerva’s part and she saw her whole head. Her hair was stained black by the shadows contaminating it, but she was certain that it was a brighter color by nature.
With another mental yank the girl’s torso appeared and before long she simply fell out of the creature’s body, right into Minerva’s arms.
“There… I got you. You are safe now.”
Minerva built a good amount of distance between herself and the Shadow Queen before she charged up her cane’s crystal with fire magic. It vibrated and hissed as if it was close to exploding as she pointed it at the creature. With its magic host gone it had stopped regenerating, lying there uselessly with half a head.
As Minerva fired a gigantic, overcharged fireball at it, it had no means to defend itself. Buildings and the road itself were reduced to atoms in the giant explosion, with the Shadow Queen following – and with its death vibrancy returned to the world’s colors, the previously devastated scene was returned to normal, and the noise of gawking civilians chattering filled her ears as she saw various kinds of first responders picking over the now closed-off scene of the monster’s appearance.
She looked towards the rooftop where her teacher stood to observe her battle – just as she was about to fly towards him she saw him and his companion wave. They became transparent and simply vanished, just like the Shadow Queen had done before.
I guess that means that our lessons are at an end. And I’m now all alone.
“You still have me.”
That is true.
She floated downwards towards an ambulance and simply handed the girl to one of the paramedics, just in time for the girl to open her eyes and vomit black goo to the side.
She opened her eyes and made eye contact with Minerva – wide-eyed, curious, but also grateful. She expressed all this in a short moment with her deep blue eyes before she had to retch again.
“Let it all out. It’s nasty, right?” She reassured the girl.
All eyes were on her, making her feel a little uneasy. Finally, someone built up the courage to ask her.
“Who are you?”
She started to float up in the air, readying for her departure. Just before she took off, she turned towards the crowd and gave them a single wink. Then the crystal took control of her mouth.
“I am the Magical Girl Minerva Crimson and the avatar of wisdom! From now on, mortals, you are under my protection! Gyahaha!”