Once she was over her headache, Mana put the letter in front of her and looked at it. She didn’t remember acquiring it, but then again, she didn’t remember getting that latest index either, thanks to the weird man sharing a Final Fantasy eidolon’s name getting her inebriated. Her mother was quite suspicious of her weird headache, insisting that they should go to the doctor – but she knew the second that someone found out she drank alcohol she would be in a world of trouble, so she wriggled her way out of it.
Shaking her head thinking about the possible punishments for boozing at her young age, she worked on opening the letter. The seal depicted a hand with multiple strings dangling from it, but she couldn’t discern any meaning from it, so she broke it and pulled out the folded sheets of paper.
‘Dear Witch Queen of the Infinite Library,
‘I have come to learn about your quest to unlock the secrets of the crystal tear which came into your possession. Trying to preserve the knowledge and culture of a dead civilization is a noble endeavor, so I shall help you.
‘However, nothing in life is free.
‘I’ve entrusted you with a chest, filled with worthless jewelry and baubles.
‘Furthermore, I’ve written down a coordinate. I’ve left another item at that place in your grand library. It will teach you the necessary spell for your task and contain a list of worlds and their items as well as spells which you shall use this new ability on.
‘Return to me with all the jewelry in that chest infused with magic – and I will grant you your wish.
‘-N.B.’
“So, she intends to send us on an errand,” mused Portal.
“N.B.?” Mana wondered. The B could stand for Broker, but she couldn’t puzzle together what the N would mean, then.
“Ah, doesn’t matter… Portal, can we go to that coordinate?”
Mana flipped to the final page, on which the broker wrote down nonsense.
“Of course, Mana.”
With a swift confirmation, Portal opened up one of its namesakes and Mana could look into the library – this one didn’t open into the doorway between two rooms, so she was suspicious. She poked her head through the opening and peeked to the left, then to the right. As far as she could tell, there was nothing unusual about this particular room of the library. Except the shelf in front of her. It was emptied out – though instead of the books being tossed into the abyss like the red-robed wizards did, the original contents were neatly stacked next to the shelf, as if to preserve the knowledge inside – on the off chance that it might contain something legible.
In their place a single tome and another letter graced the shelf. Mana grabbed them both without even stepping through the portal and pulled them into her room.
Another seal with a hand. Mana tore the letter open and saw a list of instructions. They weren’t places, but spell names, accompanied by references to pages of the last index Mana collected.
A few of them were accompanied by stars – the first of them being ‘Containment Field’. Mana furrowed her brow and flipped through the pages of the letter to see what the stars meant. She found her answer on the final page.
‘These are special spells that I must have. Bring one to me and I’ll partially unlock your crystal’s wisdom. – N.B.’
“Sounds like those would be the fastest way to unlock things step by step… but then we’d be left with all the small stuff.” Mana mused, scanning her list for things.
“Hm… Gungnir, Mjolnir. Berserker Rage. All those things lead to the same index with the same page.”
She pulled the index out and opened it to cross-reference, grinning as she recognized the place.
“Oh! That’s the place where Odin was.”
“Well, at least we’ll have some sort of contact, then.” Portal commented.
Mana nodded, then she looked at the tome she picked up.
“That’s not a library spell book.” She observed, turning it in her hands. The cover was an entirely different style from the uniform books of the library, with its script looking handwritten, rather than printed.
“Well, well, Mana! Looks like you’ll actually have to learn a spell now instead of getting used to the execution by commanding us books,” Portal said with a little chuckle, making Mana groan.
“Alright, alright, Portal. I’ll get on it. Sheesh.”
She began to study the spell, furrowing her brow as her young brain absorbed all the weird runes and instructions which made her head hurt.
***
Hours passed in Mana’s room, and she was as absorbed in her book as a top student would be in their more mundane studies. She took notes on a sheet of paper, flipping the pages of the heavy spell tome. As the final page flipped and the cover finally closed the book she stretched and let out a yawn, looking over her notes.
“So, I’ll have to locate a magic weapon or a spell that is being cast and have to catch it with this ‘trace’ spell in the exact moment… that seems a bit more complicated than I thought.”
Mana sighed and slumped over her desk – it was already the middle of the night, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to start her quest today.
She checked the letter again and furrowed her brow.
“This one says she wants two artifacts infused with ‘Portal’. I guess that’d be good practice. She even attached coordinates.”
“I’m ready whenever you are, Mana.”
“Right.”
Mana grabbed the chest she originally got from the Broker and turned it upside down – then her eyes widened. Golden rings fell out of it en masse – then bracers, amulets, a tiara, multiple small bars of pure gold – and finally, a bejeweled crown fit for a king.
Mana’s mouth dried out as she stared at the pile of treasure in front of her. Thoughts of pocketing the gold and selling it somewhere when she was old enough crossed her mind. To abandon this quest for a dead civilization’s knowledge and simply aim for living the easy life.
Her hand shook and she calmed it by grabbing herself by the wrist, then she shook her head.
“Right, which one of these would be best for holding a portal spell?”
“I think rings will suffice.”
“Right.” Mana grabbed two rings – for two spells, just like the Broker asked.
“Let’s give this portal a test first.” She extended her hand, and a swirling blue ring appeared in the air. From what she could see it ended in a castle. There were mighty stone blocks creating the walls, great glass windows and very comfortable looking sofas arranged around a fireplace.
“…guess she wants that for some kind of meeting?” Mana looked at Portal. If books could shrug, she was sure he would have done it in this moment.
“Right. Trace!”
It felt weird. And utterly intoxicating. Until this very moment, Mana relied solely on her books to cast spells for her. But this one! This one she cast herself and she could actually feel magic energies, her mana, being stirred and compelled to shape into a power beyond this world. She shaped a ball of blue energy in her outstretched hand, gently caressing it with her fingers, feeling the prickling sensation of the energies arcing between her digits and her spell. Now she was a real witch. And she wanted more.
She finally released the spell towards the portal. It engulfed the hovering circle, then it returned to her, hitting the golden ring she held outstretched, giving its embedded jewel an uncanny shine.
Mana repeated the process once more for the second ring – then she looked at the two rings in her hand.
“You seem to like your new spell, Mana.”
“Oh, I love it. I want to learn more magic… more magic that doesn’t rely on books!” Mana grinned from ear to ear, putting her hands on her hips.
“Then keep traveling worlds. Or… keep dealing with that Broker person. I have the feeling she will always have work for you. And will always offer you exactly what you wish for in exchange.”
Mana looked to Portal and pondered his words for a while.
“I’ll think about it. But for now…” she let out a long yawn and fell on her bed.
“It’s too late to think about any of that. Goodnight, Portal.”
“Good night.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/xVo0VeL.png]
???
***
Mana left her portal and looked at the sight in front of her. She was back in the world labelled ‘Yggdrasil’, without immediately taking another portal to a different place. It would be much harder for Marisa to guess that she was visiting now, some time after already acquiring the index.
She saw an impressive fortification in front of her – giant blocks of stone, taller than her, were perfectly stacked together and formed a wall taller than some buildings she’s seen in Tokyo, with no imperfections or gaps. A gateway was in the middle of it, barred by a heavy, wooden door. On top of it she saw ten stones that looked out of place – like someone took over the perfect building project at the very end and did a sloppy job finishing it.
“Now I have to find Odin,” Mana sighed, before her thoughts were interrupted by the creaking of the giant door – it swung open towards the outside, revealing a marvelous long hall behind it, with its roof tiled with shields. The person who opened the gate was Odin himself, who let out a hearty laugh and threw his arms wide as he saw Mana.
“Young seidrkona, Mana! Are you of whole mind again? That mead did appear to go to your head awfully fast!”
Mana blushed a little and stepped towards him – letting out a squeak, not dissimilar to a dog toy as the tall man gave her a bear hug for a greeting.
He let go of her again and she stumbled in place for a moment, rearranging her hat before she looked back up at him, grinning.
“Yep! The Witch Queen of the Infinite Library is no longer drunk!”
“Very good, young seidrkona! I have foreseen your coming! Come along!”
He turned around and Mana had to enter a little jog to even keep up. Two dogs ran towards the two of them from the hall – only as they got closer Mana realized that the hall was much larger than she initially assumed – and that those weren’t dogs, but wolves, surpassing the young girl in height.
“Geri! Freki! No, stop! Be nice to our guest!” Odin shouted as the two tackled Mana to the ground and started to mercilessly slobber all over her face. As they finally let up Mana stared at the sky, pondering if she should be disgusted or thankful that the animals seemed to like her as a friend and not as food.
Now she finally saw this world’s sun – a golden glow, hurrying along the sky. As she squinted her eyes, she thought she could make out the shape of horses and a carriage – and half hidden by the sky’s blue there were two canine shapes following it.
This world is so strange.
She grabbed Odin’s hand as he offered it to her and got back up.
“Forgive them, they can get overly excited when they see me with new friends. Be assured that they aren’t ravenous. They are well fed during Valhalla’s many banquets.”
“That’s reassuring.” Mana replied with a flat voice as she hurried along the tall man once again, this time accompanied by the playfully panting wolves.
“So, according to my visions you came here today to get a look at my spear, my magic and my son’s hammer,” Odin suddenly said and turned towards Mana.
The girl blinked and nodded as she rummaged through her pockets and pulled out the letter.
“Well, it says… Mjolnir and Gungnir and… Berserker Rage. Sound familiar?”
Odin nodded, stroking his grey beard as his single eye remained on Mana.
“Gungnir is my spear. Mjolnir is my son’s hammer and the Berserker Rage… is a spell I bestow upon the mightiest warriors who are about to die in my name, so they might kill and maim in the thousands before they shall join us in Valhalla.”
Mana shuddered.
“Spells like that exist?”
“Well of course, young seidrkona! For I am Sigtyr! The God of War!” The man bellowed in a boisterous voice.
“You didn’t say that name before!” Mana complained.
Odin let out a hearty chuckle.
“Young seidrkona, if I listed off every one of my names in greeting, I’d never get anything done.”
***
After they entered the large hall, Mana saw a veritable army of specters. Men, wearing chainmail and helmets sat at innumerable banquet tables, their chairs fashioned from breastplates. Each and every one of them were translucent, like ghosts.
“The valiant dead.” Odin explained to her, and she nodded along.
He walked to the end of the hall, which took a good while to reach. The two wolves hurried ahead and sat down next to a throne, staring down the length of the hall. A spear leaned against the wall and Odin grabbed it, presenting it to Mana as he held it in both hands.
“This is it,” he announced.
“Gungnir!”
The name thundered through the hall from the mere act of Odin speaking it, and no few heads turned their way.
Mana looked at it for a while – she could feel a presence from it which was almost suffocating.
“May I trace it with my magic?” She asked, just in case.
“That’s what you’re here for. And what I’ve seen lying ahead in the future. Do go ahead, young seidrkona.”
Mana nodded and fished one of the pure gold bars out of her robe, holding it on the palm of her left hand before she focused her magic into her right. The blue orb of energy appeared again, and Mana was filled with the ecstatic feeling of channeling her own magic. She extended her hand and saw the spell encasing the spear before the energy returned. She held out the gold bar and witnessed it changing its shape into a long handle – but nothing more.
“…did it work?” Mana looked at the handle skeptically.
“It did.” Odin confirmed, returning Gungnir to its resting place.
“Son! Thor, come here!” his voice now boomed through the halls.
After a short while of waiting a red-headed man appeared, with a similarly red, braided beard. He held a one-handed hammer by his side and eyed Mana up and down – she couldn’t quite interpret his expression, but she got the feeling that he didn’t hold much respect for her.
“This is a friend. A young seidrkona called Mana from a world beyond Yggdrasil’s branches. She was so kind to bless me with company and stories while I performed my sacrifice,” Odin introduced her.
The red-headed man nodded towards her after the introduction – a little bit friendlier than before.
“I’d like you to show Mjolnir to her,” Odin continued.
“Why?”
Mana saw Odin’s eyebrow twitch as his son questioned his order.
“She is on a journey and I promised to offer her some assistance. But for that she will have to see your hammer.”
“Hm, is that so?” the redheaded man looked at Mana again, suspiciously.
“Do I have to?” he asked.
“Yes,” Odin replied and the two locked eyes. No words were exchanged as they stared at each other for a good while, but Mana could feel static electricity building in the air around them, like one wrong twitch from either of them would result in a calamity that could swallow the entire hall. Finally, the red-maned man grunted and held out his hammer.
“Make it quick, then.”
“Thank you!” Mana added quickly before she pulled out a gold bar and worked her spell once more, holding another handle in her hand.
“Let’s go and saddle up on Sleipnir, then.” Odin said after dismissing Thor.
“Oh? Where are we going?” Mana asked curiously.
“To Midgard.”
“The one with the Mako reactors?”
“The words coming out of your mouth confuse me sometimes, young seidrkona…”
image [https://i.imgur.com/xVo0VeL.png]
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Mana’s eyes went wide as the two rode on top of the grey, eight-legged steed. The ground it rode on was literally a rainbow with red flames burning on its surface.
“Be careful not to fall off Sleipnir here, young seidrkona!” Odin warned her.
“The Bifrost burns any men but us Aesir and Vanir!”
Mana didn’t reply and simply held on to the giant man’s back as she looked at the surreal landscape in front of them. They were approaching a planet, so far away it appeared like an orb in front of them – but it approached rapidly, a testament to the horse’s speed. They were descending through the thick foliage of the large tree, with the ocean and the continents below coming into view as well.
Before long, they broke through clouds as they entered the floating orb’s own atmosphere – and a little later still they were witness to a great battle below.
One side rained arrows on a much smaller force which huddled behind a shield wall. It held, but the warriors huddling behind their shields needed to remain in place as twice their numbers advanced on them.
“What are they fighting about?” Mana asked.
“Satisfaction between nobles, most likely,” Odin answered dryly.
“But I am not here for the politics.”
Mana followed the battle – bit by bit the people huddling behind the shield wall were driven into a corner – and finally the fatal mistake happened: they broke formation. The very moment their shields stopped interlocking they were easy targets for arrows, spears and swords. Men died, screams filled the air – but there was one man who stood his ground, even as he was pierced by half a dozen arrows. He fought on and on.
Odin’s voice boomed now, carrying over the battlefield.
“He shall go to Valhalla! But only after his enemies pay their due in blood.”
He pointed his finger at the dying warrior who had just fallen on one knee, about to pass out from his injuries. Odin’s gesture was accompanied by crimson magic energies that shot towards the man, swirling around him.
“Now, young seidrkona. Claim your copy of my spell! And then watch!”
Mana nodded, pulling a bracer out of her robes and casting the trace spell on the man as he let out a howl like a wild animal. The gemstone on the bracer shone with magic energies as Mana watched the man with wide eyes.
He stood up, discarding his shield and spear as he picked up two axes. Without hesitation he jumped into the ranks of his enemies. Limbs and blood went flying in every direction, and Mana was not sure if her young eyes were supposed to see such carnage.
In the end no one was left alive save the dying man who raised his axes to the sky and let out a victorious shout before he collapsed.
“He will sit at the table with the rest of us before long. The Valkyries are already on their way.”
Mana nodded in silent amazement, then she stowed her bracer.
“I shall put you down somewhere safe so you can return to your world, young seidrkona. It’s always a delight to have your company! Don’t feel shy to come around again!”
image [https://i.imgur.com/xVo0VeL.png]
June 2024
***
Mana crossed off a few more items from the letter as she entered her bedroom. Last week she celebrated her 14th birthday, so her time in the library suffered a short break. She tossed a few rings into the box. This time she found a fireball tome in the library, together with a jump and brake spell which interacted well together. Magic circles that could serve as platforms in the air were also added to her repertoire and copied onto rings. Of course, she knew that picking up tomes would empower Marisa as well, but at this point she had barely another choice.
“It’s not that late yet, Mana. Want to try another world?” Portal spoke up.
“Hm… I think I want to try for one with a star. What was that one called again? ‘Containment Field’?”
“Yes. And it points to a coordinate we haven’t visited yet.”
Mana nodded and opened her index, locating the entry pointed out by the Broker’s letter.
“Thirram.” Mana read the entry, then she let Portal take in the coordinates.
“I wonder what kind of place it is?” she mused, as Portal already opened a gate for her.
“Only one way to find out, Mana. Step through whenever you feel ready.”
Month 3, Year 34 of Chief Technocrat Castor’s Rule
***
Mana found herself inside a large, cubic room. There was some sort of control room with large, downwards tilted windows just under the ceiling. Inside the cubic room was a smaller cube of purple energy which she stood inside of, with random junk for company.
“Interesting. This is a little off from where the portal should have opened, but we’re on Thirram, alright.” Portal commented.
“As long as we’re in the right place,” Mana replied.
The floor was littered with random objects. Stuffed animals, soccer balls, baby cribs, several beverage cans of different brands she didn’t recognize, a park bench, she even saw something resembling Gunpla in here.
In the middle of the purple cube was a construct that looked like an antenna – it emitted visible blue airwaves in a regular interval and on top of the cube she saw something purple emitting a shine as well as the energy field itself.
She kneeled down next to one of the stuffed animals, eyeing it curiously and extending a hand…
“Don’t touch anything!”
The voice boomed through speakers mounted in the room’s corners and Mana flinched back, landing on her butt. She looked up to the control room and a stern looking woman wearing a lab coat and glasses looked down at her.
“How did a child get into the containment field?!” she demanded to know, then she turned around and shouted something at people behind her – these words Mana couldn’t hear. Apparently, she had muted her microphone.
Two more people appeared, a large man, similarly bespectacled, and a smaller woman stared at monitors in front of them. They frantically exchanged words with one another before Mana raised a hand.
“Can you hear me?”
The scientists looked down at her and exchanged looks, then the glasses woman spoke again through the speakers.
“We can. How did you get in there?”
“Through a portal I made myself. I have a question.”
More confused looks between the scientists.
“What is it?”
“Is that up there the thing that makes the containment field?”
Mana pointed at the purple glow above the cube trapping her.
“It is. Why?”
“Thank you.” Mana pulled the crown out of her robes and pointed her right hand at the purple glow.
“What are you doing?! You can’t interfere with the- “
Mana didn’t stop and shot her magic at the item. The blue glow of her spell embraced the entirety of the cube-shaped containment field and returned, infusing the crown with magic. She grinned as she held the magic item in her hands.
“There we go. I won’t bother you any further! The Witch Queen of the Infinite Library bids farewell to- “
Mana stopped. She was fairly certain she gave the mental command for Portal to open a gate out of here, but none appeared. She looked inside her sleeve at the book.
“Portal, I told you to open a gate back home.”
“I… I can’t, Mana. Something is interfering.”
She looked back up at the device and the purple cube and let the name ring through her head once more: containment field.
“Ohhhh.” Mana slapped a hand on her forehead, then she turned towards the scientists.
“I think I’m stuck.”
“Oh, really?” came the snarky reply from the control room.
“Can you get me out?” She asked.
“We’re working on it. Again: don’t touch anything!”
Mana nodded and sat down on the floor, looking around. The weird antenna, the random objects, something about this place felt off. She was bored, so she kept asking questions.
“So what’s with all the random things in here?”
The head scientist, the woman with the glasses looked at Mana before she gave the smaller woman to her side an annoyed nod. Seemed like she was less important to what they were doing and could take the time to explain.
“Uhm… all of those items… they are mimics.”
Mana looked around again, now a little more concerned than before.
“We don’t know where exactly they come from. Sixteen years ago, the first one arrived and swallowed like… twenty people before we figured out what was going on and managed to kill it.”
Mana nodded along. ‘Sixteen years ago’ seemed to be a constant for every world. As Portal originally told the tale, barriers between worlds weakened, which resulted in the Kawaguchi incident and her own odd hair color from leaking magic energies.
“This facility was built to lure them in and contain them before annihilating them. Whenever something strange appears that’s not of our dimension, it’s being redirected in here by the dimensional antenna and then it can’t leave.”
Mana looked at the construct in the middle of the cube.
Ah. So that’s how I landed inside the cube.
***
Mana kept waiting for the scientists to come up with a solution and before long she started pacing back and forth.
“We think we might have a solution, but we need approval from the supervisor,” the bespectacled woman announced.
“Ah, there he is!”
Mana stopped and looked up to the control room, eagerly awaiting the moment she could return and hand this crown over to the Broker.
A tall man stepped into the room with all the others turning to look his way. He looked down at Mana once, then he barked his questions at his subordinates.
“What kind of mess is this? Why are there children in the containment field?”
“We’re so sorry! She suddenly appeared! It appears there are people out there who can dimension travel just like the mimics! With just a bit of fine-tuning we should be able to…”
Mana’s mind suddenly caught on to something weird he said.
Children. Plural. She didn’t like that. Not at all. Not one bit.
***
Mana turned around and was faced with Marisa, who immediately tried to snatch the crown out of her hand. A quick cast of Barrier deterred her, making her grin maniacally at Mana.
“Mistress! I finally found you!” she shouted.
“Give me that crown, mistress! You don’t need it! And without it, Arisu will never be born! My older self told me so!”
“Is that what you’re after?!” Mana shouted, backing away from the redhead. She had to avoid stepping on the various items in the room and almost tripped – then her back hit something hard. A pane of energy, just like Barrier. It was one cast by Marisa.
“Of course. She steals your love from me, mistress. So, unless I get rid of her, I have no hope of ever becoming one with you!”
Marisa closed the distance between the two quickly – and Mana, desperate to escape her, hit her with Blast.
Marisa’s body sailed backwards and rolled across the floor until she touched a doll – at first Mana thought it would grow teeth and attack her, but Marisa simply vanished.
“Girl, what did you do?! You just killed her!” She heard complaints from the speakers and turned around in a panic.
“I didn’t know! I thought mimics would like... grow teeth and attack? She would be able to deal with that!”
She looked back at the doll – moments passed and suddenly, Marisa emerged again, while the doll crumbled into flakes of ash-like shadow, blowing away on a nonexistent breeze.
“That was not very nice, mistress…” Marisa growled in a low tone.
“Trying to get me eaten by living shadow…”
Marisa gestured for a blast which catapulted a ball into the air, then she blasted it toward Mana, hitting her in the face with it.
Mana felt the pain shoot through her and something wet on her upper lip. A single touch confirmed that her nose was bleeding from the impact, but as she looked up, she was even more confused.
She was inside the containment field - but none of the toys nor Marisa were here with her. All the colors of her surroundings lost a good bit of saturation, and nothing existed beyond the containment field – all that greeted her beyond was a white void.
She turned around as she heard a slithering noise, then a shriek as two large white eyes stared at her and a giant maw extended from a large body of shadow.
Mana’s eyes widened and with a scream she made use of her new jump spell, ascending to the top of the containment field, where she soon sat perched atop a magic circle to take in the situation.
The creature below was made of shadow and shaped like a Tsuchinoko. A snake head sat on top of a fat body, and it looked at her hungrily, from alabaster eyes with snake teeth extending from its maw.
“What in the- “ Mana started, but it appeared that not only its shape was like a Tsuchinoko’s. It jumped once, then it jumped again midair, opening its maw to try and chomp down on her. Mana dodged by undoing her platform spell, landing on the ground with the brake spell she picked up together with Jump. The creature smashed into the ceiling and stuck to it, turning its head towards Mana.
Mana had enough and stretched out her hand, calling to one of her books.
“Fireball!”
With a single shot the creature exploded and the weird place she was trapped in vanished, bringing her back to the spot where she had been hit by the ball in the first place.
She found herself pinned against Marisa’s barrier, with the girl holding her arm to Mana’s throat, choking her.
“Ahhh! Of course, my beloved mistress would defeat such a weak little creature without issue! It makes me fall in love with her even more than I have before!”
Mana fought to breathe, her legs kicking, hitting Marisa, though not hard enough to get her to let go of her.
For the first time since she summoned Marisa and the girl tried to merge with her, Mana felt afraid. Afraid of Marisa’s obsession. Afraid of what she would be capable of. Afraid of being hurt by her in the name of her ‘love’.
The pressure on Mana’s throat let up and she was pinned against the barrier by her wrists, which Marisa held– just as she took a deep breath, she found herself gagged, as Marisa’s lips were pressed against her own. Her eyes widened and she struggled even harder, trying to throw her clone off of her, but she didn’t let up. She kept going and tears welled up in Mana’s eyes.
After what felt like an eternity, Marisa finally let go of her and gave her a diabolic grin as she grabbed Mana’s chin.
“Now, even if that homewrecker from the future survives, she will never have your first.”
Mana used her now free hand to slap Marisa across the face, then she leveraged both her legs to push her off herself, tears streaming down her face as it dawned on her what Marisa just stole from her.
“I hate you! You’re the worst! And I hate even more that you look like me!”
Marisa growled and rubbed her cheek, propping herself up again before she raised a hand.
“I’ll have to teach you a lesson, then… mistress.”
She released a fireball that crashed into the cube’s ceiling, destroying whatever it was that projected the containment field.
“What did you do?!”
Mana could hear the voice of the head scientist screaming at them through the speakers as alarms started blaring all across the room.
“Containment breach! Containment breach! All staff evacuate immediately! Extermination squad is en route! Containment breach!”
The items all around the room vibrated violently as if they could feel that they were no longer trapped. Some of them simply vanished in what looked like puffs of pitch-black smoke, others transformed into slithering masses of shadow that moved towards the wall under the control room’s windows and climbed the walls. Other mimics stayed put, keeping their shapes.
Marisa used Mana’s distraction to her advantage and made a portal appear under the witch. She fell through it, together with a doll and Marisa, who jumped in right after her.
June 2024
***
She didn’t know where exactly she was as her head hit relatively soft ground. There were some trees around her, and it looked like she landed in some greenery with a mesh fence on one side, and a residential road on the other. It was a small park somewhere in Tokyo. She saw the stars above and heard the clack of the doll that fell through the hole with her landing beside her before Marisa came into view, grabbed her by the collar and punched her.
“I will make you see how misguided you are, mistress!” Marisa shouted as Mana’s vision blurred from the punch to her cheekbone.
“I will make you see the error of your ways! I will make you love me!”
She tossed Mana to the ground and repeatedly hit her with Blast. Mana screamed as her small body was hammered against the soil over and over, slowly cratering it. She finally managed to erect a barrier to protect herself, but the pain all across her body made her ball up and sob, unable to fight back.
“Crying after telling me how much you hate me? Are you trying to get me to stop out of pity?” Marisa shouted at her, with her face contorted in some kind of twisted parody of an angry Mana.
Unable to assault Mana with her turtling behind a Barrier spell, Marisa summoned another Portal on the ground, and Mana fell into yet another world.
Period of Calm Skies, 1477 in the Era of Plunder
***
Mana fell into an abundance of soft sand. She looked around, panicking, not certain where she had landed now and when Marisa would attack again. All around her was a crystal-clear blue ocean, with various small islands dotting the horizon. She could make out the shape of sailing ships in the distance, but right now she had bigger problems. She patted herself down, feeling the crown still on her. If she created a portal to the Broker’s place now, she could hopefully shake off Marisa and -
She didn’t get to finish that thought – Marisa appeared out of a Portal behind her and grabbed her robes, dragging her along. Mana wanted to fight back, but every single time she tried to move her limbs, pain shot through her entire body. She could do nothing as Marisa tossed her into the waters, closed her hands around her throat and held her down.
She saw the cruel expression of her clone who kept her down with an iron grip. The rest of Mana’s body was pinned down by Marisa’s weight and the pain it caused her bruised body made her scream, letting out most of the air she still had in her lungs.
The struggle continued for the next few seconds, with Mana flailing her limbs and kicking her legs.
Mana managed to shoot off multiple blast spells to try and get Marisa off her, but all of them missed their mark.
She finally stopped struggling as her vision faded.
***
She felt a burning in her lungs and lips pressed against her own.
Mana’s eyes shot wide open, and she rolled to the side, coughing up sea water from her lungs and taking deep breaths. Her vision was blurry, but as she rolled on her back, she saw Marisa sitting next to her. The clone was crying. She reached out for Mana with shaky hands, sniffling and sobbing.
“Thank goodness! Thank goodness you’re alive! I didn’t… I didn’t mean to! I didn’t want to! You saying that you hate me just made me so angry that I…!”
Marisa stammered and continued her sobbing apologies. Mana didn’t respond. She just looked at her clone with tired eyes, realizing that now Marisa was truly her clone; immature, with too much power for her age, breaking down when things get serious after all.
She had no control over being born like this, and somewhat, Mana pitied her.
But still…
***
Marisa choked mid-sentence, and her endless flow of sobbing apologies came to an end. She backed away from Mana for a moment and looked at her chest, at the tail of an arrow which stuck out. Another look towards Mana confirmed that she had weakly raised an arm and pointed a finger at her clone to cast the spell. The crying child vanished from Doppelgänger’s face and contorted once more into anger, before she collapsed on her back.
Mana’s arm fell back on the ground and she fell unconscious, but Portal worked a spell to get her out of here – to someone who could help her.
image [https://i.imgur.com/xVo0VeL.png]
Marisa, two years older, stepped onto the sandy shores of the desert island. She saw her younger self with an arrow stuck in her chest, currently with her eyes closed. As she stepped closer, the younger woman woke up and grabbed her leg – she couldn’t speak up, not with the steel penetrating her lungs, at least. But the older one knew what she wanted to say. She had been in this exact situation one and a half years ago, after all.
“Shush,” she told her younger self, casting a healing spell as she pulled the arrow out of her chest.
Younger Marisa groaned, then screamed as the metal left her chest until the pain faded – then she stared vacantly into the sky.
“I failed… why… why does she hate me so?!”
The elder one shook her head and caressed the younger one’s forehead.
“Instead of focusing on your task to steal the crown you let your love for our mistress overwhelm you. I understand. I did the same.”
The younger one turned her head towards her.
“If I just fail the same way… is it pointless what we do?”
“No,” said the elder with a little smile.
“We only need to succeed once during all the chances to change the future we’re given. They are the ones who have to succeed every single time to stop us. Tenacity will win us the day.”
Moon of the Light Elves, 1067 AR
***
Mana felt oddly warm. The pain wasn’t radiating through her body anymore. It was replaced with a soothing feeling. She opened her eyes – she found herself on a feather bed and saw a blue magic circle spinning in the air to her right. Behind it a woman kneeled, dressed in black and white robes. Her gold-blonde hair was tied into a bun and her ears were long and pointy. Her eyes were closed in concentration as she held out her hands. She was definitely the one working this magic on her. Healing magic, Mana concluded from the way her body didn’t hurt anymore.
A person stepped forwards and put her hand on the elf’s shoulder.
“That’s enough. Give us some privacy, please.”
The woman wore a hood, and her eyes were hidden by shadows – the elf nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“You’re the Broker?” Mana asked in a hoarse voice.
“That I am. But…”
She pulled off her hood and revealed her face. She was a beautiful woman, with silver hair which fell over her shoulders and ruby red irises. Her eyes were sharp and probably looked at everything and everyone with a calculating expression most of the time – but this time they only expressed regret. She leaned in and pulled Mana into a hug – it felt warm, motherly even.
“I’m so sorry. A child like you should never be exposed to such dangers or such pain.”
Mana was dumbfounded – a motherly hug was the last thing she expected from someone she was doing business with.
“It’s alright.” She managed to say.
The Broker took a deep breath and withdrew from the hug, examining Mana with one more concerned look, but the young witch looked at her with determined eyes.
“I have your crown with the containment field spell. Our deal still stands, yes?”
The Broker blinked in surprise, as if taken aback for a few seconds, then she nodded, and the corner of her mouth rose in a little smirk as she put her hood back on.
“If you are fine and ready to get back to negotiations, then be my guest. We’ll talk in the main room.”
With that she stepped outside, letting Mana get her bearings.
***
Mana followed after a few minutes, finding herself in the small hovel she visited the first time, though her memories were extremely blurry. Three men stood by the walls and gave her angry looks.
Did I do something?
“Never mind them. Have a seat, Witch Queen.”
The Broker gestured towards the chair in front of her table.
Mana nodded and sat down in front of her, reaching into her robes and pulling out the crown. She placed it on the table and pushed it over towards the Broker, who immediately inspected it.
“Wonderful!” she exclaimed with a wide smile on her lips.
“As promised, I’ll unlock a part of your bauble. Do you have it?”
Mana reached to the side and a portal to her bedroom opened. She pulled the tear out of her desk drawer and presented it to the enigmatic woman in front of her.
“Now which part to unlock… any wishes?”
Mana shook her head. She was happy to get anything out of this – and determined to get it all. The order didn’t matter to her.
“Let’s start with music, then.”
The Broker rummaged through a drawer behind her and produced another gemstone.
“I’ll copy all music into this gemstone and teach you a simple spell to access it – and transfer it to more… modern storage techniques if you ever feel like it.”
Mana’s tired eyes followed the Broker’s movements – thin blue lines of energy formed between the tear and the new gemstone. It didn’t take long. The Broker handed Mana a sheet of paper containing the peculiarities of the spell needed to access the information on the gemstone.
Mana took the gemstone and didn’t even wait – she cast the spell and decided to play a random piece of music stored on it.
It was a symphonic orchestra – though all the instruments sounded a bit different than they would on Earth. Everything had a feeling like it was underwater. And yet, at that moment, it was the most beautiful music she had ever heard. A last echo of long dead people – billions of souls gone back to the great cosmic sleep – all counting on her.
“Was it worth the pain?” the Broker asked her.
“Yes.”
***
Mana prepared to leave but turned around once more.
“Can I ask a question?”
“One question and I’ll answer it. You’ve earned that by collecting one of the more important treasures.”
Mana nodded and thought it over once more before she posed her question.
“What does the N in your signature stand for?”
“Nicola.”
The answer came without hesitation or squirming to keep her personal details a secret. It shattered Mana’s assumption about the second letter, though. ‘Nicola Broker’ made no sense.
“What’s the B for, then?”
“My, Mana… that’s a second question,” the Broker responded with a sly smile.
“Work hard and the next time I’ll let you know.”
June 2024
***
An abandoned doll lying in the grass of Kyunomikawa Ryokuchi Park in Ota started to vibrate. It changed its shape into a slithering shadow, which crawled into various directions, as if unsure of its current location. It then changed into the shape of a park bench – slightly out of place for people who knew the park in and out, but definitely enough to trick the eye of a casual visitor.
Its presence didn’t remain undetected though. After only a few hours three girls in frilled dresses and their bear-faced cat mascot arrived at the scene.
Haruna, Sarina and Rei counted to three before all of them touched the bench at once, hoping to banish the threat inside…