Chapter 12: Pleasantries

My wand. So I still had to go. But the wand. She said to get my wand. I didn’t… have a wand anymore. Not the practical kind, anyway. Should I still get the empty metal? No, that’s not what she’s looking for. I needed to explain.

“Um… the wand… I, um…”

The words weren’t coming out. Nightingale raised an eyebrow at me.

“What’s wrong? Is there problem with your wand?”

“No, that’s not it. I just don’t… no, um…”

I had no idea how to phrase this.

“You do still have your wand, right? I know I left it with you last night when-”

“-I have it. I have it, just, um… how do I put this…?”

“Could you just explain it to her?”

Silence. The god clearly didn’t care to help this go smoothly and Nightingale only looked more impatient as she stared at me. I just needed to tell her, but there was no good way to say this. Should I just show her then?

Before I had a chance reconsider, I stuck out my hand, palm up, and opened the eye. Shame washed over me, having exposed the very secret I’d spent all day hiding, and I turned my head to avoid her gaze. I could still see her through the eye though, and surprisingly, her expression didn’t change.

“I see, so you’ve already taken that step. That’s good. If you’re ready, then let’s go. We can find somewhere to transform on the way.”

‘Good.’ I wasn’t sure I believed it; I was disfigured. She didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic either. I didn’t say anything though, just nodded and followed her out the door. Nightingale began to explain today’s event as we walked.

“As I briefly mentioned before, you’ll be working with two other girls today; one red and one blue. The lords they serve are the ones most closely aligned with Shiquoth. You can consider them allies of a sort. They should be trustworthy.”

That didn’t sound very certain. Red and blue. Justice and tranquility… are obviously not what I’ll be dealing with. I wanted to ask, but I’d already been told enough times that the truth was off limits.

“We’ll be meeting them by the old church. It’s not an uncommon spot; the lords like to flaunt their prevalence, and it’s good to pick somewhere on the edge of town. From there you’ll be heading to a field on the eastern perimeter of the danger zone. Nice open space to spot any robots from.”

I looked at her. “Are you not coming?”

“No, I have my own duties to attend to. The girls will be experienced though. They’ll keep you safe. Just learn your role and they’ll handle the rest.”

“Can you tell me anything else about them? Who am I meeting?”

She shrugged. “No idea, the cults organized this. But it shouldn’t be anyone overly problematic. Just be careful not to get in the red girl’s way and it should be fine.”

So did she know anything or not? That last piece of advice seemed oddly specific, but I wasn’t about to pry.

“Here’s a good spot. It’s a shortcut and nobody will be watching.”

Nightingale pointed to an alleyway along the street and walked in when we got close. I guess this is where we would transform. She scanned each entrance for witnesses about half way through, and then shimmered into her magical girl form. I followed suit asking Shiquoth to let me do the same. My outfit shifted into Ravensong’s and I felt a little bit more energy flow through me, though that’s not to say I felt energetic. We emerged at the street on the other side and kept walking.

“This will be your first time walking openly as a magical girl. Most people will know not to bother us. If they do try, you can just ignore them. There’s a time and place for everything, and right now we have other business. Just don’t show off any catalysts… your eye.”

So I was right, it was shameful. Gross. Disgusting. Revolting. How could Nightingale stand to have so many? How could she… hurt herself like that? I shuddered to think about it. I looked down at my hand. Wasn’t I already becoming more like her? I didn’t want an answer.

We continued walking in silence. She must have been out of things to say, and I wasn’t in the mood to ask. Eventually, we arrived at the church. It was an old, rotting building without anyone to take care of it. Many people were quick to abandon the older religions when new gods came to our rescue. I don’t know how long the priest would have stayed while the congregation slowly dwindled, but I can only assume they were eventually called away. We sat on the steps and waited.

“One last thing” Nightingale said. “You might run into another group while patrolling. Unless their colors match your own, they aren’t friends. Be wary.”

I didn’t respond. That didn’t feel right, especially after I was saved last night, but I also knew there was tension between the gods - the lords. At least we were all human, so things could remain civil.

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Nightingale stood up and looked down the road. I followed her gaze and saw someone approaching. Not exactly a lot of pedestrians passed by here, and this girl’s bright red clothes set her apart. No, clothes wasn’t the right word, it was more like body armor. White swirls decorated the form-fitting outfit, and her auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail. Her second most intimidating feature was the sword, if you could even call it that. It looked like it was as tall as her and was similarly proportioned in width. It was divided into regular segments down its length, and she carried the massive blade, which could be easily mistaken for a club, casually with only one arm, leaning it against her shoulder. Most intimidating, however, were her eyes. The deep crimson rings looked as though their glare alone was enough to cut down anything she disliked.

This must have been the red magical girl. I hadn’t even met her yet, but already felt like I understood Nightingale’s warning.

As the girl got closer, however, Nightingale smiled and stepped forward. I followed behind her, though not with the same enthusiasm.

“Hello” Nightingale greeted. “You’re here to help train our new recruit, right? I’m Nightingale, it’s a pleasure.”

The red magical girl reached us now and stopped. She was probably half a foot taller than me, and from this distance I could clearly distinguish every crease of her well defined muscles, which almost seemed to pulsate with life.

She scanned Nightingale up and down, and then looked at me.

“And who’s the rude chick?”

I blushed at the accusation. She hadn’t introduced herself either, but I was the rude one?

“I’m… Ravensong. Nice to meet you.”

She scoffed. “Scarlet Crush. And don’t forget I’m doing you a favor here.”

“Yes” Nightingale cut in, “we appreciate that you would take the time to help. It’s very kind of you. I’m sure our continued cooperation will go a long way.”

They chose to be here. You owe them nothing.

Shiquoth didn’t seem to feel quite as cordially about this.

Scarlet Crush glanced around the area and then looked back at Nightingale.

“So the blue girl isn’t here yet.” She clicked her tongue.

“It is what it is” Nightingale replied. “That’s just how they are. I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

“Meeting times aren’t meant to be suggestions.”

I had no idea what the agreed time had been, or that there even had been one, but thinking about it now, it made sense. Scarlet Crush had only just arrived herself though, so either there was still time, or she had also been late. How early had Nightingale and I arrived? I pondered the meaning of time while we stood around in silence, Scarlet Crush tapping her foot and Nightingale smiling with only her mouth.

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One uncomfortably long silence later, a car turned down the road towards us.

“Took them long enough” Scarlet Crush grumbled.

Was the blue magical girl coming by car? Its dark blue color would certainly match.

We watched as another car of the same design and color followed behind it, and then around the bend came an extravagant, sky blue limousine with a final two escort cars trailing behind it. This was certainly beyond my expectations. The limo pulled up to the sidewalk, rearmost door and tinted windows even with us, and the other cars parked in formation around it. Women in dark sunglasses and navy suits stepped out of each car and assembled facing each other in two lines around the door while one of them rolled out a long blue carpet in the middle. The entourage stood at attention, hands folded behind their backs, while the limo driver stepped out of the vehicle, walking around the front, over to the end of the carpet, and then down its length to stand next to the door. Behind her, another woman had brought over what appeared to be a rectangular, ornate table with wheels, topped with a snow white cushion, and rolled it to the center of the carpet. The driven kneeled down and kissed the handle of the door, then stood back up, finally opened it, and leaned inside.

After a few moments of rummaging, she carried out in her arms what must have been the magical girl, then walked half the carpet’s length to set her down on the table. The entire group stomped once with their right legs, and then broke formation to return to their cars while the limo driver wheeled the girl over to us, then turned the table to face us horizontally and stood at attention.

“Ladies, I present to you Magical Girl Merino. With good faith, I will entrust her care to you.”

With that, the driver saluted, turned around, and returned to her vehicle. As the convoy departed, I looked down at the girl lying in front of us. She was sleeping.

She looked young, probably middle school age, with long blonde hair. Surprisingly, it’s wasn’t blue. She wore a long flannel nightgown, which was blue, with a fluffy white sheep pattern decorating it. Was that really her outfit? I looked down her body, and then noticed that the skirt was lying flat against the cushion. Her legs. She didn’t have any legs. I looked back up at her body, only to realize in horror that it wasn’t just her legs that were missing. Her arms were also gone, with only loose fabric sitting delicately across the pillow where they belonged. I stepped back in shock, trying to process what I was seeing. Her torso as well, it looked short, maybe half the length it was supposed to be. Was she missing that too, or was I just having trouble judging her proportions? This was a magical girl? How could she fight? How could she live like this? Suddenly, she stirred, turned towards me, and opened her eyes. She watched me with translucent blue pearls and smiled half a tired smile.

“Nice to meet you” she whispered.

I looked to Nightingale for help, but she simply nudged me to continue, so I turned back to the girl known as Merino.

“It’s… nice to meet you. I’m Ravensong. I heard you were… going to help me today?”

“That’s right” she yawned. “And who’s our red friend?”

The girl in question glared with an intensity that could shatter stone. “Scarlet Crush.”

“Alright, both of you please take care of me. I’m going back to sleep.”

And with that, she closed her eyes again, peacefully returning to her dreams.

Scarlet Crush, however, began cursing with unmatched fury and vehemence. “Of fucking course they drop their most useless piece of shit battery on me. Here I am, stuck on babysitting duty with a two-for-one deal of idiots. All that excess and ceremony just for more fucking baggage…”

Nightingale tapped me on the shoulder, and I looked at her only to be greeted with a face that was plainly relieved that none of this had anything to do with her.

“Like I said before” she explained, “these girls are highly experienced. I’m sure you can tell that with a glance at Scarlet, but Merino can help as more than just sheer combat power. She’ll support the rest of you. Just play nice and get through today. You’re first real team will be… less extreme.”

And before I could think of anything to say back, she had already left. I turned to face my two remaining caretakers, one still infuriated and the other still asleep. I was not ready for this.