Chapter 14: Hegoagoach

Hegoagoach.

Lord Hegoagoach.

I was being addressed by a god.

So the Lord of Indulgence has deigned to greet us. Do not feel honored. Do not call them by name. Do not acknowledge their presence.

I was supposed to ignore it? This? Fervent Feast was speaking in place of the ethereal deity, and I had to ignore it? Act like it wasn’t talking directly to me? What would happen when I did? Wouldn’t it be angry with me? For now, I looked away, staring at the grass as though it were the most interesting thing in the world.

“I’m glad to see that you’re still alive. You can thank my maiden for saving you last night. In fact, would you like to arrange a meeting?”

The orange maiden argued for your death. On their order. You have nothing to thank them for.

I… wasn’t sure about that. Her team still worked together to rescue me, so shouldn’t I still thank them? At the very least, it would make sense to speak with the other girls. But I couldn’t say as much. I knew by now what it meant to disobey Shiquoth.

“Come on, talk to me. I want to be friends. There’s no need to be shy. Here, just look at me. I’m not scary am I? I promise I won’t bite.”

The god started laughing to itself; but rather than a cheerful giggle, the strained sound created an unpleasant cacophony. I could only imagine how Fervent Feast must have looked. All that came to mind was her teeth. Rows and rows of razor sharp teeth capable of crushing bone and tearing flesh. I uncomfortably shifted my weight to the right.

“I hope you all know how rude you’re being. If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine, but you could at least say so. It’s not hard, just say it. ‘Lord Hegoagoach, I don’t like you, so please don’t talk to me.’ Like that. Easy, right?”

Do not even consider it.

Despite being the one telling me not to ignore the god, Shiquoth had plenty of comments on the matter. Not that it counted as a conversation, with one of the entities speaking solely in my head, but it still struck me as a double standard. I had to wonder if the Lord of Despair really had my best interest in mind. Not that I envied Fervent Feast, but she at least seemed happy, right? Then again, so did Merino, yet by no means did I think she had it better. They were both different, perhaps, but not better.

“Is this… normal?”

I had to ask. Would other gods try to talk to me like this? Would it be frequent? Would I be left at a loss each and every time? I had no idea, so I had to find out. That way, I could prepare myself.

The Orange Lord plays with their maidens like dolls. It is revolting. Stay away from them.

For once, I was in agreement with Shiquoth.

“So you’re really just going to ignore me. Why, because the Black Lord said so? You don’t have to do everything they say, you know. Besides, don’t you want to be happy? I can assure you that the Lord of Despair won’t help with that. I, on the other hand…”

As if rampant hedonism is a way to live. The Lord of Indulgence is truly the most thoughtless of the lot. Do not fall for their empty promises.

As the blissful god rambled on, it was getting harder and harder to pretend they weren’t there. Every time they spoke, it chipped away at my conscience. This wasn’t how a magical girl should behave, especially not towards someone so openly friendly. And it was right, I couldn’t trust Shiquoth. The only thing they brought me was pain, and the only thing they promised me was more. I knew I shouldn’t listen, that the vile entity was no better than the one that so gleefully tortured me, but part of me still couldn’t help but hope for better.

So I searched for help, someone who could properly understand this struggle. I turned to Merino; even if we couldn’t speak openly about the god, surely we could keep talking aimlessly again to distract ourselves, right? But I had been abandoned. Merino had peacefully fallen asleep, escaping to dreamland while I was stuck in this cold reality. I had no idea how she could rest so easily in the face of a god, but that didn’t matter, because I still needed to find an escape of my own. Desperately, I turned to Scarlet instead, and she was simply leaning against her sword, which was buried once more in the dirt, as she examined her nails without a care in the world. It was the kind of unconcerned attitude that must have been expected from me, yet I could not replicate. Should I call out to her, or would that be an issue? What would I even say? Would she be mad about it? Fortunately, she must have felt my pleading look, because eventually she noticed me, sighed, and walked over. Scarlet then grabbed the sides of my head and brought her face close, forcing me to stare directly into her eyes. I would have felt embarrassed by the distance if it weren’t for the ferocity in her gaze.

“Look at me. It’s just the two of us right now, so no better time to explain something…”

That was not right. There were twice as many people here than Scarlet said, and that wasn’t counting the gods, but I wasn’t about to point it out. What I did not anticipate, however, was that after she lifted her hands from my face and took a step back, she proceeded to slap me across the left cheek. Words like ‘hurt’ or ‘stung’ do not begin to describe the painful sensation this left. It felt like being hit by a truck, and that even the slightest increase in force would have ripped my head clean off as my neck was twisted to the right; and after seeing her fight earlier, I didn’t doubt for a moment that she actually could have either.

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“When I told you to shoot anything that gets near, that included magical girls. It especially included the brightly colored magical girls. The second that orange monstrosity entered your vision, you should have fired at her. You failed to respond, so I was left to clean up your mess. Do you understand?”

I wanted to shake my head, or nod, or anything, but the unbearable agony in my neck prevented any such motions.

“…No” I responded, tears welling up in my eyes, “I don’t get it. Aren’t we all… supposed to be fighting for the same thing? Everyone keeps saying we’re all enemies, but that doesn’t make sense. Aren’t the machines the real threat? We should be working together to stop them, as magical girls.”

Scarlet clicked her tongue, and then slapped me across the right cheek. The muscles in my neck burned and screamed as they tore themselves apart contracting to minimize the damage. My legs gave out as my balance was thrown off, but Scarlet didn’t even allow that escape as she grabbed my collar and dragged my into a half-upright position.

“So you still don’t get it, huh? Then let me spell it out for you. Being a ‘magical girl’ isn’t about fighting the machines or saving humanity; it’s about serving your lord. They seek domination, and that leaves no room for comradery. The only reason you’re still alive is that you’re more useful to me that way than dead. But not everyone is as kind as me, so for both of our sakes, you better damn well be the one to shoot first. You want to work together with a fairytale team of magical girls? Then at least do your fucking job and protect them.”

She then let go of me, and I fell to the ground. I curled up where I was, lying on my left side, being careful not to move my neck. I tried touching my hand to my cheek, but the pain intensified when I did and I unintentionally yelped.

“That’s a harsh was to put it, maiden in red. You really don’t need to be so wary. I think it’s best that you girls get along with each other. Maiden in black, you seem to understand. Do you like confections? I know a great bakery in this town where we could sit down and…”

Do not dare oblige the Orange Lord.

The warning was unnecessary; I didn’t have the energy to even think about responding anymore. I did, however, at least want to stop this pain, even if I doubted my god would care to do so.

“Lord Shiquoth, could you please heal my injury?”

I will prevent a bruise. But you will bear the pain. Remember this lesson through it.

A bruise. My blood ran cold once I realized the implication. I couldn’t go home with a bruise. Not on my face. What would they have said if they saw it? What would they have thought? And what about school next week, would it have lasted that long? It hadn’t even crossed my mind, yet the god had already considered and addressed the issue.

“Thank you.”

“…Well, even if I continue to complain, I can see you’re in no condition to talk anymore. Fine, I’ll give up for today. But next time you see one of my maidens, let’s be sure to chat. These really aren’t the right people for you after all. You don’t deserve this kind of treatment. Just come to me, and I will help. But for now, I wish you farewell.”

A moment later, I heard the god start violently coughing. It breathed deep, cleared its throat, and coughed some more, before finally speaking again in a raspy voice.

“Any of you girls have some water I could borrow? It’s fun to speak, but it also really kills the throat, you know?”

Or… no, it was different. The voice’s quality had changed, coming out much more naturally than before. That was Fervent Feast again, and the god had left.

“No, I don’t know, and I don’t care to” spat Scarlet. “Whatever you’re on about, it’s not a problem us normal people have to deal with.”

I guess we were allowed to talk again, acknowledge her presence. Though it still didn’t sound like we could talk about what happened, at least, not directly. I tried to look up, see what was happening, but the strain on my neck was excruciating. Hopefully, that would get better soon, but I still didn’t want to be left blind to the world like this. That’s when I realized something. I closed my eyes, stuck out my hand and opened my eye. My vision was filled with color, letting me see Scarlet and Fervent Feast staring each other down at a distance. Scarlet had her sword at the ready, pointed towards the orange magical girl, prepared to strike at any moment yet looking hesitant to approach. Fervent Feast, on the other hand, still wore her friendly, all too wide smile, as though she were completely unconcerned by the violent blade. Neither of them seemed to be paying attention to me. What was I supposed to do here? Scarlet had said I should shoot, but was that really okay? Couldn’t I just lie here and let them fight things out or part ways?

As I pondered this, Fervent Feast half glanced in my direction, chuckled to herself, and then took a step back, which put her at the edge of my vision. Scarlet didn’t move. I tried to turn my eye to follow the orange magical girl, remembering how it felt when Shiquoth was moving it, but it only shifted slightly. I guess that was better than I could do earlier today, but it wasn’t enough to look directly at her. I tried moving my arm the rest of the way, but as I did so Fervent Feast took another step back, keeping her barely in the corner of my eye. Was she doing that intentionally?

“Alright, alright” called out the girl in orange, throwing her hands up in defeat, “I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll get out of your hair.” Fervent Feast waved as she jogged backwards away from us. “Bye, everyone! Let’s all meet again some time! Don’t be a stranger if you see me, okay?”

And then, she fully turned around and dashed off. I didn’t want to see her again. I didn’t want to see any of these girls again. They terrified me. Scarlet relaxed her sword, and expelled her built up tension with another slew of curses. She returned to her original position while spouting this venom, leaving me lying on the ground. I wasn’t ready to stand back up myself either.

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For the rest of our time on guard duty, nothing else approached, neither mechanical nor mortal. I had officially done nothing throughout my whole training exercise. Scarlet announced the end with a terse “Alright, we’re done, let’s go,” before we headed back into town. It was a bit easier to push Merino while going downhill, and when we arrived at the original meeting point her escort was waiting for her. We left her in their care, and they went through another ceremony to receive her, but I didn’t stick around to watch. Merino wasn’t even awake for any of it, let alone to say goodbye, so Scarlet and I silently parted ways into the darkness. I thought Nightingale might have shown up again, to debrief me or something, but she was nowhere to be found. After I transformed back, I felt the cold of the evening air in full. Even though I hadn’t been the one to fight, I still felt exhausted, but the day wasn’t even over yet. At least there was no school tomorrow. When I finally got back home, I took care of the bare minimum necessities before going out like a light.

How could that girl be so happy?