Chapter 16: Casual Chat

Megan, otherwise known as Magical Girl Nightingale, had come to my house at 10:00 in the morning. I was completely unprepared for her to visit. Last time we spoke, she didn’t mention meeting again today, let alone so much earlier than she usually showed up. I choked as I hurriedly swallowed my food, and then rushed to wipe the egg yolk off my face as thoroughly as I could. I almost tripped over myself in the hurry to stand up from my seat and greet her, feeling my cheeks blaze with heat at being seen in such a mess.

“Hi, what are you-” I started, but was too flabbergasted to finish the sentence; so instead, I threw an accusatory question to the dark god Shiquoth.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was coming?”

Unsurprisingly, or at least it should have been if I thought before speaking, the malicious entity answered with a wave of pain sweeping across my body. I stumbled, but managed to stay upright by pressing my hand into the table for support.

I am no messenger. You exist to serve. Do not demand charity.

So the evil deity had no intention to be considerate; nothing new there. Thankfully, this gave me a chance to clear my head, stop being so embarrassed, and become a little more properly horrified by the implications of this visit. She had to be here on business; magical girl business. To once again drag me off somewhere so more terrible things could happen to me. I could feel my guts churning again as I debated whether I could negotiate a day off. This was supposed to be my chance to relax; to recover. But that opportunity had now been thoroughly crushed, and I felt nothing but anxiety about what would come next.

Dad came back into the room a moment later, casually chatting as he turned off the TV and poured his half-empty coffee mug into the sink.

“It really is great to meet you,” he said. “I heard Becca started doing that book club recently, and it’s nice to see she’s already made such a lovely friend.”

Those kind words made me feel sick with guilt. I wasn’t in a book club and this wasn’t my friend. All of those things were fabrications to cover up my torment, but I couldn’t say that. I just had to swallow the thought and act like everything was okay; like I wasn’t feeling progressively closer to screaming and running out of the room.

“No, not at all. Rebecca has been very kind to me. And a joy to talk to. It’s been so nice getting to know her.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, yet she spoke to my dad like we were good friends who hit it off right away. Like I hadn’t spent the past few days putting my life in danger. Like I knew anything about her. She said all of it with a nonchalant smile that I only had it in me to silently half match.

“By the way, I don’t mean to get in the way of you two girls. So if you want, I could step out for a while if you’re willing to watch the house.”

That question felt like a sucker punch knocking the air out of my lungs. I had no idea if having him around would be better or not, so I was completely clueless on how to respond. Megan, however, didn’t miss a beat as she clapped her hands together like it was the most wonderful suggestion in the world.

“Are you sure? Because I wouldn’t turn down a chance to talk more intimately with Rebecca.”

Within the terror, this did, however, mean one positive thing to me: we didn’t need to leave. Whatever she was here for, it could be done here. That at least helped ease some of the otherwise oppressive tension out of me.

“Not a problem,” Dad said with a smile before turning to me. “Just don’t trash the place while I’m gone, okay?”

“Sure, we’ll try” I half-heartedly replied. I assumed that was a promise I could keep. Hopefully I was right.

He gave me a nod, and stepped out of the room, leaving the two of us alone. Megan looked at me, then gestured towards the table.

“Want to sit? Don’t mind me, by the way. Feel free to finish eating. Today I just wanted to talk about a few things. And if you want, we can take the chance to chat. Get to know each other a bit better.”

That helped me relax a bit more. She was directing me around in my own house, but I didn’t mind as long as she really was here just to talk. Probably not talking about anything good, of course, but at least a chance to know her wasn’t bad. I still knew almost nothing about Megan, after all. Or Nightingale for that matter. Or both, I guess, since they were the same person, but I also still wasn’t sure what to think about that. At the very least, I didn’t know her very well. Maybe this could be a chance to change that.

I bashfully sat back in my seat at the table, taking a much more delicate bite than I had previously been exhibiting of my now slightly cold egg on toast, and I watched as she chose the chair opposite me.

“So” she began, “how has school been?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She seemed a bit unsure of the question. And I thought for good reason, because it was a strange question. She sounded like my mom. What did she care how school has been? It’s been awful, thanks for asking. Probably had something to do with all the terrible things that have been happening to me, but that was just a wild guess. So I didn’t want to talk about school, and just thinking about it made me furrow my brow.

“Is that really what you came here for? To ask me about school?”

As I said this, I heard the front door shut as Dad finally left the house. At the same time, Megan dropped the overly friendly facade, returning to her natural, more neutral demeanor.

“No, strictly speaking. There are a couple important things to discuss. First, congratulations. You’ve completed your training as a magical girl.”

I was taken aback and almost choked on my food. Megan waited patiently as I coughed into a napkin.

“What do you mean completed? I haven’t done anything. I’m not even close to prepared for anything.”

I didn’t expect to be left on my own after only two days. There was still so much I didn’t know, wasn’t ready for. This was way too fast. Megan, however, smiled lightly at this.

“You’ll be fine. You can trust me on that. Besides, expectations aren’t high for the new girls.”

I didn’t trust her, not completely. Maybe what she said was somewhat true, genuine reassurance from one magical girl to another, but at the same time she was still a servant of Shiquoth. She has only ever led me towards pain, yet I’m sure that was something that couldn’t be avoided. So I had no way of knowing whether her guidance actually helped, or if she was just lowering the barrier for me to accept horrible situations. I wanted to trust her, but right now I wasn’t sure I could. Not that it mattered, I guess.

Finally, I nodded to her, accepting the situation, and she continued. “Starting tomorrow, you’ll be working as part of a new team. You’ll be meeting at 5:00 by the entrance to Oak Park, I’m sure you know the way.” I flinched at the implication. Was she mad? “You girls will have to discuss among yourselves where to meet next time, of course. Try to pick somewhere on the other side of town, in the southeast. But once you’ve arrived, you will patrol for two hours; one hour clockwise around the danger zone, and another hour returning. Any questions so far?”

I had a few questions, but didn’t think that all of them were correct to ask. Notably, I doubted that she would appreciate ‘was the location chosen just to torment me?’ Besides, I could already assume that the answer was probably ‘yes.’ So I tried asking something a little more basic.

“Can you tell me anything about them - the girls I’ll be working with?”

“That, you’ll have to see for yourself. Privacy is important. They’re both new though, so make sure get along. But a word of caution: don’t share anything they don’t need to know. Who you are, the inner workings of the cult, the specifics of your powers, and ESPECIALLY don’t share information about other magical girls – unless it’s someone you’re trying to fight.”

While some of that made sense, in a way, something in particular confused me. “Why shouldn’t I share what I’m capable of? Isn’t that important for working together?”

“Basic details maybe. But it’s dangerous to show your full hand, and not just for you. That’s valuable information, and you don’t know who they might share it with. Plus, your powers and limitations will be similar for me, and I DON’T need that kind of information spreading. You’ll learn a thing or two about others over time, and some might even choose to share with you, but if you want to survive then keep your mouth shut and don’t trust anyone who presses you for details.”

I nodded. I still hated this lack of trust among magical girls, but right now I didn’t need to make Nightingale mad. She waited for a moment, in case I had further questions, but then moved on to the next topic when I instead took another bite of my food. I was running out things to chew.

“Next, you should probably know about our holy days.” Something about that sounded familiar. “Holy days are every fourth day throughout a month, so the fourth, eighth, twelfth, and so on. On these days, you are not to fight the machines, humanity’s enemy. Instead, you are supposed to devote your time to Lord Shiquoth. Consider it repayment for their favor.”

I did not consider anything I had received worth repaying, but I still felt a sinking feeling in my gut while listening. The other day, Thursday, the eighth, when I first became a magical girl…

Heretic.

… and I had opposed Shiquoth for the sake of a nighttime stroll. I wasn’t supposed to be out there, I KNEW I wasn’t supposed to be out there, yet I still went. At the time, I hadn’t thought it would be a big deal, but actually listening now, I realized how arrogant that was. As I dwelled on this, Megan continued her explanation.

“The eighth, sixteenth, and twenty-fourth are special. These are ritual days. We assemble with the cult, from 2 AM to 4 AM, holding a ritual and making offerings to Lord Shiquoth.” I shuddered to think about when I was the offering. “If they are pleased with you, then you will receive a gift. Greater satisfaction will also be met with greater rewards. I recommend staying in Lord Shiquoth’s good graces.”

I was sure it was already too late for me, but asked anyway.

“How can I get into Shiquoth’s-” Suddenly, it felt as though a nail was being driven into the back of my head. Megan didn’t even flinch as I groaned and recoiled from the pain.

I am your god. Address me with respect.

“… How do I please LORD Shiquoth?” I corrected. Clearly, the answer wasn’t to anger them by forming careless habits that hurt their petty pride.

“You can mostly get by with proper behavior and simply performing your duty, but you still need to show devotion. That’s why you need to pray on holy days. You can ask the cult for specific prayers and procedures. But that’s the minimum required. If you want to be useful and gain a powerful boon, something to help keep you alive, then you’ll need to hunt a good offering.”

‘Hunt.’ I didn’t like the sound of that. Whatever she meant by ‘good,’ whatever Shiquoth – Lord Shiquoth – considered ‘good,’ I had a strong feeling that it wasn’t the same as what I would consider ‘good.’ I was scared to ask what she meant, but I also needed to know. I was weak, too weak. My life had been in danger far too many times already, and that had to change if I wanted to survive. I needed something to help me overcome all the terror the world had thrown at me.

So I asked, “What makes for a good offering?”

Megan stared directly at me, and I saw no light reflected in her eyes. I felt a chill run down my back as they watched me, measured me. Yet her answer was both simple and horrible.

“Magical girls.”