Chapter 17: Meeting

‘Magical girls,’ she said. Hunting magical girls. I felt my body shake with every beat of my frantically pounding heart. No. That wasn’t right. What the hell was she talking about?

“No. No no no no no.” I couldn’t accept this. I shook my head in firm denial of the very notion.

Yet Megan continued, “Any will do, other than our own. Though for your own sake, you should stick to orange, yellow, or pink.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I knew that the gods didn’t get along, that the magical girls didn’t get along, but this was too much.

“No, that doesn’t make sense. Our lives are on the line, so what’s the point in actively hunting down our comrades-in-arms?”

“They’re not our-”

“I know that!” I snapped. “I keep hearing that again and again and again and again and again; that everyone hates each other and I need to be ready for a fight at the drop of a hat. But that doesn’t mean-”

And this time, it was my turn to be cut off, though not by Megan. Instead, I heard the doorbell and stopped. I looked to the kitchen doorway, as though that would help me identify who was here, and then back to Megan. Wordlessly, she gestured toward the door, as though giving permission for me to answer it. So slowly, I stood up, and left the room. Whoever was here, I didn’t want to keep them waiting, but I also didn’t want that conversation’s emotions bleed through to my face, so I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Not that it worked, but the cold air chilled my lungs and helped me to at least appear calm on the outside.

When I got to the front door, I exhaled, turned the handle, and opened it with the best smile I could muster plastered on my face. Chloe was at the door. The actual Chloe, this time. I’d been so worked up, I hadn’t even considered who I might be meeting.

“Becca! Happy weekend!”

She smiled like the sun and spread her arms wide for a hug. I accepted, and felt like a fraud in doing so. Now wasn’t the time for this. Her arms felt like weights around me and I could already feel my gut churning. No warmth made it through her heavy, winter coat. I could already tell that whatever came next was going to be a mess, and I had no idea how to handle it.

“Clo, hey. What brings you here?” I asked as we separated.

“Surprise visit. Were you surprised?”

“Very.” More than she could imagine.

“So is it okay if I come in, or are you just going to leave me out here in the cold?” she joked.

However, I had absolutely no idea if it was okay. I also couldn’t exactly tell her to wait and go ask Megan if it would be okay; she’d know something was up. So, I delayed by putting on an exaggerated thinking face while simultaneously checking with the greater authority.

“Is it okay if she comes in?”

It matters not.

Apparently it was okay. As was becoming the usual, I had no idea if I should feel relieved or anxious about this, but I pretended it was just fine as I nodded and ushered her through the door. I needed to let her know, didn’t I, that Megan was here. How should I say it? What was the right way? The words felt like rocks in my throat, and watching her take off her coat and shoes made it feel as though an eternity were racing to its end.

Somehow, I managed to cough out the words, “Actually, I have another friend over right now. I’ll introduce you.”

That had to be fine, right? Surely that came out naturally. But I must have said it wrong after all, because Chloe seemed to put up her guard on hearing this.

“Oh? I didn’t know you made a new friend. You should have told me sooner. How’d you meet?” Her words probed me like sharp points.

“I, uh… started doing a book club recently… we met there.” I was not keeping it together.

“Recently, huh? I see” she muttered.

Despite having clearly somehow messed up the simplest of explanations, I led Chloe down the hall and to the kitchen. Now it was Megan’s turn to be surprised by a sudden guest, though it hardly showed on her face; she raised an eyebrow at me, apparently not knowing that the visitor would be joining us, but otherwise calmly stood from her seat.

“This is Megan” I introduced, “and Megan, this is my friend Chloe.”

“Best friend.” Chloe corrected.

Megan had put on a broad business smile. The kind of bright, cheery smile she didn’t normally wear. So even if it didn’t show explicitly on her face, I had the feeling that she considered Chloe’s presence to be a nuisance. Nonetheless, she stepped forward and extended her right hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you” she greeted in an uncharacteristically upbeat voice. “As Rebecca said, I’m Megan. While I only met her recently, I like to think that we’ve been getting along well.”

Chloe looked at her outstretched arm, and narrowed her eyes at it instead of reciprocating, yet half-smiled and replied back in kind.

“Nice to meet you, too, Meg” she blatantly lied. “I’ve known Becca since forever, so I probably get along better with her than anyone else.”

Acting like she hadn’t just been slighted, Megan simply relaxed her arm to her side, smiling all the while.

“I prefer ‘Megan,’ actually. Shall we sit?” she gestured towards the table.

Chloe happily sat in the spot next to mine, diagonal of where Megan had been. Megan, however, did not return to where she was sitting before, and instead sat directly across from Chloe.

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“So Meg, Becca said you’re in a book thingy with her?”

I wanted to slap Chloe. I had no idea why she was acting so rude on a first meeting. But hoping that she would stop on her own, or that Megan could manage whatever this was, I took a moment to clear my spot at the table and put my plate in the sink. While my ‘chat’ with Megan had been interrupted, there was still something important I needed to address. So I acted busy with the dishes while focusing my thoughts on the God of Sorrow. There was something I needed to make clear.

“Lord Shiquoth, I will NOT be killing magical girls.”

“Book club, yes” Megan responded to Chloe. “We’re a small group, but it’s nice. Talking to others about what we read.”

Nor should you. I am not so wasteful. Maidens are to be imprisoned. So they may learn pain.

“So you like books? I know Becca’s always been a big reader. What genres are you into?”

“And what about after? They’re not being held forever, right?”

“Hmm, that’s tough. I guess I enjoy Fantasy. And historical novels.

That depends on them.

“So different from Becca, ‘cause I know she’s more into horror and the like.”

“And what’s the point in this? What do you gain from torturing magical girls? Why risk the fight? Why put the world at greater risk?”

“And what about you, Chloe? Do you not like reading?”

They seek to bring hope. I crush it. Such is despair manifest. Light exists to be smothered.

“Oh no, I do. I read plays and act them out. Or drop by here to interrupt Becca’s reading. Sometimes I can even convince her to play a game with me. You ever play chess, Meg?”

“Wouldn’t this put a target on my back? Won’t the other girls, the other lords, want to get back at me? Get revenge?”

“Call me ‘Megan,’ please. And I do actually happen play a bit of chess.”

You are already marked. The Orange Lord has taken interest. Cowardice will not save you.

“Oh, really? I didn’t expect that. We’ll have to play a match. Becca, what do you think?”

The sudden question brought my attention back to the room, and I gave Chloe a dazed look. I had been so disgusted, so horrified by my little conversation with Shiq-, Lord Shiquoth that I didn’t listen to the other two at all. Each revelation had been more terrible than the last. I was expected to torture others, to strangle humanity’s hope. The gods would hate me for this. They come after me. They were already after me. If I were alone, I would have screamed. But Chloe was here, and she was asking me something. What was it? What were they talking about? Did it matter? Surely it didn’t. No, no, of course it mattered. Why the hell wouldn’t it matter? Chloe’s important to me, she’s my friend, of course she matters.

“Uh, sorry, what was the question again?” I sheepishly asked, hoping that’s all she would pick up on.

“Chess. Play. All of us. Sound good?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. That sounds great.”

I shook off my lingering thoughts of dread, or at least I tried to, and led the girls to the living room, where we had the chess set on a table to the side. I could think about things later. I’d have plenty of time for it then. For now, I just needed to focus on what was in front of me. Chloe didn’t hesitate to seat herself behind the white pieces, forcefully securing the first move, and moved her queen’s pawn forward two spaces before Megan even sat in the chair opposite her. d4.

I pulled another chair over to watch from the side as Megan responded by moving her king’s pawn an equal distance, placing it at a diagonal to Chloe’s pawn where it could be captured. e5.

Chloe took it without hesitation. xe5.

“So, Meg, do you like magical girls?”

I almost coughed as Chloe asked this, but stifled it. She had no idea just how targeted that random question actually was. Megan, however, didn’t even twitch. Instead, she calmly moved her black-square bishop diagonally to the right side of the board, stopping on the same row her pawn had once been on. Bc5.

“Mmm, somewhat. I do keep tabs on them, but I’m not a fanatic or anything. Why do you ask?”

Chloe thought for a moment, then moved her king’s pawn forward one square, putting it two squares diagonal from the bishop. e3.

“No reason. Just Becca and I are gonna find out how to be magical girls. So if you knew anything, then I’d recruit you to help out.”

Megan looked at me with an expression I could not begin describe.

“Really now? Sorry, but I wouldn’t know. I’ll tell you if I have any ideas though.” She said this with a hint of what may have been genuine amusement. Or bafflement. Or something I didn’t care to figure out. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

--------

“AAAAAAAA!” Chloe screamed in frustration, holding her head in her hands.

To say that she didn’t stand a chance would be an understatement. No matter how many pieces Megan chose to start down by, she still won all ten games. I didn’t even get a turn since Chloe insisted they continue until she won, and obviously being given a handicap only threw fuel on the fire. Somehow, I got the feeling this was Megan’s payback for how Chloe had been treating her, and honestly I couldn’t blame her for it.

As Chloe thrashed about in her seat, Megan calmly checked the clock on the wall and then announced, “Unfortunately, it’s about time that I head out. It was a pleasure meeting you, Chloe. Let’s play again some time.”

Chloe looked up at her with pure anger in her eyes. “Sure, sure, whatever.” She wasn’t even trying to hide her contempt at this point.

Megan, however, whose facade hadn’t dropped for a single moment, smiled back and nodded, before standing up and making her way out. I didn’t walk her to the door, instead choosing to watch Chloe who seethed with hatred. The humiliation she’d just received was surely a part of it, but her behavior had been confrontational from the very start. As soon as Megan was gone, Chloe looked at me and exclaimed “what the hell is her deal? You’re really going to tell me you’re friends with that arrogant bitch?”

I couldn’t believe me ears. Maybe I should have expected it, but actually hearing her say something like that was a whole other matter. Especially considering the real issue at hand. So, for the first time in years, I lost it at her.

“Excuse me?! No, CHLOE, what the hell is your deal?! This is how you act when meeting someone for the first time?! Really?! You’ve been nothing but hostile to her from the second you got here! What’s your excuse for that, huh?!”

For some reason that I could not begin to fathom, Chloe had a look of pure shock on her face.

“Becca, you saw what she was like! From the moment I walked in she was looking down at me! She has to be the fakest-”

“ENOUGH! I don’t care what crazy ideas you’ve cooked up in your head! If you’re not going to own up to your actions, then get the hell out!”

Chloe went silent. She looked at me with hurt in her eyes, but I stood resolute in my decision and merely pointed to the door. I almost felt bad. Almost. Not today, though. I already had enough shit to deal with, and I wasn’t about to add her petty power game crap to that list.

“Fine, if that’s how it’s gonna be” she muttered, and then shuffled her way out.

I didn’t move a muscle as she grabbed her coat and shut the door behind her. But after she was gone, I finally exhaled and threw myself down on the couch. Great. Just great. Absolute fantastic. Completely fucking amazing. Superb work, Rebecca. Way to treat a friend, your only friend. Glad to be alone now, huh, just like you wanted. Just perfect for a magical girl, who’s apparently supposed to hate everyone else in the world. Exactly as the dark lord demanded. Just need to hurt as many people as possible.

I rolled onto my back and held my right hand above my face. Staring blankly at it, I opened the eye.

I was looking down at a useless pile of trash.