*
"A structure formed by magic. I suppose such a thing is worthy to be called a labyrinth, but it feels like... This one was built by an amateur. Anyone with average power could tear through the wall." (Gerald)
"Hmmm, maybe it's a newly awakened magical girl. Or maybe it was truly an amateur who hadn't train. With so little magical particles in their well, even technique cannot close some the gaps of proper architectural skill." (Paridia)
Her usual monotonous pitch filled the atmosphere, and though her voice was higher than mine it didn't sound charming like a little girl at all. Paridia was the shortest among all of us, with Myuu being next and I myself was only barely taller than Myuu. Gerald on the other hand had a visible difference as the tallest even when compared to me.
Upon landing near the shroud of black mist, the sound of piercing through dead grass and trampled dirt permeated the surroundings. I look around as I got used to the slightly different architecture. Wow! Even though it's only a few kilometres away, there were some minor differences in the buildings already. For one thing, these ones look pretty modern and clean. The surfaces and textured were much more polished than the rough concrete that we've been seeing... Maybe I could simply settle here. Run away from all the bothersome magic stuff... And start anew. With none of the baggage of the past life, I can make new friends and experience new things.
....! An oppressive aura. It was the sudden appearance of a strong being, and it could only be this one person at this point. It couldn't be anyone else. Our target-
***(?)
A few feathers glided down to the bedroom floor as it was act upon gravity. That is, until something unusual happened. The feathers begin to float upwards instead, as if it had become less dense than air and was pulled up by buoyancy, and it wasn't just one but many feathers that had gathered. It was akin to a shower of prismatic colours, the variation of vibrant feather hues was wide and they all bunched up into a single ball.
The feathers than fluttered outward as if all tension had been released. 2 hands and 2 legs rose out and before long, an entire person had mysteriously come out of the flurry of feathers. A vague silhouette of a girl was morphed from the blinding light that suddenly flashed from behind the feathers. Amony could only stare in awe and silent anxiety as she watched something she could not comprehend. A mysterious figure! Even as the light faded away to reveal the person's identity, she was not someone that Amony could recognise.
"W... Who are you?" (Amony)
She bit her lip with abted breadth. Even if she had only become a magical the day before, even if she was a complete newbie with nothing but what she started with, her lack of knowledge didn't stop her from feeling it... The pressure exerted by this stranger, it was like as if a creature of legends had materialised to spread their oppressive aura over the surroundings. Her heartbeat raised quicker as she anticipated for the stranger's words.
"... I am known as the progenitor. The creator of all magical girls. Usually I won't reveal myself, but just for this time I need your help..." (Progenitor)
Stripping off the blinding light lay a navy blue hooded girl. While the shape of her bangs could roughly be made out when viewed from the outside, there was little to no light reaching her face making it a vague texture unrecognisable in reality. Various shades of gray wrap around her face, giving a reference on what the shape of her face looks like.
Other than that, there was nothing else showing that she was really human or humanoid in nature. The hood sweater covered all the way to her hips and below it was something akin to a robe covering her legs like a dress. Her thin slender fingers were wrap around in white gloves that extend halfway up her forearms.
"Help? Surely if you could create magical girls, you would be able to solve your own problems..." (amony)
"I have... Enemies that are hunting me down. Quick, I'll give these to you. I can't stay for too long." (Progenitor)
As if on cue, a black light began extending from Amony's body, continually expanding until it swallowed the entirety of the previous black swirl. Smooth black pillars arose from within that chaos, surrounding the house with 4 corners and a roof. Within that area, a large black cube had already replaced the house in an instant. As if the entire atmosphere had changed, the oppressive aura vanished, leaving behind a completely different scenery.
***
"What do you guys think?" (Gerald)
"... It's definitely a trap... But there are innocents in there. It used to be a normal house before, I even saw them through the window from afar."
"Should we go in?" (Paridia)
Simultaneously, they had all turned to face me. Were they planning to go in or not? They wouldn't tell me at this point. I think that even if I were a little more dense than this I would have still caught on. This was a test from them. Would I respond like the previous Kaori? Or would I give a different answer? Well, it's not like I lost my sense of sympathy for human life. At this point, I no longer cared if they were to help me or not. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Gradually lifting my eyelids, I gave them a definitive reply.
"Of course, I'll be going to save them. Whether you guys are coming or not."
"Then I'll accompany you." (Myuu)
"... We'll go in from the opposite side. Let's tackle this labyrinth at the same time." (Gerald)
".... I see."
Leaving it off with my curt answer, their footsteps echoed as they approached the giant black cube from the other side.
" Let's get going. "
" Mhmm. " (Myuu)
Discretely, her heart began to beat faster. Her fingers trembled behind her as she took every step, if Kaori had her memories she would have noticed it was odd for Myuu to walk with her hands behind her. A slight but generally unnoticeable change was on her face, just this once her lips and cheeks had relaxed into a fluid smoosh.
The black cube was cold to the touch like a smooth marble texture, it sapped Kaori's finger of warmth in an instant. She immediately pulled back, not sure if she could proceed even further. But she made up her mind. She used all of her strength and speed to leap at the wall and punch it. In the end she became somewhat of a muscle head...
Phasing through the wall, she fell over and faceplanted into the ground. Myuu walked through casually to see Kaori lying on the ground, groans of pain escaping her supple lips. Her back arched forward as she lifted herself back up, facing away from Myuu to hide her cherry burning cheeks. The floor was a subtle grey like concrete, yet it held an unceasing unfamiliarity, as if the floor was able to cause discomfort by looking at it.
We continue forward, our steps landing on the oddly soft steps that don't give much of a rebound to our feet. It felt like I was stepping on durable cake, betraying what our sight suggests. Even though it looked cold and flat like normal ground, the feeling transmitted from our feet is completely different from what we see. There is no ceiling, or that was left above us was a never ending void of pitch black.
Every step felt heavier than the last, there was no magic acting on us to do that effect, but it was just the mental pressure from having an open ceiling. It felt like anything could swoop down at any moment as we strolled down this 10 metre wide corridor. Walls of a darker grey surround us on each side and the way we came from. Myuu had tested it and found out we couldn't go back out normally. Not that there was a need to, we just need to defeat the magical girl that made this place and the labyrinth's strength should subside. Making it fragile and easy for us to make crumble.
As expected, after a couple minutes we eventually come across a foe. A foreign liquid seeped out of the ground, it's colours akin to the static on a broken television mixed with colours of vibrant purple and lime green. It continued to flow into the air, defying gravity and begun to take shape. Myuu for the most part, wasn't patient enough to let it finish forming a monster, she shoot a vine spear at it the moment it appeared.
It stopped flowing for a few seconds before it slithered over the vine spear and continued to swim into the air with slug like movements. Needless to say... 3 more spears shot at high speeds to impale it, they had flew so fast that the residual heat it caused transferred onto the liquid and vaporised it. It was a grotesque sight, but thankfully we weren't so naive as to believe it was dead already. If it could move after Myuu's first attack, who's to say it wouldn't move again?
A dim red tint light Hurst forth from under the vine spears. A creature formed from the magical girl's residual magical particles that operated this labyrinth, a familiar was born. Its dark green skin and urea yellow eyes prodded at the 2 girls. It's eyes were pitch black balls covered by 4 dark yellow somewhat triangle like flaps, making it appear like a black cross was squirming around in its eye sockets. The flaps recede backwards into its socket before sliding out once more, showing that it was completely black without the flaps.
It had the height of a child and a large rounded pot belly dyed in dark green, its limbs were disproportionately muscular and a mere beige loincloth and brown belt lay in front of its nether region. Its head was pointed back like a traffic cone or like ph⚪neas from the show ph⚪neas and f⚪rb. There was no doubt, it was a very common enemy that usually wouldn't exist outside this labyrinth... Had it not been for some mad magical girl introducing them into the environment centuries ago. It was a goblin.
Now that it was completely formed, it was far easier to defeat. I bent my knees forward and lifted off the ground in an instant that the goblin could not follow. Immediately after, I spun and smashed my right leg into ground, with what appeared to be small scraps of green skin and various shades of red colouring the ground.
Back when the planets were still forming, magical particles had formed magical circuits by chance. These circuits usually wouldn't last long as they are easily disrupted by environmental factors, but after a large amount of time a single intricate circuit was able to sustain itself for a longer amount of time. Magical particles are not bound by time or space, they are only fuel that sustains magical phenomenon. What they needed to adapt to was earth's violent and vigorously harsh environment. So it used that time to amalgamate with other circuits and reproduce itself.
Not very long after, a complex network of magical circuits was formed, one that could sustain itself indefinitely and bear what is considered a conscious while being closer to a computer. It was a magic computer with a sense of self preservation, a living organism. For us carbon based life forms, we give them a different name. These beings composed primarily of magical particles, they are spirits.
These spirits, powerful ones had existed throughout human history, usually they would be described as gods in ancient text due to the miracles they bring with their magic. They behaved in a symbiotic relationship with humans, they bring miracles and phenomenon into the world with magic, humans in turn will observe them.
Unlike humans, they are not material beings. Magical particles do not obey space like other particles do. They are incorporeal and unbound by time. It meant that eventually due to living too long, they would cease to think and exist in a stagnating state. With someone to observe them, they would prevent such a horrifying fate.
But why not just intake some matter like they did with assimilating other magical circuits? They did, they are what we call monsters. That was why monsters usually do not resemble living beings, they were mostly composed of inorganic components like entire chunks of metal. They are closer to robots that have the inherent will to destroy humanity.
Just like monsters, the spirits form naturally from the environment. In fact the initial stage of monster formation is lesser spirit formation, an incorporeal being with lower intelligence than humans. Their intellect is similar to that of animals. But if it goes down a different path, if it continues to stay as a spirit without absorbing matter, it becomes a higher spirit. An incorporeal being with intelligence higher than that of human beings. Something like a supercomputer.
Now, usually it would take an incalculable amount of time for either of these things to form. But a higher spirit or what was otherwise known as an ancient god in religious scripture had changed the environment. They brought down an apocalypse onto earth, making it easier for spirits and monsters to form. However the development of human civilisation and man-made structures counteracted that. So it was not until The Great Disaster that monsters frequently started appearing. Apparently there are monsters that also attain intelligence. But we don't know much about those.