***(Gerald)
How long has it been... Since I've last had such a happy dinner. Everyone... Everyone is here... For some reason, it felt like they had all gone away even though they are here right now. I couldn't control the flood of tears as they broke through the damp. They weren't fast and turbulent streams, but calm and gradual streaks that crawled over my cheeks. My face felt warmer from my own body heat, I quickly wipe away my face before anyone notices, but the tears won't stop flowing.
"?... What's wrong honey?" (Mother)
With a few words, everyone had spun their attention to me. Their penetration gazes felt uncomfortable on my skin, sending shivers down my spine. My waist felt cold and my fingers dug into my soft thighs out of frustration. Frustration from the embarrassment at my self. Frustration from my lack of self control. Were tears something one could consciously control?
"Ah! No! It's nothing. I was just happy that Grandpa, Grandma, Aunty and Uncle were able to make it. It feels like I haven't seen you guys for a long time... "
" Haha! You jest, we only live a few buildings away. If you wanted to visit you could have just told us, I'd even fetch you! "(Grandma)
Her coarse and shaky voice laughed dryly at my words before she offered to bring me to her house. I never had much problems with my studies, in fact I had scored above average despite studying less than others. I spent more of my time reading novels and other information. It was my hobby to read so I always got too invested into my book before looking at my surroundings. At times, those things would clash. Maybe I should stop reading my book while walking in public... I accidentally stop walking sometimes since I become so focused...
As such, I've really never had the time to spent with Grandma and the others. But I never thought about it so much before. I simply went with the flow of my life without caring too much about the details. If I wanted to read, I read. If I wanted to study, I would study. I was particular on how I wanted to spend my time but not on my surroundings. Many things go unnoticed in the background.
Such as that time my parents made sure my birthday party went well, even though I said that I would be the one to organise it. I realise I didn't know what to do and hashed up a shoddy plan. In the end it almost fell apart, but my parents happen to have ordered a big load of food deliveries to save it. They even prepared some presents beforehand, in case anything didn't go well for me. I was truly blessed with such a loving family so I didn't particularly pay attention to them, since I've constantly been indulging in myself...
So why... Why was I so fixated on it now? I act like they had ran off somewhere far away from me... But they're clearly here... Is this the influence of some book? I had taken a liking to fictional stories... Was it the death of a beloved character? Just what was tugging at my heart string? It was like something invisible... Was not there...
"I'm sorry... It's fine now! Here, eat up!"
I pick a piece of meat and put it in Grandma's bowl of rice, changing the subject as fast as possible. My thoughts were like messy debris swimming in flood waters, but my heart began to warm up. I happily ate the rest of my meal and when to my room to rest up. Lying on the head of my bed in a sitting position, I picked up another book and began flipping.
In an instant, there were various books strewn about on my bedsheets. What was I looking for? I don't know... But I feel dissatisfied. As if there was something for me to find, but I couldn't find it. It was a word to describe a feeling. I feeling I couldn't describe but only knew I've seen before. Was it somewhere in here to begin with? Or have I been searching in vain?
My hands felt clammy and cold, but they move regardless. Eventually I fixed back all the books and reorganised them back onto my shelf. I lay on my bed once more, staring blankly at the ceiling in defeat. What was this feeling? Like my hands want to grasp something far away? It stirred my heart wildly and makes me want to cry when I don't have it. It went on for the past 3 days, this being the third evening.
Just what did my hands want to grasp?
***(Paridia)
What is this white room? Why is there nothing else here? Tch... Not again... Why... Why... Why...
A flash of light engulfs the already bright room, in place of the usual Paridia was her transformed version.
... Why is my cloak and skirt a little short... It feels like I havent transformed in a long while and my body is way too stiff to be considered transformed... Usually magical girl transformation should remove all the fatigue so that I could fight better... My hair is also a darker shade of greyish pink then light pink... A partial transformation?
Why is it partial...? I need to move... Or I'll get stuck here... Damn, the room is big as hell. Putting strength into my back and legs, I stood up from my sat down position and began walking. It was more like wobbling since my body didn't seem to be adapting well to this place... Something is very wrong... Well, first things first, let's look for a wall. We can follow it and search for an exit. There should be an exit along the wall... Right?
But there was no wall in sight. I kept walking in a single direction but it didn't seem to stop. It kept going and going, there was no wall to reach. If I use my magic to shoot randomly, I would have just wasted my magical particles. I can't do that right now, I need to conserve them to keep my body alive without food and water. Does that mean that I have to keep walking?
My feet trudge on blindly in this absurdly blinding light, the entire room of white seemed so empty yet so full. Despite being a magical girl, my eyes were beginning to hurt. No, perhaps it was because I was a magical girl, the natural constitution of such a being gives a massive boost to eyesight based on the endurance stat.
The higher you can endure, the more the magic will boost your eyesight, it's that kind of magic mechanism that checks on itself and stops itself before going too far, just like how a human body regulates its internal environment. Though the context was quite different, and depending on how you look at it, it doesn't protect the eyes in cases like this. When the environment is too stimulating.
Since the eyesight was boosted by magic, it could see farther. In other words it could receive light from further away and interpret it accurately into an image. This meant that more light was getting in than when untransformed.
"Fuck... Why is it so bright..."
She craned her neck downwards by reflex, reducing the amount of light by looking only at the ground. It felt like her eyes were burning but after looking down it was soothing a little. Anyway... To address the elephant in the room... Or the ridiculous amounts of light... Where is this place? She continued moving as she wrecked her mind asunder trying to remember what happened.
... There's nothing wrong with my memory... After the bright flash from the little girl we were defending, the brightlight swallowed everything. Are the others in rooms like this too? Or is this an entire dimension? There are is nothing on me but my clothes... I can't identify my location at all.
Eventually, I happened across a black cube. About a metre in length, it's black marble like sheen was astoundingly beautiful in this visually suffocating environment. Faintly and periodically, random vibrant red marks would flash upon the box. They seemed to have a few set patterns that rotate each time it flashes.
Is this the key to getting out? It feels extremely... Odd. As if I was looking at myself. I mean my silhouette is vaguely reflected on its surface, but there was an indescribable connection that I can feel for it.
"... Hey... Are you alive? How do I get out of here?"
I ask it, hoping it somehow had the answer to my problems. After a minute, I got tired of staring at it and trying to memorise the patterns, so I decided to sit on it to rest. I rested my hand on it to maintain my balance as I sat, but the moment I touched it, a red light swallowed everything up similarly to what happen in the dungeon.
This time the entire space around me was black instead of white. I looked around blindly, not able to make out any distinctions between the directions I was facing. Everywhere looked the same. With the previous white room, I could vaguely make out the floor and ceiling, giving the impression that it had walls for me to follow. But here, everything was the same. It felt like I was in the void, a deep abyss without an end. Like I was constantly in freefall.
Sensory deprivation? It feels a bit like I was floating in space due to my messed up visual perception, but it wasn't hard to move around. It didn't feel like the medium around me was a liquid, it felt like normal air that I can move through normally. Maybe it wasn't sensory deprivation, but I'm definitely trapped somewhere. For now, I can burn a little magical particles to fuel my magic since I can sense some in the air. I can recharge. Second skill [Noble vapour beam], a miniature pillar of light encapsulates me as I continued to explore the unknown space.
Will a white cube show up this time? I wonder what colour is next? This place... Is starting to piss me off. My patience was running thin, but it wasn't as if I could do anything about it.
"GRAAHHHH!!!" (?)
A strange repulsive growl rang out from behind as a few unknown appendages press against the air around my back. They were a dull grey in colour and their uneven surfaces couldn't reflect the light I emitted, giving a super rough texture to its sharp talon like shape. They were like singular claws, a small curved spike attached to flimsy tentacles. The tentacle parts were near transparent with a faint grey hue.
First skill [Bountiful treasure trove]. Range: 500 metres. If there were magical particles here unlike that white room... Then perhaps there were beings here that survived on magical particles. Of course, they likely preyed on each other too and form their own ecosystem. The ground was neither smooth nor rough, we were practically all walking on air due to the space's property.
I send a thin beam of light in the monster's general direction before a low growl leaked out of its dying gasp. The talons fall to the ground lifelessly. They seem to be fragile too... I crush them under my feet to test their strength, surely enough they crumbled like clay. Was I... Going too hard? I even deployed such a far reaching safe area with my first skill, but it'll stop projectiles and long appendages as well...
As long as their trajectory can be manipulated by their users, any projectile can be stopped. I'm a long range fighter... Yet my weakness is a sniper with a longer range and non-controlled projectile... I guess that was why I was defeated so easily by that pair, while Gerald who had better mastery over her skills lasted longer and even almost won...
Kaori... Did she figured out the loophole in an instant and went for an AoE attack immediately? Maybe I give her too little credit... Not that it matters at this point. Her memories can't be returned... She's... Basically dead.... Shit, even if she was too weak to beat the progenitor, she was strong enough to be the best distraction in existence... We were planning to sacrifice her in the worse case scenario... By using her sense of justice to motivate her....
When we joined them, me and Gerald looked at each other and knew immediately. We would be using them in the final battle and they would be using us in the upcoming fights with the underlings... So why... Why does it hurt so much to lose Kaori's memories? I thought I only cared for myself! When did I really become this emotional?
No matter what, I still need to continue on. As time passed, I slaughtered more and more monsters in the dark. My body creaks like an unoiled machine, exhausted from this unending absurdity. When can I see them again? Even if it's not the real Kaori, I still want to see her. I want to see Myuu and Gerald too. A reality where we all get a happy ending? Would that really be possible? If so, it would be like a dream. It would be ephemeral with the amount of enemies we're going to make.
Hahah... Now my blood is boiling.