*
Sliding in her rapier in front of her, she blocks the incoming spear. The weapons clash with a guttural spark, the rapier's magic of [seperate] clashes with the spear's [Reinforce] and [Sharpen], building up friction that boiled the air around it. Heat on the level of magical girls, it seemed like the air around was becoming sluggish and viscous. But at the end of the day, even plasma was nothing but warm air to them. Kaede slices through the air with a long kick while balancing her rapier to protect her body.
Grail brings her knee up and blocks it skillfully. While she did manage to preserve her balance and protect the centre of her body, her thigh took the brunt of the force forcing her to wince a little. Kaede took this as the opportunity to push further with her rapier, pressuring Grail with her arm strength. Her arms trembled with how much force she was putting into it.
"Why... WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!!?!" (Kaede)
"I've gotten sick of waiting. Patiently, I've been awaiting for the return for Kaori, having faith in her that she would do the right thing on her side of this entire mess and come back here." (Grail)
"... You would stop existing." (Kaede)
"... I don't have a human point of view. As a transient being, it's better if I disappear faster. Then I don't have to bear with this burden any longer. " (Grail)
Kaede remembered, so she understood how Grail had materialised in this space. This was a land of memories, and Gail's existence consisted mainly of Myuu's memories. To such a creature, materialising in this room would be as difficult as opening a door and walking through it.
"... I see. How was Kaori like again? According to my memories... She said she would save any magical girl. So I have to save you as well, by delivering you from the land of the living.
Foul vestige of memories long past, I come to deliver your severance, your salvation. It's time to finally rest. " (Kaede)
She summons 9 rapier's floating in the air behind her, they line up while pointing their tips outwards, shaping themselves like a seashell. They float further into the sky before pointing at Grail. She jumps backwards, disengaging from the clash making some distance away. Kaede then packs as much magical particles as she could into the floating rapiers, making them glow a brilliant dark purple. Sweat poured down her temple due to the mental strain as she narrowed her eyes at her target.
A sullen dispirited Grail. Her memories of Myuu clash with the real thing, despite being the memories of someone else, she still viewed them in third person. She saw Myuu and Kaori in her mind, it was a year and even more time's worth of memories, nostalgia corrupted her mind as she felt like she had been with them for a very long time. Her smooth fingers trembled as they hovered in front of her. Her vision blurred then concentrated.
"I will... I will save you..." (Kaede)
More than anything else, she had spent all this while together with Grail. Nevermind the memories implanted in her or Grail, from the time they both first gained awareness all the way till now, they had been together the entire time. As if a dam broke, her tears flowed. They coated her cheeks, ruining her heart and expression.
Perhaps everyone expected it, but she couldn't lay a hand in her. She couldn't fire her rapiers, she couldn't deal the finishing blow. She couldn't save her.
"Uugh uugh uuu... I can't do it. I'm weak. I'm all talk, I try my best to look tough. I've been working hard all this time to fill the role of Kaori, but I can't do it. She's too weird, she's not normal at all. I'm... I don't know who I was before... But I can't adapt to her way of life at all!!!
Why dive into this much danger? Why not live a peaceful life at the border? Why immerse in so much conflict? What is the point? Nothing changes, there is no worth to it at all! " (Kaede)
"..." (Grail)
" Do you understand?! It's all fucking pointless!! There is absolutely no meaning at all!!! We risk ourselves to decapitate evil, but they grow back their heads overnight! We risk ourselves for absolutely no gain, it's all a futile mess that Kaori has sold you on!!! " (Kaede)
"..." (Grail)
" Now you have nothing to say!? Do you understand how unfair that is!! Rubbish! Utter garbage! I look down on whatever this is! That's why I want to leave, I want nothing to do with this shit! Not because I fear, no, it's due to a multitude of reasons and fear is merely one of many insignificant ones. " (Kaede)
"... Then what do you propose? I'm utterly tired of waiting. It looks like there's nothing beyond this point waiting for me. " (Grail)
" Didn't you believe in Kaori despite not being Myuu? All you have are her memories, a continuous terminal. Nevertheless, your memories are more real than mind. Your grip on reality is stronger and more stable than mine. You're strong and I'm weak, right? Then act like it. Get back in, we can't have someone else see you. " (Kaede)
" Mhmm... " (Grail)
" Tch, I'll get this over with. You just wait in there while you sulk. " (Kaede)
Her petty pride wouldn't let it go now that it was wounded. She wipes away her tears, a new emotion boils in her heart, adding colour to her every move. Up until now, she felt like a piece of weed drifting along to the flow of the sea without any control. But at this exact moment, she felt grounded, she felt like she was on stable ground and able to control her own trajectory.
She hate to admit it, but in a way Grail had now sparked her ego, her willpower burns with ferocity. Out of spite she wants to prove to the word her own strength.
"No more games." (Kaede)
Using her rapier, she slices apart the room of memories, shattering the illusion from the inside. Barius and Neli appears next to her in succession, as if 3 different worlds had collided to join together in the last moment, forming this new place as they entered. The sky peeled away and the immediate surroundings vanish back to an unfamiliar scene. Now it actually looked like the inside of that ruined building. In the corner of the room was a decayed pile of bones.
In another corner was a shocked Willen. Her expression was ghastly as she turned to face them. Kaede traipsed forward, her footsteps heavy with intent and resolve. She was packed to the brim with emotion due to her encounter with Grail, it was no longer an issue that either could postpone. The status quo was distressing, just being alive was stressful. She needed to solve it as quickly as possible, at the same time there was no point rushing.
Perhaps she should come clean, she had butted against this suggestion of her own many times before. Most of the time she would dismiss it as something that wasn't plausible to do so and wouldn't entertain the idea. But at this moment, it seemed like an attractive offer. They would be free from this adventure, free to live a life they want.
No! She wouldn't run away now. If she did so, all her efforts until now would go to waste. She shouldn't ever wait for inevitability, the only way to change things was with one's own hands.... With this revelation, she felt like she was one step closer to Kaori's thinking. But she still felt distant, of course she would. She's a different person.
"Willen, please explain to us, what you are doing in these ruins of memories." (Kaede)
Seeing as they were unarm for now, Willen kept her guard up but didn't act hostile the first moment she saw them. She recognised them as the people she helped, while it led to her indignation, she recognised the severity of the circumstances. What she had been doing for many days a week now, would obviously seem suspicious to everyone.
"I was looking for this sword and scabbard." (Willen)
She pulls out a beautiful angular milk white scabbard with feathers at the tip and a large opening at the base of the hilt. Drawing the blade, she inspects it's sheen as she presents it to everyone present. Kaede materialises her own rapier in response, keeping her guard up as she stared at Willen's newfound weapon.
"Could you tell us more? And why you specifically found it today instead of any other day." (Kaede)
"... The rogue that went wild, massacred and created this ruins... She was defeated but not without sacrifices. The battle left behind a magical weapon stronger than anyone thought could be produced. With its owner dead, no one could stop it from absorbing its surroundings and turning it into fuel.
The scabbard absorbed the rogue's corpse, the blade used its skills. The rogue had a skill related to memory and it created that labyrinth. I was thinking to retrieve it, since its power would be useful in defeating the Demon King that recently arrived. " (Willen)
'How convenient', was what Kaede and Barius thought. Neli had her own suspicions but her focus was on something else during that conversation. Willen's story was dubious, it explained why there was a bunch of ruins outside, but anyone could have told them 'a few months ago, a magical girl went rogue and killed all the residents in that area.', with how the case has been resolved and everyone can explore the ruins if they wanted to, since it hasn't been cordoned off, everyone knew the cause of that incident.
It was the entire point of Kaede and the other 2 going into town so much. While they were temporarily contracted as magical girl officers of this branch, under the Rising Knight Order group, first and foremost they needed basic information about their surroundings. That includes the culture and history of their surroundings. Culture wise, it was pretty similar to the rest of central with what celebrations people partook in and what traditions they passed on.
Generally in the Sanctuary, it was a mix of various Asian cultures that survived The Great Disaster, with some cultures visibly eclipsing others. With how big their populations are, the most obvious victor for this cultural tug of war was Indian and Chinese culture, albeit their initial countries were so large that they had numerous different variations within their borders. From an outsider's perspective, it's just Chinese and Indian.
It didn't mean that other cultures didn't survive, just that their population of followers were incredibly low. Countering this was the effect of the apocalypse, birth rates rose in response to the mass death caused by The Great Disaster, providing medium to passed on their traditions. There was also private demand of art and conservation of historical culture only afforded by the rich. At the outer areas of the Sanctuary, that's where Australian, Russian, European and African cultures were mixing a little onto the settlements near the magical girl labyrinths.
In other words, it was a tradeoff with their initial lives. Life in the labyrinths were dangerous due to the risk of raids by other groups of magical girls, at the same time it was safe due to being surrounded by magical girls themselves. It was an area filled with allies which made them a possible target for a raid. They enjoyed some modern privileges, but in return there is no culture underground. Everyone practically seemed like a grey cog in a giant mechanism there.
On the surface, the difficulties were far more primitive. Food, water, shelter, disease, crime. But in exchange, there was far more people, far more social interaction and cultural exchange as well as innovation and food innovation. Granted, this difference in living conditions is not by choice. Magical girls have to live in the labyrinth first and get licenses unless an Order recruited them for whatever reason. The Rising Knight Order was built on their commander, Frey's philosophy of acting as the brilliant sun that shines hope on the new world. An apt way to incorporate her own skills into it.
It came down to a single question. What was Willen hiding? Why didn't she just break through the memory magic like Kaede did? Little did she know...
"... I'll take care of this... You guys can go back first..." (Willen)
"Sure. Let's go back." (Neli)
Use me as bait, Neli's face seems to say. It was a mere hunch that Kaede and Barius received, but it was clear now that Neli also found this entire thing conspicuous. On the other hand, Willen seemed desperate to chase them away, as if there was something that she alone could see. Her cool and composed expression was no longer anywhere to be seen, right now her complexion was pale and sweat was dripping down her temples. When Kaede turned around to face her, she jolted a small bit that went unnoticed by anyone else.
"... Do you need help?" (Kaede)