*
We switch positions multiple times, she wielded a beautiful and elegant dark purple sword. The centre of its hilt was a sparkling gem design and the sides were adorned with roses made of the same material as the sword. I think the base of the material was her body, that's why it's so sturdy. With the library in her grasp, there was so much to consider when looking at her magic. At best, I was making deductions and hoping they were correct.
I swing my rapier over and over, fatigue seeped down into every cell of my body but my regeneration permeates and removes the lactic acid and stress. How could anyone sleep in this condition, those 2 really were monsters that they didn't need to fear each other.
I was suppose to be the deciding factor to tip the balance, but Himei was quickly gotten rid off. She might have thought I could somehow offset the reflection of her final skill, but... Well, it's too late now.
I feel my body getting lighter, more efficient. We're always expending 'infinite' energy to fight off each other's attacks, but my body is moving less and receiving less attacks as I get more efficient. My rapier is weightless, it travels effortlessly but slams into her blade with unimaginable force. Perhaps battle between gods is simply something that is picked up mid battle.
Slam and slam, swing left, then right. Our parries let out ripples the send unending shock waves. In this realm, even infinite energy is distributed infinitely, causing fights here to appear like normal humans are fighting rather than magical girls. The martial arts and experience we picked up along the way become most prominent here. This rapier was honed with raw battle, there weren't many teachers available after The Great Disaster. So she might have an advantage having lived and awakening as a magical girl before The Great Disaster.
But I have to make do with what I have. The wrist snaps, exerting rotation force. From my hips to my wrist, my entire body works together to exert the best footwork and positioning. Slam! I hit her blade to the left, concluding in another standstill of a parry. But this time it was slightly to my left, with barely enough room for me to step forward towards my right.
She notices immediately, she recognises all footwork and advances promptly. She predicts my movements and eternally keep me in check. She has the upper hand but I barely fend her off with the slight reach I have over her using a long rapier. I reverse my rapier to face downward, rushing in.
Sometimes there is no need for martial arts, they are not suitable for magical girls who can regrow limbs on a whim. In a fast motion, I smash my rapier against her blade on my left then swung it at her who was in front of me. She blocks it. When I noticed, she had already reversed her grip and parried my rapier beautifully. The tip of my sword that was hovering towards her, strayed away from her slightly, almost touching her. Her likeness was reflected in the black of my rapier, her aura painting itself over my magic, like a reflection of the ephemeral moon that was out of anyone's grasp.
But ephemeral or not, I am a magical girl. Magical girls make the impossible possible, not because of the magic they wield, but because they are magical girls. My rapier explodes and I summon a few more. 2 in my arms and 4 more floating mid air. Then I swung everything down at once. *Ping!* a splendid echo of collision escapes our weapons. It echoes because... She supported her sword by the flat side with her slender fingers and blocked all 6 rapiers at once.
Relocate, I notice I keep sticking to her back like a bug. I don't use this teleportation available to us in any other way. She immediately locates me and swings her blade at my head. I know my own inadequacy, I expected her quick response so I blocked it with a rapier and swung the other at her. Her right hand was keeping my rapier at bay, so her other hand which was free bent under her outstretched right arm and released a white orb.
The white orb erupted into a torrent of energy on par with the big bang. I released the left rapier and the floating rapiers back into magical particles, then shot a giant rapier beam that had the width of twice my height. My left arm already swung, so I opened my palm. The rapier beam swallows my body whole, engulfs the explosion of the white orb and forms a deluge that smashes into Zedicia.
Her right arm loosens and she draws her sword back before pointing it at the incoming rapier beam. It deflects, like slipping a spoon under a water stream, it sprays into every direction but directly under where she stood. With a single dash, I break through that thin veil of deflected energy and swing my rapier straight through.
I wonder if she remembers? I changed my weapon from a sword to a rapier for the first time when I fought her. Then... There should be another change to signify the second battle right? I change my rapiers to white, but I'll keep my aura as is. I think I wouldn't be me if it wasn't purple. Slash to the left, blocked, slide to the right, spin and swing, blocked. Relocate to the left, overhead swing, she deflects my shoddy swordsmanship and moves closer. Relocate behind and swing another overhead, but slightly faster, she blocks without turning around by wrapping her arm around her back and covered her back with it.
With a single step, relocate behind her again, then another step to go in front, and finally one more step to land above her. With the combined momentum, I swung downwards with all my strength. Only for the tips of our weapon to collide, nevermind her senses and style, even her aim was monstrous! Shifting to a spot right in front of her, I struck a stab attack but she smashed her sword from overhead into my swing.
"KuGH!?"
Heavy... My white rapier flares up as it was knocked away and explodes. I materialise another white rapier in anticipation to block the next attack. She shifted behind me, but I barely swung my waist. It cut deeply into the side of my waist, but it didn't run straight through my torso. Then we both relocate at a distance a way from each other. Swing! There is no pause, even the attempt to put distance between use was just a pretext to gaining enough space to swing widely again.
So far, we've only used these primitive swings rather than using anything too advance. I've always been keeping my distance in mind and working around it, but I don't think it's enough to-
?!! A hole open up in my neck, her blade silently looped around mind and controlled the path of my rapier, forcing an opening that was small enough to let a slash at the side. The attack is small but solid, I feel like if I moved any closer to her I would be sliding my body down a blender... But I cannot falter. If I fall, so be it. I realised my face has gotten too tense, so I slid in a little smile too.
I can't be too afraid, I can't pull my magic back to form a shield, she'll cut them to pieces anyway. I have to bear it. The wounds, the pain, the exhilaration! With another step, she cautiously relocated, but I did it alongside her. With a powerful swing, she barely blocked it in time but her strength was firm and real, it was like hitting a wall. It was scary, but... I'll push through! I have to!
I speed up and relocated to her side, aiming a stabbing attack, she blocks that too before I relocate once more. This was the third time, she was wary of this repeated barrage so she teleported too. I saw that she wasn't where I expected and a large blade slides into my lung.
"Anti magic, stop healing for a bit. " (Zedicia)
A numbness fills my entire body but my will stat, my magic defence is rapidly catching up. I use my magic to keep relocating. Gradually, I gain a tighter grasp over our positions and learned to instantly tell where her location was. Relocation was becoming more rapid, everytime it happened, our weapons clashed before we were conscious of it.
Those 2 weren't sleeping at all, they were simply so focused on each other that they overlooked the entire universe. But as a being that could somewhat keep up with them, I entered the radar. If you were driving a car with everything outside rushing by, you would surely notice another car travelling at the same speed as you.
My thoughts are leaving my heart, my memories sealed. In pursuit of becoming the perfect magical girl, everything I've experienced is leaving my fingertips in favour moving faster, hitting harder, using less movements to dish out the same output. Becoming better, intercepting better, anticipating better. No, I am not in fear of losing it all like these 2.
Himei and Zedicia have led long lives, all the more with their wealth of experience they wouldn't want to forget about all of it in death. All their memories, their feelings, their hopes and dreams, they cling onto it and try to perfect themselves without losing anything.
That is why I am different. I am shortlived, and I may have suffered a lot... I am content, happy. Nothing could ever replace what I've experienced. Nothing can erase Kaede from this world, because she once existed. Even though I've never told anyone that I was Kaede, even though the only 2 people that knew, Himei and Grail are gone... It's fine because I exist in my own heart. If I know of my own existence, I don't if no one else does.
That is why I'm no longer afraid of losing. I've always worried about being a fake my whole short life. I haven't really existed for long, it was just a few months. But I accepted it and moved on. I accepted that I'm not Kaori, but I was still worried about matching up to expectations, of other people's and mine. But I accepted it and moved on. Expectations are something that everyone face, they are never ending and scary, but they serve as a goal post, a search light, rather than a reminder of inadequacy.
In other words, I'm no longer so scared of losing. I'm not gonna follow the path of these 2 deities. I would not abandon everything in favour of being stronger in battle. I've always been battling over myself, so why would I throw myself away now? For abandoning everything is the same as erasing Kaede. I would rather die while staying as Kaede than to win and stop being Kaede. I'm sorry Kaori, do you think it's selfish.
The villain should be selfish and the hero selfless, right? Unfortunately...
"If you think you're the most selfish in the world, then you're in for a treat!"
My body slides to the left, aided by a side step. She slices through my body multiple times over, leaving my body parts separated and sliding over itself with blood. My arm moves beyond her defences. One smashes against her sword with all its power, the other materialises another rapier that penetrated her head through her cranium.
"NGHHJH!!!!!!" (Zedicia)
Give and take, this is only possible because we're magical girls. Did you get nervous and thought the antimagic would hamper much of my regeneration? We're god magical girls... Debuffs don't work on us unless they're our 3 main skills. Likewise, we both regenerated instantly with no conclusion in sight. I swing my rapier once more, it gets intercepted. No matter what I do, she's a step ahead of me. Now she'll even be aware of what seemed like suicidal attacks. But it's precisely because of how brutal everything has been.
I stepped forward, her blade pierces my insides thinking I've made a slip up. I continue until I reach the end, wrapping my arms around her back.
"...? What's the... Point..." (Zedicia)
Hahah... Aren't magical girls too simple? They cry after a little hug... After all, I'll react the exact same way if I were her. That's how I thought of this plan. Our bodies were wrapped tightly by white light, it was a giant rapier beam, well it's just a laser beam all this time. It engulfs both our bodies. As the user, I don't get damaged. So the parts where I'm hugging also don't get damaged. But her body slowly breaks down, because smashing a moving infinite mass against a still infinite mass would still slightly damage the still mass. Well, both would get damaged, but the one moving is a projectile and not my body.
"... I'm sorry... For being so selfish. I know this wouldn't fix anything, the amount of people hurt through the creation of cult is countless. Their lives could have been normal." (Zedicia)
"Hmpf, you? Selfish? Didn't I say I was the most selfish in the world? After all, I want to save everyone and everything. Even if I sacrifice everything in exchange for it... So it's fruitless and only for my own satisfaction...
You who only sacrifice some but also gain more... You give more than I do, you're more selfless than I am. "(Kaede)
"... Hahah, who are you kidding? " (Zedicia)
" You let me win, right? You trained me while not using all of your strength, and when I finally matched you, you conceded... You could have killed me during the hug. " (Kaede)
"That's... Embarrassing... I was only tired of living. And I couldn't protect what was most important, I don't think I can match up with you who can. After all, what you cherish most...-" (Zedicia)
"Is being a magical girl!" (?)