"Another Kaguya?" Seina stared in confusion. If her former mistress came from the future, was this a Kaguya from an earlier period? Wasn't it beyond dangerous to meet your past self? That's why her future self only met them as a projection.
"You shouldn't be here." Future Seina said, her voice hard. "You risk everything being here!"
"Yeah! We agreed to stay distant from each other," her mistress said, somewhat peevishly. The two identical vampires glared daggers at each other. But now, Seina noticed a slight difference between the pair. Her Kaguya had a dark presence to her, her entire existence a living void of darkness. The other Kaguya was only a shadow compared to this, barely registering on Seina's senses.
"And let you ruin everything," continued the other Kaguya pointing a finger at her counterpart. "Thanks to you, my Devil Princesses are dead!" She gestured at the crumpled remains of Reiko.
"Arisu is dead," Future Kaguya said, her voice displaying a pain she failed to hide.
But other Kaguya only shrugged. "Only yours is. Mine is fine. We can free her, if you wish. Though, we both know the trouble she'd cause."
"Okay, what's going on?" Takako whispered. "Is this the Dreamers' identical sister?"
Her future self perked up her ears, picking up an unheard conversation. "Ah, that explains it." She turned towards her fellow magical girls. "This Kaguya is a meat puppet the Vampire Queen psychically created after she got imprisoned by Arisu."
"What?" Takako said, confounded.
"It's a long story. Apparently, my Kaguya is from the future. And here is my future self." Seina gestured to the angelic projection of her with a weak smile.
"That makes even less sense!" Takako replied.
"My head hurts." Neir placed a paw against his head.
"Really? I understand everything. Seems simple enough," Colten lied. "Have to say, Seina, you're pretty cool in the future. Love the angelic super form!"
This earned a smile from future Seina, pleased by the compliment.
But Past Kaguya interrupted their conversation. "And you're just giving up, are you? Have you forgotten who we are? What we've suffered? And am I supposed to be happy with being locked up forever? You promised to free me!"
"I don't owe you anything," The first Kaguya said, crossing her arms. "I do what I like."
"You'd betray me, yourself?!" Other Kaguya said, outraged.
"Huh? She's fighting with herself?" Future Seina said, her translucent face baffled.
Seina released a deep sigh, knowing her former mistress too well. "Kaguya loathes being told what to do. She's very stubborn."
"Huh," Future Seina said, shaking her head.
"I'm getting a headache," Takako said, rubbing her temple.
"Should they even be together if one's from the future?" Colten asked.
The two Kaguyas continued to lock eyes, refusing to retreat from their positions. Each snarled at the other, showing pointed fangs.
"I thought better of you. I see now you're only a failure from a failed future. You weren't making things right. You were running from enemies you couldn't beat!" Past Kaguya's expression turned smug. "A coward."
"Don't you dare talk of cowardice! I seem to recall you fleeing with your tail between your legs the first time we fought against Arisu," Future Kaguya's mouth extended into a superior smile.
Other Kaguya scowled. "As if that didn't happen to you as well!" The two counterparts continued their bickering, each refusing to give a centimeter. Despite her aloof nature, Seina knew her ex-mistress had a major ego.
"What if I don't want to fight anymore?" Future Kaguya said.
"So you'd really leave your past self high and dry?" Past Kaguya fumed.
"Yes."
Other Kaguya ground her teeth before glaring at Seina. "You think this is funny, don't you, whelp?!"
"Well, uh," Seina floundered before giving a hesitant reply. "No."
"You've ruined everything!" Past Kaguya ground her teeth harder in frustration. "And you broke the rules somehow! A magical girl vampire, I don't believe it."
"How about you surrender?" Her fairy partner said. "Your future self isn't interested in your plans, and you can't beat us. You're fighting a lost cause."
"Colten, please don't antagonize her," Seina said in a harsh whisper.
"While a shadow of my former self, I'm still a vampire queen. Don't underestimate me!" White fangs glistened as Past Kaguya's mouth extended into a cruel smile. "I refuse to lose. I will regain true power. Soon you'll all suffer!"
"Why am I just a pain in the ass?" Future Kaguya said, exasperated. "You try something, and I'll kick you into next week!"
"How would that even work?" Colten asked. "Would she cease to exist? There has to be a reason Future Seina isn't entering the past."
"Yes, please don't mess up the past any further," the angelic Seina said. "I'm having a hard enough time keeping the future from disintegrating!"
Past Kaguya's cruel smile extended further. "Is that right? Interesting. That explains why the timelines have become so convoluted. But never mind, I'm pruning you failures for a better future."
"No." Takako already had her twin pistols pointed at Past Kaguya's head and fired. But the vampire queen dodged away, taking to the air. There she floated, her scowl contemptuous.
"You haven't won yet. I will win! Mark my words." Then Past Kaguya vanished from sight.
"Great. Another vampire running loose," Seina said, sighing. Though she wondered if her boasts were only bravado, empty of any real threat.
"Why didn't you do anything to stop her?" Colten said to her former mistress, annoyed.
"Look, I'm done. I don't care about any of this," Future Kaguya said with her trademark apathy. "Solve this problem yourself."
"What?" Colten said, outraged.
"So, you're returning to the future?" Her angelic counterpart said hopefully.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Seina's former mistress replied. "Let's just get it over with. I'd barely care if you killed me at this point."
This reaction surprised Seina. Kaguya must have really cared about Arisu. All the fight had left her former master. It was sad seeing the proud vampire queen taken this low.
"I liked her too. Arisu was quite the character," Future Seina said, extending a hand.
"With her, anything seemed possible. And she never gave up on me. She never fought to kill me. She'd always hoped for a redemption of sorts. The fool." Future Kaguya looked away, ashamed. "This isn't to redeem myself. I'm beyond such foolishness. Lock me up, I don't care. I'm done!"
"Look, um," Seina trailed off, trying to find the right words. "Despite everything, thank you. You saved my life. You gave me hope."
"Yes, you could have killed her instead," Future Seina said, thoughtfully. "You knew she'd one day become me."
"I only did it because I was bored," Kaguya said, shooting her down. But then her face softened. "No, I did it because you remind me of myself. Scared, helpless, thrown around by everyone."
"Maybe there is a heart somewhere within you," Seina replied, touched by this honest confession.
"Doubtful." Kaguya turned away, hiding her expression. "Okay, I'm ready to go."
Future Seina nodded and extended her transparent hand. She turned to meet her past self's eyes. "Watch out for your times Kaguya. She's a slippery one. I don't want her ruining the timeline any further. These ripples in history are getting more difficult to fight back. Soon, not even I will be capable of stopping them."
"And then you'll cease to exist," Seina said, solemn.
"I'll find some way to fuse our timelines into something coherent. I have the smartest person I know working on the problem," Future Seina replied. "And I…"
"What is it?" Kaguya asked, annoyed as Seina's future self started fretting, her expression becoming more troubled.
"I…no!" Future Seina's projection started flickering, her voice distorting. "History is unraveling!"
"What? Weren't things messed up enough? Sweat gathered on Seina's undead forehead. What had her former mistress's counterpart done this time?"
"Crap!" Colten said, panic creeping into his voice. "What can we do?"
"I… Think… never… hope… future's never certain."
"What? We can't understand you!" Seina said. She watched in horror as her future self dissolved into nothing, leaving them all helpless.
---
"Back again?" The fairy in the cage said, amused. "It's been, what, two decades since your last visit."
"Shut it, Charity," Past Kaguya said, annoyed. She slumped against a wall, furious.
"Fight against the Twilight not go well?" This didn't surprise her. Despite past Kaguya's best efforts to counter her annoying future-seeing ability, the fairy had always found some loophole. "Special girl. Reminds me of a certain Wicked Queen. She didn't like confinement either."
"And yet I'm still here," Past Kaguya's lips extended into a cruel smile. "They're fools to underestimate me! I'll destroy them all!"
"And how will you do that?"
"I'm figuring it out!" A moment of silence passed between them. "Okay, I don't know!" Her boasts had been empty. She hadn't a clue how to stop those monsters. Without her true body, this meat puppet body was useless against them.
"You could take Future Seina's offer and change your fate," Charity suggested.
This earned a derisive snort from Past Kaguya. "And admit defeat, never." It was her nature to win. Still, she had to admit the situation seemed bleak. "And you're going to help me, Charity. We're going to shift the timeline to something more palpable."
"You really expect Charity to do that?" The fairy raised a curious eyebrow.
"You're the only person I have left." What a sad admission that was.
"Charity refused to help you destroy the future. Your other self has already caused considerable damage. History is unraveling."
"Not enough," Her future self had swaggered in, taking charge like she owned the place. It galled her to no end. Still, something occurred to her. Hadn't her future self risked her entire existence messing with history? Only her mighty power protected her from the shifts in the river of time. But even Great Vampires weren't unbeatable.
"Don't," Charity said, a warning creeping into her voice. "You do that. It will only cause the destruction of everything."
"Thanks, you've helped enough. You've been a useful soundboard," Past Kaguya said, her smile sly.
"Kaguya!" Charity said, alarmed.
"Don't worry, you'll survive. The rest I don't care about." If she played her cards right, she'd come out on top, mightier than ever. There were risks, but she had nothing to lose.
She ignored the helpless pleas of the caged fairy as she exited the prison, passing the two unconscious guards. Past Kaguya gazed upon Starlight Dream's beauty, how the light reflected off its crystalline structures. Her memory returned to when she'd first visited this hallowed place; it had brought tears to her eyes. Its purity burned her, yet she marveled at its majesty. But such vaunted purity had vanished centuries ago, leaving the world a husk cloaked in a pretty shell.
"You've lost any reason to exist." She watched as various magical girls and fairies mingled about, oblivious to their fates. Legends told that Starlight Dream was the center of creation, both existence and history.
To this, the Vampire Queen only shrugged. History was hers to control. The timeline bent to her will alone. Victory would be forever hers.
The earth thundered as Past Kaguya's fist impacted the dirt, the grime filling her fingernails. She tasted the life of Starlight Dream and everyone who lived in it. A fairy screamed as her partner just collapsed in a heap, her life stolen until only a husk remained.
Unlike Arisu, these magical girls were pale imitations of the real deal. They died with Starlight Dream before they realized what was happening. Plants once vibrant with life crumbled to dust, their remains blowing away in the wind. The earth hardened and blackened, becoming more like dried ash. Towers that had once pierced the heavens collapsed in torrents of crystal shards. Cracks formed across the planet as it crumbled to dust. With the tightening of her fist, Starlight Dream, the cosmos' jewel, imploded.
"It is done." The sole Devil Princess smiled as she floated amongst the dust of Starlight Dream. Only three distant landmarks remained. One was the mighty core of the cosmos, its radiant beauty stinging her vampiric eyes. Another was Arisu's stake, the imposing ziggurat towering above, not scratched despite its home's destruction. No surprise there.
The last was a tiny white figure. She stared at the vampire queen in abject horror. "What have you done?!"
As the vampire queen suspected, the fairy and her partner were too powerful for such a simple display of power to destroy them.
"See, I told you that you'd live." Though, Arisu remained sealed within the dust of Starlight Dream. Past Kaguya reflected it wouldn't be long until the terrible Wicked Queen freed herself, but she could live with that.
"Gah!" The fairy winced, clutching at her head. "The future, it's in turmoil!"
"Perfect." Billions of timelines passed through her head, each dying and being reborn at a dizzying rate. The future became a chaotic jumble, even to her. Starlight Dream wasn't just a planet. Its existence anchored the multiverse.
"Victory at last!" Her mirth exploded in uproarious laughter. This was it! She'd won!
---
"No, this can't be happening!" Pure panic filled Kaguya's face, she was terrified almost out of her mind. It filled Seina with genuine fear. Never had she seen her former mistress scared before.
"I can't fade away. Not after everything!" Kaguya's body became more translucent as history destroyed her. Seina waved, unsure how she could help.
"Takako, do something! You can do anything with your guns!" Seina clutched at the dark magical girl's arm.
"After everything this maniac has done?" Takako said, crossing her arms.
"Don't say that!" Seina snapped back. "What happened to pity and mercy?"
"I don't believe in such things for monsters like her," Takako replied coolly.
"Why you!" But Colten stopped Seina's tirade, butting into the conversation.
"Look, we don't know what's happening. We might all vanish next. The vampire queen is our only time expert." The fairy said. "We need her expertise."
"Fine." Takako rolled her eyes, firing her silver pistol at the fading vampire. A field formed around her, Kaguya's image becoming more focused.
"Thank you." Kaguya sighed in relief, flexing her fingers like she could hardly believe they even worked anymore.
"Mistress Kaguya, what's going on?" Seina said, returning to a formal tone.
"The timelines are falling to pieces. My past self must have done something drastic to alter history further. My existence is becoming even more unlikely and impossible," Kaguya scowled. "Curse that fake magical girl! She's the one who convinced me to travel back in time. It's all her fault this happened. Why'd I ever listen to her?!"
"Are we safe? What happens if history distorts even further?" Seina asked.
"We'll all be annihilated in an all-consuming paradox!" A distorted voice said. The angelic Seina's image was almost impossible to decipher as she tried to speak.
"That sounds about right," Kaguya said. "I'm surprised you even still exist."
"We're managing," Future Seina said. "But I'm afraid little of the future exists anymore. We've condensed the multiverse into a single universe. What little still remains, anyway. It's reducing the strain of holding together history."
"What is the other Kaguya trying to do, destroy us all?!" Takako said, fuming.
"No, she's trying to exorcize the future. That way, Kaguya's future self never interfered with the past. A risky plan," Future Seina said, musing.
"Insane, more like," Takako replied dryly.
"That's me for you," Kaguya said, cringing. "Stubborn to the last."
"So what's the plan? How do we fix whatever past Kaguya changed?" Seina asked.
"Stop her from causing any more damage first," Future Seina said. "Mr. Kiyojiro says we can keep whatever future remains if the timeline remains somewhat stable. We can always reduce the size of the universe."
"How much of your multiverse remains??" Seina asked, alarmed. She wondered who this Kiyojiro was? He must be pretty cool to salvage an entire broken timeline.
Future Seina only sighed, visibly sagging. "Only a couple million planets."
How bad had things become in this alternate future? Were they doomed to the same fate?
"So only a corpse remains," Kaguya said, sighing.
Future Seina fought back a cutting remark, sighing as she pieced together a more peaceable response. "It doesn't matter. The past is the past. It still isn't beyond fixing."
"Is that right?" A familiar voice said.
"You!" Seina turned and gasped as the past version of Kaguya appeared from nowhere. Her expression was victorious as her arm stabbed forward. After almost getting erased from history, her former mistress was helpless to defend herself. She howled as an arm emerged from her chest.
"And now your might is mine," Past Kaguya, her grin victorious.
"You fool! Don't!" Future Seina said, alarmed. But it was too late.
Future Kaguya blood seeped into her past self, her flesh dissolving away in ash as it did. It fed into her past self, her entire body pulsing with dark energy. The reborn vampire queen opened her eyes, delighting in her newfound power. The light reflected off her dress in a dizzying array of colors, each impossible yet very possible. They danced to a chaotic beat, different flashes of possible histories appearing before Seina as each color struck her eyes.
"Amazing! I'd forgotten what my true power felt like! I'm reborn! No better than ever! I am dead, yet I still live! I am contradiction itself! Call me Paradox Kaguya!"