Ch 20: Bargaining chip’s
Now there were too many problems, 1 devil suddenly appeared with the help of the portal and it was multiplied by Hui's magic, , the devils were now walking towards Akari, Hui looked in my direction and saw me running towards Akari.
"BELLA MAINTAIN HER OCCUPIED!!" Hui shouted, suddenly my hairs spike up and shivers crawl down my spine, I immediately turn and make a wall that was so thick it would be described as a cube, I also guarded for I felt something with aether sense.
"BORS DE GANIS" Bellatrix shouted and swung her sword at me, it created an 'air blade' that cut through my wall slicing entirely, the force of impact making the upper half get to shoot into the air, the air cut reaches me with a little less force, but it cuts my arms as I'm trying to block, I'm sent back and slide along the ground fro a few meters.
[That was strong!!!].
Because of the adrenaline, I can't feel the cuts on my arms that are now bleeding, Bellatrix charges once again with the intention to finish the fight, she thrust her sword at me, I cover my arms in rocks and catch the sword with my hands, I envelop the sword with rocks as well to bind it with my hands, Bellatrix tries to pull her sword out but it doesn't budge.
"What?" Bellatrix says as he pulls harder, her strength is no joke but I'm still stronger.
"You should listen to my words, Belatrix" I free my right hand and pull the sword with my left, I punch Bellatrix with all my might in the head, she goes flying backward and she tries to land correctly but I make a rock wall on her path so she slams into it, Bellatrix cough up and fell on the floor.
I feel one of the Teds approach me, I just impale Ted's core and they disappear into a little cloud of smoke, the copies from Hui's power don't stay after we deal some damage to them, so Akari gathers some pebbles and shoots them at the Ted's in order, they get their cores destroyed and subsequently disappear.
"Don't think it will be easy for yo-" Hui's tried to move her feet, but couldn't, I had tied up her feet to the ground with rocks.
"Wait! we can TAAAA-" I moved the ground she stood on towards me, the way I did was by moving a strip of the floor in a circular motion resembling a treadmill, Hui was suddenly in front of Akari, Hui was still stunned from her high-speed trip.
[She is Akari's opponent, I wonder what will she do to her?].
Akari took a look at Hui, then she gut-punched Hui so hard that she was sent back to where she was before I tied her up, she was now unconscious.
[Akari is ruthless].
We were victorious in this encounter, I relaxed for a bit and followed Akari's instructions on how to deal with the enemy's, I moved Hui's by moving the floor since I was too lazy to crouch and carry her, I put her next to Bellatrix which was conscious but was out of stamina, I started tying them up when another dark portal appeared behind me.
The dark portal was close to Akari, so she put her guard up while I was looking, from the portal exited the silver-haired military girl, her imposing presence was enough to make me freeze for a bit, her uniform and coat had parts of them frozen over as if she was just in a snowy place, she didn't look too bothered by this, once she closed the portal she took a glance at the scenery.
"I see that Bellatrix is not enough to contain you two" The military girl said, she was looking at me with an intrigued look.
[What does she want from me?].
Akari jolted from her position towards the military girl, Akari was using her Telekinesis on herself to the absolute extreme to make her move that fast, Akari aimed at punching the military girl but she only stood still while looking at her, she made a circling motion with her finger and a portal appeared in front of her.
[Wait not this again].
I started to move but I was a bit too late, Akari's closed fist passed through the portal, then another portal appeared to the left of Akai's face and her own hand exited it, resulting in Akari's punching herself in the face and being thrown to the right, Akari immediately tried to stand on her feet but the tip of a bright red shotgun touched her forehead, it was coming from a newly created portal.
"I don't recommend either of you to move" The military girl said, I stopped moving, Akari's face showed her fear of a girl that had a gun pointed at her head, she was utterly terrified of the idea of dying.
[Not this again, god what do I do, Can I even beat her? no, I can't, I only need to protect Akari somehow, maybe if a sink the ground, no i don't have what could be underground].
The military girl saw my unmoving expression, she knew she had me, "How about this? your perfectly fine friend for those 2 beaten-up girls" she said while pointing at Bellatrix and Hui.
"O... ok, but you need to release Akari first".
"You don't seem to understand your situation at all, you will be the one to release those girls if you want a chance at getting your friend back" she said while looking down at me, I complied, I undid the girls from their rocks cuffs, Bellatrix slowly made her way to one of the dark portals the military girl made while carrying Hui in her shoulder.
"Alright then" The shotgun from the portal retracted and the portal closed, immediately Akari's feet got tied to the ground and moved her towards me as fast as possible, didn't even take a second for her to be next to me.
[She is safe right now...].
I looked at the military girl in the eyes fully expecting to fight but she just looked at me.
"Well, then I'll take my leave" the military girl stepped into the portal followed by Bellatrix who was carrying Hui, she look back t me while going through the portal.
[What the hell is she thinking? isn't she one of our enemies???]
I look blankly at the lake, where the portal used to be, I snapped out of my trance and help Akari get up, she is still overwhelmed about the shotgun that was pointing at her head, I hug Akari and tell her that everything is fine at the moment.
"We should get back to Aqua" I say, Akari nods in agreement and we get out of the sidewalk, there's a problem though.
[Sh*t I forgot there were people watching].
There was a crowd of people on the road, most of them had their phones pointing at us, some ven didn't have the flashes of their phones turned off, they were looking at us with a variety of expressions, some were in awe at or magic, other were questioning us for slightly damaging the road.
[Oh god, what do I do in this situation?].
I felt that every one of their gazes was judging me, I couldn't move my mouth, once they made sure that we weren't a threat they surrounded us and began making questions all over the place, they asked names, ages, repair fees, if we were alright, the school we assisted, etc...
[I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, ].
I was paralyzed, this is the exact kind of situation I always avoided, because of that I was angry with myself and with others, my head was making scenario after scenario of how I could have avoided this, I only got to thinking straight once someone bumped me, I almost fell but I could recover.
[Gooddammit how do I fix this???].
I began to panic, I looked at Akari for answers, I immediately snapped out of my train of thought, Akari was teary-eyed, she was already depressed from being used as a bargaining chip and now she was in an uncomfortable situation, I knew Akari hated this situation as well but she could tolerate it as long as it was cordial, this wasn't it.
[You Idiots will get out of my ways].
My desire to want to help Akari overrode my anxiety for a moment, I looked at the crowd that was blocking out the pathway home and said.
"I'm sorry but we do not have time for any of this" I stomped the ground and the group of people was parted in two and moved to the sides, making a walkway for us to pass through.
"Let's go Enchantress" I grabbed Akari's hand and began walking away from the crowd, they tried to follow us but I kept moving the ground to maintain them at a safe distance, once we were in an isolated area we untransformed and made our way towards my home.
"Thank you Amy" Akari said while rubbing her eyes, they were still a bit teary but it was inevitable after that, I just gave her a thumbs up and a smile.
"But why did you call me enchantress???" Akari was better and had her curious look again, I was relieved that she felt better but couldn't come up with a good answer.
"Uhhhh... you see I can't call you class rep since they could get a hint of current identity" I said nervously.
[Uffff, that was a good excuse, good job me!!!].
"You could have called me Akari" she countered, it's true that the name Akari was not that rare around these parts but that really didn't matter, I just forgot to call her Akari since I had too many things on my head.
"Ummm well... you see..." I trembled through my words.
[I can't say 'I forgot your name', she will mock me or tease me with that fact!!!].
"It's a bit embarrassing to say your name" I let a small chuckle at the end to try and fake my confidence, I don't think it works.
"I see" Akari looks at the horizon, a small smile appears on her face, it last all the way until we make it to my home, when we get to my apartment I let Akari in, she told me that this is the point of reunion with Aqua and so we waited, in the meantime, I got to prepare some basic snacks, sandwiches, and juice, it seems that the sisters really like this kinda stuff, I heard the door opened and see Aqua enter.
[She really doesn't even knock, and is still making hr ice keys to get here!!!].
I sigh, I grab the snacks and begin our retelling of the events, Aqua listening closely to our story, the new girls that we saw, the type of powers that we used, and how I got to experiment with a little bit more with my magic by moving the ground to move people and myself.
Aqua then told us her part, she attacked a place she identified as an 'enemy base', from there 5 individuals were residing having a meeting and starting attacking Aqua, apparently, she identified the enemy leader, I asked about who it was and she told me that she didn't know who she was, but that the military girl was definitely stronger than their leader.
[That's weird, why would she follow a weaker leader].
I began to think that through the dilemma at hand, Aqua stopped her story and watched me think, the first option was that she was a 'military' and therefore, she was stronger in power but not tactics, but I debunked that myself with the actions that she took, being quite honorable but leader defiant, and then it hit me.
[Wait... Maybe when she said that 'she wasn't paid by the hour' she was completely serious].
I told Akari and Aqua that information, she powdered that maybe she signed a contract and so she was helping them, Aqua continued her story, She fought all 5 of them at the same time, but she was good at being on the defensive so the weaker ones, Bellatrix and Hui fled, for the other three, she froze the military girl so she fled, the other two fought her for some time before fleeing on their own, Aqua explained that she was overpowered and only could fight because it was raining
[So that base was far, it was only slightly cloudy here].
Lastly, we got all the information on a list to get a clear picture of the situation were in.
- A group of 5 individuals (Magda, Bellatrix, Hui, Military girl, and their leader).
- Their leader was extremely different from the others, she was described to have white skin, black eyes with red pupils and strangely formed back.
- The leader was only second strongest.
- The military girl is Strongest, probably bound by a contract.
- Even when only Magda and their leader, it was enough to hold Aqua back.
- Bellatrix seemed a bit dumb, and also believed that she was on the 'good side'.
- Hui could Multiply stuff with her magic.
After that, Aqua congratulated us on handling the situation to the best of our abilities, we had finished our snacks and Aqua and Akari decided to leave.
"Thank you for receiving us Amy" Aqua said to me while doing a small bow.
"You have no right to say that Aqua, have a good trip to you two" I say back, Aqua needs to stop opening my door with her powers.
"I'll see you tomorrow Amy" Akari said, after all that happened she was finally herself again, I smile at her and waved goodbye while they were going home after they were out of view I returned to my home and went to bed, I began thinking about something so I consulted Sauriel since he was awfully quiet.
"Hey Sauriel, you could help us a little" I said, Sauriel jumped from my hairpin, he stretched his cat body for a few seconds before answering.
"Well, first you never ask, secondly, these are a matter between magical girls, we can't interfere in them" He scratched his head with his pawns, I listened to Sauriel's words closely, since he doesn't lie I have to take everything at face value.
"isn't that a bad thing" I replied.
By not involving yourself in these situations you are basically giving free rein to evil that take the form of magical girls to do what they want, it is clearly stupid and dumb, I started to think that maybe all angels are straight-up stupid.
"We... don't know" Sauriel said, he was clearly a bit uncomfortable with the question, but since he did answer a pestered a bit more.
"Define 'we' " I said.
Sauriel hesitated a lot "Well you see, the governing authority of our realm is not present at the moment, so we have no idea of how to proceed in these types of situations" he said, his 'voice' was sad.
[Wait... what do you mean the governing authority is not present? is god dead or something?].
"So for how long has he been gone?" I asked I had genuine curiosity over what was happening in Sauriel's world.
"Around 12 years ago he suddenly disappeared, so we the high angels are running things, but it is a bit hard" he said.
[12 years ago, so that would make it 3 years after the first generation began].
I thought that it was weird how it was described, since they are angels, imagining God disappearing when I was 2 years old could possibly explain why everything in this world seems to be collapsing and being filled with evil by the time I was an adolescent.
I just pushed aside my thoughts for the time being and decided to sleep, since I had school tomorrow.
*****
2 days passed, so now it's a Thursday while in school, I'm currently taking my last of my physics class since it was the second to last day in school, I was thinking whenever to skip Friday to start an early summer vacation but the thought of leaving Mary here stopped me from ding that, during these 2 days nothing of real relevance happened, a few devils did appear but they were 'low leveled' so the fight ended with me just impaling their cores and instantly winning, it also helped me a bot with my anxiety since I got to practice my magical girl roleplay to some spectators, there were more images of me on the internet when I checked since I called myself 'Amy' a single time.
[I only called myself Amy a SINGLE TIME, and why the f*ck everyone keeps calling them lovable? wait no that's right].
I had my conflicting thought about how strangers calling me 'lovable' was kinda creepy and the fact that I also considered Magical girls lovable, with all the thinking our class ended in the blink of an eye, so I and Mary went with our daily routine, going to a restaurant and stealing wifi to kill time.
"Amy, you really like stealing right?" Mary said to me while I was refilling my soda cup.
"It's not stealing, I just enjoy paying 2 dollars for a cup and drinking 10 dollars worth" I replied with cockiness, this was my 4 cups of soda since coming here and I wasn't going to stop just because someone told me.
[I really have become accustomed to drinking a lot of soda for no good reason].
"Well, as long as you are aware of it I don't mind!!" Mary said happily.
"Yes I'm aware, so how about it, tomorrow is the last day!!" I said to Mary, she was a bit down since as always, she really hates her home.
"But the plan is the same, right?" Mary asked shyly, she always asks this question every summer break.
"I already made it clear, you can come to my house whenever you like since we need to make your costume anyway" I said confidently, Mary was relieved from my words.
The reason we needed costumes was for Comicket, it is in 2 weeks so we need to prepare to cosplay since we always do it, Mary tends to be dressed as fighting game characters, I cosplayed occasionally but this year I was gonna do it.
"I see, don't reproach me when I hold those words to you" She said, her voice was really sweet even though she was teasing me.
"I won't" I said instantly.
We left the fast-food restaurant and I made my way home when suddenly some pulled my hand.
"Hey Amy, I need your help" I looked at who asked the question, It was David from an alleyway.
"Ummm, do I know you" I said.
"Don't give me that look, this is extremely important" David was a bit desperate.
[How did he know my identity?].
I followed him into the alleyway fully expecting to fight if something remotely suspicious happened.
"How do you know m-".
"Our leader told us, and he is threatening me!!" David cut me off, he was almost on the verge of tears while saying that.
"Explain clearly, and then I will decide" I said in the most imposing voice.
"Well, Our leader discovered your identity and decided to kidnap Brat!!!" He said while looking at me, he kneeled sown and was almos praying for God to help him-
[Sorry dude, God is kinda missing].
"Who is Brat?" I asked, I had no idea who he was talking about.
"My friend!!! The Hot-dog devil" I was stunned, he was getting blackmailed over a devil he made friends with.
"I called him Brat sine I like Bratwurst" he added, I sighed loudly ad the unnecessary information entered my brain.
"I guess I'll help you, since your boss knows me I better strike a deal with him or something" I said while putting my pal on my head from how disappointed I was with David, the supposed 'Street Magician'.
"Does he want something in return?" I added because I need to know what were his demands.
"Knowing him, he only wants to test your strength because you beat me, his right-hand man!!!" I was angry now, he really was flaunting his dumb status to me.
"Well let's see if I'm within expectations".