Phantasmagoria — Ewigkeit in Wiedergeburt

Pathetic and pitiful. That was the death John had been given from the ribbon-wearing Witch. Only keeping his last bits of dignity thanks to the visor helmet hiding his visage. It was one of pain and regret, one whose last thoughts went to his loving family. A widow and a child without father. 'Died prideful in line of duty', they would be told. 'For the Glory of Mankind', they'd tell themselves to ease their pain. But no amount of 'war decorations' could bring back the dead.

The 'Captain', on the other hand, turned around, her hands gripping the blade in time, yet not strong enough to stop it at all. Was it unexpected? Was it a fluke? A miscalculation? It mattered not. Lucia quo Fabious believed in the dream. Duty was all that mattered. With her head held high, flesh and armored got teared apart alike.

But the 'savage' simply smiled. A smile that counted her a victor. A smile that told the Vixen, the Monster, she counted herself superior. And once she was dead, there was nothing Melora could do about. Just like Melora Lucia, too, kept silent, as she stared into the mask where the green-hairs eye's should have been. 'Even now, you're hiding behind a mask' or something similar would have been words the armored Captain would have maybe spoken.

But these Monster deserved no words. Even as Melora pulled the weapon out again in brutal fashion, even as she could feel her own body giving in, Lucia kept on smiling.

Parou, in the meantime, gave the spectacle just a quick glance, before she continued to concentrate on her barrier. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. Was she about to sacrifice herself? For 'them'? The 'somewhat cold' bitch? That was hardly believable. Yet, here she was, for now. A singular Witch using her very own life force to keep a gigantic death ray at hand, while the other Witches made a covered retreat. Remaining relatively unharmed thanks to their various defensive spells and Eirly's taking care of most riff-raff.

But then, it happened. As if on 'command', the focus fire that had been driving them into the defensive, changed. Well-trained and disciplined, one could only wonder who their new target was. Yet, even for that, the girls had no time as a few seconds after the barrier started to crack. Slowly, at first, but then in an instant, like glass shattering, the giant wave of light continued on its path. Showing once again just how massive it was. As even with the distance they had already put between themselves and the point of impact, they weren't close to safe.

Similar to before, the ground erupted, creating yet another shock-wave carrying roughly 1/6th of the island with it. Safer, yes, but certainly not safe.

...
...
...

Once this was over, and the debris and clouds of dust settled. The remaining Witches were able to see the now even closer (to the island) ship in most of its glory. Most neon-colors from before were now replaced by a deep red as the smoke it was creating seemed to have intensified. A monstrous weapon of death that, below it, blew a big chunk of the Singing Rocks away. For now, it looked to remain in place.

Parou was nowhere in sight...

How would they continue?
 
Building whales.
Building whales...!
Aurora's dreams would forever be haunted by building whales...

"Oh, Eiry...! There you are. We're about ready to leave once we find Parou..."

One moment she wandered about, gathering her squad together.
The next was absolute chaos.

"W-what...?! See, this is why you don't trust strange humanoids thingies from another world!"

Whirling lights and vibrating energy.
More dead bodies and a frantic sprint for life.

...

"No way... how...? It..." several unfinished ideas came and went in the only way Aurora knew how: out loud.

"Why is it sad... Why is even here...?!"

Meanwhile, Rune stood off to the side, holding up a certain capture crystal that had traded handed somewhere in the heat of action. Maybe she was a little satisfied, receiving the clear mark of leadership. If she was, she wouldn't show it. Yes, Rune was best leader, but she wasn't prepared to wish death on anyone to get it. It was a solemn moment. She wouldn't ruin it.

"I hate this place... so much...!! Fleshy nastiness, rotting dead things, and now remorseful building whale murderers...!?" Aurora pounded her fist on a nearby rock, wincing as she immediately regretted the outburst from the pain.

"Let's go home already. I don't want to spend another second here!"
 
Melora twisted around, barely registering the action next to Seia. Eirlys called out to confirm that they were well, and Melora swooped down to grab the other side of Seia to help support Eirlys. Between the two of them they should be able to move fairly quickly.

Aurora screamed about leaving, and Melora looked back one last time to see the smoking ruin of where Parou had been.

Her fault.

Melora turned away from the spot, and she had nothing left to say. Her throat felt closed up, like she was about to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. The emotions were just stuck in her throat and had nowhere to go. So much so that it nearly physically hurt to let them stay there.

She could have killed them all and everyone would have been safe.

"Let's hurry along. We're too tired to sight-see, and frankly, I don't really want to stick around. Let's just get the money and get out." Melora said. "Maybe we should call ourselves the Tragedy Squad."

Did all the Questing Witches have to go through this every mission? Loss for every gain? This was probably why they had to go out in Squads, not alone. Melora would have died back in the Maw.

"Let's double time it as far away as we can then take a break. I don't want that thing to fire again before we can get out of here, got it?"
 
Seia woke up staring skyward. That was strange, she most certainly was eating dirt just a moment ago. Or... was it a moment ago?

Just how much time had passed? Even when recovering from a daze, Seia could understand that she had fallen unconscious after attempting to attack the Captain of the Savages.


The witches seemed to have followed Melora's plan. Using whatever strength they had to get away from the island and the strange black object that had fired upon them. But, the leisurely trek they took there did still take some time. The witches had expended a good amount of energy just getting away. They still had a way to go. But, after the battle, the surprise, and the frantic getaway, they were all being pushed to their limits. They had to rest or they'd certainly start falling out of the sky.

Of course, the Praetorian was oblivious to what had happened after she fainted on the ground. But, the place where she found herself in now was certainly not the singing rocks.


She wearily lifted herself up as she tensed her muscles out of lethargy. Trying to reignite the vigor in them, and take in the situation at hand.
Firstly though, she looked among the squad that was present. There was a certain look of resignation, and a distinct heaviness in the air.

Melora. Celestia...

Seia counted off her squad in her head as she scanned around.

Eirlys. Rune. Aurora.


"Ah..."

There were a couple of things missing.
The first thing Seia had realized was missing: Nova, her sword. It's sheathe was attached to her side, but the weapon that it held was not there.

She had mixed feelings about it. The blade was something she'd been saving up for up until then, but it had been just used to execute someone. With her own two hands. At that moment, she wasn't missing her weapon all that much.

But, more than that, the other thing missing from this scene was the squad leader. Nowhere was Parou and her mechanical legs to be seen. Seia hadn't seen it for herself - Parou's end. But she could feel it from the aura the rest of the team was giving off.


Someone had died. One of the newest additions to the team, and the team leader nonetheless. For all the indignant and non-caring attitude Parou seemed to give off, it woud've been wrong to say she did not care entirely. For in the end, she paid the ultimate sacrifice.

It was their second mission... first mission on their own and they had already had one member Killed in Action. The worst part of it was that the 'mission' was already over by then. They could've been at the tower taking payment and going their separate ways by now. Allowing the tumultuous events of the day to end anticlimactically. But someone just had to take an interest in the unknown savages...

Someone...


No. Now wasn't the time to break. Order had to be maintained.

"...Thank you for getting me out of there. I'm fine enough to continue back to the gate. I understand we're taking a rest, but we shouldn't take too long. They might be still following after us."
 
With the last drops of their strength, the remaining Witches made hurry home. Past the volcano island they had passed earlier. Past flying rocks shrouded in blizzard, grassy greens, or wide sandy desserts. Past peaceful sleeping sky-whales and the metallic ship of doom. Past the Gaping Maw and a swarm of flying Angelfish's. All without Parou.

Into the cave they had entered and exited before so many times, past the rocky corridor that led them to the teleportation magic circle. Past the few Witches who stood guard, silently either not caring or noticing the missing member as they initiated their magic. All without Parou.

Even the other side didn't pay all too much attention to Squad #483 . A 'standardized', but warm, welcome back from the faceless noname witch that was now on shift in place of the glasses wearing gatekeeper was all they got. A welcome to all of them but Parou.

The lack of Parou became even more apparent when they had to turn in their capture device. The proof of their succesful mission. It was lucky then, that Rune seemed to be in possession of said device to allow at least one thing going smoothly!

"One moment please." The ever stoic Chika replied as she placed her hand over the crystal which promptly started to glow. As seconds became a minute, and then a few more, Chika finally replied. "I am sorry for your loss. This will take a bit longer, please stay right where you are." With these words, Chika turned around to dissapear in the backroom.

This time, only a few seconds passed as slowly, but surely, the Witch Squad #483 could feel getting more and more drowsy. And while some fought against the desire to sleep more strongly than others, ultimately they all succumbed to it.

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...
 
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...

The sweet fragrance of strawberrycake and milk tea was what ultimately pulled Melora back into the land of the living. Not sure how much time had passed, she certainly felt more rested. In fact, apart from maybe some sort of headache, she felt actually quite comfortable. She was, after all, sitting in some comfortable armchair. No restraints or anything, as one would have maybe thought.

"You're finally awake." She could hear a voice. A person. On the other side of a desk that was in front of her, scribbling in some old dusty book half her size without looking up.

"Leaving the pointless and obvious statement aside, I am Eleanor Gloria." Indeed she was. Smoll, and full of herself. "I already know your name, Melora the Fool. Now, with introductions out of the way, I want you to make a hypothesis about following: What do you think happened, and why?" Finally, the blonde girl put down her antique tool and looked up.

The room wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It had two couches with a coffee-table between. A bunch of drawers with books, magical utensiles and other stuffs, a door, and the place they were sitting at. Overall it looked to be a simple office room. Not to mention, magic seemed to work too.

-

Being physically rested and emotionally rested were two different things. Knowing that Parou was never going to come back, and some faction of it was her fault... She expected nightmares, even as she drifted off in the midst of the turning in their quest.

She probably deserved the nightmares to come, too.

Melora awoke in the soft scents of Gloria's office, looking around at the office provided no clues as to how she arrived there. Magic, then.

Listening to the girl who had summoned her, Melora was silent for a moment, more processing and assessing the whole mission. Things were going smoothly until...

"We encountered a being calling itself Intlenyeyikone which caused the... Obelisk to 'hatch'?" Melora said. "After that, nothing made any sense."

"I wanted to know more about the savages since we encountered a strange enemy, and in doing so caused us to delay for long enough for something called an 'airship' to arrive and blast us with magic unlike anything we've ever encountered. Paoru saved us by using up as much mana all at once as she could, but we could only barely escape."

Melora longed for her mask. She delievered everything evenly, but all she wanted was to go home and collapse into her bed, probably crying her eyes out. However, that was not productive or helpful now.

"My actions then made sense to me, and me alone. However, knowing that this 'mankind' is out for our blood, there was no point."

-


The Headmistress went silent for a moment. "These 'savages', as you call them, are dubbed 'The Iron Menace'." Eleanor replied in a calm fashion, not surprised at all.

"There are reasons for why you, and most Witches, haven't heard of them before. To put it simply, you weren't supposed to meet yet. An unfortunate accident." With these words, Eleanor Gloria fell silent once more.

-

"So we know them, and they know us. They called us Vixens." Melora said. "Right before they tried to kill us. I barely managed to talk them down for a moment, but it seems they prefer all their members to die for 'mankind' than live."

Melora sat up, staring straight at the Headmistress. "I want to know about the Unlit Sun."

Melora offered no further information, but she had to know. Why did she know this? Why did she like that mask? Why did the Headmistress act like she planned out all of this and it went awry?

-

"Kill, or worse, capture us as living batteries as fuel for their gadgets." The headmistresses added to Melora's observation before becoming wide eyed at her next question.

"That... is quite the change of topic. The Unlit Sun is, to put it simple, theorized to be a very powerful being Lemuria worships. Anything else you need to know?"

-

"I don't think it's theorized, madam Headmistress." Melora sat forward. "That being did summon a mass of Lemuria bodies. It destroyed itself, but I think there's a high possibility that those tower will further create more of those massive beings. It might be in your best interest to dispatch higher level Questing Witches for this mission in the future."

That reaction... so Melora wasn't supposed to know that, and yet... Melora knew that name near instinctively. So it was likely a closely guarded secret and was not going to be public. That meant that what the Headmistress just said could be a lie. There was no way to tell either way, however. So Melora played the part of Team Leader.

"However, it seems like you've laid our path firmly in front of us, Headmistress. If I may, dare I ask for a simpler mission next time if you're feeling so inclined? Our team took heavy losses, and we need a clear cut win if we are to continue."

-

"Regardless of the plausibility regarding the existence of the Unlit Sun, the being you fought was with 100% certaintity not it. If you are that interested in Lemurian lore I suggest you spend some dedicated time researching." Before becoming somewhat visibly annoyed.

"I do not care for empty words or pleasantries, but may I suggest that you put at least some thoughts into some of the nonsense you are spilling? It would save both you and me time. The mission ranking system and grading exists exactly to ease any, and all, of your concerns. Eleanor closed her eyes for a second.

"Yes, I admit, the mission had some unpredicted variables like the appearance of a Lemurian Apostle and The Iron Menace, but you always had the option to retreat." Before looking now very harsh at Melora.

"Maybe you should simply pick an easier mission next time?"

-

"I am perfectly aware of the ranking system, thank you. However, that doesn't mean that I'm also being belligerent to be belligerent." Melora stopped and arranged herself on the chair, balancing on the edge. Lemurian Apostle? So that thing had a name. And was seemingly in the library.

"On our first mission, we ran across an Alptraum with Melody, which no one was prepared or expected to see. Not even our mentor. While I will be picking missions, these incidents keep happening. All I want to know is if we should expect more heavy losses like this or not." Melora said. "I just want to know if this is the average job, where we lose and lose and encounter beings not planned for despite best efforts to the contrary."

"I will say that while we had the option to retreat, that also meant leaving our mission undone. Frankly, I'm too stubborn to leave a job half done." Melora looked down at her hands, finally breaking eye contact. However, the moment of weakness was gone in the following second, Melora returning back to her cold, business-like stare.

"If you want me to say that approaching the Iron Menace was a mistake, then I admit it. We should have left them the second we finished our job. However, regardless of the result, I am closer to knowing something. Loss for knowledge can be acceptable, if it minimizes the losses for next time."

-

"Correction. Discovering an Alptraum, while uncommon in your situation, was still within the realm of likely-hood. Unlike the Iron Menace. If you're too full of pride to realize a mission too dangerous then maybe you aren't fit to be a Questing Witch."

Eleanor waved her hand in slight dismissal.

"The only thing I had ever wanted from this conversation was to have an insight of your attitude. If you found these missions too difficult to deal with I can only suggest taking an easier, Manablight, related one."

-
Melora contemplated the words, and nodded. "I understand."

There was not much there could be done, after all. Melora really was the final say in selecting missions now, wasn't she? The weight of the decisions to come was heavy. If she picked something out of their depth... they could easily all die.

"Thank you for your time. I apologize... it's been... a stressful few hours." Melora said. "I wish you well, Headmistress. Is there anything else you need from me?"
-

"No. There isn't. You may excuse yourself now." Eleanor replied, closing her eyes for a moment as she shooed towards the only exit.

"Chika will show you out." With these words, Eleanor expected Melora to leave the room, Chika already waiting outside.

...

"Hello" The girl greeted Melora with a bow. "Please follow me and keep your fingers to yourself. Nobody wants to lose them, losing a finger sucks." She kept talking on before turning around.

Both Melora and Chika were in a rather big stone corridor, a few various doors with weird runes on them leading to what were likely various offices, just like the door that closed behind Melora. Eleanor's own office door not much different looking than the other.

Without saying a single word, the 'Manager' walked for good few minutes as the stone was slowly replaced by glass. Including the floor below them turning see-through, allowing Melora to realize just where exactly they were.

Above, a translucent clutter of all (un)imaginable colors dancing. Below, layers upon layers of 'facility'. Gardens, buildings, magical light-shows, people, there was no end in sight as the clutter of stuff became more and more dense. Maybe, if Melora really tried, she could see her living quarters somewhere! Although doubtful.

Without losing a word, Chika simply continued onward, leaving the glass ceiling behind to a more-open ended area that could simply be described as a (glass) wharf with various landing platforms and a few runic inscriptions spread here and there.

Still not one for much words, Chika expected Melora to follow her into one of these ground symbols and, upon doing so, simply stomped a few times on the ground in a specific rythm.

Melora herself was engulfed by a flash of light, not unlike the teleportation into Horizon, as - suddenly - she found herself in some dusty room full of crates and other 'storeroom' things. Chika, however, was not there.

"W-Welcome!" A rather timid, small, noname manager whose hair hid her eyes greeted Melora with a bow. "P-Pwease wait while the others arrive, pwease? You're... the first."
 
...
...
...

The sweet fragrance of strawberry cake and milk tea was what ultimately pulled Eirlys back into the land of the living. Not sure how much time had passed, she certainly felt more rested. In fact, apart from maybe some sort of headache, she felt actually quite comfortable. She was, after all, sitting in some comfortable armchair. No restraints or anything, as one would have maybe thought.

"You're finally awake." She could hear a voice. A person. On the other side of a desk that was in front of her, scribbling in some old dusty book half her size without looking up.

"Leaving the pointless and obvious statement aside, I am Eleanor Gloria." Indeed she was. Smoll, and full of herself. "I already know your name, Eirlys of the Metal Sea. Now, with introductions out of the way, I want you to make a hypothesis about following: What do you think happened, and why?" Finally, the blonde girl put down her antique tool and looked up.

The room wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It had two couches with a coffee-table between. A bunch of drawers with books, magical utensils and other stuffs, a door, and the place they were sitting at. Overall it looked to be a simple office room. Not to mention, magic seemed to work too.



The journey home exhausted Eirlys on multiple levels. Not only did she have to support Seia until she recovered, but there was also the matter of Parou along with the entire mission weighing on her mind. What happened? Why... why did Melora try and talk to the savages? Only trouble came out of it. It would have surely went better if the Witches attacked them first, with a pre-emptive strike.

She would have asked, but she did not feel like she had the strength to withstand the answer. And as the very first one to fall asleep on the couch while they waited for their turn, Eirlys was probably right. Perhaps even too right; the burden of a Questing Witch seemed all too huge for a slight girl like her.

...

When she woke up, Eirlys knew she had been moved. Sitting up in a flash of panic, her eyes darted around to-

Her jaw dropped.

Her body froze.

Her heart skipped.

This... this... this...!

Why was she in the headmaster's office?!

Too nervous to even breathe, Eirlys paled as she imagined horrifying scenario after horrifying scenario, paralysing herself with indecision. Her heart threatened to leap out of her chest and though she desperately tried to form some sort of response or to stop looking like an absolute fool of a Witch, her body did not obey for all too long. In the end, she, once again, had to resort to getting her sketchbook and flipping it to yet another all-too-used page: an Eirlys repeatedly bowing her head in deep apology. Hopefully, it would give her the time to calm her thundering heart.


A few minutes passed as Gloria, slowly but surely, turned back to whatever she was working on before.

"Alright. Neither you, nor I, are here to deal with such trivialities like indecision, doubt, or fear. In fact, this somewhat eases the issue: These 'Savages', as your squad called them, aren't to be talked about to anyone without our permission. Quite simple, is it not?" With these words, Eleanor Gloria looked up once again. If the Witch of the Metal Sea wasn't able to talk, then maybe she could at least move her head.



Eirlys used her precious few minutes to gather her nerves along with her thoughts, not sure if the lack of yelling and anger was a good sign. However, at least it let her get her ducks in a row, her frayed nerves slowly pulling themselves together. That is, until she heard the headmaster's absurd suggestion, which caused her eyes to widen and her sketchbook to drop.

Blinking her mis-matched eyes, Eirlys took a few seconds to choose her words.

"U-umm... H-h-h-h-eadmistress... I-i-i-isn't that extremely dangerous?" Eirlys pointed out, remembering to the various weapons of the savages. Especially that huge, flying thing that nearly blasted them to bits and killed Parou.

She swallowed the bitter emotion that threatened to burst through her throat, then continued.

"I-I-I... I mean! I-if other Questing Witches d-d-d-don't know a-about them... t-t-t-t-they might be k-killed. L-like P-p-p-p-parou." Her hands bunched up as she talked, gaze fixed at the ground in front of her instead of the headmaster. She hated to feel like this, loathed it from the bottom of her heart. And yet, a Feather should never let a question go unasked, should she?


Eleanor was silent for a moment, before she responded. "Your concerns makes sense, in respect to your lack of data. I shall elaborate then: These 'Savages', are what we named the Iron Menace. It is a threat already known. You would have been briefed in due time. The fact you met them was simply an unfortunate accident, preventive measures have already been taken to avoid repetition of the same scenario. The reason information about the Iron Menace are classified is precisely because they used to be common knowledge: Another grave mistake from a time long past." Much exposition.

"Any more questions, or concerns?"


Eirlys blinked and her jaw hung open.

"Thatdoesn'tmakealickofsense!" Shocked at her own outburst, Eirlys quickly let go of her sketchpad, then slapped her hands over her mouth. Stupid, stupid words! This is why she liked drawing; when she drew, things came out like she wanted them to. Her art took the shape she wished it to take and if they did not, she could always erase them, then redraw them until they turned out right. But with words? As soon as they left her mouth, there was no taking them back.

"U-u-umm... err... I'msorry... B-b-but what I mean is... I-I don't understand. I-if they're so b-b-bad, then k-k-nowing about them is i-i-i-important to Q-q-questing Witches... right? S-so why can't we know of them?"


"Huh..." Eleanor didn't seem to be bothered the least by the Metal Sea Witch's sudden outburst.

"The only reason to apologize for would be your lack of foresight, something I have found common in most of you. But, fine. Let me spell it out even more plainly: It is exactly as I said. The Iron Menace used to be common knowledge. The risk-factor had been bigger than it is under the current circumstances." The Witch paused for a moment.

"As of why, it is not something you should concern yourself with based entirely on the fact the Board of Education had made the decision." There was a slightly harsh and lecturing undertone in her voice now.

"However, I will tell you nonetheless. You've seen it yourself, after all. I am sure you noticed that they share an appearance quite similar to ours. Something insignificant like that had been reason enough for some Witches, despite all warnings of danger, to sympathize with them! Trying to find some sort of common ground." There was a lot more emotion in these words than she was showing usually.

"So, now, the Board of Education judges Witch Squad's on a more individual basis and certain information are withheld."


That still did not make any sense, no matter how hard Eirlys thought about it. Would it not have been better to warn them beforehand?! In the first place, she had no idea why Melora even wanted to talk to them and she was sure that had they been warned about the titanic metal things which could fry Witches in one go, she would not have bothered. Or would she? Eirlys certainly did not know the other girl well enough to judge her.

Still, there was something amiss here. Something she could not quite put her finger on. And while she would have normally dismissed the feeling on the basis she was being paranoid, they were talking about the lives of Witches here. Her squad-mates amongst them.

A shiver raked across her spine, and her arms almost went to hug herself.

"D-d-does t-t-this mean t-t-t-there are t-t-threats out there m-my squad d-doesn't know of?" she asked, her heart heavy as she tried to find out why she felt as though the headmaster was not making any sense. She could understand the point of Witches sympathizing with the Iron Menace, but sure-

It clicked.

Despite the dangers of the Iron Menace, why would Witches start to take their side? Such a thing, Eirlys could not possibly conceive of. Not with how they killed Parou and how they attacked out of nowhere.


"Yes." Eleanor replied without missing a beat. "But, thanks to your accident, precautions have been taken so that such a incident will not repeat. I am positive I already mentioned that."


Once again, Eirlys' disbelief got the better of her.

"U-u-umm... how i-is t-t-that p-possible?" she asked, failing to find the answer herself. Sure, magic could do many things, but as far as she was concerned, it could not predict the future with one hundred percent accuracy. Or maybe she was missing something. Whatever the case, she did not know if she could believe those words after their incident.


"I must say, Eirlys of the Metal Sea, while using your brain to process information properly is a good trait to possess, your lack of trust in the words of the Board of Education. My words. Are somewhat concerning." Letting these words sink in for a moment, the blonde nonetheless elaborated.

"Let me entertain you just a bit more then: By extending and changing the recording device that Questing Witches are given upon taking on a mission, it will now include magic that should warn the Squad if such an incident could occur again. For example - to make it perfectly clear - if such a function existed before it would have warned you about the danger of the Iron Menace and urged you to abort and return. This piece of information is considered classified, too. Obviously."


Oh. That explanation actually did make sense, regarding the crystals at least. However, no matter how hard she thought, she could not think of any reason why one might want to keep this information as classified. Would not Witches want to be informed of the capabilities of their equipment? Hesitating to pose yet another question, given the Headmaster's riposte, Eirlys found her throat closed up once again.

Why was she feeling like this? She thought meeting with the Headmaster was supposed to be a grand occasion, but instead, all she felt was confusion. Along with a touch of hostility.

It took her a moment to gather herself and formulate a response.

"U-umm. A g-g-good Feather q-q-questions everything s-s-she doesn't understand," she spoke, quoting her Coven's code of conduct. "L-like why t-t-this function s-s-should be a s-s-secret." She swallowed audibly, her fingers nervously fidgeting, all too aware that she may have earned the Headmaster's ire with that question.


"And a good Witch listens to what her Headmistress has to say." Eleanor retorted with a sigh.

"Then again, I'd rather have you ask than doubt my integrity. Simple: Because it means the information saved on the device exists. Some Witch or other would surely try to access it one way or another. Gaining access to information they aren't supposed to know." Eleanor cleared her throat.

"Eirlys of the Metal Sea. I am not telling you all of this simply because you are curious of the reasoning behind some decisions or devices. I am telling you all of this in hope of understanding. Understand that, if you 'do not understand' and don't know why, the reason for that is likely because the Board of Education hasn't told you something. For good reason. And that knowledge alone should be enough thwart any further curiosity." The blonde Witch sounded a bit more gentle now, at least.


Eirlys did not like that answer at all. Fortunately for her, she was still fixated on the pretty patterns of the floor beneath her feet, so it was likely that the Headmaster did not see her expression. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Bond of Broken Feathers taught her well. Perhaps all too well. One of their core tenets was skepticism and while Feathers usually did not question the authority or the intentions of the Headmaster...

After the death of Parou, Eirlys could not count herself within those numbers. There were too many things that did not make sense. For example, how could plus information ever be harmful? If the Board of Education could do this to crystals, why did they not do it sooner, to keep more Witches safe? And most importantly, why would some Witches become friendly to this "Iron Menace"?

Regardless, she took a deep breath and her hands bunched up.

"I-I understand." No. She did not. But she did not want the Headmaster to know that right now. Hoping against hope that her deception worked, Eirlys let out a sigh in an effort to alleviate her stress.


"Alright then." Somewhat content, Eleanor now smiled. "I was already worried you would not come to reason. Your Coven can be quite difficult to deal with, and I am sure you don't want to make any more trouble for them." Pulling out a piece of simple paper, it quickly started to glow as Eleanor purred some magic into it, transforming it into some sort of beautiful brooch.

"Here." Smiling, the headmistresses now offered the object to Eirlys. "I am quite aware of your thirst for knowledge when it comes to the Element of Metal. I am sure you still have the one, or other, question in regards to the Iron Menace. 'Witch Ruu' should be more than willing to share her findings. Just show her that brooch."


For a moment, Eirlys did not know what the Headmaster was talking about regarding the Element of Metal, until she remembered that the Iron Menace wore armored suits along with strange equipment made of metal. Certainly interesting; not something she could make with Flowiron, because of its strange properties. But she would not be a Feather if she refused to take the knowledge, would she? Perhaps she could use it somehow.

Really, she was justifying taking the brooch. She did not want to refuse it, because not only would it be extremely rude, she also felt it would call her cooperation into question. Cooperation, that she was honestly not sure if she was willing to give.

"T-t-thank you. A-a-and u-umm... t-thank you for answering my q-questions, Headmistress." Her voice did not sound any different than usual. Filled with uncertainty along with an undercurrent of nerves, one could probably not tell she was lying through her teeth.

And yet, she did not want to let her true thoughts show. She could not understand it! And then the Headmaster told her she should not understand it. What line of thinking was that?!

She... she needed to think.

"C-c-c-can I help y-y-y-you w-w-with a-anything else?" she asked politely, uncertainty bubbling under her facade as though it were a vicious poison.


"Yes." Eleanor replied. "By staying out of trouble and taking your leave." With these words, the small blonde waved towards the exit door of the room. "Chika will be taking care of you."

Exiting the room, there was already a familiar face waiting for Eirlys. "Hello" Chika greeted the girl with a bow. "Please follow me and don't ask too many questions. You're nearly-last." She kept talking on before turning around.

Both girls went along a rather big stone corridor, a few various doors with weird runes on them leading to what were likely various offices, just like the door to Ellie's office.

Without saying a single word, the 'Manager' walked for good few minutes as the stone was slowly replaced by glass. Including the floor below them turning see-through, allowing a look below.

Above, a translucent clutter of all (un)imaginable colors dancing. Below, layers upon layers of 'facility'. Gardens, buildings, magical light-shows, people, there was no end in sight as the clutter of stuff became more and more dense.

Chika simply continued onward, leaving the glass ceiling behind to a more-open ended area that could simply be described as a (glass) wharf with various landing platforms and a few runic inscriptions spread here and there.

Expecting Eirlys to keep up. Chika positioned herself inside one of the ground runes, stomping with her feet a specific rythm.

Following that, a flash of light engulfed the Witch's vision. Not unlike the teleportation into Horizon, as - suddenly - she found herself in some dusty room full of crates and other 'storeroom' things. The light fading as quickly as it came. Chika, however, was not there.

"W-Welcome!" A rather timid, small, noname manager whose hair hid her eyes greeted the newcomer with a bow. "P-Pwease wait while the others arrive! There should be, urm... one more? Yeah..." Nodding to herself, the small girl was near-hiding in a corner.
 
...
...
...

The sweet fragrance of strawberrycake and milk tea was what ultimately pulled Seia back into the land of the living. Not sure how much time had passed, she certainly felt more rested. In fact, apart from maybe some sort of headache, she felt actually quite comfortable. She was, after all, sitting in some comfortable armchair. No restraints or anything, as one would have maybe thought.

"You're an odd one." She could hear a voice. A person. On the other side of a desk that was in front of her, scribbling in some old dusty book half her size without looking up.

"Leaving the pointless and obvious statement aside, I am Eleanor Gloria." Indeed she was. Smoll, and full of herself. "I already know your name, Seia Flavia Augustus. Now, with introductions out of the way, I want you to make a hypothesis about following: What do you think happened, and why?" Finally, the blonde girl put down her antique tool and looked up.

The room wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It had two couches with a coffee-table between. A bunch of drawers with books, magical utensiles and other stuffs, a door, and the place they were sitting at. Overall it looked to be a simple office room. Not to mention, magic seemed to work too.

-

Seia sat dazed as Gloria spoke on. Her mind attempting to crawl forward from whatever it was that had 'incapacitated' it earlier. A whole bunch of questions were racing through her lethargic but restarting body.

Eventually the praetorian came to realize her simple and straightforward situation. She was before the fabled headmistress of the tower.

Seia was conscious to hear the last bit of the small blonde one's speech: an inquest to what had happened in the mission that Seia and the rest of the squad had just 'completed'. However long ago that might've been by now.

Seia pretended to be in a daze for a little longer. In truth, she was suspicious of this entire setup. Was she restrained? No. Magic disabled. No?

And to top it all off it was just two of them there.


Processing those facts. Seia came to accept that whatever this was - punishment, a chat, or an interrogation - she probably had no power to refuse any of it. At least, not without consequence.

She again forced herself to 'trust' the situation that was presented to her. She answered Gloria.


"The squad completed the primary objective of destroying the obelisks. Afterward, we investigated a strange anomaly we had scouted out earlier on. The squad came into contact with an unidentified group that was not outwardly aligned to the cult that raised the obelisks."

Then...

"The squad attempted to make contact with the outsiders. The outsiders were hostile, and an attempt was made to cease hostilities. This allowed the squad to converse with the outsiders temporarily. However, after the arrival of a large flying object that was hostile, the outsiders became hostile again. Parou ordered a retreat to the warp gate."

Seia then closed her eyes as she wrapped up.

"...I was knocked unconscious during the escape. When I came to it became apparent that Parou did not escape with the squad."


The details of the last part of the mission. Still almost traumatically vivid, causes Seia to pause. Taking a breath, she is able to conclude:

"The outcome was caused directly due to the decision to contact the outsiders without any information on them, and the failure of negotiations that occurred due to the arrival of the black object."

"...I failed to stop Melora from immediately making contact with the outsiders. Even though I felt like such an occasion would've called for a more careful approach to contacting them, I did not voice them, and didn't stop her."


Seia did not outright say that it was Melora's fault.

But it was apparent from the young witch's words that she felt that Melora was largely responsible for what had happened. Despite this, she remained composed and orderly.

Seia wasn't outwardly emotional about Parou's death. But it would be wrong to say she wasn't affected by it. The uniform Seia wore, Faithcloth, was almost innoticably twinging slightly between white and a slightly darker white.

In other words, she was keeping her stronger emotions in check through discipline. Fighting against the shock of what had, in her mind, just happened.

-

Eleanor's usual perfect poker-face seemed to turn into a slight frown as Seia re-iterated the situation that had occurred earlier.

"Yes." She ultimately said, however, as the Praetorian finished. "Mostly as in the records. Now, for clarity sake: We call these 'outsiders' the 'Iron Menace', and the flying object was, simply, an Airship." The headmistress was either aware of this danger all along or was good enough to hide her surprise at this 'discovery'.

"While your reasons for negotiation are largely beyond me, it is evident enough you've come to see reason enough. It's in fact quite simple: Information about this threat are treated as classified and are not to be talked about without permission. Can you follow that command?"

-

"Yes. ...Understood."

Seia replied reflexively. But she understood that whatever it was that herself and the squad had stumbled upon was something of importance.

More important than other things it seemed.

Somehow, Seia felt a dissatisfaction from that thought. But what else could she even do, here?


Being summoned before the headmistress of the tower was not a matter of what the team did, or what happened to Parou it seemed. To even be here before the headmistress was touching upon things that affected the whole of the tower itself.

But, there were so many other witch squads. This was only their second mission... in yet they had come across something supposedly so important?

What did it even mean to be in a witch squad anyway?

Seia came to realize she hadn't even thought about the answer to that question all that hard.


It felt like the conversation would come to an end there, with Seia having nothing left to say. But, there was one question that she had.

"So... Then, what happened to Parou?"

-

"Parou Hitorie is, with a very high probability, beyond a state of any potential rescue attempt. Entertaining the possibility of her survival for a moment. She has likely been taken captive by the Iron Menace, or..." Eleanor stopped, it was only a brief moment, but a moment nonetheless.

"...exerted too much of her power too quickly that she succumbed to her own Magic. Not a pretty sight for anyone involved. That, I can assure you."

-

"I see."

As expected, even after this conversation, she was being left with more questions than answers.

Though, there was one question that she felt like now was the only appropriate time to ask, if there ever was one.

"Um... I had planned to ask her this someday, but considering what's happened I suppose that might be impossible. But, I feel like it's important to ask it regardless..."

"What happened to the squad that she originally was in? Parou was supposed have been assigned to a complete squad, so... what happened to it to make her be transferred to ours?"

-

"Parou had lost both her legs on mission that had gone horrible wrong. The Questing Witches that survived aside from Parou Hitorie decided to employ themselve in other fields. Parou Hitorie herself spend some time in recovery. A shift in members, while not common, is also not that uncommon." Eleanor explained to Seia calmly.

-

Seia war reminded about Aurora's near decision to leave the squad on their first mission. Though if she remembered correctly, the only real reason Aurora went with them was because she simply 'had no choice' due to her request to leave not going through - and Melody being so persistent in having her stay. The value of that decision was still lackluster given the outcome.

Still, it felt like hearing a bit more about Parou, minor as it was, shed a bit more light on them. Her no-nonsense attitude, taking the initiative, and even leading the squad. With what had happened to the Witch with metal legs, there was no way to be certain way, but Seia allowed herself to believe that the experience of that first mission for Parou made her act the way she did.

Though she appeared to not care on the surface... maybe it wasn't completely the case.


It was tempting to dig deeper into what exactly it was that Seia and the squad encountered. It was obvious that whatever Elanor knew about the 'threat' was not something that Seia had to concern herself with. That was ultimately the responsibility of those more capable.

Parou did what she could to assume responsibility for the squad. In Seia's heart - back at the time when the mission started she felt like Parou was more capable as the team's leader just from the girl's demeanor. Seia didn't want to assume the responsibility herself - believing that all she had to do was obey and do the best as she could as an individual member to eventually leave that squad for other greater postings.

But, after what had happened it was obvious that that wouldn't be enough. Back there, there was a serious chance of them nearly dying. In the end, it was only thanks to Parou's decisiveness that the main section of the mission went so well. Parou's quick thinking and forsight was really probably all that got them through what had happened.

But, now, Parou was gone what would happen to them now?

"...I'm presuming that the rest of the Squad received this sort of debrief in some form as well already. Parou was the Squad's leader - but now a replacement is needed."

"If that hasn't been decided yet, then I'd like to volunteer to assume the duties as the Squad's leader."

-

"No." Eleanor replied without missing a beat. Letting the answer sink in for a moment, however, the blonde took her sweet time elaborating. "While it certainly is in my power to make such a decision final, it is not my responsibility. How and when you decide to to sort out the internal structure of possibly required duties is not something I will have any influence over. That lies with you and your squad alone. Your wish, however, will be noted."

Looked like it wouldn't be as easy.

-

"I see." Seia replied plainly.

In general, Elanor's reply was basically along the lines of 'not my problem'. But, Seia knew this. All the way back when Melora had started the mission she was about the same way. It was up to the squad to decide who would take the responsibility of leading.

Elanor taking note of Seia's desire was enough to get her point across - her desire to move forward. Rise in the ranks. Seia wasn't content just being in a bottom line witch squad forever.


There was other things the Praetorian had to attend to. The loss of her sword. Getting any remaining injuries treated, and formally debriefing with her own coven.

If anything she had a desire to finally just get this mission over with, already.

"...That was all I had to ask."

-

"Good." Content, Eleanor now waved towards the only exit in the room. A wooden door opposite of where the girl was seated.

"If that was all, you may take your leave now. Others will take care of the rest." With these words, Eleanor went back to whatever she had been doing before.

Exiting the room, there was already a familiar face waiting for her. "Hello." Chika greeted Seia with a bow. "Please follow me and don't make any ruckus. She kept talking on before turning around.

Both girls went along a rather big stone corridor, a few various doors with weird runes on them leading to what were likely various offices, just like the door that closed behind Seia.

Without saying a single word, the 'Manager' walked for good few minutes as the stone was slowly replaced by glass. Including the floor below them turning see-through, allowing a look below.

Above, a translucent clutter of all (un)imaginable colors dancing. Below, layers upon layers of 'facility'. Gardens, buildings, magical light-shows, people, there was no end in sight as the clutter of stuff became more and more dense.

Without losing a word however, Chika simply continued onward, leaving the glass ceiling behind to a more-open ended area that could simply be described as a (glass) wharf with various landing platforms and a few runic inscriptions spread here and there.

Still not one for much words, Chika expected Seia to keep up. Positioning herself inside of one of the ground runes before stomping with her feet a specific rythm.

Following that, a flash of light engulfed the girl's vision. Not unlike the teleportation into Horizon, as - suddenly - she found herself in some dusty room full of crates and other 'storeroom' things. The light fading as quickly as it came. Chika, however, was not there.

"W-Welcome!" A rather timid, small, noname manager whose hair hid her eyes greeted Seia with a bow. "A-A Prae... uwu.... " Shaking a bit, the girl hid behind one of the crates. "P-Pwease wait while the others arrive! You're t-teammate..." She pointed towards Melora and Eirlys, who were already here.

@Luma @Skyswimsky
 
...
...
...

The sweet fragrance of strawberrycake and milk tea was what ultimately pulled Aurora back into the land of the living. Not sure how much time had passed, she certainly felt more rested. In fact, apart from maybe some sort of headache, she felt actually quite comfortable. She was, after all, sitting in some comfortable armchair. No restraints or anything, as one would have maybe thought.

"So we meet again." She could hear a voice. A person. On the other side of a desk that was in front of her, scribbling in some old dusty book half her size without looking up.

"Leaving the pointless and obvious statement aside, I am Eleanor Gloria." Indeed she was. Smoll, and full of herself. "Now, with introductions out of the way, I want you to make a hypothesis about following: What do you think happened, and why?" Finally, the blonde girl put down her antique tool and looked up.

The room wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It had two couches with a coffee-table between. A bunch of drawers with books, magical utensiles and other stuffs, a door, and the place they were sitting at. Overall it looked to be a simple office room. Not to mention, magic seemed to work too.

Somewhere lying in a corner of the room was also a Rune, who seemed to be deprived of all her senses as some sort of magical rune prison kept her captured!

"Oh... hi Elly," Aurora waved, glancing around with an insane level of informality that she'd become infamous for. "Can I call you Elly? Elie? Wait, that sounds the exact same... hmm..."

After a second she went on to actually answer the question.

"Oh, the spell... riiight, well it was originally supposed to be a mass hypermetabolization spell for powering up a bunch of allies, but then I tried combining it with a praetorian exorcism spell to evaporate a bunch of zombies and I think I mixed part of the trans-coven spellgate with an evaporation spell. And that's how I ended up um....... where was that again? I'm not really sure, but that's pretty much it. Do you have any coffee? I can be a little drowsy in the morning without my coffee..."

Without even asking, Aurora casually reached around to peek in several drawers.

"It is Eleanor for you." The Witch corrected Aurora, before getting a little bit louder. "Chika, if you could, please." ... but nothing happened.

"Your coffee should be here any second. Now, let's focus on what is important: These beings you met. 'Savages', as you call them. Tell me what you think."

Most drawers let themselve open and contained rather harmless things. Like documents, tools, books, or other stuff while other few refused to open.

"Oh? Ooohhhhh. Ohh....." Aurora rapidly shot through several phases of realization: confusion, understanding, and then a sorrowful remembrance. She shut her eyes tight a moment, as if wishing herself back into the drowsy forgetfulness she'd just exited.

"Right... that..." Aurora sighed, gracelessly sprawling out over the desk like a lethargic Rika. "I really wish you didn't have to see that, Elie...nor. (Sorry, it's just I always call you Elie around my friends, so it's just kinda habit). It's just they looked so much like lost witches for a moment there, so when Mel starting talking with them I just kinda... let her."

She somehow slumped even further into the desk, bonking her forehead on it and explaining out a muffled something-or-other through her sleeves.

"Mpph mph ahmph flmupuh anmmph muh..."

She pitifully turned her head over to rest on her chin, now slightly more understandable.

"...and I never read anything about a building whale before... I just thought it was kind of like a normal thunder whale which would have been fine and I mean it looked scary and all, but I never imagined it would suddenly cast magic out of nowhere, so I just ignored it and before I knew what happened, Parou was gone! I mean... I know it happens all the time, but to see someone die on your first mission... and I can't help but feel it's my fault cause if I had just been smarter and told everyone to leave it wouldn't have happened!"

"Correction, it's an airship. Not a building whale. They're the enemy." The blonde Witch replied. "The reason you haven't read anything about them is quite simple: information are classified. You shouldn't have met. A unfortunate accident." Pausing for a moment, the door now opened.

It was Chika, carrying a tablet that had a steaming hot pot of coffee, two cups, milk and sugar. Quietly moving up to the desk the girl put the things down before giving Eleanor a bow before leaving through the same door she had just entered.

"Oh, right... thank you," Aurora nodded, beginning to dump a ludicrous amount of sugar into the black drink.

clink clink clink clink...

She stirred it.

"Air... ship? I thought ships were those things that rode around the giant water places."

clink clink clink clink...

"Classified? Why? Shouldn't we know about all the dangerous stuff in Horizon? Oh, unless it's dangerous just to know about it... but I don't feel like my mind was ruined by knowing about them, so I don't know if that makes any sense here."

Slurp.

"You would have, and will be, told in due time." Eleanor explained, before giving a sigh. "As a matter of fact, a long long time ago the knowledge about this type of enemy, amongst other, was common amongst all. It did more harm than good." Eleanor herself now took a sip.

"You, however, experienced first hand that the 'Iron Menace', as we call them, are the enemy."

"Is that what you call the building wha-- err... air...ship?" Aurora asked between coffee slurps.

Eleanor shook her head. "That is what we call their society. It's not just a mere ship. But, all in due time." Giving Aurora a nod, the girl of unknown age pushed on.

"Under normal circumstances, it would have only make sense to alter your mind. You talk. Too much. But I have been given reason to believe that you will behave?"

"Oh, I see... Yep, you'd better mind wipe me, I'm way too honest," Aurora agreed with a shrug and another casual sip of coffee. "I'm no good with secrets. But that's okay! I'm kinda used to my mind being wiped by now. It's happened like...... uhhhhh......... well I guess that's kinda the thing about mind wipes: you can never be sure how many times... haha... wow that's kind of crazy to think about though......."

Another awkward sip.

"But hold on, why are the whaleships a secret again...? Wait no, right... I'm not supposed to know....... but I still kinda want to know...."

"I was in favor of mind-altering all of you from the beginning. Especially you." Eleanor replied as she took a sip from her tea for the first time.

"Alas, I have done the grave mistake of letting myself be swayed by emotions. So now, here we are. And it is still a matter of consistency across your squad, time, and resources." Eleanor sighed.

"What I can do, however, is put a spell on you that helps keeping said secret. Have I not been clear enough? The reason The Iron Menace is kept a secret is to avoid the gathering of sympathizers. Dub them enemy as much as you want, unless one has encountered their hostility first hand, there are always idiots who think they can find dialogue based just on sharing a common appearance. Absolutely preposterous." There was a hint of annoyance in her now lengthier explanation.

"Err..." Aurora appeared genuinely confused. "Sure, but... wouldn't it be a lot more dangerous to not say anything so no one knows about them and suddenly BAM, they're there and everyone is all like 'What are these, they look just like us?!' but then everyone just shrugs all like 'I don't know, cause I've never heard of anything like this, maybe they're safe!' and then they attack you!"

Her face grew a bit more solemn for a moment, and she buried the emotions in the coffee cup; a trick she'd learned in her brief time with mojimancer coven.

'Parou is her fault...'
The coffee cup would whisper through her hand.
She swapped hands and shook the thought off.

"I'm just saying... no one has to be warned about the Manablight, right? But it'd be a lot worse if no one knew about it. Just make sure the responsible people are in charge."

The coffee cup was again passed to the other hand, and Aurora shook off a suspicious 'she's hiding something' into the air.

"Aurora Avril." Eleanor said somewhat 'more serious' than she was before.

"Are you listening to any of the words I say? I hate having to state the obvious. The Iron Menace wasn't supposed to be there. There's so much more you do not have to be told about, yet. The Manablight, on the other hand, is a different. It's vile. Unpredictable. Without reason. You became a Questing Witch with the purpose to battle it. It is our enemy, our duty, to eradicate it. These other kind of dangers are secondary and in due time." She sighed.

"You, and every other Witch, have been taught proper procedure on how to proceed upon meeting the 'Unknown'."

"Oh I uhm... of course! Unidentified object reporting class......."

Suddenly, Aurora's coffee cup began to vibrate violently in her hand, the coffee inside quaking from the cup, until it exploded outward in shards of porcelain, hot coffee, and suppressed thoughts.

"Oh no, am I in trouble...?"
"This is super suspicious!"
"Did I turn off my cauldron when I left home?"
"Crap! I don't remember anything about that class!"
"So is it going to cost the lives of the rest of my squad before you tell us those things!?"

Aurora's voice echoed out of several small wisps of magic, which bounced sporadically around the room until they finally fizzled out into the air. After it was all over, Aurora continued to sit there with an awkward 'I'm gonna be positive if it kills me' sort of smile.

"Wow, that...... almost never happens. Ehe.... he. Pretty weird..."

She raised the disconnected handle of what once was a full coffee cup to her lips, subconsciously expecting coffee to be there. Immediately, she noticed the mistake and swapped over to 'inspecting it' before setting it down on the table amidst the broken shards of cup and fluid. The derp was still pretty obvious though.

"Sorry about the mess. Don't worry though, I always take responsibility for my mistakes! I know a spell that should clean it right up.... was Terra connected to Aqua or Ordo... hmm.... meh, it should work either way."

Reaching down to her side, Aurora noticed a certain something missing, and began to glance around the (now coffee stained) chair she was sitting on.

"You don't happen to know where my satchel is, do you? Or maybe you have some elemental chalk in here I can use...?"

A simple snip of her finger, and the mess Aurora had made was undone, the cup returning neatly onto the table.

"Aurora Avril." Eleanor sighed. Maybe she should have just let Melody deal with this difficult girl.

"None of you are in any trouble that you'd need to concern yourself with. Precautions will be taken in the future to avoid the repeat of such an incident. You do not need to waste time, energy, and effort with such pointless thoughts."

"Oh, thanks, that's way easier I'd love to learn that spell someday if you're not busy..." Aurora nodded, picking up the cup again and continuing to sip the coffee like it hadn't just exploded everywhere.

"Hmm... okay then. If you think about it, that's probably why I got rid of them, but I guess they were too intense for the cup."

Slurp.

"Oh, oh, as long as you're heeeere, I have a small list of questions about a few spells I've been experimenting with if you don't mind...."

From some sort of pocket, Aurora pulled out a small manascript notepad and flipped through several pages crammed full of notes.

"Do you know anything about Astramancy? Cause they wouldn't let me in the coven for some reason, but I was watching a few astral witches 'do their thing' and all and I was thinking you could combine those moon beams with a prism enchant to focus it..."

She continued. A lot.

"Aurora Avril." Eleanor cut harsh and firm into Aurora's ongoing rampage of words. Hopefully silencing her for a bit.

"There are plenty of resources avaible to you for furthering your knowledge about Spellcraft. I do not have the time, and the nerves, to be your personal teacher." The blonde paused for a moment, but quickly picked up the second Aurora was about to open her mouth again.

"Besides, I do not care about entertaining your attempts at self-distraction. As far as I am concerned, the subject of the 'Iron Menace' is finished and a spell has been put onto you. Now, with that clarified. There is another reason you are here." The girl now stood up from her chair, making the height difference between them even clearer.

"That is quite the intriguing scar you have acquired." Moving to one of the closed cabinets, the Headmistress made it glow through a simple wave of her hand before it opened.

Aurora's new eye marking started to itch.

"You are a valuable asset to the us." She went on as she retrieved a hand-size-fitting glass globe. "How are you feeling?" A weird, and scary question, coming from the headmistress as she turned around. The globe contained something that looked to be quite out-of-place.

It was a pixelated low-polygon mess that seemed to clash strongly with the surroundings itself. As if it did not even belong in this reality.

Now stepping closer towards Aurora, she could feel the itching getting stronger, nearly even unbearable... maybe.

Taking a few steps back after having proven her point, Eleanor simply explained. "A reaction to Manablight. A curse and a blessing. In simple terms: An illness. A affliction.Your instability can turn into your undoing, your eye is, in fact, one of the milder symptoms."

"Waaait, you have a jar of manablight in your desk...? Isn't that sort of dangerous...?"

Aurora tried to step closer to get a better look but stepped back immediately, scratching her scar again.

"And what do you mean unstable? I'm not unstable! I'm like... one of the stablest witches I know. You can ask any of my friends and they'd tell yo— well... hmm... maybe not all of them cause there's a few that are sort of annoyed at my coven hopping, but any of my good friends would tell you that... wait, what was I talking about again...?"

"Sort of, yes. Is it? No. It's contained and secured." Eleanor spoke about Aurora's worries, before putting it away from where she got it.

"To repeat myself, I do not care about your time-wasting antics and futile attempts of self-distraction. But I do care about the security of Phantasmagoria and all of my students. So, this IS an issue you have to face. It goes without saying that you aren't expected to deal with this alone, but it does require your willingness and cooperation."

Seemingly out of nowhere Aurora let out a burst of giggles.

"Hehe... hah... face... good one!"

One awkward moment later...

"Sure, of course! I was going to try a few experimental remedies myself since it's kinda ugly looking, and you don't really wanna— oh, right, brevity. Okay... yep... sorry. Uhm... but if you have something for me already I'll gladly take it."

Stone-faced and not laughing at the 'pun', Eleanor continued.

"You seem to misunderstand. First, I am not the one who is going to help you, it'll be the task of another Witch. Second, it's not as easy as just applying some medicine, but I'm sure my collegue will tell you more." Not letting the girl interrupt, the Headmistresses now asked.


"That may be all, you can now excuse yourself."

"Hmm...... okay, thanks Elllllllenor," Aurora concluded by just barely catching herself from releasing another 'Ellie.'

"So about the scar cure... should I expect a visit sometime... or maybe a witch mail, ooorrrr....?"

...

"...or how about you take your leave and await further instructions in due time?" Eleanor cut her off, before snapping with her finger and adding. "And take your Historia with you." It was in that moment that, indeed, some strange magic had been lifted from Rune and she felt her senses return!

"Oh, okay... was Rune in that corner the whole time? Weird, I didn't even notice... okay, okay! Going! Thanks again."

With a polite little wave, Aurora made her way out the door. Meanwhile, Rune was taking around its surroundings and decided to take a moment to glare at Eleanor, throwing her a distrustful 'I'll be watching you to make sure that doesn't happen again' gesture before following Aurora out.

Outside Eleanor's office was a large, mainly made out of stone, corridor that had every now and then another door: All inscribed with what appeared to be runic symbol.

A fresh breeze of air greeted Aurora (and Rune) before she had a chance to peek into the other places. Instead, the young Witch heard a familiar. "Yaho~!" From further down the hall, it was a wild Melody now walking closer to the girl.

"Everything's still attached?" She asked, somewhat concerned.

"Melody! Hi. I think everything's still here, yep..."

Rune casually pointed to the side of its head with the missing ear as Aurora continued.

"Oo, do you have some free time? I'd love it if you could teach me some stuff tonight! Time magic. It sounds so neat... like how does it work? Do you need a stopwatch? Or maybe like a giant clock? Wait........ can we go back in time... like maybe... a day or so...?"

She suddenly looked desperately hopeful as she stared at Melody.

"Ehehe, I'm indeed here to teach you." Melody responded, before quickly destroying her hopes. "Teach, or rather help, how to deal with that scar of yours. Or rather teach yah how to deal with the situation you're in, I guess." Giving both Aurora and Rune a nod, the elder Witch beckoned both of them to follow her.

"Who told you I can do something ominous as time magic anyway?"

"Oh... can't you? It's a pretty common rumor that's been going around for a while now, I'm not really sure where I heard it..."

After pondering this a moment, Aurora shook the thought off.

"What do you mean 'my situation?' Isn't there a healing spell to fix it? I've seen the praetorians cure scars all the time. Well... I did, before they kicked me out, but I bet they'd still do it if you paid them enough. Oh... although I'm kind of broke right now so maybe that wouldn't work..."

"I never said I can't." Melody corrected her before entering another door/room. Unlike Eleanor's office, this one was a lot more messy. Documents, books, and utensils piling high enough to slit the room into sub-sections as a lot of things had collected quite some dust.

Pushing some of the things aside, creating big dust clouds, Melody fought her way towards the desk. "Did Ellie not explain? Or maybe she did and you just didn't understand, not that I blame yah. It ain't as easy as curing a scar. It's a magical affliction only bound to get worse. Now, where was it..." She murmured to herself, searching for something!

"Make yourself at home, want something to drink?"

"She didn't really say mu-- bleh...! cough cough..."

Aurora flapped away the dust with her sleeves.

"She just said it--cough--it was a problem... or something. Should I be worried...? I've blown up before and it wasn't a big deal... was it something in the way Parooooo-- wait, right! Melody!"

Aurora was suddenly in her face, leaning over the desk with an extreme interest, or perhaps a desparation. "If you can go back in time... is it possible to revisit our last mission and save Parou?"

stare...

Melody sighed, taking her time to answer."In theory, yes. Nearly everything is possible. But practically? No. Time magic is delicate and very dangerous, not to mention requiring a certain amount of expertise. " The older Witch sighed again, scratching her head.

"Goshwhyamieventel-" Before stopping mid-scratch and instead embracing Aurora suddenly in a hug. "How stupid of me. Of course, it must be hard on you." She whispered with a bit more compassion as if something just flipped inside her.

"But it's alright now." Petting Aurora some more, she added gently. "You're now in a safe place."

Her face slowly drooped as Melody basically denied her request.

"...?"

Aurora blinked several times, not at all expecting this sort of reaction. It maybe made some sense though... lazy people tended to be some of the most cuddly after all.

She hugged back.

"Okay, but... if I had someone with the expertise....!" she continued pushing. "Like maybe an expert helping me with it...!"

A few seconds passed, before Melody awkwardly hushed. "Wellthatisawkwardbutiguesswhatswhatwewillworkon." And stopping the embrace quickly after.

Clearing her throat for like the hundredth time, the elder Witch answered. "You don't seem to understand the dangers and complications that come with a time-traveling spell of such a dramatic scale. You'd need someone who is, by comparison, capable of blowing up half of Phantasmagoria. I'd guess."

Aurora continued to stare hopefully at Melody.

"...There isn't really anyone who can do that easily and also use time-magic." Melody clarified with an accompanying head-scratch.

Aurora deflated a bit.

Uninterested in this particular piece of conversation, Rune got down to business, pointing to Aurora's scar impatiently.

More head-scratching followed! "I'm sorry..." Adding a well-calculated silence, she now too changed the topic.

"So, your scar, what do you know about it?"

"It itches. Like... a lot!"

Aurora scratched it a bit.

"I only got it after a blew up though, which is weird cause I never had a scar the other times I blew up... well not a magical one anyway, I had some scars, but now like the itchy magical kind that need a bunch of really smart people to give me special advice for i-- oww...!"

Rune cut her short with a smack to the back of the head.

"And it itches more near manablight... I guess?"

"You should blow up less often..." Melody gave her a worrying look.

"That scar is a Manablight affliction, or something like that. No good stuff. That's also why it reacts the way it does. And it's directly tied to your mental well-thing. Your stability and all that. You can't just remove it, but rather, we gotta find ways to improve your mental well-being and all. You know. Make yah happy-er... and stuff."

"I'm plenty happy!" Aurora replied immediately. "What do you mean I need to be more happy, that doesn't make any sense... I've never heard of anyone curing a physical ailment with happiness before, that's like a children's story! Just believe in the power of love and happiness and it can cure any magical ailment, but I've never seen any real magic work that way, I mean, have you ever seen anyone just cure their problems away with a smile unless maybe they summoned a misery construct, those could maybe be destroyed with happiness, but other than them I've never heard of that ever happening in real life, cause this isn't like a fairy story or anything! Why would you even think I'm that miserable anyway? Do I look miserable? I don't think I look miserable... well except this scar which is kinda nasty, but other than that I'm totally normal looking!"

Aurora paused to take a deep breath, giving Melody a couple seconds...

"Yes. Happiness and love. Because it feeds off your negative emotions. Your scar is one of the milder cases anyway, but it's bound to get worse if you don't do anything." Melody explained more-or-less.

"And, sure, you look happy. But in reality you aren't...? Alll the pain about failing over and over again. People rejecting you. Losing Parou. You just bottle it all deep inside you and put a lid on it. But it's still there, and it won't just go away by ignoring it. That's what Ellie said anyway, she's better at this people stuff than me... in a weird and frigthening way." Melody took a breather.

"That's a weird conversation. Anyway, first steps. You know it's okay to just let it out and cry?"

"Gee thanks, reminding me of all that makes me so much happier..." Aurora snarked back in a somewhat uncharacteristic level of sarcasm.

She paused a moment to take in the idea and continued in a more serious tone, evidently deciding it was a relatively serious matter.

"I'm not sure... maybe I could. I kind of conditioned myself not to ever since......"

Another pause.

"I never really told anyone about this because it's a little embarrassing, but several years ago I accidentally cursed myself so that my tears become vinegar and I never did figure out how to get rid of it. Since it hurts, and it smells kind of bad after, I just... taught myself not to cry..."

Rune gave Aurora a strange glance, as if in shock that it'd just learned something it didn't know about someone it figured it had completely figured out.

"I'm not saying that stuff isn't sad..." Aurora sighed, "but there's no point in crying anyway. I just have to try harder and try smarter, right? That's how I've been coping for years, so I don't see why it wouldn't work now."

Standing up, Aurora glanced around a bit.

"Speaking of coping... where's the rest of my squad? Are they doing okay? Maybe we should all have a night out to relax. That could get my mind off this stuff, right?"

"Eh?" Melody was speechless, kind-of surprised, as Aurora kept going on, and even needed another minute or so to gather herself after the vinegar-cursed Witch finished talking.

"If you've been cursed you know there are Witches who'd uncurse you...?" Saying that somewhat unsure, she added.

"There's a point in coming clear with your emotions, and also dealing with them, and situations as they arise, properly." Giving the girl a gentle smile, Melody went on.

"Doing something relaxing with your friends is one way that helps, yeah. They should all be well, more-or-less. Each of you got to talk with Ellie."

"Mm, yes... Ellie doesn't say a lot, does she? I had this huge list of questions for her and she just kind of shoo'd me out." A brief pout puffed Aurora's cheeks.

"And I can't just tell them I cursed myself like that! There's already enough stories about me floating around now, I don't need another one..."

Rune casually began to pat Aurora on the head, earning a strange look from her 'summoner.' Shrugging, it proceeded to peek around the room.

"So just be happier and the scar goes away on its own, right? I should be able to do that... though it sounds kind of expensive..."

"Ellie isn't one to 'waste' her time with things she deems unimportant, unless..." Melody chuckled as she caught herself just in time to stop potential gossip.

"Well, anyway. I am here for you, Aurora. Be it lifting your vinegar curse or answering that huge list of questions." Please no.

"And doing genuily enjoyable parts is one part. The other is working on unpleasant things that are on your mind."

Aurora stared expectantly at Melody, smelling the rumor brewing. Instantly, Melody felt as though she'd narrowly dodged a bullet, considering telling Aurora anything was practically the same as announcing it in the plaza with a megaphone.

She looked like she was about to press on, but was adequately distracted at the offer to answer the list of questions.

"Really!? That's great! I have so many to ask, hold on, I'll pick some of my favorites... or maybe you'd rather just go down the list one by one...?"

Oh god what had she done.

"Urm... Justhowmanydoyouhaveexactly." Before suddenly shifting her stance and getting an idea.

"Alright. Listen Aurora, we don't have THAT MUCH time right now, but we'll gonna see each other a lot more in the future. I'll show you stuff, and stuff. So the better you try to work with me there the more time I'll have to answer your questions after. So, how about we go visit the rest of your squad now and you can ask me a few questions?"

Huh...?" Aurora glanced up from her notebook. Oh, okay. Sure!"

Grabbing Aurora's hand into her own, Melody continued now dragged the girl outside of the room again. "Do you even have any questions?" She asked kinda doubtful.

The two of them walked for good few minutes as the stone was slowly replaced by glass. Including the floor below them turning see-through, allowing Aurora to realize just where exactly they were.

Above, a translucent clutter of all (un)imaginable colors dancing. Below, layers upon layers of 'facility'. Gardens, buildings, magical light-shows, people, there was no end in sight as the clutter of stuff became more and more dense.

"Welcome to the most upper level of the 'Tower', once-in-a-lifetime access, or something. I guess!"

"Yeah, lots of questions!" Aurora confirmed. "Anyway, if you have time, we'll start with the A's... hmm...."

She was about continue reading through the list, when the glass floor caught her attention, causing Aurora to pause.

"Woooow, it's even prettier than the last time I got in trouble~!"

...

She continued on, back to her list.

"So Aaroks... are they as scary as the drawings? Actually wait... do they really exist, and if they do exist... theeeeen are they as scary as the drawings? Lessee... um.... Abyssamancy! Does it actually involve evil stuff or is it one of those things where the magic looks kind of bad but it's actually not cause if you think about it, they're allowed to keep doing it so I guess you gals from 'up here' tested it and decided it was okay but I just thought I'd ask. Oh, while I'm thinking about A related things, how do you feel about that whole 'acacia debate?' I already kind of know how I feel about it, but I was wondering if maybe you knew something about it that I didn't that maybe you could tell me?"

Aurora smiled, staring at Melody expectantly.

"They're scarier than the drawings. It only looks bad. If I'd worry about every little debate like the acacia debate, I'd go crazy. What else was there? The stuff about pure marble. Better treatment for frogs. If you ask me, it's just fearmongering to distract from the more important issues like the increase in M2O! Buuut if something goes out of hand I'd be sure Ellie would step in, or annoy me or someone else to actually do something serious about it."

Continuing onward, they left the glass ceiling behind to a more open ended area that would most easily be describable as a glass wharf. There where various landing platforms with a few runic magical circles here and there. Melody was moving towards one of them.

"Oooohh, okay. Got it! Oo, spooky. Mm. Oh? Ah." Aurora continued through several similar responses as she furiously took notes down with her quill.

"I don't know, some witches are concerned about the imported animals since Horizon is kinda scary, but I guess you're right. Oh oh! Is it true you knew the very first headmistress of Phastamagoria? What was she like? Actually, what was every like back in the 'olden days,' I'm really curious? How many covens were there? Did they have anything complex like the qbix witches? How many people were there?"

"Don't worry too much about safety regulations, there are plenty of strong Witches around." Melody gave Aurora a pat as she now stepped into one of the circles.

"You shouldn't be too curious about the past. Or rather, there are history books and stuff." Melora sighed, before grinning. "Ah, what the heck. You see, back then, everything was different! Magic was barely explored so we had to do a lot of things manually! Like, wash your clothes per hand. Ice-cream wasn't invented back then either. Neither cake. We ate grass and rats. Oh, and our broomsticks, or anything wood really, were made out of cacti, since it grew pretty much everywhere! Most Historia's amounted to something like a 'pet rock', too." If Aurora actually had read anything history related, and remembered it, Melody was not-so-obvious simply fooling around!

"Woooah, really...?" Aurora stared wide-eyed at Melody for a moment, before tilting her head.

"Wait a minute... pet rocks weren't invented until about 100 years ago!" She gave Melody a pouty, disappointed look.

"Are you sure...?" Melody now bowed down a bit, shoving her own face closer to Aurora's. "Absolutely sure?"

"..." She pondered it a moment, before staring back even wider-eyed.

"You mean you changed history to how it is now...!? Woah...!"

Melody looked perplexed for a moment. Lacking a few good seconds a response. "No! I... look, I was just joking about the whole 'back then' stuff. It's really not that interesting anyway." Instead, dragging Aurora now closer to herself and waiting for Rune, all three were now standing inside the runic circle.

"It's time to re-unite with your squad." With these words, the senior Witch stomped on the ground in a specific rythm. What followed was a similar sequence as the teleportation towards Horizon. Just that this time the destination was a dusty storage room. With boxes, blankets over things and so on.

Also a Melora, Seia, and Eirlys.

"H-Hello! Welcome." A timid voice blurted out from a corner. Staying there was a noname manager witch with pink hair long enough on the front that it hid her eyes. Somewhat shaky, she gave Aurora a bow. "R-Right... you're the last one..."

@Skyswimsky
 
"A-Ah! Ewerybody is here now." The timid manager kind-of stated her observation once more. "P-Pwlease listen! Everybody." Clearing her throat and puffing out her chest, the girl crawled on top of a crate. "HELLO?! ATTENTION PLEASE." Interrupting potential chatter, her face flushed red as she now tried to hide behind her big sleeves. "Uwuwuwu...." Murmuring some incomprehensible gibberish, Melody now took a few steps back into a darker corner of the room.

"Alwight..." The little manager told herself. "Just as always." Clearing her throat, she now finally spoke up in a louder-than-usual voice, but not as loud as before. "Goowd Job on finishing your mission! B-Because of the difficulties you've encountered, the pay has been increased." Pulling out a crystal that contained their payment under her sleeve, she gave it to whoever was fast enough to step forth first.

"F-Furthermore. Celestia Nightfallen will be temporawry removed from your Squad. Uh... that is all? You may now talk about the... the secret things... or be on your way. This is just a storage room of The Huwb." Sighing in relief, the girl took a few steps back until. "Uh? Awwwhhh!" Falling right from the crate onto the dusty floor. "Owowo..." She complained a bit in pain.


The Singing Rocks - A Whisper of Doom cleared!
Achievements unlocked:
  • Metal is Harder than...: Left the Iron Menace Ship intact.
  • No Dark Gods in our Lands: Removed the Lemurian threat.
  • It Whispers...: ???
  • One for the Team: Had a Witch die on a mission... for the first time.
  • A Cry gone Unheard: Did not rescue the trapped Witch.
  • Intelliwhatshisname: Beat up an annoying meanie... for the first time!
 
"Sati!" Aurora shouted as she popped into the uwuwitch's view behind the crates. With no more warning, she'd already rushed forward into a hug.

"I haven't seen you in forever! What have you been doing since we saw each other last? Did you get a new roommate after they kicked me out? I heard you became a manager! Yaaaay! Congratulations, that's great! Good for you! Oh, right, I should probably get back to my squad... we have some mission things to discuss because our last mission was pretty crazy, you wouldn't believe it! There were these nasty dead things, and then an even nastier dead thing, and I blew up, but then I didn't, and then there was this giant blahumaphalum... oh! Neat! I guess I'm not allowed to say about this, but it was great! Anyway, I'll see you later maybe? Feel free to visit my home anytime! We can go out for a hot chocolate or something!"

After literally minutes of torturing uwuwitch, Aurora finally stepped out from behind the crates, waving at the rest of her squad.

"That was pretty crazy, right? Who would have thought even Ellie was that interested in balamaphalumph. Oh right. The umm... 'you know what!' Anyway, would you all like to go out for some dinner or something to relax?"
 
The travel down from the top of the tower was amazing, and even fantastical. However, as she was left in the storage room to wait for the others, Melora couldn't help but feel guilty. They wouldn't have lost Parou if Melora had followed orders and done as asked. This was all her fault and no doubt everyone knew it.

Melora didn't have much to say as the others came into the storeroom, holding her legs close to her chest.

Once the payment was shown, Melora weaved her way between Aurora and the manager and grabbed the crystal. She pocketed it for the moment for the chance to later divide it all out properly, but first things first...

"I'm sorry." Melora said. "This was... all of this was my fault."

Melora stood up and looked at all of them. "However, I would still like to lead. I can understand if someone else steps up to lead or don't want me to lead. However, I know Aurora and I don't think she's leadership material, like Eirlys. Which would leave me or Seia. We need to make a decision right now. Who will lead us from now on and what should we call ourselves? I leave the decision to Eirlys and Aurora. If we try to argue amongst ourselves on who should leave it will lead nowhere. And once the leader is set, we need to set more guidelines."

Melora bit her lip. She was trying to suppress tears. Her fault. They wouldn't need a new leader if Melora had followed orders and hadn't bothered with the Iron Menace. But she'd been distracted by the idea of knowing something new. New came at far too high a cost.
 
"That was pretty crazy, right? Who would have thought even Ellie was that interested in balamaphalumph. Oh right. The umm... 'you know what!' Anyway, would you all like to go out for some dinner or something to relax?"

Aurora wanting to go out to eat.

"I'm sorry."
"This was... all of this was my fault."
"However, I would still like to lead. I can understand if someone else steps up to lead or don't want me to lead. However, I know Aurora and I don't think she's leadership material, like Eirlys. Which would leave me or Seia. We need to make a decision right now. Who will lead us from now on and what should we call ourselves? I leave the decision to Eirlys and Aurora. If we try to argue amongst ourselves on who should leave it will lead nowhere. And once the leader is set, we need to set more guidelines."

Melora apologizing and stressing the need to select a new team leader right away. Dramatically emphasizing the need to change things.

Well, that was about enough of what Seia could take today. After all that had happened, all she really cared about at this point in time was getting her equipment replaced. Namely, her sword, Nova. She'd saved for nearly half a year to get it while she was training to be a witch, but now it was gone. Having lost it in the chaos of how this mission had turned out.

Getting this mission behind her was the most she needed right now. She didn't have the patience to even be in the same room as these witches for any longer. Of course, Melora likely wasn't going to leave everyone be until the whole matter with the next leader was settled. Though that was entirely self serving in Seia's mind. She was only making a big deal out of it to make her feel better about herself, she felt. At the moment though, what the squad really needed was to take a step back. Everyone was going to have to come to grips with the fact that one of them had truly been lost this mission. Not departed. Not quitting. But dead.

As far as Seia was concerned, it was likely Celestia who made the right move here. Taking time off - or currently in the process leaving entirely, she didn't know. At least she was aware of avoiding proliferation of Gestalt from this trauma.


A crude thought crossed her head for a moment. Why not take the payment crystal from Melora, take her own share, and leave? Seia didn't care about any of this drama - Melora's feelings. Instead of being so remorseful now, why didn't she just follow Parou's order's in the first place? All of this, all of what happened was completely avoidable. All of it.

She could take it from Melora if she really wanted to.

The Praetorian's cloak tinged a red hue for a moment. Her right hand tensed up. Seia wanted to tell off Melora oh so badly.

Roll: Seia takes the Crystal from Melora. Result: [3]


But, slowly, he took a hold of her hand and arm. Her cloak returned back to white as she calmed down. Lashing out like this wasn't going to solve anything. The Praetorian chose to not do something that would be nearly impossible to take back later. Still...

"I leave the decison to Melor and Eirlys? So I don't even get a say in it, Melora?"

There was a distinct look of disapproval in Seia's demeanor, speech. She didn't care about this. Picking a squad leader can come later. Changing doctrine could come later. All of these things were things that needed to be considered with a calm demeanor and the way everyone was right now was anything but. There was still a big and painful trauma that they had to deal with.

Bit What disgusted Seia the most right now was that no one cared that a teammate died. No one.
She didn't want to stand in the same room as these witches for any longer than she needed to. Since Melora decided that this was just going to be a popularity contest that Seia had no say in, then there was no reason for Seia to be here any longer.

"Well that's all fine then. If that's the case, I want my share of the payment for this mission. I still have to debrief with my coven, and find a replacement for my lost sword. I have many other things still related to wrapping up this mission and I want to get it done with. If I have no say in any of this, then I want to leave."

Seia held her hand out. Not warmly, but cold and expectantly.

"My share of the payment, Melora. Now."

@Karyra @Luma @Villamvihar
 
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"Seia. You are a stubborn person. I already know what you'd say, and that's apparent from your attempt to take the crystal and your talk of money. You're as sick of this mess as I am."

Melora stood firm, even going as far as standing between the Praetorian and the exit to the closet.

"That's why it has to be now. Once we leave this room, we can't talk about our mission or anything. Between you and me, Seia, we need to change. Or more people are going to die. It's not a matter of having no say, but a matter of avoiding the circles that two stubborn people will go in."

At least Seia didn't have the sword any more. That was a small blessing, Melora thought.

"So, say your piece. You want to tell me off so badly, then do it!" Taking a moment to breath, Melora fell silent. Melora was biting through her lip now, tasting blood. "But you won't tell me anything I haven't already told myself."

Melora took a breath and let go of her lip, wiping the blood with the back of her hand. Small red marks dotted the inside of her palms from how hard she'd been gripping them this whole time. Melora was barely containing her emotions, the overwhelming grief and shame. But she contained them for the sake of taking care of this right now.

"So we either fix this now, while our words are free, or we hold off until later. When we lose the rest of the Squad. I say we do this now."

"So. Either step up and compete to lead or sit down while we finish hashing all of this out. No more mavericks, no more rogue witches. Doubly so for myself."

@Ehb
 
Melora had taken a very inconvenient stance between Seia and the exit. Additionally she was not complying with surrendering the payment crystal as she asked. Melora was visibly an emotional wreck - but she was still adamant about picking a new leader and discussing how to change the squad. Somehow she also seemed convinced that it was due to both of their disagreeable personalities that this had to get done. People would die if they didn't go through with this...

All this drivel coming out of Melora's mouth was insufferable to the highest measure.

"Why does everything with you have to involve making it as complicated as possible?"

Seia stepped forward. For the last time, she had enough of this.

Roll: Seia... [6]
Success


A loud thwack echoed through the room. True, Seia didn't have her sword to do anything related to battle, but getting into such a match in such a tight space in front of the others was never her intention.

She slapped Melora across the check with the back of her hand. It was forceful enough to make the latter crumble onto the ground. It was apparent that Seia was physically strong, but something about the result of that slap left Melora completely stunned. What caused it?


"...As of this moment, I'm taking command. We'll all meet sometime later before we sign up for our next mission in order to formally vote on a new squad leader, and discuss changes to how we operate without making any specific mentions to classified information. Do you follow me, Melora?" Seia harshly enunciated her name.


In any case, Seia took the liberty of reliving Melora of the payment crystal. Dividing the Flow by the remaining team members and Celestia, she took an equal fair share, though it was tempting to get an extra bit since she actually lost equipment. She did the same for Melora, before taking the crystal over to Aurora and Eirlys whom had been helplessly spectating.

"Here."

Seia put the payment crystal into Aurora's hands. Not intending to do anything further.

"...Aurora. If you're going to go do whatever then take Melora and Eirlys with you to cool off. If Melora keeps sprouting nonsense after that, then I'm sure you remember from training that when a Witch is unable to handle emotional trauma to take her to Gestalt Prevention. In any case, I'm putting Rune in charge of watching over Melora in the meantime."

Wait a moment, did she just assign responsibilities? To Rune nonetheless?

"That is all. Everyone is dismissed."



She turned around to leave, and walked to the exit. However, she stopped by Melora - who was by then slowly feeling sense coming back into her limbs.

"...All you had to do was nothing and wait for Parou. All of this could've been avoided if you just did that. In any case, that's all there is to discuss about what went wrong on this mission is it not? I don't see how any of that counts as classified information."

With that, Seia opens the door to leave the room.

@Karyra @Luma @Villamvihar
 
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  • Spicy
Reactions: Luma
Aurora stood shocked... dumbfounded off to the side between the feud and the uwuwitch. Her face had smile which grew more and more stiff as thing escalated, until she vaguely resembled a happy, smiling mannequin.

"This isn't how it should be..." Aurora murmured, almost inaudible. After a few moments, she repeated it again, a bit louder this time...

"This isn't how its supposed to be at all... excuse me..."

Burying her face in the sleeves of her coat, Aurora bolted out the door, straight past Seia, leaving behind a powerful 'vinegar' scent that hadn't been there before.

A few seconds later, Rune rolled its eyes and shrugged, giving off the best "darn teenagers and their emotions" vibe it could as it followed along after Aurora.
 
"It's not compli-"

Thwack.

Melora fell to the floor, unsure of what else to do.

"...All you had to do was nothing and wait for Parou. All of this could've been avoided if you just did that. In any case, that's all there is to discuss about what went wrong on this mission is it not? I don't see how any of that counts as classified information."

"I already told you. There's nothing you can say to me that I haven't already told myself."

Melora's lip was still bleeding quite a bit, and Melora just watched it drip onto the floor. Melora sighed. She didn't bother cleaning it up before she stood up again, sighing. So she had a babysitter now, huh? That would be inconvenient because she wanted to be alone right now... Maybe she'd go home and draw... something. Maybe art for a card. Maybe... Padoru.

That was when Aurora ran out crying. Wait. Was that vinegar?

Melora put a hand on her face and sighed. "I'll be following her. Excuse me, Eirlys."

Following Aurora wouldn't be hard. Just had to follow the smell of vinegar, and the head of Rune.

@Ehb @Luma @Villamvihar
 
Eirlys spent the entirety of her journey focusing inwards. The sights around her might as well have not existed, as her gaze focused on the shoes of the person before her - whoever that was - and her thoughts focused on a mingling chaos of emotions. Not only did she have to deal with Parou being dead; a horrifying sight and knowledge in and of itself, but now there was also the Headmaster. What was her purpose? Was there any purpose at all? Was she really on the side of Witches, if she kept knowledge from them?

Time and again, she tried to decypher the code, but failed. The only thing she ended up gaining was a mild suspicion towards the Headmaster along with a heavy heart. Hopefully, her team-mates would help a little.

That thought helped in lifting Eirlys' spirits. Yes; she decided as she raised her hand slightly and took her place. They could do something together to honour Parou's memory. As brief as it was and as shallowly she knew the other Witch, she still deserved at least that much respect. It would not have to be anything grandiose. Even something little would do, as long as it soothed her troubles.

But of course, that proved impossible.

Before Eirlys could even start to suggest anything, an argument broke out between Melora and Seia. She tried to interrupt several times, only for her voice to fail her and of course, they were far too busy arguing to notice a drawn image. Or anything, really. About the only thing Eirlys did not resort to in an effort to get their attention, was jumping around; nothing seemed to have helped. It even turned violent, with Seia smacking Melora and the silver-haired Witch felt her throat tighten. Her heart grew heavy with sorrow and she hung her head.

For a long time, she wrestled with her emotions. Her hands bunched up into fists as she struggled, upset beyond words at how the day turned out.

Then, she expelled all her stress in an explosive breath and headed for 'Witch Ruu'. If nothing else, she would at least learn something new today.
 
Following Aurora wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but luckily it was far easier to follow Rune who seemed to be following Aurora. After about a minute, Rune turned and made a double take at Melora, giving her a strange glance that was difficult to read. Then again, the fact that a golem had readable facial expressions at all was extraordinary.

After staring back at Melora for several seconds, the friendly golem shrugged and continued on its way. A bit later, they came to a small door in the midst of a cheaper apartment district. While the buildings looked nice, they were simple and lacked both size and detail.

On this particular door was a small plague labeled 'Aurora Avril.' Rune tried turning the knob and seemed to let out a sigh as the door refused to budge.

@Karyra
 
The two eventually agreed to go to the cafe, but Melora had plans. She'd heard that there was a cafe out there with the world's best cake. She didn't mention this to Aurora or Rune, because they'd all just had a harrowing enough time, but Melora was still determined to see this... adventure cake.

The duo arrived in front of Memoria's Memento Cafe, Melora waving in Aurora.

"Come on, Aurora. There's a great cake here. I've been dying to try it, and I say that we deserve a nice treat after... well..." Melora shook her head. "We deserve a nice treat."

Melora pulled at Aurora and Rune's arms, dramatically... not really doing anything. But she was still determined to go.

@Luma
 
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