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The sweet fragrance of strawberrycake and milk tea was what ultimately pulled Celestia 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, Celestia Nightfallen. 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.
Things were still a blur for the Dark witch when she finally regained consciousness. The fact that she didn't remember passing out at all was certainly disturbing but she has an inkling or two about why that happened in the first place.
After Parou ordered Celestia to accompany her in investigating the section with the strange humanoid-like entities, they were on the way to Section 4 of the singing rocks... But along the way, she was pulled into the shadows abruptly, separating her from Parou.
Inside the portal, she felt a wave of fatigue and exhaustion crash through her body before the portal ultimately spat her out to the terminal to Phantasmagoria. The panicked sight of the witches there was the last thing she remembered before waking up in this strangely comfortable interrogation room.
"I... I don't know. One minute, I was with our de facto squad leader... the next I was pulled into a portal, felt incredibly weak and tired while I was inside it, and finally it managed to chuck me out to that gateway room we use to go in and out of Phantasmagoria. " She explained. " Whatever the case, you have to believe me that what happened to me was beyond my control. I didn't want to leave my teammates.. "
A wave of realization hit Celestia as she suddenly remembered that she doesn't know whatever happened to her teammates.
" My teammates... What happened? To them?! Are they alright? " Celestia asked Eleanor desperately. If she finds out that none of them made it because she vanished when they needed her most, she would be haunted by the fact for the rest of her life.
"You should be concerned more about yourself than the other members of your squad." Eleanor replied, her usual neutral voice sounding just a tad harsher.
"I shall answer your question in due time. But for now, I require you to tell me what you think about these beings you call 'Savages'."
Celestia felt an internal sigh of relief upon the realization that someone from Phantasmagoria knew about the savages. From that, she could deduce that someone from her squad had made the report. What she doesn't, however, is that her squad had too close of an encounter with them.
"I... I don't know what to say. I never really had a chance to observe and interact with them up close... But they were doing these amazing feats like shooting flames from some sort of apparatus, and generating a type of shield... all without using magic." Celestia admitted.
There was no use trying to hide anything from the higher ups of Phantasmagoria. But at the same time, she can only tell the truth that she knows so grilling her any further for information would be an exercise in futility.
" The strange thing is, for a manifestation of Manablight, the undead creatures in the Singing Rocks were actively trying to kill them. And these savages were fighting back using the methods I said before." She added.
"That is because these 'Savages' aren't Manablight. And, even if it were the case, Lemuria would battle the Manablight nonetheless." Shifting around in her comfortable chair a bit, the girl now seemed to look just a bit more serious than before.
"Listen, and listen well, Celestia Nightfallen. I do not have the time, or the nerve, to spare with too much idle chatter. These 'Savages' are what we call the Iron Menace. It is exactly because of Witches like you that it had been decided to make knowledge about them a secret, with only specific Witch Squad's knowing about them. The fact you met the Iron Menace there was an accident." Eleanor sighed.
"You, and every other Witch - Questing or not - has been taught that contact with any kind of unknown force is to be considered an enemy. You do not try to sympathize and find dialogue with an enemy based on something insignificant like sharing a common appearance." She sounded quite angry actually.
"I have enough reasons to have you resign as a Questing Witch. Even alter your memory. But, you will be given another chance. The Iron Menace is not to be talked about unless you have been given permission. Have I made myself clear enough, Celestia Nightfallen?"
Celestia had many questions regarding these savages, Iron Menace, or whatever the people upstairs want to call them. Chiefly of which, is why does it seem that co-existence with them is not only impossible but outright taboo?
Was it really alright to keep people in the dark about this, specially the Questing Witches that have the highest chance of encountering them? If these two factions could form an alliance, then fighting the wicked forces that plague Horizon would be a lot easier.
Still, she couldn't deny that these people may harbor some hostility towards her kind. It is possible that her squadmates have encountered these savages back when she was taken out of commission so she'd have to ask them any info they hained about these people later.
Whatever her questions and reservations against Eleanor's demands, the Dark witch kept at bay. It would be unwise to openly show defiance to someone working upstairs, but she could still try to learn more about this Iron Menace on her own. After all, Eleanor only said that talking about them was off limits. Technicalities sure are wonderful things!
"Right, right. Don't wanna cause mass panic and unrest with that tidbit of information." Celestia replied. "Is there anything else that you need me for?"
"Really?" Eleanor replied. Surprised, even? "After what you've done you're just going to be obedient like that?" The blonde sighed.
"It's because of Witches like you that the Iron Menace is kept a secret in the first place." She explained to her.
"But, alright. Actions. For your next mission, you'll be re-assigned temporarily to another squad."
A smirk spread across Celestia's face when she realized how surprised she was when she played the obedient card.
"Well, well, well. With how you worded that, I would have thought that you actually wanted me to be a bit more naughty, Miss Eleanor." Celestia said in a mischievous manner.
"You, know, we could pretend our exchange a while ago never happened. And I could try putting a lot more resistance, if you so insist..." She whispered to the blonde witch's ear in a bewitching manner before backing away.
"I understand that assigning me to another squad is the best course of action at the moment. I don't think I'm prepared to face them after what happened. However, can I at least know the status of everyone in my squad?"
A brief moment of silence followed, before Eleanor spoke up. "Celestia Nightfallen. You seem to forget the place, and position, you are in. There are a lot of things I could do. It is only thanks to the interference of a certain trouble-maker that I hold in high esteem that I have choosen the most ineffective path of action to deal with you. Do not test my patience." With these words, Eleanor now stood up. Still smaller than Celestia though.
"With the exception of Parou Hitorie, who has likely ceased to exist, your squad is alright."
Celestia finally calmed down after she realized that Eleanor was getting a bit too flustered. Pressing people's buttons has its limitations and it seems that she has stumbled upon Eleanor's. Besides, it wasn't a good idea to piss off the Headmistress too much, considering her position and all.
She was taken aback when she heard that everyone made it back relatively safely except for Parou. She may not have been the friendliest witch, but Parou was an effective leader at least. She felt a pang of guilt in her chest since she probably could have saved her had it not been for that unexplainable incident.
"I see. I would assume those Iron Menace people were the ones who did this. Very well, I now see the truth in your words." Celestia replied in a solemn voice.
She was a fool to have hoped that another species would want to establish friendly ties just because they shared a common appearance. Although she wasn't necessarily out for blood, should the time come that they attempt to harm one of her friends again, she will not hesitate to unleash the full power of the darkness against them. If that meant more interactions with the Black Entity and the others, then so be it.
"I'd like to at least know the details of my next mission as well as who are going to be my next teammates. I understand that I have a part in the death of Parou Hitorie, and had I already knew what threat the Iron Menace posed when I discovered them during that reconnaissance assignment, I would have opted to redact that information from the rest of my squad. That said, I will try not to get another of my teammates killed. "
"You will be assigned to the A-Rank Team 'Duostronk', consisting of Dragonhunter Kikki and Coco of Cocoro." A small sigh escaped her lips.
"As for your mission, you'll see once you meet them. But there should be no reason to worry, Dragonhunter Kikki is a responsible Witch." After a small pause, Eleanor now added.
"Now, is that everything you wanted to know?"
Celestia was internally hurt when Eleanor emphasised that one of her new teammates was a "responsible" witch. It looks like she needed to rebuild her reputation again.
Then the Headmistress asked if there was anything else she'd like to know. YEAH. LIKE A LOT OF THINGS. What if they encounter the Iron Menace again in this mission? What if they had no choice but to fight. Of all the questions in Celestia's head that she tried to contain, one escaped her lips.
"Back there, at the singing rocks, I saw those savages perform what would have been considered as magical feats all without expending the tiniest amount of mana. If a witch were to fight one of them, like forced to fight with no chance of retreat, do we stand a chance? "
A few seconds passed before Eleanor started to laugh. Mockingly, somewhat. Loud.
"Stand a chance?" She asked, somewhat amused. "But of course. They should be no match for a Witch. They're weak, and fragile. Regardless of their numbers and fancy tactics. The only real threat are so called 'Alchemists' who can, to put it in very simple terms, nullify our magic. They are, however, only a few among them." Eleanor gave her some amount of information.
"That said, you should never make light of your enemy."
Celestia was surprised at how Eleanor laughed at her question. For a threat to Witches, she seems to think lowly of the capabilities of the Iron Menace, claiming that no ordinary savage can stand up to the might of a witch.
That said, she did reveal another piece of useful information that could potentially help her out in the future... There are those among them, while few and far in between, that could possibly nullify their magic. So when it comes down to it, if she encounters one of them, she would either have to eliminate the threat they pose immediately or retreat.
"On the contrary, I seem to have a habit of overestimating my enemy, judging by your response. It is comforting to know that we can still fight against them even though we are told to avoid contact with them." She replied.
"That is all I need to know. I'll leave it to my seniors to do the general decision-making this time. It seems I have much to learn in that department as well. The last thing I'd like to ask is where I could find Kiki and Coco. I would at least like to talk to my former teammates first before I embark on my next mission. " Celestia added.
"Either of those two should approach you, rather sooner than later I hope. That said, while Coco of Cocoro's schedule is too unpredictable for me to inform you about her whereabouts, Dragonhunter Kikki is - if not otherwise occupied - usually found in the hub. You can ask one of the Managers for better direction." With these words, Eleanor finally sat down again.
"Chika, if you could escort Celestia Nightfallen outside, now." Speaking in her usual calm fashion, the only door to the office opened as Manager Chika entered.
Giving Celestia and Eleanor a small bow, the girl spoke in her usual monotone voice. "Hello, I hope you had a pleasant stay. Please follow me outside and try not to be annoying."
With these words, Chika turned around, not waiting too much on Celestia to follow she would walk down the same hallway she did with the other Witches.
The same monotone stone-walls with countless doors leading to countless offices(?) to be slowly replaced by glass and more glass. And, just like with the others, the two would use the same teleporter into the dusty storage room of the hub.
Unlike before, however, there was nobody here anymore. Not even the Uwuwitch. "This way, please." Making sure Celestia wouldn't just peek around the stored assets freely, Chika continued to escort Celestia into the hub's main area.
"And, before you ask: No, Kikki is currently on a mission." The girl said without even as much as looking at Celestia.
