“Well, would you look at that?” a woman with long black hair chuckled to herself. “Looks like I was right after all. And she didn’t even need any guidance. Does that mean she was well prepared, or that Riri was slacking off?” she giggled to herself as she watched the two lightning users dual from afar.
Carmen grinned as she watched her ribbon-like device wrap upon Riri’s hammer, confusing the goddess. She tightened the cord, Riri matching the tension with a firm grip. “You already tried that.” Riri laughed.
“Yeah, but… I didn’t try this!” Carmen pivoted herself, turning on her heel and spinning forward, positioning the arm in front of her behind her and kicked at the ribbon, the tension yanking Riri forward just as the cord began to loosen. Carmen seized the opportunity and charged at the goddess, knocking the hammer out of the way with her left arm and positioning her right fist in front of Riri’s face only to stop short of punching her. She grinned. “So, I passed, right?”
“You’re not going to…?” Riri blinked.
“Oh, please. I picked up a while ago you were holding back. What, were you trying to teach me a lesson?”
“We did say it was a trial,” Riri laughed. “I had intended to try teaching you something, but guess you didn’t need it.”
“Wanna tell me what that’s all about?” Carmen asked.
“Can’t. That’s Queenie’s job. I’m pretty bad at explaining complicated magic stuff. Lilith isn’t though.”
“Lilith? Am I going to meet her then?”
“Yes, but not yet. The others have to finish their trials first.”
“Of course,” Carmen sighed. “Is that all then?”
Riri grinned. “Oh, there is a gift for you. Something I think you’ll like a lot.” She winked.
* * *
“Arrg,” Mary grunted. “Come on!”
The cat slipped through her grasp again and dashed to the side. “You’re really bad at this,” Ceridwen observed with a chuckle.
“Oh, shut it!” Mary retorted. “This is bad though. They won’t stay in one place, and I’ll get tired long before they do.” She grumbled to herself. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Um...” Wisp mumbled. “Do we have to chase them?” Wisp questioned. “I don’t want to hurt the cute little kitties.”
Mary looked at the girl and mustered her best gentle smile. “I know sweetheart, but we have to capture them if we want to get out.”
“O-okay...” Wisp said nervously as she turned her attention down to her fingers.
Mary took a deep breath and returned her attention to the cats. They were color coded, save the one that changed color. Perhaps that was a hint. She considered studying them earlier to formulate a plan of how to catch each one, but that had proven to be too difficult. She had been watching them for a while, even tried chasing them to see how they’d react, and none of them had demonstrated any meaningful patterns in their behavior. She also tried doing what they all did to catch the cat with the key earlier, but without Erika’s plants, they didn’t have anything to attract them.
She next considered setting a trap. But that didn’t seem to work either. Sure, the large hallways on each side led to plenty of rooms they could trap them in, but they all seemed to be locked, and otherwise the hallways only looped back to the foyer, and they were too large to set up a worthwhile trap, especially when considering the cat’s agility.
Mary was quickly running out of ideas, anxiety and frustration beginning to set in. She looked over to Wisp to notice the girl trembling. The kind-hearted girl seemed to be getting more uncomfortable as time went on, and it wasn’t due to concern for their situation. The way the girl twiddled with her fingers, it was more like she was anxious or something. Mary frowned as she realized why the girl was so upset. She seemed more uncomfortable as Mary herself had gotten more frustrated. She sighed and approached the young fairy.
“Everything’s going to be okay, right Wisp?” She asked her young partner. Wisp looked up at her with wonder in her eyes. The girl smiled and nodded. She seemed a lot more comfortable all of a sudden. Mary smiled, joyful the girl seemed to relax. She returned her attention to the cats again. They had to find a way to capture the cats. Well, capture might not be the accurate word, but… Mary blinked as she realized something.
“Wait, she said to befriend them earlier, and...” She looked at Wisp, memories of the young girl’s friendliness and excitement filling her mind. She smiled. “Wisp! Do you have any ideas?”
“Uh, I guess, maybe. But my ideas aren’t usually that good.”
Mary frowned. “Who told you that?”
“...My old Mama and Papa,” she answered with a frown.
“Oh, sweetie.” Mary frowned as she watched Wisp curl upon herself. She then began smiling and leaned over, Wisp glancing over to meet her at eye level. “Well, do you want to know a secret?”
“S-sure.”
“They were wrong. You’re an amazing and bright girl,” Mary said in a gentle voice. Wisp looked at her with hopeful eyes which glimmered with tears. “Your Mama, Cleo, knows it, Vivi knows it, the other girls know it, and I know it too. We all believe in you, and I’m confident that you can figure this out.”
“You think so?” Wisp asked.
“Of course, a cute little fairy would have a much better chance of getting kittens to like her than I would,” Mary chuckled.
“Really?”
“Really, really.”
“Okay!” Wisp stood up and gave Mary a brilliant smile, causing the woman to smile giddily back. “Now, if I was a kitty...” she whispered to herself. She watched the cats as they wandered and sprawled about, indifferent to her conundrum. She smiled “I’d want to go somewhere that smelled nice,” she giggled.
She focused her magic into her hands, the air curling around her wrists. She grinned as she gripped the currents, causing them to form a beautiful white bow with verdant vines wrapping upon it. Mary grinned as she recalled Vivi mentioning how Wisp had managed to form her weapon so effortlessly during their training together, and how natural of a good shot she was. It was obvious, even to her untrained eye, how competent and strong her form was. How even her breath was as she pulled the bow string back, a small leaf between her fingers growing to become a leafy arrow. She kept her arms level as she aimed upwards. She released it, the arrow shooting up, but turning downward before hitting the ceiling. The arrow shot into the ground, a plume of green mist erupting from it.
Wisp bounced in place as she watched all of the cats make cute noises and roll around joyfully, clearly enjoying the sweet scent. She then swung her arms around, summoning the air and scent towards herself, and like a pied piper, the cats followed along following the pleasant aroma.
“There, there, do you like that?” she asked as she started scratching each cat. She giggled and laughed as she lavished attention upon each cat.
“How’s that for befriending?” Mary looked at Ceridwen with a smug grin.
“I must admit, I didn’t expect such an elegant solution, much less so quickly,” Ceridwen chuckled to herself. “You win, you’re free to go,” she said with a bow as the wall behind the succubus began to glow. Mary turned around to see the door had been returned. “However,” Ceridwen continued, summoning Mary and Wisp’s attention. “The rest of your friends still wait further on. So, what will it be?”
“Hmm,” Mary grimaced. “We could go help them, but...” she glared at Ceridwen who simply gave a serene smile back. “I don’t know if I can trust that you won’t pull something again.”
“We can trust her,” Wisp countered. “She returned the door and has nice cats. She’s nice too!”
“I...” Mary stammered, caught off guard by her shining confidence. She couldn’t refute her. Even setting aside the girl’s clear favoritism for the cat lady goddess, it was true that the goddess had returned the door as promised. She could’ve just lied or added some other requirement to the challenge, but here she was, just opening the door for them after accomplishing their challenge. “It’s a simple logic, but it’s good. Plus you’re smart, so I’ll trust your judgment, kiddo,” she said as she smiled at Wisp. “Let’s go find the others.”
“Yeah!” Wisp cheered before running to the stairs and skipping up them.
“Good luck, little one,” Ceridwen said as Wisp passed by, the girl turning around to flash her a toothy smile. “And you as well, take care, little Lillim,” she added as Mary walked past. Mary shivered and looked back at the goddess who simply smiled at her.
“Why did you...” Mary began.
“Come on!” Wisp called excitedly.
“R-right, coming!” Mary shook her head and ignored the goddess, following Wisp up to the upstairs door. “By the way Wisp, where did you get that idea from?”
“Huh? Umm...” The girl thought to herself for a second. “I thought about how we caught the rainbowy kitty earlier, and thought maybe something like that could work again. But I didn’t know what Miss Erika used. Then I heard this really pretty voice tell me I was getting close.”
“A pretty voice told you that?
“Yeah!” Wisp smiled. “She sounded super nice and it made me feel kinda warm and fuzzy. It made me think of sunlight. I felt like I could curl up and nap just listening to her voice. Then I realized that kitties like lying in the sun surrounded by flowers!”
“It was a good idea,” Mary laughed. “Still though, I don’t remember hearing a voice like that,” she said under her breath.
At the bottom of the steps Ceridwen grinned to herself. “My, my. So, that’s what she’s been up to. How sneaky.”
* * *
“Dammit!” Annie shouted as she landed on the ground again. She glared at the radiant bird as it soared back into the sky again. “She’s just taunting me. How am I supposed to get to her? No matter what I do...” she grumbled to herself.
It was difficult to tell exactly how long she’d been doing this now. She’d been chasing Hori for what felt like hours, completely unable to catch up. The bright blue sky remained as bright as it had when she first stepped inside, at last at first glance. However, she’d already noticed a particular quirk. The shadows of the buildings had been moving. In fact, the sky seemed to brighten and dim, seemingly at random. But it wasn’t random, not truly.
Horus, deity of the sun, the sun itself. While she doubted the totality of her power, believing she couldn’t be the sun itself, the essence of her power was undeniable. The avian goddess emanated light and cast shadows in her wake; shadows she would be able to use that to her advantage to sneak up on the bird deity. She sighed. That’s what she’d believed. “She slipped right through my fingers,” she mumbled. “How am I supposed to catch her if she’s too fast?” She wondered aloud.
She thought through her plan again. She hid in a dark corridor, watching how the light brightened and dimmed. Then as the light began to grow, she leapt at Hori, throwing herself directly in front of her. But all it took was a flap of her wings, and she’d simply flown up and away. Annie sighed. She wouldn’t be able to corner much less trap Hori like this, much less take her flame. She’d need to cut her off somehow, but that was impossible, there was no way to get higher than her. There were no ledges on these buildings, and the roof would simply give her away. If only she could find some kind of foot hold.
Her eyes widened as they fell upon her blade, and she began to smirk, a new idea forming in her mind. She crouched back in the alley again and waited for Hori to approach. She’d been flying in a pattern this whole time, and she didn’t seem to be stopping even given Annie’s last attempt. Hori flew close to the ground, causing a bright light to crawl along the building walls across from Annie. She took a deep breath, and plunged her sword deep into the wall. She climbed upon her sword and jumped, hurling herself at the approaching bird. Hori, surprisingly, seemed taken off guard by her maneuver, and flapped her wings in an attempt to slow herself and change direction. In that moment, as Annie’s feet met the ground, she tossed herself at Hori, the heat of the sun goddess meeting her finger tips.
And then with a single flap of her wings, she was gone. “Come on!” Annie screamed. “I was so close. I was...” she cried out, only for her voice to fade, overtaken by a different sensation. She looked at her hand to see a gentle glow emanate from it. She instinctively brought it to her chest and breathed in. It felt so pleasant and warm. She smiled. Was this the flame she’d been chasing? It was amazing. And this was only a piece of it.
She felt the heat sink into her heart, lingering in her body. She took a deep breath, feeling a new if meager power resting within her. She knew instantly that it wasn’t enough. It was small and subtle. She knew it was there, yet knew it was nowhere near enough, neither for herself, nor for her trial. She needed to grab hold of Hori again.
She looked up to the sky. Hori was no longer moving. She simply hovered in the air, as if waiting for her to come to the sky. A flash of anger coursed through her. She ran at the bird and jumped, instinct taking hold as she threw her sword down, a gush of heat rushing from it, propelling her into the air, but only a bit. Annie landed, shocked by her impulse and action alike. She stared at her sword. “When did I...” She took another deep breath, attempting to calm herself down, only for the flame resting within her to stir again.
“Wait… this power, it’s...” Annie shivered. “It’s pushing me to keep trying. It’s like it’s pulling me, but...” she thought to herself. “I can do this, but...” She stared at her sword and tried to call upon the flame. She could feel it in herself, stirring and reaching out to her, but she couldn’t quite grab hold of it.
She swung her sword and conjured fire. She tried again and again to find any kind of hint, but once again, she was met by nothing. She grimaced.
“I’m so close. What should I do?” She looked back at Hori, who patiently waited for her, taunting her with her distance, and the looming reminder of the distance to her true goal. “Wait for me, Mel. I just need to figure this out I...” She grimaced. “How am I supposed to do this?”
‘You need some help?’ Annie’s eyes snapped open. She searched the buildings around her. This voice, who or what was it? She looked up at Hori again. The voice’s words, they were warm and bright.
“Hori?” The voice only giggled in response. The voice felt like her, and yet… it felt different. Sweeter, cuter, even more elegant.
‘What would you tell one of your students if they needed help?’ the voice questioned.
“If my students needed help?” she repeated. She thought to herself. If her students ran into problems, she’d encourage them to… “ask me for help,” she answered. “I need to ask for help?” She wondered aloud. She looked back at Hori and sighed. There was no way the goddess would help her. Catching her and her flame was the whole point of this trial, right? She then looked back at the building she’d started from. That’s right, Hori wasn’t the only goddess here. And while the sun goddess wouldn’t simply help Annie beat her own trial, Isis on the other hand…
“She won’t engage with the test,” she chuckled. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t teach me.” She made her way back to the building. Down a few alleys and back to a large set of stairs. She climbed them back up to see the beautiful dark skinned goddess again. Isis smiled.
“I see you have obtained some of Hori’s embers.” Annie nodded. “Very interesting. So, tell me, what brings you back here?”
“I… In order to catch her, I need to use this magic I managed to grab, but I don’t know how. It’s like it’s resisting me, and I… I need your help learning how to use it.”
Isis simply chuckled. “My, my. What a clever answer.”
* * *
She turned, coming face to face with another mirror, a quiet indifferent deadpan staring back at her. She angrily stared it down. Her reflection’s eyes widened slightly, exposing her vacuous eyes. Her lips didn’t move at all.
“Stop it...” She grumbled. She turned and walked down the next hallway, meeting yet another reflection, her vacuous eyes staring back at her. She shook her head. Her eyes weren’t that empty. It was a trick. It had to be a trick. She turned again and speed walked, running into yet another mirror with the same stoic expression.
“Stop lying to me. I’m not some expressionless doll,” she fumed. “I'm frowning right now, and...” she raised her hands to her lips in protest and her heart sank. “Wh...” She stared into the mirror, tracing the soft nonreactive lips, only to discover no frown, no curve, not even the slightest trace of emotion on her lips. Panic gripped her, and her listless reflection’s eyes seemed to shimmer with fear for a second. “No… I’m not...” She gripped her hand, the reflection revealing only a gentle curl of her fist as it gripped her yukata. She looked at her hand demanding its refutation.
...only to be met by the same sight, a gentle passive grip meeting her gaze. Her breath began to quicken, even her reflection’s panic seeming evident. She turned and ran down the next hall, tripping as she hurtled toward the next mirror.
She pushed herself from the ground, a whimper escaping her mouth as her gaze met the visage of a young Asian girl with long black hair. She hadn’t seen her in quite some time, but she still recognized that stunted girl, herself. Behind her was the image of various boys who leered at her. Her eyes narrowed, quashing the raging emotion burning inside her, dulling her stare as her apathetic eyes fell upon one last familiar person. A vision she’d not seen in months, and never would again. She cringed as she saw the masculine figure, which shied away in reaction, which only intensified the pain. The figure whimpered and began to vanish.
“Christine, wait, I…!” she flinched upon seeing her own face again, a deeply unpleasant look meeting her. “No… Stop it… I don’t...” she cried. She tried to look away only to be met by the same face again and again. “STOP IT!” She threw her arms, covering the mirrors around her in ice. She looked up to see her face, her true face, panting and worn by exhaustion. She smiled as she noticed the quiet expressiveness the ice reflected.
‘Why are you so afraid?’ A whisper echoed in her mind.
She was stunned. For a brief second she wondered where the voice, a soft and warm feminine voice, came from, but it didn’t last long. The question echoed in her head. She was afraid? Why? What of?
She looked back at her reflection and recalled the scornful glare that chased the phantom of Christine away. She sighed. She already knew. “I’m afraid I’ll become like that again,” she answered. “Afraid I’ll just become an unfeeling doll. A quiet girl that people will just push their expectations upon. A girl that will meet all her teachers expectations as the smart Asian girl in the class. The girl that all the boys see as a quiet and demure object to fawn over and win. I don't want to bury myself again.” She looked up, the ice melting from a light emanating from the mirror, scaring her slightly. What awful thing would it show her this time?
She began to smile.
She saw her moms looking at her with those sweet loving grins. Beside them were Vivi and the others. Even Christine was there, her soft wooly hair bouncing as she giggled. Their smiles felt so warm and kind. She then looked at herself, noticing a few tears trickling down her smiling face.
‘Such a silly worry,’ the voice giggled in her head. ‘There’s plenty of feeling in that snowy body. And even if it gets buried a bit, your heart will guide you back.’
Ichika nodded to herself and took a deep breath. She noticed a quiet glow in her palm and nodded to herself. This warmth. Their kindness. It reminded her of the strength she’d fought to nurture these past several months, forming this light in her hand. She waved her hand, coating the corridors of mirrors in glowing ice. She took a deep breath and walked forward, this time, a clear course lighting her way out of the maze.
Eventually she came to a slope, and marched her way up, finding Sue at its peak. The moon goddess smiled. “Congratulations, you passed.” Sue smiled.
“Sue… I...”
Sue shook her head. “You know. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s often the people with the strongest feelings who worry most about not feeling enough.” Ichika shivered as she stared at Sue, gobsmacked. The goddess chuckled. “This is your reward.” She lifted a wooden box, revealing a mirror. “It’s funny. Your solution is rather similar to something my sister would do. It’s rather fitting you earn this, The Mirror of the Moon. It can reflect even the strongest magic.” She shook her head again. “What am I doing? That’s not important right now.” She set the mirror to the side. And then walked over to Ichika and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into a hug. “I’m proud of you.”
Ichika hugged her back as her tears were set free.
* * *
“Hey, Chi! You made it!” Carmen cheered.
“Carmen?” Ichika questioned. She looked around, realizing she was now back at the shrine from before. “Why are we...”
“You passed, of course,” Riri laughed. “See!” She pointed to the yellow and cyan shrines to the side, now with a yellow and cyan light hovering above them, much like the magenta and blue ones. “Those lights mean you passed our trials and earned our blessings.”
“Blessings?”
“Yeah, check this out!” Carmen declared. She curled her fists and smacked her bracers together. Suddenly, her new armor appeared over her outfit, thick, sleek, and bulky yellow and black plates reinforcing her body. Then a bar of electricity formed in her hand, forming into a large hammer sparking with electricity. “Isn’t it cool, it’s like I have my own mech armor now!” She laughed as she tappd the large yellow spike on her left shoulder.
“The heavy armor of a norse goddess and the coolness of a modern mecha! It really suits you Carm!” Riri laughed. “Your new outfit looks super pretty too, by the way.”
“My new… huh!?” Ichika looked down at herself, her kimono taking a more flowing almost ethereal appearance, now with with the bright snowy garb darkening into a deep purple around her feet, with soft lavender ruffles forming along the opening of its skirt, and a long flowing cyan ribbon hovering around her arms and arcing above her head. “What is going on?” Ichika asked.
“Ichika,” Sue approached her. “I do apologize for all the deception. I didn’t want these events to be so… frustrating. I know you’ve all been suspicious of us, and for good reason, but the truth is we only wished to help.”
“Help? How so?”
“Well, you see...” There was a shrill squeal, as a pair of red and silver lights formed above the red shrine near the center of the sprawling shrines. “I see they’re done.”
“Huh? What are you…?” Ichika’s question was immediately answered as three lights descended upon the girls, fading to reveal Annie, Isis, and Hori, the latter two grinning happily as Annie stood there, basking in her new outfit. “Annie… You’re gorgeous.”
“I… huh?” Annie looked at her outfit, her red dress now having an almost knightly vibe to it. The skirt was now thinner gauze like material that was cut into free floating segments, acting like a veil for the sleek silvery leggings which almost resembled armor. A secondary fuller skirt draped halfway down her thigh at the front and fell to her shin in the back, almost resembling a cape. The bodice hugged her body, opening up at her chest, a few strips of cloth traveling toward her neck where they were met by another strip falling from her bright red choker, a silver jewel which held the strips together, a gentle flame dancing just above it. From the bodice a pair of off the shoulder sleeves covered her arms, a simple silvery armor billowing out like a ruffle, protecting her shoulders. Finally, behind her was an elegant set of segmented silver wings, bathed in silver flames. “What is all this?”
“This is your reward for succeeding your trial.”
“But I didn’t...” Annie shook her head. “I never caught Hori.”
“You didn’t need to catch me. You just needed to channel my flame into your sword, which… well, just look at it,” Hori giggled. Annie looked down at her sword, waves of red and silver flames coming off the radiant blade.
“I’m so confused,” Annie admitted. “First that weird voice, and now this?”
“Weird voice?” Ichika echoed. “Wait, you heard her too?”
“You too Ichika?” The two looked to Carmen.
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carmen stated.
“I suppose she didn’t need much help passing Riri’s trial,” Sue observed.
“Wait, Sue, you know what we’re talking about?” Ichika asked.
“I do, but it would be better if she explained it.”
“She?”
“Who are you…?” Annie began to ask. Her eyes went wide. “Lilith! We need to find her and Melody!”
“R-right!” Ichika yelped.
“You’ve certainly earned that right,” Isis stated. “Head through the door over there and you’ll...”
“I’m coming Mel!” Annie declared as she ran off, with Ichika and Carmen hot on her silvery trail.
“Oh, dear. They didn’t even wait to hear me explain.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll go with them,” said Sue.
“Thank you, Sue.”