Section 7: TRHVMN, By Which Our Goddess Descends
(The last section that I've written so far ...)
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1990 CE // La Vigilia di Natale
The elderly gentleman who gazed out the window cast no image in the marble floor of the darkened penthouse parlour. Reversed in the tiles beneath him, the delicately carved cane he held in his left hand appeared to stand free of support -- a lone pillar of shadow in the reflection of the placid starlit sky. Nrvnqsr was reminded of a Magritte painting he had once seen in Ingolstadt.
"Neron Kaiser," drawled the old man, eyed fixed upon the horizon. "You bring news of the Orient? Something good, I hope?"
"The Sixteenth has arrived in Tokyo," replied Nrvnqsr.
"Gransurg of Blackmore, hm?" The old man tilted his head slightly, glancing at Nrvnqsr over his shoulder. "And he knows of our operations?"
"Louvre believes that he's merely investigating the fractures that have formed in the prison of the Calamity. Of the Guardians Reborn that we've so far identified, he seems unaware."
"It would be prudent to keep an eye on him, yes?"
"I understand," replied Nrvnqsr, curtly nodding.
"Has there been anything else of interest?"
"Louvre felt it unnecessary to report, but Mister Kugamine has again petitioned for the removal of the Tohno heiress. He seems unsatisfied merely to serve as the acting head of clan until the girl reaches majority, and has begun to claim that she potentially poses a greater threat to our plans than her father."
The atmosphere in the penthouse suddenly grew heavy, and with a loud noise, a series of cracks appeared across the reinforced glass of the window. The elderly gentleman turned from his vantage with a kind, grandfatherly smile, and -- involuntarily -- Nrvnqsr manifested a pair of black bloodhounds from his shadow. It took a conscious effort to reign in the growling beasts, and he was slightly irked that mere killing intent had again provoked a response in him.
"A funny little man, this Kugamine Tonami," said the gentleman, chuckling mirthfully. As he paced to the white leather armchair near the center of the room, there was nothing in his countenance that hinted of the barely restrained wrath Nrvnqsr sensed from him. "It's always refreshing to hear from him."
"Do you wish that I deliver a reply?" queried Nrvnqsr, businesslike.
"That would be superb," replied the gentleman, softly seating himself. Meeting Nrvnqsr's eyes with a relaxed, carefree smile, he said, "Tell him that his most humble servant, Theophanus Ortenrosse, is in his eternal debt for services generously rendered, and begs that he continue to look after our mutual interests in the Far East."
Only a warning, then, Nrvnqsr noted. His own preference would be to eliminate Kugamine, but the old man presumably saw a use for the fat fool yet.
"I'll give him your regards," he said, nodding curtly.
---
The culprit, Satsuki deduced, was probably Yamazaki Shizuku -- the fifth student assigned to cleanup in the badminton courts. The ditzy girl was well-meaning enough, but it'd be just like her to lock the gym equipment shed without checking first to see if there was anyone inside.
Sanada, a tall girl with a pageboy cut, had worked up a sweat pounding at the door with a baseball bat. Giving it one final kick, she sighed in defeat and sat down on the foam mat next to Satsuki.
"It's no use," she said, panting misty breaths into the air. "If there's anyone still out there, they can't hear us. Figures this would happen on a Saturday afternoon."
"Doesn't Mister Tanizaki make rounds every few hours?" asked Honda, the timid girl from Class C.
"Who knows?" said Sanada. "The groundskeeper ain't a security guard, and this is the weekend. I doubt he'll be working any harder than he has to."
The same thought had been running through Satsuki's head, but hearing it given voice made it seem infinitely more probable. Forcing herself to smile, she said, "Let's not get our hopes down just yet. We don't know for certain that he won't come by."
"I guess," said the tall girl unenthusiastically. "I don't get why they bother putting locks on the equipment sheds to begin with. It's not like anyone's seriously interested in stealing this stuff."
Takaishi, a bookish girl who sat two desks behind Satsuki in class, lightly smacked Sanada in the back of the head.
"What was that for?" asked Sanada, frowning.
"For saying something idiotic," she replied flatly. Pointing at the door, she continued, "Now, how about you get back to work?"
"What? No. You do it. I've been at it for like an hour already."
"You have an athletic scholarship. Being tired isn't an excuse."
It was difficult for Satsuki to tell whether or not the exchange wasn't just friendly banter. Takaishi and Sanada hung out enough that they might've been friends, but there always seemed to be an undercurrent of hostility in the lunch hour conversations she'd overheard. Prolonged isolation in a cold, small room without food or water made for the sort of environment where even mild dislike could blossom into something right out of /The Drifting Classroom/.
"How about we do this in shifts, then?" Satsuki asked. "It wouldn't be fair for Sanada-san do all the work, right? I'll go first."
For whatever reason, Takaishi frowned, and Sanada gave Satsuki an apologetic nod as she offerred her the bat. Taking up the metal implement by its tape-bound grip, Satsuki stood before the door and slammed the wider end into the slightly dented surface.
Coach Miura had a rule against wearing 'accessories' in gym, and wristwatches apparently counted for a violation. Satsuki had left hers in the locker room before heading out to the inter-class badminton competition earlier in the day. Now, she was increasingly aware that late afternoon sun in the row of tiny windows along the ceiling wasn't nearly as convenient an indicator of time. She hadn't been striking at the door for very long, as far as she could tell -- thirty-five minutes at most. Not being nearly as fit as Sanada, though, she felt already as if she'd been running all-out in a marathon.
"Hello?" called a voice from the other side, and Satsuki felt her heart flutter in surprise. "Is there somebody in there?"
She wasn't sure if the speaker was male or female, as even amongst the fifteen-year-old third-years, there were quite a number of boys whose voices hadn't fully changed. Propping herself up with the baseball bat as she fought to catch her breath, she pointed at the door and looked meaningfully at the three other girls.
Takaishi understood her intention immediately, and called back, "Yes! We need your help! There are four people in here, and we've been locked in for a couple of hours! Can you please tell groundskeeper to come and open the door?"
There was a long silence, as if the person outside were making a difficult decision.
"Alright," came the response at last, sounding somehow reluctant. "Just hang on for a few more minutes, and I'll go and get him."
"Thank you!" called Takaishi.
There was a 'click' from the lock, and then, faintly, footsteps padding away into the distance. Tired of supporting her weight, Satsuki let herself collapse, leaning her back against a cage full of basketballs. There was nothing left to do but wait.
Five or ten minutes passed, but the person they'd spoken to failed to return. Their hard-earned relief started to turn to anxiety.
"It shouldn't take this long to get to the fuckin' groundskeeper's," growled Sanada, standing up.
"That guy," said Honda worriedly. "He wouldn't just leave us here, would he?"
Walking past Satsuki, Sanada jogged the doorknob. With a brittle snap, the handle came free, and something metallic hit the ground on the other side. The girls could only stare wordlessly as the steel door came easily ajar. Somehow shaking her exhaustion, Satsuki stood up unsteadily and followed Sanada out into the winter twilight.
In the desolate schoolyard, snow had begun to fall. Their savior was nowhere in sight.
---
Notes - Gaia Terminal // Dark Six:
In the first centuries of the Lunar Imperium, Brunestud of the Crimson Moon embarked upon a project to create a Type-Gaia, based in part upon the human-designed Alaya Terminal. The Type was to be a humanoid entity whose features, abilities, and personality were the synthesis of six distinct artificially-generated conceptual entities, called "Phases." During the stage of maturation, the Phases required installation within separate physical vessels that match their origin to fully register the use of their functions.
Difficulties were encountered with the controlling personality's directive recognition system -- iteration after iteration, the composite intelligence would default to proposals that annihilation of humanity was the only acceptable solution to the regulation of the human diaspora. Frustrated in her efforts, Brunestud eventually froze the project and sealed her results. The location of the sealing would come to be site of the village of Aylesbury in the United Kingdom.
In modernity, the lifting of the seal and the extraction of Brunestud's prototype was perpetrated by an unidentified party of vampires, who besieged the English village in blatant defiance of the decree of the Moonlit World. The so-called "magical girl" known as Venus Victrix first appeared during this incident to defend the village's inhabitants, but she was unable to prevent the theft.
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Phase 01 - Athanasia, the Undying
Origin: Depletion (Plunder)
Function: passive, ongoing replenishment of prana from environment
Explanation: creates a plunder field, draining prana into oneself; prana sustains unlimited, perfect regeneration
Vessel: Yumizuka Satsuki
Title: Desolation Princess - Stella Morosa
Class: Vampire
Notes: Type-Jupiter Reborn
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Phase 02 - Phusis, the Hierophant
Origin: Consumption (Void)
Function: primary subordination to the will of Gaia
Explanation: link to the Akasha causes vessel to function as a beast of Gaia, subsuming entities against nature through consumption; enables Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, amongst other abilities such as regeneration
Vessel: Shirazumi Rio
Title: Predatation Princess - Panthera Rio
Class: Vampire / Vampiric Lifeform
Notes: genetic sex = male; physical sex = hermaphrodite
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Phase 03 - Arete, the Seneschal
Origin: Suicide (Filicide)
Function: provision of innate directive, secondary to Gaia
Explanation: as Gaia does not issue commands under normal circumstances, the phase functions as a system of secondary directives. (Primary function is secretly to engage in apparently constructive activities that promote eventual destruction of unnatural beings such as humans)
Vessel: Medea
Title: Magical Princess - Medea-chan
Class: Ghost Liner
Notes: Servant of the Holy Grail
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Phase 04 - Scholazo, the Shield-Bearer
Origin: Shadow (Imaginary Numbers)
Function: absolute defense via dissipation into false space
Explanation: shields vessel with a perfectly black energy membrane, which serves as a 'portal' into a subspace with imaginary / spoofed coordinates. Such a defense is impervious to conventional attacks, and is difficult to circumvent.
Vessel: Matou Sakura
Title: Imaginary Grail - Kurozakura
Class: Magus
Notes: subsumed implanted crest worms
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Phase 05 - Pronoia, the Executioner
Origin: Time (Severing/Binding)
Function: localized timeline editting capabilities
Explanation: allows localized editting of the timeline, including manipulation of causality and event copy/paste. Severing/Binding origin capable of being employed in other manners
Vessel: Illyasviel von Einzbern
Title: Phantom Liner - Kaleido-Kuruvinda
Class: Homunculus
Notes: Grail Vessel; Pronoia phase structure damaged; repaired with replica of Type-Uranus and Type-Neptune's innate magic
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Phase 06 - Charis, the Teller of Truths
Origin: Fear (Synchronization; Empathy-Projection)
Function: regulation of society through psychic synchronization
Explanation: promotes psychic synchronization with vessel's mind. Does not qualify as telepathy or mind-control, though both effects are achievable. Base function allows forced imposition of empathy with vessel's emotional state. Synchronization origin usable in other manners
Vessel: Fujou Kohaku
Title: Broomstick Nurse-Witch - Magical Amber
Class: Elemental
Notes: Type-Phobos - Long-Range Combat Support System for Type-Mars
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Phase 「 」 - Selene, the Lone Queen
Origin: Type-Moon (Terraformation Weapon)
Function: Physical vessel of phases 1 - 6.
Explanation: clone of the vessel of Brunestud of the Crimson Moon. Upon completion and installation of phases, it activates as a weapon of Gaia
Completed Functionality:
01: Perfectly controlled plundering; Infinite regeneration
02: Servant to the Will of Gaia
03: Vested with the purpose of destroying humanity
04: Directs all damage to void space
05: Capable of timeline editting
06: Speaker of the Unified Language; Control of minds
Actual Name: Arcuied Brunestud II
Title: Prototype-Gaia - Serenity X
Class: True Ancestor
Notes: an artificial being created by Crimson Moon to become the 'Queen of Earth.' abandoned in development
---
Senshi Line-Up:
Moon = Lunar Maiden - Phantasm Moon
Mars = Flame Priestess - Autumn Vermillion
Mercury = Testamentum Ordina - Crystal Vale
Venus = Golden Angel - Venus Victrix / V.V.
Jupiter = Depletion Princess - Stella Maia
Saturn = (Zettai Karen) Silent Messiah - Empyrean Cross
Uranus = Prisma Liner - Kaleido-Ruby
Neptune = Prisma Liner - Kaleido-Sapphire
Pluto = Obsidian Gatekeeper - Excutioner Ciel
Phobos = Broomstick Nurse-Witch - Magical Amber
Deimos = Brainwashing-Detective - Locked-Room Jade
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Omake: Ren-Sensei's Magical Dojo I
<Arc> Say, why is it that magical girls need a magical mascot? Most mascots seem to be hugely useless, besides providing the heroine with the transformation item?
<Ren> Do you seriously think that a third-grader, given the ability blast away city blocks, would use it responsibly?
<Arc> Uhh .... children are innocent and cute?
<Ren> In your dreams. Real third graders, if given magic like that, would go about throwing giant projectile attacks at people, and then later claim some stupid excuse like, 'Oh, I was just trying to be friends with her.'
<Arc> But ... but ...
<Ren> The notion that children are cute is a fiction made up by adults. Hence, magical mascots are necessary!
<Arc> But they don't do anything besides yap away, usually?
<Ren> That's just the surface. In fact, the yapping disguises their real function, which is to serve as a moral compass where none usually exists.
<Arc> That ... that's a very cynical statement. Also, aren't you a silent character?
<Ren> ...
---
The End for Now ...
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Originally Posted by Mike1984
