Melody

  ***

  Flying out of the Imperial Pace, my thoughts were confused. More than that, I was a bit armed.

  “Raven. You still awake?” I asked.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong?” She asked, sounding tired.

  “Something odd happened. Get to the hideout.” I said. “And keep an eye on me.”

  “Why? What’s going on?” She asked.

  “I’m not sure but just do it to be safe.” I said.

  “Got it.” She said.

  I really need to think of a name for the hideout, it kind of sounds me just saying it like it is. That aside, I turned invisible and headed in the opposite direction of my house. Firstly, I know that some Shadows keep an eye out for me. Tonight is no different. Once I left the city walls and was sure I was undetected, I circled back around to my house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and that only worried me more. Silently I entered my house and kept an eye out.

  The servants seemed to be asleep already, so I didn’t need to worry about anyone seeing me. Then again, why am I being so sneaky? Arriving in my room, I saw that it was Empty, as expected. Alright, I hope I’m wrong. Transforming back into Evelyn, I noticed something strange. What’s up with all of this sparkling? My transformation has already ended.

  Evelyn

  ***

  What was I doing? Not quite remembering what was going on, I found myself in my room in the middle of the night. Maybe I was up for a midnight snack? If so, why haven’t the servants brought them for me? No, it wasn’t snacks. Maybe I needed to go to the bathroom? No, it doesn’t feel like it. Did I just get back? Whatever, that doesn’t matter. Let’s just go back to sleep. Crawling back into bed, I wondered why I wasn’t dressed in my pajamas. The servants must be getting zy. I’ll yell at them in the morning. Thinking that, I y my head down and fell back asleep.

  …

  Dark memories assaulted my mind. Memories of another me. Of a time and pce that I didn’t know. The buildings were tall and shining. There was a ball of fire in the sky and clouds of smoke rose high into the sky. There were creatures, and mechanical beasts and a bleeding sun, and lights that fshed in the sky. I remembered seeing her, that woman, the Goddess. My Goddess. Through fire, I flew through the sky, fought beasts, made and lost friends. There were five, then six, then five again. Then three, then five, then twenty, then one. It was after that one visited me I died. And then I woke up as me.

  As me, I saw memories that were of me. Not another me, but me proper. How many people did I have with me? There were so many, more than I could count. And then there was a carriage, and there were two people. Then there were none. I was alone for quite some time, living in the dirt under the shadows of tall trees. And then there were many people who took care of me. And then there were demons. I fought the demons. Not as myself but, well it was me. Another me. And then I was home. It was an empty home full of strangers. And then there was a tea party. There were friends, and then school, then forests, then school again, then the dragon, and finally was today.

  With the sunlight pouring into my room through the window, my eyes opened with tears in them. Before anything could happen, I immediately turned into Melody.

  “Raven are you there?” I asked.

  “I’m here!” She said. “What’s wrong? You weren’t responding at all!”

  “Something is altering people’s memories.” I said.

  Quickly jumping out of bed, I hurriedly opened the window and flew out.

  “When I transformed, I couldn’t remember that I was Melody.” I expined.

  “Is it the demons?” She asked. “Are they doing this? And why wasn’t I affected?”

  “No idea. I’m heading out to tell the Regents right now.” I said. “Stay in the base. I’m not sure how far the effect is.”

  “Got it.” She said. “The Regents are with the twins right now, they’re about to leave somewhere.”

  “Yep.” I said. “Just stay put. What I’m about to do may be a mistake.”

  “What do you mean ‘a mistake’?” She asked worried.

  “You’ll know if it happens.” I said.

  Flying into the Imperial Pace, I quickly located the family. However, before I could approach them, I felt something, rather someone watching me. Not only that, but I got dizzy and my vision started acting weird. It was all sparkly and my sense of bance was seemingly thrown off. Before the effects could become too bad, I saw a small distortion floating in the air. It was high above me, who was already high above the capital. Whatever was in there, I felt it locked eyes with mine. Before it could react, I was upon it and my fist smashed through something that shattered like gss.

  “AAAHHHHH!?!?!?!?” A frightened voice called out. “CLOSEIT!CLOSEIT!CLOSEIT!!!!”

  “Lunar Nova!” I said, releasing a spell into that space.

  Quickly retracting my hand, whatever that pce was, was closed off to me. A heart beat ter, the very sky seemed to shake, with a spider web of cracks racing across the sky from horizon to horizon and a thunderous boom sounded out. A dim, flickering, green light shone out of the cracks, that danced like fmes. Soon however, the cracks seemed to heal themselves and the sky returned to it’s normal blue.

  “Did I get it?” I asked myself.

  Suddenly I was assaulted by nausea and I felt my power fade. Uh-oh. This isn’t good. This was a familiar sensation to me. It felt the same as when Gokarul was attempting to drain my powers, however this one felt much worse. I need to get out of here. Abandoning my previous pn, I flew home. Not even bothering to act subtle I flew into the window and activated the hidden device in my night stand. The barrier, which previously surrounded my house, was suddenly strengthened. The nausea that I felt before disappeared and the draining sensation was gone.

  “Okay…” I said.

  So what is going on? Clearly something is trying to get rid of me. What should I do about it? Given the fact it can absorb my power with no problem, I don’t think fighting it is a good idea. Well, it’s a very good thing that Celestia pnned for this exact thing. You see, back on Earth, all of us Magical Girls, no matter which God or Goddess granted us our powers, were told about one special thing. If there was an enemy which was a danger to every Magical Girl we should bring them to our “special world”. Well, it isn’t exactly a “special world”, but rather a pce of unending torment. It was the pce where I proved myself worthy of being a Magical Girl. It should work on almost everything, although no one has lived long enough to try it on fully grown dragons, but this thing didn't seem like one, so I should be fine.

  Firstly, I might be gone for a while, so let’s go ahead and warn everyone. Luckily I could send Raven a signal from the safety of my house. Unfortunately the Regents couldn’t be told with this method. Looking at my phone, I realized that I couldn’t even use it. Aside from the screen being cracked, the insides seemed to bloat and it’s letting up a green smoke. Let’s just put that away for now.

  Very quickly I gathered a pen and some paper and wrote a very detailed expnation of what was going on. I won’t have long once I exit my house, so let’s deliver this, find that thing, and then bring it to the Gate of Tormen- I mean Divinity! Gate of Divinity! That’s what it’s called, nothing else!

  Sealing up the letter, I held it tightly. I’ll need to move quickly if I want to minimize the danger. I cast a protective spell on the city, and just to be safe, I sent another signal to Raven. A moment ter, Project Amber was once more activated. Time for a bit of seriousness!

  Orson

  ***

  Looking up at the sky, I couldn’t help but worry. I wasn’t the only one. My family as well as the guards looked up in worry. Not only that, but the Shadows were ready to move should something happen. A moment ago Melody seemed to appear and attack something and the sky shattered. Through those cracks I saw something that I couldn’t quite understand. The previous sounds of the city were gone and an uneasy silence filled the air. Given the recent Dragon attack, everyone couldn’t help but be worried. Melody is here, so it should be fine. Right?

  Left with that question, I started to glow. Looking at my hands, I saw that same protective spell that Melody used during the attack. Something was wrong, very wron- Huh? Where did this letter come from? Before I could even acknowledge the words written on it, there was a blinding light above me followed by a wave of heat. It was as if one walked past a forge, or ventured too near to a fire. A moment ter, there was an amazing boom. It came from everywhere all at once.

  As quick as I could, I closed and moved to cover my eyes, but I still saw the sky. High above the city I saw fire. No, it was closer to lightning, but it was far too much even for a nd covered in storms, not that the capital is. A river of lightning made the air tremble and burn, and even as I closed my eyes it was blinding. Then it was over. The sky was no longer on fire, but I could still smell the air burning, shimmering with heat, and those thunderous booms grew more and more distant. Only after it was over were the Shadows able to grab us to pull us into safety, the mysterious letter still in hand.

  Melody

  ***

  “Gate of Divinity!” I shouted, not even a heartbeat after I flew out of my window.

  In the psma filled sky with me at the epicenter, my hand firmly held the spinal remnants of a neck of a burnt human-like creature. The Lunar Nova must have dealt some massive damage to it, since it was only half a torso, a head and a neck, and only a small stub after its left shoulder where its arm should be. Whoever this was, they must be pretty strong since even this low powered Lunar Nova would have been overkill for those baby dragons. Regardless of who this is, they are a threat and need to be dealt with.

  The Gate of Torment- I mean Divinity, opened up and engulfed us both. Immediately my magic was drained and we were falling. The psma that surrounded us was quickly torn apart and this thing was pulled away from me. The psma wasn’t the only thing that was being torn apart. Air whipped around us with the scent of ammonia and sulfur. I felt my hair and scalp being pulled. Pain shot across my body as my nails and skin were ripped away. My bones cracked, shattered, and were pulled out of my remaining flesh as I was, once more, being judged.

  High above me, or was it below me? Regardless, on one side there were shimmering white clouds, swirling in a terrible storm. On the other there were dark brown clouds, they too swirled and lightning shot between them, attempting to destroy one another. I know I shouldn’t doubt Celestia, but this might actually be hell. It shouldn’t be since after all, all Magical Girls are sent here to determine if they are worthy or not, but I can’t help but feel that this might be some sort of hell.

  This pce was also the reason I was reluctant to ask Celistia to make another Magical Girl. All past present and future Magical Girls are sent here to be tested. Even those who are considered to be worthy but can’t handle this pce cannot be Magical Girls. Although our transformations aren’t nearly as bad as this, it’s still simir enough to revive the trauma of this pce. Soon, however, my body reformed. Not Melody, but Evelyn. Once more, it would seem that I’m still worthy. It was painful, but necessary. And what would happen if you weren’t worthy? Well…

  In front of me, I saw that burnt and battered body torn apart and reform into her original form. She looks a bit familiar…? No? I don’t think I’ve seen this woman before. This woman, over the roaring wind, let out a dreadful scream as lightning surrounded her. Again and again she was torn apart and reformed. Each time, her cries grew louder, and the tearing became slower and more visceral. As she was torn apart, part of her soul was taken from her. Soon she’ll be an empty husk.

  …

  Wait a minute! I can use that! Before her soul was completely destroyed and body forever desecrated, I summoned my staff. Pointing it at her, I cast that evil sounding spell again.

  “Soul Steal!” I shouted.

  Through the lightning and tearing winds attacked her, her body was encased in my spell protecting it. Mostly. Acting quickly, I removed her soul. It probably hurts, but likely nowhere near the level of this pce's judgement. The storm targeting the body quickly turned its attention to the bare soul and devoured it. Breaking and reforming, and tearing, and rebuilding time and time again.

  Seeing as not only my body, but clothing was restored, I had my magic bag thankfully. Opening it up, I worked quickly to stuff the body in it. This isn’t murder! Her soul is already being devoured and her heart is still beating so technically I’m not doing anything wrong! What a tragic accident, her soul is to be destroyed! This is a “WaTA” situation and I’m just making the best of it! Us Magical Girls already have permission for these situations!

  Just as I finished stuffing the body into the bag, the Gate of Torment opened and a sinister bck hole appeared in front of me. From it, two massive skeletal hands reached out and grabbed me. Despite their size and power to withstand this pce, they were surprisingly gentle. Or at least they felt gentle. No matter how hard one struggled, no one was able to escape them. They were shielding me from the harsh winds and lightning and I was pulled to a cold and dark ominous safety.

  Grayburne