The pale twin shook from fright upon seeing Alicia turn furious, and took a step back as the Becon girl opened her palm. "No, please!" She cried out, only to reel back from the blinding blast; she covered her face with her hands as she stumbled, and then blinked, looking confused. "H-Huh? Wait, I'm not in the....dungeon?" She then heard Alicia's statement on the dark magical girl. "Mariette...Wait, is that true? I need to warn Milli!" She put a finger to her forehead, and wrinkled her brow in deep concentration.
Kimble purred at first when she was petted, but then gave a sad whine as Alicia removed her hold.
"Got it!" Sylvia shouted, and pulled out what looked like a strange sword with cogs spinning at it's hilt from her magical handbag, while Sally twirled her Shamrock Shooters in her fingers, her tongue peeking out from a cutesy smile. The twin didn't realize she was grabbed until she heard Alicia speak to her, and she looked startled with trembling lips.
"I-I don't know! I was taken straight to the dungeon! You got to believe me!"
"It's in the west wing, nyah," Kimble answered. "Take a left from the foyer, and you should reach it."
"Ok, let's go!" Sally cheered, and was the first to run. However, one of her weapons slipped from her finger and dropped at her feet, causing her to slip on it. She landed comically, with her rear sticking out. "I'm fine!" She shouted out, but Sylvia had already gone inside the castle, followed by Alicia and finally by Sally as she scrambled after them. Kimblee looked after them with longing eyes, like a kitten abandoned in an alley, but then cheered up a little when Penny spoke to her. "Nyeah," she answered with a couple of nods. "I know now that the Beacon are nice people. I wouldn't mind...If they were my owners," she whispered the last part to herself.
At the foyer, the Beacon girls saw that there was a hole in the center of the room that opened upwards, suggesting that it was made from underground. Aside from that, there was little else to see; there was nobody present, living or otherwise. Penny soon ran in to the front, and fired a shot at the west wall; it blew through a couple of walls, crumbling them down into dust and debris. They soon heard faint sounds of fighting and screaming girls, and ran through using the self-made shortcut.
The party entered the
library: it was a breathtaking, vast hall filled with shelves upon shelves of books, each reaching up to the tall ceiling. It had multiple elevations and a big globe of Earth that slowly spun by magical force, occasionally highlighting a region with a name scrawling on the surface, only to disappear moments after. However, the girls had little time to marvel at the sight, as they soon saw what was happening at the bottom section of the library; it was June, their rookie comrade, who was fighting against four magical girls with pale skin and droopy eyes, holding books on on one hand and weapons on the other. Alicia recognized the girls to belong to the group of former prisoners that Mariette had supposedly freed like the twin, but they lacked any meekness that she had.
The ghoulish girls ran and dodged with fervor, and struck with deadly intent, clearly motivated by more than mere survival. One of them even the willpower to throw small balls of fire, even if she was so weak as to be carried on another girl's back, who then defended the both of them with a dagger-like weapon against June, barely holding on. The rookie herself screamed loudly as she swung her weapon around, clearly intent on slaughtering them all; based on the red stains on her clothes and several dead girls scattered among the books, she has already had first blood on her career as a chosen of Beacon. She was shocked and relieved to see her fellow companions.
"Help! They're attacking!" She screamed. In response, the girls decided to flee towards the exit on the other side of the room, leaving behind fluttering pages from their books; two of them ran with swift speed with one casting a fence-height wall of fire behind them while being carried, while one turned invisible.
Just as the crowd around Mariette reached out and grabbed some mirrors from the wall, they stopped when Mariette did not agree with Nancy's plan. "You don't? What should we do then?" She asked with sad eyes. The other girls around her looked confused by their savior's behavior. But then, they were convinced of their new plan. "Okay Mariette!" Nancy cheerfully replied. "I'll follow you anywhere!" Mariette quickly realized that Justine had taken precautions against her, as the rest of the staircase was blocked off, as was a large area above them. Mariette saw that there was an unnatural hole in the ceiling far above, as if it was cut out by magical means. She felt a faint trace of an Overcity Shift there, but could not peer further in the room due to her Bane.
She probed for the next nearest area, and found that a
room nearby did not have broken mirrors at all. In fact, the room was a treasury, filled with material wealth beyond compare. She saw that some of the magical girls she had freed had reached the place, and were scouring it for anything useful. Mariette then saw it; a single unbroken mirror, fitted on a beautiful, ornately crafted black frame. The mirror also had the same size and shape as the one Eli was carrying around, meaning its frame could be stolen and fitted to Asengav's mirror. If Mariette were to open a portal there, she could assume all the girls under her leadership would charge through it.
While Mariette was searching around, she spoke to the other twin, and she nodded. "Okay. I'll contact Vanilli." Like her identical sister, she put a finger to her forehead, and focused. After a moment, she gasped. Then, she gave a glance at Mariette with wide eyes, and took a few steps back. "Y-You...AAAAHHH!" Milli screamed, and dashed down the stairway, running on the wall. "Huh? What happened? Should we follow after her?" Nancy asked.
Lily turned her head towards Alex as she continued charging her magic, and shook her head.
"No, Alex! I'll be the bone of your sword of LOVE!"When the magical boy's magic was channeled into her, long
arcs of lightning crackled from the sides of Lily's head, and she glowed entirely, taking her to heights of power last seen when she had defeated Helga. Justine's once-unbroken demeanor had shattered, and she looked on with fear in her eyes as the black cloud fully formed.
"No...What is this power!?""This is the end, Justine!" She screamed, and thrust her staff forward.
"CUPID'S ARROW!"
And then, out of the heavens, a giant projectile of pink electricity was launched, resembling both a thunderbolt, and an arrow with a heart-shaped tip. Justine screamed back, and transformed the rest of her wings to red arms. With the rest of her vast magic she summoned a red magic circle as a shield to defend herself from the attack. However, the shield broke down from the awesome attack, causing her to lose one of the red arms.
Before Justine could recover, Eliza unleashed her own magic, and it seemed the starry night sky itself fell down on the vampire, bombarded by sparkling stars. Justine defended herself by having the red arms protect her, but they too were shattered, and she was left heavily wounded, with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
She saw Sue coming in from behind, but, surprisingly, she did not attempt to avoid her palm blast; she simply looked on at Sue with what looked like regret.
"So this is the end..."With a resounding thunderclap, both Sue and Justine were launched, and they plummeted into the cold water of the sea. "Sue!" Helga cried out, and dove in after the black-winged girl, having turned back to her regular magical girl form. Soon the two surfaced, with Sue's arm slung over Helga's shoulder and Helga breathing heavily as she spoke: "I can't believe it...We did it! We finally beat Justine!"
Justine slowly descended into the abyss, and with weary eyes filled with sorrow saw that she had transformed back into her regular form. She still looked monstrous, with two leathery wings and sharp fangs, but she now resembled what she looked like centuries ago, when she was first cursed by her Patron. For all these years, she was given gift after gift by the Horror, and she had grown powerful. But even so, she had none to blame but herself for her impending death.
...Caroline...My dearest sister... She thought, and images of their happy days flashed before her eyes.
Forgive me...For letting things turn out like this...And now, I had become the very thing I sought to prevent...She could feel her consciousness slowly fade, and the world around her turn to black. She closed her eyes, resigned to her fate.
...I was the most foolish of all.But then, she felt something move towards her, and opened her eyes; she saw a green-haired girl with glasses on her forehead and puffed cheeks grab her by her waist and with a great struggle drag her upwards.
...Impossible... Justine thought, and reflexively spat out water as her head pierced the ocean's surface. She was supported by Lily, who transformed back to her regular form and dove in to rescue her the moment she saw her disappear under the waves.
"...Why?" The injured monster girl asked with a heavy breath.
"Why did you save my life?"Lily also panted, but then gave a wide smile.
"Because I made a promise; I won't let anyone else die, no matter what. And that also means you, Justine! Besides, that's what a magical girl should always strive for, ehe!" Justine looked flabbergasted, and was stupefied into silence. Lily on the other hand continued smiling. She waved to the rest from the water, and then sneezed.
"Uhh, a little help? I'd like to get out of this water now."
