Member
Dion
FernStone
Estylwen
NoriWasHere
Framing A Moose
Blizz
Urizen
Lildear18
Atrophy
Byrd Man
@FernStone & @Punished GN
A Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Aside...
Where… Where am I?
Nothing, but it feels like a place.
Empty. Dark. Nothing.
Yet, it feels like it has substance.
A place of contradictions.
White but black.
Silent but chaotic.
Repels but attracts.
Warm, but cold.
…
…
…
I feel like I’m nothing…
"AHHHHHHH why's it so dark?! Is this hell?! Am I going to die again?! Please don't hurt me!" A scream sounded from nearby.
The girl whipped her head around towards the other source, and her jaw dropped.
“E-Ella?!” The girl said, running over to her, and wrapping her arms around her midsection. “I heard you d-died! I knew it wasn't true!”
"Lisa?!" Ella froze at first before hugging Lisa back - squeezing her tightly. "I thought I had! I remember it… what… I guess I didn't!"
"You did." Another, much flatter voice spoke up. "I saw your body."
"Huhhhh?"
“I wasn't there! I’m sorry!” Lisa said, hugging Ella back. It was a dream come true… Then her head turned towards another person.
“Saskia!” Lisa shouted, running over to the slightly taller person. “It's great to say you’re okay too!”
"SASKIAAA!" Ella followed Lisa and practically launched herself at Saskia, who let out a quiet 'oof' at being tackled by her larger friend.
"Hey, Lisa, Ella, glad you're both safe too…" Saskia frowned, awkwardly patting Ella's back while trying to get out of her arms. "But… Any idea where we are? This place is weird."
Lisa slowly craned her head around and saw nothing. Nothing as far as the eye could see.
“... You t-think?!” Lisa stammered, almost laughing.
Lisa heard footsteps behind her. Massive. Monstrous. She perked up as her eyes shot open and glanced over her shoulder. Then, fully rotated, she saw red eyes piercing through the smoky black darkness. The shadows cleared as they took shape.
“... You’re in my realm,” A deep, booming voice spoke as a paw made of shadows pounded down. Revealing a massive black wolf with red eyes that towered over the trio. “Some may refer to it as an afterlife of sorts.”
The being let his words hang in the air.
“... I refer to it as home,”
Ella screamed. She hugged Saskia even tighter, practically stopping them from breathing… before reaching out and pulling Lisa (Who was also screaming) into the hug as well. "Who are you?!"
"Ella, calm down, you’re strangling me." Saskia leaned back to breathe better, and hit the massive black wolf with an expressionless look… Though that didn’t mean they were calm at all. "The afterlife? So we did die after all?"
“... Correct,” The being said, sliding its body closer to them. Lisa could hardly breathe as her chest fluttered. The Hound began walking a circle around the three of them like an animal would stalk its prey. Talking, “I am the Hound, the watcher of watchers. The being responsible for maintaining the balance of life and death… Emotion and apathy.”
Lisa remembered Britney mentioning the Hound a few times… Maybe Lisa saw the Hound a few times - not something she’d want to commit to memory. The Hound paused, “I rarely do this, but I owe someone a favor, and they requested this. Thus, I am giving you three a second chance at life.”
“Wait?! Really?!” Lisa shouted, on pure reflex… Then, she was silent. It didn't seem right. None of this made any sense.
Ella stopped screaming and just stared at the hound in stunned silence, releasing her grip on Saskia enough that they could actually breathe.
"Why did ‘they’ request this?" Saskia asked. "We don’t know anyone who could owe you a favour… That’s ridiculous-"
"Wait!" Ella interrupted, looking at Saskia, and then looking at Lisa. In a deathly serious voice, she asked. "Did either of you get hit by a truck when you died?"
"... this isn’t a fucking anime, Ella."
The mere thought of her death made Lisa shudder.
“‘They choose to keep their identity a secret…” The Hound began. “However, I am not reviving you all unless you complete some… Tasks, for me.”
Lisa gulped. She figured as much, as a being like the Hound wouldn’t do this for free. She didn't like this, but Lisa had no choice. She stammered,
“... A-And what do you want us to do?” Lisa said.
“Your two tasks will be to defeat the Apparition known as Morningstar and recover an artifact for me. Once you complete these tasks, you will be free from service and resurrected.”
The Hound let his offer hang in the air.
“Do you accept?”
"Not the Morningstar?!" Ella gasped, slamming her hands against her cheeks. "Wait, who's that?"
"We’ll find out, I’m sure," Saskia rolled her eyes. She paused for a moment, expression completely blank. Then, finally, she said, "I accept."
"If Saskia accepts, then I accept too!”
They had no option other than to accept… Lisa didn't want to go back to the black. She didn't want to be dead. Lisa turned her head to the Hound, “I… I a-accept!”
“Hmph…” The corners of the Hound’s mouth... almost into a smile? Lisa didn’t like the look of this. A mass of shadows appeared before the Hound, weaving itself into the shape of a man. When it formed, it took the image of a blonde-haired man with spiky hair…
“The Morningstar is an Apparition born from the fear of a Satanic figure… A dangerous and cunning Apparition that has destroyed countless worlds and killed billions, all in the pursuit of shaping the All-Verse in his image...” The Hound explained.
“He is currently concocting a plan that I find… Problematic. So, as your first task, I am having you defeat and seal him.”
"Whoa, he does look like a villain," Ella narrowed her eyes at the image, seeming to inspect it very thoroughly. "Anime style hair too-"
"Really?” Saskia sighed, shaking their head. They glanced at the shadow shape, then back at the hound. "How will just the three of us be able to defeat someone who’s destroyed worlds.”
"Oh, did we get extra super magic when we got brought back to life?"
Saskia had a point… The three of them got killed by the Stygian Snake, how were they supposed to hold a candle to this guy?
“That's up to you to figure out,” The Hound said, “I was asked to give you three a chance, so here it is.”
"Seriously?” Saskia’s expression barely changed, but the look in their eyes was slightly harder. "You might as well have left us dead.”
"C’mon, Saskia, I’m sure it’ll be fine! The three of us together are unstoppable!” Ella hit her fist against her chest. "We’re the magical girls, after all! Well, most of them. We can do anything together! Right, Lisa?”
Lisa had no faith or confidence in this entire idea. Or the Hound.
She had no choice, now did she.
Lisa forced a wide smile as she raised a fist in the air. “Yeah! We can do-”
“You will not be… ‘Magical girls,’” The Hound shot them down. “You will be my… Agents of Death.”
"Oh, I like that name much better.” Saskia nodded. "But surely you’d at least equip your agents?”
"Agents of Death? No way!" Ella, on the other hand, shook her head agitatedly. "We’re too cute to be called that! It’s so… dark."
“... Is it as important as coming back to life?” The Hound asked, giving her the siide eye.
Ella paused, clearly thinking about it. She went through a series of expressions - a frown, confusion, then a look of enlightenment. "No, I guess it isn’t."
"Of course it isn’t, you idiot,” Saskia also side eyed Ella. "I think we’re in agreement that we’ll do it, whatever the name, right?”
It was great that everyone saw the bigger picture here (unlike a certain Coven). It made Lisa crack a smile, even though the Hound was throwing them into the fire with no information or equipment. Lisa knew that despite it all, she would find a way.
“I hope you all understand that I cannot interfere more in human affairs than I currently am,” The Hound explained.
“I can tell you where Morningstar is, but I cannot equip you or guide you to defeat him… That is up to you.”
Saskia's lips pulled into a thin line, and they nodded. "It's better than being dead. We've all died before, anyway; what's another time or two?"
"... Saskia…" Ella's eyes widened, and her bottom lip started to tremble. "None of us are going to die again!"
"It was a joke."
"Oh." Just like that, Ella stopped looking like she was going to cry, and grinned. She looked at Lisa, then Saskia, then back at Lisa. "Yeah, we've got this! We'll beat and seal Morningstar, then go back to everyone else! Cause we're the magica- Agents of Darkness, shining a light in the…. Darkness!"
“The Morningstar is in Mirage Springs, Nevada,” The Hound began, “I can teleport you there, but from here on; you three are on your own.”
“Mirage Springs…?” Lisa heard of the city but never stepped foot there. According to Britney, it was another Paranormal hotspot.
The Hound slid closer to them, “If you attempt to flee… I will know. Seal Morningstar, and then I will give you your next task. Do you understand?”
“Not really, but I think we can figure it out,” Lisa forced another smile. “Right girls?!”
“Yeah, we got this!” Ella threw a fist in the air and grinned. “We’ll show Morningstar the true meaning of teamwork- teleport us to Mirage Springs, and we’ll get started.”
“Sure,” Saskia sighed. “I understand, mostly. Let’s get this over with.”
“Very well…” The Hound said as darkness wrapped around them, swirling around them. “Make haste because Morningstar is plotting something that can change the very fabric of the All-verse. I’m sure you all can defeat him…”
The darkness overtook them…
“... I am sure you were picked for a reason.”
Then they were gone.
Back to Shimmer.
The darkness faded… The first thing Lisa saw was more darkness, illuminated by road lights. She could feel the sand underneath her feet… She turned her head to the right and saw the road. At the end of the road, in the distance, she could see its skyline…
… Mirage Springs.
It was something else, of course. Yet, Lisa was unable to marvel at the city’s beauty because of the fact the Hound just dropped them there and told them to “figure it out”. Hooray.
Lisa turned to the group, “So, uh, how are we going to han-” Then a sudden thought appeared in her head, “... Wait! Do we have any clothes!? Any money?!”
"Uhhhh…" Ella started patting down her outfit - her Sycamore Tree robes, with a pair of pastel pink shorts and a white t-shirt underneath. Except the robes were visibly smaller on her. In fact, she was now even taller than Lisa and Saskia. All she came back with after a check was a handful of bracelets that’d been in her pockets. "Nope! Also, do I look different to you guys? My shorts are feeling awfully tight… Did I gain weight when I died?!"
Lisa immediately looked at Ella’s rear… and blushed. Good thing it was too dark for them to see!
“They look tighter!” Lisa laughed.
"I’ve got five dollars,” Saskia said, pulling a single bill out from under their robes before squinting up at Ella. Then looking at Lisa. "Does Ella look taller to you? Wait… You look different too.”
”Wait, do I?” Lisa raised an eyebrow, she felt her chest a bit, then felt her face. ”I don’t feel any different at all! Does anyone have a mirror…? No? Okay…”
Lisa then looked Ella up and down before realizing she was, in fact, taller. That, or Lisa got shorter. Lisa looked down at herself and realized she was wearing black robes, which was the extent of her clothes.
“... We should probably get some clothes first and foremost!” Lisa said, raising a finger in the air.
"Definitely. Robes aren’t appropriate for any city.” Saskia agreed, the slightest hint of discomfort visible in her frown. "Ella especially. Your ankles are showing, very inappropriate.”
"Since when?!" Ella looked down at her ankles. "But how are we going to get clothes, we have five dollars between us?"
"Easy. We steal them.” Saskia turned to look at Lisa. "Your spiders could do that, right?”
“Right!” Lisa said, then looked to the left and right. Of course, the Hound drops them in the middle of nowhere. Her hand traced her neck until she realized she still had her necklace. She grasped the chord, pulling it from underneath her robe to see a spider in resin. “Allow me to make our ride, ladies,” Lisa said with a grin.
She focused on the ground before her and summoned a spider. A minuscule jumping spider emerged from the ground. Probably not even noticed by the two… However, it was quickly covered in a web of ethereal cocoons. One that quickly grew to the size of a sedan! Eventually, it burst open, and the tiny grey jumping spider was large enough to fit all of them on board. With dragonfly wings, just like that one incident,
Lisa smiled, bowed, aimed her hands at their mount, and said, “Ladies.. all aboard!”
"Thanks, Lisa,” Saskia’s lips twitched up into the slightest smile, and they climbed on the jumping spider. ”We’d be walking till we dropped dead without you.”
"Yeah, you’re the best!" Ella grinned before… hesitantly getting on the spider behind Saskia. She was almost a head taller than them now. "Y’know, I’ve never left St Portwell before! So this is exciting!"
Unfortunately, Lisa didn't have the mounts she used in the Old Coven. So, she had to climb up one of its legs and make its way on top of the spider. She briefly wondered if it would be worth visiting St. Portwell and seeing if she could get another saddle from Greyson. However, it may take them days to get to St. Portwell. And she wasn’t sure if the Hound would mind them taking a detour for a quality-of-life adjustment.
On top of the spider, she looked back and grinned. She thrust a fist forward and shouted, “Up, up, and awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”
The flying spider took off towards Mirage Springs!
