Chaos is known as the being that never became a star. It is everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.
Neither good nor evil, the ultimate expression of nothingness. The antithesis of the cosmos, creation itself.
Although Chaos claims to be the very state of existence from which the first entities appeared, it cannot form into the entity it wants most.
So it has been cursed to stay in the form of a dark and shapeless void. Floating between existence and nonexistence.
Longingly watching as stars are constantly born and lives are lived. The seeds of malice had been planted, flourished and transformed Chaos into the purest form of evil.
Celeste tilted her head to one side somewhat confused with what Erica had been saying.
"When we first met, I was really quite desperate in my lack of understanding. I should think that if you wanted to take advantage of me or my situation that would have been your moment. You could have setup any number of situations that served to your advantage alone using my fears against me. Instead you gave me advice that would help and made good sense to me. Do these seem like the acts of someone not worth trusting to you? "
It should go without saying that Celeste's grip on her blade tightened more for emotional support than anything else. There was something soothing about holding the blade, like possessing a crystallization of her will. Of course it could also be the amount she had been practicing with it recently in the hopes of getting even slightly better. She felt confidence in her ability to smash skeletons with much greater ease now.
"Naturally and of course I haven't shown anyone else or told anyone else, nor do I intend to. Knowing what I know now after talking to my contractor should keep me from having to be that desperate for information ever again. Furthermore it does little good to hide anything from you at this point."
Her request for information was 'politely' denied she noted. There was really nothing polite about it in her opinion. It was like the kids at school asking for who your crush was and then not telling you when it was their turn. The kind of thing you do to someone you don't really trust at all. She turned the blade in her hands and pushed it down into the roof an inch or so, the eerie blade biting easily into the roof. As for trying hard enough, that just felt insulting like a goal post that could keep moving back every time you got near it. While she was somewhat irritated by the notion of it, internally, she took notes. Though there was one detail she would have to ask about again, one of the reasons why she had asked in the first place.
"Very well, I suppose that's your right and all though I would like to at least know what your limit is. At what point can you not heal the damage dealt to you? It would be dreadful to see you get hurt in combat or even a spar because I didn't know that you might need to stop or be assisted."
Celeste's grip on the handle had intensified even further, all this talking was very uncomfortable.
Celeste nodded once more, it made perfect sense after all. Though a part of her wondered if she should show Erica what she could do. Then again, she really needed to test the things the evoker had spoke about. With a few steps she closed the distance between the two of them in order to show Erica in detail, still unsure if it was the right thing to do. She shook her head, dispelling the moment of indecision and rolled up her left sleeve placing her hand on the bare skin. While she could draw the weapon quite quickly, this time she proceeded quite slowly to detail the full movement.
"I hope this won't startle you too much." She said conversationally before dropping her voice to a whisper that her scarf would normally keep secret. "Pluvia Sanguinis"
She drew the sword slowly from her arm, her exposed arm showing in full detail the veins popping up in the skin as if she had been drawing blood from them. The sword slowly took shape the handle first and slowly the blade. All around the sword as it seemed to be leaving the skin tiny droplets of blood stayed near where one would expect a wound to be. Celeste knew exactly what it looked like, she had screamed the first time she tried the magic after all. This time however her eyes watched Erica, trying to discern with her extremely limited understanding of people just what the girl was thinking. Was she about to panic, was she sickened, or was she just thinking.
Celeste finished drawing the blade, its tip leaving her skin and all the tiny droplets vanishing back into the skin while her veins once again vanished into the depths of her arm where they belonged. She held the sword like a display piece in one hand, allowing Erica to look upon it as she wished but not in a threatening manner. In the interest of confirming that what she had just shown was indeed exactly what it looked like Celeste spoke of it.
"I've never read a fantasy book with blood magic before, so I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. I only know that skill because the contractor told me of it. Yet an eerie red blade is hardly subtle in anyway. It's fine when the fight begins, but before that it's not very useful."
She let that thought sit for a moment before she thought of a question she had been wanting to ask for awhile. "What kind of magic do you have?"
Celeste slipped off the large and grimy sweater, being sure to fold it before setting it down on a cleaner portion of the roof. This revealed the black track suit she had been wearing underneath fully prepared for the day's exertions. Having kept her eyes down the entire way here, she took the moment to appreciate the weather and found herself nodding in agreeance with Erica's opinion on the matter. Though her next question demanded a few more words than just a yes or no answer. Mentally she prepared herself to reply, subconsciously attempting to hide behind a scarf that she had left home for fear of it being damaged.
"Yes.. We talked at great length and I asked every question I could think of. I had misunderstood many things but I believe everything is cleared up now. I'm not in trouble or under a deadline or debt, merely working for personal gain."
It had been a very long conversation indeed, straining the relative patience of both parties. It had taken a great deal of effort for the normally timorous Celeste to not only start the conversation but to stay reasonably aggressive enough to wrangle the answers to all her questions out of the creature. After which she had promptly gone directly home and refused to have anything else to do with other people for the rest of the day just to recover. An experience she would not want to repeat any time soon with anyone. At least Erica wasn't trying to weasel out of the conversation at every period.
She contemplated telling Erica in detail exactly what she learned, but it seemed more like it would be a waste of time. The girl was clearly well versed in the various details, and she had already dumped her problems on Erica once already. It would not do to make a repeat of the action. Instead it would be better simply to focus on the activities of today and what she had planned.
"So, while it is good to see you again, I trust you had something in mind for us up here?"
Celeste walked through the slums, keeping her hood up and her eyes down. All around her, people were living in destitution, ragged and extremely worn clothing hanging on to emaciated bodies. No doubt the ugly side of the New Paris revival project. How the poor always suffered when the rich profited. Though, she had to admit that the current degradation of the place was working for her favor. With all these buildings falling apart, with no-one willing to meet each others eyes, this was a good place to hide something or someone. Maybe even something magical; Erica had chosen a good spot indeed.
She had memorized what instructions she had been given and followed them to the letter weaving through buildings and hovels careful not to disrupt anyone or bring attention to herself. It should have annoyed her how well she appeared to be fitting in with the locals. She had borrowed a sweater from her father, a massive man who worked nigh constantly. The hoodie hung off of her clearly being far too big for her. It was covered in grime and poorly patched holes and seemed to be falling apart at points. If she was being honest, it was more filthy than most of the clothing people around her were wearing. Combining that with a pair of sweat pants that she'd used heavily for the past 7 odd years and she fit right in.
Aha. She had finally managed to find the building she had been directed to. She ascended the stairs, checking her phone to find herself only a minute or so before the arranged meeting time. She sighed, apparently it had taken longer to get here than she had thought. A long standing tradition of being early for work had been pounded into her psyche from the collection of odd jobs she had worked over the past few years. She picked up the pace treating the stairs like a work out and emerging onto the roof exactly on time. She spotted who she was looking for easily enough and addressed her, keeping her head down and panting a bit from the exertion.
Rules? She hadn't been told of them as rules so much as it was just something she wasn't supposed to show civilians. Another thing to add to the pile of grievances she would have to find out. She sagged a bit as Erica mentioned her inability to explain more of the rules to her, pointing out that it would be best to simply talk to the one who approached her. Perhaps somewhere deep inside she had suspected that to be the case but had been dreading the interaction significantly. At least she now had a good grasp of the various topics she would have to seek details on. Erica's comment about not being the inferior side and having some say in the matter did make her feel a bit better about the upcoming topic, but it was nothing compared to what she said next.
"Oh, thank you, thank you very much!"
Celeste's entire visage brightened significantly at this simple declaration that she would help. It probably didn't mean much to Erica but it meant the world to Celeste that she wouldn't necessarily be alone in this frightening task. She looked down spotting the girl closing her hand on the grief seed and accepting it thus completing the arrangement. With that firmly out of the way, Celeste could finally feel herself starting to relax a bit, loosening her grip on the empty tea cup. It was at this point Erica commented on her tea and she felt inclined to defend it.
"Well, I paid for and made it, of course I have to finish it. It still tastes good, far worse than if it was still warm, but still good."
As they approached the café Celeste made up her mind to have a chat with the one who had given her the powers she could now wield and discuss the details of the arrangement properly but it would have to wait until after tea.
"I.." Celeste began, trying to defend her request, but Erica had made some very good points. She had been rash in her request, yet the need for more information was becoming more clear as the girl spoke. A troublesome contract certainly described the deal she had made but it was also a deal she had not had the opportunity to properly understand. The urgency of bringing that strange creature grief seeds could possibly vary based on what that deal was made for. With a much more expensive task requiring more effort on the part of the newly minted magical girl or it could be an entirely fixed number. Celeste was just facing far too many unknowns and had never been given the opportunity to question the arrangement. She took a long drink from her cup, draining it's contents entirely and using the moment to compose her thoughts into the words she wanted to say.
"The offer I was made was not one I could refuse, no matter how severe the details of the contract might have been. When I tried to ask a question about the details the creature gave me a most repulsive type of magic at which I decided to stop asking questions in case I make it even worse. So you see I don't need an expert in this field because almost anyone would know more than I do. I know that I have to bring the creature grief seeds, and I'm not sure whether or not it will undo that offer if I fail to bring them to it fast enough. As that is something I cannot allow, I'm forced to assume that I need to bring that thing the seeds rather quickly until I find out otherwise. Until then, I have to focus on becoming a better mage as quickly as possible to be able to secure more grief seeds quicker.
I understand that there might be a chance that you really can't help that much, but I don't feel that to be true given your words and actions thus far. A novice at this sort've thing would charge in much like I did, oblivious to all, but your actions left me wondering if you even were a mage to begin with. To act in a subtle manner without everyone knowing you were even the one behind it does not strike me as the actions of someone who can barely contain their fear at the situation but rather the calculated actions of a veteran. Adding to this fact the note that you are the only other mage I know, I simply had to try and ask.
While I would certainly like to spend more time with you, I would have simply asked. I may stammer and have a hard time coming up with the right words, but I would never try to be duplicitous. "
That was a lot of words for Celeste and she found herself trembling a bit, no better for having managed to actually say what she wanted to.
Celeste lowered her head in apology, listening to the girl's lecture and feeling like she had somewhat disappointed a mentor. It did however come with the added benefit of knowing exactly where she stood in regards to the things she had been wondering about. Erica was indeed some sort of magic user and seemed in possession of a much more vast level of experience. The girl had many fine points and she listened to all of them making a mental note to improve her attentiveness to the grief seeds in the future. She wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that given how busy she was just trying to prevent people from becoming hurt, or herself from being hurt beyond repair, but it was a good thing to keep in mind.
"I'm sorry," She apologized while watching the grief seeds float in the girl's hand. "it was my first time fighting and I was focused on getting the danger away from the scared people. I'll try to keep better track of them in the future."
Then Erica said something that made her mentally stop for a moment. Normal people can't see the grief seeds? Interesting. She hadn't exactly dealt with them before today. She hadn't known that her wounds glowed when they healed either, this was certainly a learning experience and something she would have to add to the swiftly growing list of things to keep in mind during future escapades. She took a sip of tea, sensing the end of the cup fast approaching with a mix of tea induced calm and future tea shortage induced anxiety.
The grief seeds started to move, and without her permission the seeds in her book bag snuck out of the top flap and joined with Erica's to form a more elaborate grief seed. She looked to Erica an unasked question upon her lips. Is this normal? Judging on the way the girl didn't elaborate on it, it must be normal for these kinds of things but the question she received immediately after reminded her of the consequences of this moment. There was only one grief seed and there was two of them.
Celeste considered this for a moment. Fair would dictate that both of them should get something but that was no longer possible. Since the first word Erica had been very accommodating and helpful and given that she knew more about this there was an opportunity here. Perhaps she could be convinced to lend even more assistance. I don't need the grief seed desperately yet, but I do need experience desperately. Her mind made up, she snatched the grief seed up and placed it on the girl's still open hand. "I do need these, quite badly in fact. However, you can have it. In exchange, would you teach me how to be a better mage?"She waited with baited breath for Erica's response.
Celeste nodded at the question, and before she had even concluded whether or not she wanted to go with the girl somewhere she was swept up in the walking pace. Like any natural follower she tried to rationalize the decision to go with the girl as her idea or something that benefited her and while this was normally difficult, free tea spoke volumes. As it was she fell into step easily enough with a bit more enthusiasm than her usual letting her nerves cool as the responsibility of what to do next was taken by another person. Though a question was burning in her mind now that she was beginning to calm down. What had happened to the grief seeds that were outside, did this girl.. No, did Erica pick them up already? She contemplated asking but in true form she tried doing everything in her mental powers to approach the question from a number of different angles to see if there was a way to avoid asking. There was simply no way around it. She took a deep sip of her tea, enjoying the taste even as her mind noted the horribly wrong temperature. Cold sencha is really terrible. Ok, here goes. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"Did you perhaps pick up the grief seeds that were outside? I looked, but there wasn't any in the area and I'm not entirely sure what would happen to a normal person if they were to touch such a thing." She kept even pace with the girl, curious as to what she would say. Would she openly admit that she too was a magical girl, proving the theory Celeste wasn't even sure of, or would she sidestep the question all together or plead ignorance as to what she was talking about. If she really was a civilian than Celeste had screwed up already on her first task, and that was more than a bit depressing. Her mind held onto what it knew and what it felt but she still doubted herself so much even in the light of what had happened today.
Not sure what she meant? How could she possibly think that, given the help she had rendered with the marble and just now with that skeleton. Unless of course she had mixed the girl up with some other benevolent force; it's not exactly like she had witnessed the girl do magic. Celeste's faith in her own theory faltered under the girl's direct comment, and shattered into oblivion when the clapping had begun. It didn't matter anymore, what did matter was that feeling, slowly creeping up from some nebulous spot around her ankles. Oh no, please don't do that. Like a thermometer filling rapidly the feeling finally hit her face and painted her a bright scarlet of blush; she had surpassed the peak of her ability to cope with the situation.
Her hands shot up into a stopping or placating gesture and she waved them in front of herself with a dash of panic. "Th-th-that won't be necessary, I'm fine, really." She punctuated this comment with one hand moving from the stopping gesture and upwards to hold onto her scarf. Beneath the shirt and the scarf a small red glow lit up, each of her small wounds healed up swiftly. Such a blatant usage of magic in front of someone who could very well be a civilian would have deeply troubled her before, but with the overwhelming emotional roller coaster she had experienced in the last few minutes she was acting on pure intuition. No doubt she would mentally reprimand herself for her foolishness later in the day when she had time to calm down and think things through.
Using her magic again though brought back to her mind the other part of her job: acquiring grief seeds. Which were no doubt in the planetarium and outside... Where I left my book bag! The thought struck like a thunderbolt, not improving her ability to calm down in the slightest possible sense of the word. She had of course been listening the entire time and acting on 'automatic' she returned the comment as etiquette demanded no less, though her addendum to the usual courtesy might have come off as odd. "My name is Celeste Foster and it's a pleasure to meet you Erica. However I forgot some things and I'll be right back." She left the girl to no doubt ponder her bizarre actions while she sprinted outside and picked up her book bag easily sliding it back where it belonged. A quick glance pointed out to her that not a single grief seed was in the area, and while that was puzzling her mind shelved it for later consideration while urgency demanded she sprint back, past the girl and into the planetarium to quickly find the grief seeds she had left behind earlier. With both tasks taken care of and her tea recovered she made her way back to where she had met the girl, the calming taste of tea starting to work it's magic on her frazzled mental state.
Sure enough, she couldn't see the girl and by the rough count of skeletons one had followed her out there. Internally she cursed her foolishness; she should have done something different. She should have been better. The thought was bitter in her mind but this was no place for self reflection as a spear narrowly missed her left ear from behind. She turned moving out of the way of the next stab silently thanking whatever deity was watching for the skeletons bad aim. One swing removed the tip of the spear again and the next tore apart the creature's skull as her blade delivered punishment for that failure.
Being more proactive this time she turned towards the one skeleton that had opted to change targets to her and pushed closer to it. Once more being out of the aisles she found it significantly easier to dodge and had no problems side steeping the skeleton's sword swing to relieve the skeleton of it's skull. She had made sure to go for the heads this time, there was to be no more torso tripping.
Celeste turned back to the door at last and was about to go through when a collection of bones came flying out of the door and scattered themselves before the door's opening. She jumped back a tad and tightened her grip on her blade thinking it some sort of attack. However, the bones seemed to be broken up, like a few of the piles she had left behind her in the aisles. This got her mind moving again as she slowly walked forward to find out who had yet again helped her. Her red blade retracted itself swiftly into her other hand with the words barely whispered, though she took care to do it behind her back, hiding the method from sight. "Pluvia Sanguinis" It was not out of a sense of duplicity that she hid it, but rather a very acute understanding of how unpleasant it appeared to be to herself much less anyone else who witnessed it.
She walked out of the door, looking more or less like she had just done all that she had. Small narrowly dodged cuts decorated her clothes, dried blood adorned her left shoulder and her gait was akin to a person who had only just finished a marathon. And yet she was still herself and the moment she was in speaking range to the girl her confidence plummeted and her voice seized up hard. One hand instinctively went up the scarf she had around her neck and tightened it's grip on it, a physical match for the imagined tightening on her throat. "H-hello." She started lamely, at an utter loss as to what to possibly say, she felt a thank you was in order and struggled around getting it out. Unlike the greeting she had more practice with this one and threw in the bow she had learned at work. "Th-thank you for your assistance." Righting herself she looked at the girl a bit more critically taking note of the way she looked now that she could actually see her. Not a scratch on her anywhere that she could see, and those eyes. Interesting contact lenses she thought to herself.
Celeste had just been deciding which way to cut through the skeletons when the door opening provided her an answer and a bigger problem. Someone had entered the room; backlit by the brighter lights of the corridor she could make out no more than a rough sense of their build and a large amount of shining blond. All of that work to try and get a safe place in which to fight and someone had to stumble into the battle anyway. Who would be crazy enough to run towards the sounds of danger. That thought had a sobering effect, as she pushed towards the door and hence closer to the two skeletons directly in front of her. Perhaps they're intending to be here, just like me.
The skeleton swung one of its swords out towards her and received a prompt block for its actions but before she could capitalize another swing from its second sword forced her to step backward. She tried another swing to have it blocked by both blades this time and blocked another one of its swings. In the back of her mind time ticked away until the skeletons got to the new girl for better or worse thus forcing her to be reckless in her next attack. She waited until just before the skeleton swung its swords and jumped up using one of the chairs as a platform to kick off. In the air she sailed just over both swings and brought her blade down in a crushing blow to its skull. Satisfied with that one and realizing how much time she took with bringing it down she turned a quick eye backwards to see the skeleton behind her beginning a swing at eye level to her. She dropped herself to her knees barely in time and rewarded the skeleton with a slash to its waist crushing the brittle bones and turned to deal with the final obstacle between her and the girl.
The next skeleton held a large shield at the ready, able to cover the entirety of its body and a small spear held above it. She balked at the very notion of going through this wall of steel. Her blade sang out striking the shield multiple times as she tried to make an attack around it or above it at the skull of the creature but every time it simply positioned the shield to block the attack and countered with the spear landing several grazing hits on her arms. She glared at the skeleton frustrated that it was so effectively blocking her. An idea came to her as she dodged a spear thrust, noting how the spear had a wooden handle that started just after the metal point. Celeste swung her blade and then faked out of the swing at the last moment, dodging the predicted spear thrust and brought her blade to bare on the spear itself. The eerie sword slashed through the spear cleanly reducing it to a nub held by the skeletal hands. With the threat removed she grabbed a hold of the top of the shield and held it reducing its ability to block and half climbed the shield swinging her sword over the top until it connected with something causing the shield to go limp as bones collapsed. She let go, and landed safely on the ground preparing to run forward to the girl's potential aid when a hand grabbed her leg and pulled causing her to fall to the ground hard.
She looked up, tasting a bit of blood in her mouth where she had bit her tongue, at a skeleton torso crawling towards her with a sword it now held. Half frustrated and half desperate she instinctively kicked at the skeleton's skull before bringing her blade into the best stab she could manage given her new position on the floor. Thankfully it was enough as the thing collapsed into a less organized pile of bones. She stood up as fast as she could and looked to the girl once again, in her heart feeling that she'd taken far too long.
An unusually shrill scream from nearby pulled at her attention forcing her to look at it's source rather than take advantage of the skeleton's temporary hindrance of pushing through the door. The source of the scream seemed to be the very same man who had given her the ticket for the planetarium and while his high voice was amusing it was hardly the most interesting thing in the room. It was more that no matter which way she looked she could not hear or see anyone else in the building. It was like everyone had evacuated somewhere. The man made a bolt for the planetarium room and what she was starting to believe might be a second exit from the building. She continued to back pedal away from the skeletons, adjusting her direction so that she would retreat to the planetarium room. If there is another exit and everyone made it out, then that would be the perfect place to fight.
When she got close enough to look down the hallway a quick glance confirmed her hypothesis that there was another door out of the room. The way it was hanging open letting daylight stream in was fairly undeniable and she felt a grin grow at the sight. She turned and started to briskly run through the walkway banging her sword on the metal barriers that prevented people from getting to close to exhibits and sprinted towards the open door. With a swift swing the she slammed the door shut and listened to the all too welcome noise of if auto locking. At last she turned to the advancing skeletons watching them stream into aisles in single file lines. At last..
She threw her steel sword at the advancing skeletons and placed her hands together, only to slowly pull them apart. "Pluvia Sanguinis." The sword seemed to materialize out of her hand, back lit by the brightly glowing red gem necklace, as she pulled them farther apart bringing the cruel looking red blade into reality. She held it at the ready with both hands feeling the all too familiar weight and balance of the weapon, her weapon. Celeste selected her first target in the farthest left row of skeletons and began to push into the row. Rushing closer she dispatched the first with a preemptive strike to its skull feeling the blade cleave through with little to no effort and took care not to step on the newly formed pile of bones as she continued to push into the aisle. The next skeleton was quicker on the draw and it's steel blade sang through the air towards her receiving the hard block of eerie red blade. The blade was held fast horizontally and supported at two ends like she had practiced and having its momentum stopped so suddenly seemed to stall the skeleton opening up it's stance.
Swiftly she took advantage of the opening slashing upwards with the blade once more held in both hands. The weapon seemed to sing as it bifurcated each rib bone and promptly opened up the skull. Celeste pushed through the bones as they fell keeping her weapon high from the last hit she turned the sword down and chopped away at the next skeleton in the line felling it as well. With all three in the line destroyed she turned her attention to the other aisles noting how some skeletons were reaching the end of the aisle and turning to enter hers. Another had started to try and crawl over the seats to get near her and received a prompt finishing stab for it's troubles.
Celeste could feel her brain stalling at the sight of a large marble boulder crushing through the rows of skeletons. It was like something out of a movie had been unceremoniously dropped into reality and yet managed to be even stranger than the skeletons. She swiftly looked about for the cause of the marble ball's momentum but couldn't see anything that would have caused it. The moment she had dedicated to looking for the cause quickly punished her as a skeleton's steel hammer impacted on the shield she had been holding sending both her and the shield flying in different directions. Her body lifted off the ground a short distance and depositing her with a dull thump. She couldn't escape the quiet utterance of pain from newly acquired bruising. "Owwwww..."
Her hands moved underneath her into an unenthusiastic push up and with some trepidation she lifted herself back to her feet. The war hammer toting skeleton continued to close in on her, and she now had the unfortunate realization that the skeleton was between her and the shield she had used. There's no way I can take a hit from that thing again and I'm not strong enough to defend against it.. But maybe she didn't need to. There were people still running away of course, but they weren't exactly looking at her after all... She crouched a bit, getting into a ready stance to run, and watched the skeleton get even closer. Just as it lifted the great steel hammer back for a swing she lunged forward and around the skeleton. "Incito" A slight red flash glowed beneath her shirt and scarf for just a moment before she shot around the skeleton far quicker than before and made for her original position.
She didn't bother retrieving the shield this time but instead took up the steel sword the first skeleton had left behind. It was heavier than she was used to, but she turned and sprinted towards the skeleton once more hardly bothered by it's weight. The war hammer swung directly downward missing where she had just been by a moment and her blade lashed out vengeance divesting the skeleton of its arm. She swung in the same way she had been practicing so often and was rewarded as the steel sword cut through the brittle bones; three quick cuts more and the creature collapsed into a pile of bones again. A small smile broke out on her face for this small victory before she turned towards the marching mass of bones with renewed confidence.
Three more skeletons had closed in on her present position and she charged forward to meet them. The closest one swung its sword and she found herself forced to parry. The move was sloppy and showed off her inexperience as she barely managed to deflect the swing and give herself the absolute minimum of time required to lash out with a quick slash before the skeleton could swing again. She dodged this swing for the most part receiving a slightly bleeding cut on her left arm, however with the greater opening created by the dodge she stabbed her sword into the skeleton's skull apparently defeating it. This left her ill equipped to block the club careening towards her temple as it connected sending her to the ground again in pain. She couldn't really see much more than stars out of her left eye and had fallen backwards from the hit. A spear impacted close by and she scrambled back to her feet pushing herself even further back from the skeletons. I can kill one, but the others will close in and counter harder. I need to bring them into a smaller area. Her back struck the door to the planetarium and she was forced to push into the building again dazedly retreating and waiting for her vision to clear.
Celeste could feel the shouting more than she could hear it. It was everywhere, all around her. Coming from the outside and those running from their lives, to those around her loudly expressing their concerns and looking for direction. The guide in the center had triggered the lights to come back on and seemed to be trying to keep people calm, though Celeste had a vague feeling there was no such robots in this place, only monsters. She knew she had to do something, had to act to protect the people around her, this is why she had magic after all. A glance down revealed what she already knew to be true, her hands had begun to shake so badly she could barely hold on to the tea she had purchased before. She set it down in the cup holder finally and got up to stand on shaky feet slinging her book bag onto her shoulder and planning her way out of the room and through the panicking crowd.
She ducked, dipped and nearly dove through the massed and panicking people making a mad scramble for the exit. Her knees buckled once or twice, but she pushed through gritting her teeth and wishing madly that she would stop shaking so much. It was all too easy to find the monsters she just had to follow the screams; out of the planetarium, past the ticket booth, out into the streets and the blinding Parisian daylight.
The site that greeted her was pandemonium at it's height. People running in every direction away from the monsters, gleaming white skeletons armed with steel weaponry. Even as her heart pounded in her ears, even as her body shook from mounting adrenaline and fear she couldn't help but feel a bit calmer. Her overactive imagination had whipped up monsters with legions of eyes and rows of sharp and bloody teeth so terrifying that to see skeletons granted her some limited relief. With a calmer mind she surveyed the scene and came to a decision. The people needed more time to escape, but magic was out given how many of them were in the area still, if she could distract the skeletons then maybe she could buy them the time they needed. But what to use...
She absentmindedly adjusted her book bag on her back, it's familiar weight returning to her notice as she calmed down. She froze as the eureka moment struck her. Oh! That'll work. Now swinging the bag off of her shoulder she took it firmly in both hands and picked her target. One of the skeletons nearest to her wasn't looking directly at her and had unknowingly nominated itself as her first target.
She took a deep breath and charged, closing the distance rapidly with her university grade book bag. Just before impact she spun her body increasing the momentum of the book bag until she swung it at the creatures head, separating it cleanly from the body causing the creature to fall into a heap of inanimate bones and weaponry.
It took her a moment to realize that her plan had in fact worked and the creature before her was now dead. "Yes!"
She proclaimed loudly in her brief moment of triumph holding her tiny tightly clenched fists before her in celebration. A nearby scream seemed to bring her back to reality from this moment of temporary elation. "Right. I have a job to do." She crouched over the bones letting her book bag fall to the floor and began to root through the pile to withdraw the shiny shield the skeleton had been carrying and a large bone. She held the shield up, struggling with it's very real weight and slammed the bone against it several times making a noise large enough for all the skeletons to turn and look at her. What little confidence she had managed to rally was withering rapidly before the 'eyes' of so many monsters at once, but she gripped the shield tightly, prepared to hold for as long as necessary.
People watching has long been the habit of those perpetually on the outer strata of social popularity. With the well practiced nature of a veteran Celeste took note of the people that entered the room. Some of them were no doubt her age, or younger students barely prying their eyes away from their phones long enough to find their seats. There was one that was perhaps interested in the show but the dark lighting made it impossible to make out many details given the lack of phone light. She spotted a few children coming in with their families and couldn't help a small smile from building, their excited and high pitched voices told her of their enjoyment before the show even began. If the show turns out well, I'll have to bring my family here as well. The thought filled her with warmth that even now the tea was unable to provide.
As the last stragglers took their seats the lights dimmed even further to total black. Thankfully the last of the phone lights winked out giving the room's sole lighting control over to the machine. On cue the machine whirled to life with little noise, but given what it was producing the noise was the last thing on everyone's mind. Thousands of little stars of light filled the room, a plethora of different colors that exceeded even the greatest night sky she had ever witnessed. Her smile grew even further at this threatening to escape the protective barrier of her scarf as she looked on in pure wonder.
Given how distracting the images were to her, she didn't notice the professionally dressed woman enter the room and take her place next to the machine. She spoke into her microphone and the noise nearly startled Celeste. "On behalf of Paris, we welcome you to the planetarium. Now, how many constellations can you find? Perhaps I can help you." Her voice was filled with mirth no doubt caused by the barely hushed excitement of the children.
All at once at various points around the room lines began to appear connecting the dots from stars to stars forming the shapes and images of the constellations. Celeste had managed to find a few already like the little dipper and the belt of Orion but to see them all so clearly laid out was incredible. She turned her head about the room recognizing the familiar images of several zodiac signs like Cancer, Scorpius and Sagittarius. In the back of her mind she doubted so many constellations could be in the same sky at once, but her excitement silenced the errant thought.
After giving everyone enough time to look at the images the connecting lines disappeared and the woman spoke once more. "Tell me, do you feel like making a wish?"
Celeste could feel her whole body stiffen at the phrase clearly unnerved by those words. They had been spoken innocently enough as a shooting star crossed from one side of the planetarium to the other but the damage had been done. She worked to master her breathing once more and calm herself as the sky suddenly filled with shooting stars. First one, then three and then more than she could even count, they filled the sky to the tune of excited children. Panels on the side of the machine lit up for a second or two connecting to projectors on the outer walls and creating the images of stars that not only moved across the roof but moved through the crowd and on the floor as well.
Just as quickly as it started the stars stopped moving and the night sky panorama began to slowly wink out each star vanishing off of the surface of the walls and roof. "I hope your wishes are granted. Now, lets check in with our friend hubble and see what they have to show us."
When the last star had finally winked out returning the entire room to darkness, a single white star appeared at the very center of the roof. Slowly it grew in size until it was the size of a small table as if the magnification had slowly been increased. Celeste almost couldn't look at it directly for how bright the white star looked in the dark room, but she had an idea where the narrator was going with this and didn't want to risk looking away.
"This is a neutron star, but wait, something seems to be happening to it."
In real time lines of blue/white radiation emissions spread out from the center of the star reaching the furthest points of the wall, the emissions appeared to pulse on a set frequency and almost random trajectory creating the image of a massive hourglass. Celeste couldn't help but smile her wondrous feels once more restored at the sight. A thought in the back of her mind pointed out that it would be impossible to have acquired a video of this, but she stifled it to the sounds of 'ooo's and ahhh's' coming from everyone.
The skin LIGHTS OFF was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
HALATION was created by KOJIHIME. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
