"Keep your body straight and tight while you wave your arms around. Move with intent and not with your feelings!"
"Your posture’s all wrong, lass! A tower must stand firm in a tempest. Keep your center of mass stable while swinging that stick of yours."
"Tsuki! You need to stay in rhythm with the music. You moved way too early, and your legs aren’t even moving at different paces. I’ll teach you some exercises to make your body more responsible."
"Lass! Did’ja just twirl like a little princess? Want to get stabbed in the back? Cause that’s how you get stabbed in the back!"
…
"I want to become a worm…" lamented Tsuki, whose body was screaming in pain. For the past few weeks, she had been training alongside Lotus in the morning and was then taught how to actually yield her large glaive at the military school until her job started. The worst came when the nightmares started, with the unknown person constantly killing her in her sleep. Right now was the end of one such week. She was sleeping at Yuu’s place since she offered to make Tsuki a few strange talismans that alleviated how tired she was. It did help, but at the same time, seeing the puppet constantly working did hurt Tsuki a bit. She wanted to see the real Yuu and thank her for all the help, but it was impossible. Maybe this spirit was still fighting universes of brave heroes all wanting to draw her last breath…
As for the fights she had in the odd dream world, she was starting to survive a little longer. Still, the projectiles thrown her way couldn’t be avoided with the simple biomechanics of a human’s body. It was frustrating, as she would avoid a flurry of blades only to eat a wall of light covering the horizon. Even changing into petals like usual wasn’t enough. She either needed some way to defend herself or somehow teleport somewhere safe. She did try to use the transmutation method that was imparted to her, but it was so inefficient that it did nothing to help her.
Those last few weeks had been hard on the girl, with her progress being slower than she wanted. She needed to become stronger as fast as she could – more so now that the city had entered lookdown not that long ago. There were whispers on the street of the Wave of Change moving from atop their humble mountains and having already claimed a few villages. That information came a few days after the festival Tsuki took part in. The people of this city used to call it the Sunfall Festival, but now it felt tainted with their nemesis raising back from their tombs…
Hoomaikai, who first cried tears of joy for being able to stay close to the one she loved, was now lethargic with the dreadful realization that death might very well be at the doorstep. Today, Tsuki wanted to meet back up with the friends she had made up to this point to figure out what they could do in this coming war. She glanced at Yuu’s puppet, who had created a mountain of talismans, surely a preparation for the worst, before leaving.
The streets that used to be filled with life were now empty, and the few people who were in the open had their heads hanging low. After a few minutes of walking in the desolate town, Tsuki entered a garden where a few familiar faces were waiting.
"Ahh! Sister is here!" – "Miss Tsuki, good day to you," said the brothers Bakasura and Krimira. One of the boys with longer hair came running for a hug. He only reached up to the girl's chest, but when he looked up, his smile instantly warmed her heart. "Sister, you grew up!" – "Baka! Stop annoying her this early. She has important things to discuss. Miss, mister Vergeltung might be late as he’s helping at an orphanage. Until then, do you need anything? Drink? Food?"
"No, I already ate before coming. Thank you, Krimira," responded Tsuki. Krimira’s cheek instantly reddened from being thanked, and he turned his head to the side only to be seen by the others in the group, who gave him a warm smile.
In total, there were nine people, including Tsuki, in the garden. They all sat around a table, upon which tea was served. Tsuki, Hoomaikai, Lotus, Bakasura, Krimira, Kriemhild, Rouhong, Yuzuha, and Lapis. They all had heavy expressions, as what they were about to talk about related to their survival. The meeting was organized by Hoomaikai, who was the first to say something, "Altought some couldn’t make it and that one of us will be late, I think it’s a good time to introduce everyone to one another. As you all know, I’m Hoomaikai. I was supposed to return to the capital, but the lockdown went into effect before I could. The one unable to be on time is an odd bipedal cat called Vergeltung, whom you might have seen around. Anyone want to start?"
And so they all presented themselves to each other until the last to talk was Lapis, the old apothecary lady, wife of Cain. "I am Lapis… Of all of you present, I think I have a better understanding of the situation we are presented with. 25 years ago, when those abominations first attacked, I was here in this city, whose walls were still low and houses rudimentary. I know that we must fight with all we have. I also know that we cannot win, as only the shine of the city has improved since then…"
Her words instantly worsened the mood. "Ya want us to fight and die?" said Rouhong, who slammed his fist on the table. He was still covered in bandages—not to protect his wounds but to hide them from the sight of anyone.
"No, gracious no. It’s just that I think this city as a whole will be destroyed, and those things won't stop at this. The emperor also must know this fact and will surely send some forces from the capital to assist; otherwise, the city wouldn’t have been put on lockdown. They want every hand they can get. Someone someday will have to slay the invaders, but this path will be made from the corpses of many."
"Then we cut off the head of the dragon," added Kriemhild. The woman took out her sword, whose golden rims shined with a calming hue, as if trying to make a point, but was shut down by Rouhong.
"Then be my guess and go cut a mountain with that blade of yours. Miss Lapis, I also know their might… I know it all too well. Lost everything because of one of them… He was exploring… the lad…" and the man remained silent, the past too heavy to leave his mouth.
Lapis, in turn, took Rouhong’s callous hand in hers as a sign of encouragement. They had both lost important people because of those things. "So, you know they can’t be killed," she said low which caused him to put on a deep frown.
"They can be killed if every cell of their body is destroyed. With enough heat… enough to turn the land into melting slag like a volcano… But otherwise, yeah. They can’t be killed. Lass, that sword of yours might kill a dragon but won’t dry a river."
"Oh! Then if the dragon is instead a stream, then I can still kill it~" responded Kriemhild, who hugged her sword affectionately.
"…"
"…"
They were all too confused to say anything, but this sentiment was quickly washed away as a small bipedal cat came to them with a child holding his paw. Vergeltung, he came together with the baby he received, who had already grown enough to walk on her two legs. He purred at the sight of Bakasura running toward him, happy to see him doing well. "Sorry everyone. The young at the orphanage wouldn’t let me go. The name’s Vergeltung, and this one here is… Do you want to introduce yourself to Dady’s friend?"
"No!" cried out the child before trying to hide behind the cat. It managed to put a wry smile on everyone, which left Vergeltung no choice but to introduce Mafdet as such to everyone.
For a moment, they tried to coax the child – who had grown way too fast since Vergeltung received her – to no avail. All but Rouhong did. He was thinking hard, and his expression was the same. "Cat," he started, not able to remember Vergeltung's complex name. "What is your opinion of escaping this city? This old lady is saying that everyone might die."
There wasn’t much that needed to be said for this small detective to understand the real issue at hand. Yes, they could and should escape, but the more numerous they were, the harder it would be. The old and young—those who couldn’t fight—were also forced to stay in the city. He couldn’t allow them to die for nothing, and escaping would be the same as participating in their deaths. He had thought about this situation for a long time and came to his own conclusion. Two plans were pulled from his mysterious trench coat and put in front of everyone. "The first one is a way to run with as many people as possible; the second is a plan on how we might be able to defend this city," he said, grinning, while pushing the plans that were many pages long in front of everyone.
❀
The garden meeting finally broke off after a few hours and left everyone a little bit perplexed. The cat’s plans were almost perfect. They could be improved, but the same issue would pop up with any new variation, which was the great risk related to them. If they escape, they will have blood on their hands; if they fight, they might simply die for nothing. The only one who came to a conclusion was Kriemhild, who planned to leave the city as soon as she could to play her own part in this war. She rejected both plans to find her own path. After all, it was this strength that mesmerized her in her first and only love. Under the cover of the night, she was gone from the city, with Fionn following closely behind.
As for Tsuki, she wanted to escape this place. She didn’t care about fighting for the citizens if it meant risking her life. Her goal was to rescue Alice and no one else… Maybe keeping her few friends safe also mattered at that time.
She left alone to go back to Yuu’s place. The week of constant fighting in her dream was over, and the only thing she wanted was to sleep. But when she entered, what welcomed her was a walking mushroom playing with a small beast. It was strangely her first time seeing him, as he went into a sort of hibernation in the past few weeks due to being safe for the first time in a while.
"m-m-m-m-miss Yuu!!! There’s an intruder!!!! HELPPPP!" The being cried out while running the best his stumpy little legs could allow him before stumbling heavily on the ground. With him hurting his large, floppy head on the ground, he started to cry loudly like a child who just had a nightmare.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!" the small animal, the size of a large dog, and with the appearance of a bull mixed with a tiger, started to growl at Tsuki.
"Dedun!" cried out the crying mushroom. "Go warn Miss Yuu of the intruder. She will keep you safe. I’ll keep her occupied. Go!!"
The beast looked at its master one last time before starting into a dash to reach the door leading to the basement. Its heart was beating madly, and tears rolled down its eyes as it wouldn’t allow its master to suffer for long. There, the door was but a few steps from him, and before it could attempt to open it, someone on the other side pushed it open and caused the beast to smash right into the door.
"…What?" responded Yuu – this time, not the puppet.
❀
"Oy Sedudu. Did your numb skull not try to make what’s inside of it think? Wait, do you even have a brain? Not as an insult but out of pure curiosity."
"You should have told me someone else was coming… and yes, I do have a brain. Thank you," replied the sullen mushroom. It was Sedudu, the young royal Yuu had rescued from the freezing mountains, and his pet Dedun was a small nemwer. He was caressing such nemwer in his arms with his face hidden behind a low, dropping mushroom cap.
"Whatever. So Tsuki, this is Sedudu, and Sedudu, this is Tsuki. Both of you are staying in this building for some time. So, you better get to know one another."
"Ahh…" interrupted Tsuki. "Yuu, I’m planning to escape this city with a few people. I don’t think I’ll stay for long."
"Nah, you’ll die from your curse and whatnot. I have an idea I want to test out to resolve everything, but if you just run, it will all go up in flames. You saw how much my puppet worked? Just trust in me."
❀
In the end, Yuu never divulged her plan to magically solve everything and responded to Tsuki, saying that if her plan was to be known, that it wouldn’t work… That feeling of being trapped inside a spiderweb was back, and although Tsuki hated it, she couldn’t do much. She ate some food and went to sleep early at 2 p.m. to get back all the rest she needed.
The next day, she ate something made by Sedudu before leaving to go see Lotus. It was her usual day, or it should have been. Lotus was by their window, looking outside with a sad smile on their face. Tsuki tried to inquire if there was something wrong, to which Lotus responded, "No. Everything is the same as usual…"
The mellow clouds drifted in the sky, grazing in this sea of blue. The sun was mild with winter-singing winds. The young girl danced under the distant look of her teacher, hoping to learn how to better use her wish-bought fan. And finally, the first crystal petal – a flake of the coming cold – fell down to the ground. Tsuki caught it with her hands, and it quickly melted. Like her teacher, she looked at the distant sky while thinking back on her life. A small sentence left her lips with more pain than the following tears, "Happy birthday, Alice…" The first snow was now, and it had long been called Alice’s birthday by the two girls who didn’t know when they were born. Tsuki’s would have to wait until the first bloom of dandelions…
❀
Time passed, and a decision was made by most. They would fight the coming abominations of Change instead of fleeing… One morning, when Tsuki was going to meet up with Lotus at their usual spot, all she found was a letter and no Lotus waiting with warm tea.
