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Chapter 15: of gods and men
🕑 Added 2024-07-04 01:09:54 +0000 UTC"Where is she!?"
The annoyance in the voice of the speaker was palpable, and Ashley couldn't help but empathize.
"Do you think I'd be searching with you if I knew the answer to your question, Finnlay?"
"You could still be helping me search instead of doing nothing! When I find Loony, she's going to regret this! That, I can swear!" the other girl retorted.
Ashley shrugged, even though she agreed with Finnlay. Luna, no, Loony Lovegood, was important simply because she was a productive and safe way to relax, to blow things up in a productive and safe manner.
You could do anything you wished to her, and nothing would happen. No consequences, no screaming staff members, no points deducted, no peers playing compassionate. Loony Lovegood was a gift, a toy, their toy, and the perfect way to spend their frustration.
The girl didn’t even try to fight them. The girl didn’t try to do anything to change the situation she had found herself in. If she had shown a spine, if she had shown that maybe the Sorting Hat hadn’t been completely wrong to place her in Ravenclaw, perhaps they would have stopped. But she didn’t. Loony didn’t, and it only meant one thing: she was worthy of everything they did to her.
It meant that somewhere in the broken mess that was her mind, she agreed with every one of their actions.
It meant that she was deserving of everything they did to her.
At least like this, she could be useful, not a waste of space, not a source of shame for their house.
"Sooner or later, we will find her and make her understand why nightly escapades without our permission aren’t allowed for her. She may be absent now, but her only redeeming quality is that she never misses a class."
It was such a shame that such commitment, such discipline, was wasted on someone like her.
"I hope you're still as good as last year, if not better, with your healing spells," Finnlay said.
"I want to test new charms on her, and it would be a hassle if the damage couldn’t be hidden."
As long as there were no proofs, as long as no one spoke, they could do anything to Loony. She would only look at them with that sad, pitiful face she made between throes of pain. That’s all, all she would do and nothing else.
"You don’t have to worry. Just don’t go too hard."
After all, it was possible for things to break beyond repair.
Honestly, Ashley and Finnlay would never have been ‘friends’ if it weren’t for Loony. They were too different; their appearances, blood status, and mannerisms showcased this well.
Ashley was a pure-blood witch, in the sense that the last four generations of her family had also been pure-bloods. Unlike other pure-bloods like the Malfoys, the Blacks, or the Longbottoms, Ashley's family wasn’t what could be called the most advantaged financially.
Pure-blood didn’t always, unfortunately, rhyme with wealth. The only thing that distinguished her from a Muggle-born or a half-blood was her education.
Her family might not have been rich, but they were staunch believers in wizarding values. These values should have made it impossible for her to even converse with a Muggle-born like Finnlay, but here she was, conversing with her.
Finnlay, a spoiled Muggle-born, ironically came from a noble family on her mother’s side and a father who was so rich he could probably give a noble clan a run for their money.
Finnlay, a ‘friend’ who had allowed the pitiful coffers of Ashley’s family to become decent. Oh, they were still far away from the likes of members of the 28 great pure-blood families but it was better than being like a Weasley or worse, a Lovegood.
She knew that could at least one stand proud between the likes of Bultrosde and Parkinson without feeling lower.
Finnlay had allowed her to understand something that most didn't but should have. It didn't matter where your money came from. What mattered was that you had enough of it and the muggle world was so full of opportunities that it had felt almost as easy to breathe to win big.
Ashley had to allow however the admission that it would have been more complex without the help of what Finnlay had called a consultant in investment.
More than that, she could still so many other ways to create wealth, to create something the muggles would crave, something she would be one of the rare people to give because most wizards even those who fancied themselves as Muggle-loving didn't like to interact with them more than strictly necessary.
Or maybe she was the only one who could see it and it wouldn’t surprise her if it was the case because she had been sorted in Ravenclaw for a reason.
The voice of the other girl brought her out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Ash, do you think she might have finally decided to snitch?"
This was a possibility, a weak and unlikely one but still a possibility. After all, Flitwick had been acting differently since the beginning of the years, his eyes more attentive, more focused which could be dangerous.
"She wouldn’t, and even if she did, who would trust her? Who would back her word? It’s her word against ours."
More than that, if she had told anyone, If she had told the goblin teacher they would have surely known.
Her musings should have stopped here yet they didn't. Ashley knew Finnlay’s question was born out of fear, not just annoyance. What if Loony had finally cracked and told someone? The thought of repercussions, the potential consequences, made Ashley's heart race. But they had chosen their target carefully. Loony was a loner, an oddity. No one would believe her, not against the words of well-behaved, respected students like themselves. They had cultivated their images meticulously, ensuring that any accusations would be met with scepticism.
Ashley could recall with perfection the first time they had realized Loony was their perfect target.
It had been a rainy afternoon in their first year when they had found her sitting alone in the library, reading an upside-down copy of The Quibbler, being weird, acting annoyingly Loony.
Ashley and Finnlay had been strangers, unknowns to each other yet in that moment, something had seemed to click between the two of them, a silent understanding, the base of everything they became.
Her strange behaviour had piqued their curiosity, and soon enough, her isolation and peculiarities had made her an easy mark.
They started with small pranks, things that seemed harmless on the surface but chipped away at Luna’s dignity. Hiding her belongings, mimicking her dreamy voice, spreading rumours about her wild theories, about her stupid delusions because Ashley had checked and the creatures the mad girl was fond of sharing with others without them asking didn't exist at all.
It became something akin to a game, to a challenge of wits between Ashely and Finnlay, about how far they could push again and again.
Each time, what the Lovegood girl did had merely been to smile and walk away, which only infuriated them more. Her lack of reaction, her refusal to fight back, made them escalate their efforts. It was as if she was challenging them by not reacting, by not breaking down. It's as if she was mocking them.
They continued until over time, something changed. They began to see their actions not just as a way to pass time and to relax even Ashley wouldn’t deny that their actions helped them do so but as a necessary lesson for Luna.
After all, they were in some way doing her a favour. The wizarding world was harsh, unforgiving. If she didn’t learn to stand up for herself now, she would never survive. It would be an error to call Their actions cruel when the reality was that they were preparing her for the real world, where people wouldn’t be as lenient as they were.
After all, if she couldn't bear the little games Ashley and Finnlay had with her, what chances did she have to survive in the future? It wasn’t as if she was pretty enough to not have to care about being dumb and weak.
They were doing her a favour from the bottom of their heart. They should be thanked, congratulated for their selfish desire to try to shape Loony into something.
If she couldn’t handle a few pranks and hexes now, what hope did she have out there, where people wouldn’t hold back?
Time only proved the veracity of their words, the veracity of their beliefs. It had been four years and Luna Lovegood did nothing.
Luna’s silence, her refusal to fight back, wasn’t just submission—it could be nothing else but consent. By not resisting, she was acknowledging the truth of their actions, accepting their lessons. It was her way of admitting that she deserved it, that she needed it. That was the least they could do for a girl whose mom had probably died to a lack of harsh truth if she was a little bit similar to her mad daughter.
"Do you think she’s learned anything from all this?" Ashley wondered aloud as they continued their search.
Finnlay scoffed. "Who knows with her? She’s so out of it half the time. But maybe, just maybe, one day she’ll thank us for it."
Ashley doubted it. Luna was too far gone into her own world, too detached from reality to ever see things their way. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they believed in their actions. It gave them a sense of purpose, a justification for their cruelty. They weren’t bullies; they were teachers, mentors in a cruel world that demanded toughness and resilience.
Their search continued through the corridors, every empty classroom and hidden alcove scrutinized. The frustration of not finding Luna was mounting. She had become surprisingly adept at hiding, a new development that both annoyed and intrigued them. Was she finally learning? Had she finally begun to have some semblance of backbone?
"What if she’s using some sort of charm to hide?" Finnlay mused.
"She’s not that clever," Ashley dismissed. "But if she is, we’ll find a way around it. We always do."
Ashley had to admit that one of the many benefits of playing with Loony had been the forging of The bond between Ashley and Finnlay, forged in their shared persecution of Luna, which had grown stronger over the years.
The girl had been the one to give them, two completely different people a reason to communicate, a reason to interact.
It was ironic, really. Luna Lovegood, the girl they tormented, had inadvertently given them a sense of camaraderie, a shared goal that transcended their differences.
“There is no point in continuing searching,” Ashely said annoyance filling her voice. It honestly felt as if they had done so for hours.
The other girl didn't look pleased but she didn't try to deny Ashley’s words “Yeah, you're right. It's a waste of time at this point. Better wait.”
Ashley nodded in affirmation. After all, Loony never had missed any class. They would maybe have reason to worry if she still wasn’t there.
“Are you eager for the lesson of the new defence against the dark arts teacher too?” she asked as they walked toward the classroom.
“You bet I am. What she showed is totally unprecedented. Using magic, powerful magic so easily, wandlessly. It only happens in myths or stories Ashley. I checked,” The muggle-born answered.
Ashley wouldn’t deny the accuracy of the words of the other girl. She had after all grown on those myths, on myths of witches and wizards hailed as gods, of witches and wizards not using spells but directly bending the world to their will.
If they could learn even a fraction of what the professor had showcased, if Ashley could, the wealth of her family would become more than what could be deemed fantastical.
Ultimately, what mattered the most for wizards was power, was magic. Wealth, beauty, privilege, respect, it all came from power.
Finnlay opened the door of the classroom and the first thing their gazes fell on like predatory animals was the form of the girl they had been searching for, the form of Loony.
Loony was sitting on the floor, her back against the teacher's desk, reading into an ominous-looking dark and red-coloured book without any title. She looked up as they entered, her wide, dreamy eyes gone replaced by something else, something aware. She met their gazes without a trace of fear.
"Loony, what are you doing here?" Finnlay sneered, advancing towards her.
"Reading," Luna replied simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Ashley felt a surge of anger. How could she be so calm, so unaffected? It was infuriating yet a part of her felt as if something was wrong. Her instincts were screaming at her that she was in danger because of Loony.
It probably was because she hadn’t been to use the girl to relax last night. There were most likely no other reasons and even if there were, it was still Loony before them.
"You were supposed to be in the common room this morning," Ashley said, her voice low and menacing.
"You know what happens when you don’t follow the rules. We could have all lost house points because of you."
Luna tilted her head slightly, as if considering their words. "I know," she said softly. "But it is not something you have to worry about anymore. The headmaster at the request of my mom decided to change my lodging."
Finnlay laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "The headmaster? Your mother? Oh, poor little Loony, have you forgotten, she died stupidly acting the way you are now."
Ashley watched as Luna’s expression remained unchanged, serene even but there was a flicker of something in the eyes of the girl, one that disappeared before Ashley could guess what it was.
It was as if Loony was looking at them as if they didn't exist, as if they matter And that made Ashley’s blood boil.
"I think that the summer vacations made her forget some important things. Let’s make sure she remembers them," Finnlay said, pulling out her wand.
Ashley followed suit, her grip on her wand tightening. There was nothing to fear. After all, the class was supposed to begin in fifteen minutes and from the angles they were standing in, no one would be able to guess, to see that they pointing wands at Loony.
Ashley was going to teach Loony a lesson she wouldn’t forget. They would break through that calm facade, make her feel the fear and pain she so stubbornly refused to show, make her remember the dynamic.
“Only stuff that could easily be mended or healed quickly. Don’t forget Finnlay.” The only answer coming from the muggle-born girl was a non-commital hum.
As they advanced on Luna, wands raised, Ashley felt a strange sense of satisfaction. She wondered if maybe this time, the calm of the girl would break. It was at the moment their wands lit up that they felt fear.
“What are you doing?” the devil had asked them.
*scene*
I didn't even try to discuss with my students, to try to introduce myself because I was honestly pissed.
Seriously, trying to bully my own daughter in my classroom? The only reason why I hadn’t acted in ways even my demon ancestors would find abhorrent was because of my daughter, of the silent plea of not doing anything directly.
I would respect her choice. I wouldn’t act directly but it didn’t mean that there were no indirect ways to make them pay.
The moment all my students were present, the moment the bell rang, I unleashed my demonic energy and my authority bending, changing the world as I had done with my other classes.
The transition to another world was faster, more rushed it could be said than the other times.
I ignored the gasps of surprise and the flailing and interrogations of my students as we appeared on the top of a building in Mitakihara.
Under us, the world continued to take shape, form.
I had looked into the eyes of the two girls, through their minds and honestly, they were even more pathetic than Severus which was a feat in himself and they wanted to bully my child.
I know I was repeating myself but the girl had succeeded in making me feel I hadn’t since Zekram, my grandfather and this was anger.
I had chosen Madoka Magica for a reason and honestly, I couldn’t wait until they fell into despair.
*scene*
The city of Mitakihara had always been a beacon of tranquillity, a place where life proceeded with a calm predictability. But today, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the city braced itself for an unprecedented calamity.
The skies darkened unnaturally fast, thick clouds swirling ominously, heralding the arrival of a force that none could comprehend. The air grew heavy with foreboding, and a chilling wind swept through the streets, carrying with it whispers of dread.
I turned to look at my students, their fearful and awestruck gazes directed toward me and the new world I had created.
“Some will say that the darkest creature to fear is a dementor due to how unkillable they are or werewolves with their possibility to infect others with Lycanthropi but honestly, I think there is a dark creature more dangerous, one that is because you all met one! A witch!”
And this was when at that perfect moment Walpurgisnacht chose to appear over Mihatakara.
“Firstly, I want you to see what it is capable of doing an-”
“That's not a witch!” one of my students cut me. “Witches aren’t like that. We don’t look like that!”
*scene*
Ashley felt as if the world had stopped making sense, as if she had been thrown into a terrible nightmare, one she couldn’t escape.
She wished, prayed that her surroundings were born of an illusion, that they were still back in the classroom, in Hogwarts. She had expected a lot but she hadn’t expected that.
Even though she was silent, unable to talk as if death itself had its hands on her neck, she couldn’t disagree with the shout of one of the other students.
Ashley was a witch. Ashley’s mother and aunt were witches. Finnlay was a witch. Even her father could be called one due to the origin of the word. She could accept that but what was above, the humanoid monster taking form from darkness wasn’t one at all.
It was something she couldn’t accept. The thing, the monster, the dark art creature the teacher had called Walpurgisnacht was everything but like them. A hag was more similar to them than this monstrosity.
A terrible smile, one filled with too many teeth bloomed on the face of the teacher
“You don’t look like that yet,” the red-haired professor spoke and that sentence was one of the most horrifying yet exceptional things Ashley had ever heard.
“I'm supposed to teach how to defend yourself against the dark arts, against dark creatures. What you can see behind me is what happened when a witch fell into despair, when a witch fell into despair. The truth is any of you can become something similar.”
“I brought you here for many important reasons,” the professor continued.
A shimmer of red began to spread from the teacher, moving through the air like a gaseous thing, blinding, surrounding them, giving them sight.
“The first was to witness,” and witness it all they did.
*scene*
Finnlay’s vision changed as if it had been a TV and the channel had been changed to focus on something, on the forms of three girls Atop a desolate rooftop.
“They are what you could see as the equivalent of the Aurors in this place. Three girls with magic, just three magical girls,” the voice of the professor whispered.
Those were the local Aurors? Children? Children who looked even younger than them, who looked like Finnlay’s thirteen-year-old sister. Those children were the ones supposed to win against the monster above? What kind of sick joke was that?!
More than that, They were dressed in ridiculous outfits more fit for a tea party than trying to slay a monster.
“They are called in order from the left to the right Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami,” the voice of the teacher rang.
Finnlay could see them, could see the twitches of their bodies, she could see, their faces etched with anxiety and fear as if they were preparing themselves not for a battle but for execution.
“They had fought countless witches before, faced numerous dangers, but Walpurgisnacht is unfortunately on a completely different level.”
"Is this... really happening?" Finnlay could hear Sayaka say, the blue-haired girl, her voice trembling, her eyes wide as she looked up at the swirling mass of darkness. "Is this Walpurgisnacht?"
The redhead among them, the one the teacher had called Kyoko clenched a spear. Finnlay could see how she was trying to mask her fear with bravado. "It's just another witch," the girl said, though her voice lacked any confidence. "We've taken down witches before. We can do it again."
The third one, who seemed to be the oldest amongst them, the one called Mami, shook her head, her golden eyes filled with a sorrowful understanding. "No, Kyoko. This is different. Walpurgisnacht is not just a witch. It's a force of nature, an entity of pure destruction. We... we might not survive this."
We might not survive this the girl had said. They knew they wouldn’t survive yet instead of trying to flee, they stayed. If Finnlay could have, if she could move her limbs, she would have. If she had been in the place of one of the girls, she would have prioritized her own life everything else be damned because what could honestly be done against Walpurgisnacht?
It was as If commanding someone to contain the entirety of the ocean in a feeble glass cup, was asking the impossible.
As if in response to her words, a deafening roar filled the air, followed by a blast of wind so strong it nearly knocked them off their feet. The storm was upon the girls, and with it, chaos erupted.
*scene*
Ashley’s view changed. She didn't only see the girls now with perfect clarity. She only saw the chaos, the madness created by the witch in the muggles.
The streets below were a maelstrom of panic. People ran in every direction, their faces masks of terror as the storm raged above. The wind howled like a banshee, tearing through the city with relentless fury. Trees were uprooted, their massive trunks crashing onto cars and buildings. Power lines snapped, sending sparks flying, and plunging entire blocks into darkness.
Ashley watched in horror as a skyscraper, once a symbol of human ingenuity and strength, began to sway. Its windows shattered under the pressure, raining glass down on the fleeing populace. The ground beneath it cracked and buckled, unable to withstand the sheer force of the storm. With a groan of tortured steel, the building collapsed, sending a massive cloud of dust and debris into the air.
She didn't need any confirmation to know that surely, people had perished, that muggles had died in less than a heartbeat and they hadn’t been able to do anything to challenge their fate. They lacked power. They lacked magic and the pure-blood girl even though she had learned to appreciate them couldn’t admit a possibility where they would be able to survive without magic.
"This is madness!" she heard Sayaka, the girl with an unnatural hair colour that could only be born of a dyeing spell or coming from some kind of magical inheritance shouts over the cacophony. "How are we supposed to fight this?"
"We can't fight it," one of the other girls said, her voice barely audible above the din. "We probably can’t win but we have to try, we have to try so maybe some of them could survive."
A blinding flash of lightning illuminated the sky, followed by a thunderclap so loud it felt as if the heavens themselves were being torn asunder. Rain began to fall, not in gentle drops, but in torrents, each drops a hammer blow. The streets below quickly turned into rivers, sweeping away everything in their path.
The red-haired girl amongst them, Kyoko was gritting her teeth, her hair plastered to her face by the driving rain. "If we're gonna die, we're gonna die fighting," she said, determination in her eyes. "We can't just give up!"
The blue-haired girl nodded, though it was clear to anyone that her heart was filled with doubt. "Right. Let's do this."
The three girls leapt from the rooftop and Ashley honestly thought for an instant that they had chosen death. This is why the fact that they were able to land in the midst of the chaos below, from what was at least a building more than a kilometre long unscathed, shocked her.
It had to be some kind of magic, of spell cast before, one that was native to this area, to this place and not Great Britain because it was the first time she had seen such things.
It was said that depending on the continents, magic was used differently. Apparently, in Africa, students were mostly taught wandless magic and in China, some families chose to use other things than wands to cast spells. Maybe it was something like that.
Coloured Lights began to take shape around them, to take the shape of weapons that when they grabbed became real weapons.
She would have been amazed and trying to understand more how it was possible if she couldn’t feel it, if she couldn’t feel how everything began to worsen.
*scene*
The earth shook violently, each tremor more powerful than the last. Buildings that had stood for decades crumbled like sandcastles, their foundations no match for the relentless quakes. The ground split open, swallowing cars, trees, and even people. Screams filled the air, a symphony of despair that cut through the howling wind and driving rain.
This world I had created was similar but different to the Bloodborne one. It was a copy of the world of Madoka Magica, a true planet instead of a limited plane like with Mahoraga and Yharnam and it honestly took a huge chunk of energy to make.
Destroying with demonic energy, defiling, hurting with it? It came easy, feeling barely like an inconvenience. Trying to do the contrary with it though?
Trying to create and nurture with it felt as if trying to redirect with bare hands a stream.
This is why I had chosen to cheat. I had created a replica of the Earth but a superficial one.
I had used the authority I usurped from Kagutsuchi to ignite the core and shape the atmosphere. After all, wasn’t it said in the myths that one of the pieces of the dead god became an elemental deity of the sky or something like that?
For the terrestrial masses, I had used pure demonic energy but I was sure if that a geologist had to peer at my creation, they would be realizing that something was wrong, not completely right.
Additionally, it could be said that the only living things on this Earth were those in this city and its surroundings and Walpurgidnacht of course.
What mattered in the end was that the actors who mattered were all in place where I needed them to be.
The first step had been to show them Walpurgisnacht, scare them a little bit at first. The second was to show them the destruction the witch was capable of bringing while being nerfed, to show how magical girls like Sayaka, Kyoko and Mami who could probably dance blindfolded around an enraged Voldemort, the magical girls who were so much more powerful than my students ever thought possible lose against Walpurgisnacht.
I guess it could be said that we were in phase two I mused as I watched the three magical girls fight.
I had purposefully chosen to not create a Madoka or a Homura because something told me, especially with what happened with Oedon that it would be akin to asking that something goes wrong.
I watched as Sayaka swung her sword, slicing through the tendrils of dark energy that lashed out from the familiar of Walpurgisnacht before beheading the creature. She wasn't allowed a moment of respite before what seemed to be hundreds of familiars tried to jump her jujutsu Kaisen style.
Each strike of the girl sent slashes of winds, each time her sword let with the ground, it left behind craters, and yet it felt as if she trying to fight the ocean with a toothpick. I could see her make more and more errors, errors what seemed to be an endless ocean of familiars didn't hesitate and fail to exploit.
Mami's ribbons lashed out on her side, forming barriers to shield the fleeing civilians. Her movements were precise, controlled, but I could only call her face a mask of anguish. I knew that She knew that these barriers were temporary, that they could only buy a few precious seconds before being overwhelmed.
Kyoko fought with a ferocity born of desperation, her spear a blur as she struck at the shadowy figures and tendrils that emerged from the storm. But for every enemy she felled, two more took its place. I could see her realizing little by little that she was fighting a losing battle, that she was slowly but surely being overwhelmed.
"This can't be happening," Sayaka gasped, barely able to keep her footing as the ground shook beneath her. "We can't win. We're not strong enough."
Kyoko's eyes blazed with fury. "Shut up! We can't think like that! We have to keep fighting!"
But even as she spoke, we both knew Sayaka was right. The storm was relentless, an unyielding force of nature that dwarfed their combined strength. It was as if the city itself was being punished by some vengeful god, technically by me.
High above, at the epicentre of the storm, Walpurgisnacht's silhouette loomed, a nightmarish figure wreathed in darkness. Its laughter echoed through the city, a sound devoid of any humanity. The witch clearly revelled in the destruction it wrought, each act of devastation fueling its malevolent power.
The rain was worsening thinking roads into drowning rivers.
I could see people being swept away by the floodwaters, their desperate cries for help drowned out by the storm. I saw buildings collapsing like houses of cards, their debris scattering like leaves in the wind.
The magical girls were watching the spectacle like me, watching the city they had sworn to protect being torn apart, and I was sure they felt nothing but a deep, crushing sense of failure.
"What are we even doing?" Sayaka spoke, tears mingling with the rain on her face. "What good are we if we can't stop this?"
Mami placed a hand on her shoulder, her own eyes filled with sorrow. "We do what we can, Sayaka. We fight, even when it seems hopeless. Because if we don't, who will?"
I could tell that The words offered little comfort. It was at that moment that another tremor rocked the city, and I saw the last remnants of Sayaka’s resolve crumbling. They were nothing but ants facing a hurricane, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I guess it was nearly time for phase 3.
*scene*
The storm intensified, the wind howling with a fury that seemed almost sentient. Lightning flashed continuously, each bolt illuminating the destruction below. The rain fell harder, if that were possible, turning streets into churning torrents that swept away everything in their path.
As if it couldn’t be worse, Walpurgisnacht herself sometimes acted more directly by launching lasers at the city.
Honestly, the only reason why there were still living people was because I wanted to. They were necessary for what would be coming but if that wasn’t the case, this city would have probably been devoid of normal human lives for long.
I watched Kyoko stagger, the force of the wind nearly driving her to her knees. "Mami! We have to regroup! We have to do something else! This is too much!"
Mami nodded, her face pale but determined. "Staying here is worthless! We have to try to hit Walpurgisncaht herself!"
I continued to observe as They fought their way through the chaos, using every ounce of their strength to push forward. Around them, the city continued to fall apart. A bridge, one of the main arteries of the city, groaned under the strain before collapsing into the river below. The sound was deafening and probably a brutal reminder of their own powerlessness.
They were coming slowly but surely close to Walpurgisnacht. This was something I had to admit. Unfortunately, for them, it was time to end their roles.
Walpurgisnacht turned toward them, her complete attention focused on them and the magical girls realized it. They stood still almost as if they had become stone statues.
"We're not gonna make it, are we?" Sayaka asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Mami and Kyoko didn't answer. They didn't need to. The despair in their eyes spoke volumes before Walpurgisnacht erased them in a flash of dark and grey.
The beam of magic the witch used didn't stop, tearing through the ground, overheating it and continuing beyond the city, leaving a white line in mountain chains before their tops were severed.
My gaze turned toward my students, my horrified students. My magic had made sure that they could be seeing personally and clearly everything important.
I had created the threat, shown how dangerous the threat was. Now, the only thing left was to create a hero, a saviour to banish the despair and the darkness but before that, I needed to do something.
I removed the spell I had used to make them able to see. I watched them blink as they slowly adjusted.
“I had told you that we were there for many important reasons. The first was to make you witness. I think it was a success, am I wrong?”
The shudders and the fear and anxiety I could literally smell from them were enough of an answer. They were terrified, maybe more than my other classes because, unlike the other students who didn’t know what they were facing until it was too late, the fourth-year knew Clearly what Walpurgisnacht could do.
“The second was to make you experience,” and maybe I had truly become sadistic because I could only smile as I felt fear, especially the fear of my daughter’s bullies.
“Experience?” one of my students asked, a Ravenclaw who seemed to have understood what I was planning to do, horror filling his voice.
“Yes, experience. My gaze swept over all of them except my daughter. If I'm not wrong, dawn should be coming in less than an hour and Walpurgisnacht should be leaving at dawn.”
I was being kinda generous. The same thing hadn’t been the case with their underclassmen.
“This is your first test of the year.”
The building we were standing on had begun to crumble, a fissure separating the class from me and Luna.
“Your only consign is to survive,” I told them as they began to fall.
*scene*
“Mom?”
I never thought that a simple word could burn as much if not more than the divine flames of Kagutsuchi.
I turned to look at Luna, at my child who seemed to be on the verge of crying and it honestly made me want to stop everything, to hug her and tell them that it was okay, that none of this was truly real.
I acted as if it didn't feel as if my heart was being punctured.
“Walpurgisnacht is a witch that is said to be capable of ending the world if she rotates fully, if she stopped being upside down.”
Here was the time to begin the third phase. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be mad after. It was for her own good after all even I would understand if she was.
“I didn't send you with the others because there would be no point. It is undoubtedly a fact that you would survive.”
It would have been a completely different story if it hadn’t been the case.
“I propose to you two things,” I told her raising two fingers.
“The first would be for you to stay on my side until the end of the test. Of course, it is given that you would have the best note.”
I sometimes loved nepotism and this was one of those moments plus who would dare tell me otherwise, Dumbledore? As if.
Frankly, this was the most logical solution to take, the safer one. You do nothing and you win but I knew Luna, I knew it, daughter. I had seen through her mind, through her soul. Even when mad, she had been at her core a good person and it hadn’t changed at all or at least completely.
Frankly, it was a false choice I was giving her because I already knew since picking the two options which she would choose.
“The second would be to save everyone in this city, to ensure there could be no more destruction by slaying Walpurgisnacht.”
“What do you prefer Love?” I asked her when I already knew the answer.
Luna didn't want me to directly intervene with her two bullies, with the girls who had tried to continue their bullshit with my daughter in my classroom.
So I wouldn't. I wouldn’t threaten the girls. What I would do is show them how different the distance was between my daughter and them, show them the only reason they were still alive was because of my daughter’s mercy.
I wanted them to understand how pathetic, how inconsequential their existences were and was there any better way to do so than making them watch for my daughter end a world-ending monster?
Comments
allen 1996
Fixed the numbers. Sorry for the error
Ethan Potts
Where are chapter 15 and 16?
allen 1996
Thanks for reading. Also, sorry if there are mistakes. To be frank, this chapter was the reason why it took me so much time to post
Jason Smith
Thanks for the chapter!
