Chapter Text
When Meimei arrived at the scene of the report, everything was already a disaster. The paths were waterlogged and flooded with mud. Almost half the houses were in a state of disarray.
A Sea Serpent had encircled the entire perimeter of the village, dozing idly.
Meimei stared, silent.
How unlucky for both the beast and the villagers. When Sea Serpents came to land to lay their eggs, they preferred using human settlements. When that inevitably sparked chaos, the Act of Necessity was enforced.
For any beast that encroaches upon human life, all measures are granted to eliminate the threat.
Meimei took in the ruined buildings. So much ruin. Not willing to dwell, she clicked her shoes together, preparing to gather an aerial perspective.
“Witch!”
Meimei paused. An Unknowing woman, her dress soaked with mud and her hands red, called from the village. Her gait was unsteady.
“Madam,” Meimei began, eyes wide. “You—you need to leave the premises—“
The woman grasped onto her forearms, slick blood soaking into her sleeves. Meimei froze. “Please,” the woman gasped, “please, you need to save my daughter.”
It wasn’t her blood, Meimei realized. She glanced at the ruined village. “… Where is she?”
With tears streaming down her face, the woman pointed towards the house with painted flowers. “Right there. The collapsed house. She’s trapped under a mound of rubble.”
Just behind the house, the Serpent twitched, knocking over a street lamp. Its eyes remained closed.
This was dangerous.
“Madam, please, you have to leave,” Meimei begged, pulling her arms out of the woman’s loose grasp. She began guiding her backwards, towards a Pegasus Carriage.
There were one, two, three carriages not including the woman’s. Three total survivors.
“Her name is Agatha,” the woman said, voice quiet. “My daughter.”
“Agatha,” Meimei murmured. “That’s beautiful.”
“She looks just like me. Curly red hair and green eyes. Promise me you’ll save her,” the woman sobbed. “Promise me.”
Meimei found that she couldn’t summon any words at all. After a moment, she glanced up. “Enter the carriage, Madam. We need to keep you safe.”
The woman, inside the wagon now, turned to her. Meimei pushed the door shut.
“Promise me,” she begged, as the carriage began to move. “Promise me!”
The carriage raced into the sky, disappearing in the heavy fog.
Meimei turned to the village, the echo of her scream still fresh. Promise me, promise me. She bit her tongue.
Sometimes she wished she had anybody else here with her. Or if she could provide anything of substance.
Meimei found the Serpent curled up in the same position as earlier. It was still asleep. Shooting up above it, Meimei quickly realized that this would be a wet fight.
Once the Serpent was attacked, it would fight viciously to protect its eggs. With enough provocation, however, the mother would return to the sea. From there, it would be a battle of attrition.
Meimei pulled her cloak off, hitching it on the top of a nearby tree. From her thigh, she grabbed her quire and pen. She flipped to the third page. An incomplete Air Arrow greeted her.
Meimei took a moment to consider her surroundings. No strong winds, humid air. A sleeping Serpent, unaware of an oncoming attack.
Slowly, she aimed the quire at one large, closed eye. Meimei sucked in a breath. With a quick stroke, she completed the outer ring.
The glyph began to glow, and the paper was lost in the light. The next moment, compressed air blasted out of her quire, the reverb throwing her back. It corkscrewed into the Serpent’s right eye.
Instantly, the beast rose with a pained roar. Its eyes, a vivid green, narrowed on her. The afternoon sun cast its scales into unfortunately beautiful light.
Meimei cringed as she shot towards the left of its craning head. The Serpent uncoiled, body tensing in preparation to strike. The tail lashed out, heading towards her.
She flipped a lucky ninety degrees, darting upwards to barely avoid the strike. The attack created a trail of wind in its wake. Meimei covered her face with her arms, not willing to risk dust in her eyes. The ground where the Serpent’s tail had slammed had broken apart, cracks like lightning splitting off from the main crater.
Meimei prepared another Air Arrow as she circled above. Sea Serpents had just a few weaknesses. Notably, their eyes and their stomach. If she used one of her Arrows, she had only nine left.
She always made sure to have enough Air Arrows because of their adaptability. Just not this time.
Still, it was the start of a plan.
Meimei squinted, braving the glare of the sun. With a quick flick, she released a second Air Arrow, striking the Serpent’s uninjured eye. Its neck writhed, and then the Serpent fully uncoiled. Eight houses tall, and that was only its neck.
The Air Arrows likely weren’t enough to blind the Serpent (its stupid scales!), just disorient it. Meimei quickly retreated to a higher position, observing its condition.
So she had to be careful of—the Serpent unhinged its muzzle. Meimei threw herself to the side to avoid a pressurized blast of boiling water. The tip of her braid had nearly been singed off.
Steam escaped from the beast’s open mouth. It fanned its fins, a clear warning to leave and not come back. Meimei continued her circular path above the Serpent at a slightly faster pace, her teeth gritted.
Maybe almost dying was good, because it reminded her that the fight was dragging on. It was necessary to push the Serpent into the water, as quickly as possible. There were still survivors.
Meimei pulled out four pages from her quire, lining the circles up until they overlapped perfectly. Wind rushed past her as she pushed her Sylph Shoes to give more, just a little more. Sea Serpents were intelligent creatures, she needed to make sure this one wasn’t aware of her position.
Meimei shook her pen viciously, until the ink was dribbling out of the tip. When she came up behind the Serpent, its head already turning, Meimei pierced all four papers with the thin nib. The ink soaked into the pages separately, completing the four circles.
Her hands in front of her and quire pointed outward, Meimei aimed the rapidly forming Air Arrow at the Serpent’s vulnerable jaw. She hissed a bit, the energy collected made the quire hot.
Meimei held her breath, but the spell still kicked the air out of her, a fist to her sternum. She rocketed back, barely avoiding slamming into the tree line even as she angled her Sylph Shoes in the opposite direction. Her ears ringing, she opened her eyes.
The combined spells had blasted a hole straight through its mandible.
The Serpent’s jaw hung open uselessly, and with a shake of its fins, the beast slipped off the side of the cliff and into the waters below.
Meimei chased it as it fled, following the ripples in the water. With the survivors no longer at risk, the advantages of using a large-scale spell were clear.
She unrolled a sheet of spell paper attached to her thigh. It was inconvenient that the glyph wasn’t pre-drawn, and it was worse that she was above the sea, where the winds were stronger.
Meimei tapped her pen nervously. Below, the waters swirled ominously. She steeled herself.
It wasn’t a choice.
Meimei dipped her pen into the ink pot and began drawing, working outwards. The wind sigil, then layers upon layers of Convergence Signs that grew smaller as she reached the edges of the spell.
It took just three minutes. Now, she only needed to close the ring. A quick curve of the arm. That’s all.
Then, why did something feel so wrong?
Meimei ripped the paper from her thigh so that it was freed from her leg before taking a glance at the twisting Serpent below.
Something was wrong.
Hesitantly, Meimei descended until she was at a distance acceptable to observe and not be trounced.
The waters weren’t murky, yet the Serpent’s shadow seemed to move oddly. She couldn’t put a finger on why.
It began to surface. Meimei floated a few feet upwards, tracking its movement. The waters revealed the head of the Serpent, then its powerful neck.
Meimei flinched, her pen already at her paper. One graceful arc of her wrist and the circle would be closed.
Strangely, the beast seemed content to examine her, unmoving.
Meimei shook her head and made to finish the spell. Something shot out of the water.
It wrapped around her left leg. Thin and scaly, the end of a Serpent’s tail.
But the Serpent was too far to grab her. This was a different tail entirely, a slightly cooler green.
Meimei’s eyes widened.
“The mate,” she gasped out.
The tail swung in a circle and released her, and then Meimei was falling sideways, her spell paper torn out of her grasp from the velocity.
She couldn’t figure out what direction to face with the Sylph Shoes to slow herself down. The sky flew by in parallel with the ocean.
Meimei watched the sea approach with rising horror. If she hit the water, she would die.
She cartwheeled in the air, finding her footing just a few seconds before she could crash. The force of her Sylph Shoes fighting her acceleration almost made her knees buckle.
Go, she screamed, eyes squeezed shut, go up!
The shoes slowed her momentum just enough that when she dove into the waves, it didn’t hurt.
Cold, was her first thought. And then, there is a real chance I will be eaten.
The salt water began to burn her eyes immediately. Meimei ignored the stinging, the way her fingers began to instantly numb. Don’t die. That was the priority now. She followed the light coming from above. Pushed down any panic she had.
Meimei hadn’t taken a breath before she crashed into the ocean. Just a few more meters. If she didn’t breach the surface soon, she would start breathing water.
One, two, three seconds.
Meimei broke through the film of sea separating water from air, gasping. The overwhelming taste of salt made her gag. Something else was bothering her, though.
The Sylph Shoes, Meimei realized.
As a precautionary measure, she’d drawn a spell that concentrated air around the shoe like a shield. It was for moments like these—when everything got soaked. It was a flip of the coin whether the spell held.
Still panting, Meimei put her feet together, summoning a jolt of momentum that rocketed her out of the water. She could’ve cried.
Ripples emerged from under her and a large pair of jaws snapped shut around where she’d just been.
Meimei shuddered.
No time to celebrate. This couldn’t happen again; the spell was already melting off her shoes.
The second Serpent emerged from the water, differentiated by a pair of whiskers half its body length.
Meimei patted her thigh, only to understand the gravity of her situation. No pen, she’d lost it in the water. Her ink pot had spilled onto her shirt. Her quire was somewhere with her pen. The spell paper she had started drawing—
Meimei looked up. Was floating above her, being carried along by the ocean wind.
The ink on her shirt was still wet, courtesy of her quick trip in the ocean. She ran a finger along the stain. It came back black.
Meimei crouched and took a moment to close her eyes. Using the extra strength the position provided, she vaulted up towards the spell paper, avoiding a wild lash of Serpent tail on the way.
The sunlight bled through the paper, revealing a perfectly done Spiraling Winds spell. Meimei snatched the paper out of the air.
Twisting around, she located both Sea Serpents looping below, likely in preparation for a joint attack.
Perfectly situated between the two, Meimei used her ink-stained finger to complete the final ring of the spell.
The air around her started to shift, then beyond that, too. A steady wind picked up, curving in an uneven, winding orbit downward. The circular draft shot towards the ocean, forming a funnel with a perimeter of ten arm's length.
Seawater slowly crept up the cone of wind, until it eventually brushed a Serpents’ tail.
Unblinking, Meimei watched as both beasts were pulled into the spell, their long bodies writhing in an attempt to escape.
Slowly, the waterspout towed them up until their struggle ceased completely. When the Serpents reached her height, Meimei couldn’t help but admire the luminance of their coats. So clear, each scale lent itself as a little mirror. Just overhead, the water scattered into tiny droplets that mirrored the afternoon sun.
A rainbow.
Magic was beautiful, and magic was horrifying.
Meimei the Witch should know that more than anybody.
The spell slowly died off, sending both a surge of water and two Serpents back to the sea. Their limp bodies sank until Meimei could no longer make them out against the ocean.
She sighed, rubbing her arms to break herself out of the strange numbness. There were still survivors needing help. Her skin too dry and Sylph Shoes dangerously wet, Meimei rushed towards the village.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Meimei grabbed her cloak, which had somehow survived the entire ordeal, off the tree. If there were Unknowings, then it was law.
And based off the unsatisfied pegasi lounging on the grass, there were three survivors in the village.
Please, save my daughter! Meimei winced, not expecting the sudden onslaught of memory. “Okay, okay,” she said, if only to block it out.
Meimei headed to the flower house, or what was left of it. The structure of the building had collapsed, leaving a pile of rubble in its wake.
“Hello?” She called out. “Is there anybody here?”
Meimei clenched her fists. She was once again reminded that she lost everything important in the ocean. She had two choices, then. Call the Knights of Moralis, or try and find Agatha using a heat tracking spell.
She couldn’t smell any iron, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t bleeding. That, and the fact that were no gates that close to this small village, so it would take time for the Knights to arrive.
All Meimei had was nearly dried ink and rubble she could fingerprint on. There was no guarantee her spell would even work. She made her decision.
On a flat pad of stone, Meimei drew the glyph to summon the Knights to her location. It was a useful spell, one that accessed a system already prebuilt to alert in case of emergency.
Meimei spent ten minutes painting the spell with a finger and ink from her clothes. Please be alive, she thought, the whole time. Please forgive me.
The glyph, upon completion, pulsed once, and disappeared. She exhaled.
“Is anybody here?” Meimei yelled again, for reassurance. “… You’re safe. Please answer.”
There was no response. She exited the ruined house and traveled to the nearest collapsed building, preparing to draw up a heat detection spell with the remaining ink she had left.
There was another problem, too. Even if she found a survivor, they were buried under pounds of debris. There was nothing she could do.
… Maybe she made the right call.
Meimei finished the spell, which revealed no signs of human activity. She wanted to sit, but she knew she couldn’t. Rather this than laze around and accidentally kill a person.
She wrung her silk bodice, squeezing the remainder of the water out. It told her she truly had no more ink left. The puddle was completely clear.
She stared at the muddy ground, fighting back despair. This didn’t mean anything—it was just time to practice the basics.
Meimei clicked her heels together. Nothing happened. She repressed the urge to collapse into a pile by staring at the setting sun.
Taking a closer inspection of her Sylph Shoes, Meimei confirmed that the water had begun to distort the ink on the soles.
Regardless, she trudged on.
“Hello?” Meimei shouted into an empty house. Nothing.
“Does anybody need help?” She asked, on her fourth house. Again, nothing.
Doubt crept in. Was she doing something wrong? Surely, she was projecting loud enough that anybody in the houses could hear.
Another possibility presented itself. Meimei took a breath and pushed it down, unwilling to consider it.
Her legs were starting to shake from exhaustion. The cold was beginning to affect her, too.
Meimei allowed herself to rest for a couple of minutes while she contemplated her next set of steps. Her cloak, originally dry, had soaked up enough water she wasn’t sure if it was actually keeping her warm anymore. Maybe she should take it off. That would be the next move.
It would be easier with the Knights here. Despite the fact that their relationship was ambiguous to Meimei, she couldn’t deny their helpfulness.
She yawned, then looked up. Meimei blinked. Speak of the Devil.
A squadron of six Knights were rapidly approaching. The closer they came, the more details she made out. And it wasn’t painting a pretty picture. If that really was Easthies, Meimei needed to leave, last week.
Too tired for formalities, Meimei stared at the floor as the man landed. It was Easthies. No other Knight held his capture-pennant like that. No other Knight held himself like that.
“Good evening, sir,” Meimei said.
Then, because he was the type of man who appreciated immediate debriefing, she debriefed. It wasn’t perfect, but she didn’t skimp over the victims and Meimei wanted to go home.
(She left out the part where she took her cloak off to fight. Even miserable, Meimei knew it was best to keep some details hidden.)
Eventually, Easthies asked, “… there’s three survivors?”
Meimei nodded, slowly. She added, “it’s only based off the fact that there were three Pegasi Carriages left. Please take it with a grain of salt.”
And though she wasn’t sure if Easthies severely disliked her or not, never let it be said that he wasn’t a dedicated man.
“Utowin, Galga, search for the remaining survivors,” he commanded. “Luluci, dry the Winged Witch off. I will handle the located survivor.”
Luluci came to her, offering a hand. Meimei raised her head and let herself be pulled up.
“It’s good to see you, Luluci,” Meimei greeted.
“May-san,” Luluci replied.
Her mouth quirked downward just slightly as she drew the heating spell. Meimei waited awkwardly.
After a moment of foot shuffling, she interrupted, “My dearest apologies, I wish to check on the survivor as well. Could we make this quick?”
Luluci paused, and nodded, though she frowned slightly.
“Of course, Miss Witch.” Her eyes were sympathetic. “Do know that this does not need to be your duty.”
Meimei nodded politely.
Luluci’s hands were hidden under her cloak, but Meimei noticed the flick of her wrist as she completed the ring to her spell.
A comforting heat enveloped her, blowing her dress and cloak to dryness. When it finished, she immediately missed the warmth.
“The Knights of Moralis will ensure you receive compensation for your lost property.” Luluci bowed. “If you do not receive notice within three days, please contact us.”
Meimei returned the gesture with a grateful thanks.
She only felt a little bad for abandoning her to rush toward the flower house. The supplies would be delivered to her by tomorrow morning. The Knights of Moralis were not known to slack.
“Easthies, my deepest apologies for interrupting,” Meimei began, stopped by his hand held up.
Easthies stood in front of a pile of overturned debris. His pennant waved neutrally in the wind.
Suddenly unsure, Meimei observed his expression. It was no different from usual, except for the tiny crook to his brow.
But Easthies was never affected. That was the scary part.
There was a limp body lying on the rubble. She hadn’t noticed it until now. Meimei stepped forward against her best judgement.
The body became a girl, who became Agatha.
She was wearing a little yellow dress and her hair was tied back with a strip of matching cloth. Her hair was fiery red and eyes green like her mother’s. Blood had coagulated in a splotch over her stomach.
Meimei knew the expression of a corpse. She didn’t have to touch her skin to know it was cold. Agatha had the look of a dead fish.
Her breathing had become loud in the open space.
Please save my daughter!
save my daughter!
Please