Chapter 32 - A Magical Girl

When the Auf awoke, life burst forth from the ground around her. With her faculties returning, so too did her mana flow. As soon as she stirred, uncontrollable magic came pouring forth from her very being and into the ground, turning the short grass into a carpet of knee-high high-greenery and sprouting flowers underfoot.

“Wow…” Luna muttered, studying the girl from a short distance. Sol watched from much closer, sat cross legged before her.

The girl glanced around, trying to make sense of her environment. Sunlight was an alien thing to her, even the lightest dappling felt like burning on her skin. Her eyes also struggled with the light, too adjusted to the dark. It was strange to be able to see the far off horizon and infinite sky.. Though, it was even stranger to see what was up close.

People. Actual real life people. She could hardly believe it when they first burned their way through her prison, and even still she felt they could disappear at any moment. She prodded at Sol with her fingers, just to check if he was real.

“Ow!” He yelped, getting an Aufish finger right between his ribs.

The girl snickered. The very sensation of touching another person was a novelty to her after so long isolated. She did it again, earning another yell from Sol. So she did it again, and again, and again, until finally…

It wasn’t quite a laugh. She couldn’t really laugh. Her vocals chords weren’t practiced in making that noise, so she fell onto a flat repeated inhaling, just barely recognisable as an expression of amusement.

Sol laughed too, quickly showering how it was done with his own boisterous chuckle. She attempted to imitate it, but fell short. Luna watched on in bewilderment, not clued in to their little game in the slightest. She remained far more concerned about other things.

“What’s your name?” Luna asked gently, taking a step closer to the girl.

She looked up at her, brown eyes wide. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but instead just allowed it to hang there, agape. She pointed at the open hole, silently signalling the prerequisite for any further conversation.

Sol and Luna were more than happy to oblige, laying out a small feast for the girl. It was just standard rations, but they piled them high for her. Her bony appearance and feeble movements were more than enough to justify the cost. They couldn’t allow the poor malnourished thing to be denied any further.

She ate incredibly quickly, mostly with her mouth like a rabid dog. She shoveled food into her maw greedily, eyes constantly glancing around as she did. No time was taken to savour even a particle of flavour. This was an act of pure biological necessity. There was no joy to it.

After eating, she drowned her throat with water, pouring it over her cracked lips and swallowing down an entire skin in a series of large gulps. She lived up to Aufish stereotypes, even despite her unusual circumstances.

“My name is Merri.” She finally managed to speak. Her voice was a cracked thing, each syllable coming out unsteady and half-complete. Her voice was clearly a tool that had gone unused for a long time. “My name is Merri.” She repeated with slightly more power. “I’m called that because I’m a happy girl.” She said joylessly.

Luna didn’t know where to begin. All of her questions were racing around her mind, but they became congested on the way to her mouth. It was up to Sol to take the lead.

“Nice to meet you Merri.” He smiled and spoke softly, but didn’t talk down to her. “Do you want to stretch your legs a bit?”

The girl nodded. Sol rose and offered her a hand, she took it and stood as well. She struggled to support her own weight at first, like a baby deer learning to walk. With some focus she managed though, taking steps independently. A faint idea of a smile began on her face.

But then she looked down. Down at the flowers that sprouted with every step. She grimaced, scrunching her face together and shaking. All of a sudden, the flowers stopped growing.

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but Sol stopped her with a raised hand and a look.

“Go ahead and take a walk. Heck, go ahead and run if you want to. We’ll be here when you get back, okay?” Sol smiled, letting go of Merri’s hand. Merri looked up at him with her big brown eyes and nodded, before suddenly rushing off.

Her legs carried her well suddenly. It was like she grew lighter with each step. It seemed she could take flight at any moment. Sol and Luna watched on. Both smiled, though Sol’s was large and Luna’s was small.

“Is it definitely okay to let her run around like that? She seems… Fragile.” Luna hummed.

“She’s been trapped in a box for Goddess knows how long… Let her play for a bit.” Sol said, sitting down on the soft grass.

“Blüt could wake up any minute though.” Luna whispered, glancing over her shoulder at the cliffside they had just scaled.

“Let her have this, Luna” Sol insisted.

His sister couldn’t argue, taking a seat next to him.

After a few hours of aimless running, jumping, rolling and playing. Merri finally settled down, satisfied, at least for now, with the long forgotten feeling of freedom. She sat across from Sol and Luna, imitating their sitting postures as she tried to figure out what would be comfortable for her.

“Merri, if you don’t mind. We have a couple questions we really need to ask you.” Sol began sensitively.

Merri’s ears twitched toward him. “Okay. I’ll help.” She nodded.

Luna jumped the gun. “Why did we find you in that metal box Blüt wears?”

Merri’s face dropped. Every drop of blood disappeared from her face, leaving her sickly pale. Her eyes glazed over, their warm chestnut brown dulled over into a pale bronze. “...Merri lives in the box.” She spoke monotonely, like she was reading from a script.

Sol gave Luna an annoyed glare, but knew there was no way but forward. “Why?”

“Because Blüt says so.” Merri said.

“Do you ever leave the box?” Luna asked.

“No. Merri can never leave the box.” She shook her head hard, straining her neck with each swing of her head.

“But you did! You’re out right now, see?” Sol tried to be encouraging, but Merri shook her head even more fervently. It looked like she was going to give herself whiplash.

“No! Merri can never leave the box! She can’t ever, ever leave!” She insisted.

“Why not?” Luna pushed.

“If Merri leaves the box then Blüt will die!” She finally stopped swinging her head.

“...And that’s a bad thing?” Sol raised an eyebrow.

“No! I want Blüt to die! I want him to die and die and die again!” She yelled, growing louder each time.

“But…” Merri choked on her word, but the monotone forced its way into her voice again. “Blüt can’t die. Because Merri can never ever leave.”

“...Why? Why can’t you leave? What’s stopping you?” Luna asked softly.

“He’ll break my fingers again…” Her voice was soft, small and sad. Her monotone and repressed anger had both faded, giving way to something far more genuine. Fear.

“...But your fingers aren-” Luna began.

“Don’t!” Sol grabbed his sister by the shoulder. He recalled it already. The way they found her chained up, the individual wrappings on her fingers they had to painstakingly remove when they rescued her. He knew sooner than Luna the implications of what was going on.

But Luna’s curiosity got the better of her. “Your fingers aren’t broken, Merri.” Luna said.

“Merri healed them.” She said softly, eyes glazing over again. “Because Merri is a very special girl. A very magical girl. No matter how many times they break, Merri can magic them better again. Merri can magic anything better again. She does. Even the flowers.” She patted the ground next to her, already growing tall with daisies. “Merri makes everything better. Merri heals everything all the time.”

“That’s how he does it, huh?” Luna realised, thinking back to Blüt’s regeneration.

“And if she ever stops…” Sol muttered, hoping Luna would catch up before Merri was forced to say-

“If Merri ever stops. Blüt breaks her fingers again.” She sobbed without missing a beat in her speech, voice totally detached from her body as her expressionless face wept. “It hurts… And if Merri wants it to stop, she has to start healing again… So Merri can never, ever stop.” She balled her fists and ripped the daisies from the ground, only for more to grow in their place.

“How many times?” Luna asked, white as a sheet.

“Luna!” Sol protested.

“How many times?” She repeated, eyes growing dark as the deep ocean.

“5032… I think. I stopped counting a long time ago.” Merri muttered, surfacing from her trance once more.

Released from whatever twisted programming had dulled her emotions, everything came pouring forth from Merri at once. She screamed and sobbed, tears flowing freely from her eyes in an ugly, despairful crying.

Without thinking Luna was holding her, an utter blur as she suddenly wrapped her arms around the younger girl, allowing her to weep into her shoulder.

She placed a hand on Merri’s overgrown, matted hair, stroking it to comfort her. “Never again, Merri.” She whispered. “You’ll never have to do that awful magic again, okay? No one will break your fingers, no one will make you heal them, no more magic, okay?” Her voice took on a soothing tone, a song without singing.

Merri wailed into her shoulder, nodding.

Luna’s resolve burned brighter than ever. She had long known that Blüt had to die, but now she realised that wasn’t enough. To make up for all the suffering he had caused this poor girl… She swore she would tear him apart.

Current Party: Luna Dragoneart, Sol Dragoneart

Bullets Remaining: 5