My Normal Life Now Has A Tired Acceptance

“You know how lucky you are? If my darling Nachts hadn’t informed me that you’d be coming, you two would’ve been long dead by now. Not every ambitious scientist is as polite as me to her test subjects—truly, I deserve a crumb of credit.”

Tama kept her sword up. Pleasa pulled out her umbrella and leaned on it. “Come on. I can fly, and you can’t. If you keep irritating me I might consider violence the only solution to our little quarrel~.”

“You’re way too late to be acting like you’re reasonable,” Sarine sneered. Pleasa clicked her tongue.

“Okay, fair’s fair. But still, you’re in my domain, and I’m inviting you to see every trick and trap I have. Wouldn’t you both be fools not to take my offer?”

…Tama lowered her sword. Still she kept it at her side. Her and Sarine exchanged eye contact, before they both nodded.

“Find something we can break ‘n distract her with,” Tama whispered. “Then, we’ll get away and come up with a plan.”

If Pleasa heard, she pretended not to. The three continued down the bridge in terse silence; one in particular seemed determined to break it.

“You know, I once had a mother who didn’t care about me too,” Pleasa said.

Tama groaned. “I don’t care.”

“Oh, and my father, don’t get me started on—”

“I don’t care! Hurry up!”

“My, my, is it any wonder you don’t have friends?”

“We don’t care,” Sarine said, “so don’t bother.”

Pleasa said nothing. The bridge led to a rusted staircase, which wound down to the laboratory beneath. The flash earlier had been the lights turning on, drowning out the natural light above. Lines of vats and machines revealed themselves, slots collecting Dream Seeds from the concoction. They passed by a few doors on the way to the main attraction—a device embedded into the southern wall.

Like a coffin in shape, bursting with dream seeds—and through a small window, a sleeping faerie.

Sarine squinted. “Lavi…?” The dreaming faerie twitched, and a growl pulled Tama’s attention away. Before the device sat various glass cages, holding Nachts of all shapes and sizes. Monsters—though they occasionally shifted to the form of a human before changing back.

“Though the Nachts hosted by a single person are by far the most powerful,” Pleasa said, shaking her head, “Lavi here is someone I found who is…especially tormented by her pain. From that agony, I’ve been able to grow a small army of Nachts; weaklings, yes, but more than sufficient for guarding my little fortress. My device staves off any rude awakenings as well, though I admit, it was so scary, sending her away to spy on that obnoxious magical child.

Pleasa turned around, a hand over her mouth. “But all is right. She’s where she needs to be—I protect her from her pain, and she inflicts it on those that deserve it the most.”

“No wonder she’s fine with killing humans,” Sarine said, putting distance between her and the coffin. “You’re subjecting her to all those nightmares to keep your Nachts alive!”

“Well, I’m no therapist.” Pleasa shakes her head. “If she’s decided the only way to move on from her suffering is to take revenge—well, who am I to stop her?

“Besides!”

Pleasa snapped a finger. A rumble threw Tama off balance. Sarine missed catching her, and as Tama looked up she caught a glimpse of a similar, empty device mounted against the eastern wall.

“It’s actually quite comfortable in there. Do you want to try it out? It’ll soothe the pain, if nothing else, and you—you there, the normal boring girl, you seem to be in more than enough pain.”

A click of her heel; the glass panes on the cages fell off, and Tama raised her sword once more.

“Guess we’re not getting a chance to run away,” Sarine said. “You’re not putting anyone in those creepy machines! We’re getting Lavi out, we’re destroying this factory, and we’ll be handing you over to Society Prime to face punishment for everything you’ve done!”

Pleasa laughed, raising a hand. The monsters halted at her command. “You think those meager idiots can lay a hand on me? No, forget that—you both seem so certain you can defeat me…in my own lab?

“Well.”

“It’s a wonderful joke, if nothing else.”

She dropped her hand.

She dropped her hand, and Tama’s world turned dark.

She assumed the Nachts would be easy to fend off individually. From what Pleasa said, the Nachts, when multiple are made from one host, carry less strength than if there was one seed to feed, but Tama neglected the fact that there’d been a couple dozen of these beasts, all of different shapes and strengths. The faster ones chewed up Tama’s limbs and covered her eyes—she gripped her sword but couldn’t swing it.

Useless; but that was all right. Someone else was here to be the hero.

“Sarine!” Tama called, and her muscles went limp. Her heart skipped a beat, and the Nachts fled, bodies on fire, torn apart. Sarine stayed floating over Tama.

“You wretched little—!”

Pleasa procured a sharp dagger. She lunged, but Sarine got between her and Tama, and she twirled her hands, cultivating a breeze. Tama didn’t know why (no, of course she knew) but breathing became a struggle, a conscious effort.

The breeze became a small storm, which raised Pleasa off the ground and, with a scream, dropped her.

“Keep going!” Tama said, hand to her chest. Her heart thudded, faster and faster—was this what a heart attack felt like?—“She has to pay! So don’t stop!”

Sarine created an inferno. It chased Pleasa no matter where she ran. The Nachts went for Tama again, and this time, her strength failed her over her reaction speed. The flames spread, forming around Tama, blocking out everything.

Her throat itched. Her entire body, wracked by shivers and then by pain as if she’d awoken with the flu. Sparks danced at the edge of Tama’s vision, the world grew so soft. Tama wanted to reach out and take it into her hands, mold it back into shape, but everything slipped away.

“Don’t stop…” Tama said and the flames consumed more. She thought she might’ve heard a scream—maybe it was her own.

Maybe Tama was going to die too. She wanted to fight alongside Sarine, but, in the end, destiny won. Sarine was born special. She possessed a talent capable of killing this demented scientist. Sarine would kill Pleasa, and come to find Tama had died from exhaustion, from being drained of all she had. She’d mourn. Probably.

Not that much.

She’d return to Society Prime a hero and study her magic. Come into her own, live a decent life. Make some better friends.

And Tama would…die with Chiho. Sarine wouldn’t be using her. She chose to die this way—no one would miss her, except Sarine, but only for a little bit.

For a little, fleeting moment in her grand story. Where nothing about a normal girl’s life mattered all that much. Not enough to turn back—to go ahead and say:

“…put her in there. Please. I don’t want her to die…”

Tama’s eyes snapped open. A girl smiled, hovered over Tama, before a beautiful illusion dissipated to hands moving her into something comfortable. Soft—alluring, a distraction from all the pain before.

“Th—thank you. I tried to stop her, so many times…”

“Shhhh. These kinds of misunderstood powers can be easily exploited by those believing they’re only doing right. She might’ve pushed you to do terrible, terrible things, but the only thing I want from you comes at no harm to anyone else.”