Canto V: Pax In Terra

The Holy Hexagonal Table had issued an order to restrict the freedom of action of all registered Magical Girls, and attempted to crack down on unregistered Magical Girls. Why? Nobody knew the exact reasons, but they were probably related to money. If they got Magical Girls to rebel a bit less, they'd be able to enrich themselves more. Or perhaps they wanted to show that they were the ones in charge. Maybe there was a more profound reason… But probably not.

To enforce their orders, they'd tasked their most trustworthy Magical Girls with carrying out their words, and the Table carried out other tasks like pressuring the Ministries to change their laws to suit the new orders.

Bad idea. Even though they'd initially seen some results, they slowed down and came to a halt after a few hours, as Magical Girl resistance grew. Then, protests from watchdog organisations started pelting them. Then some Ministries refused to carry out their orders, protesting that they couldn't just restrict their freedom without a valid reason.

Things got bad when a significant portion of Magical Girls started protesting too, then rioting, and then things escalated into a full-fleged revolt which sent the Holy Hexagonal Table into hiding: A Magical Girl had carpet-bombed their headquarters, located in the Scotland's uninhabited St Kilda islands, with low-yield nuclear weapons. The less said about that, the better.

60% of Magical Girls had revolted against the Holy Hexagonal Table, calling themselves The Star-Felling Provisional Authority. They opposed the 20% which had remained loyal to the Holy Hexagonal Table. And 15% banded together in what they called The Swiss Line, vowing to keep a strict policy of neutrality, non-interference and cooperation with international organisms to keep excesses from happening on either side.

5% of Magical Girls didn't join any of the factions, due to factors like being in places where news wouldn't reach them, being too isolated to take action, or simply not giving a damn about the situation. In which camp were our friends in Carcabuey in? They were in the I couldn't care less camp, of course. They'd still get paid, and they were too isolated from any important cluster of rebellious or loyalist Magical Girls to be bothered by them. They had their Arcadia, and they were going to make sure it stayed that way.

Of course, the conflict would limit their freedom of movement and keep them in or near the village, but apart from that, they'd be fine. After all, the village was protected by 4 Magical Girls and a professor who was working on neutralising any stray Magical Girls, so no one would mess with them. The world still turned, and people learned to live with the conflict… For the most part.

A week had passed since things went downhill, and Olivia and her comrades, including her new housemate Imperator, were enjoying their morning at home.

Olivia was on her computer, sitting on the living room's couch. She was writing a novel about extraterrestrials and Magical Girls. Fetail was poking her head out of a window, observing the fog rolling around the streets and enjoying the breeze while occasionally throwing stones at Almudena, who was delivering letters, when she appeared through the fog.

Godofreda was working hard while in the floor below, in a little studio which had been repurposed to serve as a laboratory for her research. Gladstone was sitting on the window sill, silently watching the fog with Fetail.

Finally, Imperator was watching an interview on TV, where two Magical Girls, who had been locked in a hotel in Amsterdam, explained their reasons for joining the Swiss Line: The Battleship Enjoyer would be free to move around without being bothered if she did, and her friend had simply come along for the ride.

"How amusing, gobi! To think that such weird people existed, gobi! I want to fight them, gobi!" The totally normal scorpion-rabbit-dancer appeared to ignore her own lack of self-awareness, and she switched to a cooking channel. Olivia had stopped her from leaving just after hearing the Holy Hexagonal's Table's order through her radio: It had caught her in the middle of gathering some rosemary a distance away from the village.

Seeing another Magical Girl in the area, she'd decided to add her to her ranks, just in case things went wrong, and they sure did. She'd rather avoid adding people to her household, but they just kept coming. Honestly, she'd rather be alive to enjoy her future desk job and future world peace, and finding peaceful solitude can only be done when alive.

And Imperator knew that even a free bird like her would have her wings clipped by conflict if she didn’t hide and bide her time.

Thus, Imperator Harenae moved into their rural Arcadia with them, and started looking into opening a restaurant there, as the conflict looked like it was going to drag on… And her best friend was there, so why not?

"Factionalism sucks, I'm telling ya, gobi! Stop fighting amongst yourselves, and fight me, gobi!" It appeared that the human spirit, whether in Magical or non-magical form, would never be defeated while those like her were around: Especially, those so well suited to Arcadia like Imperator. Perhaps her role was that of the noble savage? Imperator barely stopped her flailing scorpion tail from blowing a hole through Olivia's head, who didn't look bothered at all by it.

She was bothered by it, but it did not appear on her face. If she let it show on her face, Imperator would find a way of twisting that into a fight. All warfare is based on deception, and so Olivia would deceive her poor old Imperator to avoid dealing with a sandstorm.

"Cazzo! I'm out of stones to toss at Miss Stalker. In that case…" A mischievous grin appeared on Fetail's face. She called forth her wand, pointed it at the sky and kicked her buoy into the heavens.

"Wake up, Chi! Drop yourself!" Her Magic activated and thus fell a glowing, metallic meteor in Almudena's direction. It caused the mailwoman to switch to her Magical Girl Form and slip into the shadows before fleeing the scene.

"Blyat, she got away. Nothing I can do about it with this fog." Fetail went to the kitchen to grab some bread, after confirming that the meteor had vanished and that the buoy was back. Meanwhile, Gladstone returned to Olivia's side.

"Princess, have you found anything out of the ordinary?" He asked.

"This long spell of peace is strange and quite out of the ordinary. No sightings, no no nuclear bombings, not even a stray Magical Girl or cryptid. I'd expect something by now. I must look into this."

At that moment, Fetail, who had returned with a baguette in her hand, pointed at something glowing in the fog: It was a greenish ball of light which lightly floated around. ‘’Hey, look at that, Oli! Go chase it down, it looks like a mini-UFO! I can’t be bothered to do it myself, so I’ll just hold down the fort.’’ Fetail skilfully leapt over the couch and then jumped a step back, letting herself fall on it. The lazy fox-girl then proceeded to stick her hand in the couch, and when she raised it in the air, she had a book in it: ‘’Excellent! Time to read Aristotle a bit.’’ And she immersed herself in reading, occasionally biting into the baguette.

Olivia observed the scene and prepared to chase the light in the fog by transforming into Hadrinyan. But her preparations were in vain, as Imperator leapt from the window and dove into the fog like a shooting star, which caused the light to scurry away. ‘’FIIIIGHT MEEEE, GOBI!! FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, GOBI!’’ Those were the words Olivia heard before the girl’s presence fully vanished into the fog, chasing the speeding light.

The light was indeed fast, but Imperator was faster. She ran without her broom, soup pot or frying pan, but she could call for their help whenever she pleased. When she fought or hunted, she enjoyed using her fists, legs and her whole body, and only used her tools when she felt like it.

The light feinted with advancing towards the town hall by following the path which passed by the fountain, but it was a feint: To the right of the bus stop and the telephone booth, there was a street which led elsewhere, so it desperately dove into it. It was a smart move, as Imperator had to stop for a brief moment. But she was still hot on its heels, charging through the streets like an out-of-control bull. Any observant viewer might have thought to themselves Well, why isn’t she using her powerful Magic to restrain it?

There were two answers to that: First, if she used her power while in her elated state, she might end up demolishing a significant part of the village. And the second reason was, of course, that hunting her prey was much more enjoyable when achieved with her hands and not her magic. Relying purely on instinct, she avoided crashing into the cars which littered the sides of the street. She quickly reached a point where she could feel no houses to her right, instead feeling a steep fall. What a twist of fate that the street was aptly named Calle Carincería, with carnicería meaning Butcher’s, but it could also be interpreted as slaughter or massacre.

To avoid falling, she stuck to the left, which had a small stone wall and elevated houses and buildings beyond it: It was a large hill, with the village’s castle at the top. She charged on, drawing closer to her prey. It had been a while since Imperator had enjoyed herself like this. The elated girl felt the path split: Going forward would simply lead her back to the village, as the road looped around. That would give the light too much leeway, and it might even escape from the village by throwing itself down the steep fall she’d felt. And she wasn’t about to let that happen! In cooking, she exercised the utmost care. So it was only logical that the tasty-smelling light which smelled like lobster would require the utmost care in being collected and prepared.

Imperator leapt forward and over the light, cutting off its path: She could have caught it easily, but she didn’t have enough! From her position, she could feel it dashing towards the right, up Calle Tercia which led up the hill. In the time she’d spent in the village, the scorpion-rabbit girl had mapped most of the village and memorised it. In short, the light was in big trouble: It was being led into a trap!

Taking care not to smash into the metal fence on the stone wall to her left, and avoiding the wall to her right, she forced the light to charge forward, occasionally cutting of its attempts from hopping over any walls, and blocking its escape up a left-hand unpaved path which seemed to lead to the castle, but actually just led to a small forested area. Thus, it had to go around a tree a few metres away from the path. The tree had been planted in the middle of the road, and acted as a small roundabout.

But Imperator charged straight through the tree, turning it into splinters. A few steps more, and they were racing through the village’s streets again, up the narrow Calle Cañuelo, which was where the path they'd been following led.

The girl’s stomach rumbled: She was getting hungry. Sirocco, as some villagers called her, barely managed to avoid finishing the chase then and there, but decided that she’d end it soon. They ran and ran, drawing the attention of the villagers, who poked their heads through their windows. The street opened up again, and she stopped the light from escaping through a narrow path to their right. Down and down through winding streets, they went, until the hungry girl decided that enough was enough. The street then ended, with the famous fountain 15 metres away, to their left.

Imperator took advantage of the fact that the light stopped for the briefest of moments, surprised that they’d basically gone in a big circle. Fatal mistake by the light’s part, which was then brutally smashed into the road by her powerful legs, cracking the pavement in the process. Of course, the light stopped struggling, and for a moment, she saw what the light was: It was a giant lobster, which was shrouded in a pale green colour. ‘’It looks a bit strange, gobi. But never look a gift lobster in the mouth, gobi!’’ Unaware of how many potholes she had created on her way, she went home with the lobster over her shoulder.

When she got to the living room, she found Godofreda stuffing her cheeks with chocolate while watching a documentary on the Space Race. Hadrinyan and Fetail were present too, and they were engaging in a heated game of checkers, with Gladstone acting as a referee. ‘’I’m back, gobi! That was a fun run, gobi!’’

Godofreda jumped the second she smelt the lobster, her eyes glittering at the sight: Sometimes her animal-like instincts took over. In a way, she was similar to Imperator, but Godofreda was more docile and gentle, and Imperator was more savage. However, they had both bonded over their appreciation for cooking. While those two were discussing how to cook it, Fetail helped herself to Godofreda’s chocolate, and Hadrinyan approached the foodie beast duo.

Her expression was overcome with emotion. Did she really enjoy lobsters that much? ‘’Zoya, Wegener, Margarida. Please leave the room, and leave the lobster here.’’ With a quick nod, they all left the living room and went to discuss their theories on her reaction in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Hadrinyan held the lobster by the tail, with Gladstone observing. ‘’As expected from Your Royal Highness, you can identify your own kind through a disguise! Excellent, you are the pride of Yuggoth!’’

‘’Hmph! It’s not like I care about this little guy or anything, but he’s a subject of mine…’’

Hadrinyan took a deep breath and started singing a song in a foreign language which sounded like an oily river slowly flowing across Yuggoth’s surface. She sang and sang, her voice occasionally turning into a buzz or a wind-like sound. She stopped when the lobster revealed its true appearance after shedding its disguise: A winged, crustacean-like creature with claws and a fleshy head filled with antennae. It was a Mi-Go, one of Yuggoth’s inhabitants. ‘’I finally found one. One of my kind, Gladstone. And one of the few left on Earth, going by the green glow. I believe this one is unaware of the Sleeper Agent plot.’’ She patted the creature’s head, making a fond expression.

‘’You got roughed up pretty badly, but you are safe now, my subject. Your Princess will crush those who would harm you. You are not involved in the Sleeper Agent Plot, so you’re fine in my book. This power, I shall turn it against those who have disobeyed. Their Princess shall crush them.’’ She tightened her fists. ‘’How dare they go against my orders? I told them to halt their plot: Magical Girls are a study of humanity, not the means to a takeover. But they disobeyed me, how uncouth! I believe it’s the consequence of contact with other races, the same reason for the slight liberalisation of some of our members, and the appearance of factionalism in our kind. Now go, my good subject! There are things only you can do: Protect the Signs, and continue your mining operations!’’ The strange creature rose into the air, had its head change colours a few times as a way of expressing its gratitude towards her, and disappeared into the sky while coated in a green glow. Shortly after, the fog vanished.

‘’One day, I shall return to Yuggoth. But that day is not today, as I am not the perfect maid yet! It's not like I’m worried or anything, ok!?’’ Gladstone nodded.

‘’I understand your feelings, Your Royal Highness. But all will be well as long as you are here.’’

‘’Olivia, it’s not like I’m sorry for getting you wrapped up in this mess, ok?! Hmph!’’ Olivia had to deal with her own Magical Girl Form, 3 wacky housemates, a superpowered stalker, a worldwide Magical Girl conflict, an alien plot, and also had to deal with the stress of a human’s daily life.

Hadrinyan stretched a bit and opened the cupboard to the left of the TV, drawing a feather duster and then merrily using it to clean the cupboard, the space behind the TV, and the other cupboard to the right of her TV. When she was satisfied, she clicked her fingers and detransformed, letting Olivia take her place.

‘’Isn’t it weird? I just witnessed an extraterrestrial being. I didn’t manage to record it though, or obtain a piece of its technology, so I’m guessing it does not count. Well, my Magical Girl Form is technically an alien. I’ve been looking for them all my life, and I’ve ended up sharing my body with one of them. Curious and amusing, isn’t it? Now, about you…’’

She turned to Gladstone, which made him leap back. Her stare was intense and full of curiosity: ‘’Gladstone, you never told me your true origin. I know you are connected to Yuggoth, but it appears that your form is not a disguise. Here’s my hypothesis: You were designed as a mentor and mechanical companion of the naïve, humanoid princess for her time on Earth, right? You were sent a bit ahead and worked your way into being appointed as her mentor, is that right?’’

Gladstone looked surprised, as much as a golden dragon could be. ‘’Brilliant, Princess! You truly are brilliant! You saw through a century-long plan by our kind in a mere instant! Olivia del Riego y Flórez, what are you?’’

The girl scoffed at him and pointed at herself. ‘’Me? I’m a human, down to the bone. Don’t underestimate my kind, we'll even wipe ourselves out to prove our humanity. Now, I'm going outside, Gladstone. I have a few errands I want to run." She then went into the kitchen. "Sorry, girls, but the lobster escaped."

Godofreda and Imperator looked disappointed. "It looked tasty, gobi…"

"Aw. Well, can't win them all!"

Fetail knew something was off, but she didn't prod. "Heh, see why I don't like to put any effort into anything? It's because of things like these."

Olivia then spoke: "I'm going to run a few errands now. Fetail, you're in charge of controlling these two, Gladstone will assist you. Don't worry, I'll pick up a good lobster for everyone to enjoy as lunch. And for you, Fetail, I'll buy a soda and fries. Do you agree all on your food?"

"Hell yeah, gobi!

"Thanks, Olivia! I'd give you a hug, but I'd get restrained by Fetail if I did. Slimy fox…"

"That's because you're too touchy, you perverted dog. Fries and soda… Very well, my friend. It sounds good enough: I'll take it as compensation for unpaid labour."

"Fetail, you haven't shown me your strength yet, gobi! Fight me, gobi!"

"What a pain. Please finish your neutralizer soon, Professor."

"I'm trying, Fetail, I'm trying! But I'm an archaeologist, not an engineer!"

"FIIIIGHT, GOBIIII!"

Olivia let them squabble amongst themselves and headed to her room, just at the end of the corridor, not far away from one of her house's two bathrooms: The one to her left was frequented by Fetail, Imperator and Godofreda. The one to her right was her own: It was an unspoken agreement between them, which was respected by all parties… For the most part.

Once in her room, which everyone shared, she removed her eyepatch, monocle and sailor hat, and then changed her overalls and jeans and put on a white, horizontally striped baseball uniform, grey socks and grey trainers. Wearing the precious memento of a bygone era, Olivia set out to carry out her duty, including a task related to her alien-watching hobby. She had not mentioned the task to anyone, not even to Gladstone. But there were things only she could do, so she would do them as well as she could.

All was for the sake of world peace, all was for the sake of her desk job… Or was it? Did she perhaps have a higher goal?

                                                                               ☆☆☆