Canto VI: Inveniam Viam

It was another sunny day in the Aragonese Pyrenees, and a certain girl was enjoying the weather outside an isolated mountain lodge, four hours on foot away from civilization. Regina Ascalón, which was the girl’s name, was sitting on a bench near the stone-walled cabin's main building, which contained three rooms and the place's main facilities, like the bar. The other building, which housed most of the rooms, used to be behind it but it had been moved underground, as it had been smashed pretty badly by avalanches.

Regina was in a particularly good mood that day, as her perennially-sad expression given to her by her eyebrows had lightened up a bit. The black-haired girl observed the huge water reservoir which was located fifty metres or so from the lodge , and watched the wind ripple its surface from her vantage point. She enjoyed her job at the lodge, which her parents had obtained from its previous owners after moving out from Zaragoza a few years ago.

But why was she in a good mood?

"I can't believe someone dropped by in February~" It was because she wasn't alone. Her parents and the rest of the staff had left her in charge of the lodge while they went to take a break in the nearest village, and they would be there for a good while. Regina had refused to go, as she didn’t enjoy being away from the lodge, unless she had a good reason: She basically lived in it most of the time.

In a twist of fate, someone had dropped by in February, when most people dared not venture forth there: A girl in overalls, wearing a sailor’s hat, a monocle and an eyepatch. And of course, that visitor was Olivia, who was taking a break from dealing with Carcabuey.

"Ah, she's so cool. She's my Prince Charming~"

REGINA REX! REGINA REX! REGINA REX! REGINA REX!

The sempiternally dreamy Regina had seen something in Olivia: The soul of a noble knight or a Prince Charming. Of course, Olivia was none of those, but Regina didn't care: Like a strange version of Don Quixote, she had read too many legends and fairy tales during her quest to obtain her degree in Folklore. And it had fried her brain just a little bit.

CAUSA SALUTIS! CAUSA SALUTIS! CAUSA SALUTIS!

Even a brief stint in an all-female mountaineer unit in the Spanish Army hadn't been able to fix her: No, it made things even worse. Her unit was disbanded after a series of bizarre accidents…

Which were caused by Regina's uncontrolled love for legends, her inability to string two sentences together without panicking, and her excessive use of Judo moves, mostly shoulder throws. She couldn't handle hitting a deer with a car, but she could shoulder-throw her family members without batting an eye. But in her defence, her shoulder-throws were mostly automatic and uncontrolled, and she tearfully apologised afterwards. But that's a story for another time.

STELLA MARIS! STELLA MARIS! STELLA MARIS!

The Army wasn't her thing, but she was surprisingly talented at keeping the lodge clean and orderly. The girl got up and skipped over to the edge of the reservoir to look at herself in it.

Regina was a pretty and well developed-girl, and about 183 cm tall. She had short black hair, which was styled into two small hair drills. Her eyebrows were grey, like her eyes: More specifically, a darkish shade of grey. Her bangs were slightly curved upwards, but mostly straight. As for her sideburns, they were short, thick and pointy.

On top of her head, she wore a white bandana, which honestly looked more like a cloth or napkin laid out on her head. Its rear ends were raised quite a bit, and the knot which kept it together was behind her head. For some reason, she wore frame swimming glasses, too. And of course, they were grey too. As for her outfit, she wore long, grey pyjamas, which had 4 buttons. One couldn't forget about her pyjama trousers, either. And finally, she wore panda slippers!

She adjusted her grey pyjamas and made sure that she looked presentable. She twirled around and pointed at her reflection. "Looking great today, Regina. Oli will surely fall for you today~"

She only acted like this when alone or when around Olivia or when speaking to her closest family members: She could barely hold a conversation with anyone else, unless the topic was Olivia. And it all started when she shoulder-threw a kid who confessed to her in primary school…

Silence, please~ I can't hear Olivia if you're so noisy~

A brown bird stopped on the lodge's blue, triangle-shaped roof, and out of the lodge's central door came Olivia in her baseball uniform and without her accessories. She was regretting leaving Gladstone in the village, but she wanted to have some time to herself. Besides, someone had to handle those weirdos before they destroyed her savings.

Regina scooted over to the side of the bench, leaving enough space for Olivia to sit down, which she did. "Hello there, Prince Charm- I mean, Olivia. How are you enjoying the lodge? It's nice, isn't it? You can stay here as long as you wish~"

Olivia was aware of the girl's overbearing feelings, and her thoughts were I'd rather throw myself into the reservoir than reciprocate her feelings. Pretty please, Lord God or whatever your Holy Name is: If you exist, which I cannot confirm or deny, I implore your Divine Majesty to tell me why I must attract such strange people and why they must be romantically, obsessionally or selfishly driven towards my person. Thank you for your time and attention, infinite and undetermined Divine Entity.

It wasn’t as if Olivia didn’t consider those weirdos which stumbled into her life to be charming. They were, but they were also a huge pain in the ass, and Olivia would rather enjoy silence. Especially considering the one she was dealing with at the lodge! ‘’The food is good, the interior is warm, there are many books to read, and the beds… Well, they are nice. I cannot complain about them. I’ll put up with having to share a room with you as a way of expressing my thanks, Miss Ascalón.’’

‘’Oh, Olivia, you’re such a dear! Don’t call me Ascalón, call me Regi. I’m glad you like my food. You know, I do try my best, hehe~ ‘’

The girl’s face flushed a bit at the reminder of their shared room experience: Most of them still had to be cleaned and prepared, which left a very limited amount of room. And even Olivia wouldn’t leave a poor girl like Regina alone in such a lonely place. Thus, they shared a room. However, what Olivia wouldn’t tolerate was Regina encroaching on her sleeping space and trying to sleep in the same bed as her: No, no and no! Her sleeping space was sacred, and no one but her closest comrades would get in the way of that. That’s why she slept with her gun under her pillow, as a warning to Regina.

Of course, even Olivia wouldn’t shoot an innocent girl like Regina. No, it was merely to drive her off. But Regina had recently learnt that, and Olivia could do nothing about it… It was a mark on Olivia’s reputation, and she was going to find a way to get back at her roommate. But not yet. She’d put up with it for the moment.

Olivia spoke while those thoughts passed through her head: ‘’Regina, you’re a bit of a pain at times. You invade my personal space, you get too friendly with me and you call me weird names. That’s rather unprofessional of you, isn’t it? I understand you’re lonely, but you shouldn’t get so close to the first person you see. Good grief, as if the ones back home weren’t troublesome enough…’’

That peaked Regina’s interest. ‘’You’re so nice, Oli! I’m only doing this because it’s you, hehe~ Now, tell me about your friends back home, they seem interesting!’’

Olivia jammed her finger into the girl's cheek: "I will tell you when you tell me what you're hiding. I can finally put my finger on the strange sensation I feel around you: You're hiding something. A Marian Seal? I cannot put it into words, I just feel you've got a Marian Seal."

Regina looked quite puzzled: "Eh? What's that? I do occasionally hear some voices talking about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Been hearing them since I was a lil' kiddo, but I've always told myself that they're just there because my brain's a bit messed up, hehe~ They shut up when I tell them to, though, so I'm telling them to shut up so I can listen to you…"

Olivia looked visibly relieved: "Good, don't listen to them too much. For the sake of brevity, I'll just say that a Marian Seal is a sealed fragment of Mary or of a relic related to her. But in your case, and seeing that I keep meeting infuriatingly outrageous people, I fear you might be a seal for a full relic or Mary herself. Don't worry about it, though. You're strong enough to hold the seal in place." Olivia patted the girl on the back.

"I don't get it, but if you say so, you must be right, hehe~" Regina patted Olivia's head, which was quite humiliating due to their height difference: Olivia was 158cm tall, and Regina was 183cm tall.

As a reaction to the humiliation, Olivia then started an inspired, and vigorous, soliloquy, which let Regina see a glimpse of the true Olivia.

"My dreams keep getting further and further away. But I'm not going to stop pursuing it because of that. I cannot stop pursuing it. Even on apparently idle days like these there are things I must do, because only I can do them. Even on apparently idle days like these, I must plan ahead and gather as many human resources as I can. Even on apparently idle days like these, I must not lose track of myself or of my surroundings: If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles.

Even on days where I apply the knowledge of those who have long passed away, I must develop my own knowledge to avoid living on borrowed knowledge. The road to world peace and the road to that desk job are both one, and that road is a long and hard one. But I will either find a way or make one. Tremble and cry, my weak-willed foes: Olivia Del Riego Y Flórez, a single human, stands in your way. Who shall challenge me? Who shall best me? Who shall bind me? Who shall defeat me? The claws of the sheep shall not reach me, the gait of the camel shall not disturb me, the roar of the lion shan't shake me!

Even if the world were to fall apart, I would not give up! I would not admit defeat! You shall not cast me aside… And so I teach. Look upon my works, Nietzsche, and despair: Your teachings have been turned against you: I am here. Q.E.D."

Regina patted the girl's head again and gave her a big hug, a look of bliss on her face. "You're so cool, Oli! I understand nothing of what you just said, but you just looked so cool saying it, I just have to give you a big hug." Olivia's face flushed, not at the hug, but at the rather embarrassing tirade of words which had flowed out of her mouth. It appeared that she had not intended to say them, but in a moment of excitement and self-affirmation, she had done it anyway.

For a moment, she'd considered letting Hadrinyan deal with the situation, but she'd decided that it was neither time nor the place: Hadrinyan would have to rest for a bit longer. Olivia slipped out of the girl's arms and pointed at the sky.

Regina looked at it for a moment before seeing what Olivia had seen: A black, gaping hole in the sky. "Oli, what is that? It scares me…" Gone was the dreamy Regina: She was now hiding behind Olivia and trembling in fear, in a way her family and friends would certainly recognise.

"It's the consequences of our actions: Idleness and contentment beget punishment, and the hole in the sky is there to deliver punishment upon us unless something is done. Somebody wished for this, and somebody had to deal with it." She couldn't stand lazing around all day and idling her days away with her fellows: She could not bear it, it left her in agony. Her spirit was screaming Go forth! and she'd do just that…

She'd planned ahead, she'd prepared for the worst, and she'd prepared to act. From the usual pillar of light emerged Hadrinyan, clutching her scythe in her hands. "I must clean up any blemishes in the sky: It is the work of a good maid and the work of a good Magical Girl like me. Hmph, it's not like I'm nervous because Gladstone is not here by my side." Her hands were trembling a bit, but she steeled her resolve and waved goodbye to Regina: "Worry not, strange one. I shall be back in no time. And in good health, too!" She then leapt like a rocket into the sky, into the gaping hole and into the unknown ….

And into the desert they stepped. A vast desert under a nightly starry sky. To Olivia's left stood a button-eyed Hadrinyan plushie, which was muttering words of maidhood and Magical Girlhood to herself. It appeared that the gaping hole had detransformed her and crystallised her other form into that: She could not switch to her Magical Girl form.

To her right stood Regina, who had her eyes closed and appeared to be muttering to herself and having a nice dream about Olivia, while standing up. Perhaps she was a sleepwalker. "Prince Charming, you're cooler than a dragon~ No, I refuse to call you Oli~"

Feeling slightly creeped out, she followed the girl and the plush when they began to walk. The breeze was cool but not too cold, and a faint, quickly vanishing warmth still remained in the sands. A lone figure stood nearby, atop a dune, their cape fluttering in the wind. A blindfolded figure wearing a witch's hat and holding a blue and golden staff: What was the Witch-Saint she saw on TV and heard about on the radio doing there?

"By Santiago, you have finally appeared, you have. The Heavens have bestowed upon me the grace of knowing your name, Olivia, they have. I am Habelas-Hainas, the All-loving Witch-Saint, I am! And I am here to assist you with your dream, I am! Good fellow, our goals align: You wish for world peace, I wish for world salvation, they do align!"

Olivia stared at her in silence for a few moments before face-palming: "Did I cause this, Witch-Saint?"

The Witch-Saint nodded vigorously: "You sure did, you did. The Heavens have bestowed the gift of knowledge upon me, they have. Most of your troubles come from your fellows, they do. But you brought this upon yourself, you did. But it was the Heavens who created this space, it was. Before we proceed, I must ask you something, I must. Do you have any enemies, do you? The Heavens have not informed me of it, they have not."

"Enemies? No, none I can think of…"

Olivia and Habelas walked on, following the doll and the sleepwalker.

Habelas suddenly jumped, alarmed by something: "Good Heavens, a message has arrived, it has! If she does not have any enemies, we shall make one worthy of being called her rival. I am so sorry, Olivia, I am!"

Olivia wanted to cry at the stupid piece of news. "Come what may, I don't care: I can barely deal with my friends, and I'llhave to deal with a rival? What a cruel joke. I don't think I can be surprised by anything anymore." She increased her walking speed, forcing everyone else to struggle to keep up. "Why a doll? Why a sleepwalking version of someone I barely know? Why a desert? I have so many questions, but I feel like I'll never receive a clear answer. Imperator would be a major help here, but she's probably eating all my food while I'm not home. Gladstone, it's all up to you. "

"The designs of the Heavens are a mystery even to me, they are. Don't think about it too much, do not."

"●○■♤•♡♧♧♧◇○☆¤!!!!!!!!" An indescribable voice rang out, marking the beginning of a series of explosions in the sand around them. "O☆¤¤•¤¤¤▪︎☆°●□°■°♡`♡■•{~{`[•[°[L@^££+_!%@%I●●▪︎■♤¤V■•■•♤•I☆AAAAA!"

The voice gradually morphed into a mostly distinguishable, shrill female voice. But the speaker was nowhere to be seen… Until she could be seen, bursting out of the sand and charging towards Olivia. Habelas moved the doll and the sleepwalker away from their new enemy, determined to shield them with her life. So she started praying and preparing a spell.

Olivia trained her revolver on the figure and calmly unloaded five shots into it. But it charged towards her anyway. Olivia wasn't shocked at all by it: In fact, she'd been expecting it. So she kicked up a cloud of sand towards the figure, turned her gun around and pointed it at her temple. "Another step and your precious rival dies." Of course, it was a transparent bluff for anyone in their right mind: If she didn’t stop, she'd simply clobber the figure with her gun. But the figure which Oliva had identified with her rival wasn't in her right mind, and there ended up being no need for close quarters combat.

Hadrinyan’s rival fell over and stopped moving due to the combination of the sand cloud and her bluff. It was rather anticlimactic and quite pathetic. A few instants later, Habelas finished her prayer and a shroud of light descended from the skies, falling on the defeated girl and tying her up with glowing, golden chains which illuminated their surroundings.

The defeated girl was about 160cm tall. Her hair was short and liver-colored, and it was styled into two twintails: It was as if some entity had copied Godofreda's tails and decided to stick them on this girl's head as twintails. Her bangs were straight but curved slightly upwards, and her side hair was pointed too. Her ears were pointy and pointed upwards and outwards, giving her an elven-like feel.

The girl's eyes were fuchsia, and her pupils were black and had a very special shape: They resembled a Greek Cross, but each arm of the cross had tiny spike-like protrusions near their base, and their ends were vaguely triangular. For some reason, her left eye was covered by a squared, white eyepatch. And she had two ram-like horns on either side of her head, one for each side, in front of her twintails. They were dark brown, by the way. On her head, she also wore a little crown made out of tin, with black gemstones.

As for her outfit, she wore a liver-colored cape, and a light link cabin attendant top. Its cuffs were white, the neck and shoulders area were a dark blue, and she had a little black 2 stitched where one would expect a nametag.

In her right hand, she held a liver-colored shield with black edges. It slightly resembled an 8. It was covered in ancient runes, and had a circle in the middle, from which metal bands emerged and held the shield together: They resembled a cross, when looked at together.

The lower half of her outfit was covered by her light pink skirt, which was quite tight, and had dark blue sides. She also had a white belt a bit below the hem of her skirt.

On her legs, she wore comfortable dark blue knee socks with white cuffs. The girl also sported rubber rain boots which were the same colour as her hair, with white soles. Finally, one couldn't miss the greyish demon tail hanging from her lower back, or her impressive dragon wings, which were also liver-colored.

"You have been defeated, you have. On your honour, state your name, state it."

"Who do YOU think you are?! I NEVER admitted defeat!" The chains exploded as if they were fireworks, and the girl rose to her feet. "Only Her Majesty can order ME around! She is MY queen! I'll tell you my name: Consider it an act of MAGNANIMITY before I BEHEAD you! I am Zarambria Cortejos Valdeví, her Majesty’s KNIGHT!"

Olivia tried her best not to laugh at her name. Had she named herself? Assuming that she had been created by what Habelas called the Heavens, had they given her that embarrassing name? Habelas was surprised at Olivia's reaction: She always looked so calm and composed, but there she was, trying her best to hold back her laughter to avoid being impolite, and failing. With such a dumb name, Olivia couldn't take her seriously. "Ah, Zarambria... Are you a Magical Girl?"

‘’Hah! I am NOT a Magical Girl! I am her Majesty’s Royal Knight, and I’ll skewer all of ya alive!’’ The girl then raised her fist and punched herself in the face, flying into the air before falling with a thud. With a weak mutter, she raised her hand into the sky. ‘’Thank you, Your Majesty…’’ The anger disappeared from her eyes and it was replaced by a mix of moderate curiosity, aloofness and a tinge of regal sadness.

She rose from the sand and spoke again, her tone regal and her voice marked by a slight French accent: ‘’Farwell, Zarambria. You were loyal until the end, Mad Dog Of The West, and our only true friend in that nest of snakes: A friend, proven in death. Now rest.’’

The girl turned towards Olivia and the rest. It seemed she was about to bow, but decided against it. So she strode over to Olivia and Habelas, and then gently shook their hands: ‘’We are Voytek D'Hol Tincrown, a Queen with a now empty court. Our crown is golden no more, it is made of tin, like our surname states. When we ruled, Zarambria was our only friend. But the betrayal of the court towards us drove her to slaughter the whole lot of them, and thus we were left alone, and she was driven mad with anger. Witch, your Magic chains weakened our bonds and made it possible for us to intervene after we had been sealed in the same body. And we put her out of her misery: You have done us a great service, and we offer you our gratitude, as we can offer nothing else. As for you, Olivia…’’

Voytek stated at Olivia’s calm face: ‘’You have no crown, yet you rule. You are no queen, yet your court is full of jolly, good fellows. Your aide is a wise creature and not an obsessive knight driven mad. And you hold great power, yet you boast not of it… What we feel is not jealousy. No, we feel glad that you, our rival, will not have to live through what we lived. And we feel the desire to improve merely by regarding you. The Heavens have appointed us as your rival, but we shall not harm you: We shall merely observe your growth while working on our personal development, learning from your mistakes. When the time comes, we shall oppose you, as the Heavens have decreed. But for the meantime, we shall be content with observing you: We have much to learn. So, Olivia. May we secure your cooperation? Our crown may be made of tin, but our spirit is made of gold: We sincerely hope for your growth, dear rival.’’

Olivia shook her hand and nodded, hoping that maybe, just maybe this one wouldn't be a pain in the ass. How ironic is fate! Her friends were more annoying and harder to deal with than her rival. But she did speak a lot, and would eventually oppose her. For the moment, Olivia would gather information and then begin her planning. "Finally, someone relatively normal showed up. Let's make this a fruitful partnership, my rival."

A faint trace of sadness remained on Voytek's face, but she looked truly glad to have found someone to share experiences with. Olivia looked relieved to have found someone who wouldn't be a pain in the ass. But she'd keep an eye on her: They'd just met, so she couldn't fully trust her yet.

Meanwhile, Habelas was getting shoulder-thrown by a sleepwalking Regina, and the Hadrinyan plushie had produced a tiny broom from somewhere and was busy trying to sweep away the sand from the desert.

Just then, a great amount of clouds covered the sky, and a thick sheet of rain started to fall. Habelas prayed for a barrier to keep the rain away from them, and all except Voytek and Olivia took refuge from it. The former stood in the rain because she wanted to experience the full glory of rain, which hadn't felt in a long time. And the latter?

The latter laughed in the perfectly timed rain, having remembered something. She had remembered her true goal in life, a dream which had been buried for so long in a pile of worries and smaller dreams. Her dream was the reason she had been brought to this space, the reason for finding the Witch-Saint here, the reason for finding a desert in a hole in the sky.

She wanted to handle a baseball team's paperwork, that was her true dream!

Her baseball outfit was a memento of the time she played in a team in high school. Unfortunately, Olivia sucked at it and dragged everyone down: They lost every time. But they'd all laughed about it together, and Olivia decided that she'd support her team behind the scenes. Unfortunately, due to the passage of time, they'd all gone their separate ways, and the Robles Del Retiro team was no more.

Inexplicably, her love for baseball was linked to the bizarre events she was experiencing. She couldn't explain why, she could just feel it. She'd put her dream away in a small corner of her brain, and even wearing her outfit had done nothing to make her remember. But the comedically timed rain had made her remember the times the rain had ruined her matches. "By supporting my largest dreams with smaller dreams, I can surely do anything. Through world peace, a desk job. Paperwork and a comfy desk job, here I come!"

Olivia was in an exceptionally good mood, even if slightly embarrassed from forgetting her most important dream. There was probably no other girl her age out there who would jump in joy at the opportunity to do paperwork. Well, she was a Magical Girl, and their human forms tended to lean towards the stranger side.

"I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." With those words, and a new flame in her spirit, the desert fell apart and dissolved into light. Soon, they were back at the mountain lodge. The doll was gone, and a very confused Regina proceeded to thoroughly question Olivia and Voytek after entering the lodge.

When their interrogation ended, Regina took stock of the situation: "So it's like that, eh? A new girl around my Prince Charming~" The smile she wore on her face did not reach her eyes. But Voytek wasn't scared at all: She'd faced down many threats to her kingdom, internal and external. So one overly attached Aragonese girl wasn't going to intimidate her. "Worry not, for we are not going to get in the way of your relationship. We, Voytek D'Hol Tincrown, merely wish to observe and learn from our rival."

Regina was pleased by her honest answer: "Is that so? In that case, welcome to the Olivia Fanclub, Tinny. Let's get along~"

Regina had dragged Voytek into something strange, much to Olivia’s horror. "Three stalkers? Ah, my dream, where is it? Where does it rest, having been scorned, mauled and left to rot? Under the waves, in the skies, under the jackboot of the fanclub of tyrants? No, it is in my mind, where it shall bloom splendidly. A beautiful flower for a maiden in bloom!" Yes, she was in a great mood, even if those around her were up to no good!

The three were in the lodge's light brown cafeteria-restaurant, which was separated from the kitchen by a wooden door and a few windows. They were seated at a long table next to the kitchen, and they were helping themselves to a pleasant amount of hot chocolate and muffins, which had just been brought in, courtesy of Regina.

It was a moment of peace: Nobody spoke for a few minutes, they merely sipped at their chocolate and ate their muffins with delight on their faces. It was the epitome of what Olivia wished for: A never-ending instant of peace.

It was the epitome of what Voytek wished for: A court full of pleasant memories and good fellows.

It was the epitome of Regina's wishes: To bring joy to her Prince Charming and to her friends through food.

The moment of peace would eventually end, but it would surely be seared into their minds as a high point in their lives. It would become something to emulate and to strive for, like a star shining brightly in the night sky.

The moment eventually did end, when the muffins on the table ran out and the hot chocolate vanished. "That was a good meal and a pleasant moment. You're a weirdo and a bit of a pain at times, Regina, but you sure as hell can cook up a mean cuppa of chocolate. Thank you."

"We are most pleased and grateful for this wonderful meal. It is truly fit for a royal. We shall aim to provide those who live a difficult life with a similar experience: We cannot take what we have for granted.. "

Regina was overjoyed at their praises: "Hehe, I just tried my best, and it worked~"

And thus started their day, which would prove to be fruitful and plentiful. What awaited them? They knew not, but they hoped for a better future.

                                                                           ☆☆☆