User:Nextoy/Short Stories/Carbuncle's Letters

Lady Altima,

You asked me to keep track of whatever happens with the next group of travellers who arrive, so consider these letters your request. I can feel it. The space between dimensions shifts and opens up. This world has swallowed more victims.

I wonder. Will they fall into the traps of this world? Or become its new champions? They’d be the first in some time, after the three of us. Maybe they’ll figure out how to leave, like Cidalia did. But whatever it is they do, I’ll be sending these letters. So you’ll be in the loop. It might be worth studying their movements after all. Well, if they do not manage to kill us or anything.

Lady Altima,

I… have a hard time figuring out why these four arrived here. Quite the odd group. One of them, Atarah, seems alright. The rest.. I don’t know. You’ll see them soon, I’m sure, but you won’t know their energies. They give off quite a bit.

The girl I mentioned before, Atarah, has a bright and vibrant aura. Like a divine light shines within her. I wonder whether or not that giant falcon, Yanshuf, also shares that light. Their relationship reminds me of Cidalia. You remember how she could speak to the wild beasts and effortlessly tame them? Atarah can do that with her Yanshuf. It’s quite amazing.

The one who catches my attention is Kiki. This one isn’t bright at all, unlike Atarah. Not in either sense of the word. My first impression of that one was hearing a crash and learning that she fell off the inside of this clocktower I’ve been sleeping in, landing on top of a large book she brought with. And that book is what has my attention. It has a dark aura around it, not unlike that esper Diabolos. I’ll need to keep a close eye on this one.

The other two are less interesting. Jessabelle is already an experienced mage from what I can tell, though with odd practices. It appears that she fuels her powers with libido rather than knowledge or experience with the flow of mana. A much more limited fuel source, but a powerful one at such a young age. Nika is a bit of a mystery to me. She lacks any defining traits at all, but I suspect she also has experience with magic.

They are currently trying to figure out how to open the door as I write this. You will no doubt hear from all five of us soon.

Lady Altima,

I don’t know why you put us into this desert. You know I don’t like heat. To make things worse, we quickly came upon a giant lizard. The esper Salamander. You have my loyalty and trust, but sometimes I wonder about you. Still, I was right about Kiki. She calmed the beast, just like Cidalia, and forged a bond with it. She also had a bird of her own, the esper Valefor, that seemed to bond with her upon arrival. I feel as though this child, between her abilities and that book, will cause me quite a few headaches.

Lady Altima,

This has been quite the night. We found a travelling caravan in the desert. I’d say we joined them, but it’s more that we forced ourselves upon them. Kiki especially seemed very interested in all of this, much to my dismay. Nika as well, surprisingly. She seemed to have some connection to the caravan, though I have no idea what. I suspect both of them were drawn to the same thing. The caravan leader was some kind of fiend disguised as a human. It called itself Nyarlathotep, but I have doubts. Its energy feels more like that of Diabolos. But why either of those would be casually messing with people is the question. I personally doubt that it’s either, but this fiend is quite strong from what I can tell.

Also, there were something called night wolves that attacked us. Whatever that is. I don’t really think that it matters much, as they were easy to take down. I think I might have slept through a fair bit of that. In the morning we will find the gate out and I’ll be seeing you again.

Lady Altima,

I’ve lost them. I don’t know what happened, but I’ve lost them. I suspect it was that fiend’s doing. I managed to locate which floor they were on, thankfully, though I can’t say where they are. There’s another presence, I suspect an Esper, on this floor. I fear it may be masking them. Or perhaps it defeated them. Next time you hear from me I will have determined if they are still alive.

Lady Altima,

I found them. They were hiding in these underground tunnels. Though I couldn’t find Nika. Instead, we found a girl that looks like her in open grasslands near the tunnel entrance. This new Nika radiates the same energy as that caravan leader, though much weaker. She appears to be a near identical clone in terms of appearance and capabilities, so I doubt the others will notice. Jessabelle seems much more interested in her, if anything. Though we did find her naked so… maybe that’s the cause of it?

We entered a castle town immediately afterwards. I fabricated coin for them to use. I know Cidalia disapproved of the practice, but girls need spending money, don’t they? We met up with another magical girl, named Daisy, who found herself in the tower as well. She had years of experience, I could tell that instantly, yet I never felt her enter the tower. Did you?

For a bit of humorous news: Nika seems convinced Kiki is a lizard. Jessabelle seems to agree, though I suspect she’s just playing along. Atarah doesn’t think so at all. Jessabelle can also manifest some phantom appendage on her as well. This angered Daisy, but they aren’t fighting just yet. I’m sure it will come to that, though. Apparently Daisy has a history of attacking other magical girls. I’ll be spending the rest of the night keeping an eye on her just because of that.

Lady Altima,

Daisy is both immensely fascinating and extremely boring. She spent the night investigating the town. Apparently there’s some disturbance in the sewers. I believe those sewers connect directly to the tunnels mentioned in a previous letter. Perhaps that Esper I sensed has something to do with it?

I also believe she may be in direct communication with Diabolos. Which is strange, because she’s constantly going on about conquering the darkness and becoming some kind of holy crusader. I’m certain she’s being manipulated, but I don’t know how. I heard that she had been a zombie under Diabolos’ control before. Perhaps it’s a similar ordeal here? Though she doesn’t seem harmed by my ruby light. If I can, I’ll investigate more in the morning.

Lady Altima,

We have destroyed the King’s castle and robbed him blind. These girls are fun!

To explain, there was a large bird that had been attacking the kingdom for some time now. We went in to deal with it, no short thanks to someone that seems a little too keen on examining large birds. I almost didn’t have to show myself, but Atarah proved very perceptive. She called me a “Kyubey”, whatever that means. Apparently it’s some evil fox thing from her world.

The king was also fairly creepy. I don’t feel remotely bad robbing him. There’s probably gonna be a peasant’s revolt soon anyways. Oh, yeah, also Kiki’s book ate the bird. I don’t want to know. You might, but I don’t.

Also, what is it with this tower and large birds? Has it always been this way, or is this new?

Lady Altima,

We have destroyed a goblin fortress. Two of them, actually. One of the Nikas casted a meteorite spell break one, and we stormed the other. That was a… strange trip.

We wandered into the forest, got separated, and then got attacked by goblins. We met back up, and attacked some goblins. Then we found where the goblins were hiding and, bet you can’t guess, but attacked some goblins. Here’s where things got weird. We found and killed the goblin shaman, and then Kiki started talking to the goblins. They seemed quite enthralled by her, but the other girls had their own plans. Atarah needed healing, Jessabelle would only give it to her unless Atarah pleasured her, and Nika revealed that Kiki has been a boy this entire time.

What have I gotten myself into?

Lady Altima,

We found ourselves in a modern setting. Some city called Delling. Everyone’s phones worked here, but they quickly discovered that this town wasn’t their home world. We found a place to stay for the night, and everyone is taking shifts getting supplies. This gives me the perfect time to write to you in secret. They still seem convinced that I’m just their guide.

Still… I have a bad feeling about all of this. This world is engulfed by a similar energy as Kiki’s book and that caravan leader. This may be some strange hellscape the tower spawned. Still, due to the size of these floors it was heavily diluted. I’m worried that the gates are being manipulated by an outside force.

It may be some time before I can write to you again.

Lady Altima,

They have failed. An interloper in our mits has eliminated them, and then disappeared from my sight. While you wait for my return, I have recorded all that has happened. Please take the time to read through this letter carefully. I do not wish to have to repeat myself.

This morning we awoke to finding the two Nikas face to face. Apparently one of them had stayed in the hotel room across from ours in some fit of cosmic irony. The fake fled, the real one gave chase. There was a failed attempt at extracting information. It took all of us chasing after her, involving me getting humiliatingly thrown at her, to keep pace. Had Kiki not stolen a motorcycle she would have gotten away in a taxi.

While we failed to catch her, I’m fairly certain we killed her. Kiki froze the car’s exhaust pipe, Atarah shot her leg off, the car spun out after the original Nika blew it, and herself, to hell, and it got a meteorite dropped on it. And me.

Oh yeah, I’m a little glad they died. Everyone left and I got to have a meteor dropped on my head! How ungrateful!

When they finally grabbed me Nika was gone, police had surrounded a corner store, and we were heading to a Denny’s for breakfast. I think Kiki made an illusion to attack said police, but I was still shaking off the celestial bonk on the head. Nika and Jessabelle met back up with us inside the and everyone ate while talking about what happened. They got caught up on the difference between the two Nika’s, everyone argued over who should pay. Kiki agreed to foot the bill, and then bailed on us. Next thing I know everyone else is being sunken into the ground and I had to get away to see where Kiki had wandered off to. The silly boy disguised himself as some gross looking man in a leather coat and wandered into what appeared to be a comic store. Yet I go in, and there’s no Kiki to be seen.

There was a strange, well dressed man at both the Denny’s and inside the window of the comic book store. I believe he orchestrated both of these disappearances. He had the same energy as that caravan leader. Perhaps another shape this fiend takes?

Still, I lost sight of everyone. Next thing I know the entire floor is collapsing! I used this opportunity to track them down and see them off. As far as I know they have perished, and I have managed to escape the floor. While I am once again trapped on a different floor, this time I think I know how to return to you without outside help. Soon I will return to your side, Lady Altima, and we shall work together to control this strange tower.