I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

Something was wrong...Terrible terrible wrong.

 

She wasn't sure what it was, nor how to deal with it, but something had been...[Wrong].

 

When she arrived after work from the clinic the apartment smelled...Weird.

 

She could smell faint traces of Elizabeth's mana tainted by...Sadness.

 

It was like she was about to commit something that would harm her, but she had no choice, the mana was weird, but when she came close to her room a pair of Shadow Dragons stopped her.

 

"[Mother...Mistress is...Asleep right now...Please understand.]" Said her daughter.

 

The little girl also smelled...[Wrong].

 

"What's the matter?" Asked Rossaline to the little girl.

 

She only turned her back to her while answering "[We can't answer that, what is happening right now with our Mistress must happen...But...Everything will be alright mother...We have to believe.]" She walked into the door dissolving into the shadows.

 

Only leaving behind a pair of armed shadow dragons guarding the door.

 

She could [Smell] Elizabeth's mana, and it was...Stable.

 

It was tainted by fear and agony, but she had been unstable after so many [Outbursts] from the [Taint]...And right now...She couldn't smell the taint.

 

So she should be fine...

 

Then it hit her...

 

The smell of Elizabeth got so strong that she almost felt as if the girl was in front of her...

 

But...It was...[Synthetic]...

 

The pair of Shadow Dragons flared their eyes red for a second and then dissolved into the shadows too, leaving the door unguarded...

 

Rossaline still didn't dare to open the door, and instead just...Put her head against it, she could hear Elizabeth talking to...Herself? She wasn't sure what to make of it, but the sound of a shower in the background was a signal that everything ought to be okay... Right?

---

She awoke the next day with that notification hovering above her face, at some point she had gotten it, but...It smelled...Weird.

 

Unlike the ones that she had gotten at the start, this one reeked of...Something else, it was as if the [Notification] was...More mechanical?

 

It smelled like how a [Tinker] smelled when they were working in something, but that couldn't be right. Elizabeth wasn't a [Tinker] even if her [Skill] seemed to work under the same principles.

 

So with that weird foreboding feeling, Rossaline put on her nightgown and walked to the kitchen, unlike usual there weren't any shadow dragons around...The dining room felt...Desolated.

 

Not even her [Daughter] was around, and the little girl had taken it upon herself to be at the kitchen ready to assist her in the making of breakfast.

 

So instead she got to prepare everything, all the while that weird foreboding feeling kept pestering at her... She eyed the [Skills] that Elizabeth had gifted her with their [Bond], but nothing was there, if anything they felt as always.

 

So when the time for breakfast came and Elizabeth wasn't ready...She took this chance to go and wake her up, she still hadn't put the new [Wards] in her room...She hadn't needed them since she was aware of wherever Elizabeth was anyway...

 

And so, when she went to wake her up...That happened.

 

Elizabeth said that she would take a shower, so she walked back to the kitchen to get the plates set up, she didn't mind the extra work...

 

And perhaps that was for the best that she had gone to the kitchen, as the blonde girl came out of the room and started taking off her clothes while walking to the bathroom.

 

She would throw a piece of clothing and a shadow would catch it and stow it inside itself, by the point she was walking into the bathroom the blonde girl was showcasing....Everything.

 

She...Wasn't sure what to think, the blonde girl didn't even deem it necessary to close the door into the bathroom nor the cristal door into the shower.

 

She didn't even turn her attention to her while she gawked...

She ignored the new notification that had popped up and dismissed it while frowning. Something was indeed wrong here, she didn't mind it of course...And she was saving every second into one of her spell drives.

 

But something was very wrong with Elizabeth.

 

"As always it smells great Rossie." The girl complimented her cuisine while eating.

 

But she couldn't help but [Silent Cast] some spells to check Elizabeth's health.

 

Divine Infosec Scan, Mana Sense, Sacred Soul Scan, Empathic Life Sense...The list went on and on, every possible spell she knew and a few that she hadn't even used once before...They all returned the same.

 

All the while Elizabeth claimed that she was okay, but she couldn't fool her eyes...Why one only needed to see her to know something was wrong.

 

'She has [Stars] in her eyes...' Mussed the pink-haired girl while eyeing the results from her spells.

 

Of course, she knew something was wrong way before that, Elizabeth wasn't acting like herself.

 

Maybe the [Taint] had been changing how she behaved?

 

She seemed...So [Free] right now...

 

And all her spells and even the [Skill] that Elizabeth had bestowed upon her said the same.

So when the blonde girl asked her to check [Her Mental state] she frowned...

 

She wasn't that good at identifying those types of problems, but she acquiesced anyway, the spell would parse the problem and give her a solution...

 

And...She was flabbergasted.

 

So she sent a few extra [Diagnosis] spells at the [Core], only to...Find something weird?

 

"Are you distressed?" Asked Rossaline. "Eli-Eli...What is wrong with your [Soulscape]?"

 

Her [Soulscape] looked wrong, it was like all of it was condensed in a ball of [Shadows] instead of...Well, being like a normal one.

 

Granted at the start one's [Soulscape] was a room at best, hers had barely grown to the size of an apartment after her [Origin] evolved.

 

But by the mastery of magic and mana the blonde showcased she should at the very least have an apartment...To be honest she thought it would be at the size of a house at the very least...

 

Not...Whatever that ball of shadows was.

 

They kept talking like that for a few more minutes till they finished eating, at that point a [Shadow Tendril] rose from the floor and took the dirty dishes "Thanks beato" Said the blonde.

 

Rossaline looked at her weirdly, it was like the blonde girl thought that was her [Daughter]...?

 

But why was she only extending a [Tendril] instead of coming out?

 

She did a double take and...She couldn't see a single [Shadow Dragon], instead from the shadows only tendrils of darkness were working around...Why?

 

She...Wasn't sure what to think about this. And neither knew how to deal with all the peeks the blonde girl gave her...She was licking her body all over with her eyes...

 

*shudder*

 

It was just so...[Wrong].

 

She [Wanted] that of course, but the way Elizabeth looked at her...It wasn't [Her Elizabeth] the one looking at her, it was...It was...[Something else].

 

"Let's go Eli-Eli..." Said the pink-haired girl after locking the door into their apartment, the blonde girl quickly hugged her arm and shoved it between her breasts...

 

What was she even trying to do here?

 

She relished the feeling of course, but...It was [Wrong], it felt like someone else was writing a [Narrative] and just wanted to give what they thought she wanted.

 

"..." But even so, none of her spells brought anything to light.

 

She wished that her understanding of [Emotions] was more developed...She wished that she knew what the blonde girl had done while in that [Induction].

 

Perhaps the [Villains] had done something to her?

 

Was her Eliz...Her Friend in danger?

 

She knew the parents of the blonde girl were important people, the woman had shown mastery of [Soul] magic beyond what was normal...And then also mastery of [Healing] above what should be normal.

 

The father...Was more normal though, he didn't seem particularly special, so maybe he wasn't a [Mage] or anything?

 

She didn't want to deal with that woman if possible.

 

"Ready to [Shift]," Asked Rossaline to her friend after they arrived at the district where her clinic was.

 

The blonde girl seemed to think about it for a second while looking into the air, was she going about something with her [Skill]?

 

"Sure [My Lovely] Rossie, give me a sec." Answered the blonde girl while her eyes shined with the stars in them.

 

Somehow the [Lovely] part made her shudder, it was...[Wrong].

 

She tried to not think much about it and instead focused on her [Shift Spell], "Let my heart guide the way and strive to follow the stars that illuminate my path as I search for that which my Heart craves...[Hearty Shift!]"

 

And while that was going she felt it struck at her like a car accident... It was there 'As I search for that which my heart craves'.

 

And the notifications from the [Skill], the horror crept at her as the idea settled there...Her face lost color as she saw her friend use her own shift spell.

 

"Amm...what was it?" Said the blonde while trying to think about something.

 

But she was too focused on what her [Chant] said, the horror of it...Was...Was it her fault?

"[ More silent than the darkness sleeping at the bottom of the sea.......]" Started sounding in the background with a mechanical voice.

 

Was that the voice of a male?

 

It sounded like the voice of a male that tried to distort its own voice to sound more cool...

 

Her blonde friend didn't seem to register it though, since she was trying to think about something...

 

But her eyes started shining more brightly and a blue flame even started burning in her eyes.

 

And the [Smell]...It was... It smelt as if thunder had just struck near them, the mana smelt as [Ozone] "[...that is the shadow burning deep within the melody of science!]"

 

Then as if it was the intent of the blonde girl a complex mandala materialized under Elizabeth, she...Acted as if she couldn't see it and just stood frozen there.

 

Slowly her body got covered in [Shadows] as she transformed into her shadow-aligned [Magical Girl] form, and as suddenly as that happened the blonde girl frowned for a few seconds only to "...MOT#ER FU$#ER!" Start spewing curses as if she was a sailor who finally saw land, it kept saying curse after curse for a whole minute walking from one side to the other, at least till she saw her reflection in a store and kept staring at it.

 

"What? No, that is the wrong one. OF COURSE I KNOW THAT!" And started speaking to herself.

 

Her [Diagnosis] spell still told her she was fine though...

 

Was her [Magic] wrong?

 

"Whatever [Elemental Shift]!" And without preamble, the girl used her [Shift] and turned once more into [Elemental Weaver].

 

Her eyes no longer had stars in them and instead were the normal blue sky that held a galaxy in them, her magical girl outfit changed from the dark shadow-based to the sky blue one.

 

And more importantly, the [Weird] feeling she was getting was gone too, but now Elizabeth smelled as if she was pissed, but even so, that was indeed more in line with [Her Elizabeth].

 

"Sorry about that Rossie." Said the blonde girl while strolling towards her.

 

She didn't seem to mind much about what had happened before, if anything she was looking at her phone for something.

 

"I know we can ask her, but let me check...WHAT THE HELL?!?" Suddenly started screaming the blonde girl.

 

She...She was speaking with her shadows, right?

 

"[Shadow Minion]" Intoned the girl while pointing down...

 

Both girls stared down while people around gave them a wide berth...Oh right, they were in the middle of going to work...

 

"Amm....[Elemental Weaver] what about going to a roof to discuss this...In a more private setting." Said the pink-haired girl.

 

They were protected by their own [Security Nodes] but still, they shouldn't test them that much if possible.

 

The blonde girl turned to her after the shadow did nothing and nodded, then without waiting for her she jumped into the air where a pair of yellow wings sprouted from her back, they reeked of Ozone so they probably were made with [Thunder Magic].

 

The blonde girl flew towards a roof and promptly sat down while closing her eyes and focusing inwardly. So the pink-haired girl flew after her and stood there waiting.

 

She could see a few shadows here and there quiver as if they wanted to move...But were stopped by something, and the blonde girl was frowning at it.

 

"Rossie...I...Can't access my [Skills]." Said the blonde girl while looking at her, she was like a lost kitty...

 

"What do you mean?" Said the pink-haired girl, she summoned her [Identify] of Elizabeth and nothing was out of order.

 

"My [Shadows]...They don't answer..." Clarified Elizabeth, it seemed that she was having trouble using her [Shadow Based Skills]?

 

She was about to ask for further elaboration when someone got into her sensory range, "I'm an Ally, please do not attack." Said a girl's voice from behind her.

 

She turned to look back and was about to ask who it was before Elizabeth said it for her "Magical Girl - [Lunar Shade]?"

 

So she was a magical girl too?

 

If her clothing was something to go by she seemed to be a [shadow] aligned magical girl...That was interesting, usually the shadow aligned didn't work as [Magical Girls] since their stigma made it hard for them to be appreciated...

 

"Hello...I detected an unknown mana with some tinges of [Shadow] mana in it...Can I have a scan?" Said the girl looking at her Elizabeth with...Recognition in her eyes?

 

"Sure," Answered her Elizabeth raising her right arm.

 

Right, she didn't have a staff yet...Why?

 

Wasn't she supposed to get one with more advanced [Affinities]?

 

Wasn't her [Origin] advanced enough for it to have a staff?

 

The other magical girl strode towards Elizabeth and scanned her with a stuffed bear and nodded to herself and then looked at her, the pink-haired girl shrugged and raised her diary.

 

And after getting their scans and confirming the information she looked at both, "So do you know why I got that weird signal?" She asked.

 

It was probably the [Shadow Shift] Elizabeth did right? "I saw a rogue [Tainted] a few days back, have you seen anyone suspicious around?" She said.

 

A rogue [Tainted]?

 

Was someone sneaking around Elizabeth?

 

She would need to expand her monitoring again.