I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

She...Dodged a bullet.

 

Well no, not really...

 

If she was going by the feeling in her chest...Then she got hit by one and in turn, was thrown out of the danger she had been.

 

Somehow [Something] had tampered with her [Mind], a quick check showed that the [Mind Shield] her mother had crafted around her was still in effect...

 

And yet... She had been affected by something. How was that possible? She didn't know, nor did she know how she had been saved. A deluge of information flowed into her mind, memories of what had happened after she canceled her [Shift] and returned to her normal blonde form.

 

Memories of what she had done and how she had tried to nudge the [Taint] out of her system...Only to find nothing. Memories of how she had been relieved about how she wasn't affected...

 

And then...Memories of her sense of [Self] being mutilated...Memories of how she got shoved into a metaphorical Jail in her subconscious...Memories of how she had acted after that, how she blatantly ignored the signals of how something was wrong...

 

Memories of her addled mind weaving the mana to fix and hide the signals of black cracks in her skin...Memories of how she had flawlessly cast an illusion over her eyes to hide the red blinding color of her eyes...And in turn only leave a star-shaped symbol in her pupil to hide the obvious signal of [Corruption].

 

And if that wasn't the worst of it...Then was how she had summoned all the dragon scouts and thrown them into the shadows, were they wounded up bound in chains, they all listened to [her] and retired to their mansion in her soulscape...

 

No one fought back, neither Beatrice...Neither Nyx...Neither the silent and always loyal Sebastian.

 

She couldn't help but curse to the high heavens, and that wasn't the worse...No sir, not by a long shot.

 

Then the memories of the next day came...She almost buckled over by the mere fact that her memories started to be tainted by a pink color, the way she looked at her Rossie...

 

The sheer possessiveness the mimicry of Elizabeth had...It made her shudder, her mind had been full of images of both girls...In very, very dangerous nonfamily-friendly watchable settings.

 

And she [Felt it], the emotions that had been in [her] mind during those times...The rush of adrenaline her [body] felt while it was taking out her clothes while walking to the bathroom...

 

The way [she felt] while taking a shower knowing [Her Rossie] could see her from the dining room... [She] felt no shame, [she] even relished on the idea that someone could come into the apartment and [see her].

 

The idea that [Her Rossie] would rush to [Protect her dignity] made her feel even better!

 

Because [She] was sure that Rossie wouldn't allow anyone else to [see her like that], and that made her even feel better!

 

"...MOT#ER FU$#ER!" Said the blonde girl after centering herself and finished absorbing the memories that had been left in her.

 

And for good measure, she kept swearing a storm while walking from one side of the sidewalk to the other, the people started to walk to the other side of the street in order to avoid her, but she didn't take that into consideration right now... She had bigger problems right now.

And then the stupid notification came in, if not for the tone that was obviously [Alexanders] she might have ignored it, but she still remembered his voice...

 

It had been distorted...And it carried [Weight] that she couldn't link with the carefree cheeky Alexanders...But it was definitely his, "What? No, that is the wrong one. " Answered the blonde to the blue screen.

 

She understood why Alexander was suggesting her those, but she still couldn't do it, she needed to be a [Magical Girl], so she needed to stay as one. Besides...If he wanted to get her into one of those he could have used whatever weird trick he had used to turn her into one.

"OF COURSE I KNOW THAT!" Answered back to the blue screen the blonde girl.

 

She hadn't noticed she was in the original magical girl outfit she had, she...Hadn't felt that different, to be honest. So without fanfare and without even trying to live up to the mood she quickly cast the required spell and [Shifted] into her [Elemental Weaver] form.

"I know we can ask her, but let me check..." Said the blonde girl while reading the new blue screen.

 

And then she quickly extended her will to one of her shadows to ask one of his shadow dragons to come out so the blonde asshole in her head would shut up.

 

Only to find nothing "WHAT THE HELL?!?" and screamed in surprise, then focusing and sharpening her mana, funneling it all into the correct [Idea], the blonde girl intoned "[Shadow Minion]" ...

 

But nothing answered back. Were her [Dragons] still chained inside that mansion?

 

She remembered how they had dissolved into the shadows below them with the chains...So she had thought they would answer to her call as soon as she called them back...

She quickly apologized to the pink-haired girl and followed her to a nearby rooftop, she had plenty of things to think about. Not even taking note of the last blue screen, she was too shell-shocked by everything.

 

She didn't know how they had arrived at that roof if they had spoken about something on the way...

 

She had the feeling that she had explained her dilemma to Rossie, but wasn't too sure...Everything felt...Surreal.

 

So when she noticed how Rossie was speaking with someone else she turned to see and saw a gothic lolita magical girl staring at her, "Magical Girl - [Lunar Shade]?"

 

Wasn't she the girl who thought she was planning to attack herself with the shadow dragons?

 

Was she the reason that she couldn't use her skills?

 

The blonde girl glared her way, "I mean no harm, please." Said the girl, not stepping back, but she still saw her wavering under her glare.

 

She still remembered how annoyed she had felt before, and calmed down when Rossie put her hand on her shoulder, right.

 

There was no way she could be the reason for her problems, she hadn't been around before, "Sorry...Have been having some [Shadow Based] troubles." Said the blonde girl while standing and looking once more at the girl in front of her.

 

She was dressed in a pretty standard gothic Lolita outfit, but it had the telltale of a magical girl design, and too many frills that behaved against the normal rules of physics...

 

Clothing that defied gravity and didn't look uncomfortable somehow, and more importantly...That dress had pockets, she couldn't deceive her!

 

"Can you describe the [Feel] those hostile [Shadows] had?" Asked [Lunar Shade], worry and anger clear in her tone.

 

Worry directed at...Her?

 

While the anger was probably directed at those that had maligned her with their powers... She was after all...A [Shadow Aligned] Magical Girl, any slight towards another Magical Girl was something that would affect her badly...And she still had her memories of how that girl had implied that any [Shadow] type could be a [Hero] or [Magical Girl].

 

"Sorry, I didn't mean that someone had attacked me using [Shadow]'s but that I literally have a problem with [Shadows]." Clarified the blonde girl.

 

That didn't do much for [Lunar Shade] who only frowned at that, "You were sieged or watched by a non-registered civilian with [Shadow] aligned mana." Said [Lunar Shade] probably referring to her [Alice] persona, "I can't disclose her identity nor mana signal."

 

That was a new one, so she would protect her [Civilian] form?

 

"Since the girl didn't actually attack, most of the time us [Shadow] aligned like to stare and we don't go towards the light...And that girl didn't actually do anything besides look, so please spare her if you end up finding her." Finished saying [Lunar Shade] with a bow.

 

"I mean, sure... I will even sign anything for her if she asks..." Said the blonde girl, it wouldn't be trouble since she liked that girl...

 

Even if said girl thought of her as a [Bird brain]...It was herself, so she could give her some consideration.

 

"With that out of the way...I am a [Shadow] based magical girl, so I would advise against practicing [Shadow Magic] unless you have the right [Affinity] for it if I do find evidence of you using it..." She said with a dangerous glint in her eyes, "I will report you."

 

And after that [Lunar Shade] conjured a magical circle and started floating away, "I have registered both of your [Mana Signals] if any of my wards pick up [Shadow Mana] in them I will report it to the right authorities." And on that note, she flew away.

 

"So..." Said her pink-haired friend while trying to extend her words over, it was almost as if she wasn't sure what to say "areyoureallyokay?Youweretalkingtoyourselfandearlieractedtotallydifferenttonormal"

 

Only to barrage her with a string of words that made little to no sense to the blonde, "alsoyouwereleeringatmeandlickingmybodywithyoureyesallmorningandwhileIlikedititwasn'tlikeyousoIdon'tknowwhattothinkaboutthatpleasedonthatemefornotdoinganythingaboutitbutIreallydidn'tknowwhattodoandyourskillsaidyouwerefinebutyoudidn'tlookfineandnowyouareactingweird,butitsyournormalweirdnottheweirdlustweirdofearlierthismorning..." and kept talking and talking.

 

She smiled at the obviously distressed girl "Sorry Rossie...But I'm really okay, and I am really sorry for earlier," apologized the blonde girl.

 

"To tell you the truth..."She stared while eyeing her [Status], it read normal and she was wondering how much she should trust it, "...It was a side effect from a [Skill]...That is my best guess, the [Skill] has been wonky since I started to deal with the [Taint]."

 

Then Elizabeth stopped and really thought it through, she had been threatened...Then had been withheld from experience and didn't even notice, her talk with [Alexanders] as [Alice] had shed some light on the fact that both had been mind tampered with before. She could see some notifications waiting for her, and a flick of her will told her that it was probably experience notifications...She would take them later.

 

And now she had been thoroughly tampered to the point that her personality had been warped into...[That] for half a day, if not for [Alexanders] timely save...God knows how far she would have been under that...

 

Actually...How had Alexanders done that?

 

Granted he had [Access] to her skills...But hadn't he said before that he needed [Permission] to affect her [Skills]?

 

Hadn't he complained about it while talking with [Alice]?

 

"You okay Eli-Eli? Want me to cast one of my spells?" Said her girl friend with worry on her face.

 

"No, it's okay Rossie, we need to go actually...We will be late to your internship at this pace." Said the blonde girl casting once again her flying spell.

 

The pink-haired girl did so after her and so they flew towards the clinic, but Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder...How many more secrets were buried there...

 

Why was she like this?

"Ugh..." Said the blonde girl while nursing the incoming headache while reading the new notifications.

 

"[Heal]!" Proclaimed her girlfriend who was flying near her, "You okay there?"

 

She had been quick enough and the soothing effect of the spell came in quickly, the blonde girl didn't even try to parse what the last notification said and dismissed it as soon as she could.

 

"Yeah sorry, the [Skill] is acting up...I might need to visit my m̸̘̫̥̙̫̜̃͒͆̊͊̓̍̄̇̓̈́̕͘͝e̸̛̲̩̞̤̥͋̈̑͐͑̑̑͘͘c̸̡̧̙̩̗̺͕̠̰͉͚̦̟͌͋̀̋̈̓̒͜͝h̵̢̢̢̢̰̲͎̣͆̇̄́a̴̩͕̦̺̝̥̘̘̜͑̈̽̈́̊͜͝ń̴̢͕̱̥̫̭̻̤̫͇̮̦͖̰̞̔͛͌i̴̡̡̤͉̜̣̱͍̣͖̫̲̗͐̈́̽̍̿̅̽́̀̔̋̊̚͠c̴̘̲̦͍͇͎̹͂̓͆̈́͂̔̒̇̈̓ earlier than expected." Said the blonde girl.

 

"...Sorry Eli-Eli I couldn't parse that, your what?" Asked the pink-haired girl.

 

What?

 

"What?" Answered back the blonde girl, trying to remember what she had said.

 

"Amm...m̸̘̫̥̙̫̜̃͒͆̊͊̓̍̄̇̓̈́̕͘͝e̸̛̲̩̞̤̥͋̈̑͐͑̑̑͘͘c̸̡̧̙̩̗̺͕̠̰͉͚̦̟͌͋̀̋̈̓̒͜͝h̵̢̢̢̢̰̲͎̣͆̇̄́a̴̩͕̦̺̝̥̘̘̜͑̈̽̈́̊͜͝ń̴̢͕̱̥̫̭̻̤̫͇̮̦͖̰̞̔͛͌i̴̡̡̤͉̜̣̱͍̣͖̫̲̗͐̈́̽̍̿̅̽́̀̔̋̊̚͠c̴̘̲̦͍͇͎̹͂̓͆̈́͂̔̒̇̈́̓? No...What?" She found it hard to believe, why had she referred to Alexanders like that? "S̷̟̦̘̫͉͙͈̪̜̭͚͕̤̯̆̾̋͒̒̔͘͜c̸̨̼̺̫̞͚̺̟̥̮͍̪̼̈́̽̃i̴̭͙̮̐͒̈̈́̿̊͛́̍͝͝ę̶̡̛̯͇̲̏̄̉̎͌͒͛͝ṇ̷̡͈̼̋̔́̈͗͜t̴̹̱͉̿̏̃͆̅͗̃̋̆͝ì̷̢̢̨͓͔̳̠͍̎̑̅ś̵̛̟̯̪̣̥̼̭͙̦͇͓̲̉̃̈͋̈́̾̓̚ẗ̶̡̘̲̥́̌͂?̶̮̙̉̉̃̀͂̇͑̃͜͠" And soon enough started listing other words that could refer to the blonde man.

 

"Č̴̡̗͇̥̰̙̬͙͋͗͗̆̏̊́̈́ͅa̵̧͍̭̺̞̱͆͐̓̐̔̂́͒̿̾̒̕͘r̷͔̪̫̺̮̠͈̹͇͍̤̬̫̆̉͐͋̆̓͑̐͐͂̈́͜e̵͎͓̳̳̭̗͙̙̦̱͐̑̔̃̋̀́͐̇̕̕͝t̵̛͚͒̊̊͗͐̾̈̃̚͝͝à̴̛̭͕͚͛̊͌͗͐̀̒͋̔̑͝ḵ̶͊̈́ĕ̸͓͙̤̪̼̦̰̅́͝͝r̶͔̍̐̈̋̎̂̚͝,̴͖͎͍͇͈͖͙̜̰̮̥̿͐̔͊̀̑͒̊͘͜͝ ̸̰̭͍̞̦̟̞̘̖̋̎͐̿͛̒̈̋P̷̮̱̰̗̙̻̹͉̐̓͐̾̓̐̍͗͋̔́̀̈́͠ṙ̶̢͉̬̘̦̟̪͕̍̈́̐͒̽͜o̶̡̨̼̙̬̩͗̆̌͆̐̈̄̉̅̅̈́̒͘̚͝ģ̴̧̥̭̻̹͔͔͎͕̬̬̲̞̻̒̽̕ŕ̷̖̗̥̳̳͈̙̪̩̘̺̊̔̽̊̃͗̐̓̕̕͝͝à̷̞̰̞̜̤̫͕̭̙̀̏̂͊͗̇͆̒̅m̴̨̮͇͍̣̹͚͎̣̟̂͂̍͒͆͘ͅm̴̭̖̋͋͂̈́̂͋͐͗̉́̔͘̕͠͠ẽ̴̘̼̝͉͖̞͉̦̹̲̰̺̩r̷̨̛͓̝̪͎͉̱̭̣̩̰̠̝̻͆̌̆́̊̀̎̾͘͘͜͝,̵̛͒̑̎̀͊̀̂͜͝ ̶̮͔̼͊͗͆̅́̈́͘͠͠F̶͎̪͇͎̙̦̒̊̎̓r̶̢͚̥͚̭͉̾̆̆̿͑̿͑̃̈́̏̕̕͝ͅḯ̴̛̹͉̲̤͕̉͌̂͗͋̅̂̎͆̚ẹ̴̖͇͎̻̬̯̟̲̓̀͛̔͆̔̾̃̂͌̅ṋ̵̣̫͛̈͒̓̕d̶͙̰̮͔͇̻̩͉͚̖͍̲̓̅̄͌͝,̷̡͚̹̻̣͖̻̟̊͑́̾̑̕̚͝ ̷̢̤̫̲̜̥̰̥̭̾͂̒̕͘H̸͕̰͍͈͛̒͌͆́ë̷̛͉́͋͌̈́̏͒͐̑̓̆̈́̕͝l̴̰̕ṕ̷͎̲͙̺͍̈͌̄̄͘̕̚͝͠͝ͅe̴̡̛̗̘̰̜̺̰̹̮̹̞̓̈́͒̂́̆̂͛̽͘̚͜͝͠͠r̵͙̲̙̦͎̫̞̬̦͌̄͒ ̯" But no matter what she tried, her voice came as a garbled sound.

 

"Ugh...Asshole, idiot, cheeky brat, good for nothing." And stopped there, "I can insult that asshole but I can't use the other's words what the hell?" And soon she felt wronged.

 

Somehow she could use those but not good words to refer to the blonde asshole? Why? What was the metric [Idea] used here?

 

"In a nutshell...There is a...Vagrant?...Yes, one of those living rent-free in my [Soulscape] and he h̵̡̨̛͖̼̜̰̩̫̍͊̑́̓͊̀͂̚ͅẽ̷͉̙̫̳̲̘̉̄͆̾̽̄͘̚͝ĺ̶̛̼̝͈̼͓̯̹̭̘͕͓̩̣̃̐̇̊͘̕͝p̵̡̛̤͈̹̺̯̰͚͔̞̪̻͈̄͒̽̂̓͑̌̾̍̋̚͝s̶̛͚̮̗̳̰͑̆̔̉͐̋͋̅̚ ̮͓..." The blonde girl summoned a pillow from her [Inventory] and screamed into it for a few minutes, " And he...Tries to be helpful and fails at it?... Yes, that! "

 

Would her girl friend understand that the blonde man helped her? Who knows, but that would be good enough for now "He is around messing with the [Skills] I have been using it, so he knows how this works, and may be under the same circumstances as me so perhaps he can help."

 

Finished saying with a nod to the blonde girl, did she sound like a crazed person?

 

Probably, but she believed her girlfriend would understand her!

 

And if not, she might have some ideas of what to do, she was a [Healer] after all, if she didn't have any idea, she would need to go and see Mother... But that would be more dangerous, she had been very adamant about not showing her [Soulscape] to anyone, not even her.

 

So how would that work?

 

"...So..." Said the pink-haired girl, "...You claim to have a hobo living in your soul?" And after a few seconds she added, "And he tries to help you manage your [Skills]?"

 

It was obvious from her tone of voice that this was something weird for her to imagine "He is responsible for my skills yes," said the blonde girl, "My magic is managed by a little girl in the other half of the [Soulscape]."

 

Somehow that wasn't garbled...Probably because [Alexa is the most beautiful little girl in all the world!]...Huh?

 

"Eli-Eli...While it is possible to visit another's [Soulscape] it isn't possible to [Live] in one, our [Souls] can't handle that kind of strain..." Said the pink-haired girl slowly and methodically.

 

"While I trust you...There is just no way for someone to actually [Live] inside a [Soulscape], most [Soulscapes] are too small to allow that kind of thing, mine was just above average and it was just barely big enough to hold my old room." Said as an example the pink-haired girl.

 

When she described it something weird happened, a strand of mana flew from the pink-haired girl [Core] and connected itself to Elizabeth, and instantly the blonde girl got a [Feeling] that if she wished it, she could [Look] at the pink-haired girl [Soulscape].

 

"See, focus on it and you should be able to see it for yourself...This is why we aren't allowed to describe the [Soulscape] and are encouraged to hide it." The blonde girl focused on the connection and sure enough...

 

She could get a [Sense] of how it was and if she focused her mana, she could even feel it was possible to interact with it, but...

 

"If what you said is true...I should be able to [Feel] it like you are...But..." Said the pink-haired girl.

 

Yeah...She didn't get the same reaction when she spoke about her [Soulscape]. "My [Soulscape] is a Cathedral where one wing is dedicated to [Science] and the other to [Magic], half is a big laboratory and the other half is a [Library]..."Started the blonde girl, she went as far as possible, detailing as much as she could remember.

 

Dread starting to form in her heart, "You don't need to elaborate on it, it's okay Eli-Eli." Said the pink-haired girl. "This is the normal reaction, you don't reveal your [Soulscape] to anyone, you don't need to feel bad for not telling me how is yours."

 

And even though the pink-haired girl said it was okay...It wasn't.

 

She started to get frantic about it, because the more she spoke...The less it made sense...

 

"We should continue this at home okay?" Said the pink-haired girl, "We arrived at the clinic."

 

They had arrived at their destination...And Elizabeth didn't know what was happening.

 

She had detailed as much as possible about her [Soulscape], going as far as describing the mansion her shadow dragons had...

 

But...

 

Her [Core] hadn't reacted, no connection had been made between the two girls.

 

Something was really wrong with her [Soulscape] and she...She didn't know what to do.