The past few months had been tedious for Terumi, both in body and in mind. There was so much going on in the world at large, and as if that was not enough, she had her own personal issues to deal with. Come to think of it, that was what adult life was all about, wasn’t it? Worrying about all sorts of things and being powerless to solve ninety percent of them. Some people often said that worry was not helpful and ought to be done without, but Terumi felt the issues she often thought about were very legit. For one, and that one was arguably her biggest anxiety: the world was at war. There were those that hoped that the declarations of war proclaimed by the two countries of Bellum and Pergrande would only involve them, and not spread to other places, but Terumi knew that politics was stickier than that. For one, both countries were large and powerful. There was no way they would not have allies, and these allies would want to support them directly or indirectly. Also, there were those others that would want to use the war for their own selfish purposes: aiming to claim more lands, obtain wealth through various means, and so on. Eventually, the two warring nations would not be the only ones that would feel the brunt of the war. There was a very slim chance that this would not be a Great Ishgar War.
Terumi did not want to be really involved in the battles that would follow, but she was afraid that there would be little choice left for her. She thought about Nita for a while; she wondered how her friend was holding up in these times. From their interactions, she knew that the blonde mage was Pergrandian, and even though she was not familiar with the details of Nita’s fleeing her homeland, she knew that it was because of her magic. Magic was outlawed in Pergrande, and that stand alone made Terumi wonder what sort of place it was. She liked seeing different places, but she had never considered trying to see what Pergrande looked like. Her friend, Nita, still seemed to have some love for her homeland, and it had worried Terumi a lot of times that Nita might support her country in this war. In her opinion, it was highly hypocritical to use the power of magic when one outrightly denounced it, but the truth of war was that it was never about who was right or who was wrong. True, the intentions may look that way in the beginning, but when things got rough and nasty, what mattered was who was left. “War is not about who’s right; what matters is who’s left.” She scoffed lightly, though a sad, wistful smile crossed her face. Her dad had liked that pun.
Whether she liked it or not, she was sure that she would play a role in the Bello-Pergrandian war. That meant that she would find herself up against various warriors with different abilities, and from the little she knew about Pergrande’s forces, they were no pushovers. Also, they were backed up by the tough and hardy folk of Iceberg. Terumi knew that Bellum and Fiore (which had sided Bellum) had powerful mages, but the plain truth was that at this point, it was impossible to say who would come out on top in this fight. She had never liked the stories about war; her father hardly every glorified it. Rather, he had told her more about its horrors, the casualties and the horrors inflicted on its survivors. She had thought it was a bit of a grisly thing for him to do, but he told her that it was a thing never to be relished, even if it seemed to have good intentions at the start. It always ended with people doing what they could never be proud of, all for the sake of victory. In war, victory’s demanded price was often very steep.
Thinking about the war brought her to dwell on her powers. Or perhaps putting it in a singular term would be more appropriate? She had a control of fire that very few could outdo, but therein was her major flaw: fire was all she had. At first, she hadn’t thought of it as an issue, because her flames had different capabilities, and she was hardly ever short of a solution with them. Then, the powerful being known as Medeia had come and singlehandedly shattered all the faith she put in her magic. It was not that she was not proud of the Allfire Magic; she had come a long way in mastering it, and she recognized its might, but if she ever found herself up against a Slayer who could consume fire, much like Medeia had done, how would she cope? She still recalled their fight vividly; no, it was more like Medeia had been toying with her. She didn’t know which had been more humiliating: the fact that the perverted angel was virtually immune to everything she threw at her, or the threat of being tied to a post in nothing but her underwear. She was so relieved when Medeia had let her off easy; the woman had actually treated her a lot more tenderly than she had expected, causing her to view the dark mage in a kinder light. Still, she could not forget the cause of their fight, and the realization that such an event might still present itself in the future. Medeia was not really like other dark mages she had met, but she did share their indifference to lives and having their own way even if it meant widespread destruction. If she had to face Medeia again in the future, or someone like her, she needed to be stronger than she already was, and that involved having a more versatile power. It was ironic that even though she was also a Fire Eater, though not a Slayer mage, it had taken another person who could eat her element to show her where she was sorely lacking.
All the events of previous times had taken Terumi back to her workshop, where she had been working feverishly on crafting inventions that could assist her in combat and give her that much needed adaptability that her magic lacked. After all, like her father often had said, “knowledge is power”, and any thing that one knew about could be applied to yield desirable results. Her intelligence and affinity towards technology could be used to help her get stronger, and perhaps she would focus a little more on that, until she could discover a new power… if she had such potential.
She really missed her father.
All work and no play made Terumi a dull girl. Working hard and thinking about depressing thoughts was beginning to have a noticeable effect on her mood. She had taken a few missions here and there to get herself out of the workshop, but she herself had noticed that Senka had been a little grumpier than normal, and even people had noticed. She was surprised, though, when most people did not address their issue with her as being because of her crankiness. They were talking about the colors of her suit! “It’s too dark”, “you look more like the night-prowler type”, “if you want to be a beacon of hope or something, shouldn’t you try for lighter colors?” It was like they had all shared a script or something, but perhaps they had a point. Maybe she needed to go back to the drawing board and revise her costume. For a superhero, public image was almost as important as the ideals they fought to uphold. Almost as, but never as important.
Eventually, the petite Midijin girl in her tinker’s corner decided that what she needed was a vacation. A little rest and relaxation would put her back in perspective, rejuvenate her spirits and give her the time to think about her direction. Besides, since most individuals preferred to go holidaying in the summer, there would not be too many people about at the holiday spots. Hopefully. She wasn’t looking out for fun, though, just something relaxing and soothing.
Hot springs were soothing.
The truth was, Terumi almost always felt hot. Still, there was a lot of appeal in basking in those special springs that did a lot of good to both mind and soul. She had thought of many places that she could go to, but most of them got ruled out almost immediately. She had heard that Sabertooth had its own hot springs and even a beach but being so close to her guild would only remind her of work, and she might end up picking a mission or doing something else related to her job, and that would defeat the purpose of her vacation. The best option, from the looks of it, was “Spa Town”. That sounded like a good idea: she would take three or four days off and enjoy cuisines and traditions that reminded her of her people. As much as possible, she would put out of her mind the fact that she was a mage and the responsibilities that came with it, and in a resort, there was likely to be less crime, as people were there to just enjoy themselves and spend their money. Her superhero career could do with the break.
”Alright, Terumi-chan, let’s do this and come back a better version of yourself…”
”I think our surveillance is finally paying off,” a figure concealed in a dark blue cape stated, the pleasure evident in their feminine voice. It was obviously a woman, even though her features were concealed by the hooded garb. On her face was a porcelain mask with wavy blue designs, reminiscent of a Midijin kappa demon. On her back, the cape bore three thick horizontal lines set one above the other; however, the lines at the top and the bottom were broken in two halves, while the line between them was unbroken. ”I really didn’t expect us to be this fortunate, but wherever she’s going means that she will be more or less separated from her guild, right? And with the information we gained of recent, who would have thought that she would have such a glaring weakpoint?” The woman chuckled. ”It’s exciting, isn’t it?”
”There is nothing exciting about your depravity,” was the curt response, the tone bearing some emotion of anger. This one was a man, from the build and the voice, and while, like the woman, he wore a cape and a mask, there were some notable differences. First, his mask had orange fiery designs, and the horned mask resembled some sort of Midijin oni. Secondly, his cape was tattered and plain, of a dull brown color. It had no lines or symbols on it. ”’Depravity’ you say,” the woman sneered. ”From what I hear, that girl is Evil Incarnate; her hands were soiled in blood right from birth…” Now it was the man’s voice that took on a condescending tome. ”’From what you hear’? You don’t even know the details, and you would jump to such conclusions? Against someone you barely know, that’s just…”
The woman raised a hand. ”Like I want to hear any family history,” she said dismissively. ”I don’t even need to know whether it’s true or not. It’s those with power who create the rules, who rewrite history. I’m only interested in getting the power I need, and Izanami-sama will give it to me if I do this.” Her voice took on a note of mock sympathy. ”I can understand why this would eat you up inside, anyway. Wonder how you must be feeling right now.”
”Terumi will do the right thing, and put me down, if she has to.”
”But we all know you can’t stay down. Besides, I’m dying to see the expression on her face when she sees what she’s up against.”
”It would do me a lot of good, if you actually did die right now.” His words were not sarcastic. He meant them with all his heart.
The woman only laughed. ”She should be arriving here today. We’ll give her tonight to have a good time. Oh, tomorrow is going to be very interesting.”
Terumi did not want to be really involved in the battles that would follow, but she was afraid that there would be little choice left for her. She thought about Nita for a while; she wondered how her friend was holding up in these times. From their interactions, she knew that the blonde mage was Pergrandian, and even though she was not familiar with the details of Nita’s fleeing her homeland, she knew that it was because of her magic. Magic was outlawed in Pergrande, and that stand alone made Terumi wonder what sort of place it was. She liked seeing different places, but she had never considered trying to see what Pergrande looked like. Her friend, Nita, still seemed to have some love for her homeland, and it had worried Terumi a lot of times that Nita might support her country in this war. In her opinion, it was highly hypocritical to use the power of magic when one outrightly denounced it, but the truth of war was that it was never about who was right or who was wrong. True, the intentions may look that way in the beginning, but when things got rough and nasty, what mattered was who was left. “War is not about who’s right; what matters is who’s left.” She scoffed lightly, though a sad, wistful smile crossed her face. Her dad had liked that pun.
Whether she liked it or not, she was sure that she would play a role in the Bello-Pergrandian war. That meant that she would find herself up against various warriors with different abilities, and from the little she knew about Pergrande’s forces, they were no pushovers. Also, they were backed up by the tough and hardy folk of Iceberg. Terumi knew that Bellum and Fiore (which had sided Bellum) had powerful mages, but the plain truth was that at this point, it was impossible to say who would come out on top in this fight. She had never liked the stories about war; her father hardly every glorified it. Rather, he had told her more about its horrors, the casualties and the horrors inflicted on its survivors. She had thought it was a bit of a grisly thing for him to do, but he told her that it was a thing never to be relished, even if it seemed to have good intentions at the start. It always ended with people doing what they could never be proud of, all for the sake of victory. In war, victory’s demanded price was often very steep.
Thinking about the war brought her to dwell on her powers. Or perhaps putting it in a singular term would be more appropriate? She had a control of fire that very few could outdo, but therein was her major flaw: fire was all she had. At first, she hadn’t thought of it as an issue, because her flames had different capabilities, and she was hardly ever short of a solution with them. Then, the powerful being known as Medeia had come and singlehandedly shattered all the faith she put in her magic. It was not that she was not proud of the Allfire Magic; she had come a long way in mastering it, and she recognized its might, but if she ever found herself up against a Slayer who could consume fire, much like Medeia had done, how would she cope? She still recalled their fight vividly; no, it was more like Medeia had been toying with her. She didn’t know which had been more humiliating: the fact that the perverted angel was virtually immune to everything she threw at her, or the threat of being tied to a post in nothing but her underwear. She was so relieved when Medeia had let her off easy; the woman had actually treated her a lot more tenderly than she had expected, causing her to view the dark mage in a kinder light. Still, she could not forget the cause of their fight, and the realization that such an event might still present itself in the future. Medeia was not really like other dark mages she had met, but she did share their indifference to lives and having their own way even if it meant widespread destruction. If she had to face Medeia again in the future, or someone like her, she needed to be stronger than she already was, and that involved having a more versatile power. It was ironic that even though she was also a Fire Eater, though not a Slayer mage, it had taken another person who could eat her element to show her where she was sorely lacking.
All the events of previous times had taken Terumi back to her workshop, where she had been working feverishly on crafting inventions that could assist her in combat and give her that much needed adaptability that her magic lacked. After all, like her father often had said, “knowledge is power”, and any thing that one knew about could be applied to yield desirable results. Her intelligence and affinity towards technology could be used to help her get stronger, and perhaps she would focus a little more on that, until she could discover a new power… if she had such potential.
She really missed her father.
All work and no play made Terumi a dull girl. Working hard and thinking about depressing thoughts was beginning to have a noticeable effect on her mood. She had taken a few missions here and there to get herself out of the workshop, but she herself had noticed that Senka had been a little grumpier than normal, and even people had noticed. She was surprised, though, when most people did not address their issue with her as being because of her crankiness. They were talking about the colors of her suit! “It’s too dark”, “you look more like the night-prowler type”, “if you want to be a beacon of hope or something, shouldn’t you try for lighter colors?” It was like they had all shared a script or something, but perhaps they had a point. Maybe she needed to go back to the drawing board and revise her costume. For a superhero, public image was almost as important as the ideals they fought to uphold. Almost as, but never as important.
Eventually, the petite Midijin girl in her tinker’s corner decided that what she needed was a vacation. A little rest and relaxation would put her back in perspective, rejuvenate her spirits and give her the time to think about her direction. Besides, since most individuals preferred to go holidaying in the summer, there would not be too many people about at the holiday spots. Hopefully. She wasn’t looking out for fun, though, just something relaxing and soothing.
Hot springs were soothing.
The truth was, Terumi almost always felt hot. Still, there was a lot of appeal in basking in those special springs that did a lot of good to both mind and soul. She had thought of many places that she could go to, but most of them got ruled out almost immediately. She had heard that Sabertooth had its own hot springs and even a beach but being so close to her guild would only remind her of work, and she might end up picking a mission or doing something else related to her job, and that would defeat the purpose of her vacation. The best option, from the looks of it, was “Spa Town”. That sounded like a good idea: she would take three or four days off and enjoy cuisines and traditions that reminded her of her people. As much as possible, she would put out of her mind the fact that she was a mage and the responsibilities that came with it, and in a resort, there was likely to be less crime, as people were there to just enjoy themselves and spend their money. Her superhero career could do with the break.
”Alright, Terumi-chan, let’s do this and come back a better version of yourself…”
”I think our surveillance is finally paying off,” a figure concealed in a dark blue cape stated, the pleasure evident in their feminine voice. It was obviously a woman, even though her features were concealed by the hooded garb. On her face was a porcelain mask with wavy blue designs, reminiscent of a Midijin kappa demon. On her back, the cape bore three thick horizontal lines set one above the other; however, the lines at the top and the bottom were broken in two halves, while the line between them was unbroken. ”I really didn’t expect us to be this fortunate, but wherever she’s going means that she will be more or less separated from her guild, right? And with the information we gained of recent, who would have thought that she would have such a glaring weakpoint?” The woman chuckled. ”It’s exciting, isn’t it?”
”There is nothing exciting about your depravity,” was the curt response, the tone bearing some emotion of anger. This one was a man, from the build and the voice, and while, like the woman, he wore a cape and a mask, there were some notable differences. First, his mask had orange fiery designs, and the horned mask resembled some sort of Midijin oni. Secondly, his cape was tattered and plain, of a dull brown color. It had no lines or symbols on it. ”’Depravity’ you say,” the woman sneered. ”From what I hear, that girl is Evil Incarnate; her hands were soiled in blood right from birth…” Now it was the man’s voice that took on a condescending tome. ”’From what you hear’? You don’t even know the details, and you would jump to such conclusions? Against someone you barely know, that’s just…”
The woman raised a hand. ”Like I want to hear any family history,” she said dismissively. ”I don’t even need to know whether it’s true or not. It’s those with power who create the rules, who rewrite history. I’m only interested in getting the power I need, and Izanami-sama will give it to me if I do this.” Her voice took on a note of mock sympathy. ”I can understand why this would eat you up inside, anyway. Wonder how you must be feeling right now.”
”Terumi will do the right thing, and put me down, if she has to.”
”But we all know you can’t stay down. Besides, I’m dying to see the expression on her face when she sees what she’s up against.”
”It would do me a lot of good, if you actually did die right now.” His words were not sarcastic. He meant them with all his heart.
The woman only laughed. ”She should be arriving here today. We’ll give her tonight to have a good time. Oh, tomorrow is going to be very interesting.”
WC: 2055