3.21|Operation Restoration Requiem

 

3.21|Operation Restoration Requiem

 

Miss Mannerly picked up the phone, she left it off to nearly everyone during class except two people. And Odalia was on vacation that weekend, leading her to suspect the caller. "I'm quite busy my dear. What news do you bring, Mika?"

"Mom! Bestie. Love ya, I have to tell you something. Hemlock, has a something a little special going on."

Mannerly listened attentively. The words she heard rattled her bones with a

pale chill. "To, where? Surely you didn't say.."

Mika nodded. "I did."

She paused for a moment as she processed the news. "I see."

"We will meet on your campus at noon tomorrow." Mannerly said. "If you want to prepare, you could head home and go down the coast a ways on a train or bus, but it takes days, not hours. Tell me what you know about the trip when we meet."

A fieldtrip?

"Understood. Take care Mika. We will discuss this when you get home."

Mannerly exhaled heavily.

Mika began to make her arrangements.

The crowd looked down below, entire continental shelves and worlds below the edge of the platform. The Satellite Rail carried the passengers in a spiraling formation within the dimensional stratum, going through the internal veins inbetween every single layer. Among the tourists, Mika watched in tow. This was the first time she'd ever been in The Tower. Revered by so many in the Solar Society, hated by countless others. 

Mika had seen on her Oracle the sights of a girl, one responsible for both Mercy's parents' lives. A girl who fled with her sister. One who ruled a vast empire for ages before she herself was captured and sealed, waiting within. Nosissi hung around her shoulder behind her.

Below, giants with trees for hair and flaming tails stomped across the land, the Thunderoak elves mowing through the canyons drove flying plants, riding around rainbows and waterfalls. The tourists of the rail got a full view of the menagerie.

Leading the Satellite Rail, an eloquent Librarian gave informative tours.

"And if you'll look this way, the August Wyverns are in the midst of their daily tax collecting season. They're quite thorough in their monetary extraction, the peasantry scrub their scales and do their bidding with minimal compensation. The historical accuracies of their world is quite fascinating.."  

Mika pulled from her pocket the seed that Protlyn gave her.

The Librarian held up her notes. "If you'll notice, your train will be passing by a particular landmark. It is the ancient monument on a palliative reeve that only grows on the mystical volcanic island with an active liquid-mana pool. Quite amazing, actually. The pyrotechnics are to give off a certain high frequency light for your viewing pleasure. A little taste of the wonders to be found in the world beyond our grasp."

Floating around and tumbling over the sails with ample time to tune Grace out, Ellie watched. She always found the Solar Society's probings and obsessive nature to be slightly nosy and annoying, but not enough to drive her into any type of action. When Grace told her some women from something called the 'Night Sisterhood' had wanted to arrange a fieldtrip from the Supernatural Ordinance classes of Hemlock Grove, Ellie threw her hands up and reluctantly agreed. Grace had handled most of the details, she was merely a spectator.

She watched her own shadow play, as the clouds above them floated. She didn't really understand Grace's elaborations of that world, but then again, she didn't really believe any of this Solar Society stuff.         

The Kaleido Premier soon descended upon the light rail. Everyone from the school cheered. Ellie went over to her. "Excuse me, I'm Ellie." Several students went hysteric. "Oh hey, guess you know me! Grace says, everyone in your world is pretty crazy about me?" She gave a sidebow to Grace. "Remember to give her thanks that she was able to arrange this trip."

Ellie smiled, and followed some chaperone out of the Rail.

When she passed right by Mika, the girl carefully looked around and perched over the ledge of the rail, throwing the seed Protlyn had given her down.

Mika watched it fall and disappear from sight. She was caught by surprise when Ellie appeared behind her, long ears flapping to the sound of the seed drop. After a minute, she couldn't help but ask, "Hey girl~" She waved. "What was that?"

"Uh.." Mika swallowed. Her voice was soft, but her eyes was wild.

"I uh. I just, I.. You know, uh.."

The seed ruptured the entire continent, splitting the plate. From a massive explosion consuming several kilometers below. A giant leviathan emerged, the green tentacled hydra smelling of sunflower seeds. In the center, it's skull was a red star. It wrangled and blossomed thousands of meters up, roaring.

"I think we gots to bail! Come on!" Mika yelled, pulling on Ellie's hand. She didn't want to get too close to the monster, but at the same time, she didn't want to seem like a coward either. She couldn't appear too suspicious.   

The group of tourists went wild, many of the Black Warden's hats flying off in the shock of the monster's appearance. Citizens of the floor below screamed in terror. Ellie turned to the crowd.

"Well folks, this is our first test run of a Kaiju Kaleido-summonification. I'm sure it'll all go just peachy, but if you ever wanna return, please contact the Solar Society. Anyways, stay safe. Ahem, and thank you for coming!"

Grace tapped her heel. "Ellie? Please."

"Oh come on!" Ellie folded her arms. "Fineeee. Who wants to see a little show? Some beep bop wack wop! C'mon, I can boogie woogie." Grace followed Ellie, walking out in front of the train, the crowd cheering her on. While the chaperones went to the back of the carriage, Mika followed Ellie to a corner. Ellie, looking pleased, grabbed her.

"Come here, baby. I found ya! You're staying with me."

Mika flinched.

Ellie flew with Mika in her arms and soon glided down to where the plant hydra was thrashing over the mountains. "Grab onto my waist, and hold on tight!" A rainbow colored aura began to glow out her palms. Ellie dodged beams of light from the beast and scooped from the dirt below, squeezing and molding it like clay. She put out ten fingers, creating a series of mage knights from her imagination. With broadswords, spears, baseball bats and hammers the flying armored figures radiated with energy, thrusting into a spectacle.

Theo threw aside the scroll, ignoring it as it unraveled. It took him 268 hours just to write out the higher-dimensional alchemetical instructions to arrive at this location. He looked up and saw the emptiness of existence before him, a cold chilling winter breezing snowy flakes down. His skin felt so cold it was burning. His body moved slowly, not by its own power, but as if through a force that did not belong to this world. He could hear the hiss of his own breath as it escaped his lips.

He received a message from Protlyn that the diversion was in place.

"So this is where you ended up.. Sandra."

Theo created a spark of light with his fingertips, moving towards her sealed shape- encased within a 5-sided star, just as Meeks had left her. The material felt like it was made of smooty, waxy stone. "I think it is about time we had a little talk."

The counterspell to unseal her body took as much time to develop as the

dimensional map to find it.

The spark of light formed in his hand as a circle around her. He created a circle in the air and pushed it down inwards toward her face. Then a beam of white light burst through the circle and hit her face. She gasped, pushed and tumbled forward. Sandra was free for the first time since she left Xi. The girl pulled herself up, confused and weary. She felt like she'd been dreaming for centuries.

Theo held his hands out for a moment, letting the star melt down into her. She looked into his eyes. His breath was on her face and she caught a whiff of alcohol. She down. Her clothes were covered in frail flakes of snow.

Sandra reached up and grabbed him.

"Ugh.. I could really use a drink right about now."

"Well.." he paused, his face changing into a smile. "Come on.. Let me explain

why you are here.."

"That goddamn antlered piece of shit, where's Meeks? Where's ELLIE?!" She

said. "This isn't Xi! I'm going to kill that friggin deer.."

"Alright." Theo's eyes flashed, looking at her intensely. "Let's just relax." He

could see she was shivering.

"'Chu.." The girl's tiny sneezes came with a faint whistle from her nostrils.

"Here.."

Theo took off his jacket and hung it over her, trying to keep her warm.

"Are you alright, Sandra?.."

"I'm fine, just cold.." She stopped sniffling and tried to focus on him.

"Do you know who I am?.."

"Yes.. Who are you?"

"I'm Theo.."

".. Theo.." The girl said in realization. "Theo.. I met a brilliant Alchemist once! A high-ranking Alchemist in the Xi empire, he made all the other Ellies for me. He had a son named Theo.. So, I know you.." She inspected him carefully. "I, remember you... Wait, you were just like, a little kid when we met?"

"I've grown alot. That’s how time works." Theo told her. "It's alright.."

"Where the hell are we?" Sandra looked around.

"We are here. In your sister's tower."

"Tower?"

He took out his grappling hook and shot the other direction.

"But not for long."

She looked up and down him, trusting slowly.

"Lemee get on your back. Piggyback time!" Sandra said, jumping up.

They continued trekking across the cold terrain. Sandra was carried atop him as he lead her across and out of the frigid landscape. The great hydra, technically a seaweed lifeform had been schism'd five dozen times over, splitting and regrowing everytime. After its copies were sufficiently smashed, the knights flew in a circle around the growing entity and held hands, a beam of radiant rainbow light firing towards the center and eviscerating it in one continuous flash of brilliant, golden light.

The final shards of the hydra petrified, split and then dissipated into nothingness. The crowd from the Rail cheered. Ellie had the 10 knights pose for the Solar Societians, then the summons were dispersed into a poofy cloud of glitter.

Ellie floated back onto the Rail and placed Mika down.

"Now, maybe you could talk to me about what's going on?"

"I'm... I'm... I'm sorry, Miss Ellie. I'm not sure where to start. I was brought in

because.."

Ellie received a phonecall. She didn't even own a phone, but a square appeared in front of her a single audio line spoke, asking her to 'Accept' "What's that?" Ellie asked.

"Don't know." Mika replied.

She'd never seen anything like that, and tapped it curiously.

"Who is this?"

"Novus."

"Mom?!?" Oh god, what should she say? "Where are you?"

Novus was silent for a second, before she spoke again.

"How are you Ellie?" She asked, sounding more like a stern statement than a

 real sincere question.

"I'm, very shocked and confused. Did you send this girl to summon monsters

in my Tower? What's going on right now, why are you just calling me now?"

Novus took a deep breath, why did Ellie have to inherit her curiosity.

"Will you come down to my place to meet me?"

Mika watched the Kaliedo Premier go silent.

"I'm sorry Ellie. I was so busy, I never bothered to ask if you were okay.

I should have said something sooner."

Ellie didn't know what to think. "Yeah, yeah I'll come down. Just tell me how."

Mika started thinking about Miss Mannerly, looking away for a moment.

"What did I get myself into?" She thought.