Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 3

[DracoOmega]

>Slight pause.
>"No. We are each free to choose our own path and our own creed, and I cannot presume to speak for countless millions. But this is a world of diversity and tolerance and every day I see people of disperate race and mind united by bonds which transcend their differences. Whether you are Demon or not does not matter. You are You, and you are free to choose what that means, as we all are."
>"But you speak of 'last days'. Has some crisis in your own plane driven you here?"

[Oldmansour]

>Slight pause.
>"No. We are each free to choose our own path and our own creed, and I cannot presume to speak for countless millions. But this is a world of diversity and tolerance and every day I see people of disperate race and mind united by bonds which transcend their differences. Whether you are Demon or not does not matter. You are You, and you are free to choose what that means, as we all are."
>"But you speak of 'last days'. Has some crisis in your own plane driven you here?"

>"No, Terran." the demon counters. "I have no choice. I have had but one choice in my life, the same choice all of my kind have: survive, or die. And I don't even have that choice." The fox adds, almost proudly. "I'm a Champion. I was made for this."
>"And what duty's that?" you hear Komachi ask. Sparing a glance backwards, you see that she, at least, has heeded your words, and has sent most of her officers back outside the gates to try and move the civilains back. You catch a brief glimpse of bright white wings through the crowd, Lily's wings, but just for a moment.
>"Like I said before. To save my race."

>"'Crisis?' .. Yes, I suppose you could call it that."

[DracoOmega]

>"What is it that is wrong? And how do you hope to fix it by coming here?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What is it that is wrong? And how do you hope to fix it by coming here?"

>The foxes' aura flares and crackles. "Our world is dying." the demon says, it's voice that of a backdraft igniting. "I'd call that a crisis, wouldn't you?"
>"But how are you supposed ta fix it here?" Rin asks.
>"We're not." Fire spits. "We'll survive here."

[DracoOmega]

>"Why is it dying? What is wrong with it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Why is it dying? What is wrong with it?"

>"Never mind that right now." Kaguya says from behind you. "What's more important is, does your survival mean the deaths of everyone on this world?"
>The foxes aura flares onces again, then quiets down. "YOUR survival means not annoying me, Terran." it states, plainly irritated. "There's only two of you down that really matter, and you're not one of them. Why don't you get rid of them?" Fire asks you. "You're the strongest one here."
>"That doesn't mean she's in charge." the officer with the damaged armor says angrily.
>"What are you, stupid?" the Champion derides.

[DracoOmega]

>"They are familiar neither with myself nor with you, nor indeed with the threat that you could pose should you choose. But even if they were, I suspect it would not change their conviction to protect that which matters to them, whether beyond their power or not. If it is me you would rather address, then do so, but I would thank you not to threaten them so while we are speaking."

[Oldmansour]

>"They are familiar neither with myself nor with you, nor indeed with the threat that you could pose should you choose. But even if they were, I suspect it would not change their conviction to protect that which matters to them, whether beyond their power or not. If it is me you would rather address, then do so, but I would thank you not to threaten them so while we are speaking."

>The foxes' grin returns. "You're they're protector, then."

[DracoOmega]

>"I am. We are. Both of those here and all those further away."

[Oldmansour]

>"I am. We are. Both of those here and all those further away."

>"But you're the one with the power- Well, you and the girl with the flying thing." With a swish of its tail, leaving a sodden red glow in its wake, the demon continues, "And I still want to see the power that beat Water."

[DracoOmega]

>"And if I were to satisfy your curiosity, could we continue to talk as we are? I want to understand what is happening to your home, and how you came to be sent here. I do not accept that the only eventualities are your race's extinction or ours' subjugation."

[Oldmansour]

>"And if I were to satisfy your curiosity, could we continue to talk as we are? I want to understand what is happening to your home, and how you came to be sent here. I do not accept that the only eventualities are your race's extinction or ours' subjugation."

>"I'm not in the habit of looking that far ahead. But assuming the four of us are still alive, well, we can see."
>"Hold on, are you going to fight him?" Komachi asks you.

[DracoOmega]

>"If I must. I would rather it not come to that - my conviction that our two kinds need not be enemies is genuine."

[Oldmansour]

>"If I must. I would rather it not come to that - my conviction that our two kinds need not be enemies is genuine."

>Officer Onozuka looks between you and the demon. "I get the feeling he doesn't have the same idea."
>"You can't fight that thing." the miko cautions you, still sounding a bit rattled. "It's power..."

[DracoOmega]

>"Is great indeed. Yes, I know."

[Oldmansour]

>"Is great indeed. Yes, I know."

>"It's evil." the miko counters. "Never have I sensed such darkness. The lycanthrope's dark energy was as nothing compared to that."

[DracoOmega]

>"I have faced its kind before. I expect I will do so again before too long. But if it has a living soul, then I will not call it evil - I will not judge it as though it cannot change, and cannot choose."

[Oldmansour]

>"I have faced its kind before. I expect I will do so again before too long. But if it has a living soul, then I will not call it evil - I will not judge it as though it cannot change, and cannot choose."

>"How do you know it has a soul like ours?" the miko asks. "I can't sense any soul at all."

>Here's another question. Rin's voice comes to you. She said 'the four of us'. You think he means Lily? I don't know that he knows about her, that she's here.

[DracoOmega]

>It is possible it might have sensed her power - I do not know.

>"Whatever the form of its soul, it can speak and reason and choose - it chose to come here at this moment because it was curious, no? It is hard to imagine a being with a desire to know and see and to experience without one."

[Oldmansour]

>It is possible it might have sensed her power - I do not know.

>"Whatever the form of its soul, it can speak and reason and choose - it chose to come here at this moment because it was curious, no? It is hard to imagine a being with a desire to know and see and to experience without one."

>The miko looks at the demon's form, thoughtful.

>One of us should ask. Rin suggests. But whatever we're doin', we'd better do it soon, before Kaguya or the cops get antsy and do somethin' they'll regret.

[DracoOmega]

>I should hope they have enough awareness not to, but perhaps you may be right.

>Address the demon again: "Is that what you would most wish for now, then? To test our powers against yours?"

[Oldmansour]

>I should hope they have enough awareness not to, but perhaps you may be right.

>Address the demon again: "Is that what you would most wish for now, then? To test our powers against yours?"

>"Not exactly."

[DracoOmega]

>"Then what?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Then what?"

>The demonic fox levels a malicious grin at you. "I never said you'd be fighting me."
>You have just long enough to feel a brief sense of fear, before the ground at your feet erupts in an explosion of power and white-blue light, sending you careening through the air backwards, feeling an unearthly cold blast though you. Similar detonations erupt around you as well, accompanied by the sounds of screams. You hear the fluttering of large wings and the tinkling of ice as you land hard on your back, oddly numb in your lower half.

[DracoOmega]

>Quick situational analysis: look to the sound of the wings, our legs, and the area we just were. Do others seem to have been caught in the blasts directly?
>And why the hell couldn't we sense that coming?

[Oldmansour]

>Quick situational analysis: look to the sound of the wings, our legs, and the area we just were. Do others seem to have been caught in the blasts directly?
>And why the hell couldn't we sense that coming?

>The sound of wings is coming from above you, and in front of you, so you look up to see what appears to be, at first glance, a snowy owl, hovering three feet over your head and nearly ten feet in front of you. This one, however, is almost six feet tall, with a proportionately large wingspan. It's white feathers appear to have been formed from freshly fallen snow, the two of fur on its head appear to be made out of white ice rather than feathers or fur, and it's talons are glit with crystalline edges. Every beat of its wings leaves a cloud of spakling snowy powder, and the edges and gaps on its wings, between its feathers, glow with a pulsating blue light.
>Glancing down at your legs, you find that, alarmingly, they have turned a light shade of blue, and your boots and socks are coated with a dusting of snow and frost. They are unnaturally cold. They still seem mobile, merely chilled by the cold power that hit you.
>Where you were standing, you now find a patch of ice and snow covered cement, with a pair of pointed crystalline formations jutting out of the ground. Similar patches can be seen where the trio of officers were standing, the force of the blast evidently sending the three of them flying as it did you. All three are still on the ground, though the oni officer Conner is starting to come around already. A third explsion seat can be seen where the Tortoise shrine maiden had been standing. She, like you, is on her back almost ten feet from you, otherworldly frost present on her feet and the lower part of her wings. Komachi appears to have been caught by the edge of that blast as well but is still standing, her arms thrust out before her to shield her face from the blast, her forearms discolored as your legs are. The remaining officers that had been standing behind her, two of them, appear unharmed.

>A very good question, that.

[DracoOmega]

>What about Kaguya? Rin?
>Can we sense the owl's presence at all now?

>Come to our feet
>If we have a moment to work with, and it does not seem about to strike again immediately, let's see if we can use our power to purge this chill from ourselves. If it is demonic in origin and our power is anathema to them, then let's see if we can focus the power within ourselves upon our legs and drive the cold out.

[Oldmansour]

>What about Kaguya? Rin?
>Can we sense the owl's presence at all now?

>Come to our feet
>If we have a moment to work with, and it does not seem about to strike again immediately, let's see if we can use our power to purge this chill from ourselves. If it is demonic in origin and our power is anathema to them, then let's see if we can focus the power within ourselves upon our legs and drive the cold out.

>Standing atop her flying disc, Rin seems to have escaped the owl's sneak attack unharmed. She has backed off a little from where she was, but she remains in the air. She seems torn between attacking the owl and coming down to check on you.
>Seeing her in one piece, you spare a glance behind to check on Kaguya and Keine. Fortunately for them, the owl seems not to have included them in its sneak attack, and Kaguya is in the process of picking Keine off the ground. She isn't moving too fast, though, and her masked face offers you no clues as to her reasoning.

>The owl now does register on your mystic senses, but even now, its presence is not as obvious as the Champion of Fire.

>With a groan and a strain, you pick yourself off the ground, straining against the cold that has assaulted your body. It feels as though the joints in your legs have been in a freezer for hours when you try to move them, but they do support you once they get under you. You're the first to get back to your feet, as well, as Conner has manged only to get back to all fours in that length of time, holding his head and groaning audibly.
>The officers behind Komachi, however, are in better nick and have advanced on the owl, their blaster pistols drawn. "Blast him!" the woman closer to you shouts, and the two unleash bolt after bolt of deadly red energy at the hovering owl. The creature makes no effort to dodge the shots, but as the impact of the blaster fire has no outward effect on it at all, it doesn't seem to need to.
>With its attention diverted, you do at least have a chance to deal with your own problem. Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, you turn your focus inward, reaching for the light within you. A warming sensation spreads across the lower half of your body in response to your intent, and the blue discoloration on your legs fades along with the stiffness and numbness caused by the owl's pearl harbor job.

[DracoOmega]

>From what little we could determine/sense earlier, did the icy blasts seem to literally start beneath us and the others, or were they fired from above and merely exploded there?

[Oldmansour]

>From what little we could determine/sense earlier, did the icy blasts seem to literally start beneath us and the others, or were they fired from above and merely exploded there?

>You would guess they came from beneath you.