Sparkle Fic 2

        Sparkle warily peeked over the edge of the building she was hiding on top of, scanning the deserted streets for her target.  Supposedly there had been a daemon appearance in this area, but the garbled reports from fleeing civilians were always spotty at best, so she had no idea of what she was getting into as usual.  A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she smiled as two oddly stretched shadows separated from a wall below her and began snuffling at the air.  Two daemons and, she noted with surprise, one of them had a wickedly curved blade that it swung in lazy figure eights.

        An advanced daemon and a follower, no wonder there were so many panicked calls.  Still, nothing that she couldn’t handle.  Her eyes widened as she saw two more lanky figures slink into the park that she had been watching and head towards the other abominations.  She reached for her communicator and typed out a quick request for backup as the daemons drifted towards each other.  Two of these monsters was no big deal, three of them a challenge, but four?  That could get dangerous very quickly, especially since there had to be something deeper going on here with so many being created at once.

        Her heart leapt into her throat as the communicator on her hip gave off a cheery beep.  Glad that no one had seen her amateurish mistake of leaving the sound on during a scouting mission, she checked the message, sighing with relief when she saw that Marie had replied, ‘Be right there love’.  It was always nice to fight with her girlfriend, and their powers complimented each other’s nicely, which meant that these little beasts would be history in no time.

        The fact that Marie was coming gave her an idea though.  She knew that she could take four of these things, Quantum Bunny had told her that she was one of the best magical girls that it had seen, and it was only caution that was making her hold back.  What better way to show how good of a mentor Marie was than to take on four monsters at once?  The thought made her almost giddy with excitement, especially as her mind began to conjure up fantasies of ‘rewards’ that her girlfriend would lavish on her.  

        She stood and stepped to the ledge with an excited grin.  It wasn’t often that she got a challenge, and she’d do anything to impress Marie.  “Magical Burst!” she called out, before flinging herself off the edge.  

The stream of sparkles and hearts stuck true, slamming into one of the daemons below her, and she aimed herself at her chosen victim before slowing her descent to just short of bone crushing.  For her at least.  “Magical Stomp,” she said with a fierce smile, conjuring a plate of magic beneath herself.

        The daemon that she had been aiming for was already fading from her first strike, and the others were working themselves into a frenzy trying to figure out where the attacks were coming from as she plummeted down.  The magical plate that she had formed annihilated the wounded monster with a flare of pink light as she landed, which blinded the others and gave her a few seconds to work with.  “Go, Bahamut,” she said, waving her wand to call forth the dragon, “Distract that one over there, I’ll take care of the rest!”

        Her ally nodded and launched itself into battle, flapping around with its adorably undersized wings and attacking with small beams of magic from its mouth.  Sparkle was already moving forward, bringing her staff up for another burst attack, but pulled back in surprise as the daemon with a sword lashed out with her.  That’s why she always hated the advanced daemons, those things were quicker, stronger, -and- more resistant to magic, she thought as she blocked the whirlwind of blows coming at her.  She grimaced as her other opponent shook its rudimentary head and began to lope towards her.

        She dodged the monster’s charge only by flying backwards, though the sword daemon followed on its spindly legs and made sure she couldn’t get an attack in.  The wand in her hands was getting heavy as her blocking began to falter under the constant barrage of attacks, and she could already see the other creature recover from its charge and begin to approach.  There was no way she could block both of them, she thought desperately, before an idea took root in her mind.  She wasn’t happy about it, it was risky as hell, but it could also end this fight here before Rose showed up and saw her getting her ass kicked.

        Sparkle swung her wand in a tight arc, smashing aside one of the sword daemon’s blows hard enough that it staggered away, and she used the opening to run between the two abominations she was fighting.  The creatures were already charging at her when she summoned a massive Magical Burst directly below her.  The whirlwind of hearts and sparkles blinded her for a few seconds, and her heart ached from such a large mana drain, but the sight that greeted her when she managed to get her eyes working was everything she could have asked for.  

        Bahamut had managed to destroy his foe, though her mana drain had made him disappear to wherever the dragon went when it wasn’t helping her, and the other normal daemon had been completely destroyed by her attack.  That left only the sword daemon, whose shadowy body was barely holding itself together as it struggled to rise.  She limped over and stabbed the end of her wand through the abomination’s heart, and sighed in utter relief as the magic holding the shadows together finally gave out.

        Probably not the smartest thing she had ever done, she thought with a tired smile, but it seemed like she would have her chance at impressing Marie after all.  Maybe she’d try to convince her girlfriend to give her a massage, using up that mana always made her muscles ache the next day.  Well, that and there was this little bottle of massage oil that she had just happened to buy, and she wanted to see what creative uses Marie could put it to, she thought with a devious grin.

        Her weariness and rather lewd thoughts slowed her reaction as she heard a hiss behind her, and she couldn’t turn in time before she felt something slam into her from behind. She looked down in horror at the black shaft that was protruding through her shoulder.  She could barely remember the last time that there had been –five- of the damned things, she thought dazedly in the brief moment before the pain hit.  The black arrow suddenly dissolved, and sudden agony shot through her arm as the skin around the wound became grey and cracked.

        She screamed as the pain ripped through her and fell to one knee, which saved her from another shaft that hissed through the space her head had once occupied.  Desperately calling up whatever dregs of mana she had, Sparkle threw up a sparkling shield between herself and the archer daemon before limping towards one of the benches that littered the park.  Glancing over her wounded shoulder, she saw the disconcertingly stretched shape of the archer daemon stride towards her, sending arrow after arrow slamming into the shield that she had hastily erected until it finally shattered.

        It lasted just long enough though, and she staggered behind the bench before falling heavily to her knees, nearly crying as her heart shot continuous pain through her chest.  Her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself, but her mana was leaking back into her at a snail’s pace as most was redirected to heal the blackened flesh in her shoulder.  She huddled against the ground as more arrows thunked into the wood of the bench, begging any god that was listening for just a bit more mana with which to protect herself.  Seemingly ignoring her pleas, her mana only came back at a slow trickle, and she watched in terror as the monster began to circle around the bench to get a clearer shot.

        Just as she resigned herself to her fate, Sparkle heard the most beautiful sound in the world:  her girlfriend calling, “I will not stand for your darkness to stain our fair city!  Rose Whip!”

        A bright green whip that was covered in thorns suddenly wrapped around the advanced daemon that had been hunting Sparkle, and she looked up joyfully as Magical Girl Rose landed next to her.  Marie grinned at her and said, “What, having some troubles there, dear?”

        She turned to face the trapped daemon, whose struggles to break free only worked the thorns deeper into itself, and shouted, “Nature’s Fury!”

        With a burst of hearts and rose petals, roots and thorny bushes suddenly sprang from the ground and impaled the creature, and Marie’s whip went slack as it faded away.  “Come on Sparkle, you started the fun without me,” she said with a pout, but her eyes widened in worry as she caught sight of her student’s wounded shoulder, “Oh no, how badly are you hurt?”

        She immediately rushed over to Sparkle, sinking to her knees to get a better look at the blackened skin, but squeaked in surprise as she was pulled into a hug instead.  Sparkle held her tightly for a few moments, savoring Marie’s comforting warmth before murmuring, “I’m fine love, I’m so sorry for being stupid and rushing in without you.”

        “I’m just glad that you are fine!  Why did you rush in there anyway?  I was only a few minutes away,” Marie said, gently stroking Sparkle’s back.

        Sparkle was immensely glad that Rose couldn’t see the blush spreading on her cheeks, and reluctantly said, “I…well, I wanted to impress you by taking on four by myself.  And I did!  But another one showed up when my mana was drained.”

        To her surprise, Marie simply laughed.  “I’m already your girlfriend, you dolt!  Why do you need to impress me, I already love you,” she said, poking Sparkle in the sides teasingly.

        Marie pulled herself from the hug and gave Sparkle an attempt at a stern glare, “I can’t let this one slide though.  You are my student after all, and you should have known better.  You’re grounded, no more dates and no more fun until I’m satisfied you won’t try to get yourself killed.”

        Sparkle could only gape at her girlfriend in confusion, which must have looked hilarious, because Marie’s ‘serious’ face quickly crumbled into a wide grin.  “Now don’t give me that look!  Trust me it won’t be too terrible,” she said with a wink, “I’m just going to make sure that unless you are on a mission or training, you’ll have to stay in our room.”

        Finally catching onto the joke, Sparkle smirked right back, pecked Marie on the lips, and said, “I just have no idea how I’ll pass the time.”

        “I’m sure you’ll figure something out, you tramp,” she said with a coy flip of her hair before pulling out her communicator, “Hold on a sec, I’ll send out a quick message telling the others that we’ve taken care of this.”

        After a few seconds of typing Marie slipped her communicator into her pocket and held her arms open towards Sparkle, “Okay, hop on.  Time to take you home.”

        Sparkle stuttered out a mess of words, trying to figure out some excuse to avoid the embarrassment of someone else flying her back to headquarters, but was stopped by a peck from Maria before she could come up with anything resembling an excuse.  The older girl swept Sparkle off her feet before she could start speaking again, and said merrily, “Let me take care of you!  You’re wounded, your mana is drained, and I just want to pamper you for once.  It reminds me of when I was still training you, back when you were an adorable little newbie.”

        She tried her best to look offended, but Sparkle couldn’t resist Marie’s enthusiasm at taking control this time, or the dreadful power of her puppy-eyes for long, and so resigned herself to her fate.  It wasn’t too bad anyway, she thought as Rose lifted off the ground and began flying home at a sedate pace, there were much worse things than the woman she loved fussing over her.  The aching in her shoulder faded as her mana began to close the wound, and Marie’s perfume (lots of rose notes of course, but with a warm incense that lingered beneath) soon had her in a contented stupor.  She found it almost strange how such a simple scent could make her forget about the terror that happened only a few minutes ago.  The weariness from the stress finally got to her, and she slowly closed her eyes, telling herself that she was just resting them for a few seconds.

        It was only when the wind that had flowed around them began to slow that Sparkle roused from her doze somewhat, and she watched blearily as Marie brought them to the ground.  Not quite ready to give up the warmth and comfort she had found quite yet, Sparkle nuzzled into Marie’s neck and clung to her tighter.  “Oh, I see how it is,” the older girl said teasingly, “Start a big fuss and then refuse to let go.  After all that talk of how me carrying you around was embarrassing, too.”

        Sparkle didn’t bother to answer with words, contenting herself with planting a kiss on Marie’s neck, which only made the girl laugh as she slipped through the door of the Magical Girl Society.  Thankfully the rest of the girls seemed to be out, so no one else witnessed the indignity of the most powerful magical girl being hauled around like a sack of potatoes, and Rose was soon hip-checking the door to their room open.  She strode to the bed and unceremoniously dumped her burden onto the comforter.  “Now you just stay right there, I’m getting out of this frilly thing before you try to get your hands on me,” she said imperiously, loosening her tie and unbuttoning her top few buttons with exaggerated slowness.

        Usually Sparkle wanted nothing more than to drag her girlfriend into bed when she was being this flirty, but the day’s events had made her realize how cocky she had gotten, and how quickly she could lose Marie or even die herself.  She slipped off the bed, wrapped her arms around Marie, and placed a soft kiss at the nape of her neck.  “Down girl, I still need to get out of my work clothes,” Rose said while trying to wriggle away.

        Sparkle only pulled her tighter though, and simply held her rather than continuing as usual.  Marie seemed to notice the odd behavior and leaned back into the embrace.  “Hey, what’s wrong dear?” she asked gently, stroking one of the hands that was clasped around her.

        She almost didn’t want to reply, content instead to feel Rose inside her arms and lose herself in the woman’s scent, but Sparkle murmured, “I’m just thinking about things after that close call today.  You might run into a pack like that, or one of us might slip up.  And even if we do fine, things won’t be the same when your contract ends in a few months.  I don’t want to let you go.”

        “Don’t be that way Sparkle, we’ll keep each other safe.  As for the contract ending, things around us might change, but you’d be crazy to think I’d let such a beautiful woman slip away from me,” she said.

        They stood like that for a while, both content to just savor the embrace, before Marie pulled one of Sparkle’s hands free and kissed the fingertips.  “I’ll make you a promise, Sparkle.  No matter what happens after my contract is over, no matter how many daemons we fight, I’ll be right there with you holding your hand.”