Falling Into The Heart

Future
"...Oh, WOW!" Tsuruko's eyes lit up like the stars in the sky as she gazed upon the city of Hargeon; it was nothing like she'd seen before. Hargeon was built of luminous blue buildings and translucent pathways; truly, an absolutely technologically-advanced location that made it seem like she was in the future. The entire sight was more than enough to overwhelm her senses in awe.

"It's like something out of a science fiction novel!" She was right, exactly. Walking around with her head up high, Tsuruko clearly wasn't watching where she was going...and almost fell off the ledges. Falling back as she caught her breath, Tsuruko's eyes became a ghostly white in shock as she clutched her heart. "Haaa...!" She gazed over the edge of the platforms that composed Hargeon's walkways; seeing nothing but an endless abyss beneath her.

"Yeah, Hargeon is impressive, eh? Just be careful not to get lost, girlie." A voice called out to her. Tsuruko swiftly turned around to find the source of the voice; it was a young man with a sleeveless turtle-neck sweater and baggy pants, with leather accents that hold his armour in place and his weapon. He wore body armour on the chest, head, and shoulders, and wields a wide two-handed sword; the whole armour was fastened by several belts. This guy was a member of the city guard, by the looks of it.

"...Uhm, I'm trying to find the Magic Council's headquarters. Can you give me directions, please?" Tsuruko scurried up to the guard; grabbing his hand excitedly. Her eyes shone brightly; sparkling like diamonds.

The guardsman was taken off by her adorable charm. "Uhhh..." He withdrew a map from his armour. "Here you go. It's a map of Hargeon. Use it wisely...because I don't have another one. Now I have to stand in this place all day until I see another guard, thanks a ton girlie."

Tsuruko ignored the man's comment; as she walked forward with a spring in her step. However, a sharp *bzzt* rang though her head as she heard a voice. "...Hey, Tsuruko. Can you hear me?" That voice—it was Giselle's!

Tsuruko glanced around in fright, squealing, "Ehhhhhhhhhhh!? G-Giselle, where are you!? Don't hide from me!!"

"Heh, hehe. Listen, I'm downloading my voice into your head through magic." Giselle answered.

"....What kind of magic?"

"...You're just full of questions, aren'tcha? Curious as a monkey. It's kinda annoying, but I'll deal with it. Anyway, the magic I'm using? Archive; it's really rare. However, you should know that magic is impossible for regular humans to have. I'll explain a bit more on that later. Archive lets me and you talk in our minds. I can also transfer information to you like data and the like. Basically, think of me as your mission control; rather than accompany you into the field, I'll offer assistance with information and technology from here." Giselle explained.

"...Ohhh...!" Tsuruko's head still hurt from that explanation. "Why are you talking to me, though?"

"I can tell by the dumb look on your face that you'd get lost in a straight corridor. Anyway, turn left." Pause. "No, your other left."

Tsuruko waltzed around in a haze; still not understanding where she had to go. "...Say, Giselle; what's the deal with all the technology? It's like it's the future!"

"Everything within Hargeon was created from the ground up using Lacrima. ....I know what you're going to ask, I'll explain. Lacrima is a magic crystalline substance found in this world, and it can be powered up with different spells and used for different purposes; it's essentially crystalized magic. Buuut...a long time ago, the magic vanished. It just dried up and died. After the great Human-Dragon War, the magic that once worked, it just stopped and disappeared. People could no longer use magic properly." Giselle added, "Let me explain more."

"That's where I come in. The magic itself was learned from the Lunarians. The Lunarians' planet was about to be destroyed, so they fled and came to Earth Land. They discovered that the humans were still in the process of evolution, and at the moment they could not co-exist. The Lunarians decided to await the day the humans could understand and live peacefully with them, so a second moon was created in orbit over the planet. However, before they left, they taught the humans Aura Magic—"

"...Wait! I know Aura Magic!" Tsuruko exclaimed in surprise.

"Then you're lucky, Tsuruko. Aura Magic is mostly lost these days; and from Aura Magic, the rest of the styles of magic were born. Thus, Aura Magic is a Lost Magic which is considered truly "lost". It was made to counteract The One Magic when the Crisis from the Sky attacked—ehh, I'm droning on, aren't I? Anyway, back to Lacrima. It turns out that a tiny percent of the mages who used magic in the war retained their magic. Naturally, people love power. And power corrupts them. So, those few mages decided to laud their power over the lands, becoming the Warring Triad; who reigned corruption and destruction over the lands. However, a legendary knight, the Phoenix Knight, with a pact beast, Guldfenix, slew the Warring Triad and brought peace to the land once more."

"...I thought that this was about Lacrima..." Tsuruko asked, confused.

"I'm getting to that!" Giselle hissed. "Anyway, the people harvested the magic from the bodies of the Warring Triad; and absorbed it into themselves. The result was the magic you know today. As the human race repopulated, the magic was kept within each and every descendant that was born. In essence, this resulted in the magic you have today. Since it's a second-hand version, it's weaker than the magic of the past, but still, magic is magic. True Magic is all but extinct; and only the Lunarians know it now. Anyway, that's magic. Now, it turns out that there's a origin of magic in the universe."

"...Go on?" Tsuruko was slowly beginning to understand.

Source
"The Source of Magic is a river of magical energy coursing through Earth Land and is considered to be its "blood." The Source of Magic is also considered to be a swell of souls, a river of the dead's memories. The Source of Magic is, in fact, the sum of all living things in the universe; each new life, of plants, animals, and human beings, is "blessed" with a tiny portion of magical energy from the Source of Magic prior to birth which can be used via the fake magic they obtained through their blood. Upon the organism's death, its magical energy returns to the Source of Magic, taking back with it the memories of its lifetime, and allowing the Source of Magic as a whole to grow and the cycle to continue. In essence, the Source is what allows people to use magic."

"...Oh?" Tsuruko was all ears.

"From the Source of Magic, all things originate, and to it all things return. Meaning people are knitted together from spare fragments of magical energy, go live in a crappy world, then when they die, their spirit and consciousness is completely dissolved bit by bit and the cycle starts again. Bleak, eh? Anyway, the Source of Magic is extracted and processed by Magic Council, creating magical energy for electricity, and also for condensing it into Lacrima. The magic extraction is a process that would eventually lead to the death of the universe. Then there's the fact that even as a living being, contact with raw Source of Magic results in mutations, insanity, and other unspeakable things. Also, that lightbulb in your room? Powered by your dead grandfather's soul courtesy of the Magic Council. So you know what that means? It's basically nuclear energy."

Tsuruko shuddered. "...Dark."

"Anyway, onto the main article!" Giselle seemed chipper now. "Lacrima is crystallized magic. Metaphysically, Lacrima calls upon the wisdom of the Source of Magic in order to manipulate nature itself. This manifests as the phenomenon of magic for most Lacrima, although other Lacrima pieces enhance the user's abilities. Unless one is descended from the Lunarians, Lacrima, along with the fake magic, is the only way normal humans can use magic. In order to use a Lacrima's power, a shock triggered by the user's mind waves is required. As a result the user's mind is weakened and frequent use of Lacrima without rest taxes their stamina." Giselle continued, "I'm not done yet."

"Also, Lacrima is able to occur naturally at "Magic Springs", places where the Source of Magic leaks through the surface of the planet and condenses, such as Nine. However, this is a rare occurrence, taking centuries for the magic to crystallize into Lacrima, so most Lacrima is artificially produced. Natural Lacrima is quite rare, and with good reason: it's formed from the condensation of magic over the course of many, many years. Lacrima can be manufactured too, though man-made Lacrima is less powerful than natural. Lacrima allows you to focus and call upon the powers of the land, or so they say. No matter how you slice it though, Lacrima is spirit energy balled up into a crystal and used to perform magic. If you've ever used Lacrima, you're a necromancer. Scary, eh?" Giselle sighed, "Now, there's a bit more to it. Go into that shop."

Tsuruko gazed upwards; staring at a store that had the sign "Honest John's Weapons". For some reason, the sign didn't seem too trustworthy. The words on the windows said "Lacrima", "Magitech", "Weapons", and "Appliances". As she walked inside, she noticed an assortment of glass jars, and containers which contained Lacrima. "...Wooow...It's really popular, isn't it?"

"You betcha. Anyway, this is where Magitech comes in. It's a fusion of science and technology; so, the Lacrima most of the time ends up working just like technology; for example, a traditional heat engine or an electrical generator could be powered by or powering a magic spell, or a giant mecha that can inexplicably shoot ice from an empty hand—it's done by Ice Magic. The car engine might be powered by a fire elemental, and the telephone may work through the principle of contagion, but this doesn't affect the man on the street. They just get in the car and drive away, or pick up the phone and talk — no special talent required, just as if the devices were technological. So, Hargeon is a city where science and magic peacefully co-exist. The whole city was built on Magitech; it's very dependent on it. Anyway, I want you to buy a weapon." Giselle pressured Tsuruko.

"But Dragredder is a great weapon..." Tsuruko pleaded with her.

"A gunblade is an ingenious integration of sword and firearm into a single instrument for killing purposes. The weapon is equally capable of dispatching enemies at close-quarters and at range. However, it's a dangerous weapon that only the most skilled fighters should use. If people see you using it in public, then they may get the wrong idea and you'll be in deep shit. Anyway, buy a gun or something." Giselle pestered her until Tsuruko just gave up and gave in to Giselle's demands.

Tsuruko walked over to the gun section, noticing a sleek, crimson handcannon-esque revolver, which sported five unraveling barrels that comes to form a cross motif, and a wicked, menacing, and devilish aesthetic using sharp and sleeked adornments, all in metallic grey and dark black. "This one looks cool!"

"That's the MRX-01 Sazabi; a High Velocity Blaze Pistol. The base chassis of the pistol is composed of a shaft of polished yew exactly six and one half inches in length, of square cross-section and width two inches, already prepared with clockwork action and barrel assembly. To the end opposite the barrel is attached by means of Joint Method II, a handle crafted from oak or yew to the ergonomics of the proposed wielder of the weapon, this part not being detrimental to the appearance of the Fire Lacrima within the finished product. It fires blasts of flame; and it can be fired at least a hundred times." The shopkeeper rested his hand on her shoulder. "It'll be 1,600 Jewels, miss."

"I'll take it!" Tsuruko's eyes lit up; as she handed over 1,600 Jewels. "Thanks, mister!" Suddenly, Tsuruko's vision focused to the left—noticing a comic book rack. She immediately scurried over to the rack, picking up the comic in glee as she flipped through it like an overly excited child.

"...Huh? That's the Ascending Firebird comic book. It's really popular amongst girls for having really pretty guys, and it has some decent fighting scenes. Ironically the most popular character was that blonde-haired demon who loved messing with people's heads." Giselle twirled her hair.

"Not only that. The comic taught me how to fight!" Tsuruko was proud of such a fact.

"...Wha? How, can you learn an entire fighting style just by reading comics?"

"It's easy! He's all like "WHACHAAA IKAYYYYY ORAORAORAORAORAORA YATTE YARUZE SHINING ONSLAUGHT FULL BURST AVALARK RYŪSEIKEN YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD!!" And now I don't need words to serve ya, I'm 'a just say, 'YATTE YARUZE IT'S SHOWTIME!'" She made faux-kung fu poses while screaming.

"...I have no idea what you just said." Giselle sighed.

CRASH!

The sound of the front door being blasted down resounded throughout the shop as several armed men and a cloaked woman entered the shop furiously. The henchmen glanced around at the Lacrima, as the cloaked woman approached the shopkeeper.

"Mr. Baltimore, please tell me that you have my money." The cloaked woman smiled slyly underneath her hood. "Or else, I can't guarantee the Magic Council can protect your fine establishment." One of the woman's henchmen pointed a magical pistol towards the elderly shopkeeper.

Baltimore, with a trembling voice, pleaded, "I'm sorry, business has been slow. Please, take one of my crystal orbs." Baltimore held out an illustrious orb which shone brilliantly. Without even taking her hands out of her pockets, the woman effortlessly smacked the object out of Baltimore's hands with a half moon spinning fire kick, reducing the orb to a burning pile of rubbish. Baltimore leapt back to avoid the blast, falling to the ground.

"...Aha, I'm not much of a music lover." She made a money sign with her right hand. "Give me the money, or else—"

Tsuruko immediately put down the comic book, and turned around, triumphantly declaring, "Or else what, evildoer!?" She stood confidently before the group, with her hands on her hips, her magical aura surging.

Seeing this sight, the woman burst out in laughter. "Ahahaha, wow. Anyway, since you're obviously a foreigner, let me explain a few things." The bystanders in the shop, as well as Mr. Baltimore, were huddling on the floor in fright as the woman told Tsuruko, "You're in Magic Council territory, and we're about to put you, in the hospital."

Tsuruko growled at this. "...You monster! Terrorizing the common people isn't what authority does!" She smashed her fist against her palm as her magical aura surged even more. "You're the only ones who are gonna need a hospital, and, for your sake, I hope there's one nearby."

The mooks adopted a confused look, as Tsuruko rubbed her left fist into her right palm with a wicked expression; the woman hissed at Tsuruko, "Who the hell do you think you are, girlie?!"

Tsuruko grinned defiantly, "Why don't you come and find out?" Her Super Soul Rings materialized upon her fingers, as she declared, "Now, it's showtime!"

Such a Scene
ZOOM!

Before one of the goons could properly react; Tsuruko had dashed forward, sending her clenched fist straight into his gut—however, from there, Tsuruko used his body as a fulcrum, grabbing onto his shirt lightly before leaping towards one more mook; striking him with a jumping kick. "Hiyaaaaaaaa!" Tsuruko cried out; sending the two of them crashing through the stained glass window.

The wave of mooks outside began to attack—using Water Magic, a mook released a water bullet towards Tsuruko; who stopped the water easily with one hand and sent it right back at the gangster, freezing the water over his head. His balance lost, the man stumbled forward toward Tsuruko, who struck him with a back spinning kick, due to which he slammed head first into the pavement; the force of the kick caused the ice around his head to shatter as he sagged down.

The goons onlooking such a vicious attack recoiled; as a "that must have hurt"-look donned their faces. An Earth Magic-using goon, enraged by what happened to his friend, charged Tsuruko by jumping up. However, before he could land and utilize his magic, she extended the portion of earth where he was going to land on with her Aura Magic by stomping the ground, catapulting him high into the air; the mook fell on a wire suspended from one building to the other. From the wire, the man was catapulted again a wooden advertising board, fell down on the pentice of a shop, and was thrown into a tapestry, which ripped under his weight. The man fell down onto a shop display before flopping on the ground where he laid still.

Seeing two of his allies defeated, the Fire Magic-using mook aggressively unleashed a large stream of flame towards Tsuruko; as it spread out to cover the entire road. However, a cockily grinning Tsuruko parted the stream through the light of her Laser Ring as she leapt forward, deflecting the man's flames with her Aura Magic—once she had reached the man, she grabbed him by the hands, prompting him to scream in fright. Quickly, Tsuruko spun the man around to build up momentum, before throwing him inside the window of a shop. Not even five minutes and she had caused so much damage...

Giselle informed Tsuruko, "You've no time to waste on these goons. Go after the woman, now!"

Tsuruko pouted, "Aww, but this is fun..."

The cloaked woman ordered, "Finish her, now!" Even though the woman was scowling, Tsuruko smirked as she snapped her fingers; summoning her gunblade, Dragredder, in a flash of light. Instantly, the weapon unfolded into its blade form as Tsuruko set up a fighting stance.

Quickly, Tsuruko spun Dragredder around like a windmill blade, uppercutting a mook as she knocked him into the ground. Performing a frontflip, she kicked the next mook in the face. Suddenly, she switched Dragredder into gun mode and aimed it behind her; firing a single silver bullet outwards—the force of the launch propelled Tsuruko forward, kicking into another goon with high speed, sending him crashing into a fountain.

Spinning her blade around, Tsuruko brought the flat side of the gunblade down on yet another mook, knocking him out cold. Dodging the gunfire of the sniper mook with recoil boost, Tsuruko managed to get close enough to the final goon as she kicked him into the air. Looking back, Tsuruko had carved an enormous trail of destruction in her wake as she focused back upon the masked woman.

"..." The cloaked woman was speechless; before snapping at Tsuruko, "What have you done!? These were human beings, with lives, and families, and- Ah, I'm totally kidding. Screw those guys! Those mooks, they weren't worth any of the money I paid for 'em." She cackled, and with a swish of her cape, she teleported—heading to the roof of a bookstore a few blocks away.

Someone slowly came into view. The lightly treading shadow that appeared without making a sound, it was a middle-aged man who would have belonged anywhere. His blank face and empty eyes paradoxically let Tsuruko sense that this was a dangerous person, trying to attack straight away. Like some puppet being controlled by its strings, without any warning. But Tsuruko easily defeated him.

One person. Two people. Three people. Four people. Tsuruko nonlethally knocked out the goons with an easy grace that made it look like she was dancing. There were no useless motions in that dance. Before long the streets were full of unconscious bodies. For the first time—Tsuruko ran, stepping over the corpses of the crowd she had defeated before advancing down the street.

When she came out to the corridor, there were already five or so people on the ground. As if instinctually, Tsuruko was cutting down beings like nobody's business. It was overwhelming. For some reason these didn't seem like they came the heavens, but they didn't move slowly like the zombies you see in movies. With a human-like quickness they leapt towards Tsuruko. Regardless, Tsuruko didn't bat an eyelash and easily took care of them. Defeating people without spilling a drop of blood, Tsuruko looked like a white god of death as she opened a path to the cloaked woman.

Tsuruko growled at such callousness that the cloaked woman displayed. "Showing such disregard for her own men...I'm not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. That's...disgusting. I'll get her back for that!"

Suddenly, a faint ripple of energy pulsated off of Dragredder splitting the sword into halves and using a blue kinetic energy tether to connect the two halves. Giselle asked, "...Huh, that's an illegal attachment. You seem like such a good girl, I wouldn't expect that."

"...You gotta do, what you gotta do. The kinetic tether is kinda like a hook-shot; so I use it to get around fast. If I didn't have it, I think the woman'd get away." Tsuruko aimed Dragredder towards the bookstore; and instantly, the blue energy extended in a flash; propelling Tsuruko up to the roof. Landing upon the ground, she glared at the cloaked woman; who threw her cloak aside in preparation for battle.

"Persistent..." The complexion of the woman was surprising; she had long bright pink hair with bangs that covered her left eye and yellow eyes. Her yellow, slitted eyes were ominous; and attire-wise, she wore a purple witch hat and a Magic Council uniform with the additions of a purple ribbon tie and cape, a long black strap attached to her sleeves, long black legging curves that reached to her mini skirt, and black slippers. "You're certainly something...and yet, something about you is so familiar." The woman hissed at Tsuruko; who didn't understand what on earth she was saying.

Tsuruko yelled at her, "I don't know what the heck you're saying, but back then? You used your subordinates as fodder and as a distraction? And I could see it in their eyes that if they weren't forced to be meatshields, they'd never come back. You just threw them out there! There are things that you should, and shouldn't do!" Dragredder glowed intensely, as Tsuruko declared, "It's showtime!"

Fall
Tsuruko's Laser Ring charged wildly; swirling with light as she punched forward—releasing a burst of light which shot towards her foe at incomprehensible speeds; perhaps it would destroy her in a single strike if it made contact. However, her foe had other plans in mind. Sliding under the blast, she crawled forwards on all fours in a similar manner to a spider at high speeds, before slamming into Tsuruko with tremendous force; the impact of which sent her barreling across the ground, tearing up the iron on the roof.

Plunging her blade into the ground, Tsuruko quickly halted her flight, before standing to her feet as she uprooted her weapon from the earth. Before she had time to recover and launch a second attack, her foe was in front of her, slithering around her like a snake circling its prey; landing numerous powerful punches and kicks at speeds which exceeded the sound barrier- Tsuruko couldn't analyze and counter such a fighting style; it was completely and utterly random to the point that it even seemed like its user didn't even know what she was doing. Thrusting her weapon into the ground, Tsuruko channeled the energy of the Laser Ring into Dragredder, which shot upwards like a protective barrier, knocking her foe back slightly, but to no avail. The woman's smirk was apparent, as she rushed forwards like a rabid dog chasing its prey. In an instant, Tsuruko thrust Dragredder at her foe with tremendous speeds, hopefully enough to do away with them in an instant.

However, that was it little effect. The woman effortlessly caught Dragredder in-between her elbow and a knee, causing Tsuruko's eyes to widen in shock. There was no way she could counter such a chaotic and erratic fighting style. As they faced each other at arm's length, her foe punched Tsuruko in the back of the head, surprising her even more. Raising her blade to protect herself, Tsuruko's foe managed to bypass all of her attempts at defense, before shooting in like a bullet, clutching her by the neck with a single hand, lifting her above the ground. Quickly, the woman launched Tsuruko like a baseball at a nearby wall.

WHAM! The impact of it was too much for Tsuruko to bear; her neck struck a sharp piece of concrete which almost tore her head off. "G-Guaaah…!" Howling in pain, Tsuruko slumped forward, though the woman approached her with magical energy covering their hand as she lifted Tsuruko up by the neck, holding her above the five-story drop.

"I'm impressed yet disappointed, Tsuruko Sejren. Do you think you can change what's going to happen? Nobody can do anything about it. The whirlpool of hatred is engulfing the universe! One child, born of darkness, and one born of light; forged from humanity's desire to improve. The darkness, despair everlasting, will swallow the faint light." She smirked evilly, as she dropped Tsuruko. "Maybe...I expected too much."

As Tsuruko plummeted to the ground, she found her consciousness slipping with a crash. "...Darn it...!" The enemy, they were, too strong. More than Tsuruko could handle, even after all that training...

...

...

"Hey!"

Tsuruko's eyes fluttered; she was still in a daze, but still...she could hear a faint voice.

"...Who?" Tsuruko gasped for air.

Covered by a hood with rabbit ears like accessories, was a blue haired girl. She looked to be around 13 to 14 years old, wearing a large coat and innerwear made from a mysterious material. And on her left hand, with a comical design, a rabbit puppet was equipped. This young girl was clutching Tsuruko's hand; attempting to wake her up.

...k?" Unexpectedly, a voice reached Tsuruko's ears. Was that person peering over here? The blinding shine from before receded. "Ar...yo...k?" The voice was much clearer now; it was a female voice. A pure voice, like the sound of a clear creek flowing pleasantly and peacefully. To her dazed head, the refreshing voice was like a splash of cold water waking her up.

She thought she should say something in reply. However her body was critically damaged, and her voice couldn't come out. That was her limit. She couldn't hold on to her consciousness anymore. At the same time she felt her body lurching suddenly, the world around her finally sank into darkness. The female voice appeared to be saying something in a panicked voice, but before long she couldn't hear anything anymore.