Snow White
“The hell is so wonderful, you piece of shit?!” Mephis yelled.
She flew in, aiming to get Frederica in a pincer with Snow White. Snow White worked with her, making minute adjustments as she went for Frederica.
Frederica picked up her fallen crystal ball with her left foot, her gaze still on Snow White as she threw it at Mephis. Tetty, who was clinging to Frederica, caught the crystal ball with her right hand the moment it was thrown. But Snow White had heard Frederica’s thoughts and knew—that was just what Frederica was aiming for. Tetty using one hand meant that Frederica’s left hand was open. Snow White cried out. She wouldn’t make it in time.
With her now-free left hand, Frederica made a knife hand and struck down with it on Tetty’s right arm. The knife hand cut Tetty’s arm right off, and with the green all around, bright-red blood spurted out.
Frederica swung Tetty’s severed arm. Tetty was unable to block or to stop it.
“Tetty!” Mephis called, and Tetty tried to reply, but before she could say anything, Frederica’s elbow struck her right in the temple and her head dented inward.
Snow White slammed with her weapon. Frederica threw Tetty’s arm at Snow White to keep her back and dodged Mephis, who charged in at the same time. Meanwhile, she peeled off Tetty’s other arm, now that she had gone slack, and thrust her at Mephis, then leaped on top of a crystal ball.
“You can hear my thoughts, can’t you, Snow White? Do you understand just how disappointed I am right now?”
Snow White struck with her weapon, but it didn’t reach. Her swing went awry, as if it were withering away. Even though she should just swing her weapon without thinking anything, she kept trying to figure out the meaning behind Frederica’s words. Had Frederica done all of this out of her feelings for Snow White? If Snow White hadn’t been there, would the magical-girl class not have been attacked? Would her classmates not have had their lives stolen? If Snow White hadn’t been there, would nothing have happened?
When Mephis caught Tetty, Frederica kicked her in the chest. Her kick wound up striking Tetty’s mitten, and Mephis spat blood and fell.
Frederica used the two of them as a foothold to leap once more, jumping on top of a crystal ball. Snow White clenched her teeth and thrust with her weapon. Frederica did a half spin on top of her crystal ball, then looked down at the three magical girls with a smile.
Even with her legs caught in the moss, Snow White came forward. But Frederica was even faster, leaping from crystal ball to crystal ball, and yet another crystal ball, and another, keeping Snow White from fixing her aim as she kept moving. Frederica turned aside her weapon with her left hand as she struck Snow White on the shoulder, then side, then right arm, then waist—each time Snow White took an attack, bones broke, and she slowed down, and when she was right about to fall onto the moss, Frederica sent her flying with a final attack.
Covered in green liquid, she rolled over the moss, crashed into the fallen Tetty and Mephis and bounced upward, then tumbled some more before she got up. Though she was standing, she couldn’t even hold her weapon anymore and dropped it.
While Frederica was struggling, she removed the moss that was stuck to her face with only her left hand and threw it away.
“I…I was truly looking forward to the future you would create. You were always, always on my mind. It was because of you, Snow White, that I was able to do my best.”
As Frederica looked down at her, Snow White glared back.
“The truth is, I never wished to fight you like this. Once more and more magical girls—all of them—hated and feared me, I wanted you to defeat me. Not the fake that you are right now, but a pure magical girl.”
Snow White was breathing hard enough that her shoulders were heaving, and she was unable to reply. Besides, she’d never had a reply for Frederica in the first place. She just stared right at her. She observed her. And she told herself—Stay calm, don’t try to figure out what she means. Rather than the words coming from her mouth, listen to the voice of her heart. Wasn’t there anything she could do now?
She couldn’t hear Tetty’s inner voice. Mephis’s was vanishing, too. She was hearing it at the same time as Frederica’s. The moss was stealing away her body heat through her boots. The wounds all over her body felt hot. She wanted to collapse, but she couldn’t. Even though she was telling herself not to listen to what Frederica was saying, that, if not for her, many people could have avoided death, Snow White’s heart just couldn’t help but think too much.
“This is the first time in a while that I’ve gone head-to-head with you, and it made me realize something,” said Frederica. “You use what I taught you when you fight. That should make me happy, but instead, I’m very sad.”
Snow White was struggling to breathe. No matter how much time passed, she was still panting. Her legs went weak, and her knees buckled. Her hands hit the moss-covered ground, just barely preventing her from collapse.
“I was sad with Cranberry, too. Now I am even sadder… But nevertheless, I must get over these feelings. After Cranberry left, you appeared. Once you’re gone, I’m sure someone else will appear… Yes, from heaven, you may watch over me or shower me with taunts.”
Snow White could hear Frederica’s thoughts. She wanted to close her eyes, but she had to keep them open.
Her head was spinning.
“Surely, someone like you…no, a magical girl with even greater potential…will be born. Perhaps she already exists. I must find her.”
As Frederica spoke, she continued to leap from one crystal ball in the air to the next. Her inner voice had been calming down since their first encounter, and now she sounded like she was enjoying afternoon teatime.
“I did plan to kill you with my own hands…but it seems you no longer have the energy to move. I suppose I could let you live and have you watch me in my moment of triumph until you expire… Hee-hee. This is my meager revenge for how you trampled on my feelings and ended up a fake.” Frederica leaped close to the ceiling and kicked down the flower. The petals scattered and fluttered away. “There’s no longer any need for this.”
Next, by the wall, in front of the round fruit that grew on a branch of the relic, Frederica brought the crystal ball she was riding to a stop. She easily plucked the fruit, peeled off the skin, and the exposed the red flesh. Then she removed the flesh and pulled out the contents: a small seed.
Snow White could hear Frederica’s thoughts. If Frederica swallowed that seed and then submerged herself in the pool at the center of the room, she would get what she wanted.
“Well, then—”
Right as Frederica was about to swallow the seed, she froze. Her gaze was not on Snow White. She had her eye on the entrance, the way they had come. She must have heard something.
Soon after, Snow White heard it, too. Not footsteps—it sounded like something was flying. As the sound came closer, Snow White heard new inner voices.
Frederica’s expression contorted. Snow White knew why; she had the same look on her own face.