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Vatzalya
I'll tell you a story, so gather around quick - the truth is more terrifying than you realize, but the pain will be gone in a pinch.
Tonight I am going to recount an event that took place nearly two years ago in a city in Japan known as Sendai.
I was one of the four survivors of the horrors I witnessed...
It all started one year after the events of Berserga's Public Execution.
9am, Friday, July 30th
Venalita - the enigmatic mascot of Enormeeta - had gone looking for something in the forest at the edge of Sendai, where they were attacked and nearly overpowered by a raccoon - being horribly disfigured before managing to fight it off, having to sew multiple parts of itself back together, including reattaching their right arm, before they returned to Nacht Base a few hours later - heavily disoriented.
Upon returning to Nacht Base, Venalita was even worse than they were before - and upon encountering Hiiragi Utena - Magia Baiser, something shifted in the dark mascot - who suddenly lashed out in a fit of aggression, attacking the teenager and clawing at her eyes - biting her.
The villainess screamed, grabbing the mascot by their remaining ear and intact arm - flinging them across the cavernous room before stumbling around - her vision hazy, wings twitching sporadically before she tripped over an object and collapsed to the floor.
She had always been taught to stay calm, even in the most dire and alarming situations, in spite of this - the pain was unbearable, she reached up to check how bad her wounds were - her claw-like fingernails piercing the damaged collagen of her cornea and into the vitreous and aqueous humor of her eyes, causing her intense pain and making her scream in agony before doubling over again - her entire body shaking and her throat constricting on itself as panic overtook her.
Four hours later...
5pm
Utena stumbled along the boundless dark halls - made darker and harder to see the ends of, trails of blood cascaded down her cheeks - some dry and others still dripping from her open wounds, upon her lips a frothy pale foam had begun to form, slowly bleeding into a reddish-cream hue as it continued to build and be fed by her saliva and bloodied tears - her gait as she walked was haggard and clumsy, she would trip over herself and then struggle back to her feet - continuing to shamble along in an increasingly unnatural gate.
C-C-Can't see! N-N-Need a-a-air! Help! Someone help! Utena cried out internally.
She opened her mouth, but the only sound that came out was a hoarse, broken screech like a banshee.
Utena was in agony, aimlessly wandering the many dark halls of Nacht Base - letting out broken cries and hoarse wails every few hours as she stumbled about, seeking any form of help.
But nobody came.
Three hours later...
8pm
Leberblume cowered amongst Lord's broken trophies - the spoils of the hunt that had devastated the lives of countless girls, a hunt which she had taken part in - surrounded by the echoes of heroines faded from light, she found herself terrified - having caught glimpses of Magia Baiser in the halls and choosing to hide from her rather than try to escape, for fear of letting whatever had possessed her leader out into the world.
She heard a giggle, her heart began to race, and her pulse pounded in her ears as a horrifying realization dawned on her like a three-gallon bucket of freezing water had just been poured on her.
Venalita's right behind me, isn't he?...
Slowly, she turned her head - before she could even make a move to flee or cry out for help, Venalita was upon her - tearing into the flesh and bone on the right side of her face, a silent scream left Nemo's throat as fear consumed the once unshakable assassin.
Nemo slammed her face against the floor several times - causing the stitches holding the dark mascot together to begin unthreading. Venalita let out a shrill noise and then fled - cursing in an unknown language.
Then, her vision went black.
An hour later...
9:30pm
Matama had come back to Nacht base after being gone for several hours, and when she walked into the main hall, she took in the damaged state of the furniture - like someone had been throwing a fit and knocked things over.
She felt unsettled - so she tried sending a message to her girlfriend. No response - she tried calling her, still no response. So, she went looking for Nemo in every room she could access.
She wasn't expecting to hear weird noises from Lord Enorme's old trophy room.
Matama found Nemo cowering among the broken transformation hearts that littered the floor in mountainous heaps - she called out Nemo's name, and then Nemo lunged at her.
Letting out a broken cry from the pain - tendons, muscles, and veins tearing with every shake of the turquoise-haired girl's head, the strength of Nemo's jaw nearly tore off her entire arm - Matama let out a loud, shrill noise that seemed to snap her partner out of the haze.
Kneeling down and hugging Nemo as she began to sob after realizing what she had done, both were silent - Matama ignored the agony emanating from her arm in favor of comforting Nemo. She stayed with her until Nemo fell silent, her remaining eye glazed over while Matama did her best to tend to both of their wounds with the limited items available.
Then, she left - tears welling up in her eyes as she opened a portal and ran through - letting it close directly behind her, she knew that there was nothing else she could have done for Nemo - but it still hurt regardless.
Half an hour later...
12am
As the clock struck 12am - marking eleven hours since Kiwi had last heard from Utena - she transformed and headed to Nacht Base to see if she was still there. It took an hour for her to open a portal.
What Kiwi found when she arrived was unsettling to say the least, much of the furniture was knocked over, covered in blood, and riddled with claw marks - it looked like some kind of wild animal had torn through the place.
Something skittered across the floor in the corner of her vision - she whipped around, drawing her derringer to defend herself - only to see Magia Baiser on all fours on the ground, eyes scratched up and bleeding - wings splayed out and foam dripping from her mouth - she looked like she was in immense pain.
In an attempt to calm and soothe the object of her affection, who she had once hoped could be a potential lover some day, and wrapped her up in an embrace in a vain attempt to stop her from hurting herself any further, something in Kiwi told her this may be the last chance she would have to kiss Utena - that this was the last time she might ever see her again, she hesitated for several seconds as Utena growled lowly - then kissed her, only to immediately be savaged by her closest friend - letting out a thunderous cry of pain as Utena's sharper canines tore into the flesh of her face.
Kiwi fired into the air with reckless abandon, eventually forcing her comrade to retreat - Utena didn't seem to be in her right mind, so Kiwi fled from Nacht Base.
It wasn't long after she fled that the pain caught up to her - causing her to double over, but still she remained standing, her legs shaking from the effort - but she was determined not to let something like this stop her from getting away from the one person she thought would always help her.
As Kiwi fled - her shadowy tail whipping aggressively behind her and her gored face dripping fresh blood, she would soon realize too late that due to her previous proximity with both Utena and Venalita - the spread of the enhanced disease was much quicker.
Four hours later...
5am
Magia Baiser had found some way out of Nacht Base and returned to Sendai - staggering for a moment before dropping to all fours once more and taking off, wings spread and her upturned horns glinting in the early light of dawn - a small amount of bloodstained foam dripping onto the ground as she went, but would then disappear into the dirt as quickly as she had arrived.
Kaoruko landed in a clearing, looking around. "Ah know ah sensed that pervert's magical signature around here somewhere..." She grumbled, already pissed off - it was too early for this, but both she and Haruka had been alerted to the sudden appearance of the magical signatures of Magia Baiser and Leoparde, but something had seemed... Off about their signatures, especially Baiser's, which had become muddy and harder to track, which was worrisome.
Haruka had pointed out that maybe something was wrong. Kaoruko agreed, but they were not quite on the same page - regardless, the two of them split up to seek out the villainesses and stop them from causing trouble.
A low, rumbling snarl echoed all around her - before she had the chance to turn around, Baiser was upon her - her bleeding eyes and frothy mouth spoke of a level of unspoken but visible pain, but what really got her attention was Magia Fucking Baiser BITING HER ON THE ASS!
Kaoruko screamed in pain, but while the noise drew Baiser's attack away from Kaoruko's now bleeding cheek, it ended up redirecting her to attack Kaoruko's face. The claw-like nails tore at her flesh, leaving a searing pain in their wake as Baiser tore into her eye.
Kaoruko summoned her gauntlets and began to pummel Baiser - sending her crashing into the trees. Baiser clumsily got to her feet and fled. "Ya fuckin' bitch! Git back here and fight me!" Kaoruko shouted at the fleeing Villainess, attempting to chase her when Haruka contacted her through the mental link.
"I need you to meet me on the street near our classmate Hiiragi's home, quickly!"
Kaoruko didn't know that she wouldn't make it in time.
An hour and a half later...
7am
While Kiwi still retained clarity by hour six of her infection - she was in agony and overwhelmed with blind fury, she scrambled across the pavement of the streets - civilians fleeing at the sight of her.
Magia Magenta confronted Leoparde - the ash blonde felid villainess lunged at her, forcing her onto the ground - Haruka screamed as Leoparde bit into where her jaw met her throat, her teeth rending the soft, malleable flesh of the underside of her mouth - tearing a hole directly through to the inside of her mouth.
The pain was overwhelming, drool cascading through the hole in her jaw, mixing with the foamy saliva secreted from Leoparde's own maw.
Brandishing her spear and slamming the hilt into Leoparde's forehead, Haruka knocked the villainess away, then fled from the scene, staggering from the throbbing pain in her skull.
Meanwhile...
Vatz: I will be honest, there are some gaps in my knowledge - I am not exactly sure what transpired during the altercation between Baiser and Imitatio. I do know that Imitato's right ear was ripped off, and she quickly succumbed to delirium after separating from her opponent.
Two hours following Imitatio's infection, I found Korisu in the park and bore witness to Imitatio attacking Sayo, I... I watched her rip off Sayo's right leg - everything beneath her knee was gone... She took a huge bite out of her shoulder; she couldn't even fight back... Imitatio kept calling her Baiser, too - she was completely delirious.
I... I still remember hearing Sayo scream when Imitatio tore part of her leg off... I still think about it even now.
Five hours later...
2pm
Magia Magenta came upon Randa in a back alley, attacking her - completely unfazed, Randa retaliated against someone who was once something akin to an ally - despite all this, the wound Magia Magenta left behind was nothing in comparison to any of the wounds the others had sustained - it was merely a simple, clean bite. With blood dripping down Randa's forearm, she moved on - looking for the one she held dear.
Vatz: I didn't have the heart to tell Randa that Imitatio had been infected when I picked Randa up from the streets - she was half-conscious and suffering from her anemia due to the blood loss from retaliating against Haruka.
Despite Haruka being infected, she fended off any other infected that tried to come after Randa before I found them. As I had done with Matama and Korisu before, I removed Randa from the situation and brought her to the gym of the middle school that the girls of Tres Magia used to go to - it was surprisingly very easy to defend.
Multiple days have passed since then...
All of Sendai was succumbing to the outbreak; those who did not succumb to delirium fell to their wounds soon after, and anyone who didn't was savaged beyond recognition. Parents mauled their children, pets attacked their owners, and children tore each other apart - no one was spared from the carnage.
It was worse in the center of the city, that is where Baiser remained after Imitatio's infection - aimlessly wandering around the central district.
Leoparde was in a more urban area of the district, scuttling about - her gaze frantic, as if searching for someone.
Magenta and Imitatio wandered the deserted backstreets while Sayo shambled along an empty street - moving slower than any of the others.
Sulfur lingered on the outskirts of the city. Anyone who tried to escape ended up being attacked by her.
Leberblume was found half-drowned in a park; how she escaped from Nacht Base is also unknown - despite being approached, she never attacked anyone - her gaze longing. It seemed that in spite of the infection and the chaos - that upon her regaining some form of clarity, her love for Matama still remained...
Vatz
You may be wondering what happened to Venalita following Nemo's infection.
Well, shortly after Nemo was infected - Venalita left Nacht Base, coming to me to 'chat' - a lopsided although cruel smile on their face as they told me what had happened with detached amusement, then he told me that because of everything falling apart - he would no longer be able to keep Nacht Base sealed off from the real world, meaning that by midnight - anyone stuck inside would be able to escape.
He waved the severed raccoon paw he was holding with his good hand and laughed, then a rift opened beneath him - sucking him in and sealing itself as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me to try and fix his mess.
The lesson I learned from all of this?
Don't go into the forest alone.
