Chapter 29: The Words of Lapis Lazuli

In this place that seemed more like a forgotten, idyllic pocket of the countryside than a part of the bustling S-City metropolitan area, Magical Girl Black and Ren Akiyama once again came face-to-face with the retired and apparently quite reclusive hero, Magical Girl Lapis Lazuli.

The young woman, as always, possessed a breathtaking cascade of long, snow-white hair. She wore a long, flowing dress that looked like it belonged to a fairy-tale princess from a forgotten age and stood on a pair of impossibly high heels that were at least ten centimeters tall. Her entire aesthetic was completely, aggressively at odds with the rustic, pastoral style of her rural surroundings. She looked, for all the world, like a beautiful, ethereal girl who had just, moments ago, stepped directly out of a storybook and into the real world.

“I already know the purpose of your unexpected visit,” she said, her voice a calm, cold, and almost otherworldly melody. “Please, do come in.” She gracefully invited the two of them into her cozy-looking house.

The interior of the house was surprisingly warm and inviting. The decor was constructed from a large, almost exclusive amount of warm-toned wood, giving the entire, sun-drenched space a gentle, welcoming, nostalgic feeling. Both Black and Ren felt as if they had been instantly transported to another world, a peaceful, idyllic world from a story or a novel, so very, very different from the cold, sterile, high-tech residences they were now used to.

“You two have come all this way because you want to ask about the training required to achieve a magical girl ‘domain,’ correct?” Lapis Lazuli had clearly already heard some of the pertinent details from the ever-meddling organization.

Ren, however, ever the cautious Supporter, asked first, “What I’m more immediately concerned about is, do you… do you live here all by yourself, Moeka-san?”

“How could that possibly be the case?” Moeka answered with a light, musical laugh. “Of course, right now, at this very moment, it is only me living here. After all, my dear husband isn’t home lately. He’s away on business. Speaking of which, my dear Black,” she said, a mischievous glint in her eye, “you haven’t yet told your handsome young Supporter about that particular, very important matter, have you?”

Black instantly, and with a great deal of internal screaming, blushed a furious, spectacular shade of crimson. “I… I told him.”

“Hmm? Is that so? My, my, young man,” Moeka said, her gaze now fixed on Ren, “even after knowing such a shocking, and I must say, rather tempting thing, you were still somehow able to endure and not… ah… push down the beautiful magical girl right in front of you? I would have thought that a creature like Magical Girl Black was the type to do whatever it takes, to pay any price, to maintain her precious, youthful form.”

Ren was truly at a loss for a suitable or even remotely professional rebuttal. “The fact of the matter is, between Miss Black and myself…”

“STOP RIGHT THERE! Never mind that! We’re here to ask about the domain!” Black interrupted, her voice a little too loud, a little too panicked, before Ren could say anything more incriminating. “This power, the domain, how exactly, precisely does one master it?! Although, according to past, historical patterns, it seems that every single magical girl is eventually able to master this power, but what are the specifics?! How exactly is it done?! Give us the details!”

Moeka gave Black a long, searching look, a look filled with a deep, ancient meaning. “You’re not wrong. All magical girls should be able to use a power similar to a domain. However, some people’s powers are, by their very nature, specialized in the domain aspect—for example, the late, not-so-great Darkmoon Queen. Hers was a purely domain-based power. But someone like you, Black, someone who so clearly, so enthusiastically prefers to fight with their raw, physical body… well, that’s quite rare, I must say. I find it quite… refreshing, actually.”

I can’t tell if that was a compliment or a deeply cutting insult.

“But, before we get into all that,” Ren interjected, asking a seemingly unrelated but clearly very pointed question, “Magical Girl Lapis Lazuli, you have, by all accounts, already officially retired. And yet, you are still, at this very moment, maintaining your power, your magical girl form, are you not?” His gaze swept around the incredibly isolated, off-the-grid house. “There aren’t even any proper, paved roads out here. How do you and your husband usually get around? You must have to rely on an Esper’s power, right?”

Moeka glanced at Ren, a flicker of genuine surprise in her eyes. “What a remarkably sharp gentleman you are. As I believe I told Miss Black before, once a magical girl gets pregnant… she can’t ever change back.”

And so, she said it out loud, right in front of him, after all. Damn it all. Although Black really, really didn’t want to face this bizarre, terrifying fact, there was, at this point, nothing she could do about it.

“Have you two ever, for a single moment, thought about why we can’t change back?” Moeka asked, a strange, teacherly tone to her voice.

Both Ren and Black, somewhat dumbly, shook their heads.

“Perhaps it’s a magical girl’s primal, maternal instinct to protect her own unborn child from any potential harm,” Moeka offered one possible and rather poetic answer. “Or perhaps,” she continued, a wicked smile now playing on her lips, “it is because of the sacred, physical union between a magical girl and her husband. When love, true love, reaches its absolute, undeniable peak, in that single, glorious, transcendent moment that the crystal of that love is conceived, the magical girl, in turn, obtains her most powerful, most absolute strength. And at the very same time,” Moeka looked at Black, her smile now positively dripping with mischievous, evil intent, “that powerful, life-altering power flows, in part, into the body of her beloved lover.”

“Miss Black,” she purred, “of all people, should be able to understand this concept, right? In the moment that you were kissed, you obtained a great, new power, did you not? And that power, as you so frustratingly discovered, doesn’t necessarily flow according to your own will, now does it?”

Black and Ren exchanged a quick, panicked glance, then both immediately, and with a fresh surge of awkwardness, thought of what had happened, of what they had done, when Black was digesting Crystal’s corrupted power in the chaotic confines of Hana’s private dimensional space.

“So… so what you’re trying to say is…?” Black asked, her voice a little shaky.

“My husband,” Moeka explained, “now possesses a portion of my power. But he, of course, cannot become a magical girl himself. And although I have, as per tradition, separated the Prima Materia from my own body, becoming a so-called ‘ordinary person,’ in reality, the power that now resides within my husband’s body still exists. It is as if there is some kind of permanent, unbreakable connection between the two of us. And the power within my husband’s body, you see, can be freely mobilized by me whenever I so choose.” Speaking of this, she looked a little proud, a little smug. “A so-called magical girl will, almost inevitably form this kind of special, symbiotic relationship with the one she truly loves~ After all,” she added with a shrug, “this kind of strange, wonderful creature is, at its very core, a living symbol of the power of love and hope, isn’t it!”

She describes herself, and all of us, as a "creature"… This Magical Girl Lapis Lazuli really is quite strange. And a little scary.

“Speaking of which,” Black asked, desperate to change the subject, “what about your child? Where are they?”

“Hmm? My child?” Moeka asked, a confused look on her face. “My child is at school, of course. Where else would they be? Is that strange?”

“…” Black glanced over at Ren, the one and only high school student in the room who was most definitely not at school right now. For a moment, her mood was quite, quite complicated. But right now…

“We’ve discussed all the irrelevant, gossipy matters. Now, the main point, the reason we came all this way, is the domain. How do I, Magical Girl Black, master it?”

Moeka looked at Black with a genuinely, comically puzzled expression, an expression that clearly, and with no small amount of condescension, said, “I’ve already made it so incredibly, almost painfully obvious, and you still don’t get it, you dense idiot?”

Black returned her gaze with a look that just as clearly, and with a great deal of stubborn pride, said, “I have absolutely no earthly idea what in the seven circles of hell you’re talking about right now.”

Moeka, seeing that she really, genuinely didn’t seem to understand, could only, with a long, theatrical sigh of profound exasperation, say bluntly, “To put it as simply as humanly, or magically, possible, my dear Black: magical girls rely on things like love, and hope, and all that other cheesy, sentimental stuff to obtain their incredible power. You, naturally, should do the same~ From your… rather flustered… expressions before, I can tell you two have already, at the very least, kissed, haven’t you? And didn’t you, in that very moment, feel a subtle, almost intoxicating new power awaken within you? You just need to… stimulate… that kind of thing. More often. And with more enthusiasm.”

Her meaning… it seemed a little… a little bit not quite right, didn’t it? A little bit… inappropriate?

“So,” Moeka concluded, her smile now positively dripping with a wicked amusement, “you two just need to have a good, long, serious make-out session right here, right now. The more intimate your relationship becomes, the more powerful, all-consuming love the magical girl will feel, and then, as a direct result, she will obtain even greater, more magnificent power. And with that great, new power naturally, orgasmically welling up inside you, you’ll finally be able to master the power of the domain. After all,” she said, her voice now a low, seductive purr, “magical girls are just that kind of creature. Shouldering the great, heavy weight of love, they can do absolutely, positively anything.”

She had used that strange, clinical word, “creature,” to describe herself again. It had to be said, she was a true, unapologetic non-conformist of a magical girl. Perhaps that was the very reason she had been able to find her own, unique happiness. After all, it seemed that not many magical girls, not really, ever had a good, peaceful beginning and a good, peaceful end.

But what she was suggesting! It was insane!

“You… you do know what our actual, real-life relationship is, don’t you?!” Black stammered, her face now a spectacular, thermonuclear shade of crimson.

Moeka nodded, her expression one of perfect, infuriating innocence. “Of course, I know what your relationship is. You’re her father, and he’s her boyfriend. But that doesn’t affect things, does it? Not really. What you need to do right now is master the power of the domain, right? I heard some rather… unpleasant… things have been happening back in the city… and you, Magical Girl Black, need to solve them, don’t you? Do you really, truly have the luxury, the room, to hesitate right now? Besides,” she added, her voice now a little colder, a little sharper, “let me put it bluntly, Miss Black. Although he is your daughter’s boyfriend, he is, after all, just a boyfriend~ You’re not officially, legally married yet, are you? And who’s to say that a loving father and his precious daughter can’t become… rivals in love? If it’s for the sake of obtaining your own true, undeniable love, what is there, really, that you cannot, or should not, do?”

“YOU! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY SAY SUCH A THING!” Black shouted, completely unable to accept Moeka’s twisted, almost fiendish reasoning. “I could never, ever do such a thing! Not in a million years!”

“Miss Black, is your resolve, your dedication, only of this pathetic, sentimental level?” Moeka’s voice was like ice now. “You have to remember, Magical Girl Crystal lost her beloved Supporter back then. And as a result, she fell into Inversion. As the original, the first, she fell into that darkness because she loved her Supporter that much. A true magical girl, for the sake of her beloved, can, and will, destroy everything in the world, destroy all that she holds dear. It’s just… snatching away your daughter’s boyfriend. Compared to, say, destroying the entire world in a fit of grief-fueled rage, how does that even measure up? Our power, our very essence, comes from our emotions. So naturally, our emotions, our passions, will always be more intense, more extreme than others. There’s absolutely no problem with that. It’s just who we are.”

Ren, who had been standing silently, and with a growing sense of horror, this entire time, finally, timidly raised his hand. When both of the powerful and slightly unhinged women turned to look at him, he asked, his voice a small, humble, almost pathetic squeak, “Um, excuse me, but… what about my opinion in all of this?”

“Until you successfully, and with great enthusiasm, manage to take down Magical Girl Black and possess her incredible power for yourself, you, my dear boy, don’t seem to have the necessary qualifications to have a direct, equal dialogue with us,” Moeka said with a playful, dismissive smile. “You, young man, are the one who has to work hard here. And as someone who’s… been through it, so to speak, let me give you a little piece of advice.” She leaned in closer, her voice a conspiratorial whisper. “A magical girl’s stamina… it’s very, very strong, you know.”

Ren’s face instantly, explosively turned red. He hadn’t expected this retired magical girl, this legendary Lapis Lazuli, to utter such incredible, unbelievably suggestice “scandalous words.” Was this what a married woman was like? To speak so bluntly, so shamelessly! It was an outrage! 

Seeing them both blush furiously, Moeka gave a soft, suggestive smile. “Maa~ It doesn’t really matter if you two are embarrassed about it. And whether you actually do it or not is not a matter for me to decide. After all,” she added, her voice now a little more serious, “you can’t force a melon to be sweet, as they say. If there are no genuine, heartfelt feelings in your hearts, then what does it matter if you kiss until your lips are raw and swollen? What does it matter if you even have a physical, carnal relationship? It would all just be a fake, empty thing. And a magical girl cannot, cannot, obtain true power from mere, empty desire. That’s what villains, what fiends, do. We magical girls don’t do that.”

“Anyway,” she said with a final, dramatic shrug, “if you two don’t do it, then just wait for the poor, innocent people of S-City to be completely dominated by a new wave of terror! Oh, those poor, poor people of S-City. If I hadn’t retired, I would, of course, definitely protect them. And if the great Strawberry Sweetheart hadn’t retired, there would surely be a better, more sensible way to handle this. But as things are now, well,” she sighed, a picture of tragic helplessness, “they can only pray for their own good fortune, I suppose. How sad, how lamentable!”

Who… who in their right mind could possibly stand up to that kind of intense, weaponized guilt trip?! She’s a monster!

“WE’RE LEAVING!”

Black, with a final, desperate yelp, grabbed the stunned Ren Akiyama and fled from that terrible, terrible house as if her very life depended on it.

She dragged Ren all the way back to their private room at the organization headquarters. Why not their new house? Are you kidding me?! What if Hana was there?! The thought was too horrifying to contemplate.

She threw Ren, with a surprising amount of force, onto the bed. She herself then sat, restlessly, almost vibrating with nervous energy, on the edge of the bed, her two thighs rubbing together with an almost audible friction. “Um, Ren,” she began, her voice a squeak, “about… about this, today… it seems… it seems some things just have to be done, even if we don’t want to do them. After all,” she continued, her voice gaining a desperate, pleading momentum, “to deal with that monster, The Puppeteer, we really can’t afford to suffer those kinds of catastrophic sacrifices. We… we have to have this kind of resolve. So… just think of it as… being for the sake of the people of S-City! Yes! This is something we absolutely have to do! For the greater good!”

Ren swallowed hard, his own throat suddenly very, very dry. “You’re… you’re talking about… kissing, right? Just kissing?”

“OF COURSE, IT’S KISSING—did you, you pervert, want to do something more?!”

“But… but even just kissing… that’s still, technically... cheating, isn’t it…”

“Just… just think of it as… as practice! Yes! Practice!” Black said, her mind now working at a frantic, desperate pace to come up with a plausible, any plausible, justification. “Hana… Hana is my child! So, in the future, when you kiss her, the… the method, the technique, it should be more or less the same as with me, right? So this will be good experience for you! And for her! You… you don’t need to worry about it too much… Besides, it’s mainly me who’s going to be getting the power out of this whole arrangement…”

Magical Girl Lapis Lazuli, you damn witch, you’ve ruined me! Utterly!

What else could be done? There was no escape. There was no other way.

There was only one path forward.

I just… I just have to go for it! For the sake of the city! And my daughter! And my own sanity!