[Mod!Post] HetaChristmas Advent Lightning Challenge!
For the next few days at least, we're all going to be busy with holidays and with the Hetalia Christmas Event and as a way to pass the time I have come up with this challenge.
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It’s cold in Japan, this time of year. Snow falls down in thick flakes, and it only adds to Xiao Mei’s melancholy. Six months have passed since she moved from Taiwan, one necessitated by her diplomat brother’s appointment to the Chinese embassy. She had protested as much as Hong had, but in the end Yao had won. Family was a traditional value in their culture, her brother had insisted, and it was important they stick together.
It isn’t like she hadn’t tried to make it all work. She practices her Japanese often enough to get by in most situations, and there are a few girls at school she has a passing acquaintance with. But it’s not nearly enough. Xiao Mei misses Taiwan, misses the familiar sights and sounds, and that longing just grows every day that passes.
Whether she’s in a crowd, or by herself, or even with her family…she still feels so alone.
“BeiNg aLonE iS HaRd, iSn’T IT?”
It is, Xiao Mei nods in agreement. Questioning where that strange, wavering voice is coming from does not cross her mind. Neither does the way the snow doesn’t seem to be falling nearly as heavily as before, and in fact is disappearing right before her eyes.
“thE WORsT, tHE worsT. NO oNe ShOULd haVe tO bE Alone.”
The concrete of the sidewalk has wavered away during all this, leaving a black and white checkered floor in its place. Strange little creatures mill about here and there, misshapen blobs each with a miniature top hat. Though they send little tremors of fear through Xiao Mei’s veins, it’s nothing compared to the terror that sends her collapsing to the floor at the…the thing before her eyes.
It’s almost impossible for her to comprehend, a towering monster with shapes like female torsos bulging out at random spots. At the very top is a hat with a single ghastly eye growing out, but that doesn’t scare her the way the scythe-like arms it bears do. They’re black, and very, very sharp.
Abruptly, the eye swivels down to stare right at her. Xiao Mei wants to scream, but her lungs, her voice don’t seem to be cooperating. All she can do is remain frozen on the ground, trapped by that stare like a wounded animal before some ravenous carnivore.
“YOu caN juSt DIE. tHen yOU wOn’t Be bOThereD by LoNElinesS anymorE!”
Xiao Mei closes her eyes very tightly, and waits. She hopes it’ll be quick, and tries not to think on how unlikely that seems to happen-
“Now, now, that’s no attitude to take.”
The voice is calm, sweet, and so utterly unexpected Xiao Mei’s eyes fly open just in time to see dozens of golden ribbons fly forward. Though they look fragile to her, they nonetheless bind the beast so completely it can’t escape no matter how it struggles. Summoning the strength to turn to the source of the ribbons, she sees something-or rather, someone-as pretty and pure looking as the monster is hideous and frightening. A girl, her own age roughly, clad in an outfit of yellows and whites, with hair and eyes the same gold of her ribbons.
The girl smiles pleasantly at her, but the musket she twirls with ease is all business. She aims at the still-writhing monster and blasts its head off without hesitation. Its neck smokes, and around them the white and black checks waver like a mirage.
“Ah, just one more should do it, I think,” the girl says, pulling another musket out of nothingness. She shoots it squarely in the chest, and the world pops out of existence to be replaced by the city and falling snow.
At a loss, Xiao Mei lets out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. Almost immediately, she starts hyperventilating.
“There, there,” her mysterious savior reaches out to rub her back soothingly, and she finds herself leaning desperately into that warm touch. “I know it was scary, but you’re safe now. That Witch is gone for good. My name is Mami, what’s yours?”
“X…Xiao Mei.” Taking one more shuddering breath, Xiao Mei collects herself enough to look Mami in the eye. “T-thank you for s-saving me.”
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“I’m just glad you’re alright. I’m somewhat out of my area…I didn’t realize I had tracked Margot so far. But I was able to take her down so easily because you grabbed her attention. I guess you could call this a team effort?” Mami laughs, crouching down to pick up an ornate black ornament from the ground. Touching it to a murky gem in her hand, this somehow causes it to brighten up to a pure, clear yellow. “Can you stand?”
Xiao Mei finds she can, with a little help from Mami. Feeling at a loss for words, she stares down at her feet so at least she won’t be staring at the girl who saved her.
“Please don’t tell anyone what you saw today. It makes things a lot easier for me as a magical girl if it’s kept a secret.”
“Of course I won’t!” Xiao Mei quickly assures her. “Um…but will I see you again?”
Mami’s golden eyes widen a little, and she bites her lip. Finally, she says, “You’d probably be better off if you didn’t. It’s safer that way.” Xiao Mei doesn’t even get a chance to protest before Mami leaps away with a bound no human could hope to match, rapidly escaping from view.
What else could she have done? Xiao Mei goes home, goes through the mechanical motions of her life as best she can. But she doesn’t want it to end like this, to return to the humdrum emptiness she had so despaired of. Every time she goes out, she keeps her eyes alert for the slightest flash of gold.
And eventually, she finds it. Just not like she hoped to.
The monster this time-the Witch-is a massive red scorpion, its head covered by a nun’s veil. Another magical girl is fighting it, one clad in blue. Despite this, Xiao Mei’s eyes are only on the crumpled, spasming figure on the ground. Mami is still breathing weakly, but the green fluid mixed with the blood from the wound on her torso is the same color of the venom dripping from the scorpion’s tail. Xiao Mei’s studied enough to recognize the symptoms of poisoning, and worse yet knows it’s bad enough at this point that there’s nothing to do but watch Mami die in front of her.
“I’m sorry,” Xiao Mei whispers, holding Mami’s hand tightly. “I’m so sorry, you helped me and I can’t do anything for you-”
“Not necessarily,” a high pitched voice says. Looking up, Xiao Mei sees a creature, small and white and like nothing she’s ever seen before. “There may be a chance for her yet, if you’re willing.”
“I am!” Xiao Mei’s heart pounds, with the hope rising up. “I’ll do anything, just tell me what to do!”
The white animal tilts it head, face unmoving as its voice echoes straight into her mind. “Make a contract with me, and become a magical girl. With the wish you are granted, anything can be done.”
“A…anything?” Xiao Mei repeats, a single nod being her only response. She needs time to think about it, but that’s time she just doesn’t have, that Mami doesn’t have. “Fine, then. I wish…I wish for the ability to cure instantly, any sickness, anything that could hurt a body!”
“Very well,” the creature says, before a glow blinds him to Xiao Mei’s sight. There’s the strangest yanking, tearing sensation down to her core, and her last thought is that things will never be the same again.
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Now with crappy and somewhat Madoka spoilerific fanart! Xiao Mei-HYGEIA I'll probably edit/rescan this later, but it'll do for now cause I am tired and wanna get this up.
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I hope a lot more people request you so I can read more of your fic.
Oh, oh and magical girl Taiwan is so adorable! I love her witch form too. Part of the reason I requested this is because at the last con I went to I got a commission of Belarus, Taiwan and Haku Yowane as Madoka Magica style magical girls.
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