The Second Archon War, Carmen Dei 9 (Patreon)

Stepping into the corner store, Naomi’s eyes darted around as she adjusted the thick fuzzy scarf hiding her face. She had on a large hat as well, which she’d hidden her red hair under. Hastily, she bought some yogurt and coffee, along with a newspaper, then raced back to the van. Along the way, she glanced at the cover story and winced.

ANGEL OR TERRORIST? NEW CAPE DESTROYS GESELLSCHAFT FACILITY

She hopped in the driver’s seat of the van, making Venti snort and start awake in the reclined passenger seat. He blinked a few times, then accepted the cup of coffee Naomi shoved at him as she devoured the newspaper, her food forgotten.

Berlin, 17th October, 2001

Berliners were awoken in terror last night, as the windstorm of the century battered the city. At first, panicked meteorologists believed that a hurricane had broken out over central Europe, but it was soon reported that in the eye of the storm, a new  Parahuman had emerged.

[an image of a bright green winged figure in the sky, storm clouds blotting out the sky]

This unknown individual attacked the Gesellschaft laboratory at 100 Dusseldorf Way in the industrial section of the city. Reports indicate that a giant wolf was the first on the scene, followed by three other unknown female capes. Eyewitnesses claim that one was Jewish, the other a gypsy based upon their costumes, but no photographic evidence has yet emerged.

On site security forces were unable to repel the attackers, and a protracted battle broke out. Before the authorities or other cape teams could respond, the facility was utterly annihilated.

[photo of the crater, with officials and capes combing the area, though no wreckage is visible in the devastation]

“The Berlin Plant was a medical facility looking into the treatment of individuals who have triggered, and researching parahuman biology for use in modern medical practices,” Walter von Solf, President of the Gesellschaft, said in a press statement this morning. “This insidious attack was designed to cripple our medical progress and harm the true German people. This is a day of mourning, but rest assured, we will track down and punish the individuals responsible.”

Notably, while there were a number of injuries in the attack, all of them were minor, with survivors being taken to a hospital and released after less than an hour. There is only one suspected fatality, one Frederica Hess, a 22-year-old woman from Hamburg who was employed as a medical tech by the Gesellschaft. As of now, she is listed as missing, and any information related to Miss Hess’ whereabouts should be sent to the authorities.

[picture of a smiling young woman with a Land and Social Labor Reform Party pin on her dress]

The primary person of interest is Venti Luft, though authorities cannot locate any records or information on this individual. Venti Luft is described as about 160 centimeters tall, with dark hair in braids, though their associates are as of yet unknown.

[A sketch that vaguely resembled Venti, of indeterminate gender]

For more information on our main story, see page 3.

Naomi lowered the paper, biting her lip, and glanced at Venti. Then she let out an outraged gasp. “My yogurt!”

“This is very good. I’ve had yogurt before, but not like this!” Venti said, licking a bit of strawberry-flavored Greek yogurt off his nose.

Naomi glared at him, but then tried to remind herself that Venti was a messenger from the Lord, and therefore, allowed to have her yogurt if he really wanted. Though she was still irritated. Closing her eyes, she said a short prayer, asking for patience and forgiveness.

“You’re forgiven,” Venti said airily, and Naomi opened her eyes and squeaked, putting her hands to her mouth in mortification.

“B-but I didn’t say that- can you hear prayers!?”

“Of course! Though, since that wasn’t to me, not really. But I can read lips, and yours were moving.”

“But…I said it in Hebrew,” Naomi said, feeling dazed.

“Oh, is that the language? Interesting, I hadn’t really heard it before,” Venti mused. “It’s not very common around here, though I have been picking up so many new languages as I establish a closer connection to the winds here. Ópos i glóssa aftoú tou exairetikoú giaourtioú!”

That last bit sounded like Greek to Naomi, though honestly, she wasn’t sure. She spoke German, French, English, Hebrew, and Yiddish, but not Greek. Well, alright, her English was only so-so, but her French and Hebrew were excellent.

“Regardless…what do you think about this?” Naomi said, holding up the papers.

“Well, they’re talking about us, which as an artist, is always gratifying don’t you think?” Venti said with a mischievous grin.

“Venti! I’m trying to be serious! Surely this isn’t the time to be joking!”

“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley,” Venti deadpanned, his expression stern. Naomi thought about rolling up the newspaper and swatting him with it.

“Wazzup?” Capri said sleepily, poking her head through the small hatch between the front compartment and their bed in the rear. Her curly hair hung in a halo about her head, and as was typical of this hour her eyes were dazed and unfocused.

“Good morning! Coffee?” Naomi said, holding up a cup for Capri.

“Mmm. Love you,” Capri yawned gratefully, taking the cup and withdrawing back into the bedroom. While Naomi was very much a morning person, Capri definitely wasn’t. One of the harder obstacles in their relationship had been Naomi learning that Capri needed a bit of space first thing in the morning to get going, and Capri had learned not to snap at people who spoke to her before her preferred wake-up time of noon.

A few minutes later, a still bedraggled Capri hauled her carcass out of the van to lean on the driver’s side door and sip her coffee as Naomiread the story to her.

“Well, fuck me. I guess we should have suspected they would pull something like this,” Capri sighed heavily once Naomi was done. She eyed Venti as she took a long sip of coffee. “Well? What’s your plan, fearless leader?”

“Me?” Venti said, eyes going wide in faux innocence. “But I’m just the keyboardist?”

Naomi gave Venti the same look her mother gave her whenever she really wanted to twist the knife with an emotional guilt trip.

Appropriately enough, Venti clutched his stomach like he’d been stabbed. “You wound me! Well, for now, let’s just go to the manga expo. I think a few days in Berlin are just what we need, and I want to see what sort of cultural festivals you have here in Germany.”

“You want that, go to Oktoberfest. This is weeb shit,” Capri said with a derisive snort.

“Hmm, yes, but we have agreed to work there, and it sounds like fun! Besides, don’t you want to meet Lightning Princess Ami?” Venti asked.

“I’ve met enough young stars to imagine how she’ll be,” Naomi said, images of her spoiled young cousins or the other children at the various theater performances she’d been in from an early age. She’d been quite the brat herself if she were honest.

But not even that could have prepared her for the reality of what she was about to face.

“BEHOLD! I am the Prinzessin der Blitzen, the daughter of the Narukami Oshogo herself, LIGHTNING PRINCESS AMI!”

Posing on one leg, Ami held the other up and to the side, while one hand rested on her eyepatch, the other holding her sword skyward. She grinned evilly, and Murasaki sparked behind her, letting out a high-pitched roar as he breathed lightning.

“Hmm, not bad, but if you call yourself Prinzessin der Blitzen, that’s the same as Lightning Princess. I still think you should set off a few Jumpty Dumpties when you pose though,” Clara mused from where she was lying on the bed and regarding Ami.

“I don’t know, we’ll be inside, remember what happened the last time we set off Jumpty Dumpties inside?” Ami asked, dropping her pose and frowning as she gingerly touched her ears. She could certainly remember the splitting headache and ringing that had lasted for what felt like forever.

“I’ve been thinking about it!” Clara jumped up off the bed and pulled out the several Jumpty Dumpties she’d made from cannibalizing the phone and TV in their room, much to Ami’s annoyance. She’d had to fight Clara off with some zaps from Murasaki to keep the tinker from doing the same to her Game Boy. “These Jumpty Dumpties won’t cause any damage and only a soft sound, but they explode into rainbows and flowers, see!”

“Wait, no-!” even as Ami stretched out her hand to stop her friend, Clara tossed a Jumpty Dumpty in the air. The little rabbit bomb exploded in a shower of light and colorful petals with only a slightly deafening bang.

“Huh. Actually, that’s pretty cool,” Ami admitted as blossoms drifted through the air around her. “Do you think you could rig up a bunch to explode behind us when we do our Team Pose?”

“My lady,” Murasaki said, floating up by Ami’s ear and looking concerned. “Is it really wise to intentionally set off bombs inside of a crowded audience hall?”

“Eh, it’s fine, I can just heal them if they’re hurt, right?” Ami said with a shrug. “Now, let’s practice the pose again, but this time, with the Jumpty-”

The door swung open and a very irritated looking Keiga stalked in. “What, exactly, is going on in here, young ladies?!”

“Nothing!” Ami and Clara said in unison, by which method Keiga immediately knew as all adults who have been children do (which is most of them) that something was definitely going on.

Keiga surveyed the room, and the Jumpty Dumpty that Clara was trying to hide by kicking it under the bed, and sighed. “Did you set off a glitter bomb or something?”

“Um,” Clara said, and a withering look from Keiga changed whatever it was that she had been about to say. “Yes! I made a Glitter Dumpty! Do you want one?”

“No, I-” Keiga suddenly looked very green, and ran into the bathroom the girls’ suite contained, where loud retching sounds could be heard. That alarmed both Clara and Ami, with Ami going to see if she could help by healing and Clara by getting some towels to help clean up.

“Are you OK?” Ami asked, electricity sparking over her hands as she hovered above Keiga, who was spitting into the toilet.

A moment later, Murasaki floated up, clutching the cordless phone that was nearly as big as he was. “Mistress, should we telephone for emergency services? I have looked up the number, it is 112.”

“I’m fine, I just have an upset stomach,” Keiga grumbled, scrubbing at her mouth. “I have a pretty good idea of what’s wrong with me, since I’m late by three weeks now.”

“Late for what?” Ami asked, her brow furrowing. “We’re not supposed to be at MEX for a few hours.”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older. You’re both 10, so you’ll find out in a year or two at most. Wait. Has Raiden…huh. Does Raiden?” Keiga asked, frowning slightly in consternation as she went over to the sink and rinsed out her mouth.

“Does my mom what?” Ami asked, feeling a sickening sense of dread that she knew where this was going.

“Have periods. Has she talked to you about that?” Keiga asked, turning around and regarding both girls.

Ami and Clara shared looks, swallowed, and shook their heads. This was definitely not a conversation they wanted to have right now. Or ever.

“Fantastic. Well, we’ll deal with that when we get back to Japan,” Keiga decided, resting a hand on her abdomen. “Because I have a feeling you’re about to get a crash course.”

“Lady Keiga, do you feel up to accompanying Mistresses Ami and Clara to the convention?” Murasaki inquired.

“Yeah, I’ll take a couple of anti-nausea pills,” Keiga said with a grimace. “I’m fine to go. It’s not for a few hours though. What do you girls say we do a little sightseeing?”

“I want pretzels!” Ami said immediately. “Clara says they’re the best!”

“I’m not from Berlin, I’m from Hamburg. But it would be cool to see the city! My German’s a little rusty though. I talk at home with my dad but I don’t use it much aside from that,” Clara admitted.

“Aw come on, you’re just like Asuka! And since you’re a tinker, maybe you could build a giant robot!” Ami suggested enthusiastically.

“Or a really big Jumpty Dumpty,” Clara said with a wistful sigh.

“Let’s uh, just hit some tourist spots and eat some nice food,” Keiga sighed. “Pretzels sound good, I’m starving.”

“Didn’t you just throw up?” Ami asked, confused.

“Yeah but I’m craving salt like crazy, come on,” Keiga said and headed out. Ami and Clara followed after, with Murasaki putting the phone back before teleporting to Ami’s side.

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as just leaving the building. Ami was someone Important now, which meant she never got to go anywhere by herself. It was kind of annoying, but it was also pretty cool that wherever she went, she met both fans and reporters. Some of them obviously just wanted to ask about her mom, but just as many wanted to ask about Ami and her adventurers, especially in her anime.

Today, Ami was being escorted by an actual ninja, which just by itself was pretty awesome. This particular ninja wasn’t one that Ami had met before, and she was eager to hear about this Tengu’s adventures across the world.

Dressing up their special costumes, Ami and Clara raced down the hotel stairs, while Keiga took the elevator down. On the bottom floor, they found a mousey-looking Japanese woman with glasses and a too large sweater with an “Ich Bin ein Berliner” slogan on it. She had the look of a stereotypical Japanese tourist, with her camera and fanny pack, and Ami began to wonder if this was a real ninja. Where were her swords and throwing stars?

Upon catching sight of Ami, the woman gasped, blushing and bowing deeply to Ami. “Your Highness! Honored to meet you! I am, ah, Tengu. I have been assigned to escort you to MEX today in our search for the False God.”

“False God?” Ami asked, baffled, but Clara let out a squeal.

“You’re Sara Tengan!” Clara gasped, running over and looking up at the startled Sara with stars in her eyes. “The famous cosplayer! You cosplayed as me last month, will you sign the pictures?!”

That earned a blush as Sara straightened up. “Um, I am sorry, I don’t know who you are…did I cosplay as you?”

“She’s Jessica Klee, but her real name is Clara. They just call her Jessica in my manga,” Ami explained, a huge grin on her face. “You cosplay as me and my mom a lot! You’re really a ninja too!?”

“Ah, well, that’s a secret…I’m just supposed to be a tourist who happened to be at the same place as you,” Sara said, looking around in worry and making shushing sounds. “Mrs. Arakawa really based Jessica Klee on you?”

“Well, sorta. She was already going to include a friend for Ami, and created Jessica Klee before I came to Japan, but then she started drawing her more like me and we talk every month or so about stuff Ami and I do,” Clara said with a wide grin. “I have a framed photo of the three of us, and signed copies of Stray Dog! Even if it was her Earth Aleph version that wrote them.”

“I am so jealous! Arakawa-sensei is the greatest mangaka of our generation!” Sara gasped, looking absolutely star-struck. Then she looked around, a flush coming over her face. “Is…is her Excellency here?”

“She and Uncle Mushu are meeting with a bunch of politicians today,” Ami said with a shrug. “We were going to go sightseeing today, you’re our babysitter, right?”

“I think that’s my job, Miss Tegan is just here as a friend,” Keiga said, striding up and looking a lot better than she had a few minutes earlier. “I think we should start with breakfast though.”

“Lady Keiga! I would be honored to dine with you,” Sara gasped, bowing again.

“Great!” Clara said, turning towards the hotel doors. “Let’s go find a bakery! I’m going to prove to you, Ami. All bread doesn’t taste the same!”

“I mean it sort of does,” Ami said with a frown. “But I want to try a pretzel anyway.”

It wasn’t far to the bakery, but plenty of people stopped and stared at the little entourage. It made sense, as while Keiga and Sara were dressed in casual clothing, Ami and Clara had put on their hero outfits, and so they smiled and waved as they walked down the street. The baker was shocked enough to have two young capes in his story that he gave them both all free pretzels, even though Ami and Clara had about 200 marks between them. They did take a picture with the staff and sign it, and Clara translated that the baker was immensely proud to have dignitaries from Japan in his shop. When Clara explained that Ami had been under the impression that she thought all bread tasted the same, he looked morally outraged, and in loud and vociferous German swore that he would not allow such ignorance to persist in his store.

“He’s not going to kick us out, is he?” Ami asked Clara, glancing at the red faced man sideways.

“I think not, my Lady,” Murasaki said. “He seems to be offering you a chance to try several kinds of bread to dissuade you.”

That got both the girls and Keiga to turn to the little dragon curiously. “You can speak German?”

“Of course,” Murasaki said, preening at all the attention. “I studied several German dictionaries and listened to linguistic instruction during our flight over. Mine isn’t nearly as good as Mistress Clara’s, but I hazard he wants you to try Roggenmischbrot, or rye bread, Weißbrot, which is white wheat bread, Vollkornbrot, which is whole grain, and Mehrkornbrot, which is oat with linseed. And something called a ‘Berliner’ but I am uncertain as to its composition.”

“It’s a rye bread with a lot of yeast in it,” Clara explained after a short exchange with the baker. “It’s super yummy, my mom used to bake it for me!”

The women sat down at a table, and were served glasses of cold milk for the girls and cups of coffee for Keiga and Sara. A tray of fresh breads, still warm to the touch, were brought out, along with some butter to spread on them. After trying just two, Ami had to admit defeat.

“They ARE different! And please tell Mister Baker that this, um, what do you call it? The oat bread?”

“Mehrkornbrot,” Murasaki supplied in between him ripping bits of bread off the loaf and swallowing them.

“Yes, tell him it’s delicious!” Ami agreed.

“Say, ‘Dieses Brot ist köstlich!’” Clara urged, and Ami repeated the phrase, though she stumbled over the more guttural bits.

The baker beamed at the praise, laughing and rattling off something in German, before bringing over a special treat: a tray of pastries, which Clara explained were NOT bread, but rather a dessert.

By the time they left the bakery nearly an hour later, Ami and Clare were absolutely stuffed, nearly groaning with how much good food they’d eaten.

“So much bread,” Ami sighed, patting her stomach. “We’ll have to get the cooks at the palace to make some for my mom!”

“I don’t think so, we should really hire a proper German baker. No offense, but Japanese people don’t know how to make bread,” Ami said, making a face.

“You said your mom did,” Ami pointed out, frowning.

Clara’s expression fell at that, and she looked down, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. “Yeah…grandma taught her how…I…I miss them both…”

Feeling a hitch in her own chest, Ami gave Clara a hug. “It’s OK…I miss my first parents too…but we’re your family now, Clara.”

Even with people watching the two girls hug, Ami didn’t really care. Most Japanese people were very private, but she’d gotten over that when she realized that as Raiden’s daughter, she’d be spending the rest of her life in the spotlight. Besides, everyone knew the cool stuff she did thanks to the manga and anime that bore her name, so why worry about it?

“Girls, we’ve got trouble,” Keiga said sternly, and they both looked up. Sara had removed her glasses and was gazing towards the east, where dark clouds had formed. That was where the angel had been the night before, wasn’t it?

“Is it the Anemo Archon?” Sara muttered, clutching her camera to her chest. There was a distant rumble and boom, and the crowd around them gasped.

“What is this? A threat to the people of this city?” Ami gasped, striking a pose. Murasaki, catching the mood, popped up behind her, loudly translating her words into German so the bystanders would know how awesome she was.

“I think so, my Lady,” Clara said, posing next to her and speaking her lines twice for the benefit of all.

“Lady Keiga! It is our duty as Sentei to see to the safety of all people, be they German, or Japanese! Besides, how could we allow the Spark Knight’s countrymen to face danger alone?” Ami declaimed.

Keiga frowned. “We don’t have a license to operate in Germany girls, we-”

“I have to go,” Sara said, bowing to Ami and Clara suddenly. “I am under orders to locate the Anemo Archon for your mother.” She dashed off around the corner of a building and into an alleyway without further explanation.

“Really? Well, we’ll help!” Ami said brightly, ignoring Keiga’s attempted protestations. “Murasaki! Initiate travel form!”

“At your command, Mistress!'' The little dragon sucked in a breath, and seemed to inflate like a balloon, until he was the size of a horse, though much more slender and with a unicorn’s horn, and whiskers like a catfish. He resembled the kirin, the mythological storm spirit of Japan. Both girls hopped aboard, with Keiga sighing and jumping on behind them.

“You’ll just run off if I tell you no, won’t you?” she asked rhetorically.

“Yep! Now, onward, my mighty steed!” Ami ordered, drawing her sword and pointing it forward.

Murasaki reared and whinnied, then with a stomp of thunder, dashed off into the sky and in the direction of the disturbance.

A few moments later, there was the flap of black wings, and a crackling purple raven with a 12 foot wingspan rose into the air from the same alley that Sara had disappeared into. Ami grinned and waved. “Hi Tengu! Ready to kick ass?”

“The Shuumatsuban will accompany you into battle, Princess of Storms,” Sara cawed, her voice now rather bird-like, and with a faint reverb. “I will defeat this Anemo Archon, and earn the favor of your mother!”

“Not if we beat him first!” Ami laughed, and they raced over the rooftops of Berlin, towards an area of utter devastation.

Above the wide crater Ami could see, swirling green dust devils were forming as dark clouds coalesced overhead. At the center, a great ball of green light could be seen, and below people were fleeing, most of them in official-looking uniforms. A few capes in costume had already formed up below the eye of the storm, and looked ready to fight. Whatever was going to happen, they were ready.

Opening her spirit eyes, Ami looked out at the storm, and gasped. It glowed with elemental energy, though not the purple lightning she was familiar with from Raiden or other Vision Holders. This was green, and instead of crackling, it whirled about wildly in the wind. What had Sara called it? Anemo? Was this the birth of a new god?

Maybe, but Ami suspected this was closer to the slimes or whopper flowers she and Clara fought as a part of their training. Those were also made out of elemental energy, and indeed, Ami could see smaller chunks of the Anemo energy turning into blob like shapes that were green in color, and began to flap around in the storm on wings that looked too small to support them.

Out of the green tornadoes, spheres of Anemo energy condensed into orbs of pure power. They tore at the ground below them, and rocks and dirt rose up, forming into a sort of shell that half covered them, turning them into winking green eyes that peered out at the humans below them.

The capes launched various attacks at the new threat, but none of them seemed to have any effect on the green eyes. A few did hit the floating slimes, which popped like balloons and flew away. Other slimes noticed the threat, and swooped down, battering the capes and sending a few staggering to the ground.

Ami grinned widely, and pointed her sword forward. “Attack, Murasaki!”

“FORTH THE LIGHTNING’S GLOW!” the kirin bugled, and lowered his horn as he charged, straight at the nearest foe. Tengu cawed, and swooped away, transforming into a winged woman who held a glowing bow in her hands, and began to pelt another eye with arrows.

They clashed with the eye, Murasaki’s horn puncturing the shell. Ami slashed at the green energy with her crackling sword, using the forms her mother had taught her. While the physical blade didn’t seem to do much, the elemental energy infusing her blade did tear at and disrupt the eye’s own form, causing it to emit a high pitched rumble and to lash at the riders with its winds.

“GO, JUMPTY DUMPTY!” Clara cackled, and tossed out a handful of her bombs. A large one hit the eye dead on, and shattered the shell. The elemental energy leaked away with a roar, and the shell fell to the ground, destroyed.

“Split up! We can take them!” Ami encouraged, and Murasaki lowered himself so that Clara and Keiga could hop off.

“What are these things? Where did they come from?” Keiga yelled at one of the German capes, then swore when they could only shrug in response. She pulled out several flasks she kept on her, and popped the lids off. With a twitch of her fingers, she manipulated the water out, turning it into a liquid spear she launched at a slime that had been pelting the Germans with gusts of wind. The water punctured the monster, which exploded with a loud pop and vanished.

Turning about, Ami pointed her sword at another eye, one that had been sucking several hapless civilians up in a vortex of wind. “Let’s rescue them, Murasaki!”

“At once, my Lady!” The kiran thundered off, and Ami snagged the four men and women out of the air. They let out cries of gratitude, and Murasaki landed a safe distance away, allowing them to scramble to safety.

Wheeling her mount about, Ami pointed her sword and shouted a challenge at the monster, which seemed to respond to her cry. It fired off bolts of green energy at her, which she was forced to deflect with her sword. One hit her and nearly knocked her off Murasaki’s back. She grunted in pain, but this was far from the first time she’d fought a monster with magic powers.

“Circle around behind it, then we’ll skewer it!” Ami ordered, brushing off the hit as Murasaki’s power sparked over her, healing the bruises she’d suffered.

Racing around the monster, which Ami decided to call “Eye of the Storm,” Murasaki dodged more bolts of energy, and then closed it, brushing just past it. Ami slashed with her sword, and the Eye roared in anger and pain. It sent out bursts of Anemo, but Murasaki danced away, then back again, allowing Ami to strike while it was sucking in more wind to attack with. After two such passes, the shell broke and crumpled, dropping to the ground as the thing dispersed.

About the same time, another Eye collapsed under a barrage of Jumpty Dumpties from Clara, and several German capes rallied, taking out their own eye with the help of Keiga. Tengu had brought down two Eyes with her arrows, her ability to fly letting her dominate the somewhat slow moving Eyes as she darted around.

There was a loud cheer as the last Eye fell, and the capes turned their attention to the hovering slimes, which were far less dangerous.

However, even as the slimes were brought down, the rest began to float towards the center of the crater. First a few, then a dozen, then nearly a hundred slimes were absorbed by the great storm raging at the center of the crater. Realizing something bad was about to happen, Ami cried out.

“Bring them down! Don’t let them merge!”

Most couldn’t understand her words, but everyone seemed to grasp that something deadly was about to take shape. There was a frantic effort to reduce the numbers of slimes, and scores of them were struck from the skies.

But it wasn’t enough.

With a keening wail, the green eye suddenly shifted from a sphere, to a large cube, made up of eight smaller cubes with strange markings over a center that was a swirling green eye more intense even than any of the other Eyes of the Storm. The winds raged, blasting out hard enough to pick up grown men and send them flying, with Murasaki and Ami nearly being sent tumbling from the sky.

The cube thing dropped, and let out a warbling wail. Then, its shape shifted, so that its eight cubes split into what looked like wings on either side of the center eye in the shape of a diamond-like prism. It sent out a great blast of wind that cracked stone, several German capes barely leaping out of the way in time.

“A boss monster,” Ami breathed. A wide grin spread over her face. “This is AWESOME! Come, Murasaki! We must slay the beast!”

Sword leveled, Ami charged, focusing her will on her blade. It sparked and crackled, and a moment later, a bolt of lighting shot out, striking the enemy. The surface of the sphere rippled, and it drew it’s cubes back about itself, flying away from Ami across the battlefield and out of her range.

Once it was at the edge of the crater, the Anemo beast opened up again, it’s cubes vanishing as it took the form of a winged fairy, swooping down and sending out great gusts in the direction of Ami and Murasaki, who were forced to dodge crazily to keep from being swatted from the sky.

“KA-BOOM!” Clara shouted, and tossed out half a dozen Jumpty Dumpties from below and behind the anemo creature They were sucked up, exploding and causing it to fall to the ground, its cubes reforming and swirling about it crazily.

Tengu popped up, and along with several German capes, they fired off arrows and other ranged attacks at the creature, only for it to once more dash across the crater away from them. It stopped at the center this time, and the cubes shot up into the sky, slamming down near capes that had to scramble aside.

“It’s vulnerable, attack!” Ami cried, waving her sword. Mursasaki dashed across the field, dodging strikes from the cubes as he went, building up speed, lightning crackling around him. With a final cry, Ami extended her blade, and they slammed into the cube.

The surface cracked, and winds spilled out, knocking Ami from her seat and sending Muraskai cartwheeling away. Orbs of anemo were spread across the field as the prism shattered and wobbled, spinning out of control. Slowly, the bits of energy began to drift back towards the prism, and Ami realized what was happening.

“Scatter the energy! Don’t let it reform!”

There was a frantic few minutes as the capes worked together to disperse the energy, some using tinkertech weapons, others brute force to swat down the energy, two German Vision Holders blasting them apart with lightning.

At last, all the Anemo dissipated, and the prism stilled, simply floating there, glowing faintly. Ami approached it, and raised her sword.

“Trouble this land no more!” she roared, and brought her blade down with all the force in her tiny body. It smashed into the prism, which shattered, spilling out the last of its power with a sigh of wind.

Gasping for breath, Ami straightened looking around. For a few moments, all was still.

Then, Tengu lifted her bow up. “Three cheers for the Prinzessin des Blitzes!”

Clara repeated that in German, then took up the cry. Before long, even the German capes were chanting.

“Prinzessin des Blitzes! Prinzessin des Blitzes!”

Ami grinned and sheathed her sword, bowing to her audience as Murasaki shrank back down to a little dragon. She struck a pose as an electro sigil appeared over her head.

“BEHOLD! I AM LIGHTNING PRINCESS AMI, DAUGHTER OF RAIDEN, AND SHE WHO HAS DEFEATED THE ANEMO ARCHON!”

This was going to make the best episode of Lightning Princess Ami. She couldn’t WAIT to tell Arakawa-Sensei and her mom all about it!

Author’s Note:

Is it possible to be a chuunibyo if a goddess adopted you, you have a magical lightning pony, and they made an anime about you?

…never mind. Yes it is. It definitely is.