I rose from the pew as light gathered in the sister’s hands.
The greatest insult. It was one thing to destabilise my kingdom, but to have me make the effort of rising from a somewhat comfortable resting position was unconscionable. An act which deserved more than my frown.
And so she received Starlight Grace as well.
Compared to my raised sword, the golden light drawn towards her was but a pale imitation. Yet while even a pale imitation of Starlight Grace’s splendour was a thing to spare a passing glance at.
As magic grew in the sister’s hands, a fleeting moment of apprehension shot through me, striking at my tender heart.
Yes … I’d truly not thought this through. At all.
Because as I witnessed that golden light expanding like a mirror of the same fireball roaring through the mines, I saw only a premonition of the unremitting pain and hardship to come.
… Just how was I going to explain punting this sister like a fruit slime to my mother?!
No matter how justified my actions, the fact of the matter was that sending sisters flying through the air did not strike as the ideal image of a delicate daughter!
The Gentle Princess. The name of the new flagship of our fledgling navy, and I was about to honour it by sending an unconscious sister to it!
Ugh. I was already dreading the conversation ahead. I may very well be a marvel of charm and diplomacy, but my mother was my mother, and there were only so many times I could smile sweetly before she stopped looking the other way.
The current count, I believe, was roughly zero.
I let out a tiny groan.
“[Holy Arrows].”
And then–the golden light was released.
Manifesting as radiant bolts before the sister’s palms, their forms hovered for only a moment before they shot outwards in a volleying attack … directly towards me.
I gripped my sword, ready to match the oncoming light with my own.
Aided, of course, by my loyal handmaiden as she promptly pushed the pew behind me into the back of my knees.
“–Hiee?!
All of a sudden, I found myself sitting back down, eyes wide open as a volley of golden arrows brushed over my head. The sound of a dozen small explosions reverberated around the small space as the arrows slammed into anyone daring to peek into the open doorway.
Thoroughly confused, I turned to the girl beside me.
And then my confusion turned into a note of dismay.
Not for me, of course.
But for the sister.
Fists raised in excitement. Legs hopping like a bunny. Wide smile promising mischief and violence.
And most concerning of all, those turquoise eyes filled with shining stars.
“Don’t worry, I got this! You can watch! … In fact, definitely only watch!”
I was horrified.
Why, we were in a chapel! Whatever Coppelia planned to do, I didn’t need the heavens knowing! At least not while I lacked reasonable denial!
“R-Really now! While I appreciate your concern for my safety, I see little reason to allow you to deliver this sister’s reprimand by yourself. I shall assist.”
“Noonononono, you can’t, otherwise I won’t be able to do my thing!”
“I have utterly no idea what your … thing is, Coppelia.”
“Beating up a sister. I never get to beat up a sister!”
Coppelia suddenly leaned forwards, her smile utterly filling up my vision.
Hmmmmmm.
I couldn’t be certain … but my finely honed princess senses were telling me she wasn’t quite prioritising my welfare with her stalwart wish to defend me.
… But that’s fine!
Because seeking to enforce the kingdom’s laws was also a handmaiden’s duty. Or at least one with her own magical scythe formed of pure darkness, and utterly no inhibition regarding using it.
Taking my clear hesitancy as a nod, she stepped back, then brought her hands together to a snap of darkness.
Clap.
For a single blink, shadows reigned within the chapel.
Only two dim balls of golden light were present, held by a pair of unseen hands.
As sight returned and moonlight flooded the chapel once more, the sister glanced between the both of us, her eyes pausing at the enormous scythe gleaming with moonlight through a shadowy mist.
She only raised an eyebrow before golden bolts filled the hall once more.
“[Holy Arrows].”
Except this time, they did not fly straight.
Swarming like drunken flies towards a target, they twisted and swerved as they flew towards Coppelia, her back turned towards the sister as she still faced me with her smile. Then she took a step backwards. Her scythe rotated behind her like a windmill, every arrow met by the ridiculous radius of her weapon.
She promptly swished around to face her foe, never faltering in her movements.
I nodded.
Needless flair in the face of mortal danger. And therefore both appropriate and necessary. There were many things Coppelia still had to learn. But crowd pleasing was not one of them.
“This one’s for all the children you’ve fleeced with your holy water!” she said, beaming as she brought her scythe behind her.
Crunch.
The wooden floor broke under her as she leapt, requiring no momentum as the scythe instantly met the sister with a swinging strike.
The woman raised her hand with commendable speed, meeting the gleaming weapon as the point rammed into a holy barrier. A sheen of golden waves sang from the point of the strike, enveloping every ear with a perfect C.
“Ah, how nostalgic,” said the sister, calm despite the scythe digging into her shield. “It’s been … 3 years since I last fought a clockwork doll?”
“Oh, you met one of my cousins?” Coppelia offered a curious tilt of her head while her scythe drove further in. “I hope it wasn’t the weird one. Sorry if it was!”
“All of you are weird. And I happened to meet quite a few during my visit to one of the clockwork workshops of Ouzelia.”
“Ooooh, which one was that?”
The sister smiled amicably. Even so, her eyes clearly glanced at the faint waves emanating from her magical shield.
“I’m not at liberty to say. Discretion and all.”
“Booo~ you can tell me!”
“Well, I suppose if you’re affiliated with the workshop in question, I’d be able to. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to find out.”
All of a sudden, the sister pressed her palm past her own shield, allowing Coppelia’s scythe to graze against her.
“Most notably … by seeing if you’re immune to holy magic. [Radiant Nova].”
Bwooomph.
An explosion of light met Coppelia’s figure as she was sent hurtling back.
She collided with the wall of the chapel … and then vanished straight through it, leaving only a silhouette of her form remaining.
My mouth opened in horror.
This time she wasn’t even stuck in a wall!
She’d just gone straight through it!
“You!” I said, utterly beside myself with ire. “What is wrong with you people?! Why do you all insist on throwing Coppelia into walls?! She’s a delicate maiden … gluttonous and highly enthusiastic towards making murders a tourist attraction, yes, but you cannot keep flinging her into walls! It’s … It’s unseemly!”
My answer came not from the sister, but from a whisper sounding past the hole in the wall.
I listened. As did the woman.
It sounded like …
“[Moonlit Flutter].”
Blinking into existence before the blinking sister, Coppelia’s face was lit up with joy as she swung her scythe in an arcing movement, trails of moonlight in her wake.
The scythe slammed into the holy barrier before the sister could raise either hand. And this time, the clear crack was both seen and heard. A discordant note as ugly as the fissure appearing in the side of the magical barrier.
“Ahahahahahaha~ don’t let it break too soon! I want to make this last!”
The sister’s expression hardened. The faux smile of an older woman vanishing as the true extent of Coppelia’s summoned weapon became clear.
Seeing my loyal handmaiden’s endeavours from my premium seat, I decided to do what any princess would do when the opportunity arose.
Raising my glowing sword, I half-rose from my seat, and as shamelessly as a flowery towngirl watching knights at a joust, I sweetly offered my encouragement.
“Strike her down, my loyal servant! Deliver the full extent of the law! Offer no quarter! Forgiveness is a sin and mercy is for the weak!”
It was the sister who reacted the most.
Against the power of a princess encouraging her handmaiden, she flung both arms outwards, holy energy pooling in all directions around her.
“[Holy Crescent].”
At once, a wave of pure magic swept out.
Almost unseen to the eye, it was revealed by the sudden immolation of papers and furniture as the spell swept out like a tidal wave.
It failed to harm Coppelia. The clockwork doll jumped nimbly, evading the spell even as she stood right beside her. Because for a spell which was more crude than practical, it had no hope of besting her reactions. Or even mine, for that matter.
As the sluggish wave approached, I begrudgingly rose from my pew before climbing atop it. Once the dazzling light came nearer, I skipped over the wave as it set everything below alight, leaving nothing but radiant flames in its wake.
Everything was burning.
Everything which did not belong to her in the slightest.
I was incensed.
“How … How dare you quote me on repair costs! You shall have to pay for all this! I only broke the door! … And maybe one window, maximum!”
The sister didn’t hear.
Instead, she was too preoccupied judging the strength of the scythe continuing to bear down on her, her concern now clear as the moonlight.
Yet even so–
“[Radiant Nova]. [Holy Arrows] … More [Holy Arrows]. How does a single one not strike you?!”
“Ahhahahahahahahaha~”
Predicting the sister’s spells even from such close distance, Coppelia’s feet barely touched the ground as she used the very cracks in the shield to pivot and twirl her nimble form in the air.
As she danced like a deadly acrobat, her scythe ceaselessly struck at the many fissures she had driven into the sister’s shield.
“Mages must adore fighting you, don’t they?” said the sister, the golden light pooling ominously in her palms as she clearly sought to merely distract Coppelia with the least of spells. An unworthy ploy.
“They really don’t. Weird, eh?”
“It’s understandable. Despite having the power of creation in their hands, I find the majority of mages lack something important. The ability to just … stop.”
Suddenly, the sister reached through her magical shield once more.
Not with her entire palm. But with a single fingertip.
With all the light from her hands now focused on one point, she met Coppelia’s forthcoming strike.
“[Holy Impediment].”
The next moment … the scythe had stopped.
As did Coppelia.
There was no blast of light. No clashing of wills. Only a fingertip imbued with all the holy magic a sister could summon. And that was that.
Her form utterly still even as she hung in the air, Coppelia could only remain smiling as the magic glowed in the sister’s hands before her once more.
Horrified, I rose entirely from my seat, my sword no longer waving in encouragement, but to swivel as I gathered the breeze towards me.
“Nooooope~”
Then, Coppelia glanced to the side and winked.
I was incensed. As was the sister, who recoiled greater than against any strike that’d struck at her so far.
“W-What … How could you …”
“Sorry, but my scythe is special. You can’t feedback through it like that to me. Next time, try touching me directly. I’m not saying that’ll work, either. But it’s better than my–wooaah!”
To the sister’s credit, she did just that.
“[Searing Radiance!]”
Arms pushing out entirely past her barrier, a flare of light suddenly crackled like the embers of a forge around her palms–and then from it.
Fwooooooooshh.
Twin beams of searing flame wicked enough to twist the very air followed Coppelia as she ducked and danced, effortlessly skipping around the chapel as a burned squiggly line became drawn into the wall.
I peered at the blackened image that remained.
A lifelike portrait of Coppelia giving a salute. An 8/10 effort. Commendable.
The moment the flames died down, the subject of the drawing gracefully pirouetted towards the disbelieving sister and hummed.
“My turn? … Okay, my turn!”
Pausing only to offer her smile, she twirled her scythe in one hand, before leaping past the wooden beams in the vaulted ceiling and blending into its shadows.
The sister’s response was immediate.
“You cannot hide in the shadows! Not from me! [Guiding Light].”
Conjuring a small orb of illuminating light, she tossed it with far less elegance than any of the spells she had used so far. The orb flew into the darkest recesses of the ceiling, revealing nothing in the darkness.
After all–
She should have been watching the light instead.
As the sister craned her neck up, the moonlight from the windows angled, moving unnaturally until a rectangular cage of illumination fell across her figure.
By the time she glanced down, it was already too late.
“... The fluttering wings across a pale white, lifting the veil beneath the whispers. Luna Form, 3rd Stance. [Moonlit Breach].”
And then–
Nothing happened.
The sister frowned in confusion, the golden magic waiting in her palms as she warily eyed the window of moonlight upon her.
Then, a quietly smiling Coppelia stole in from behind, appearing from shadows hidden from any light. And when her scythe swept up to meet the sister’s neck, there was no longer any barrier to stop it.
Shhhhunk.
kayenano
Ohoho! Thank you so much for reading!
Join my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead!
And don't forget to check out the Discord for fun and pictures!
I rose from the pew as light gathered in the sister’s hands.
The greatest insult. It was one thing to destabilise my kingdom, but to have me make the effort of rising from a somewhat comfortable resting position was unconscionable. An act which deserved more than my frown.
And so she received Starlight Grace as well.
Compared to my raised sword, the golden light drawn towards her was but a pale imitation. Yet while even a pale imitation of Starlight Grace’s splendour was a thing to spare a passing glance at.
As magic grew in the sister’s hands, a fleeting moment of apprehension shot through me, striking at my tender heart.
Yes … I’d truly not thought this through. At all.
Because as I witnessed that golden light expanding like a mirror of the same fireball roaring through the mines, I saw only a premonition of the unremitting pain and hardship to come.
… Just how was I going to explain punting this sister like a fruit slime to my mother?!
No matter how justified my actions, the fact of the matter was that sending sisters flying through the air did not strike as the ideal image of a delicate daughter!
The Gentle Princess. The name of the new flagship of our fledgling navy, and I was about to honour it by sending an unconscious sister to it!
Ugh. I was already dreading the conversation ahead. I may very well be a marvel of charm and diplomacy, but my mother was my mother, and there were only so many times I could smile sweetly before she stopped looking the other way.
The current count, I believe, was roughly zero.
I let out a tiny groan.
“[Holy Arrows].”
And then–the golden light was released.
Manifesting as radiant bolts before the sister’s palms, their forms hovered for only a moment before they shot outwards in a volleying attack … directly towards me.
I gripped my sword, ready to match the oncoming light with my own.
Aided, of course, by my loyal handmaiden as she promptly pushed the pew behind me into the back of my knees.
“–Hiee?!
All of a sudden, I found myself sitting back down, eyes wide open as a volley of golden arrows brushed over my head. The sound of a dozen small explosions reverberated around the small space as the arrows slammed into anyone daring to peek into the open doorway.
Thoroughly confused, I turned to the girl beside me.
And then my confusion turned into a note of dismay.
Not for me, of course.
But for the sister.
Fists raised in excitement. Legs hopping like a bunny. Wide smile promising mischief and violence.
And most concerning of all, those turquoise eyes filled with shining stars.
“Don’t worry, I got this! You can watch! … In fact, definitely only watch!”
I was horrified.
Why, we were in a chapel! Whatever Coppelia planned to do, I didn’t need the heavens knowing! At least not while I lacked reasonable denial!
“R-Really now! While I appreciate your concern for my safety, I see little reason to allow you to deliver this sister’s reprimand by yourself. I shall assist.”
“Noonononono, you can’t, otherwise I won’t be able to do my thing!”
“I have utterly no idea what your … thing is, Coppelia.”
“Beating up a sister. I never get to beat up a sister!”
Coppelia suddenly leaned forwards, her smile utterly filling up my vision.
Hmmmmmm.
I couldn’t be certain … but my finely honed princess senses were telling me she wasn’t quite prioritising my welfare with her stalwart wish to defend me.
… But that’s fine!
Because seeking to enforce the kingdom’s laws was also a handmaiden’s duty. Or at least one with her own magical scythe formed of pure darkness, and utterly no inhibition regarding using it.
Taking my clear hesitancy as a nod, she stepped back, then brought her hands together to a snap of darkness.
Clap.
For a single blink, shadows reigned within the chapel.
Only two dim balls of golden light were present, held by a pair of unseen hands.
As sight returned and moonlight flooded the chapel once more, the sister glanced between the both of us, her eyes pausing at the enormous scythe gleaming with moonlight through a shadowy mist.
She only raised an eyebrow before golden bolts filled the hall once more.
“[Holy Arrows].”
Except this time, they did not fly straight.
Swarming like drunken flies towards a target, they twisted and swerved as they flew towards Coppelia, her back turned towards the sister as she still faced me with her smile. Then she took a step backwards. Her scythe rotated behind her like a windmill, every arrow met by the ridiculous radius of her weapon.
She promptly swished around to face her foe, never faltering in her movements.
I nodded.
Needless flair in the face of mortal danger. And therefore both appropriate and necessary. There were many things Coppelia still had to learn. But crowd pleasing was not one of them.
“This one’s for all the children you’ve fleeced with your holy water!” she said, beaming as she brought her scythe behind her.
Crunch.
The wooden floor broke under her as she leapt, requiring no momentum as the scythe instantly met the sister with a swinging strike.
The woman raised her hand with commendable speed, meeting the gleaming weapon as the point rammed into a holy barrier. A sheen of golden waves sang from the point of the strike, enveloping every ear with a perfect C.
“Ah, how nostalgic,” said the sister, calm despite the scythe digging into her shield. “It’s been … 3 years since I last fought a clockwork doll?”
“Oh, you met one of my cousins?” Coppelia offered a curious tilt of her head while her scythe drove further in. “I hope it wasn’t the weird one. Sorry if it was!”
“All of you are weird. And I happened to meet quite a few during my visit to one of the clockwork workshops of Ouzelia.”
“Ooooh, which one was that?”
The sister smiled amicably. Even so, her eyes clearly glanced at the faint waves emanating from her magical shield.
“I’m not at liberty to say. Discretion and all.”
“Booo~ you can tell me!”
“Well, I suppose if you’re affiliated with the workshop in question, I’d be able to. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to find out.”
All of a sudden, the sister pressed her palm past her own shield, allowing Coppelia’s scythe to graze against her.
“Most notably … by seeing if you’re immune to holy magic. [Radiant Nova].”
Bwooomph.
An explosion of light met Coppelia’s figure as she was sent hurtling back.
She collided with the wall of the chapel … and then vanished straight through it, leaving only a silhouette of her form remaining.
My mouth opened in horror.
This time she wasn’t even stuck in a wall!
She’d just gone straight through it!
“You!” I said, utterly beside myself with ire. “What is wrong with you people?! Why do you all insist on throwing Coppelia into walls?! She’s a delicate maiden … gluttonous and highly enthusiastic towards making murders a tourist attraction, yes, but you cannot keep flinging her into walls! It’s … It’s unseemly!”
My answer came not from the sister, but from a whisper sounding past the hole in the wall.
I listened. As did the woman.
It sounded like …
“[Moonlit Flutter].”
Blinking into existence before the blinking sister, Coppelia’s face was lit up with joy as she swung her scythe in an arcing movement, trails of moonlight in her wake.
The scythe slammed into the holy barrier before the sister could raise either hand. And this time, the clear crack was both seen and heard. A discordant note as ugly as the fissure appearing in the side of the magical barrier.
“Ahahahahahaha~ don’t let it break too soon! I want to make this last!”
The sister’s expression hardened. The faux smile of an older woman vanishing as the true extent of Coppelia’s summoned weapon became clear.
Seeing my loyal handmaiden’s endeavours from my premium seat, I decided to do what any princess would do when the opportunity arose.
Raising my glowing sword, I half-rose from my seat, and as shamelessly as a flowery towngirl watching knights at a joust, I sweetly offered my encouragement.
“Strike her down, my loyal servant! Deliver the full extent of the law! Offer no quarter! Forgiveness is a sin and mercy is for the weak!”
It was the sister who reacted the most.
Against the power of a princess encouraging her handmaiden, she flung both arms outwards, holy energy pooling in all directions around her.
“[Holy Crescent].”
At once, a wave of pure magic swept out.
Almost unseen to the eye, it was revealed by the sudden immolation of papers and furniture as the spell swept out like a tidal wave.
It failed to harm Coppelia. The clockwork doll jumped nimbly, evading the spell even as she stood right beside her. Because for a spell which was more crude than practical, it had no hope of besting her reactions. Or even mine, for that matter.
As the sluggish wave approached, I begrudgingly rose from my pew before climbing atop it. Once the dazzling light came nearer, I skipped over the wave as it set everything below alight, leaving nothing but radiant flames in its wake.
Everything was burning.
Everything which did not belong to her in the slightest.
I was incensed.
“How … How dare you quote me on repair costs! You shall have to pay for all this! I only broke the door! … And maybe one window, maximum!”
The sister didn’t hear.
Instead, she was too preoccupied judging the strength of the scythe continuing to bear down on her, her concern now clear as the moonlight.
Yet even so–
“[Radiant Nova]. [Holy Arrows] … More [Holy Arrows]. How does a single one not strike you?!”
“Ahhahahahahahahaha~”
Predicting the sister’s spells even from such close distance, Coppelia’s feet barely touched the ground as she used the very cracks in the shield to pivot and twirl her nimble form in the air.
As she danced like a deadly acrobat, her scythe ceaselessly struck at the many fissures she had driven into the sister’s shield.
“Mages must adore fighting you, don’t they?” said the sister, the golden light pooling ominously in her palms as she clearly sought to merely distract Coppelia with the least of spells. An unworthy ploy.
“They really don’t. Weird, eh?”
“It’s understandable. Despite having the power of creation in their hands, I find the majority of mages lack something important. The ability to just … stop.”
Suddenly, the sister reached through her magical shield once more.
Not with her entire palm. But with a single fingertip.
With all the light from her hands now focused on one point, she met Coppelia’s forthcoming strike.
“[Holy Impediment].”
The next moment … the scythe had stopped.
As did Coppelia.
There was no blast of light. No clashing of wills. Only a fingertip imbued with all the holy magic a sister could summon. And that was that.
Her form utterly still even as she hung in the air, Coppelia could only remain smiling as the magic glowed in the sister’s hands before her once more.
Horrified, I rose entirely from my seat, my sword no longer waving in encouragement, but to swivel as I gathered the breeze towards me.
“Nooooope~”
Then, Coppelia glanced to the side and winked.
I was incensed. As was the sister, who recoiled greater than against any strike that’d struck at her so far.
“W-What … How could you …”
“Sorry, but my scythe is special. You can’t feedback through it like that to me. Next time, try touching me directly. I’m not saying that’ll work, either. But it’s better than my–wooaah!”
To the sister’s credit, she did just that.
“[Searing Radiance!]”
Arms pushing out entirely past her barrier, a flare of light suddenly crackled like the embers of a forge around her palms–and then from it.
Fwooooooooshh.
Twin beams of searing flame wicked enough to twist the very air followed Coppelia as she ducked and danced, effortlessly skipping around the chapel as a burned squiggly line became drawn into the wall.
I peered at the blackened image that remained.
A lifelike portrait of Coppelia giving a salute. An 8/10 effort. Commendable.
The moment the flames died down, the subject of the drawing gracefully pirouetted towards the disbelieving sister and hummed.
“My turn? … Okay, my turn!”
Pausing only to offer her smile, she twirled her scythe in one hand, before leaping past the wooden beams in the vaulted ceiling and blending into its shadows.
The sister’s response was immediate.
“You cannot hide in the shadows! Not from me! [Guiding Light].”
Conjuring a small orb of illuminating light, she tossed it with far less elegance than any of the spells she had used so far. The orb flew into the darkest recesses of the ceiling, revealing nothing in the darkness.
After all–
She should have been watching the light instead.
As the sister craned her neck up, the moonlight from the windows angled, moving unnaturally until a rectangular cage of illumination fell across her figure.
By the time she glanced down, it was already too late.
“... The fluttering wings across a pale white, lifting the veil beneath the whispers. Luna Form, 3rd Stance. [Moonlit Breach].”
And then–
Nothing happened.
The sister frowned in confusion, the golden magic waiting in her palms as she warily eyed the window of moonlight upon her.
Then, a quietly smiling Coppelia stole in from behind, appearing from shadows hidden from any light. And when her scythe swept up to meet the sister’s neck, there was no longer any barrier to stop it.
Shhhhunk.
kayenano
Ohoho! Thank you so much for reading!
Join my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead!
And don't forget to check out the Discord for fun and pictures!
