Magical Girls in Mass Effect

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

Episode 32-Omega

Much time afterwards, the Normandy arrived at Omega. There, the ship docked within the massive space station. A few of the crew members made their way inside through the air dock with the girls.

Flare: “Thank you again for the exquisite meal. It was wonderful.”

Garrus: “Glad you enjoyed it, Flare. I wouldn’t want you to eat too much, even though you look like you could devour everything in sight.”

Flare: “Not at all, I am aware that overeating is bad for anyone, so I manage to share as much as I can.”

Liara: “You seem very conservative for someone who enjoys eating a lot.”

Aera: “Yeah, we’re surprised by that, too.”

Star: “So, where are we heading off to now? Are we going to collect the materials we need for that machine that Mordin was talking about building?”

FemShep: “Not right now. First, we’re to check in with someone we know very well.”

Aera: “Huh, the rest of you actually know people in a place with such a bad reputation?”

Miranda: “Let’s just say we’ve been here many times, so we know some people here and there.”

Jacob: “Most of them don’t even like us and the feeling is usually mutual, but we come back here because we would often owe each other favors, so we put up with each other.”

Kasumi: “Not to mention that far too often, we would have mutual enemies, which we would tend to hate more than we hate each other. It’s a nice way to keep the piece.”

Aera: “You’re…unusually optimistic, Kasumi.”

Kasumi: “Thanks, I try.”

FemShep: “Ashley hates having to come to places like this, so she wouldn’t even dare to come here.”

Jewel: “Is that why she’s not here with us right now?”

FemShep: “Well…yes, and no. She’s currently busy in a meeting with the admiral, so she can’t come with us.”

Jewel: “Hm, wonder what they’re talking about?”

Aera: “Eh, who knows? It’s none of our concerns right now.”

Jewel: “So, anyway, who is it we’ll be meeting?”

Liara: “The only person who knows everything there is to know about Omega, the one who runs this entire station: an asari named Aria T’Loak.”

Star: “And who’s this Aria person? Is she anything special?”

Garrus: “On Omega, she is the most important person. She calls the shots around here and has eyes and ears in every corner of this station. Because of that, she is very well informed of everything that goes on around here.”

Splash: “Is she nice?”

Aera: “In a place like this? I highly doubt it.”

Garrus: “Generally, she is, but only if you stay on her good side.”

Miranda: “But even then, she’s still not very friendly.”

Splash: “Oh…I’m nervous…”

Liara: ”Don’t be, I’m sure she would be very pleased to meet you.”

Kasumi: “Besides, you girls are more than capable of defending yourselves around here.”

Star: “Damn straight! They wouldn’t even dare to try anything with us!!”

As soon as they made their way out of the corridor, they arrived within the massive lobby. There, they stood and looked out towards the massive area around them.

Aera: “Yech! This place is such a dump.”

FemShep: “Heh, seems like she really cleaned up this place since the last time we were here.”

Aera: “Last time? What do you mean? What happened here?”

FemShep: “It was during the Reaper War. Aside from that, Omega underwent another massive issue.”

Splash: “What kind of issue?”

The group made their way to the center of the area as they spoke.

FemShep: “The entire station was taken over by Oleg Petrovsky, a general who worked for Cerberus. Aria was exiled from the station to save her own life but was in the process of taking it back. She asked me to help her out with that. She led a massive assault on the station with the help of many who remained loyal to her.”

Star: “Wow, that’s incredible!”

Aera: “It must have been a rough ride.”

FemShep: “Yes, it was. It was a difficult fight, but we were able to take back the station from Cerberus and Aria took back her position as indisputable leader of Omega.”

Flare: “Hmm…I take it there’s more to the story than just that brief summary.”

Aera: “Well, duh!”

Flare: “I meant regarding Cerberus. I wonder why they were so interested in this station.”

Miranda: “Omega contains many valuable resources, you may not believe it, but this asteroid that this station is built on is also a mining facility.”

Splash: “What kind of resources?”

Liara: “Some of the most valuable kinds: Element Zero.”

Splash: “Element Zero? You mean that stuff that causes people to develop those cool levitation powers?”

Miranda: “That’s right, and so much more. Actually, Element Zero does so much more than that. It enables the Faster Than Light travels that starships are able to undergo.”

Splash: “So, that’s how ships are able to travel so fast?”

Miranda: “Yes, at Light Speed, anyway.”

Aera: “Heh, and yet, your ships are still slower than us.”

Garrus: “Hey, our ships don’t consist of the same kind of energy that were given to you by your deity. So, don’t sell us so short just because we’re nowhere near as fast as Light Magic.”

Aera: “Yeah, yeah, I know; nothing in the universe could ever compare to the mystical essence of the Divine Source.”

Garrus glanced over towards her in a way in which he seemed much less annoyed than usual.

They soon approached a large door. There, a guard was standing in front of them.

FemShep: “Hey, we’re here to meet with Aria.”

The guard then noticed the girls.

Guard: “Ah, so these must be the magical girls we’ve heard so much about. Go on in, Aria’s expecting you.”

The doors opened and the group walked right in.

Splash: “Wow, they already knew about us.”

Miranda: “Word seems to be spreading fast. Even Omega has already heard about you.”

Splash: “I really hope that this Aria is nice to us.”

Liara: “Don’t worry, girls. We’ll make sure that she doesn’t do anything to you. Although, I don’t think that she would.”

Garrus: “Yeah, generally not, all she cares about is her absolute domination over this entire space station.”

Miranda: “Exactly, everything else means nothing to her and she would never involve herself with anything that doesn’t benefit her hold on this place.”

Aera: “Well, I just hope that she doesn’t try anything, otherwise she would be in for one very unpleasant surprise.”

They arrived within a massive club known as Afterlife. There, they stopped to take a look around at everything.

Kasumi: “Wow, this place looks a hell of a lot different from the last time we were here.”

Garrus: “The last time we came here was before the Reapers arrived.”

Kasumi: “Has it really been that long?”

Miranda: “Even I’m surprised by how much this place has changed.”

FemShep: “You should have seen how it looked before we took it back from Cerberus.”

Splash: “What was it like?”

FemShep: “Bad, really bad.”

Liara: “Let’s not focus on that right now. We need to get the girls to meet with Aria.”

Jacob: “Yeah, we wouldn’t want to keep her waiting now, would we?”

They continued on their way.They made their way to a set of stairs and arrived within an open loft area. There, they saw a large sofa before them, in an open boxed shape. Sitting in the middle of it was Aria, herself. The girls seemed nervous. Jewel looked up at Liara, she looked back at her, nodded once, then they walked up to Aria. As they approached her, she took notice of them.

Aria: “Well, look what we have here?”

Splash: “Umm…are you…Miss Aria?”

Aria had a somewhat sly smile on her face.

Aria: “Yes, I am. So, you must be the magical girls that I’ve heard so much about.”

Kasumi: “Yep, news of the girls actually did reach Omega.”

Aria: “When news of a bunch of young girls that can wield magic as though they’re from that old Earth cartoon that humans love so much, anime, come around, it doesn’t stay secluded for very long.”

Aera: “Figures.”

Jewel: “Um…hello, yes, that is us. I’m Jewel, this is Flare, Star, Aera and Splash.”

Aria: “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Come, sit down, you must have been through so much.”

The girls hesitated for a bit.

Jewel: “Umm…well…we…I…”

Aria: “Why so hesitant? Come sit down. I insist.”

The girls were a little taken aback by this. From there, they sat down to the right of Aria. Ms. Shepard sat to her left. Miranda sat next to her and did Liara. Jacob and Kasumi stood near them. Garrus and Mordin stood near the girls.

Aria: “So, I hear you’ve been dealing with a looming threat that’s been terrorizing your kind for while now.”

Jewel: “Yes…we…try to do everything we can to protect everyone back at home, including those who are near and dear to us…but…”

Flare: “Our travels have brought us to many realms before we wound up here…within yours.”

Aria: “Realm? Don’t you mean galaxy?”

Liara: “Realm is another word for galaxy for them.”

Aria: “I see, nevermind then.”

Jewel: “We wanted to leave this realm as well, but…something…went horribly wrong. I don’t know how but…”

Star: “That jerk was able to find us before we even had a chance to rest up.”

Flare: “It was then and there that we could no longer run, so…”

Aria: “So, you decided to settle here and now you intend to take the fight within our “realm”, rather than let this become a problem for another.”

Jewel: “Hey! We didn’t want to, but…we don’t have a choice. Had we continued to run, not only would this realm be in great danger but all of them.”

She then looked towards Garrus, he was looking at her as well.

Jewel: “It was also when we made some friends that have been willing to help us through this. We couldn’t be any more thankful for them.”

Star: “Oh, absolutely! They helped us out tremendously. We don’t regret any of that one bit and if you have a problem with that, then too bad, because we don’t care about what you think, so you can take your complaints and shove them all down yer-!”

Garrus: “Star!”

Star went silent after that. Aria then chuckled.

Aria: “I’m actually starting to like you girls. You have a lot of spirit and your spunk is indeed a very nice touch.”

Aera: “Well, regardless of spunk or otherwise, like it or not, we’re here to stay and we will deal with the threat in this realm even if we don’t want to.”

Aria: “Yes, I understand. You do what you must. I can’t really be angry at you for any of that. Whatever horrible threat that would endanger our realm or any other would need to be dealt with by any means necessary. You’re gutsy and you seem to be a lot braver than the rest of your kind. A lot of your species must be cowards if you girls are the only ones with any courage to stand up to this threat.”

Jewel: “I…I wish that was the case.”

The crew members seemed surprised to hear this.

Aria: “Well, none of that matters to me. This dark entity is a major threat to everything that I stand for, no doubt, so it would concern me none-the-less, but you girls seem to have that under control. I have faith that you will eradicate it before it can do anything.”

Aera: “Oh, sure, all you care about is your cushy little title as grand ruler of this rotten space station. Who cares if this entire realm falls apart as long as this massive space pit is yours to do with whatever you please?”

Splash: “Aera! No!”

Aria: “Hmph! You’ve really got a mouth on you, little girl. I suggest you watch what comes out of it before it causes you and the rest of your group any trouble. But still, I admire you for that. It’s very clear that you’re able to stand up for yourself whenever you need to.”

Aera: “If you knew how terrible my childhood was, you wouldn’t be surprised by that at all.”

Aria: “I would love to hear about that sometime, if I decide to care. I think I’ll enjoy seeing you girls more and more. All of you are interesting.”

Splash: “You really think so?”

Aria: “Of course. I can tell that it’s never a dull moment with you.”

Kasumi: “That would be putting it lightly.”

Aria: “I would also assume that your powers would be even more spectacular.”

Miranda: “Yes, they’re phenomenal. Not only are their powers amazing, but they’re also shown to be very skillful.“

FemShep: “Absolutely. You should see their different attacks.”

Aria: “Hmm…perhaps I would like to check that out sometime. Well, I think I’ve managed to hear what I need from each of you. I really appreciate this lovely chat that I’ve had with you girls.”

Splash: “It was kind of fun. You’re really nice actually.”

Aera: “Well…you’re a lot nicer than we expected. I don’t know why, but…we actually kind of like you.”

Aria: “Same to you. Our conversations with one another will indeed be quite entertaining.”

Splash: “Yeah! I think we’ll have so much fun together!”

Aria: “Alright, I think that’s enough of that for now. I’d like to know what you guys came here for.”

Star: ”We’re here to pick up some materials needed for Mordin to build special machines for us.”

Aria: “Is that so? What kind of materials do you have in mind?”

Mordin: “Was thinking mechs. Use them for a kind of simulation project of sorts.”

Aria: “Hmph! I’ll have you know that I’m…a little hesitant with just handing out mechs; they’re very important for Omega. However, we tend to have a massively large amount of scrap metal from mechs build up all too often, mainly from having them blown to bits a lot, with no way of knowing what to do with them other than disposing of them.”

Mordin: “Perfect, just what we need. Will make some magnificent analyzation machines for the girls and their powers.”

Aria: “Hm, I should have known. You salarians always have a way with coming up with new inventions and would use just about anything. Aside from the quarians, your species consists of perhaps the best kind of mechanics in the galaxy, aside from you being exquisite inventors.”

Garrus touched the side of his head, nodding a little while afterwards.

Star: “Can you tell us where you store away these giant piles of scrap metal? We really, really need them for Mordin’s special project.”

Aria: “You really like to please this salarian, don’t you?”

Aera: “Yeah, she pretty much sees him as one of her “besties”, aside from us.”

Aria: “Hm, interesting. You girls fascinate me more and more. However, I’m not going to simply tell you where we store them away. But don’t worry, we’ll give you what you need.”

Splash: “Thank you so much.”

Star: “Yeah, this will help us greatly.”

Aria: “Not so fast. I’m not simply going to give them away to you for free.”

Splash: “What!?! Why not!?!”

Aria: “Do I look like I run a charity? I hardly ever just give things away for free or out of the goodness of my heart for that matter, even if it’s junk.”

Aera: “Are we talking payment? How much do you want us to pay you? A million credits?”

Aria chuckled out loud.

Aria: “I’m not asking for that many credits or any for that matter. I have something else in mind.”

Jewel: “Alright, what do you want from us?”

Aria: “You girls seem to be quite the do-gooders, always wanting to help out people in need.”

Splash: “That’s right, we’re bringers of justice! We fight for the safety and protection of all who need us! It’s how we were raised.”

Aera: “But we’re not spineless push-overs. You can make fun of us for being “goodie-goodies” all you want, we will never be ashamed of that.”

Aria: “I have no problem with that, however I do have a problem with something else. There has been an unruly gang in the lower districts that I need to have taken care of.”

FemShep: “Wait, aren’t the Talons taking care of that?”

Aria: “They have, but they’re struggling a bit. It turns out that this gang has become an immense detriment that even the Talons are having a hard time eradicating them. If you’re able to take out that problem, then I’ll provide you with all of the scrap metal that you need for your…projects.”

Jewel: “I see, a favor for a favor. Sure, we can handle your problem.”

Aria: “Splendid. I’ll have one of my own send you girls off to where they are now. Better get going if you want your…payment.”

Jewel was the first to stand up.

Jewel: “We’re on it. Let’s go, girls.”

The other girls stood up and walked off. The members of the crew also went after them.

Star: “That Aria sure is an interesting asari.”

Aera: “She’s undoubtedly full of herself, but she’s far from one of the worst people that I’ve ever met.”

Splash: “I think she’s kind of nice. At least she’s able to provide us with what we’ve asked for.”

Aera: “Yeah, for a price.”

Flare: “A most interesting and complex individual she is. Her aura is also indeed truly complex.”

FemShep: “Tell me what is it about her aura that fascinates you, Flare.”

Flare: “Well…I can sense some darkness within her. Naturally, when I sense such an aura, it’s an indication of a terrible person, but…her aura displays something that isn’t that simple. The best way I can describe it would be…she has control over that darkness rather than the other way around.”

Liara: “And what could that mean?”

Flare: “I’m not sure, but from this, it’s hard to really get a vivid reading on her.”

FemShep: “Well, it’s very clear that she’s not necessarily a good person, but she doesn’t have any reason to deceive us or use us.”

Garrus: “Yeah, she better not or I’ll find a way to take her down without having any of her underlings interfere.”

Kasumi: “For once, we would not fault you on that, Garrus. Just about anyone would want to take advantage of the girls and their special abilities.”

Miranda: “Yes, and Aria would not want to pass up the opportunity if she can, although, she’s not one for “using” people a lot, unless it’s situations like this that involve Omega.”

Garrus nodded once.

Star: “So, where are we going?”

FemShep: “We’re heading to a parking garage just outside this club. It’s where we would need to meet any of her subordinates who would take us to another district.”

Splash: “So, we don’t necessarily take ourselves there?”

FemShep: “No, she tends to keep information like that to herself. Wherever she would need us to go, she will provide us with a chauffeur.”

Splash: “Oh, I see.”

Garrus: “By the way, I just received a call from Tali. She said she would meet us outside.”

Star: “Oh, great! She was able to finish up what she needed to take care of back on the Normandy!”

A little while afterwards, they met up with Tali outside the club.

Splash: “Hello again, Tali.”

Tali: “Hey, so, were you able to receive the materials needed for the project?”

Aera: “Not, yet, Aria told us to take care of some felons within a lower district.”

Tali: “Oh, keelah, not again.”

Miranda: “Yep, she’s asking us for favors again.”

Kasumi: “Some things never change.”

Jacob: “Let’s just get there, take care of what needs to be done and then get out.”

Jewel: “Right, let’s go.”

They made their way over towards the parking garage.

Garrus: “And don’t even think about flying off again, girls. We would prefer to have you transported there instead.”

Aera: “Yeah, yeah, we know already, guy.”

When they arrived, they saw a batarian standing near a few vehicles. Star was a little startled by this.

Star: “Huh? Who or…what is that?”

Miranda: “Oh, him? He’s a batarian. You girls haven’t seen a batarian before, have you?”

Aera: “No, not really.”

Splash took a closer look at the batarian.

Splash: “You have…4 eyes…”

Batarian: “Yeah, I know, all batarians have 4 eyes. It’s like you humans and your hair.”

Splash: “Umm…we’re Fayelons, actually.”

Aera walked up right past Splash up to the batarian. Her eyes displayed the anime facial expression of a blank, annoyed look.

Aera: “Yeah, we get we look like humans, but don’t be fooled by that because we’re not.”

Batarian: “Uh, right, sorry, of course you’re not; humans don’t change the shape of their eyes like that.”

Her face converted back to normal as she smiled at the batarian with her eyes closed.

Aera: “Thank you.”

Jewel: “So, you’re here to take us to that district that Aria wanted us to take care of.”

Batarian: “That’s right, we have a few vehicles ready to take you girls to where you’re needed.”

Jewel: “OK, let’s go.”

The girls proceeded to make their way to the vehicles. A few of the crew members followed after them. Garrus, however, stood by with a startled look on his face. Tali and Mordin were standing beside him on both sides.

Garrus: “Change the shape of her eyes? I…I didn’t think anyone else would recognize that.”

Tali: “Yeah, we have.”

Mordin: “Kind of hard to miss.”

Garrus: “Is…is that a Fayelon thing, or…do either of you know anything about that?”

Tali: “Yeah, they look like…anime facial expressions.”

Garrus: “Anime what?”

Mordin: “Anime facial expressions, a well-known and well-liked cliché in anime. Japanese animators take on the need to greatly emphasize the emotions of characters through overly-exaggerated facial expressions. A comical means of doing such and was so well liked that other cartoons also took on this adaptation.”

Garrus: “Huh…now that you mention it, I did notice that from one of those anime shows…that you guys make me watch with you, by the way.”

Mordin: “You’re welcome.”

Tali and Mordin walked off. Garrus continued standing by, a bit peeved. He then walked off after them.Sometime later, they arrived at their intended destination.

There, they made their way through the place.

Star: “Alright, so where do we find these hooligans so that we can pound the ever-loving stuffing out of them?”

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like faint gunshots.

Kasumi: “I suppose we could follow the sound of gunfire.”

Jewel: “Yeah, sounds like it. Let’s hurry.”

They rushed through the corridor as fast as they could.They soon stopped within a massive room. There, they spotted a firefight between 2 different groups. One group contained the emblem of the Talons, another was just a group of vorcha. The group with the Talon symbols were clearly outnumbered badly. The group, however, were fixated on the vorcha as they glared out at them.

Splash: “Ahh!! What are those ugly things!?!”

Garrus: “Vorcha. I should have known. It’s the Blood Pack.”

Splash: “The what?”

Garrus: “We’ll focus on the details later. Right now, we have to take care of this threat.”

Jewel: “Right. Let’s go help them out.”

The other girls nodded once. They stood beside each other, preparing to transform.

Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera, Splash: “Metamorphose!”

They transformed again and then rushed out. The crew members pulled out their weapons and rushed out afterwards.The girls stood near the Talons, ready to attack.

Talon member: “Wha-? Who are you girls?”

Jewel: “We’re Fayelons. Aria sent us to help you guys out.”

Talon member: “Well, bout time some came to our aid. We’ve been having our a**** handed to us for hours now.”

Star: “Not to worry, we’re here to help.”

From there, they utilized their powers to fight off the vorcha.

Talon member: “What the…!?! What are you girls!?!”

Aera: “Didn’t you hear us!?! We’re Fayelons! We’re magical beings from another realm!”

Talon member: “Magical…? Whatever! I don’t care! Just take care of those vorcha!”

Aera: “Not a problem.”

Flare: “The rest of you get these people to safety. We’ve got this handled.”

With that, the crew members complied, helping to get all of the Talon members out of the way while the girls combated the vorcha. The fight against them seemed to have been going well, nothing out of the ordinary. The girls were really holding their own out there. The Talons were watching this while being moved to safety.

Talon member: “Wow, those girls are really amazing.”

Garrus: “Yeah, they are.”

As the fight continued, the girls were still able to handle the vorcha. However, a little into the fight, Flare was startled by something for some reason.

Flare: “Oh, no!”

Jewel: “What is it?”

Flare: “I can sense a dark aura, creeping in. I…what could this mean?”

At that moment, Liara was also startled by something.

Liara: “Do you guys feel that?”

Miranda: “Yes, I can. It’s Darkness.”

Jacob: “Yeah, I can feel it out, too. Something is not right.”

Kasumi: “What…what’s going on?”

Garrus stared out tensely.

Garrus: “What are you up to this time?”

Meanwhile back on the Normandy, Thane, Samara and Javik, each in different parts of the ship, were also able to sense the dark aura.

Thane, Samara, Javik: “He’s back again!”

Back during the fight, the girls continued on. Suddenly, something strange happened. A dark aura was seen surrounding the vorcha. Even they were taken by surprise from this. The girls and the Normandy crew were startled by this.

Liara: “What’s happening!?!”

The Dark aura soon encased them, from there, it was uncertain as to what was happening. As this was taking place, a deep, groggy voice could be heard not only by the girls but the crew members as well.

Voice: “Darkness is absolute! Darkness will consume all! I will obtain that which I desire and finally be able to seize and devour everything in sight! All will be mine!!!!”

Tali: “What’s that strange voice?? Who is that?”

FemShep: “I…I don’t know…”

Mordin was on his omni-tool again, analyzing the Dark aura encasing the vorcha. He seemed to be staring tensely at it.

Garrus: “Doc, tell us what is happening.”

Mordin: “Hm…The Dark aura is inserting itself into the vorcha. They appear to be undergoing some sort of magical mutation. Their body structures and physiology are being altered immensely.”

FemShep: “What are they changing into?”

Mordin was still analyzing the occurrence.

Mordin: “Don’t need me to tell you that the transformation is to be…monstrous.”

And with that, the Dark aura seemingly vanished, the vorcha have indeed been revealed to have transformed into more hideous abominations. Everyone stood by, stunned from this.

Liara: “Oh, my gosh!! Is Dark magic really capable of such a thing?”

Jacob: “And I thought the vorcha were ugly before.”

Before the new formed vorcha could attack, the voice could be heard again.

Voice: “This is the power of Darkness! All those who refused to be consumed by it shall suffer, such is the will of my powers, such is the will of Darkness!!!”

The monstrous new forms then charged at the girls. The girls used their powers to fight back, but the monstrous forms, having been enhanced by Darkness in both ferocity and strength, were shown to be a huge struggle. They tried some of their strongest attacks, which were more effective, but wasn’t enough. Not being able to handle the vicious new forms, Jewel forged another of her shield gems with both of her hands and held it in front of her, with the new forms pounding on it. Although they couldn’t shatter it or even scratch it, they pounded the shield gem hard enough to start wearing her down. She was struggling to hold herself up.

Liara: “Jewel!”

Tali: “We have to do something!”

Kasumi: “But what can we do?”

At that moment, they noticed a gunshot towards one of the new forms. They were shocked at first, but then looked to their side and noticed Garrus holding out his rifle. The one that was shot attempted to rush towards him, but was hit directly by an ice ball, causing it to turn back towards the girls.

FemShep: “Garrus, what are you doing? We don’t stand a chance against those things!”

Garrus: “I know, but I have to do something! I’m not going to stand around and watch these monsters pummel the girls to submission.”

Mordin: “He’s right, something needs to be done. We must help.”

Kasumi: “I agree, but what is there for us to do?”

Garrus: “We’ll act as diversion; draw these things away from the girls so that they can regain their strength.”

Kasumi: “I suppose…we can try…”

Mordin was dabbling on his omni-tool.

Mordin: “Already have another plan in mind. Been working on designing a new omni-tool feature that might help. Sending them to each of you now.”

From there, each of their omni-tools reacted with each of them tending to theirs.

Garrus: “Come on, let’s get at them.”

Most of the crew members rushed off. The biotics stayed behind.

Liara: “We’ll stay here to protect the Talons.”

The girls were still struggling against the new forms. Then, several shots were being fired at it. They looked over and spotted most of the crew members with their weapons out. The new forms rushed after them.

Star: “What are you guys doing!?!”

FemShep: “You girls look like you needed some help.”

Flare: “Are they crazy!?! They will not last against those abominations!”

Jewel: “Maybe, but might provide us with ample time to come up with a plan, and I know just the kind. We’ll need to pull our powers together.”

Splash: “What!?! Are you sure about that, Jewel?”

Jewel: “It’s the only way.”

Flare: “I do not think we should. I mean, are you absolutely certain about this?”

Aera: “I don’t know about this, either, Jewel. You might use up too much of your own energy. I mean, we don’t want you to faint again.”

Jewel: “It’ll be fine. I can handle this. Besides, I don’t think that’s what caused me to lose consciousness last time.”

Flare: “Well…OK, but we’ll give our all so that you don’t use up too much of your own power.”

Jewel: “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The new forms charged towards the crew members as they shot at them. Although their weapons aren’t effective against them, they were able to keep them at bay. As one charged at them, Mordin stopped shooting and walked up a bit. Everyone else stood by, confused as to what was going on. The new form charged at him, but he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he held up his left hand and, with the omni-tool active and on hand, somehow greatly zapped the new form with what appeared to be some sort of stream of electricity, only brighter and looked more lethal. The new form was badly weakened by this. For a while, the others stood by, shocked by what they had seen. Tali and Garrus walked up beside him, still shocked.

Tali: “What…what was that?”

Mordin: “A burst of Light energy.”

Garrus: “You mean as in Light magic?”

Mordin nodded once.

Mordin: “Been studying the aura around us, figured out how to extract the bits of energy and managed to design and utilize magic-based tech. That was a finished product of my research.”

They stared down at the new form that was zapped for a bit.

Tali: “We’re…able to do that, right?”

Mordin: “Of course, can’t risk having any of you brought out here without being able to defend yourselves against this Dark threat.”

Tali and Garrus stood stunned for a bit, then they went on their omni-tools to check on them and took notice of something that seemed to have reassured them.

Tali: “Yep, it’s right here.”

Garrus: “Alright, at least we stand a better chance this time.”

Tali nodded once.

Kasumi: “Let me take point.”

Kasumi cloaked herself at that moment.

Soon enough, the new forms had focused their attention on the crew members. The girls watched this taking place. They seemed both worried and pleased at the same time.

Flare: “Amazing, they’re able to handle the monsters a lot more than we had thought.”

Star: “I know, right? That Mordin is such an awesome genius, isn’t he?”

Jewel: “We’ve also been given a little more leniency. I think we may be able to pull this off without using up too much of our powers.”

Aera: “Yes, let’s get at it before the monsters overpower our friends.”

The other girls nodded once. The fight kept on with the crew members keeping the new forms occupied. A few times, when they would even get too close, the crew members would activate their omni-tools to shock the creatures with them. At one point, Kasumi would come out of being cloaked and then zapped the monsters the same way and then go back to cloaking. With the use of her cloaking tech, she was able to slip in and out with the monsters not being the wiser. This kept on for a while. The biotic used their abilities to protect the Talons. At one point, the monsters tried to rush them, only to be held back by the biotics. Within the skirmish, one of the monsters was slammed into a nearby door, badly damaging it.

Garrus: “I just hope the girls will be ready to take down these monsters sooner or later; because we can only keep this up for so long.”

Then without warning, one of the monsters had a massive and seemingly inexplicable coating of crystals on its back that expanded very quickly. The crew members were taken by surprise from this, but knew exactly what was going on. Looking over, they spotted exactly what they expected: it was Jewel who was doing this.

Liara: “Jewel!”

She then stopped the expansion of the crystals then shattered them on their backs, causing a great deal of damage. Everyone was excited to see this.

Garrus: “That’s my girl.”

Jewel: “Everyone! Attack! Now!!”

And with that, each of the other girls unleashed some of their most devastating moves. The crew members watched in anticipation as the girls attacked. Eventually, the monsters were badly beaten to the point where the new forms seemed as though they were being expelled from the dark aura that created their forms. The dark aura then disappeared, leaving the vorcha completely unharmed but they were startled.

Vorcha: “Grr! What…! What happened!?!”

Liara: “Unbelievable! The vorcha returned to normal.”

Mordin was already on his omni-tool again.

Garrus: “So, defeating those monsters didn’t destroy the vorcha.”

Vorcha: “Gah! We…we lived bad dream! Must get out of here!”

The vorcha then fled the room through another door.

Miranda: “Well, that’s that.”

At that moment, Liara was startled by something.

Liara: “Everyone! Look out!”

Jacob and Miranda were also startled. At that moment, the Dark aura appeared before them again.

Kasumi: “What’s going on!?!”

Everyone stood their ground. The Dark aura was about to lash out at everyone, but then, a bright light shot at it from seemingly nowhere.

Aera: “What the…!?!”

Splash: “What’s…happening!?!”

Flare was startled a little as she stood out at this.

Flare: “Wha…! Could it be…!?!”

From the bright light, there was a heavenly voice that ringed clearly in Jewel’s mind.

Voice: “This realm has suffered for far too long because of you!!”

Jewel: “That voice…!”

From the Light, the Dark aura dissipated. Everything was silent.

Kasumi: “What just happened?”

Liara: “I think…whoever…or whatever had control over that Light magic…just eradicated that Dark aura.”

Tali: “Does that mean the threat is gone?”

FemShep: “No, I would not think so. Well, maybe that threat is gone, but that was just a small piece of what we still have to deal with.”

Jewel began to ponder something. Flare took notice of it.

Flare: “Jewel, is there something the matter?”

Jewel: “Did…did you guys just hear a voice just now?”

Everyone exchanged looks with one another, confused.

Star: “No…none of us did.”

Jewel: “Hm…is that so…? Then…I may have been…the only one who could hear it.”

Flare: “That may be. Although I didn’t hear any voice, I did sense a slight tinge in the Light, almost as though, the entity controlling that power was trying to communicate.”

Liara: “Yes, I felt it, too. There was…some sort of indication of there being a…being of sort, or magical entity, whatever you want to call it.”

Kasumi: “If that’s true, then why was Jewel the only one who could hear it? Not even Flare could hear it, either?”

Flare: “We don’t know why that is, but we will figure that out overtime.”

Everyone nodded once. At that moment, the Talons walked up to the groups.

Talon member: “We cannot thank you enough for coming here to save us.”

Jewel: “Oh! No need to thank us, we were happy to do it.”

Splash: “That’s right! We’re Fayelons, dispensers of justice and all that’s good!”

Talon member: “Well, I most certainly feel better, knowing that you’re here.”

Star: “So, what will you guys do from here?”

Talon member: “We’ll head back to our headquarters to file reports on what had just happened here. Again, we can’t thank you enough for what you have done.”

Aera: “Sure, just try to be more careful next time.”

Talon member: “Yes, we will. Take care good and good luck with the rest of your fight.”

Jewel: “Thanks. You, too.”

The Talons walked off. The crew members regrouped with the girls.

Liara: “Now then, shall we head back and check with Aria about her keeping her end of this bargain?”

Jewel: “Certainly. She may have delivered our supplies by now.”

Star: “Aw, yeah! The sooner we get back to the Normandy, the sooner Mordin can finally get started on his project.”

Mordin: “Certainly, let’s go.”

They were about to leave, but then they noticed that the door back out was damaged.

Liara: “Oh, no!”

Splash: “What happened to the door!?!”

FemShep: “Hm…it might have been damaged during that fight.”

Tali: “What are we going to do about this? That’s our only way out of here.”

Kasumi: “Hmm…anyone got any bright ideas on how to fix this?”

Jewel: “Hang on. Let me try something.”

She walked up to the door. As she stood before it, she coated the door with her crystals. Everyone stood and watched this take place.

FemShep: “What is she doing?”

Liara: “We don’t know. We’ve never seen her try this on any objects before.”

Star shifted her hip to her side then crossed her arms as she developed a confident smile on her face.

Star: “Stand back, everyone. This is one of Jewel’s special tricks.”

The other girls also had confident smiles on their faces. The crew members, however, looked confused. Jewel had completely coated the door with her crystal. Then, she lifted both of her arms up, then brought them down in a cross position. From there, the door shattered completely. The crew members were startled to see this.

Liara: “Wha…what was that?”

Star: “Like I said, another of Jewel’s special powers. She can enable her crystals to everything that she coats in them become as brittle as glass.”

The crew members were speechless by this.

Miranda: “Are…are her influences over her crystals really that powerful?”

Star: “Yep. She’s just that amazing.”

Aera: “She was pretty much jumping for joy when she was able to use that trick for the first time.”

Kasumi: “That…is amazing!!”

Jewel: “Shall we get going?”

With that, they walked out of the room. At that time, they were being observed from a monitor by Aria and her subordinates. They were within a control room.

Aria: “These girls are quite incredible.”

Bray: “I’ve heard intel about them being able to carry out special abilities, but it’s clear that there’s so much more we don’t know about these magical girls.”

Aria: “Hm, it was a lot more fun to watch them fight than those human cartoons that they call anime, especially the magical girl variety.”

Garka: “I still can’t believe that you actually watch those magical girl shows, although, not all of them have been directed towards the…younger audiences like that pretty cute, or whatever that series is called.”

Aria: “Well, of course there are some magical girls shows that aren’t for kids; some of them consists of far too traumatizing series, like the one with that poor little girl that lives amongst a town of humans with hearts of monsters.”

Garka: "Where murder would be easily forgiven but would always turn a blind eye to child abuse? Yeah, I know what you’re referring to. I can’t believe humans would actually like watching such horrific shows.”

Aria: “Yes, I couldn’t believe it, either, but it is what it is.”

Bray: “So, what are you planning to do, moving forward with this?”

Aria: “What am I going to do? Why, I’m going to continue counting on these girls to do whatever I need them to do.”

Bray: “Um…Miss T’Loak. I would never even think of questioning your decisions, but allow me to express my concerns about using these girls for anything you please. If it’s for a good cause, I can understand, but…”

Aria: “Oh, don’t worry. I would never use these girls. I would just need their help with taking care of a few loose ends that have caused me so much grief over time. And with their strong sense of justice, they would not be inclined to refuse anything that I would ask of them. None of my intentions would be malicious on their behalf.”

Bray: “Really? Can you…can you…do you really mean that?”

Aria: “Of course. I like them. I would never dream of mishandling their powers. They’re quite entertaining, as fighters and for having interesting conversations with. Be it they choose to accept my requests or even refuse them, it doesn’t matter.”

She then turned to walk off. She seemed very smug.

Aria: “Everything always goes my way on Omega.”

Much time later, the group was brought back to the main area of the space station. The girls, having already reverted to their dormant forms, made their way back to Aria’s loft. There, she was on her sofa, awaiting their return.

Aria: “Oh, good, you’ve made it back.”

She signaled the girls to sit on the sofa with her, they did just that. The crew members stood nearby.

Star: “We took care of the threat, just like you asked us to.”

Aria: “I appreciate that. Those vorcha are still causing trouble throughout my station. And here I thought everyone would start behaving after I took this place back from Cerberus, but I should have known that wouldn’t be the case, especially with the vorcha. They’re like two-legged animals.”

Flare: “The vorcha weren’t at all a problem. We can handle them just fine, it’s just…”

Aria: “You were handling things until that mysterious Dark aura turned them into even more vicious and feral versions of themselves? Yeah, I already know.”

Splash: “What!?! But…how could you how known about that!?!”

Aria: “You girls should know by now that I have eyes and ears all over this station. I can see and hear everything; therefore, I know everything that goes on around here.”

Splash: “But…isn’t that like eavesdropping or something like that?”

Aria chuckled again.

Aria: “You’re really quite funny, you know that, right? It’s so adorable how you can think and behave in such a young and naïve manner. Not so much a mystery as to who is the most childish of your group.”

Splash began to display the over exaggerated, oversized sad look from her eyes just like from anime.

Splash: “But…but…I’m not…naive…”

Aera: “OK, I think that’s enough, you can make yourself out to be this almighty queen of Omega all you like, but don’t you dare make fun of us.”

Aera then looked towards Splash with that same dull, annoyed look forming in her eyes.

Aera: “Even though what you did say about her is true.”

The sad look in Splash’s eyes became a little more overly embellished. From there, the over exaggerated tears were just about the pour out.

Jewel: “Oh, no, not this again.”

From there, she began to wail as tears spouted from her eyes like faucets.

Splash: “Waaaaaaaahhhh!!! Why are you so mean!?!”

Everyone nearby watching this, including the crew members, were uncomfortable as they watched this. Tali and Mordin, however, seemed surprisingly calm.

Tali: “Yep, just like in anime.”

Mordin: “Hm, indeed.”

Flare smacked Aera upside the head.

Aera: “Ow!”

Flare: “Aera, don’t say things like that!”

Aera: “What? It is true.”

Jewel: “Yeah, but didn’t we go over having you not be so blunt? You know how sensitive she is.”

Aera had the same, dull and annoyed look on her face as she crossed her arms and pouted.

Aera: “I can’t help being blunt. That’s just how I am.”

Aria: “Well, this has been entertaining and while your friend over there is finishing up with washing my floor with her…over embellished tears, I would like to inform all of you that I have transported all of the necessary equipment for your…special project to your ship, as promised.”

Mordin: “Thank you, this helps immensely.”

Aria: “I look forward to having you stop by and help out whenever I need something from you.”

Jewel: “Um…well…”

Garrus: “Hold on there for a minute.”

Garrus walked up to her and stood in front of her.

Garrus: “Listen here, Aria, you may call the shots for anything and everything on Omega, but the same will not apply to these girls! Do you understand that!?! They are NOT your personal property to do with whatever you please, nor are they anyone else’s, especially ours.”

Aria: “Well, aren’t you the fatherly one? It’s just like I’ve heard, you really have become quite the strict parental type for these young teenagers. But you make a valid point and I agree, they are not my personal property. However, they have just as much a right to decide whether or not they want to help me. They do have a say in that, after all. Isn’t that right…Archangel?”

Garrus was a little startled to hear her say that, as were the other crew members, but the girls were even more surprised.

Star: “Archangel?”

Garrus: “We’ll…we’ll talk about it later.”

Aria: “Well, I think we should have an understanding on how to treat these girls. They would need to have a saying as to what they would choose to do.”

Garrus: “Yeah, I know, but if I detect even the slightest indication that they’re being used in any way, by you or your subordinates, then we will leave you to take care of your issues by yourselves.”

Aria: “Oh, don’t worry. I will not use them in any way. If it would make you feel better, they would not need to be the only ones to handle any problems that I would need them to deal with. You and the rest of the crew have done a phenomenal job with helping them and I feel that they would not be able to handle a lot of this without any of you.”

Garrus: “That is…acceptable. I’ll hold you to that.”

FemShep: “So…shall we get back to the Normandy?”

Garrus: “Yeah, I think we should.”

The girls all got up.

Jewel: “Well, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

Aria: “You, too. I look forward to seeing you again.”

Aera: “Umm…same here…I guess.”

The girls walked off with the crew members. Ms. Shepard was about to go on her way.

Aria: “By the way, Jane. How is your cousin?”

Ms. Shepard turned back and looked towards Aria.

FemShep: “Same as he’s always been. Hardly any changes were made.”

Aria: “Hm, I see, well…I just…I hope that he does come to.”

FemShep: “So do we. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. How have you been holding up?”

Aria: “How am I holding up? I’m doing just fine, mind you! Why would you even ask me that?”

FemShep: “Well, back when we were taking back this space station, you seemed very devastated from Nyreen after she sacrificed herself for you.”

Aria: “I thought I told you to not bring that up again! Her death hardly had any effect on me nor did I care much about her, at all.”

FemShep: “That’s not the impression you gave when it happened.”

Aria just glared at Ms. Shepard.

Aria: “Just…give my regards to the rest of that crew about your cousin.

FemShep: “Will do. See you again.”

Ms. Shepard walked off. Aria smiled.

Aria: “I really do like those girls. Don’t worry, Archangel, I would never misuse their special abilities unless I have a reason to. I promise you that.”

The crew members and the girls were making their way back to where the Normandy was docked.

Star: “Well, that was fun.”

Splash: “I know, I found that Aria to be quite nice, aside from…how she called me those hurtful things.”

Aera: “Hurtful or not, she is right about you.”

Splash’s eyes developed the same overly embellished sad look again.

Splash: “Aera! Don’t be mean!”

Flare: “I thought I told you to stop being so blunt with her.”

Aera: “And I thought I told you I can’t but be blunt.”

Star: “Well, what matters is that we were able to obtain all that we needed for Mordin to design those machines that will help us out with our powers.”

Mordin: “Indeed. Will get started on that as soon as possible.”

Tali: “I would like to help out with that if that’s alright with you.”

Star: “Also would like to help! I can’t wait to get started with this.”

Mordin: “As do I, Star.”

Suddenly, Jewel lost consciousness and fell to the ground. The group quickly took notice of this.

Liara: “Oh, no! Jewel!”

They tended her immediately.

Liara: “Not again!”

Kasumi: “What is it this time? Why did she faint again?”

Jacob: “Good question.”

Miranda: “We need to get her back to the medical bay and have her examined.”

Garrus: “Yeah, I’ll take her back there immediately.”

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

I feel that this sounds so much like something that's Samara's style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgeaq37Zgeo

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

This one I picked out for Thane:

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

Episode 33-Placidity

Much time later, Jewel found herself back within the void.

Jewel: “What? I’m back here again. But…why…am I here?”

From there, she saw something appear before her.

Jewel: “Wha…? That’s…”

Before was the Milky Way galaxy.

Jewel: “That’s…our…new friends’…realm….But…why do I…”

Just then, she heard what sounded like someone who was softly sobbing.

Jewel: “Huh? Who’s there? Who are you? Why are you…?”

She looked back towards the image of the Milky Way galaxy before her as she continued hearing the sobbing.

Jewel: “Is there…is there something about this realm that makes you…? Why are you sad about it? What do you know about this…realm?”

At that time, Jewel was laying on one of the medical beds in the medical bay, still unconscious. Garrus, standing by her side, was staring down on her, he was melancholy.

Garrus: “Jewel…”

Within the room, Ashley, Liara, Miranda, Ms. Shepard, Samantha and Samara were standing beside each other, looking at him from the other end of the room.

Traynor: “Oh….Garrus…”

FemShep: “There he is again.”

Liara: “He’s been standing by her side since he brought her back here.”

Miranda: “I know, he’s been so worried about her, as always.”

Ashley: “He really does care about her.”

FemShep: “He’s been like this for a long time, hasn’t he?”

Liara: “Ever since they arrived within our galaxy. He’s always been very attentive towards these girls, including Jewel.”

FemShep: “Yeah, especially from how he talked to Aria about wanting to have them help her out with resolving whatever issues on Omega.”

Ashley: “I’m not surprised. He’s always protected them, so that is to be expected.”

Miranda: “What I found even more surprising was that Aria didn’t lash out at him for “defying” what she wants. She seemed to have a lot of respect towards his wanting to protect them.”

Liara: “I don’t think we will have any problems with her mishandling those girls and their powers. She did give the impression that it’s not in her best interest to make them do anything.”

Miranda: “She also made a valid point with allowing them the freedom to decide if they would like to help her. They are old enough and mature enough to understand that as well. He also realizes that, or at least he should.”

Samara: “It must really be hard to be at that age and to believe that so many would count on you, so I can understand why he would want to look after these girls the way he does.”

Liara: “Yeah, it does put pressure on him as well, but he doesn’t seem to mind or even care about that for that matter.”

Ashley: “I know. His only concern is their well-being.”

Traynor: “I really feel bad for all of them. I would have given anything to, at the very least, alleviate some of that pressure for them.”

Liara: “We all do, but we don’t know what else we can do for them.”

Samara: “At the moment, just being there should suffice as well as what we have done for them so far, as well as what we can provide for them.”

FemShep: “Yeah, I feel the same way. The first time I heard about how he was towards the girls, I was worried about him. I spoke with the admiral, asking if there was some way I could help. He also knew about the kind of pressure that he would be going through because of them, so it made it easier for him to arrange to have me stay here with you guys to help out as he had other reasons for me to take on this position.”

Liara: “I’m really glad that he did. We can’t tell you how happy we are to have you here, Jane. It means so much to him to have you here and that’s not regarding the girls.”

FemShep: “I know…”

The women stood by and continued looking towards Garrus as he stood beside Jewel.

Meanwhile, the other girls were within the cargo bay with Tali and Mordin. They were nearby as the duo were building their devices. Aera was sitting next to Steve. Star and Splash, were helping out with building the devices. Flare sat close to them on one of the crates.

Star: “Things seem to be going well so far. Everything looks like it’s coming together very nicely, if I do say so myself.”

Mordin: “Indeed it has, Star.”

Splash: “Yeah, at this rate, we’ll have these devices up and running in no time.”

Flare: “Hm, my, my, we really have accomplished so much. And here I thought we would be at this for a very long time.”

Tali: “Thanks so much for the help. I didn’t think I would have all of these put together in such a short amount of time.”

Splash: “Neither did I. I thought it would be hard to figure out how to put these together.”

Star: “Thankfully, Mordin is really good at telling us how to put these together as he was figuring this stuff out along the way, of course.”

Splash: “Not to mention that he was handling all of the complex, technical stuff. I couldn’t even figure out half of the stuff that he was installing into them.”

Mordin: “Maybe, but you did a good job with helping out regardless. Believe we’ve done plenty, perhaps now would be a good time to take a break.”

Star: “What? No! I want to keep at this till we’re finished! I want to see these new devices up and running!”

Mordin: “We will, but not worth straining ourselves over.“

Tali: “Yeah, we’ve been working on this for almost 2 hours already. I think we have done enough for now. Besides, don’t you girls want to check on Jewel?”

Star: ”Um…well…”

Splash: “I think we should. I haven’t seen her since we returned to this ship. I just hope she’s OK.”

Tali: “Yes, um, let’s get right to it. I would like to get back to watching more of those Pretty Cures, but first, we should also check on Jewel and, uh, see if she’s up yet, if you girls would let us before you.”

Mordin: “Hm, yes, indeed. We are also worried about her.”

Both Tali and Mordin seemed suspiciously smug. Flare seemed a bit concerned.

Flare: “Oh, dear.”

Aera looked back towards them.

Aera: “Oh, brother. I know what they’re up to.”

Steve: “Huh, is that why they’re acting so strangely? Care to tell me what they’re planning?”

Aera: “Um, well, how shall I put this? I get the feeling that they’re wanting to check up on Jewel is a ploy. We should know by now that it’s because Garrus had been standing by her side since he brought her back to the medical bay.”

Steve: “Really? Should we…try and stop them?”

Aera groaned a little.

Aera: “Probably not. When they’re like this, I feel as though…it’s really not worth it. Besides, I just can’t bring myself to be in the mood.”

A little afterwards, Mordin and Tali arrived at the medical bay. There, they saw Garrus, still standing by Jewel’s side. He looked down at her as she still lied unconscious. Both Mordin and Tali exchanged looks with each other, then walked up to him. Mordin walked up next to him and Tali stood on the other side of the medical bed.

Tali: “Hey….you…doing OK there?”

Garrus still stood silent as he continued staring at Jewel.

Garrus: “She…still hasn’t woken up, yet. I hope….there isn’t anything wrong with her, but…I don’t know why…she still hasn’t…her energy hasn’t been depleted too much, has it?”

Mordin shook his head.

Mordin: “No…energy levels are normal, no sign of depletion. Overall health has yet to drop below average.”

Garrus: “Then, why is she still unconscious? I just don’t understand.”

Tali and Mordin looked at each other again, then back at Garrus.

Tali: “Don’t worry, we will figure this out.”

Mordin: “Yes, of course, overall health is normal, but…still analyzing what is causing her to remain like this, or what caused her to lose consciousness in the first place. Will try to figure this out.”

Garrus: “Hmm….the last time this happened, she said something about having…a weird dream…could that be related somehow, to her…being like this?”

Tali: “Probably. She did also mention something about some unseen voice talking to her and saying some strange things. There’s no telling what that could mean.”

Mordin: “But…all will be revealed in time, could be a number of things that would cause all of this. Could be connected, could not, but have a strong suspicion that they are very much related.”

Garrus: “Yeah….maybe…I just…I don’t want this to affect her badly…you know?”

Tali: “Yeah, we’re hoping the same thing, too.”

Mordin: “Indeed. She is a good girl. Would indeed not want anything to happen to her.”

Garrus still stared down at her for a bit longer without saying anything. Tali and Mordin stood by as they stared at him. Then, Mordin placed his hand on Garrus’ shoulder.

Mordin: “Come, time to go.”

Garrus: “Go? Where are we going?”

Tali: “We’re starting up some more episodes of the Pretty Cures and you’re coming with us.”

Garrus: “What? Oh, no, not this again.”

Garrus was fighting to break free as Mordin was pulling on him. Tali also stepped up to him, grabbed him by his other arm and pulled him out, too.

Garrus: “Give me a break, you guys.”

They were soon able to successfully pull him out of the medical bay.

Garrus: “Don’t I at least have a say in this?”

Tali: “Nope, this is for your own good, Garrus.”

Garrus: “You know this counts as kidnapping, right?”

Mordin: “Wouldn’t think so, but wouldn’t care either way.”

Garrus groaned.

Some time later, within the mess hall, several members of the crew were sitting around the table. Some were while a few others were just sitting around, sulking.

Liara: “Hm, Jewel still hasn’t woken up, yet.”

Miranda: “I know, hardly anything has changed with her, especially since Ash and Jane left to speak with the admiral more than an hour ago.”

Liara: “I wonder if she’s…”

Liara paused a little.

Miranda: “Hm, yes, she’s been out of it much longer than usual. I hope her health hasn’t declined badly.”

Zaeed: “Poor girl’s probably been through a lot. Perhaps she could use the time to rest.”

Kasumi: “But she seemed just fine, so I didn’t think she would pass out so suddenly.”

Jacob: “Say, isn’t this the second time that this has happened to her?”

Liara: “Huh, yes, she did pass out like this mysteriously when we were on Fehl Prime. When she came to, she mentioned something about having a weird dream. Could that be….hm…I wonder?”

James: “What? You think these weird dreams have something to do with her passing out suddenly and without any warnings like this?”

Samara: “It may be a possibility, but who can really say for sure?”

Miranda: “Yes, it may be the case, actually. I mean, the other girls didn’t seem to have anything like this happen to them, only Jewel.”

Liara: “The only thing we can do is count on Mordin to figure this out.”

James: “Heh, no kidding, if there’s anyone who could figure out why this happened to her, it would be him.”

Javik: “Hm, yes, he seems to have been able to figure out so much about them and their magical origins, so there would be no doubt in my mind about that.”

Traynor: “Hmm….by the way, didn’t I see him just now? He was working on building those devices with Tali for those girls, if I’m not mistaken.”

Miranda: “Probably, they’ve been at that for more than an hour and I believe the girls are helping them, too.”

Traynor: “Actually, I did see them both come here earlier. They went over to the medical bay.”

Kasumi: “Isn’t that where Garrus is? He’s been standing by Jewel’s side since he brought her to the medical bay.”

Traynor: “He was there, but then I saw them leave with him. They were hauling him out with them.”

Jacob: “What? Again?”

Zaeed: “What are those 2 doing with him? Why go through all that trouble just to lug him out with them?”

Kasumi: “They’ve been making him watch their magical girl shows with them.”

Traynor: “Hah, hah, it was almost hour ago that I saw them pulling him out. And they had such a tight grip on him, too.”

Javik: “Hmph! I do not understand what it is with those 2 and their magical girl shows; that is strange enough, but to also include the turian into this? It is just baffling.”

James: “I know, he wouldn’t be someone who is into those kinds of shows.”

Liara: “Well, I would not think that Tali would be so hard to understand.”

Miranda: “Hm, true, those 2 are practically the best of friends. Mordin, on that other hand?”

Wrex: “Heh, that salarian is as complicated as ever. I don’t know what his motives would be.”

Kasumi: “Not to mention that him and Garrus aren’t exactly “close friends”.”

Miranda: “I know, they’re colleagues at best. Although, they seem to be interacting with each other a little more after the arrival of the girls, so…ummm….”

Kasumi: “Perhaps their shared interest in wanting to help out the girls have cause them to develop a bond.”

Jacob: “Yeah, perhaps it is that, otherwise, they would rarely converse with each other; perhaps a little more than that if they had to.”

Liara: “Yeah, I’ve noticed. As Kasumi had menitioned, they do have a shared interest in wanting to help out the girls. Mordin, especially has developed his own personal relationship with the girls, so…maybe…”

Miranda: “Maybe they have been trying to communicate with each other a little more because of that.”

Jacob: “I know Star would really like that.”

Samara: “Yes, indeed.”

Traynor giggled a little.

Traynor: “I would believe that. She did mention that she really has taken a liking to both of them. I think it’s adorable. She only wants her closest friends to be just as close with each other as she is with them.”

Miranda: “I don’t think she should get her hopes up. I mean, yes, they are willing to develop a bond with each other through their shared interests over the girls, but…”

Jacob: “Her expectations shouldn’t be too high; the disappointment of not having her way would be all the more devastating for her, even if it’s for good intentions.”

Liara: “It’s hard. What she’s been through, it was a terrible ordeal and it’s very clear that they do care about her a lot.”

Miranda: “Yes, we all do, her and all of those girls.”

Zaeed: “Yeah, no child should ever go through such terrible trauma and no father in his right mind should ever enforce his daughter to take on interests based on the fact that she’s a girl. That ain’t no father in my book.”

Miranda: “No, that’s a controlling, manipulative monster. Just because he took part in creating a child, that doesn’t give him the right to control every aspect of their life I should know.”

Jacob: “Yeah, we’re all familiar with your back story.”

Kasumi: “I wonder what other forms of trauma those girls have been through.”

Liara: “We are well aware that Jewel has had some horrible experiences with her mentors berating her.”

Miranda: “Hm, yes, something tells it that it also involves her Gemma Kinetic abilities. She said she did struggle a lot from developing her powers and it had something to do with consisting of very small amounts of that Gemma Kinetic magical energy.”

Liara: “Yeah, I would guess that she had been abused horribly. I would like to hear that story, but…I don’t think I should force her to if she doesn’t want to.”

Samara: “Hm…poor girl. She is an incredible Gemma Kinetic, although, I am unaware of what a Gemma Kinetic would be like at their peak.”

Javik: “Hmph! The amount of such magical energy one would have when so young should have nothing to do with prowess. She seems to also talk as though having whatever amount of said prowess that they contain would give them any privileges to learn and develop the power.”

Liara: “Yes, I have looked into the Intel Crystal regarding the Gemma Kinetic power. It is confirmed that anyone with the magical energy can learn the power if they so choose. Another, however, seemed to have talked as though it should be a privilege based on the amount of the magical energy within them.”

Miranda: “Another contradicting Intel Crystal?”

Liara: “No, it’s not like that. It was just telling me that some believe that such a privilege should be enforced.”

Traynor: “But why would they do that? Jewel is clearly a strong and capable Gemma Kinetic and she would never give up that power.”

Jacob: “No, she wouldn’t and she shouldn’t.”

James: “Damn right she shouldn’t! It’s her powers, it’s her choice! I don’t care what those kinds of magical beings would actually be like at their peak, I think she’s exactly what a real Gemma Kinetic should be: strong, capable, dedicated, a powerful resolve that’s almost as fortified as the crystals that she forges with her powers. Those other a******* can say whatever they want to believe their kind should be, they have no right to decide who or what she should be.”

Samara: “Yes, I agree. Her powers and determination truly are that of what a Gemma Kinetic should be; indeed a resolve worthy of such a title.”

Zaeed: “Yeah, here, here.”

Javik: “Hm, as much as I don’t like to admit it, I am in compliance with this. Her powers truly impress me and not much does. Her and her friends truly are….formidable.”

Miranda: “It’s very clear that we must be there for those girls, because no one else will.”

Liara: “What do you think will happen after we’re able to defeat the vigilante?”

Everyone sat quietly from there, contemplating what is to happen in the long run.Meanwhile, Tali, Mordin and Garrus were in the Recreation Room, watching more of those Pretty Cure shows. Tali and Mordin were enjoying the show. Garrus, however, was annoyed over being made to watch with them against his will.

Tali: “Well, this has been a lot of fun. I really do miss these shows and I’m so happy to be seeing them with you guys.”

Garrus: “Yeah, great, glad you enjoy them.”

Tali: “What’s the matter, Garrus? You’re not miserable, are you?”

Garrus: “It’s not these shows that’s the issue, it’s having the 2 of you making me watch these shows with you. I mean, I know you like having me here with you to watch them, but…must I be dragged out here every single time that you put them on?”

Mordin: “Not a lot of time we have to watch these shows together. At least at times when we’re not busy, especially when my analysis needs to process on its own and not tending to the girls, felt like there was no other way to go about it. Not a lot of room for options.”

Garrus: “Yeah, OK, maybe plan these out a little better, you know, whenever it’s not an inconvenience.”

Tali: “When would be a good time to have it not be an inconvenience for you?”

Garrus: “How about whenever I would feel like it. I mean, you guys can watch these shows without me since you 2 magical girl fanatics love watching them so much, but this really isn’t my thing, you know?”

Tali: “Oh, keelah, fine, we can watch these shows without you since we have seen them before, but…”

Mordin: “Perhaps a better coordination of our free time would be in order. Again, not a lot of room for free time, given our busy schedules, but may work something out…probably.”

Mordin and Tali looked at each other, almost as though they were about to snicker with each other. Garrus seemed a bit suspicious towards their demeanor.

Garrus: “Alright, what are the 2 of you plotting this time?”

Tali: “Umm….nothing…don’t worry about it.”

They looked like they were trying to hold in their snickering, to which Garrus seemed annoyed as well as suspicious.

Garrus: “Right.”

Garrus stood back out.

Garrus: “Since we’re pretty much done with this mini-marathon of yours, maybe we should go back and check on Jewel to see if she’s regained consciousness.”

Tali: “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

Tali stood up, as did Mordin.

Tali: “I just hope she’s at least doing OK.”

Garrus: “So do I.”

They proceeded to walk out of the room.

Garrus: “Hmm….this whole thing is just really strange. If there’s clearly nothing wrong with her, then why did she pass out? Is there something else going on with her that we just can’t see or….let’s just hope that we’re able to figure this out before something worse happens to her.”

Much time later, Jewel finally woke up. She sat back up and looked around a bit.

Jewel: “Huh? I…I’m back here, but what…oh, I must have…”

Star: “Jewel!”

She looked over and spotted her friends standing by her.

Jewel: “Huh?”

Splash: “You’re awake!”

Flare: “We were worried about you?”

Aera: “You feeling OK? You seemed to be out of it, like longer than the last time.”

Jewel: “Where is everyone? I thought…they would be here.”

Star: “Everyone’s just doing other things within other parts of the ship. They were waiting for you to finally regain consciousness. We all were.”

Jewel: “Oh…um…I…I’m sorry, I guess…I…wait, I thought Garrus would be here, too.”

Aera: “He was, but Mordin and Tali dragged him out to make him watch their show with them…again.”

Jewel: “Heh, well…that clarifies things.”

Soon afterwards, she heard the door open again. She looked over and saw EDI entering.

EDI: “It’s good to see you awake again, Jewel.”

Jewel: “Oh, EDI. I…is everyone….I hope I didn’t…cause too much stress on anyone.”

EDI shook her head.

EDI: “No, not at all. We were all just worried for you. It’s good to see you’re still OK.”

Jewel: “Yeah…for the most part…will they…will they be coming to see me?”

EDI: “I already informed them. They’re on their way now.”

The door was heard opening again.

Liara: “Jewel!”

She looked over and noticed Liara, Miranda, Samara, Samantha and Kasumi.

Miranda: “Well, look who’s finally up.”

Liara rushed over to her.

Liara: “Thank the goddess. We were worried about you!”

Jewel: “I’m OK now. I didn’t mean to worry everyone.”

Liara: “It’s fine. We’re just happy that you’re doing well.”

Kasumi: “You don’t feel tired or anything like that, do you?”

Jewel shook her head.

Jewel: “No, in fact, I don’t remember feeling tired when I lost consciousness.”

Liara: “Oh, is that so?”

Samara: “Did you…feel anything else before you passed out?”

Jewel: “Well…there was…something…that I remember…”

Just then, the door was heard opening again.

Jewel: “Huh?”

Before she knew it, Garrus just entered. Behind him were Mordin and Tali.

Garrus: “Jewel…”

He rushed over to her side.

Garrus: “Oh, good, you’re finally up. What happened to you? Do you feel OK?”

Jewel: “Yeah, I’m fine. I just….I had another weird dream. I….I saw your…realm…”

Garrus stood by, bewildered for a bit.

Liara: “You mean…the Milky Way Galaxy? This galaxy?”

Jewel: “Um…yeah…or…at least….an image of it. It was…the first time that I…I saw anything…in one of those weird dreams. I then….I then heard a voice.”

Flare, seeming to take this seriously, walked up to Jewel and stared at her.

Flare: “The voice, did it say anything to you?”

Jewel: “No…not this time. I only heard sobbing…from it…shortly after the image of this realm…was seen…before me….”

Flare pondered for a bit as Garrus glanced over towards her. Several other crew members walked closer to Jewel.

Liara: “The voice in your dream, it was…sobbing?”

Jewel nodded.

Jewel: “I think it’s….sad about…what’s been happening to this realm…for some reason….I don’t know how…or why…or even who this unseen voice is…but it…it knows about this realm….I can sense it…”

Kasumi: “Another question, why is it you’re receiving these dreams? Why not Flare?”

Flare: “Hmm…I am uncertain of that. While I am able to sense out any unseen entities, much like the mysterious one who knows where we are at all times, I have yet to receive such dreams. I do wish to ascertain this most inexplicable occurrence, as well.”

Miranda: “I wonder if this entity that Flare can sense out and that mysterious voice that Jewel heard in her dreams are connected somehow.”

Mordin: “Hm, a possibility, but too early to tell. Will need to analyze this further. Have been collecting data of these mysterious readings, but may need to obtain more data before determining anything.”

Garrus: “Hmm…we will need to figure this out. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but…Jewel, I hope you continue to have those weird dreams of yours. Perhaps that voice will be able to tell us something useful.”

Jewel: “I hope so, too. Perhaps one of these days, I will be able to make sense of what it’s trying to tell me. It’s all so confusing, but I know that it has something important that it’s trying to tell me. What does it all mean?”

Everyone exchanged concerned and confused looks with each other.

Star: “Well…at least you’re back here with us. If anything were to really happen to you, we wouldn’t know how to deal with it.”

Splash: “Oh!!! Absolutely!!!”

Aera: “But we knew you would come around sooner or later. This doesn’t even come close to the worst thing that we’ve ever had to deal with.”

Jewel: “Yeah, I know. I know. So, Garrus, where were you? I thought you would be right by my side when I came to!”

Garrus: “Ah! Hey! I was, but then these 2 magical girl fanatics just had to drag me away from you just to have me watch their shows with them….again!!”

From there, the girls began to burst out laughing. A few of the women did the same. Garrus seemed embarrassed and annoyed. But then, he looked towards Jewel, who was smiling and laughing. From seeing that, he began to smile, content of seeing her happy.

Jewel: “Alright, I think that’s enough of that.”

She jumped down from the medical bed.

Jewel: “Come on, I want to see what everyone else has been up to.”

She proceeded to walk out of the medical bay, her friends followed after her. Several of the crew members stood by and watched as they left. Garrus still had the content look on his face.

Samara: “It is, indeed, a relief to see her doing well.”

Traynor: “Yes, truly. We can all relax knowing that she’s fine. I’m so happy.”

Kasumi: “Yes, but it will be a matter of time before this happens again.”

Samara: “Yes, I am well aware of that.”

EDI: “Until then, I think it would be safe to say that she needs to be monitored. Thankfully, that won’t be too much of a hassle to any of us.”

Traynor: “Some of us wouldn’t think of it as one, anyway.”

Kasumi: “I know I wouldn’t.”

As the girls were walking out, they stopped in front of Ashley and Ms. Shepard. They were a little startled to see them.

Ashley: “It’s good to see you finally awake, Jewel.”

Soon enough, a few of the crew members approached them and stood before both women while standing behind the girls. They seemed a little shocked to see them.

Liara: “Oh, Jane, Ash, what’s going on?”

FemShep: “We have been chatting with the admiral within the QEC, he wishes to speak with some of you as well as the girls. He said it’s important.”

Garrus: “Yeah, sure, we’ll be right there.”

They eventually arrived within the QEC. There, they stood before the holographic image of the admiral.

Hackett: “It’s good to see all of you again. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.”

Jewel: “No problem, admiral, so what’s up?”

Hackett: “I need you and the rest of the Normandy crew members to meet with me back at the Citadel. The council wants to arrange another meeting with all of you.”

Star: “What!?! Again!?!”

Flare: “Oh, dear, how troublesome.”

Aera: “What is it, this time??”

Hackett: “I’m not sure, all I’m told is that they wanted to meet with you again. Please return here as soon as you can.”

Splash: “But…I don’t want to meet those mean people again.”

Jewel: “I don’t think we have a choice in the matter.”

FemShep: “We’ll be right there, admiral.”

His image deactivated.

Aera: “Great, what do they want with us this time?”

Ashley: “I don’t know, but I don’t like how this will turn out. When Jane and I were talking to the admiral about it, they spoke as though they wanted to meet with us during the last time that we were at the Citadel.”

Splash: “But…but…I thought we didn’t need to when we were there last time!!”

Ashley: “I thought so, too, they didn’t say anything about it to us, at all.”

FemShep: “Hm…something about this doesn’t seem right.”

Aera: “Great! So, does this mean we have to see them every time we return to the Citadel? What, do we have to report to them every time we blow our noses or something like that? I mean, what gives!?!”

Flare: “Yes, it would be courteous to mention beforehand that they wish to speak with us.”

Splash: “Oh….I don’t like this.”

Star: “Garrus? Mordin? Please tell me that you’ll be here with us to meet with them again!!”

Garrus: “Don’t worry, Star, of course we’ll be there. No way we’ll allow them to continue patronizing you girls, at least not without me being around.”

Mordin: “Wouldn’t miss it for anything. We care about you immensely.”

From there, Star looked like she was about to tear up. She then grabbed both of them and embraced them closely.

Star: “I don’t know how we could ever make it through so much of these terrible hardships without you.”

Both of them exchanged looks with each other, they then placed their hands on her back as they embraced her as well.

Garrus: “We know. I wouldn’t dream of walking out on any of you.”

Mordin: “Nor or I.”

Star seemed very happy as tears were pouring down her face.

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

This one I picked for Zaeed:

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

And this one, I picked out for Kasumi:

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

Episode 34-Discord

They eventually arrived at the Citadel. They docked the ship and exited. Just outside, they met with the admiral.

Hackett: “It’s good to see you again, everyone.”

Aera: “Yeah, good to see you. You’re probably the only one that we look forward to seeing again at the moment.”

Hackett: “Yes, I understand that you feel that way, Aera. I’m not all too thrilled about meeting with the council again either.”

Aera scoffed a bit.

Aera: “That’s a shame.”

Hackett: “Now then, we need to get going. They’re expecting to meet with us now.”

They then walked off.

Star: “Yeah, sure, let’s not keep the pompous head honchos of the Citadel waiting.”

Jewel: “What do they want with us this time?”

Hackett: “I don’t know, they said they just wanted to speak with you girls, said something about also wanting to meet with you the last time you came here.”

Jewel: “But they didn’t say anything to us!”

Hackett: “I know, I told them the same thing, but they spoke almost as though they should know whenever they want to meet with you.”

Aera: “And how are we supposed to know that? Are we to meet with them every single time we stop here?”

Hackett: “I’m not sure, to be honest. I have told them that there was no way you would know without them telling you, but they spoke as though you should know otherwise.”

Star: “Man, I hate this!!”

Flare: “Yes, a most troubling endeavor.”

Hackett: “I think they also mentioned wanting to meet with you specifically, Flare. They mentioned wanting to discuss your special powers.”

Flare: “Oh! Is that…so? Hmm…I feel as though they wouldn’t be pleasant about this.”

Aera: “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

After having made their way to the Council Chamber, they stood before the holographic images of the council. They did not at all seem pleased as they stood before them.

Tevos: “This meeting that we are having is long overdue.”

Aera: “I don’t know why we’re hearing about this just now.”

Splash: “Um, excuse me, council people, but…did you really make any requests to see us the last time we were here?”

Sparatus: “What kind of question is that? No requests are needed. Our meetings should be frequent.”

Ashley: “I don’t recall answering to this.”

Sparatus: “I’ll have you know that this is obligatory. Since the girls are in charge of the safety of the galaxy and each of you have pretty much declared yourselves their legal guardians, you are to answer to us, no questions asked.”

Splash: “Is that really true?”

Garrus: “No, it’s not. In fact, I don’t even know where this came from.”

Flare: “What is it that you need to have us mention to you?”

Valern: “We received reports of unusual energy readings that we had just picked up on. Care to explain to us what all of this is about?”

Flare: “I fear that I do not know what you mean by that. Care to specify what it is you are referring to?”

Sparatus: “There have been some reports of some lingering magical energy of sorts throughout the entire galaxy, something about “visions of the past” or whatever.”

Everyone stood by, startled.

Hackett: “That…information…has yet to be disclosed by anyone.”

Liara: “How…could you have possibly known about that?”

Sparatus: “Never mind that, we need you to tell us what you know about this lingering magic and if it’s true that you are able to see “glimpses of past events” as they are called.”

Star: “So, what if it is? What are you going to say about it?”

Sparatus: “I was just wondering why we weren’t told of this sooner. We would have appreciated any intel regarding any of these magical powers of yours.”

Valern: “Indeed, we find it very strange that you would withhold important intel like this from us.”

Aera: “Well, first off, the last time we were here, we didn’t know about this, we just found out about it a while ago, after we left the Citadel the previous time. Second, I don’t know why you’re getting your mouth-flaps in a bind about this, third of all…”

Sparatus: “Hey, watch your attitude about my mandibles, young lady. You may not be aware of this, but such wording can be perceived as offensive to my kind.”

Aera: “Is that really true, Garrus?”

Garrus: “I would hate to agree with him, but yeah, it is for some of us. Don’t worry about mentioning our mandibles in front of me, Aera. I don’t feel offended in any way.”

Sparatus: “Also, show some respect, you should at least be grateful to have the privilege of this rare occasion you have of conversing with us.”

Aera: “Oh, gee, lucky us, we get to have the honor of being chewed out by a bunch of higher-ups who believe that they can talk to us however they want.”

Sparatus: “Don’t get snarky with me, little girl.”

Tevos: “Alright, I think that’s enough. We apologize for calling you up out of the blue like this. We did not make any requests to meet with you the last time we were here.”

Jewel: “Then why are you claiming otherwise?”

The council members stood by and said nothing.

Tevos: “If we came on as though we have, please disregard that. We never meant any of it. At least…I didn’t.”

Aera: “Could have fooled me.”

Valern: “We will make certain to not bring out this confusion to you again.”

Tevos: “Yes, you did nothing wrong as far as these meetings are concerned. It’s just…”

Sparatus: “We would prefer to receive feedback on the current situation at all times. You know how much the galaxy is being threatened by your dark entity has riled up so many people.”

Tevos: “And we know you girls are doing the best that you can to resolve this issue. So far, you have done a fantastic job with that.”

Valern: “However, the denizens of this galaxy, this realm as you would call it, are concerned for their safety as well as many other occurrences.”

Sparatus: “We want answers and many of us aren’t very patient.”

Star: “Well, screaming at us isn’t going to make them come any faster.”

Jewel: “Believe me, we want answers, too, and so many within this realm have been doing all they can to help us find them. We can only work so fast, so there really isn’t anything else we can do about it.”

Star: “And if that’s not good enough for any of you, too bad. All of you will have to wait, whether you like it or not!”

Sparatus: “Hmph! I can…understand that. I speak not for my own impatience, but for the many of our citizens who want answers now.”

Tevos: “We can do all we can to assure them that you’re working as fast as you can.”

Sparatus: “And your comments about your apathy towards their impatience is…also noted.”

Star: “It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just…it is what it is.”

Liara: “They’re right, they may be magical beings, but they’re not miracle workers.”

Garrus: “Believe me when we tell you that we’re just as frustrated about not having all the answers as everyone else, but we have renewed faith that we will find them eventually and that’s enough to keep our frustrations in check.”

Flare was seen sulking. Several of the crew members took notice of this.

Miranda: “And we especially can’t demand the girls to speed up the process of helping us to find those answers. We have to take our time with this.”

Thane: “And we’ve already found out more than we could have possibly expected. This should mean a lot.”

Valern: “Yes, I agree that we have found out so much that we thought we couldn’t.”

Sparatus: “Although, I find the whole magic being responsible for these miraculous survivals to be ridiculous, almost as ridiculous as these survivals even taking place.”

Garrus: “Do you have a better explanation as to why they’ve been happening?”

Sparatus went dead silent.

Miranda: “Also, like it or not, these survivals are happening. We are so much closer to figuring out what has caused them or why they’re happening in the first place than we have ever been.”

Mordin: “Indeed, we are very well on our way. Would bet on it, absolutely.”

Hackett: “My research team has also been working around the clock to solve these mysteries. They will indeed stop at nothing to figure out all we can.”

FemShep: “And not to mention that we have coerced many of the other races into helping us since they clearly want to figure out all of this.”

The council stood silent for a bit.

Tevos: “Well then…with that being the case…”

Sparatus: “Perhaps we should go back to the subject of this lingering magical energy that we were discussing earlier, the one that involves “glimpses of the past” as we believe.”

Liara: “Sure, I suppose we can share that much with you.”

Ashley: “A while back, we visited Tuchanka. Flare asked to be taken to where…the tower once stood.”

Liara: “The same tower that undoubtedly dispersed the genophage.”

Valern: “The same one that was built by my race. Yes, I know of that tower.”

Sparatus: “I presume it was just a humongous waste of time considering there was nothing there.”

Hackett: “Not really, though there was nothing there to see, we were able to pick up on something and I assure you, it was very well worth our time.”

Liara: “It was there where we discovered the first trace of the lingering magical energy.”

Samara: “The girls have mentioned something about it containing memories that belong to their deity, the Divine Source. From there, Flare was able to ascertain images of exactly what you have said they were: past events.”

Tevos: “Is this really true? You were able to see these glimpses of the past?”

Flare stepped forward.

Flare: “Yes, from there, I have…seen…when it happened. The sacrifice that Mordin had made. However…there was…something else that I saw.”

Tevos: “What else did you see? Were you able to find out how it is that Mordin is still alive?”

Flare stood silent for a bit as she recalled the image of a mysterious pair of glowing arms wrapping around Mordin.

Flare: “An unknown, glowing apparition. I am uncertain how it was able to, but…I believe that it was that being that saved his life. I could not see anything else.”

Sparatus: “That is hardly a lot to go by, young lady. We need more than just a vague description of some entity embracing the salarian doctor.”

Flare: “I am sorry, I have done all that can for the time being. In all honesty, this is the first time that I utilized this magical power of mine. I wasn’t certain that I could, I am doing all that I can to perceive these visions.”

Sparatus: “Perhaps you could “perceive” these visions faster so that we know what the hell has been going on with these unusual phenomena.”

Garrus: “Hey! Don’t you dare rush her! She had been working on improving these powers of hers. We can’t risk having her strain herself just because you still can’t overcome your own impatience.”

Liara: “He’s right, they need to take their time with their abilities. They’ve already had to deal with so much strain prior to arriving in our galaxy, we can’t pressure them.”

Mordin: “Of course, they’re young, their powers and magical energy have much recovery, contemplation, rejuvenation and in need of some practice.”

Sparatus: “Oh, so all of a sudden, we’re all experts on magical beings. Do you expect me to believe that your know-how would be up to par? I hardly have any faith in the validity of these claims.”

Garrus: “At least we’re the ones who have been carefully looking over and studying a lot of this magical stuff. If your faith in us is so minimal, perhaps you should put together your own team of researchers to look over all of this. Otherwise, shut your mouths and let us do our jobs to the best of our abilities.”

The council was silent again.

Tevos: “Well then, we’ll leave it to that. For the time being, would it be possible for Flare to demonstrate this special ability of hers?”

FemShep: “That depends on whether or not there are any traces of the lingering magical energy nearby.”

Sparatus: “This is complete nonsense! Now you’re saying there are certain conditions to these magical abilities?”

Tali: “Didn’t we already go over this special power of hers having to do with the lingering magical energy? It would make sense, don’t you think?”

Sparatus groaned a little.

Sparatus: “I suppose…that it would be obvious.”

Flare: “Actually, while we’re on the subject, I do sense that lingering magical energy here. Hmmm….yes…it’s…very strong here….”

From there, she sat down into a lotus position and began to meditate. Everyone stood by silently as they observed this.

Sparatus: “Great, what is she doing now? This isn’t the time for sitting around…”

Aera: “Will you be quiet? She’s trying to focus the lingering energy around her.”

Liara: “Yes, it’s how she’s able to focus her power to perceive the visions within them.”

And with that, everyone remained quiet. As Flare sat and meditated, she saw visions and flashbacks of a terrible event that had occurred within the Citadel. She saw the geth attack, many areas of the space station being badly damaged, she even saw Sovereign attaching itself to the Citadel Tower. She also saw the battle with the different space cruisers taking place. As she was observing this, she was tense as so many of these were difficult to watch. Everyone that observed her was concerned.

Tevos: “Is she…is she OK?”

Liara: “Yes, do not worry about her. This is not stressing her out, at least not physically.”

Garrus: “She had been like this before. Whatever she’s seeing, it’s no doubt very hard to watch.”

This continued on, more and more images of that fateful battle continued to flash in her mind. She saw when Shepard managed to approach and confront Saren, she saw as he was killed and then his body was morphed into a terrifying form before it was finally destroyed by Shepard and his squadmates. She watched as many ships fought against Sovereign and destroyed it, but many of those ships were destroyed in the process.

Soon enough, she opened her eyes and stood up, panicking as though she had just woken up from a bad dream. She then looked around in a frantic manner. She then calmed down after a little while as she stood around idly.

Tevos: “Flare, what happened? Are you alright?”

Flare continued to stand by, silent for a bit as she processed the visions that she had seen.

Flare: “It was terrible…this entire place…the entire space station was in chaos. Many robots attacked this place. I also saw…one of those massive dark machines attach itself to the exterior structure, this structure. I also saw…another turian with a pallid face in the middle of all of this. That was Saren, wasn’t it?”

Garrus: “Yes, that was Saren.”

Tevos: “By the goddess…you saw…the Battle of the Citadel.”

Flare looked towards the council.

Flare: “Yes, it was…that fateful battle. So many lives were lost that day. I could also feel…sadness…from the losses. So many needless deaths…that unfortunately became necessary at the time.”

She clasped her hands together and hung her arms in front of her as she bowed.

Flare: “I am…terribly sorry for all of your losses.”

Valern: “Your condolences is greatly appreciated, however…I’m just shocked by this…”

Sparatus: “So…it’s true…you can see glimpses of the past. I…I would not have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed it myself.”

Ashley: “Yes, even a sceptic can be convinced.”

FemShep: “We never even mentioned Sovereign to them or anything about that Reaper.”

Splash: “Sovereign? One of those terrible dark machines had a name?”

Liara: “It was the first Reaper that we saw.”

Tali: ”It was Sovereign that revealed everything to us about the Reapers. I have to admit, the first time I heard that, my stomach dropped.”

Liara: “I’ve spent so much of my life looking into prothean artifacts and the like and have discovered that many others have suffered the same fate as them. It was then and there that everything came together. Everything that I have looked into was being confirmed before us.”

Jewel: “And you wouldn’t believe them.”

Valern: “You must understand something, young lady. There was no proof of this other than claims.”

Sparatus: “From our perspective, they were just wild speculations.”

Flare: “Yes, but such a serious claim should not have been brushed aside. We understand that it was something that no one wanted to believe, but…”

Star: “You could have at least tried to look into it to see if they were just that. I mean, denying these claims would have also been another baseless speculation.”

Aera: “And your fancy titles, no doubt, gave you the right to have your baseless speculations to stand above Commander Shepard and his allies.”

Javik: “Hm, indeed they are smart for a bunch of young girls.”

Sparatus: “Now listen here! There was no other way for us to confirm these speculations to be valid. We had other things that we were preoccupied with to look into these claims.”

Aera: “Oh, really? There was no one else who could look into it or even had looked into it? I’m pretty sure there have been many others who caught on within the time it took for the Reapers to arrive here. Clearly if so many of those people came to you with the same speculations, I would think that you would heed them, unless you brushed their claims aside.”

Jewel: “Maybe if you had been more attentive and began to realize what was in front of you this whole time, the casualties during the Reaper Invasion would have probably been greatly reduced.”

Star: “At least something or someone had tried to compensate for that.”

Mordin seemed astonished, he then pondered for a bit.

Sparatus: “What could you possibly understand about what had occurred here? Speculations were thrown all over the place, you couldn’t expect us to believe that every claim of the Reapers’ existence, much less their return, could have been so easily confirmed just because several others began to believe these claims.”

Aera: “Not only believe, but found undeniable evidence of these claims or anything else remotely related to it. What part of this is so difficult to understand?”

Splash: “Have you no shame for your terrible mistakes? What harm would have come from believing in all of this?”

Sparatus: “I….you…you’re just adolescence! You still have so much to learn!”

Javik: “Both may be true, but it’s very clear that they have top notch insight and better instincts than many others even twice their age, especially the aquamancer. It shames me to be in the presence of such unscrupulous indifference from those who are supposed to be leading so many within this section of the galaxy.”

Jacob: “Was it really any wonder that Shepard turned to Cerberus for aide? He was aware of what we were part of, but you should at least acknowledge that he did what he had to do.”

Garrus: “We never liked Cerberus for what they were, but we don’t regret working alongside them to help save humanity from the Collectors and the Reapers. Yes, the Illusive Man was a psychopath and yes, Cerberus’ principles were based off of his messed-up morals, but he did make some valid points.”

Tali: “If you really didn’t want Shepard to affiliate himself with Cerberus, perhaps you shouldn’t have pushed him away by brushing off his claims about the Reapers and treating him as though he was suffering from mental instability.”

Tevos: “Yes, we…acknowledge those faults on our parts.”

Sparatus: “But it doesn’t excuse Shepard siding with terrorists!”

Aera: “Oh, does it really?”

Sparatus was silenced from there.

Tevos: “You…have indeed presented us with so much to think about.”

Valern: “We will deliberate all that we have discussed here today. We must adjourn this meeting. We’ll let you know when we would like to have this another in the future. Do not worry about having to see us the next time you return to the Citadel. It is not necessary.”

The images of the council were terminated.

Aera: “Yeah, thanks so much for another good time.”

Splash: “That was…horrible.”

Star: “You said it.”

Splash: “Can we go back to the Normandy please? I don’t want to stay here anymore!”

Liara: “Yeah, let’s go back.”

Star: “The sooner, the better.”

The group walked off.

They were making their way back to the Normandy.

Splash: “Oh, that was awful!”

Star: “Yeah, they’re so infuriating!”

Flare: “Hmm…I do feel that they are at least understanding us a little more.”

Jewel: “It does seem like they are much less dismissive of what we have to say, but…”

Star: “They’re still stubborn jerks!!”

Flare: “Hm, indeed, they have yet to take complete responsibility for their mistakes and their poor judgment.”

Splash: “Not to mention they’re still treating us like children! How could they be so mean?”

Liara: “Hmm…some things about this exchange didn’t seem right. The girls have made a lot of valid points.”

Garrus: “But they’re still arguing with us.”

FemShep: “I’m afraid that’s not even the worst of it.”

Hackett: “Yes, I’ve noticed that, too. There was no way they would have found out about what the lingering magical energy could have possibly contained.”

Star: “And that demand that we should know to meet with them frequently? What was that all about?”

Garrus: “That part also confuses me.”

Liara: “But then they told us to disregard that, saying that it wasn’t important.”

Star: “Then why bring it up in the first place?”

Miranda: “That’s a very interesting question, Star.”

Splash: “I hope we weren’t too impulsive with what we have said to them back there.”

Jewel: “I know, I feel as though we were so disrespectful towards them. But…”

Star: “It also felt like they were pushing us too far!! I don’t regret anything that I say to them. They SO had it coming!!”

Aera: “Just having to put up with those guys is so frustrating!!”

Garrus: “I can’t say I blame you for what you said to them. They’ve always been difficult.”

Miranda: ”And I agree with Liara that you have made some valid points during the meeting, with both our situation and yours.”

Hackett: “You girls have presented good arguments. We are all proud of you.”

Garrus: “Yes, we are.”

The girls seemed touched by this.

Hackett: “Sooner or later, they will have to concede to all aspects of our situation. It is apparent that they have all but dwindled many validations to their arguments.”

Ashley: “Yes, they have to see things our way because we have seen so much of the conflict before us. They would have no other choice in the matter.”

Aera: “And if they don’t?”

FemShep: “Well, something tells me that we will have another difficult fight on our hands after the vigilante has been dealt with.”

Jewel seemed quite concerned about this.

Much time later, they arrived at the docking bay where the Normandy was still docked. They were about to board the ship when they were stopped by an unknown voice.

Voice: “Hey, hold on there for a moment.”

They stopped and turned around to see another human in the same kind of uniform as the admiral approached them.

Ashley: “Oh! Admiral Mikhailovich, what a surprise.”

Hackett: “Good afternoon, Admiral. How have you been?”

Mikhailovich: “How have I been? What kind of question is that? There have been a number of strange incidents happening all over the galaxy; mysterious survivals are being discovered left and right, a looming darkness is hanging over our heads and there have been multiple reports confirming the existence of magic, how do you think I’m doing? Just what the hell is going on here?”

He then looked down and noticed that girls.

Mikhailovich: “So, you must be the magical girls who have brought this menace upon us, I don’t know what you girls are thinking but we’re dealing with far too much to have you come around and bring along more for us to handle.“

Aera: “Oh, goodie, another self-important higher up who’s come to brighten our day.”

Garrus: “Hey, don’t put this on them. If anything, they’ve got through a lot more hell than we have.”

Mikhailovich: “And just who are you to talk to me like that? Their father? And what do you know about what they’ve brought here?”

Garrus: “I was going to ask you the same question. Listen, these girls are doing everything they can to fight off this threat, but they deserve some leniency since this monster has caused them and so much of their own kind a lot of pain and destruction. Besides, they didn’t want to bring their problems to us.”

Liara: “He’s right. When they arrived in our galaxy, they were planning to leave much like they did with many others, however, their enemy managed to find them a lot faster than earlier.”

Jewel: “We wanted so much to prevent this entity to not harm many others within those realms and we had feared the same within this one, but…things took an unexpected turn and because of other circumstances, we have to stay here. It was not our intention, but it was a decision that needed to be made.”

Hackett: “I will also vouch for the girls. We’ve had our specialists look into this threat and Mordin has kept a watchful eye on them and their health. From what we had found, had they left our galaxy, things would have only gotten worse, not just for them, but for all of us as well as many other galaxies.”

Mikhailovich: “Do you honestly believe that? These girls staying and risking the lives of everyone in the galaxy is for the good of the galaxy?”

Ashley: “We know the risks, we know that countless lives are being put on the line, but this is a decision that has to be made, whether we want to or not.”

Hackett: “It’s all in the data, this is the only decision that can and need to be made for the good of everyone. Not only that, but we have found many connections between their conflict and what has happened and has been happening in this galaxy for many, many eons.”

Mikhailovich grumbled to himself in disbelief.

Mikhailovich: “If you really need me to believe all of this, then let me sort through all of the data that you have collected. Allow me permission to board your ship and gain access to all the data that you have collected on this whole mess.”

Aera: “Fine, we can do that, if it would help to take you down a few pegs, then I don’t care if you look into even some of our deepest and most well-guarded secrets.”

Splash: “Aera!”

Mikhailovich: “I don’t like your attitude, young lady. I suggest that you show me some respect. I’m one of these most decorated militants in the Alliance, with which I have worked hard to earn my rank, title and reputation.”

Aera: “Yeah, my apologies, but my experiences with pompous higher-ups have not exactly been pleasant. I’ve lost respect for those with fancy titles ages ago, although some have been nice to me well enough for me to at least open up to them. If you really want my respect, I suggest you do the same.”

Everyone stood around, concerned for her. Mikhailovich was about to say something to her, but then, the sky darkened again. They took notice of this almost immediately.

Mikhailovich: “What? What is that?”

They looked out. At the far-off distance, they noticed the same dark vortex that they have seen before as it hung high above the massive city far below them from that great distance.

Liara: “Oh, no! Not again!”

The dark vortex then sent out a huge hoard of monsters to the city down below. The girls stood beside each other as they stared out at the vortex with serious looks on their faces.

Jewel: “It’s time to head out.”

The others beside her nodded once.

Jewel, Flare, Star, Aera and Splash: “Metamorphose!”

They transformed again, then ran off the ledge of the docking port and materialized their wings before flying towards the Dark assault at great speed. The crew members plus the admirals stood by and watched as the girls flew off.

Mikhailovich: “So, that’s that Dark entity that’s the cause of all of this.”

Ashley: “Yes, that’s the one.”

Mikhailovich: “Hm…since you have been looking into this menace, perhaps you can tell me what you know about it.”

They stared out at the dark vortex with the girls approaching it as they spoke.

Liara: “We were told that dark entity is being controlled by one of their own, a vigilante who had gone rogue and went on a killing spree.”

Garrus: “The vigilante is one of their males. He was a hero who was devoted to protecting his…their realm. But…things took a turn for the worst when he made his first few kills.”

Ashley: “The girls said that when he began killing, he felt that it was the best way for him to protect the innocent, if only…that were true.”

Wrex: “We were told that it didn’t take long for the innocent to fall into the crossfires of his senseless killing, he undoubtedly left a massive trail of blood in his wake.”

Grunt: “Hold on, do Fayelons even have blood?”

Wrex looked at Grunt.

Mordin: “Hmm…an interesting question, but irrelevant for the time being.”

Mikhailovich: “The issue with this mass-murdering vigilante wasn’t one that bled out from their galaxy, I presume.”

Liara: “Yes, galaxy, or realm as they would call it.”

Mikhailovich: “Hmm…yeah, that had been mentioned many times before. I was wondering what they meant by that.”

Garrus: “For them, realm is another word for galaxy, so when they mention that term, they mean galaxy, there’s no doubt about that.”

The other crew members nodded.

Mikhailovich: “So, how did these girls end up from bare-witnessing a bloodbath amongst their own kind caused by this menace to drifting from one galaxy to another, or realm as they would call it?”

Jacob: “Well, not long into the bloodshed, the vigilante took interest in a legend of their realm.”

Mikhailovich: “A legend?”

Thane: “According to a legend of their realm, there is a door to a mysterious realm that is said to house the most powerful form of magic in the universe. However, to unlock that door, special keys are needed.”

Mikhailovich: “A door? To an all-powerful force of magic in the universe? What is this, some kind of fairy tale?”

Garrus: “Hah! Fairy tale! We’ve already tossed out that belief a long time ago.”

Miranda: “They don’t necessarily know what is behind that door, be it what their legends tell, but it does house something important and whatever it is, they can’t allow the vigilante to gain access to it.”

Jacob: “Which was exactly what he tried to do.”

Samara: “He managed to find the keys that would unlock this door. Upon finding out about this, the girls felt that they needed to act fast, so they snatched the keys and fled their realm. They had been on the run ever since.”

Kasumi: “Obviously upon realizing that they took those keys, their vigilante chased them all across the universe, from one realm to another, never staying less than a day or more than a few days within each. They just happened to arrive in our galaxy by chance.”

Liara: “They told us that their vigilante would take a few days to find them but they would have already fled by the time that he was able to catch up to them within that realm, or rather tried to.”

Mikhailovich: “So, how is it that they ended up staying here rather than leaving like they have done before?”

Garrus: “Their vigilante caught up to them, a lot faster than he had in the previous attempts to find them. Also, unlike the previous attempts that he had made to find them, he was able to find them within a few hours, which was something that they have said he had never done before.”

Mikhailovich: “I see, but…are you sure that what they’re telling you is the truth? What if they could be lying about all of this? Did you ever consider that?”

Liara: “That is a possibility, but I can’t think of why they would want to lie to us.”

Ashley: “And if they are, we would find out and it would be on them to suffer the consequences.”

Liara: “But we truly and genuinely believe that they are telling us the truth.”

Mordin: “Besides, they have helped us out a lot. We’ve found out so much of what had been occurring here because of them.”

Liara: “Also, we have been able to confirm that some of what they have told us is the truth, even though there is still much about them and their realm that we don’t know.”

Samara: “Also, I can sense very little deception within them. If anything, I sense more pain and anguish.”

Garrus: “I know these girls are not lying to us. There are plenty of reasons that convince us of such. They didn’t intend on staying here, they wanted to take on these problems by themselves, but they chose to stay because it’s clear that they can’t take this on alone. I have never seen more sensible and responsible young girls in all my life.”

Mikhailovich continued to stare out at the fight occurring at the massive distance before them.

Mikhailovich: “I just hope for all of our sakes that you’re in the right about this.”

Garrus: “Oh, we are, we truly are, but does that really matter at the moment?”

Mikhailovich was silent.

From the far-off distance, the girls fought off the monsters that were trying to descend to the city far below them. They utilized their abilities the best that they can. It was clear that they were struggling.

Aera: “It’s no use! We can’t fight them all!”

Splash: “But we can’t let them attack all of these innocent people!”

Star: “You know, this is really getting on my nerves! One assault after another and this jerk still won’t let up!”

Jewel: “I know…we’ll have to combine our powers again to finish them off.”

Flare: “Wait! I have something else in mind. However….I’m going to need the rest of you to keep your distance.”

Aera: “Wha…..WHAT!?!”

Jewel: “Flare….you don’t mean…”

Splash: “Are you actually going to…do it? Unleash that power?”

Flare: “Yes, but not to worry, we are far from the innocent civilians for this to cause them any harm. Unlike Star’s lightning, my power can be contained.”

Star sulked as she grabbed on to her arm with her other hand.

Star: “Umm…”

Splash: “Please be very, very careful, Flare!”

Flare: “Of course. I usually am.”

Jewel: “Right, we’ll let Flare…do her thing, the rest of us will take care of the monsters that have managed to approach the populace.”

The other girls nodded once and flew off, leaving Flare by herself. Aera, however, stopped to look back towards her.

Aera: “Flare? Umm…don’t hurt yourself, OK?”

She then proceeded to fly down towards the city. Flare, pleased that her friends are at a safe enough distance, closed her eyes, then held her hands out and focused her powers. The girls below fought off the monsters that were within the city, chasing them out and blasting them with each of their special powers.

The Normandy crew continued watching this take place.

Garrus: “What is Flare doing?”

Liara: “I don’t know, but the other girls seemed to have departed from her for some reason.”

Mordin went on his omni-tool again.

Tali: “Could Flare also have a special power?”

Ashley: “That could be possible, since we have witnessed Star unleashing hers.”

FemShep: “It might also be lethal, based on what we have witnessed on Fehl Prime.”

Flare stood by, focusing her powers. Many monsters were seen nearby. Then at that moment, she opened her eyes, staring directly at them with a tense look on her face.

Flare: “Get blasted!”

From there, violent explosions erupted all around the monsters within the air. The crew members were startled by this as they watched.

Ashley: “What the…!?!”

Liara: “I…don’t believe it…!!!”

Traynor: “Did any of us know she had that kind of power!?!”

They continued to watch explosions being unleashed over all the skies from the distance. This took place for a while longer.

Garrus: “What was that?? Some type of explosive magic?”

Mordin: “Hm, combustion magic. Detected traces of combustible magical energy. Flare can unleash devastating explosions much different from her regular pyrokinetic abilities.”

Garrus: “Flare can utilize explosions!?! Did you know anything about that?”

Mordin: “Hm…did detect a different kind of magical reading, but was uncertain of what it could have been. Each Fayelon has another form of magical ability very much related to their own natural elements. Flare’s must be combustion. Very common for pyromancers to carry out said power.”

Liara: “I would imagine.”

They stood by and continued watching Flare unleash her devastating attack.

Tali: “This must also be difficult for Flare. She does not seem like someone who would lose any self-control.”

Wrex: “I know, right? She always seemed composed, for a pyromancer.”

Grunt: “I always found that unusual, and here I thought that all pyromancers have fiery tempers. Heh, fiery.”

Samara: “I was told that such pyrokinesis has been the main reason why members of her culture would exercise self-restraint. It is not hard to understand considering that fire is a very lethal element.”

Garrus: “The other elements can also be deadly depending on how they’re used, but yeah, it does make sense.”

Traynor: “Her people must have feared their own powers for such a long time, so I’m guessing that these abilities to unleash explosions would be very terrifying.”

Mordin: “Hm, would comply with that, readings show this combustible magic to be very lethal, much like Star’s lightning, however, one major difference being that Flare’s special power is easier to contain.”

Ashley: “Yeah, she really does a good job with keeping it from reaching anyone.”

Garrus: “I would think it is easy, considering that she’s very high above that city in that far distance.”

Jacob: ”Flare…poor girl must have been through a lot.”

Kasumi: “I could imagine, having such a fearful power, but she’s nothing like that.”

Jacob: “We know that, but…still…it must be terrifying for her…”

Kasumi folded her arms and nodded.

After an extensive amount of time, the monsters were defeated and the threat stopped. From there, the vortex faded and everything was calm again. The girls were able to reunite with one another. As they hovered beside one another, they looked down at the people below them, having heard that clapping and cheering of so many that they have saved. They smiled as they looked down at them.

Flare: “We’ve done it, we’ve saved them all.”

Jewel: “Great work, everyone. Let’s keep it up.”

Star: “Yeah, absolutely. Wouldn’t want that dark monster to do anything to them.”

The girls all nodded. The crew members stood out towards them. They seemed quite happy.

Liara: “Well done, girls.”

Miranda: “They’ve done a wonderful job.”

Samara: “Yes, I am impressed by how they handled themselves.”

Thane: “Indeed, they have saved many lives.”

Garrus: “Great work. We’re so proud of you.”

The girls continue to bask and revel in the jubilation. However, they looked down and noticed something that caused them to become troubled. Within the jubilating crowd, there were some that glared up at the girls in disdain and disgust. They could barely see those people, but they did notice that they were there.

Flare: “Can you not feel that? Within the soothing Light of joy, there are small tinges of Dark energy. Some are indeed displeased by us.”

Jewel: “I know, I can feel it.”

Splash: “Oh, how unpleasant.”

Aera: “Hmph! As if we should care about how some of those people think.”

Star: “I agree with Aera. Let the haters hate. The people that we have saved and are grateful to us should be the only thing that matters.”

Flare: “Yes, you are right. We must not concern ourselves with such disdain and contempt. We are here to do a job and we must carry it out for all those who are counting on us. I just hope…that they will all understand…in time.”

At that time, the council was seen at a great distance looking out towards the girls. Suddenly, Flare could sense something that startled her, she then looked in their direction. She stared out as she remained startled.

Jewel: “What’s wrong, Flare?”

Flare: “I…I can sense…an unusual spike in Dark energy from a great distance. It is…somewhat more potent than what I can sense from some of the denizens below us.”

Jewel: “Can you sense who it is over there?”

Flare paused for a brief moment.

Flare: “No…it is…hazy, but…I have sensed this particular aura before. Who is that coming from?”

The girls flew back towards the crew members and reverted to their Dormant forms. Liara stepped up towards them just a little.

Liara: “Good job, girls. You’ve managed to save all of those people down there.”

Star: “Eh, it was nothing, we’re just happy to help.”

Flare: “Hm, indeed. We were able to sense the praises of so many down there, but…”

Flare paused for a bit as she sulked a bit. Liara also sulked a bit, too.

Liara: “I know…I could sense…small specs of Darkness. It is apparent that not everyone would appreciate you, but don’t mind them. Hopefully in time, they will.”

Flare: “I…am uncertain of that…however…I believe that many more will come to support us. In the meantime, there is still much work to be done.”

Liara nodded once. The girls each went back to the different crew members that they have become affiliated with personally. Some embraced while others just stood near by. At that time, Mikhailovich approached them. The girls became worried about seeing him. However, Mikhailovich seemed less exasperated.

Mikhailovich: “I have to admit, you girls have done a splendid job defending all of those people down there. I should probably…give you the benefit of the doubt. Whether or not you brought this threat to our galaxy, it doesn’t matter. It’s here and it needs to be dealt with.”

Aera: “Hm, so you decided to treat us with a little more leniency? It’s not everyday that a pompous higher-up would become so chill, but every once in a while, they would come to their senses, so I would be happy to open up and give them a chance….maybe.”

Mikhailovich: “Huh, well, aren’t you an interesting, sassy little girl? I don’t know what kind of issues you’ve dealt with when you were younger, but perhaps I can help you through giving authority figures the proper respect.”

Aera developed another anime smug look.

Aera: “You can try.”

Mikhailovich was a little startled by this.

Splash: “So, Mr. Other Admiral Guy, are you still wanting to come with us?”

Mikhailovich: “Of course, I still would like to get to know you girls as well as look into everything that all of you know.”

Star: “OK, then, let’s get to it!”

Jewel: “One other thing, if you decide to leave us and go over to wherever else you need to be, we would be glad to provide you with any transportation needed to get you there.”

Mikhailovich: “I would greatly appreciate that. However, I would not be needed anywhere else at the moment.”

Jewel: “OK, no problem.”

And with that, the girls, the crew members and the admiral boarded the Normandy with Mikhailovich going with them. The Normandy then took off and left the Citadel.

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

This theme, I chose for EDI:

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

Episode 35-Mikhailovich

As the Normandy was flying through space, several of the crew members and the girls arrived within the Crew Quarters along with the admirals.

Splash: “Welcome to our lovely new abode. Please, make yourself at home.”

Splash walked off. Mordin walked off with Star. Flare made her way to the halls of the floor with Samara and Kasumi. Tali also walked off as did Jacob, Thane, Wrex and Grunt. Garrus, Ashley, Ms. Shepard, Miranda and Liara stood around with Jewel and Aera. The admirals also stood by.

Liara: “If any of you need me, I’ll be back in my office. I’ll have some of the data that we have collected ready for you to look over.”

Liara walked off.

Mikhailovich: “Alright, while we have the time, I would like you to go over a few things.”

Miranda: “Sure, what would you like to discuss first?”

Mikhailovich: “I think I would like to discuss with these 2 everything that they know.”

Aera: “Hm, that sounds like an awfully vague request, care to be a little more specific, guy?”

Mikhailovich: “Well...actually, I would like to get to know you, as actual people.”

Aera: “Actual people? Not magical girls or anime characters or fairies or whatever you would call us?”

Mikhailovich: “That is exactly correct. I would like to see past all of those other things that most would compare you to and see you girls for your true personalities, regardless of everything else. They should not be as important.”

Aera: “Huh, I never thought you would actually care about who we are as opposed to what we are.”

Mikhailovich: “Well, I seem to be really getting to know you by how you speak. You sound like an awfully snippy young girl and if I didn’t know any better, I would believe that you take pleasure in being disrespectful towards authority figures such as myself.”

Aera: “Yeah, unless they’ve been nice to me, I tend to be like that. I always hated authority figures who think they could say or do whatever they want with no repercussions and just because of their high and mighty titles. It sickens me.”

Mikhailovich: “Sounds to me like you’ve had a lot of terrible experiences with that sort.”

Aera remained silent for a bit, she then sulked and dropped her head a little.

Aera: “I guess you could say that...I’ve spent most of my childhood suffering through something like that...’

Everyone in the room looked at her as they seemed sad and concerned for her. Suddenly, they heard a loud crash. Most of them flinched upon hearing it. Before long, they could hear Splash screaming again.

Splash: “FISH KILLER!!!!”

FemShep, Ashley, Garrus: “Now what?”

Mikhailovich: “What was that!?!”

Garrus: “That would be Splash.”

Miranda: “Huh, I wonder who set her off this time.”

Jewel: “Come on, we have to get to her before she rips someone to shreds.”

They rushed off as fast as they could towards the corridor, making their way to the crew quarters. There, they saw Jacob and Thane, with the use of their biotics, trying to hold back a furious and rage-induced Splash as she was fighting to rush over towards another guy in the room. With them in the room was Tali along with her other colleagues of engineering, Engineer Adams, Kenneth Donnelly and Gabrielle Daniels, who were standing by, stunned by what was happening.

Mikhailovich: “What the....what is....what’s she...?”

Hackett: “This would be another one of her...temper tantrums.”

Ashley: “Yep.”

Jewel let out a dejected grunt then forged the Fantasy Crystal for Splash went up to her to place it on her chest. From there, Splash fell into her trance. Jewel tended to her after Thane and Jacob released her.

Mikhailovich: “Would someone mind explaining to me what was going on here?”

Tali: ”We were just chatting about some of the things we needed to have done in engineering when this guy came into the room.”

Daniels: “At first, we thought nothing of it, until he went on and on about some seafood banquet that he was planning on having sometime next week.”

Aera: “Bad idea, guy, very, very bad.”

Daniels: “Yeah, we should have known better, but we didn’t count on him actually being stupid enough to set her off. I feel like an idiot for not seeing this coming.”

Guy: “What? I was just mentioning a bunch of seafood dishes that I was craving. I don’t get what the big deal is.”

Donnelly: “Are you daft, man? You know about how she would react towards even the slightest mention of seafood. Do you have a death wish?”

Guy: “So, all of a sudden, I can’t even talk about anything remotely related to fish food with her around? Geez, you’ve been giving these fairy girls special treatments ever since you brought them on board this ship.”

Adams: “That’s enough, Ensign. I’ve told you before that your attitude towards these girls is unacceptable. If you have a problem with them, I suggest you take your services on another frigate.”

Ensign: “Fine, whatever.”

The rude guy made his way out of the room.

Ensign: “I never liked working with aliens anyway.”

Everyone glared at the guy as he was leaving the room. Tali placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

Tali: “Bosh’tet. I say good riddance to him.”

Adams: “I apologize for his terrible attitude. He had always patronized you girls.”

Aera: “Don’t worry about it, Adams. It’s not your fault that guy’s an intolerable jerk.”

Adams: “He had especially said some very callous and demoralizing things about that sweet aquamancer and her hatred and disdain towards seafood, even when I told him about our suspicions of her behavior towards them being a result of some sort of severe psychological trauma.”

Aera: “Oh, you have know idea how right you are.”

Daniels: “He used to make a lot of jokes about eating a tuna sandwich, shrimp cocktails, lobster bisque and crab dumplings in front of her. I told him that doing something like that could have him end up killed and he just laughed it off as though he thinks he’s funny. A******.”

Donnelly: “I never liked that guy. He used to complain a lot about having aliens as crewmates while making demeaning comments about how this frigate should be run solely by humans, he even discredited a lot of the upgrades and features that were added by a lot of our alien crew members as well as built by them. I told him he should go to hell if he truly felt that way.”

Jacob: “Well, at least it’s all over. That was harrowing.”

Miranda: “Yes, it was, but you and Thane did a phenomenal job with holding her back. I was worried for a minute there that she might have been too much for either of you.”

Thane: “Yeah, it was very difficult holding back a rage-induced teenager, or a magical one at that. Now if you would excuse me, I need to meditate. I’m exhausted.”

Thane walked out.

Jacob: “I better get going, too. We may need to file some reports on the dismissal of that ensign.”

Jacob walked out. The rest of the group in the room looked over towards Jewel who was sulking as she tended to Splash. Adams walked up to her.

Adams: “Hey, don’t let any of that get to you. For what it’s worth, I always thought of you girls as incredible. I knew that not everyone on this ship would agree with having you around. If anything, I’m glad you’re here.”

Jewel looked at him, she seemed touched. Donnelly and Daniels walked up behind him, they seemed almost as though they seemed happy.

Donnelly: “I’m also grateful to have you here. I can’t even begin to say what a pleasure it is to have met you.”

Daniels: “Yeah, you girls are awesome. Really, guys like him don’t deserve any leniency or accommodations. The sooner he’s off this ship, the better it is for the rest of us, and for you girls as well. We don’t need him.”

Jewel looked towards them, she was indeed pleased by their words. She then let out a content smile. Mikhailovich stood by, almost as though he was affected by this touching moment. From there, Jewel removed the crystal from Splash’s chest and she was waking up from her trance.

Splash: “Ahh! Fishies!! No!! Come back!! I...huh? Where am I?”

Aera: “Welcome back to reality, Splash. Did you have a nice swim in your fantasies?”

Splash: “Umm...what was I...oh! I remember now!”

She stood up instantaneously in rage.

Splash: “That jerk! How dare he talk about my brethren like that! I SO could have killed him!”

Daniels: “I would have gladly looked forward to that.”

Donnelly: “Don’t mind him, Splash, that son of a b**** is nothing more than human trash. It's best to just let him be.”

Hackett: “I’ll get started on the termination papers for him. It's clear that he’s not a good fit on this ship. I’ll find somewhere else for him to be placed.”

Garrus: “I hear that maintenance at the Citadel is hiring. Perhaps that would be a better position for him.”

FemShep: “I couldn’t agree more; a custodian position would indeed help with cleaning up his act.”

Several of the crew members had a good laugh.

Tali: “By the way, I heard that Mordin and Star have continued working on those new devices for analyzing the girls’ powers. Perhaps we should head down to the cargo bay and see if they’re finished.”

FemShep: “That sounds like a great idea, I look forward to that.”

Splash: “I believe Flare mentioned something about meeting us down there as soon as she’s done meditating with Samara. She also wanted to test them out.”

Jewel stood back up.

Jewel: “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”

The girls walked out of the room. A few of the crew members followed along with the admirals. Soon enough, Liara and Glyph approached them, Liara walked beside them with Glyph nearby.

Liara: “Hey, guys. You're heading down to the cargo bay?”

FemShep: “Yeah, we’re planning on testing out those new devices that Mordin had built.”

Liara: “Hm, I thought so. I also need to make my way back down there. We have a few things that I’ll need to hand over to Dr. Solus.”

Glyph: “He asked for some of the data that we were able to extract from the Intel Crystals.”

Ashley: “Sounds amazing. It seems like you guys are making some real progress with that computer that you’ve designed for those crystals.”

Liara: “Yeah, they’re coming along nicely.”

Glyph: “By the way, I heard a loud bang just a while ago. What happened?”

Miranda: “A rude and condescending ensign made comments about a lot of the different, um, aquatic cuisines while being very well aware that Splash was an earshot away from him.”

Liara: “What!?! Are you serious?”

Jewel: “Yeah, we are.”

Liara: “Huh, is that the ensign from engineering who would sneer at so many of the non human crew members like us?”

Ashley: “Yeah, it’s the same guy.”

Hackett: “I’ll be working on the termination papers and have him escorted off of the ship. You won’t have to worry about him ever again.”

Miranda: “Jacob mentioned something about wanting to help out with that.”

Liara: “That’s a relief.”

Glyph: “Hm, indeed, good riddance to that horrible scoundrel.”

Mikhailovich: “So, you mentioned something about some devices that you plan on having the girls test out. What are they exactly?”

Hackett: “Oh, you mean those? I haven’t seen it myself, but I was informed by Williams and the Second Commander that Professor Solus had been working on some unique devices that are to be used for analyzing the intensity of the girls’ powers.”

Garrus: “They’ve gotten started with working on them after we've discovered that one of the girls is able to wield another kind of magical ability.”

Mikhailovich: “Hm, is that so? Is there anything about this power that motivated them into this?”

Aera: “Well, Star revealed to the Normandy crew that aside from her Light powers, she is also able to wield lightning.”

Mikhailovich: “Lightning? You mean...she’s also an electrokinetic?”

Jewel: “Yes, but...she doesn’t like to use it because...well...it’s lethal.”

Ashley: “We were told that she always feared accidentally killing someone with this power because she doesn’t know how to reduce its intensity."

Mikhailovich: “So, her lightning powers are broken.”

Miranda: “Yep, pretty much.”

Ashley: “I don’t blame her for not telling us about it. It’s clear that she’s hesitant about it.”

Garrus: “I can understand that and I’m not angry at the girls for holding back on some things that they know; I just wish that they could be a little more open. It’s frustrating to have to deal with this but I’m not necessarily annoyed with them; it’s more so the circumstances that’s causing them to be so secretive.”

Hackett: “But with what they’ve been through, I can’t say I really blame them.”

Liara: “They suffer from a lot of trust issues. From what we can tell, they’ve been mistreated by too many of their own kind. Although, I can’t say everyone within their realm have been cruel to them.”

Garrus: “Whether it be a few or a few hundred, it doesn’t matter, abuse is abuse and even one person mistreating them would be one too many.”

Jewel: “At least we feel that we can trust you guys with some of what we know, but...it’s still hard for us.”

Splash: “We never trusted anyone else besides each other, oh and everyone else that we’ve been close to. I can tell my parents anything without any worries. I love them so much.”

Aera: “Yeah, lucky you.”

Soon enough, they arrived within the cargo bay. There, they met with Mordin and Star. Star greeted them with a smile as she waved at them.

Star: “Hello, everyone. It’s good to see you here.”

Liara: “Yes, it is indeed.”

Miranda: “We’ve had to deal with another matter before we were able to make our way back here.”

Star: “So, Mr. Other-Admiral-Guy, are you ready to check out Dr. Solus’ new devices?”

Mikhailovich: “You know, I do have a name that you can address me by, I'd appreciate it if you would do so.”

Star: “Oh, right, sorry. What is Mikovich?”

Mikhailovich: “Mikhailovich. It’s my surname.”

Star: “Sir....name?”

Jewel: “We already went over this with the Reconnaissance Crystal on our way to this realm. It’s a name to address their family origin or who else they decide to consider part of their current origin or whatever.”

Star: “Oh, um, yeah, I forgot.”

Aera: “And here I thought Splash was the only ditzy one.”

Splash: “Hey!”

A little while afterwards, Flare arrived with Samara.

Star: “Oh, good, you’re finally here.”

Flare: “I would not miss this test run for anything. My special skills, I know, are required for such.”

Samara: “We would have been here sooner but Flare and I got lost in our meditation for a little while there.”

Jewel: “No problem, you’re just in time.”

FemShep: “So, care to show us these new devices that you’ve managed to put together?”

Mordin was on his omni-tool.

Mordin: “Certainly.”

From there, they looked out and noticed several mechs instantaneously activated. They stood idly in front of the group. Mikhailovich was alarmed by this.

Mikhailovich: “What? LOKI Mechs!?!”

Star: “Relax, will you? These were just pieces of mech scraps that Mordin was able to put together.”

Mordin: “Correct, the crew and I actually received a large shipment of scrapped mechs that were in pieces and disposed of. We asked for a few favors to obtain these pieces. Really worked out well for a lot of what I’ve needed to have installed into them.”

Splash: “I’ll say, you were really putting in all of those advanced technical stuff into those robot things. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Aera: “It IS nothing that you’ve ever seen before, Splash. We don’t have stuff like this back home. We don’t even have any form of technology.”

Miranda: “What!?! No tech!?! You girls don’t have any forms of technology in your realm?”

Aera: “We’ll talk about that later.”

Mordin: “Aside from the mechs, have also called in a few favors for some...unique equipment. Each bot has a built-in computer that is used for analysis, can scan and identify nearby attacks or direct attacks.”

Hackett: “I’m sure you’ve also come up with a way for these mechs to not be damaged by the girls’ magical attacks.”

Mordin: “Indeed I have. The mechs also come with special ducts that can channel the magical energy to flow through the different parts within them. The channeled energy can also be analyzed. Necessary for the procedures.”

Splash: “Wow! You really thought of everything, Doctor!!”

Liara: “Yes, he has. That seems to be a very common trait amongst salarians. They are brilliant inventors.”

Garrus: “Yeah, they seem to specialize in a lot of the complicated ingenuity. The other species have struggled to figure out how their minds even work. For example, care to tell me how you were able to figure out enabling the flow of magical energy and attacks without the risk of damaging these mechs?”

Mordin: “Sorry, cannot tell you. A trade secret; in the sense that I have yet to figure that one out.”

Garrus: “Wow, this must really be complicated if even you have no idea how it works.”

Mordin: “Guess you could say it’s a...Fayelon thing.”

Garrus looked puzzled. The girls were heard laughing.

Garrus: “I...don’t even know how to make any sense of that.”

Ashley: “So, who do you have in mind to test out these bots?”

Flare: “I am certain that I should be the one to do so.”

Flare was seen walking past the group. She then stood before the bots as they did the same.

Mordin: “Yes, have already discussed this with Flare that she is to test them. Her unique control over her powers makes her a perfect fit for this.”

Hackett: “I suppose she’ll need to transform in order to do that.”

Liara: “I believe so, too.”

Garrus: “That would be a given.”

Flare readied herself, she closed her eyes as she did a few deep breathing exercises, pressing her palms together while moving them up and down a few times. She then opened them almost instantaneously.

Flare: “Metamorphose!”

From there, she transformed. Everyone else stood by, including the rest of the girls, while remaining in their Dormant Forms. After transforming, she walked up to the mechs, then turned herself around as she stood in the middle of them.

Flare: “I shall begin.”

Everyone stood by in anticipation. She readied herself again, then unleashed a full blaze that surrounded her and the mechs. Mikhailovich was stunned to see this.

Mordin: “Be sure to keep a safe distance, everyone.”

Mikhailovich: “No kidding! That’s usually what we would do with fire. But...this...is so...strange...why...why doesn’t it...? It doesn’t feel hot at all.”

Liara: “This right here is the incredible control of a pyrokinetic Fayelon.”

Garrus: “We were told that many with the same kind of power as Flare have exercised self-control as a means of keeping their own flames from being lethal.”

Mikhailovich looked towards the mechs, on the front area of their torsos displayed a screen. From this, he noticed that all of them displayed a number. The same number, in fact. It was a percent that was displayed as 0%.

Mikhailovich: “That...screen on their fronts...they’re displaying a number, a percentage to be exact.”

Mordin nodded once.

Mordin: “That is to display the fatality rate of the girls’ powers. As you can see, Flare’s blaze is shown to be non-lethal.”

Mikhailovich: “That’s...amazing. Her fire...can she really...have that kind of control over her own powers?”

Samara: “That is correct. It is all part of an advanced training that she had undergone since her youth.”

Ashley: “Flare is from a cultural background that went through many training exercises to promote self-control. I think you should be able to figure out why.”

Mikhailovich: “Hmm...yes, I think I...understand: fire is a very dangerous element. It must be a power that is feared by their kind.”

Jewel: “Yes...for far too long. Even the pyromancers, themselves, fear it.”

Mikhailovich: “That would make sense; with that kind of power, if left unchecked, it could cause a lot of destruction.”

Flare: “My people, for many generations, have feared losing such control over their powers, be it the power itself or losing control over oneself. It is why we have taken on a culture of inner peace and self-restraint. If both were to remain unchecked for too long...”

From there, the flames became more intense. The group stood around as they reacted to this, the mechs also reacted with the numbers displayed on their screen climbing at an alarming rate while also emitting loud beeping

noises.

Flare: “It would truly be...disastrous.”

At an instance, the mechs made noises that sounded like a flatline with the number displayed as 100%. Then, Flare calmed herself as her blaze died down. The mechs also reverted to being silent as their screen blanked out. Flare stood a little longer as she sulked.

Flare: “My grandfather has told me many frightening tales of the dangers of allowing our flames to harm others. Thanks to my advanced training, I am able to emit flames that will only harm our enemies, but to those that consider my allies, friends or even the innocent, I am able to make certain that my flames are safe enough to be managed around them. I am indeed able to prevent any harm from happening to any of them.”

Liara: “Yes, we can tell and you are doing an amazing job with that.”

Samara: “I also believe that.”

FemShep: “You and your friends seem to be really good at keeping your powers from harming us.”

Flare: “Well, for the most part, we are, but...”

Star: “We’re still having a hard time with figuring out how to do the same with a few of our other abilities. Case in point, my lightning.”

Mordin: “Ah, yes, of course, the very thing that inspired me to make these devices. Haven’t forgotten about that. Been meaning to have you demonstrate that next.”

Flare: “Hm, yes.”

She walked back towards the group and stood with them.

Flare: “Now that I have been able to confirm that these new devices of yours truly work, we can indeed get on to the very test that you have been wanting to carry out from the start.”

Mordin: “Yes, Star, if you don’t mind.”

Star rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

Star: “Thought you would never ask, Dr. Solus. Here I go.”

From there, she prepared herself.

Star: “Metamorphose!”

She transformed and stood before the mechs.

Star: “Alright, let’s do this!”

She then unleashed her lightning abilities on the mechs, shooting them with her bolts one by one. With each one she shot at, they displayed different numbers. However, none of them were low. Each one was displayed in the high 90s. Some were a little lower than others, but there were very little dips and drops in the numbers. Everyone watched this take place, each one seemed distraught. She went on to trying to channel another electric attack as the electricity surged around her. She then channeled it towards the mechs. Most of them displayed numbers that were slightly lower, but still too high. She then tried to surge her powers to strike some and avoid others. The ones that were struck displayed the same high numbers as the previous attempt while those that were nearby were shown slightly less but were also too high. The crew members and the admirals looked on with some unease and concerns.

Star eventually stopped, she looked out towards the mechs and pouted in disappointment as she saw each of the numbers displayed. She placed her hands on her hips.

Star: “Man, I just can’t seem to get a break with this.”

Liara: “Those...are not good numbers.”

Ashley: “No kidding, each one displays undeniably high fatality rates.”

Mordin: “Hm, thought they would be higher, was expecting to see a complete fatality, but not in this case. Not completely absolute.”

Garrus: “It doesn’t matter, 100% or not, those numbers are still too high. If those mechs were actual people, all of them would be dead.”

Mordin: “Yes, that much is true. Not complete, but high enough to be confirmed. (sniff) A major problem.”

Hackett: “Yes, I can understand why Star would be afraid of her own lightning abilities and it’s very clear that you girls don’t want to hurt any innocent civilians. That is indeed very noble of you.”

Jewel: “It’s also why we’ve drifted from one realm to another. We always feared that our problems will cause so much pain and strife to others who have no involvement with our conflict.”

Flare: “It was the best solution that we were able to come up with.”

Garrus: “I understand that, but you couldn’t keep running forever. Sooner or later, you would have worn yourselves out completely and then what?”

Jewel: “We know...”

Mikhailovich stood by, stunned and spellbound, almost as though he was coming to an astonishing realization.

Mordin: “Now to figure out why you have yet to find a way to reduce the intensity of your lightning abilities.”

Hackett: “Would any of your kind know how to help you with that?”

Jewel: “Well...to put it one way, we were told by our mentors that lightning is very hard to manage and control. There aren’t a lot that were able to figure it out.”

Garrus: “Hmm...something tells me that’s not the case.”

Star: “No, we don’t think so, either. We suspect that they do know.”

Garrus: “But they just don’t want to teach you?”

Star: “Yep, that would be how they are!”

Aera: “They would deny that, but they should know better. We’re not stupid.”

Jewel: “Although, we had this one other mentor who stated that such a thing is truly possible and it can be taught.”

Star: “Obviously, that never happened.”

Ashley: “And why is that? Because they decided to just turn around and decide they don’t want to?”

Jewel sulked before she answered.

Jewel: “Not that one...”

The other girls also sulked, concerned looks were passed around.

Mordin: “Not to worry, we will figure this out. If it truly is possible, then it can be done.”

Liara: “Yeah, absolutely. Perhaps one of the Intel Crystals would have some information on that.”

Flare: “Well, there is one other thing that we could try.”

Flare walked up to Star and stood in front of her.

Flare: “Perhaps a meditation technique would help to hone these abilities a little bit better or at the very least bring to light what could be causing this issue.”

Aera: “Are you sure? You know you’ve tried this already and it clearly did nothing. If anything...”

Flare: “I know, but there is a chance that we can be provided with some much-needed insight. I have faith in that.”

Aera: “Well...if you say so...”

Jewel: “Go for it. I agree that it needs to be done.”

Flare nodded once. She looked towards Star.

Flare: “Shall we?”

Star: “Sure, why not? It’s not like there’s anything else I can do. Besides, I know that Dr. Solus would be able to figure something out from this.”

Flare: “Certainly. I believe that, too. Let's begin.”

From there, they sat down in lotus position while facing each other. They closed their eyes and began meditating. Everyone stood around watching them. All was silent at first.

Flare: “Now then, just like we did before, try to focus on your lightning powers, let it course through you, channel that electrical energy, it is a natural part of your system, therefore, it must flow on its own.”

As they were meditating, a surge of electricity emitted from her body in the form of static electricity, surrounding her. Everyone watching this became startled, except for the other girls, of course.

Liara: “Oh!”

Samara: “What is...!?!”

Miranda: “I...don’t believe it.”

Aera: “Yep, that tends to happen whenever she tries this.”

Mordin was on his omni-tool.

As Star’s electrical energy continued being sporadic, her hair began to be affected by it, causing it to stand on end as well as spread all over the place. Flare opened her eyes a little bit but became startled as she took notice of her hair standing on end.

Flare: “Star! Th-th-that should be enough for now. You can stop.”

From this, the flow of electrical energy stopped but her hair was still standing on end. She opened her eyes, having not been phased by this as she stood back up. Flare was still staring at her, surprised. Star had taken notice of this, then looked towards the rest of the group who was still staring at her with the same startled expressions on her face. Star, looking annoyed, placed her hands on her hips.

Star: "What? It’s just hair!”

She motioned her hands around her hair and, with the use of some of her magical energy, straightened it back down to its normal style.

Star: “I mean, geez! People make such a big deal over something so easily manageable. Yes, I know it looks messy and I get why other girls would feel embarrassed about it, but seriously, is it really worth getting all worked up about? Just fix it and move on with your lives. I mean, really? When will everyone get over themselves?”

Garrus: “Um....wow, you really aren’t a normal girl if you don’t even get worked up over a bad hair day.”

Star: “Hmph! Well, I’ll have you know that I was never bothered by that, unlike most girls. Though you should know by now that I’m not like most girls, but that’s not the point!! What I’m trying to say is whenever that happened to me, it would be a quick fixer-upper, no problem, bing, bang, done, not “oh, no, I’m having a bad hair day, what’ll I do about it?” Pfft!! All those normal girls were such stupid, whiny little crybabies. I always wondered why everyone wanted me to be just like every other girl. I never got what was so great about it, ya know?”

Garrus: “Huh, you are such an interesting person. I feel like I need to walk on egg-shells whenever I would talk about anything girlish around you.”

Star: “Hm, that’s understandable. It really doesn’t bother me if you were to talk about stupid, girlish stuff like that, just always keep in mind who I am.”

Star walked off with everyone else standing by, watching as she did.

Garrus: “Noted.”

Hackett: “Hm, she is truly one of a kind.”

Aera: “Yep, that’s just the kind of person that she is. I always wondered why those snobs that she used to hang around with didn’t dump her sooner.”

Ashley: “She used to hang around with a bunch of other girls?”

Jewel: “Yeah, unfortunately. She always looked like she was one of them, but...ever since I first laid eyes on her, she seemed...different for some reason, like I had this sense of her not being like them at all.”

Aera: “Yeah, we didn’t feel the same way, so, we didn’t agree with her on that, but...we would never question her judgement and even if we did, we always stood by her.”

Splash: “Absolutely! Jewel is our best friend! We love her and she’s always been a sister to us.”

Miranda: “I would love to hear more sometime.”

Liara: “It truly sounds like with the many things you have been through, all you’ve ever had was each other.”

Jewel: “That’s...yes...mostly.”

Garrus looked at her, a bit saddened. Mikhailovich looked on as though he seemed touched as well as saddened.

[FayelonMagicalGirl]

This I chose for James Vega: