Innocence Seekers: April Light/Chapter 2/Episode 18

This is the sixth episode, "Erelia" (エレリア), of the second chapter of Innocence Seekers: April Light.

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Episode text
The girls reached the deepest part of the witch space. A door was the only thing separating them from the witch.

–Wakaba: Is everyone ready?

–Benio: You don't really need to ask us that, Wakaba. Just open the door already.

–Wakaba: There's no need to rush things, Benio. Anyway, here goes...

Wakaba opened the door. However, she noticed Uzuki standing right on the other side.

–Wakaba: Uzuki... where is Erelia?

–Uzuki: She's waiting inside. She wants to speak to Tama-chan.

–Tamaki: Eh? Why me?

–Louise: Anyway, we should head inside.

The girls headed inside, where Erelia was waiting.

–Erelia: Ah, you're all here. Anyway, before I begin the test, Tamaki, there's something I'd like to ask you about.

–Tamaki: What is it?

Erelia took out a small purple crystal shard.

–Erelia: Do you know what this is? I found it in here, and I don't know who put this in my witch space in the first place.

Tamaki looked at the shard.

–Tamaki: This is a very unusual object. It emanates a lot of evil energy, but a familiar force seems to counteract the evil energy.

–Uzuki: Do you know what it is?

–Tamaki: No, I haven't seen something like this at all.

–Himawari: Let me have a look.

Himawari examined the shard.

–Himawari: Louise, do you know what it is?

–Louise: No, it seems strange to me.

–Miho: Wait, Erelia, could that be a Maleficient Shard?

–Erelia: A Maleficient Shard?

–Miho: You don't know? Surely as a witch, you should know these things.

–Erelia: You know, I'm not that much older than you, Miho. I'm still learning about these things.

–Benio: Eh? But you're a witch. Witches are supposed to be, you know, hundreds of years old.

–Aoi: Benio, witches by blood develop similarly to us magical girls, then at a certain age, they simply stop growing.

–Erelia: That's right. I'm only eleven years old, but I'll be turning twelve in December. Unfortunately for me, I'll be stuck in a ten-year-old's body for the rest of my life.

–Uzuki: Anyway, Miporin, can you explain to us what a Maleficient Shard is?

–Miho: A Maleficient Shard is in many ways similar to an Innocence Shard. However, unlike an Innocence Shard, which contains the essence of a magical girl, a Maleficient Shard contains the essence of a witch.

–Aoi: But how does one form? Witches don't grow or age beyond a certain point.

–Miho: It's true that the conditions needed to create an Innocence Shard never come up for a witch. However, I have heard that Maleficient Shards can emerge when a witch dies.

–Erelia: You mean... this is the essence of a dead witch?

–Miho: Yes. However, the only Maleficient Shards that have ever been found belonged to witches by blood.

–Wakaba: Why is that? Why haven't there been any shards from ordinary witches? Why only witches by blood?

–Tamaki: I think I know. When I observed the shard, I felt a familiar force binding the crystal together. Kanade, can you lend me your pendant?

–Kanade: Ah, okay.

Kanade gave her pendant to Tamaki.

–Tamaki: I can confirm it. It's the same force emitted from this pendant.

Tamaki handed the pendant back.

–Uzuki: So that means that Innocence Shards and Maleficient Shards are materialisations of the same force, right?

–Miho: That's what we think. Another thing, though, Maleficient Shards are quite rare. So rare, in fact, that Puella only possesses four, and the Zodiac Warriors none. This makes it the fifth Maleficient Shard in the galaxy.

–Tamaki: It is said that witches by blood are the most difficult beings to kill. In fact, I've never heard of any witch hunter successfully killing one.

–Benio: But why would that be the case? Witches are witches, so the same thing should kill them.

–Wakaba: Maybe... it's because witches by blood are also magical girls.

–Kanade: Wakaba, how did you figure that out?

–Wakaba: I thought that if witches needed a magical girl or Innocence Shard to be killed, and magical girls needed some demonic force to be killed, then maybe since witches by blood are both, then both forces are needed to kill them.

–Miho: It's not a theory we'd like to test, or even something we can test, but if it's true, then that probably explains why witches by blood can suppress their demonic desires under certain circumstances. And it may also explain the contracts, as the magical girl also gains immunity to demonic powers after being contracted.

–Aoi: But, why were you given the shard, Erelia?

–Erelia: I'm not sure myself. I just found it here.

–Lyra: It might be important.

–Louise: What do you mean, Lyra?

–Lyra: Maybe... you were given the shard for a reason. I think I know now, given that my memory is slowly returning. I was once told the story of the April Light when I was very young. I can't remember much yet, but... they mentioned a witch accompanying the original magical girl who fought that abomination currently sealed in the Cave of Illusions.

–Kanade: I never heard of this. But if it's true, then...

–?????: &lt;It was I who put the shard there.&gt;

–Kanade: Who's there?

The door opened. It was Aria.

–Aria: Long time, no see, everyone.

–Himawari: Wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back in Italy?

–Aria: I hate to say this, but... Italy has fallen.

–Louise: No way... could this be Yamamoto's doing?

–Aria: Could be, but... the man whom I confronted didn't match Yamamoto's description.

–Uzuki: Wait, Aria, who is this man?

–Aria: He didn't say his name, but the Donsilans whom Kanade is helping told me through telepathy that his name is Pablo Méndez, and that I was to avoid a confrontation with him at all costs. It just so happened that Erelia was passing through, on her way to England, and I managed to enter her witch space just before we could fight.

–Erelia: I closed the darn thing quite quickly, to ensure that he didn't enter the space. But anyway, I couldn't find a safe place to set her off, so I took her all the way here.

–Kanade: Then what about the World Orb?

–Aria: I'm not sure. Rome was attacked directly, but it's possible that Mount Etna is still in the hands of the EU.

–Louise: And the only way we can find out is to check for ourselves, right?

–Aria: I think so.

–Uzuki: Anyway, we need to head to the World Orb quickly, before it falls into the hands of the enemy. So, Erelia, let's get this over with, shall we?

–Erelia: Yes, Uzuki.

Uzuki and Erelia charged towards each other almost immediately, clashing swords when they met. The two backed off, then Uzuki sent a barrage of lightning bolts towards Erelia, who put up a barrier to protect herself. Erelia attempted the same thing, and again the attack was met by a barrier.

–Aria: How sloppy.

–Kanade: It seems that they're rushing things.

–Miho: Well, it's not like we have much time. Our first priority is to get to France. There we will decide on our next course of action.

–Tamaki: Anyway, it'll be quicker if we overwhelm Erelia.

–Aria: Wait, are you sure? It's a test, you know.

–Kanade: Well, the magical girl being tested is allowed to bring allies into the test.

–Lyra: But the maximum number of allies is seven, so... Kanade, Aria, let's sit this out.

–Aria: Wait, Lyra, who said that you could decide what we do?

–Kanade: But, it would be a great opportunity to discuss what you've gone through.

While Lyra, Kanade and Aria were standing beside the door, the other girls launched successive attacks toward Erelia. Each and every attack was met by her barrier, which only shattered when the final attack impacted.

–Erelia: Hold on! If you're going to go eight against one, Uzuki, let me impose some conditions first.

–Uzuki: Ah, what is it?

–Erelia: Defeat me without using Full Burst or Secret Skills.

–Uzuki: Eh?!

–Wakaba: Is such a thing feasible?

–Kanade: It's possible. In fact, you can defeat a witch by blood alone, while using your weakest spells, and with an elemental disadvantage.

–Aoi: That's a bit... extreme.

–Kanade: No, really, I've actually gone through that once.

–Aria: There's no way you were able to do that. I mean, you aren't even contracted.

–Kanade: I found out too late that we weren't compatible. Anyway, Uzuki, consider it a test of your skills and teamwork. We'll be watching from here.

–Uzuki: But... I'd rather you go out if you're not going to fight with us.

–Aria: Why not? We're not going to interrupt you or anything.

–Uzuki: It's just that... I get nervous when people are watching. I also get nervous if people expect a lot from me.

Erelia giggled.

–Wakaba: Every class introduction, you always seem to grow nervous, Uzuki.

–Aoi: Same with every time you were told to read out something, or show an answer on the board.

–Benio: I remember once when you simply froze on the podium.

–Uzuki: Don't remind me of those things!

–Miho: Right, let's focus on the task at hand.

Suddenly, Miho swung her spiked yo-yo towards Erelia, who managed to catch it. Miho sent a second spiked yo-yo, only for Erelia to again catch it with her free hand. Erelia then pulled on the yo-yos; however, Miho sent a massive electric current through the metal cords of the yo-yos, shocking Erelia.

–Miho: Well, that's what happens when you try to use my weapons against me.

–Erelia: I couldn't have expected any less from the Reaper of Puella. But it'll take more than that to defeat me.

Erelia leapt into the air, and began to rain lightning down on the girls. However, one of the bolts struck a flashbang grenade Tamaki had thrown up, causing it to detonate and completely immerse the entire area in a blinding light.

–Erelia: Wha?

When the light died down, Erelia noticed a rocket heading straight towards her. It was too close to evade, so she almost immediately put up a shield to block the rocket. However, upon impact with the shield, the rocket did not detonate.

–Aoi: Tamaki, why isn't the rocket exploding?

–Tamaki: Wait and see.

Suddenly, the rocket detonated. While the resulting explosion did not shatter the shield, the sudden change in force was too much for the shield's grounding to cope, sending Erelia flying. At that point, Benio, with her right arm enveloped in flames, reached Erelia's location and launched an attack, sending Erelia hurtling towards the ground.

–Wakaba: My turn now!

Wakaba leapt into the air and readied her bow. With a single action, she sent thousands of magic arrows toward Erelia's location. Meanwhile, Aoi prepared a massive spell, with a massive icicle floating over Erelia's location. Once Wakaba's attack stopped, Aoi sent the icicle towards Erelia, impacting her location. When the dust cleared, however, Erelia was still standing.

–Himawari: Stand back, everyone!

The other girls looked upwards, and saw a massive glowing metal sphere floating in the air.

–Louise: We'll take care of this!

–Erelia: Did you think I would simply allow you to execute that spell?!

Erelia sent out a barrage of massive electric bolts towards the girls. Louise spotted this, though, and summoned numerous metal chains from the ground, which redirected the bolts. However, as the barrage continued, the chains began to melt. Tamaki spotted this, and began to cast a spell. A massive pink magic circle appeared beneath her feet, and the sound of water could be heard in the distance.

–Louise: Tamaki, what are you planning to do?

–Tamaki: Louise, those chains won't last until the spell is ready. I figured that since water conducts electricity, we flood the place.

Meanwhile, the last chain melted. The girls put up barriers to protect themselves from the barrage.

–Tamaki: Tidal Wave!

Suddenly, a massive wave of water appeared and utterly swamped the entire area, stopping the attack.

–Himawari: Here goes...

–Himawari & Louise: Steel Inferno!

The massive metal sphere was thrown towards Erelia at high speed. When it impacted the water, it caused a massive explosion and filled the entire area with steam. However, Erelia was still standing.

–Aoi: Benio!

–Benio: Right, Aoi!

Benio closed in on Erelia. However, when she reached within range, Erelia took out her sword and attacked Benio. Benio put up her left arm to block the attack, but she still took significant damage.

–Uzuki: Benio!

Despite this, Benio counterattacked and sent Erelia back into the water. At that point, Aoi, who had been casting a spell, executed her spell, causing the water to freeze.

–Uzuki: Benio, are you okay?

–Benio: I'm fine; this is nothing. But more importantly, Uzuki...

–Uzuki: Ah, right.

Uzuki began to cast a spell, and a massive yellow magic circle appeared beneath her feet.

–Uzuki: We don't have much time, so I'm going to make this quick.

–Wakaba: We'll help, Uzuki. Aoi, Benio, let's do this!

–Aoi: Right.

–Benio: I'm with you.

The three girls then began to cast their own spells. Four magic orbs appeared above Erelia, growing in size by the second. Once they reached critical size:

–Uzuki: Right, on the count of three.

–Wakaba: One...

–Benio: Two...

–Uzuki, Wakaba, Aoi & Benio: Sacred Cannon!

The four orbs then fired massive magic beams toward Erelia, impacting the ice. Upon impact, there was a massive explosion and a blinding afterglow resulted. When the light died down, Erelia was barely able to stand.

–Erelia: Uzuki... I guess I'll concede this battle.

–Uzuki: So that means...

–Aoi: We won...

–Uzuki: We did it!

The four girls embraced each other. Louise flew towards them.

–Louise: Uzuki, we can celebrate later. For now, let's commence the contract ceremony.

–Uzuki: Ah, right. Uh, wait, how do we perform this?

–Erelia: I'd like to know as well.

Aria flew towards the girls.

–Aria: You're hopeless. Here, let me go through everything.

Aria went between Uzuki and Erelia.

–Aria: To form a contract, the two must become one. Uzuki, Erelia, I take it that you can form magic circles by themselves, right?

–Uzuki: Ah, yes.

–Erelia: Me too. But I thought it was just a party trick.

–Aria: It's no trick. The formation of magic circles is how we Donsilans measure each other's magic power.

–Louise: While we use more... violent methods to gauge magic power. Anyway, it's no use if your circles are in twain.

–Uzuki: What do you mean, Louise?

–Erelia: I'm guessing that we need to combine our circles.

–Aria: That's correct. And they must match. Don't worry, you can sort it out yourselves.

–Uzuki: Right, let's do this, Erelia.

–Erelia: Okay.

Two magic circles, one yellow and one purple, appeared in the sky.

–Uzuki: &lt;Erelia, can you hear me?&gt;

–Erelia: &lt;Yes, Uzuki.&gt;

–Uzuki: &lt;To synchronise our circles, we need to send each other information in the language of magic. You know this, right?&gt;

–Erelia: &lt;Yes. And the only way is by telepathy.&gt;

–Aria: I see that you've already figured out that you need to use telepathy. Anyway, let's see if you can do it.

–Uzuki: Right, Erelia. On the count of three. One... two...

The circles moved towards each other, eventually overlapping completely. As a result of the synchronisation, the circles were identical. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of yellow light. When the light died down, it appeared as if nothing happened.

–Erelia: Is that it?

–Louise: Erelia, try creating another magic circle.

–Erelia: Okay.

Erelia focused. A yellow magic circle appeared above her.

–Aria: It's yellow. Uzuki's magic colour. That means the contract has been made.

–Uzuki: I guess that's it. Thanks, Aria.

–Aria: Uzuki, I'm only helping because we have a common goal. Once we deal with the abomination, we may end up fighting again.

–Erelia: You know, Aria, the Demon Princess said that it isn't in your kind's best interests to drive humanity to extinction.

–Aria: You're speaking to the wrong person, Erelia. I'm not the one making the decisions here.

–Louise: Anyway, Erelia, can you get us out?

–Erelia: I will. Hold on.

Erelia began to cast a spell, and a yellow magic circle appeared beneath her feet. The space began to warp, and after a while the girls found themselves back in the real world. Right beside the hangar waited a military van.

–Louise: Ah, that van will take us to Southampton. Is everyone ready?

–Erelia: Hold on. About the Maleficient Shard...

–Kanade: What about it, Erelia?

–Erelia: Tamaki, come here.

Tamaki approached Erelia.

–Tamaki: What is it, Erelia?

–Erelia: Here.

Erelia gave Tamaki the Maleficient Shard.

–Tamaki: You're giving it to me?

–Erelia: I figured that your Inherent Ability may allow us to figure out what to do with it.

–Tamaki: I understand where you're going with this, but, you must have been given this shard for an important reason. I can't hold on to it for you.

–Erelia: But... I'm sure that you should be the one who possesses it.

–Tamaki: ... Aria, say something.

–Aria: Tamaki, that shard was given to me by the Donsilans for whom I work. They told me that it contains the essence of an exceptionally powerful witch, but didn't tell me who that witch was. Erelia, are you really sure you want to give something as powerful as that to a human? Why don't you just hand it to the Black Rose for safe keeping?

–Erelia: I asked Chyla about the shard, and what I should do with it. She only told me to give it to Tamaki, while muttering something about a chosen one.

–Uzuki: Chosen one?

–Aria: You know something, Uzuki?

–Uzuki: Sumippe mentioned something about chosen ones, the ones the Black Rose spoke about.

–Kanade: Ah, right, the stories of the chosen ones associated with the Black Rose.

–Miho: So is it possible that Tamaki is a chosen one?

–Erelia: To me, it's not just possible, it's certain.

–Kanade: Well, if the Black Rose believes that Tamaki is the one who should possess that shard, then I have no objections. Right, Aria?

–Aria: Ah, yes.

–Louise: It's ultimately the Demon Princess's decision, so I can't really object.

–Himawari: I have no objections either.

–Tamaki: Alright, I'll take it.

–Louise: Anyway, let's hop on board the van.

–Everyone: Yes.

The girls headed into the van. The van then drove off, heading towards Southampton.

End of Episode 18

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Commentary
Unlike other episodes, this entire episode is one monolithic scene. I actually did not intend to do that, but I could not help it thanks to the fight scene, and I had nothing else going on that could warrant a scene change.

Erelia is possibly the youngest witch in the entire saga. All other witches in the saga are at least a hundred years old.

Innocence Shards and Maleficient Shards are both crystallisations of Innocence, the force needed to defeat demonic beings. The main difference is that while Innocence Shards are pure crystallisations of Innocence (although the spirit of a magical girl may be bound to the crystal), the Innocence in a Maleficient Shard serves to bind the spirit of a witch. The rarity of Maleficient Shards comes from the fact that they can only come from the death of a witch by blood (the death of a normal witch simply releases the demonic essence to the background mana field) and require active input from a magical girl in order to be created (hence witch hunters, who rely on Innocence Shards to defeat witches, can never create Maleficient Shards).

It is said that witches by blood are the most difficult beings to kill. This is because they are a hybrid of demons and magical girls, thus they have the advantages of both. Even as of Innocence Seekers: April Light, there is no known way of killing a witch by blood (it is known that Innocence Shards are insufficient), although there is some evidence that magical girls may be capable of killing witches by blood.

I did not mention the girls changing into their mage outfits. From now on, it is assumed that the girls change into their mage outfits whenever they commence battle.

And one last thing: "twain" means "two", for those who don't know (I'm sure that there are many people, younger ones in particular, who don't know).