Magical Girl Trixie

“Wakey, wakey, everyone!”

With the sun barely beginning to rise, Basket Case, Summer Breeze and I lazily rubbed our eyes and looked at our magical phones, all of which projected our own miniature Discord.

“It's early, Discord!” Basket Case moaned weakly before turning back over in her bed. “Can't it wait until later?”

“Are you sure you want to wait until later? I very well could have information that could end this game, but you would never know since you wouldn't take the time to listen to me.”

“You don't, though,” Summer Breeze said, stuffing her face back into her pillow.

“Well, lucky for you, I'm going to tell you anyway. With three girls down, that means that the chances of eliminating the game changer on your next try have gone up by four percent!”

“Wait!” Basket Case said, bolting herself up. “Three girls?”

“Yes! Paradox, Cupid Symphony and Storm Rose have all been eliminated from the game, which means the odds of each of you making it to the end have skyrocketed!”

“What happened to Storm Rose?!” Basket Case shouted, shaking her phone. “Did someone kill her?”

“It was in self-defense, but yes. Storm Rose is dead. Oh! And in case any of you were thinking about stealing her wand, don't bother. Once a magical girl dies, any object that she purchased from Platinum City will disappear along with her magic. I hope that doesn't put a damper on any plans you had.” The Discord projected from my phone added a wink, which I hoped that the girls around me didn't notice.

“Isn't there any way you can tell us who the game changer is so we can eliminate her without killing her?” Summer Breeze asked.

“Unfortunately, no, but since I already let it slip to a couple girls already, I may as well tell you. The game changer is someone who knows the identity of two magical girls already. Oh! Would you look at that. All three of you fit that description perfectly.”

“Hang on a second!” I exclaimed before he could send our thoughts off track. “Does that description fit anyone besides the three of us?”

“Yes, but I won't say who or how many.”

The three of us breathed a sigh of relief just knowing that it wasn't necessarily limited to the three of us, but we still had to figure out which girls knew each other outside of being magical girls. “Trixie is going to guess that Marrow and Night Seam know each other,” I said to the girls more than to Discord, “but she doesn't know for sure. It sounds more likely than Palette or Mind Games knowing anyone else's identity.”

“Who cares?” Basket Case moaned, laying back down. “We're just going to wait the three days so that we can all lose our powers and be done with this whole thing.”

“And why would you lose your powers?” Discord asked, nearly giving all of us a heart attack as we began to panic.

“You said three days!” Dreamdrop shouted. “You said that if in three days we didn't use our magic, that would be considered forfeiting and we'd all lose our powers!”

“Then go ahead and name one girl who hasn't used her magic since yesterday.”

Suddenly, we all froze. Dreamdrop had been the one we were all counting on not to use her powers, but since she put Night Seam to sleep during our fight the night before, she had used her magic to help us make cuts. We had all followed Discord's rules, whether we realized it or not.

“So…” Summer Breeze began, looking for anything she could say that would help us not to kill each other. “Is there any way we can forfeit? Can I just say I don't want to play this game?”

“Unfortunately, saying you won't participate and not participating are totally different, as I'm sure you've seen already. However, there is one way you could forfeit and end the game for everyone involved.”

“Really?!” Summer Breeze asked with a huge smile on her face. “Tell me!”

Discord, however, just gave her a grin, and as soon as the message sunk in, Summer Breeze's smile faded away. She would have to kill herself. That was now the only way she could forfeit the game.

“Anyway,” Discord said, breaking the silence, “I really must be going. I just wanted to give you all an update for where we stand. Good luck, everyone!”

And then he was gone, leaving the three of us to pick our hearts off the ground that he unceremoniously shattered. The three of us all looked at each other, but none of us knew what to say. We knew that we were the prime candidates to be the game changer, seeing as how we knew each other's true identity, but we also knew that there was at least one more girl who could possibly end this game. Even if we found her, though, would we kill her now that forfeiting was basically off the table?

“Who do you think killed Storm Rose?” Summer Breeze asked, giving me one more thing to worry about.

“I bet it was Night Seam or one of them,” Basket Case said, looking up at the ceiling. “Those guys have already shown that they have no problem killing anyone, especially if they went to Platinum City right after fighting us.”

“Good point, especially since Storm Rose almost never leaves Platinum City.”

“So Trixie, you say that Night Seam and Marrow might know each other?”

“Y-yeah, but it's just a hunch,” I said bashfully, hoping I wasn't wrong. “You see, the two of them were the first magical girls, so it would make sense that they might have shared their identities before there were so many of us. Plus, even if they didn't know each other, they might know one of the other girls’ true identities.”

“Hey!” Basket Case shouted, smiling from ear to ear. “I just came up with a great idea! You know how Night Seam said that the game changer was either Marrow or Trixie, right? Well, what if we all decided to vote Marrow out of the game! The three of us want her out after what she did to Trixie, and it seems like she's a prime candidate for the other girls too!”

“And if she really is the game changer,” Summer Breeze added, with a smile that made her look more like Dreamdrop than ever, “then we could end this stupid game without anyone else dying! Plus, we'd all get to keep our powers! Wow! I just got chills all of a sudden!”

“Hold on!” Basket Case said, pulling out her magical phone. “I'm going to ask Night Seam to meet up again tonight in the same place as last night. I'll tell her that we think we can end the game, but we don't want to fight. If we explain the situation, it would be in Night Seam's best interest to at least try it out.”

“But… do you really think this is a good idea after what happened last night?”

“Trixie thinks that it's a splendid idea,” I said, secretly looking for any way I could to pull Mind Games out of her hiding spot. “As soon as we've all agreed that we'll eliminate Marrow, we'll summon Discord and have him remove her powers.”

And then I can show up to school tomorrow and pay her back for the hospital trip she gave me.

“Still, though…” Summer Breeze said with a grimace on her face. “What if something goes wrong?”

“The real question you should be asking,” Basket Case said with a thumbs up, “is ‘what if everything goes right?’! Just think about it! We could legitimately end this game tonight! And we'd all get to keep our powers! How cool is that?!”

Even despite Summer Breeze's lackluster response, Basket Case and I couldn't help but celebrate our enthusiasm at the possibility of knocking Marrow out once and for all. After tonight, our luck would completely turn around.

Later that night…

Night Seam agreed to meet us at the park where we had met the night before, but unlike last time, we specifically asked her to bring along Palette and Mind Games. This way, we would be sure to avoid any sneak attacks, and we would have them right where we wanted them, just in case they turned this into a battle. Like last time, we were the first to arrive, having made it there by foot, but the other three used their teleport gems to come straight from Platinum City.

“Thank you for inviting us today,” Night Seam said politely while taking her place in front of the other two girls. “You said you had news as to who the game changer might be?”

“Yeah, we think you were right,” Iron Maiden said for us. “We think that it’s Marrow.”

“B-but we don't want to kill her!” Dreamdrop intervened. “We have a plan to eliminate her without doing that.”

“Oh, really?” Night Seam said, as if she were more skeptical than curious. “Well, I'd love to hear it.”

“Right,” Iron Maiden resumed. “Since we all agree that Marrow is probably the game changer, all we have to do is call up Discord, tell him that as a group, we unanimously choose to eliminate her, and then he'll take her powers and end the game right then and there! Here, I'll get out my phone right--”

“That won't be necessary.”

The three of us quickly looked up at Night Seam in absolute astonishment. If we were there to remove a girl that she specifically said had the highest chance of being the game changer, why was she suddenly so hesitant about eliminating her?

“Sorry, Night Seam,” Dreamdrop said with a twinge of concern. “I'm not sure we’re on the same page. You see, we think we can eliminate Marrow and end the game, which is why--”

“I'm not going to help you eliminate Marrow.”

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Iron Maiden screamed. “You were the one who told us that Marrow was probably the game changer! Was that all just an act?!”

Night Seam, however, just sighed while resting her face into her palm. “This isn’t just about eliminating every single girl until there's only two left standing. I have a longstanding friendship with Marrow, one that has lasted longer than any that you all share with each other. We are number one and two. You three make up numbers eight, nine and ten in order of when you became magical girls.”

“SO WHAT?! Just because you're friends means you're just going to keep her alive, even if she's the game changer? What happened to not letting this be a competition to the last two girls standing?!”

“It won't be a competition to the last two girls standing. Like I said, there is a fifty percent chance that Trixie is the game changer, and based on my friendship with Marrow, I owe it to her to wait until at least Trixie is eliminated before going after her. However, you said you want to end this game without any deaths, correct?”

“Yeah,” Iron Maiden said, suddenly losing some of her tension from before. “What are you getting at?”

“If we all vote to eliminate Trixie, there is a good chance that the game could end, just like you suggested doing with Marrow.”

“Now you're just being crazy! We would never do something like that to the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie needs her powers more than any of us!” Dreamdrop added. “If she loses her powers, she'll die!”

“She's going to die regardless,” Night Seam said. “It's just a matter of if you want to do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Even through Iron Maiden's resolve, I could still see her weighing the options. Even though she had her pride invested in this, I could still see her looking back at me and thinking what could happen if she went with Night Seam's plan after all. I had to act quick if I wanted any chance of staying alive.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie would just like to ask one question, Night Seam,” I said, trying not to shrink as the other five girls all suddenly looked at me. “Were we friends... before becoming magical girls?”

For the first time tonight, Night Seam's emotionless demeanor broke, causing her to tense up in her hands and face. “Why would you ask me something like that?”

“Just answer the question! Were we friends before becoming magical girls?!”

After a brief pause where nobody spoke and nobody moved, Night Seam casually strode towards me with an intense look of fury ingrained on her face. Both Iron Maiden and Dreamdrop, upon sensing the danger, quickly stepped in front of me as a shield, but I gently moved myself past them. Whatever Night Seam was doing, I wanted to see it for myself.

As soon as she was two steps away from me, she folded her arms and asked, “Would it really change this situation if you knew who I was?”

“How would Trixie know when you're hiding behind that disguise?”

With a smirk and a small chuckle, Night Seam said, “Very well,” and began to grow a bright light. As soon as the light began to dim and her true identity began to reveal itself, however, I took a step back and held my breath as my mind instantly recognized the girl standing before me. She was the same age as me, despite having much longer legs and a more developed physique. Her hair was a strikingly beautiful pink, and all of her facial features were absolutely flawless. Even her nail polish, which sparkled in the moonlight projected an elegance far beyond her years.

Upon seeing Night Seam in her true form, though, my eyes grew wide with my jaw dropping to the floor. “Fleur?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “Are you really…?”

“Do you get it now, Trixie?” said Fleur de Lis, my old friend from elementary school, the girl who was standing before me and trying to convince the other girls to kill me. “My friendship with Lulu has always taken precedence, and that's not about to change. She's the reason I became a magical girl, and I at least owe it to her to keep her alive until I know that you're not the game changer!”

“Fleur…” I said, still shocked at the sudden revelation. “Is that really you?”

“Yes, Trixie. It's really me.”

“Why did you stop being friends with me?” Suddenly, all the emotions I had kept bottled away for all those years were threatening to burst. “Why did you and Lulu start being so mean to me?”

“Trixie, I--”

“Woooow!” Palette exclaimed from the background. “I've never seen a magical girl's true identity before! Have you, Mind Games?” Mind Games shrugged and shook her head, but that little bit of information just gave us a huge advantage.

“You idiots!” Fleur screamed, turning back into Night Seam.

“Dreamdrop! Iron Maiden!” I called while I could. “Palette and Mind Games aren't the game changer! We need to team up and focus on Night Seam!”

“Not if I can help it!” Palette said, dipping her brush into her dress and painting a dozen rattlesnakes, all of which slithered in a direct path towards me while Night Seam jumped several feet back.

Iron Maiden took her metal pads off of her shoulders, crunched them up and formed it into a longsword while I called on my magic to summon my spear. With Dreamdrop hiding behind us, Iron Maiden and I swung wildly at all the snakes leaping towards us, but no matter how many we swung at, Palette continued drawing more and more.

“I'm not going to betray my friend!” Iron Maiden shouted through gritted teeth as she swung at another snake, albeit with hesitation. Mind Games must have been getting inside her head, and if things continued on this way, we would end up losing eventually.

“Dreamdrop!” I said, avoiding a snake's fangs. “We need you to put Palette to sleep! If she even thinks about taking her eyes off of us, Trixie will make sure she regrets it!”

Dreamdrop, visibly terrified of the command, silently nodded and ran off into the darkness, away from all the snakes but still in the direction of the enemy magical girls. As soon as she began running, however, Iron Maiden shouted, “Watch out for Mind Games! She just got out of my head, which means she's probably coming after you next!”

Great. All Iron Maiden and I could do was defend while asking a non-combative magical girl to take on possibly three enemies at once. If we didn't turn the tables quick, Dreamdrop was going to die, and I would be the one to shoulder most of the blame.

Lifting my hand up, I picked up as many snakes as I could in one magical scoop while Iron Maiden hacked off seven heads at once. As the two of us moved in closer, we continued our strategy, killing multiple snakes at a time as we closed the distance between us and Palette. I didn't care about her. She wasn't the one I wanted to go after, but we had to do everything we could to keep Dreamdrop safe.

Finally, we had closed the gap between us and the painter, but right as soon as Dreamdrop was about to use her magic to put the enemy to sleep, a magical girl with a rapier came out from the shadows with her target set on Dreamdrop. Fortunately, Iron Maiden was quick enough to jump in, saving Dreamdrop from what would have been a fatal blow, but this gave Palette just enough time to paint a spear of her own and engage combat with me.

“Don't do this, Palette!” I exclaimed as the two of us began exchanging blows. “Trixie doesn't want to do this with you! You're not the game changer!”

“I know!” Palette said between strikes. “You are!”

“Trixie tried to warn you, but you're giving her no choice!”

Raising my hand up, I used my magic to lift Palette into the air, who dropped her weapon and began grabbing at her neck in a vain attempt for me to release her. She was so strapped for air that even though she tried speaking, even screaming, nothing came out of her throat other than her pathetic gags as her body flailed in the air.

“Trixie,” Dreamdrop said, taking a step back in fear. “What are you doing?”

“Just taking care of a little pest problem,” I said with a small giggle.

“Don't waste your time on her!” Iron Maiden shouted while she clashed with Mind Games. “She's not the game changer! She's not worth it!”

“Trixie will decide who is worth it!” I shouted, gripping her throat tighter as her face began to grow a deep blue with a horrified face imploring me to have mercy on her.

“Trixie, stop!” Dreamdrop pleaded. “Killing her won't end the game!”

How annoying. After all that's happened, Dreamdrop thinks this is still a game? I'm not doing this because I have to. I'm doing this because it would make me happy.

“TRIXIE! LET GO OF HE--”

Suddenly, dropping Palette to the ground as she heaved in heavy breaths, I quickly turned to Iron Maiden, who was halfway through yelling at me when…

“No…”

...she was stabbed through the heart. Even through her imminent death, Iron Maiden looked down to see Mind Games's rapier piercing through her chest before pulling her weapon out, spraying blood all over Iron Maiden's body. With nothing left to send oxygen to her brain, Iron Maiden fell backwards onto the grass, and Dreamdrop fell to her knees with tears pouring down her cheeks. With the only movement in the park being Palette's struggled breathing, Iron Maiden’s outfit began to change until all we saw was Basket Case, lying on the floor. Dead. Gone.

Forever...

“Iron Maiden...” Dreamdrop sobbed. “Basket Case… AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

“THAT'S IT!” I screamed, pulling Mind Games in with my magic. I didn't choke her like I did with the other girls, but rather froze every part of her body while I held her in place in front of me, a sight which made Palette get to her feet and run off in fear. “Do you realize what you've just done?”

Suddenly, Mind Games was in a state of complete terror, knowing that not only had she just murdered one of the only friends I had left, but also that her mind tricks didn't work on me. “I-I didn't--I mean I was just trying to--”

“SHUT UP!” With all my anger, I landed a blow into her stomach, the same kind that I was used to receiving throughout my childhood. “You think you can murder not one, but two of my friends and just walk away like it never happened?!” This time, I punched her in the throat, knocking the wind out of her while holding her body from soothing her throbbing pain.

“Trixie, that's enough!” Dreamdrop shouted, but I was done being merciful. Palette was lucky to survive, but Mind Games wasn't going to be so lucky.

“I'm sorry!” Mind Games coughed. “I'll do anything! I'll vote out Marrow! I'll do whatever you want! Just please! Don't let me die-hi-hiiii!” Mind Games was now beginning to sob hysterically, finally realizing that after all she had done, this time it was her life that was on the line.

“TRIXIE!” Dreamdrop screamed. “PUT HER DOWN! NOW!!”

With an annoyed look on my face, I dropped her to the ground, and like the pathetic wretch that she was, she actually prostrated herself in front of me, kissing my feet like I was some kind of savior. “Disgusting.”

“Huh?” Mind Games said, but as soon as she lifted her head to meet my eyes, I slashed my spear through her neck, severing her head as both pieces of her corpse fell to the floor.

Again, blood started spilling everywhere as Mind Games began to revert to her original form. The sad part was, she wasn't even as old as me. She looked no older than ten years old, yet she was forced into this death game by Discord. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but after seeing two of my friends die by her hands, I felt more relief than anything. My first kill was more of a shock than anything, but I could already feel myself getting used to it.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Dreamdrop screamed, her entire body twitching in her anxiety. “This isn't happening! This can't be happening! Not you too! Please! PLEASE! MAKE IT STOOOOP!”

“Are you happy, Trixie?” Night Seam asked, finally making an appearance. “Two people died today because of you. I hope you know that.”

“Wanna be the third?” I asked, pointing my spear towards her and smiling triumphantly. “Trixie is getting used to this, after all, especially after the practice with Storm Rose.”

“No…” Dreamdrop said as she began breathing heavily. “Don't tell me you killed Storm Rose too!”

“I thought so,” Night Seam said, folding her arms again. “I doubt Palette is ever going to come back. Normally this would count as a forfeit, but knowing Discord, he's not going to count it unless she commits suicide. Don't worry, Dreamdrop. I'll make sure she doesn't do that, but now you know why I believe Trixie is the game changer.”

There was a long pause where none of us spoke, none of us moved, and none of us had any idea what to do next. Try killing each other again? What for? With Iron Maiden gone and Palette confirmed to not be the game changer, there were only four girls left who were even possibilities. Night Seam's theory was becoming more and more plausible after every death.

“I'm sorry we couldn't be friends, Trixie,” Night Seam continued. “We're just too different.”

With that, the girl in all black grabbed hold of her teleport gem and disappeared. I could have gone after her, but I was too emotionally drained to move anymore. Switching looks between Dreamdrop and Basket Case's corpse, I really had no energy left in me to do anything else that night… even though there was something that we obviously had to do…

Silently, I walked over to Basket Case's body and picked her up in my arms, making Dreamdrop momentarily stop sobbing. “What are you going to do to her?” she asked angrily.

“Come on, Dreamdrop,” I said sadly. “Her parents are probably wondering where she is…”

***

Neither Dreamdrop nor I could handle facing her parents and explaining what happened, whether in our real forms or magical girl forms, so instead, we laid her body down on the doorstep, rang the doorbell and ran. As we waited behind a nearby tree for someone to answer the door, our hearts sank once we saw Basket Case's mother collapse onto her body, wailing her heart out.

The two of us then made our way back to Summer Breeze's house, where we were hoping we could just have one more night of peace. Dreamdrop was obviously still mad at me, but not enough for her to send me back to my home or the hospital where Marrow could have been waiting for me. Fortunately, Summer Breeze lived alone, which meant that we didn't have to transform back into our normal forms, giving us at least a slight sense of security.

“What do you think is gonna happen now?” Dreamdrop asked as she crawled into bed.

“Trixie isn't sure herself,” I replied, getting under a blanket she laid out for me next to her on the floor. “If it turns out that the game changer isn't Marrow or Night Seam…”

“Stop. Please… I just wanna go to bed.”

“...Are you sure you're going to be alright?”

After a long pause, Dreamdrop replied, “Maybe one day…”

After that, neither of us really knew what to say, so rather than saying anything, we just put our heads down on our pillows and tried our best to go to sleep. There had already been five girls die in two days, and that's only because Iron Maiden kept me from killing Palette. In fact, maybe if I had just killed Palette, she wouldn't be dead…

I tried not to think about it, but at that very moment, I felt a buzz from my magical phone. Pulling it up to see what it was, I saw one new message, and to put a cherry on the terrible day that today had been, it was from Marrow, the last girl I wanted to hear from.

“So you killed Storm Rose after all. Then you went and killed someone else when you knew the game wouldn't end there. This is exactly why I didn't want you to be a magical girl. I don't know where you're hiding, but I want you to meet me in Platinum City tomorrow so we can settle this once and for all.”

There was nothing in the world I would like more than that, to kill the girl who put me in the hospital, the girl whose bullying made me become a magical girl in the first place, the girl who made me wish every second of middle school that I could just fall off the face of the earth and die. This time, though, I wasn't going to be the helpless little girl I had been my whole life. With a smile on my face, I texted back, “Ready, bitch,” and fell asleep.