51The skies above Axel City were black with smog and choked with flying vehicles of a hundred makes and models, each of them spewing forth more pollution. The gleaming metal of the buildings was tarnished by the corrosive air, save at the highest levels where they had to be pressurized. In Axel, even the rich lived in dwellings that would have been considered run down and shabby, as it was a town far from the center of Corporate Power, often called the "Last Chance" town. It was a place of endings, not beginnings.
Still, the urban sprawl lasted for miles and miles, both vertically and horizontally. Under the layers of buildings was the rotting underbelly, close to the surface that had long been abandoned. Some said that it was where Monsters yet dwelled, mythical creatures that had once terrorized the human and demi-human alike with magic and claw. But the corporations had long since put them down in past centuries.
Neon lights lit the underbelly of the city, where succubi plied their trade, hoping to lure hapless fools in with promises of drugs and pleasure, to escape their reality in dreams of a better world for a few hours for some crypto or chits. The real monsters did live there, but they were the gangs of thugs who preyed on the weak. Save for one small corner of the undercity, where the dying ShopWiz Corporation still held sway, it was they who ruled the slums.
Even further, beneath the artificial wood, rotting plastic, and rusting metal, down into the long polluted and tainted soil, ran the ancient sewers. This far down, there was little of the effluent and toxic chemicals left. Most of the sewers up above were clogged or rerouted, and below the undercity, life bloomed.
Unlike the mutated and bio-engineered life up above, here, strangely, native plants long extinct elsewhere bloomed in caverns that had once been buildings in the pre-industrial era. Caverns that once had been called dungeons glowed with life, and oddly enough, clean water still flowed. Fish and other aquatic wildlife were abundant, free of disease and pollution, unlike the few species that clung to this side of extinction above them.
For five hundred years and more, this little enclave of life had existed, sealed off from the outside world. Only a rusting suit of blue armor, and a great sword inscribed with "GRAM" at the edge of a clear blue underwater lake showed any signs of human activity, the bones of the nameless hero who had borne the armor long ago turned to dust.
This lost world, a capsule of what Axel, and in turn the entire world of Belzerg, had once been, had lived in peace and isolation since the fall of the old world and the triumph of the Corporations over the days of magic and monsters.
At least, until two little girls got hungry.
And a part timer got greedy. But more on him later.
For now, let us focus on the two young girls sitting at the edge of a ancient canal, filled with sludge and far beneath where sunlight penetrated even at the edge of town. Despite the darkness, they could see well enough, their eyes glowing with a dim red light, one that had been made illegal ages ago, but few remembered or cared why.
Their makeshift fishing pole, made from stripped wire and a long plastic pole, dangled in the liquid, but failed to catch anything. There were creatures that lived in such filth, but not ones that most sane people would consider edible. Of course, the red eyes would have told anyone that these two were far from sane, but it was hunger that drove them to fish in the swill.
The smaller of the pair shifted, her stomach rumbling. "Big sis…we're gonna catch a fish soon, right?"
"Of course we are. Your big sister would never let you starve," the other said.
They were both filthy, dressed in cast off plastic rags, with matted hair and scrawny frames. For those the corporations had deemed outcasts, not worthy even of the implants that would let you get chits for performing basic maintenance tasks, food was hard to come by.
The two sat for a little longer, until the bigger one tossed down her pole in disgust. "I give up! There has to be fish in there, right!?"
"Big, juicy ones!" the smaller agreed, wiping her dirty sleeve across her drooling mouth.
"Well, if they won't bite…then I'll MAKE them come up!" the older one drew out a makeshift device, and turned a dial on it. "This is one of my specialities! I've been saving it for just such an occasion! Fear not, Komekko; we eat like CEOs tonight!"
"Won't that blow up all the fish, Megumin?" Komekko asked, frowning at the improvised bomb.
"At this point, I don't care! I've been sitting here for a shift and a half, and we haven't had anything to eat since Yunyun managed to get that job with Wiz Corp a week ago!" Megumin ranted, and tossed the bomb into the canal. "WITNESS THE FURY OF A CRIMSON DEMON, AXEL!"
"EXPLOSION!" Komekko cheered, jumping up on her tiptoes and raising her hands in the air as if she were casting a spell.
The bomb, however, just sank beneath the surface, vanishing with a few bubbles.
"Um, did it work?" Komekko asked, peering at the black surface of the canal. "Where are the fish?"
"Damn, I thought I had good fuses that time," Megumin muttered. "Well, if we scavenge some parts, I should be able to make-"
There was a massive fireball, and the surface of the canal caught fire. For a moment, both sisters cackled with glee, dancing about on the edge of the narrow walkway they'd been on.
And then, as the surface of the canal burned, there was a secondary explosion, one even bigger than the first, this one cracking the ancient floor of the canal. Both girls screamed in terror this time, and Megumin tried to pick her sister up and fling Komekko to safety. Before she could, however, the walkway collapsed, and both girls fell through fire and fumes, down into the void.
Their brief fall, however, was interrupted by a plunge into a foul smelling pool only about seven meters below them. They both struggled to the surface, dodging the burning cascade from above them. They swam through effluent and worse to a raised spillway, scrambling up it against a flow of liquid into the lake.
For a moment, both could only cough and sputter, trying to get their breath back. The fire was spreading out on the surface of the pool though, and they scrambled up the spillway into a pipe barely large enough for Megumin to get through. They had to stick their faces up to the top to breath, but after only about two dozen meters, they came out into a larger pipeway that came up to Megumin's knees, and Komekko's waist.
"W-where are we?" Komekko gasped, smearing gunk and sewage across her face in an attempt to clean her eyes.
"I don't know," Megumin admitted, glancing up and down the stream. She blinked a bit, then frowned. At the top of the water, almost like a slick of oil was…she trailed a hand in, and brought the water up, sniffing. It was foul, but…not as much as the rest of the muck. She wiped away the gunk from her little sister's eyes, then her own.
"Let's go…that way," Megumin said, nodding upstream.
"OK," Komekko agreed.
They ended up trudging through the muck for hours. They couldn't pause to rest, with Megumin not having the strength to carry Komekko, and Komekko unable to sit down without the water covering her face.
Only…it was water. Not sewage, not polluted, not toxic…water. The further they went, the cleaner the water was, until they at last came to the source: a crack in the pipe, a large one, big enough for them to crawl through, with the pure, clean water trickling in. Here, the water glowed, a bright blue that lit up the inside of the pipe so brightly that even a normal human with unmodded eyes could have seen clearly.
"What is it?" Komekko asked. She dipped her fingers into the crack and washed them, then took a sip of it. "It's good!"
Megumin drank as well, too tired to think about what blue glowing water might be. It could have been irradiated or worse, but this water tasted…sweet. Clean. Wonderful. Full of life, and strength. After only a sip, she felt better, and after a swallow, she felt as though she'd had a better night's sleep than she'd had in ages.
"Let's find out. I bet there's fish in there," Megumin said, and lifted Komekko up. The little girl was able to scramble up the crack, then hold out her hand. She wasn't much help, but she did give Megumin enough of a boost that she was able to scramble up the crack as well.
They found themselves in a verdant cavern, lit by bioluminescent fungi, as well as the bright blue water. For a moment, both girls gaped in awe. Then, they heard a flutter of wings, and both ducked on instinct. Vampiric Moths or Lamprey Bats were not uncommon up on the surface, corporate bioengineering gone wrong, or the scavengers that sucked electricity off the failing Axel power grid.
Instead, there was a chirp, and something with bright feathers flew over their heads. Both girls blinked in puzzlement, then Komekko shouted, "IT'S A CHICKEN! CATCH IT!"
The scrambled after the bird, shouting and jumping after it, but the brightly colored thing flew up into the cavern beyond, and both trailed to a stop as the gaped. They had never seen trees before, nor ferns, or hanging vines. Komekko walked forward to bright blue blossoms, and bent over to sniff one.
"Don't! It could be poisonous!" Megumin gasped, and grabbed her sister's collar and jerked her back.
"It was nice!" Komekko wailed, and sat down on the mossy ground and started to cry.
Feeling wretched, Megumin sat next to her. She carefully leaned forward, and smelled the flower. It did smell nice. Awkwardly, she picked one and placed it behind Komekko's ear, then put one behind her own. "Um, I guess it's not poison. You…look cute, like that."
Hiccuping, Komekko glanced over at a small puddle, studying her reflection. "I…I do, I guess. Y-you do to, b-big sis."
They sat there for a moment, gazing around in wonder. Then Komekko's stomach growled.
"Can we catch a chicken and eat it?" she asked plaintively.
"We'll find SOMETHING to eat," Megumin promised.
In the end, they found some mushrooms and berries, and ate those. Megumin tried to only eat a nibble to see if it was poisonous, but both mushroom and berry tasted so good she ate the whole thing, and Komekko devoured several handfuls. They washed it down with the strange, delicious water, then fell asleep atop a flat boulder.
After a long rest, when neither was sure how long they slept beneath the earth, they explored their new environment for two days. The caverns were quite large, and both girls were cautious now that they had been fed. They came across many odd animals, but none of them appeared to be dangerous or threatening. They even caught one fish and two frogs and made a small fire out of dry leaves and sticks to cook them.
"It's good. Can we stay here forever?" Komekko asked, smacking her lips and burping after she polished off a whole frog on her own.
"I mean…I guess. I don't know where we are," Megumin admitted.
"It's nice. There's no corporations, and no eye hunters!" Komekko said happily. "We haven't even had to blow anyone up!"
"Yeah…but…what about Yunyun? Or our parents?" Megumin asked, feeling a bit sick to her stomach.
"M-mommy said she and daddy would be safe, a-and for us to go to Axel and find the Ice Witch. I-I thought witches were bad, but…" Komekko started to cry, and Megumin hugged her sister tight.
"I miss them too. They're alive, I promise. Dad's killed loads of Eye Hunters. Mom too. There's no way they'd stop them, right?"
"Y-Yeah," Komekko agreed, but they fell asleep in each other's arms that night, both weeping silent tears.
The next day, they found the sword and the armor. Megumin tried to pick up the sword, but it was stuck fast in the rock. It wasn't rusted: There wasn't a hint of decay or wear, and the blade was still sharp. The armor was intact as well, but it was far too big for either to wear.
"What's Gram?" Komekko asked.
"I don't know…maybe it's like the Cursed Sword the Swordsman used, the one who died killing off the last of the gods?" Megumin guessed. "You know, the one who helped the Corporations destroy the monsters and save the world."
"I never liked him. Everyone calls us monsters, but they're the real ones!" Komekko said, glaring at the sword.
"Yeah…it's a stupid story anyway. Come on, let's see what's over here," Megumin said, and led Komekko into the cavern beyond the blade. There, they found themselves at the edge of a pure lake full of the glowing water. Out of it flowed tiny streams in all directions, watering the entire hidden cavern.
"Is this…the source?" Megumin asked. She frowned, then stripped off her clothes. "Come on, let's wash."
Komekko did the same, and the two of them bathed and played in the pristine water for a time. When Megumin turned around, she found their clothes had been purified as well. They were still ratty and torn, but they were cleaned better than the best chemical baths, and smelled of sunlight and hope.
"That's…weird," Megumi muttered, plucking at her plastic trousers. She frowned at the lake, squinting into the depths. "Do you think there's something doing that?"
"I dunno. Are there fish?" Komekko asked. "Can we eat 'em?"
"Well, there's one way to find out," Megumin said, a grin spreading across her face. She took out the last of her bombs, activated it, and chucked it into the center of the lake. She and Komekko watched expectantly, and a moment later, a geyser of water shot up. Then, there was a rumble, and a loud crack as the earth shook. Both girls clung to one another, then watched in horror as the water began to drain from the lake. In mere moments, there were only puddles and trickles of water remaining: There was a large hole in the floor of the lake, and all the water had been sucked away.
"Did…did we ruin it?" Komekko asked, her voice small.
"Maybe…look. There's water flowing out of that…tank?" Megumin said, pointing.
At the center of the lake stood a pillar of blue crystal, taller than a man and as wide as a lift tube. Within it, the silhouette of something could be seen, something approximately the size of a person.
"There's writing!" Komekko said, pointing to the base of the crystal, which stood upon a plinth of worn white marble. She scampered over the wet rock and various water plants, past gasping flopping fish, and over slick shards of crystal. Megumin was hard on her heels, and the two of them came to the plinth, upon which were inscribed letters of pure sapphire.
Megumin cocked her head to one side and read: "Here rests the last true goddess, our Lady of Waters. She resisted to the last, until her final champion's dying breath. One day, she will return, and defeat the Devil King and his generals once and for all.
Remember: Even though we lost, we tried our best, and it's not our fault. Blame Society!
High Priest Zesta."
"He sounds weird," Komekko said, frowning.
"Yeah…the Corporations defeated the Devil King. Everyone knows that. And gods aren't real," Megumin said with a shake of her head.
"I wish they were. Then maybe someone could help us, and we wouldn't have to run away all the time," Komekko sniffled.
"Don't be silly. A Crimson Demon is strong enough to defeat everyone," Megumin said, but she felt tears in her eyes too. She reached up and wiped away the tear, flicking it onto the crystal pillar.
The droplet of water hung in the air for a moment, then splattered onto the crystal. For a moment, it rested on the surface. Then, the crystal began to glow. Cracks appeared on the surface, and Komekko and Megumin cried out and clung to one another in panic. Before they could think to flee, the crystal burst asunder, and a young woman with blue hair, dressed in a flowing robe of pure white floated up before them.
"As long as there is one eye left to shed tears, I, Aqua, Goddess of Waters, shall not rest, nor abandon this world," the woman said. She floated down before Megumin, who gazed up in shock.
The woman was beautiful, incredibly so, with a body like rich people from the upper levels paid millions of credits to get. Only hers was more…real. It didn't look like a flesh sculpt, of which even the best always had an air of artificiality. This body didn't seem fake at all, and when the woman smiled, there were dimples and smile lines, and her eyes danced with joy.
Aqua reached out, and wiped away Megumin's tears. "Fear not, daughter of the Crimson Demon Clan, my ancient allies. I am here. It's going to be alright."
For some reason, Megumin believed Aqua, and trusted her. She had been taught from before she could walk that the only people she could trust had red eyes like her own, that anyone else could and would be an Eye Hunter, and was her enemy. But Aqua didn't seem like her enemy: she seemed like the big sister that Megumin had always wanted, but never had.
She burst into tears at the same time as Komekko, and flung herself into Aqua's arms.
"There, there. It's going to be alright. Tell me…is um…oh…what was his name? Mitsubish? Katsurugi? I…I can't remember…how long was I healing? I remember taking a wound against the Devil King…I tried…Eris tried…our heroes…but we failed. We all…Oh no. Is the Devil King…?"
Megumin looked up, wiping snot off her nose and flicking it away with a finger. "The Devil King died ages ago, and so did magic. Who…who are you?"
The woman smiled, tossing back her hair. "Well, you must recognize me. I'm Aqua, the Goddess of Water, and patron of the Axis Cult?"
"What's an Axis Cult?" Komekko asked. "Is that a corporation? Is a goddess like a CEO?"
"CEO? I…don't…corporation!? But you have to have heard of me!" Aqua said, looking a bit panicked. "Sure, the worship of Eris is taking off and all, but…I'm still one of the original gods! And very popular! I fought the Devil King for centuries! If it wasn't for my champions, he would have overrun the Kingdom of Belzerg ages ago!"
"Um, Belzerg's the name of the planet," Megumin said. "Kingdoms are just in stories."
"They tried to have a Kingdom on the moon a long time ago, but CEO Sylvia and Chimera Tech killed the king, because he got in the way of profits!" Komekko explained.
"Sylvia!? The Flesh Crafter is here?!" Aqua gasped, looking around. She shoved both girls behind her, and held out her hand. A scepter with a pink lily flower on the tip appeared in Aqua's hands, and though her knees were shaking, she raised it as if to ward off a threat.
"Relax, CEO Sylvia doesn't live in Axel. It's the back end of nowhere. She lives on the moon, duh," Megumin said.
"The moon? But…Eris is the goddess of the moon…how could she..?" then Aqua sat down, hard. "Eris…the other gods…they're all…they're dead. I…I couldn't…the Devil King…"
Aqua started weeping, and Megumin and Komekko shared a puzzled look. Then they hugged their new friend.
"It's OK, we'll help you! The Crimson Demons hate all the corporations!" Komekko said.
Megumin nodded. "Yeah. The Devil King is long gone, but the corporations are way worse. They make life miserable for everyone. But everyone has to work for them because they have all the jobs."
"Yeah, you can't get no tech or 'nuthin. But it's OK! Daddy taught Megumin how to make bombs and she's teaching me!" Komekko explained.
"Why would you need bombs?" Aqua asked, sniffing and wiping at her tears. "Can't you just use your magic?"
"Pff. Magic isn't real," Megumin said dismissively. "Everyone knows that. It's just a hoax."
"A Crimson Demon, who doesn't…I'm sorry! I didn't properly introduce myself, no wonder you don't know me!" Aqua stood up quickly, brushed off her robe, then struck a pose, covering one eye with one hand, and twirling her staff in the other as she cackled.
"BEHOLD! I AM AQUA! FOREMOST GODDESS OF THE NATION OF BELZERG, AND SHE WHO WILL ONE DAY DEFEAT THE DEVIL KING!"
Megumin and Komekko blinked in puzzlement, clearly baffled.
"What's she doing?" Komekko whispered.
"I don't know…but it's kinda cool, don't you think?" Megumin mused. She raised a hand, covering one eye. "I think…I think it would look better with an eyepatch."
"How come? She's got both eyes," Komekko pointed out.
As the sisters talked, Aqua slowly lowered her hand, looking horror struck. "But...you're Crimson Demons. You…you don't make introductions?"
"Um, sorry, we forgot. I'm Komekko! Hi, you're pretty. Can we live here with you?"
"And I'm Megumin, this brat's big sister," Megumin said, ruffling Komekko's messy brown hair. "You, um…you know we're Crimson Demons…but you don't hate us?"
"I…why would I? The Crimson Demons were steadfast foes of evil! The most powerful mages in the world!" Aqua cried. "They were created by…um…that's not important! Look, your people were the most dramatic in the world! It was great! You would make big speeches, and use flashy spells, and recite poetry instead of incantations because you thought it was cooler!"
"That doesn't really sound like Crimson Demons. We have to be quiet and hide or the Eye Hunters will come," Komekko said with a shrug.
"Yeah, usually we have to wear goggles, but we lost ours when…nevermind." Megumin cocked her head to one side. "I did like the pose though. I should practice one…"
"I…yes." Aqua sniffled, the wiped away her tears and smiled. "I can teach you! Just, um, do one thing for me?"
"What's that?" Komekko asked curiously.
Aqua dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together desperately. "Please worship me! I don't have any prayers, I can barely confer any blessings, or do even the most minor of miracles!"
The sisters exchanged a puzzled look again. "Worship you?"
"Yes! Just…say you'll join the Axis Cult, and have no other gods before me! It's OK if you worship some nice gods on the side, Eris is my friend, we shared lots of worshipers! But I need prayers badly…or…or I'm useless…" Aqua sniffled and started to cry, her shoulders slumping as her hands fell limply into her lap.
"Well, you're the only god we know. So…I guess we'll worship you. You seem cool," Megumin told Aqua.
"Uh huh. What do we hafta do?" Komekko asked curiously.
"Well, I like prayers, and offerings! Do you have any bubbly?" Aqua asked hopefully.
"No, they won't sell Crimson Demons anything, we can't earn chits since we're outlaws," Megumin explained. "And if you steal food or drinks they send the Eye Hunters."
"Oh. Um…a hymn?" Aqua suggested. At the girls blank looks, she explained, "Songs! You sing songs of praise."
"We don't really listen to the shortwave. We can't get implants to listen to music, and we don't have money to pay for a subscription," Megumin explained.
"Plus, if you sing, people might hear you and then you could get in big trouble or hafta kill them," Komekko added.
"No songs? No music!?" Aqua seemed astonished, then outraged. "Right! I'm teaching you a song right now!"
She plucked out three of her hairs, grabbed some mud from the ground, and in a few moments, Aqua had fashioned an instrument that neither of the Crimson Demon sisters had ever seen before.
"What's that?" Komekko asked, poking it.
"It's a lyre! Now, this is a song I used to sing with Eris. It's called, 'Wanna Go Home,'" Aqua explained. "It's not really a hymn to me, but any time my followers sing and feel joy, I get a little worship from it. It goes like this…"
Leaving in the morning,
without a word to say
from my house into the
world, in the light of day
I might seem courageous,
but once the sun goes down
you'll find that I'm the
biggest crybaby around…
Aqua sang the whole song through, with Megumin and Komekko listening in rapt astonishment. When Aqua was done, both of them had tears in their eyes.
"That was the best thing I've ever heard," Megumin whispered, and Komekko nodded, sniffing and scrubbing at her face with her sleeve.
"Well, I'll teach you to sing it," Aqua said, and sat down on the plinth. "It goes like this… Leaving in the morning~ now, you try!"
In less than ten minutes, Aqua had both girls singing. Around them, flowers began to bloom, and pure water flowed forth from the shattered crystal, into a dying world.
And, far beyond the stratosphere, an alarm began to sound upon the lunar surface.