Celestial Sonata

I looked down at the neighborhood down below. It was quiet tonight, and I was alone, at least in a sense.

How long have I been doing this alone?

I'd thrown myself into my training since the Jo Loon Incident, well over three years ago.

I'd been pushing my limits for a long time.

And, I hadn't taken a day off since.

The world was too dangerous.

I'd failed in Zhou Ling City. The family that had taken me in as their own had virtually been wiped out for trying to do the right thing, trying to save the world.

I couldn't fail again. I couldn't fail like that.

So I'd pushed myself to the limit, again and again, day in and day out, honing my abilities. Training, meditating, studying. Learning everything I could, and pushing myself beyond the point of breaking, again and again.

Training to fight Aberrations, learning how to deal with all types of threats.

It'd all been worth it. I had saved lives, and I'd saved entire cities at multiple points. Even before the tragedy forced me to shape up.

I'd even brought down criminal organizations. I'd taken out Aberrations that were destroying villages, that would have wiped them out without a trace if I hadn't been there to save the day.

It was a lot for a single girl. I was just one Magical Girl.

One who hadn't had a vacation in over three years. Who hadn't taken a day off for longer than I could remember.

Until this week, at least.

The close brush with death had shaken me, and I was grateful that someone had been able to pull me away from work for a little bit. A few days of not having to think about Aberrations or anything of that nature had been good for me.

But I'd found something troublesome in the meantime.

I closed my eyes, feeling the vibrations resonating around me from the maelstrom below.

I'd gotten the feeling something was wrong here.

My senses were sharp, sharper than ever. The world itself sang to me, and I could hear its music.

And I knew something was off about Greenhaven.

It was a well-known fact that people who originated from Earth had significantly less mana on average than people who originated from Terra, which made sense. I'd grown up on Terra, and I had an immense well of mana to pull from, even as a child.

People who lived in this part of town, who'd grown up in this area of the world, should be almost completely devoid of magic. Even after they came to Terra and had mana awaken within them, they should still have low amounts.

So...

I reached out with my senses. With the Symphonie Estelle I'd trained and refined for years, honing my extrasensory capabilities to perfection.

I'd felt something was off here earlier.

And the more I focused my senses, the more I could tell it was a subtle disturbance in the flow of mana in this area. Something wasn't right, but it was faint, subtle. It was almost undetectable. Almost. If it were almost any other Magical Girl, I'm not sure she'd have even sensed it.

I closed my eyes. I had to figure out what was going on here.

I reached out, and focused my attention on the subtle, barely noticeable disturbances. It was like water slowly circling a drain. The currents of magic that were moving in a direction, but they were moving in a direction I couldn't follow with my eyes.

I could feel it. I was on the cusp of figuring out what it was, what was wrong here.

I just needed to reach a little further...

And then it happened. It was like an electric jolt shot through my body.

I felt a sudden ripple in the ambient aether. A wave of mana that was being pulled, almost imperceptibly, into one location.

My eyes snapped open and I looked down.

There it was. I could feel the flow of mana converging, coming from all sides, as though it was being sucked in by some massive vortex. I could feel the energy flowing, coming together, all in a single spot. And there was no doubt about it. This was the same disturbance that was affecting the mana here.

I closed my eyes, focusing my attention once more. This time, I could feel it, and the direction was unmistakable. It was like a compass needle, pointing directly toward a source.

A building on the outskirts of the neighborhood. A nondescript office building. It was surrounded by other buildings, and it was clearly in a residential part of town.

I focused on the office building, feeling the energy that was being drawn toward it.

The flow wasn't steady, it wasn't consistent.

It was sporadic. Intermittent. It was like a heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Thump.

And then, as if on cue, the mana stopped flowing. It was like someone had flicked a switch.

My heart raced as I focused on the building. Something was happening in there. Something bad, something dangerous.

Something that wasn't natural.

And, whatever it was, it had to be related to the disturbances in mana in this area.

I took off from my position behind the clouds above, flying towards the office building, focusing my attention on the flow of my luminal aura around me. Suppressing my immense power was a challenge, and I knew I'd have to be very careful to keep myself hidden from any potential adversaries, but that wasn't what had me worried right now.

The thing that worried me was that this building, this place of power, it was in the heart of a residential area. And if I didn't find a way to stop it, I was certain that something terrible was going to happen to the people who lived in this part of town.

It wouldn't be the first time some upstart mage or scientist without any scruples tried something like this, and it wouldn't be the first time I'd put them in their place. To do it in a major city like Shoreline City was an egregious display of arrogance, however, and that meant that whoever it was, was likely very powerful and capable.

And they'd probably have security to match.

I landed on the rooftop, a frown spreading across my face.

"Well, well, well..." I whispered to myself, the wind rustling through my long, flowing pink hair as my skirt flared up in the breeze. "Someone has been quite the busy bee."

The amount of mana that could be drawn was paltry...

But, a conclusion had struck me like a bolt of lightning.

It was a slow, steady process. Mana that could be drawn over a long period of time that would not be missed. It would be easy for someone to overlook this, given the neighborhood we were in.

"Hmph. Now, what could someone be doing, drawing on so much power like this? This seems awfully sinister... perhaps, I'll take a peek and find out."

I giggled and smiled, tapping my finger on my chin.

Now, should I do it the sneaky way or the fun way?

Sneaky would be so boring...

But the fun way would probably get me into trouble again. I wasn't in a rush, either. But it was late enough at night where I should have plenty of time. And I had an inkling the power grid's sporadic nature was related to this somehow. And that meant...

It wouldn't be a problem if the authorities were to get involved, because whoever was doing this was truly naughty indeed.

The fun way it is.

With a playful smile on my lips, I jumped down and landed in the street below, the asphalt of the building's front steps cracking beneath me with a resounding crunch. My aura flickered around me for a brief moment before it disappeared.

I took a step forward, my eyes narrowing.

I could hear the soft murmur of conversation and machinery within the office building, picked up by my enhanced hearing. Quite busy for an office building at this time of night.

They were in there, and they were up to no good.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves and branches of the trees around me. My hair fluttered gently in the breeze.

I could sense the ebb and flow of the electromagnetic waves from the cameras and the security system - waves of magic, both light and darkness, flickered and flared around the building, casting a protective shield against scrying. There was a lot of security for just an office building, and I had no doubts in my mind.

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I would have to use a lot of force, and I would have to be quick and efficient.

With a grin on my lips, I clenched my fist.

"Well... here goes nothing..."

And then, the sound of the door unlocking. Followed by another and another within the building.

Click.

Electromagnetic disturbances rippled through the wiring in the walls, the electromagnetic fields flickering and flaring in a chaotic pattern. I stared in confusion for a moment, not entirely certain what had happened, but then I heard it.

Shouting. Panicked shouting. And footsteps. Lots of them. The angry shout of a woman, and then a man. And the clatter of something metallic. More pulses rippled through the building.

What in the world...?

I tensed my body up and dashed forward at breakneck speed. The building's entrance was only a few yards away from me, which I closed in the blink of an eye. I kicked the metal door down and dashed into the lobby of the building.

"Who the-?" a man in a business suit stammered, looking at me in confusion. He held a clipboard and was sitting at a security desk. His face turned red and he glared at me, but before he could speak I dashed forward and grabbed him by the collar.

"Hello there mister! Could you please point me to... wherever you're keeping the big secret mana siphon of doom?"

"What the hell!?"

"Tch. Tch. I think it'd do you well to answer me."

"Wh— Oh FUCKING HELL! You're Celestial Sonata!"

I lifted him out of his chair slammed him into the wall, putting on the sunniest smile I could.

"That's right! But I'm the one asking the questions here, so tell me. Where is it?"

"I-I don't know! I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about! What are you-"

I gently lowered him to the ground. He looked at me in fear and confusion, and I sighed.

He was Terran, for certain. His hair color was scarlet red, spiked upwards in a mohawk. His skin was a rich olive tan. And his accent was faintly Aztlantian, not from Earth.

"You and your friends here have been particularly naughty, it seems. I don't know who you work for, and I'm sure that your boss will be able to explain everything once I've gotten my hands on them."

The man stared at me, his mouth hanging open.

"What... what are you going on about?"

"I happened to be passing by this neighborhood, so color me shocked when I felt something in this building draining the residents here of their mana. What could you possibly be using so much mana for?"

His face turned white. The blood drained from his face, and his hands started to tremble. I could see his mind working, trying to come up with a way to weasel his way out of the situation. I had no time to deal with the likes of him.

I grabbed his tie, pulling him closer to me.

"Now, let me make one thing clear, mister. I don't care about whatever you're doing here, but I won't let you continue."

He nodded his head in a jerky, panicked motion, but I was already dragging him with me by one hand.

Most of the residents here would not have the magical background to realize small amounts of their own life force had been slowly leeched off of them over a long period of time.

In the grand scheme of things, the amount stolen from each individual was a drop in the bucket. A minuscule amount. Not even one percent of an average human's capacity. The amount that had been taken from each person was not significant in the slightest. Not enough to make them feel as though they'd lost something. Even if monitored, their natural recovery would likely outpace the loss, as mana was replenished naturally through breathing, eating, and resting.

When stolen from ten thousand or so people, that tiny little trickle from each individual would be more than enough to do something truly dangerous.

"You know, you're lucky I happened to be passing by. If your bosses had gotten their way..."

The office had multiple floors, but I was confident that whatever it was that had caused this was located somewhere near the top floor. It was the only logical place for something that acted like a sort of transceiver, a sort of focal point. It had to be up high.

"L-Look! You've made a big mistake, I don't—"

I sighed.

"Do you really think that will work on me?"

"Y-You have no idea who you're messing with, they'll kill you and all your loved ones if you mess with them."

"Oh, please. Like I haven't heard that before. If I had a credit for every time someone said that I'd have... a couple hundred credits, actually."

I turned my head to face the man.

"Now, tell me what they're doing here, and tell me now. What is this building? What are you people doing? I won't ask you again."

The man opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything a loud noise caught our attention. My eyes turned toward the array of security cameras that had been mounted on the walls, and I quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.

Four elevators were filled with troopers clad in full tactical gear, all armed and armored.

"Oh, you have no idea who you're messing with, girly. S-Rank Magical Girl or not. This isn't your run of the mill operation, and I have no doubt that—" he said.

I tuned out his prattling and focused my attention on the troopers.

The man was right about one thing. This wasn't your typical run of the mill operation. The troopers were not just armed with run of the mill weaponry.

Those men were carrying weapons that were specifically made to combat magic users.

I'd seen those types of guns before, and the sight of them filled me with anger. I'd seen several C-Rank Magical Girls seriously injured by such weapons in my years of fighting the good fight. They were very illegal.

There was only one reason to have such a well armed group on site in such numbers - they were expecting a potential confrontation at some point, and they wanted to make sure that any would be snoopers would not have an easy time getting out of this building. That alone made this entire situation even more suspicious than I thought it had been initially.

"Mmm. I see that, six Magitech Soldiers in there too. Armed with illegal modifications too, at that," I mused. "Piece of cake."

His eyes went wide at my nonchalance. "What?!"

"Oh? I'm sorry, was that meant to scare me?" I asked. "My, you must really be in over your head, if you thought something like that would make me cower."

"You... how are you..."

I turned my gaze to him, my eyes narrowed.

"Ah, the top floor then? That's where I should be going?"

It was a bluff, but I had the suspicion I was on the right track.

He paled and started to sweat.

"How did you—"

"Thank you for your help," I replied. I took out one of my special crafted magical seals from my belt, one that was designed for binding. I slapped it onto the wall and then I pressed his back against it, pinning him in place. "You'll stay put while I figure this out. And then you'll answer some questions for the police."

I sighed, staring as the lights on the elevators got closer to the lobby.

"Now, what should I do about them?" I muttered, tapping my chin. "I'd rather not get into a firefight in the middle of the lobby... it could very well spill out into the streets."

My train of thought trailed off as I one by one, the lights on the elevator went dark. The elevators on the screens had stopped, the private security forces within stuck and confused.

My eyes widened, and I stared in shock at the monitors. I looked at them for a moment, then looked up at the lights that were flashing above the elevators. The elevators weren't moving, and the troopers within were panicking, pounding on the walls.

The lights had stopped blinking and were frozen in place, and one by one, the security cameras went out.

"Hey."

My Nexus device embedded in my wrist vibrated, and the voice was one I didn't recognize. The person on the other end was a girl with a very faint Japanese accent, with an Earth-like American cadence.

"Huh?" I said, blinking as I stared at the glowing pink gem on my bracelet.

"Hello, is this Celestial Sonata?" the girlish voice said, her words coming out in a soft whisper.

I blinked and stared, and my eyes went wide.

"Who is this?! How did you get on this line?"

"Name's Raiko. I was Sparky's mission control so to speak. Support Op from the Chaos Event a couple of days ago?" she explained. "We've met. Well, not met-met, but..."

I frowned, but nodded.

I could have sworn I'd recognized the voice, and the events of the last week were still burned fresh in my mind, especially the details of that night.

"I see. What are you doing in this area?" I asked.

"Look," she said, her voice echoing softly. "Sparky and I were poking our heads in and figured out the building was sucking up a bunch of power and energy from the local grid. He was worried that this was a front for some shady business. Like a terrorist organization or a drug syndicate. We just wanted to make sure nothing was up."

I laughed.

"That's what I came here to investigate as well," I replied.

"Yeah," Raiko. "Well, turns out he's onto something big. There's something bad going on here. They're doing some sort of massive scale mana infusion. That's why they've had to siphon the power off the local grid."

"Wonderful," I replied, rolling my eyes. "That is the opposite of what I wanted to hear."

"Yeah. It gets worse," Raiko said. "Anyway, we've kept those lugheads from getting the jump on you. I'm sure you could handle them on your own, but I thought it'd be nice to save you a bit of trouble."

"You're the one that cut off their power, right?" I asked. "You have some sort of hacking device on you?"

"I do, yes. You should hurry, I've only managed to block their elevators from here."

I side-eyed the security feed as a man with a large sword in an elevator seared a massive gash through the metal doors and began to rappel his way down a rope. The soldiers in the elevators were climbing out of the gash in the walls.

"I see," I said, frowning.

"Well, looks like you'll have company soon. Good luck. I've sent a ping to your Nexus Device and sent you the details on where the power is being drawn to, and the schematics of the building."

I checked the Nexus device on my wrist and sure enough the message had gone through, a detailed blueprint of the entire facility laid out on a hologram. I flicked through it and found a floor on the top level that was marked with the symbol of a lightning bolt.

"No security cameras up there, unfortunately. But, there are some on the floors below. It looks like whatever they've been up to, it's a fairly big operation."

"I'll be on the lookout. You said something about the power grid. Have you found anything about the source of their mana?" I asked.

"No," Raiko replied. "We were here to get to the bottom of that."

"I believe I may have figured it out. They're drawing power from the residents in Greenhaven," I explained. "They're leeching the mana from the residents here, drawing it from their bodies."

Silence.

"Huh," Raiko replied, after a few moments. "Now that you mention it, I can feel it. It's almost imperceptibly subtle, but there is an odd flow of mana in this area. I can feel the pulses if I'm focused on it."

"Yes. It's a very slow process, and the amounts taken from each individual are barely noticeable, but it's enough for whatever it is they are doing here."

She sighed. "I'm guessing it's nothing good."

"I have a feeling you are right."

"Well. That's... troubling," Raiko said, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "I'll pass that onto Sparky. We're both civilians, but we can help if you want. Regardless, I'd be happy to keep the goons locked down so you can get in there and get to the bottom of things."

"Much obliged! I'd rather not get bogged down fighting a bunch of thugs. Even if I'd obviously triumph, six magitech soldiers with illegal modifications would be quite the chore to deal with."

"Can do. Uhh. Now, I'll get out of your hair. We've gotta move!"

"Are you okay?! Do you need assistance?" I answered worriedly.

"Nothing we can't handle! Just get to the bottom of this!"

The line went silent as she signed off.

I turned and glared at the man who I'd pinned to the wall, and he was still staring at me, his jaw slack and his eyes wide. He was pale, and his hands were trembling. He didn't look like a man who had been expecting to face off against an SS-Ranked magical girl today.

"Right," I said, and he snapped to attention. "What was I going to say?"

"I-I have no idea what is happening or what that voice said," he stammered. "But I have nothing to do with it! I'm just the security guard!"

I gave him a cold glare and then sighed.

"Mmm. Save it for the authorities, buckaroo. Now, stay put!" I said, turning my attention to the elevators. "I'll be back to clean up when I've finished."

I tapped my finger on my lips and thought for a moment.

...

"Drat! Totally forgot to ask her how to get in contact with that kid," I muttered with a frown. "Well, I do hope they stay out of trouble until I can find them..."

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