ArcaneDreamer
The Absent-Minded Daydreamer
The cheerful sound of enchanted bells rang through the air as Queen touched down on top of a building, signaling the end of her daily patrol. Delighted that her landing was on point and heroic as always, the girl began to hum a merry tune to herself as she observed the view before her - above her, the sky was a soft blue, with nary a storm cloud in sight; Meanwhile, down below, the city dwellers were moving to and fro, carrying on with their lives without a care in the world.
All in all, it was just another peaceful day in the City!
Yes, just another peaceful day…
…
The pastel girl’s humming quietly trailed off, unease slowly welling up inside of her. Despite thoroughly patrolling the City every day for the past month, there haven't been any incidents at all! She knows that peace is supposed to be a good thing, but… Well, it’s been a month. An entire month of Queen not being able to actively perform her duty...
Before she could dwell on her thoughts for too long, she heard a small boom off in the distance. Queen whipped her head in its direction, a startled expression on her face. A moment passed, then a large smile bloomed on the Magical Girl’s face as excitement and comprehension swept through her.
She understands now! The villains were just hiding and biding their time, waiting for Queen to let her guard down! Then, they waited for her to be on the other side of the City before attacking!
“How devious~ But you can’t fool me!”
With that, she took off towards the sound. It took her less than a minute to arrive at the scene, her reignited determination making her movements much faster than usual. As she landed, Queen summoned her staff with flourish, before popping up and flashing a peace sign.
“Don’t worry, everyone! Magical Girl Queen is here to save the day~!”
To her confusion, rather than being greeted with the excited cheers of citizens, she was met with silence. Befuddled, she looked around, only to be met with equally bewildered stares by a bunch of... construction workers? Before she could shake off her confusion and locate the attackers, a soft yet familiar voice piped up behind her.
“Queen? Is everything alright? We saw you rushing over here...”
She turned around just in time to see two figures - one clad in stars, the other in gold - descending behind her. Queen smiled happily at them - she hadn’t seen them since the last battle, and honestly, she was starting to miss them.
“Oh, Knight and King! I heard something explode! So, I came running on over to help!”
“Uh… I’m pretty sure that was just the generator--”
Queen turned back towards her sisters, inadvertently cutting off Knight’s quiet observation.
“So~ Did you happen to see the bad guys? I gotta admit, they were pretty sneaky this time!”
Instead of answering, Knight and King glanced at each other. A moment passed, then Knight turned back to Queen, an odd tension in her shoulders.
“Queen… You… You know that the bad guys are gone, right?”
Queen felt her smile twitch.
“What are you talking about, silly? There’s always bad guys to fight! That’s why I was born, after all!”
King spoke up next, an unreadable expression on the eldest girl’s face.
“... Queen, there are no more villains. You’ve destroyed them all.”
The pastel girl stared at King, then at Knight. A moment passed, before a small laugh left the youngest girl’s mouth.
“Haha. Very funny, you two. Stop kidding around! Where are the bad guys hiding?”
There was no immediate reply. If anything, her fellow Magical Girls looked even more tense somehow, staring at her with wary eyes. In response, Queen began to question them even further, an edge of hysteria creeping into her voice.
“Hey, guys, c’mon. Where are the bad guys? There has to be bad guys here… There has to be!”
Her very reason for being alive is based around the existence of villains! If she’s still here, that means there are bad guys somewhere! They’re just probably not in the City, or they’re in hiding, or maybe---
Queen blinked, and the smile on the girl’s face disappeared completely.
“... Oh. There are bad guys here, after all...”
“... Queen?”
How did she not realize this sooner? The avoidance, the currently tense atmosphere, their appearance in the same area as an explosion - it all made sense now.
“Queen, what are you doing?! Calm down!”
How long were they waiting to do this? Since last month? Last year? When they started?
“Queen!”
Well, whatever. It ends now. After all… She’s the hero.
All in all, it was just another peaceful day in the City!
Yes, just another peaceful day…
…
The pastel girl’s humming quietly trailed off, unease slowly welling up inside of her. Despite thoroughly patrolling the City every day for the past month, there haven't been any incidents at all! She knows that peace is supposed to be a good thing, but… Well, it’s been a month. An entire month of Queen not being able to actively perform her duty...
Before she could dwell on her thoughts for too long, she heard a small boom off in the distance. Queen whipped her head in its direction, a startled expression on her face. A moment passed, then a large smile bloomed on the Magical Girl’s face as excitement and comprehension swept through her.
She understands now! The villains were just hiding and biding their time, waiting for Queen to let her guard down! Then, they waited for her to be on the other side of the City before attacking!
“How devious~ But you can’t fool me!”
With that, she took off towards the sound. It took her less than a minute to arrive at the scene, her reignited determination making her movements much faster than usual. As she landed, Queen summoned her staff with flourish, before popping up and flashing a peace sign.
“Don’t worry, everyone! Magical Girl Queen is here to save the day~!”
To her confusion, rather than being greeted with the excited cheers of citizens, she was met with silence. Befuddled, she looked around, only to be met with equally bewildered stares by a bunch of... construction workers? Before she could shake off her confusion and locate the attackers, a soft yet familiar voice piped up behind her.
“Queen? Is everything alright? We saw you rushing over here...”
She turned around just in time to see two figures - one clad in stars, the other in gold - descending behind her. Queen smiled happily at them - she hadn’t seen them since the last battle, and honestly, she was starting to miss them.
“Oh, Knight and King! I heard something explode! So, I came running on over to help!”
“Uh… I’m pretty sure that was just the generator--”
Queen turned back towards her sisters, inadvertently cutting off Knight’s quiet observation.
“So~ Did you happen to see the bad guys? I gotta admit, they were pretty sneaky this time!”
Instead of answering, Knight and King glanced at each other. A moment passed, then Knight turned back to Queen, an odd tension in her shoulders.
“Queen… You… You know that the bad guys are gone, right?”
Queen felt her smile twitch.
“What are you talking about, silly? There’s always bad guys to fight! That’s why I was born, after all!”
King spoke up next, an unreadable expression on the eldest girl’s face.
“... Queen, there are no more villains. You’ve destroyed them all.”
The pastel girl stared at King, then at Knight. A moment passed, before a small laugh left the youngest girl’s mouth.
“Haha. Very funny, you two. Stop kidding around! Where are the bad guys hiding?”
There was no immediate reply. If anything, her fellow Magical Girls looked even more tense somehow, staring at her with wary eyes. In response, Queen began to question them even further, an edge of hysteria creeping into her voice.
“Hey, guys, c’mon. Where are the bad guys? There has to be bad guys here… There has to be!”
Her very reason for being alive is based around the existence of villains! If she’s still here, that means there are bad guys somewhere! They’re just probably not in the City, or they’re in hiding, or maybe---
Queen blinked, and the smile on the girl’s face disappeared completely.
“... Oh. There are bad guys here, after all...”
“... Queen?”
How did she not realize this sooner? The avoidance, the currently tense atmosphere, their appearance in the same area as an explosion - it all made sense now.
“Queen, what are you doing?! Calm down!”
How long were they waiting to do this? Since last month? Last year? When they started?
“Queen!”
Well, whatever. It ends now. After all… She’s the hero.
