Mille
What so many people happened to call the Nexus was not particularly known for it's color. The gray buildings, the gray landscapes, the gray moods. There were the parks of course, and certain patches of land that added splotches of green, but here in the urban heart, color all but seemed to fade. It was snowing again, the flakes fluffy balls that would explode into a bunch of smaller snowflakes upon impact, but the beauty was lost in the daylight, with so little contrast. Not that such things tended to go noticed, the gray fog of death lurking around every corner.
This all, of course, went unnoticed beyond mere observation to the girl flying high above the city streets. Most of the color had drained from her life anyway, not that she had ever realized it. And, after all, beyond getting an idea of climate, layout, and so on, all this meant little in the scheme of things. Because little things like beauty of snow weren't important really. What mattered was the Mission. Not even the cold mattered. Acknowledging the cold was for the weak. Nor her ridiculous outfit, partially responsible for her being so cold in the first place. That didn't matter either.
Well, on second thought, maybe it did matter. It was slowing her flying speed, which while useful for getting a more detailed look of the city below, was not helping them be timely in finding the area of investigation Sapphire had scouted out for her. Something had to be said.
"Tell me something. Why is it that I have to take on the guise of a magical girl when wielding you? It seems highly impractical, especially in these conditions."
The wand stayed still, but a voice came out all the same, as if from nothing.
"I have determined that it's the best way to channel the immense stores of prana that I can provide for you. The outfit helps channel it further."
The magus girl sighed. "Why is it I have difficulty believing you?"
"Whether you believe me or not makes no difference. You're stuck like that either way, aren't you?"
Well, she couldn't argue with that. As a magus, she would have to put up with it. After all, it didn't matter how humiliating or impractical it was if it was necessary to accomplish her goal. Complaining was for the weak. And flying was the only way for her to travel fast enough to reach their destination in a timely manner.
Never mind if her hair was sopped from the snow that'd melted on it. Or on this ridiculous dress. Or the fact that all that dampness had frozen to an extent. It was necessary to endure, and that was that.
"You could always go down lower if you wanted to get warmer, Miss Garrison" said the wand. "Part of why you feel cold as extreme as you do is the altitude."
Garrison shook her head. "The additional cold is a risk I have to take. If we go lower, I could lose time having to dodge more buildings. Even with the reduced movement speed, we will still get more timely results from the increased height."
"If you say so."
The redhead narrowed her eyes, scanning the urban landscape below, lifeless as it was. "How close are we to our destination?"
The wand wiggled a bit. "Not far now. It should be somewhere in this area." She maneuvered herself in Garrison's hand until she was pointing down towards one place in particular . "There, I think. That's about where I got the reading."
Looking down at the spot being pointed at revealed a splash of brick red among the grey-ish black void.
"That apartment complex?" said the girl.
"That should be it, yes," the wand replied, bending her headpiece as if in a nod. "We should head there post haste. We don't know if the source of the reading will move from there."
Garrison paused for a moment. Knowing she had to roll with the stupid magical girl thing, she tossed aside her regular procedure for casting spells and just produced a fireball. She floated for a moment, wet but at least somewhat warmer, before continuing. Already she could feel the unfrozen moisture forming glistening ice on her dress and body, but she pushed forward. After all, the sooner she made it to the building, the sooner she could leave this cold. ...And even better, get into something more useful than this utterly impractical outfit.
