At What Cost? ( A Kirby Madoka Mágica AU)

There's No Way I'd Regret This

"Are you sure you can grant any wish, for real?"

Francisca stood on the roof of the hospital, and Mistilteinn was perched on top of the tall ledge that surrounded the edge, keeping anyone from being able to jump off. The sun was beginning to set, and it almost looked like Mistilteinn was glowing.

"Of course." Mistilteinn said. "Don't worry, I've granted hundreds of wishes like yours in the past. There won't be a single problem. So, are you ready?"

Francisca sucked in a breath.

"Yeah. Do it."

There was a moment where nothing happened. Mistilteinn sat there, still as a statue, and Francisca started to wonder if anything would happen at all, or if a Soul Gem would just magically appear in his hand. Was that how this worked?

Suddenly, a stabbing pain in her chest came out of nowhere, and her knees buckled as she gritted her teeth to keep from screaming. A blinding blue light made him squeeze her eyes shut. She wasn't sure if she should cover her eyes or grip at her chest, everything hurt.

"I'm dying." She thought. "Something's gone horribly wrong, and I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm-"

Then, as soon as it had started, the pain in her chest subsided, but thighs gave out, and she started falling backwards. It felt like time had slowed as she fell, and she opened her eyes to see something glowing a bright blue above her head. It started lowering towards her.

"Go on." Mistilteinn said. "Accept it. This is your destiny."

Francisca reached out, and clasped her hands around the glowing light, right as she hit the ground.

***

"And then, I-"

Francisca's story was interrupted by a loud yawn from Zan, who sat in between Francisca and Taranza. She rubbed her eyes, and looked up to see both Taranza and Francisca looking at her, each with one eyebrow raised. Their expressions were nearly identical.

"Sorry," Zan said, resting her head in her hand. "Didn't mean to."

"What, did you stay up until three studying again?" Francisca asked, a smile on her face.

"Well, not exactly. I was up late answering questions from the police and the doctors and stuff."

"Wait, what?" Francisca asked, her eyes widening slightly. "What happened?"

"Apparently, I was sleepwalking, or something." Zan shrugged. "They said I was sleepwalking or something... Oddly enough, there were a lot of people with the same symptoms, and when I came to, they were all lying around me."

"You're kidding." Taranza said, but he didn't sound like he was in awe. Zan hesitated for a second, glancing over at Taranza. Everything seemed fine, she just looked a little worn out. Huh. Maybe she was the one who had been studying late.

"No, I'm not." Zan continued. "The doctors said it was called a collective hallucination or something. I have to go back for more tests after school today too. What a bother...."

"Oh, for Void." Francisca said, crossing her arms. "After all that, you should've just stayed home today."

"I couldn't do that! That'd make it seem like I was actually sick, and Lord Hyness would get even more worried about me." Zan explained.

"Ugh, you're too good of a student, Zan." Francisca smiled. "You're going to make the rest of us look bad."

Taranza glanced over to see Magolor sitting across the classroom in his usual seat. It was free period, so most of the other kids had left for other extra curricular activities, but apparently, Magolor had picked study hall over anything else, just like Taranza, Francisca and Zan had. Magolor glared over at Francisca, but it didn't seem like he was glaring at her. Rather, it looked like he had his gaze locked on the new silver band around Francisca's finger, and the blue gem embedded into it.