Pyknic Arms

[Aerial-Rave]

The executioner clenched her eyes together as she had finally woken up. She found herself in a pajama gown, light blue in color with a white floral design. She was also slightly thinner than she remembered as her stomach wasn't as curved but still turgid and she had lost at least a cup size with her breasts. She tried to speak, but dried murmurs was all she could manage. Luckily, it seemed to stir the second person in the room.

“Oh?” A mousy presence turned to the shifting woman. She was a husky coke bottle figured woman with pale skin and icy blue hair styled in a bouquet of thick curls. She wore an open black tailcoat with orange trimmings with a matching long skirt, boots and gray vest with an orange undershirt. “Miss, you are alive! Thank the Gods! W-What are you doing!?” The executioner was trying to pry herself up. The electric blue haired woman then hastily held her still. “Please, you must rest. You have been in a coma for nearly six months?”

“Ah...Si....moth...”

“Oh my, your throat must be extremely dry. I knew it was the right decision to watch you full time. I swear, those villagers...” The woman mumbled as she placed a hand on the tan woman's throat. A small glow emitted from her palm as green marking appeared in her hand. “There, that should do it.”

The gowned woman coughed at first but slowly felt her throat at ease. “Th-Thank you...”

“No trouble at all. The fact that you are alive is a wondrous occasion in itself. The village was a bit worried you weren't going to make it...”

“Hm?” The recovering female tried to move again, only for her body to collapse on her. “What is...wrong with me?”

“As I said, you were out for some time. Give your body a moment to recover, I'll aide in the healing process with my magic.”

“M-Magic? Are you a mage?”

“Uh...yes? Mages are associated with magic last time I checked.” The executioner then gave the woman a dirty look. “S-Sorry...My name is Weaver, head librarian and well, almost lead Magi in this village. Who might you be, stranger? I do feel something other than 'Coma-girl' would be more respectful.”

“Emi-Fast.”

“Emi-fast?”

“No, just Fast. Call me that.”

“Well Fast, welcome to the world of the living!” Weaver cheered.

“...Where's my stuff?” The less than enthusiastic swordswoman asked.

“Over by the counter, but you are in no condition to use them, I'm afraid.”

“Oh yeah?” Fast challenged as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The moment her bare feet hit the floor however, the sand haired woman plummeted on her face.

Weaver shook her head as she helped the clearly stubborn woman back into bed. “Now, I know you seem to be in a hurry but you really have to rest. Your body has not been active for almost half a year. I've seen people unable to do even what you did with a week on inactivity.”

“Let's just say...I'm not most people...”

“As much as I like your enthusiasm, as your main caretaker I must enforce a strict regiment of rest. We can begin a rehabilitation regiment in the coming weeks but diet and getting you to even walk again will take time.”

“Time that I don't have...”

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Bring me my sword and I'll show you.”

“Your...sword?” Weaver blinked. “I-I'm sorry Fast, but you didn't have a sword when you arrived. If it were lost in the field, I'm afraid someone else has it by now...”

Fast sighed. “Is my gauntlet present, at least?”

“Oh, of course!” Weaver nodded as she quickly retrieved the item. “So, you'll be more of a fighter in the future, I take it? Then again, you could always get another sword forged.”

“Yeah, no. My sword is one of a kind.” Fast explained as she slipped the gauntlet on. The artifact then began to glow and quickly morphed into a thin longsword.

“My word!” Weaver gasped. “I-I felt some magical properties within the gauntlet but nothing like this!”

“It's a Pyknic Arm...”

“Is that what all this buzz is about?”

“What buzz?”

“Well, for just about the same amount of time you've been with us, an industrial revolution has been occurring. Dozens of gauntlets, like yours have been distributed among the populace. They also have morphed into different devices, much like yours!”

“And why did mine come as a surprise to you?”

“Honestly, I never saw one up close...”

“L-Listen Weaver...” Fast began, wincing from her aching body. “The Arms...they are a ploy by an imprisoned dragon to free herself. Her name is Wyrm...I was appointed to execute her and...I failed...” The last part was bitter for the swordswoman while she tightly gripped her sheets. “If I fail again...She'll undoubtedly take over with anyone else having any means to stop her.”

“Wyrm, I've heard that name before. But what do the Arms have to do with her?”

“They're weapons from the future. Highly advanced items that do not belong in this time. If they continue to influence this time line, there will be no difference between past and future, making them one and acting as the key that connects Wyrm's prison to your world.”

“And what about your world?”

Fast turned away. “I'm...from the future as well...”

“Oh my!” Weaver gasped.

“D-Don't make a big deal out of it! In my future, Wyrm was on the brink of escaping, so the High Magi Council sent me to stop her. Little did I know, they sent me a bit too late as she instructed her Legion to sent the Arms here.”

“And now, you are tasked with getting them all back?”

“Not necessarily. Just stop them from being used for nefarious reasons. As the needs of more powerful weapons grow, wars and conflict will rise and the demand for more Arms. If that happens by someone figuring out how they exactly work, they become commonplace, just like they are in my future.”

“And Wyrm's malicious influence spreads as well...” Weaver added. “This is dire indeed, but again, you are in no condition to-”

“Then join me!”

“E-Excuse me?” Weaver stammered, her cheeks reddening.

“Help me...in my quest.” Fast hesitated, sensing Weaver's reluctant emotions.

“O...Okay.” The sheepish bookworm accepted. “I will go along with you but only if you listen to me on your recovery regiment. We can't do right away, but I can hasten your rehabilitation a bit...”

“Thanks I...appreciate it...” Fast smiled weakly. From all the excitement, she was finally feeling the fatigue of just waking up. As she crashed her head on the pillow, Weaver couldn't help but smile. But as Fast slumbered, the light blue haired woman then frowned, realizing what she just got herself into.

–

“No....no...no!” Zoe grunted as she dug through the rubble of the weapon's shop. “Don't tell me they already got it!”

“Or that it wasn't here to begin with. Come on Zoe, I doubt an Arm would be here.”

“It has got to be, Ryven! Why else would the Kruszevyanian Army be here!?”

“No doubt a thief stole it from their vault and fled here but with it being what it is, I doubt they would try to pawn it off.”

“Then where is it?”

“Aah!”

The two travelers heard the echoing cry as they instinctively ran in opposite directions.

“Ryven, where are you going?!”

“To see who that was!”

“Why!?” The dreadlocks magician didn't answer as she mad waddled her pear shaped body toward the source of the scream. Tugging her hood, Zoe suddenly felt conflicted. She could just turn tail and probably find an Arm somewhere else but then again, Ryven did stick out her neck for her. “She is going to be the death of me...” The arrow-less archer mumbled as she followed behind Ryven.

The two made it to the scene where a female knight was engaged with the very culprit. A towering Orc in futuristic battle armor had just swung its hardened club, matching the large broadsword the tan woman with sand colored hair wielded, echoing a tremendous boom on impact. The female knight was clad in a red mail dress with armaments on her feet and hands.

“D-Dame!?” Ryven exclaimed.

“You know her?”

“Yes. She is Dame Layard, one of the Witch Queen's Elite Knights of the Round.”

Zoe then smirked. “Okay, it seems she is fighting the real bastard who stole the Arm, let's help her!”

“Right. Dame, hey Dame!” Ryven cried as she and Zoe joined the battle.

“What are you doing here!?” Dame scolded as she deflected another swing from the Orc.

“Your forces attacked and ransacked the town!” Zoe yelled.

“And we came here to help you fight.” The hefty pear mage added, casting a cascade of icicles to pelt the green beast's head.

“I appreciate the help, even from the arrow-less archer...” Dame commented as Zoe puffed her cheeks. “But this thing has an Arm, we'll need to just let it ride instead of outright killing it. Its armor seems all but penetrable...”

“So, how do we beat it?” Zoe asked.

“Follow my lead and watch.” Dame replied, rushing in as Ryven covered her advance with a fireball.