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# Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

- Thread starter Firnagzen
- Start date May 19, 2014
- Tags
    bad decisions dating mami tomoe diabolical laughter friendship is the best ship handholding identity crises microwaving tea gets you put in the bad place names are important puella magi adfligo systema puella magi madoka magica the body is the fursona of the soul this is not the baked goods thread we don't talk about rionna what could possibly go wrong? who in the world is azure sanfrancisco?

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Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 49
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 9, 2014

- #5,180

You glance at Oriko, and then unceremoniously drop the thread holding her in the timestop. She freezes out, whites and sickly browns turning to grey.
"No, I don't. Nothing she has to say is going to change my mind. But if she has any excuse for all of this, I want to hear it," you reply, looking steadily at Homura. "Though... now that I think about it, you could hang on to her Soul Gem, too. Separating it further from Oriko just makes it harder for her to do anything."
You hesitate, and stand, offering Homura a hand up. She gives you a long look before accepting it, and you pull her to her feet, before motioning her to step around a broken wall, more for peace of mind than anything. It's sort of weird, with Oriko there and frozen, mouth half open.
After a slight mishap with the rope getting snagged on a jutting piece of rebar, the two of you are safely ensconced behind the wal. You reach up to the jeweled pin on your chest that is your Soul Gem, and carefully unfasten it, before holding it out to her. "Just in case she somehow does something."
She twitches, staring at the Soul Gem in your hand. Her jaw works, as if she can't decide what to say.
"Look, Homura," you say, gently reaching out and taking the pistol from her hand. She lets you take it, fingers slack, and you press your own Soul Gem into her hand, and close her small, cold fingers around it. My life in your hands. "It'll work out, Homura, and we'll get you, and Madoka, and Mami, and Sakaya and Kyouko and everyone else your happy endings. The question here is whether Oriko and Kirika will be there to see it."
"Why are you giving her the chance?" Homura asks. Her left hand, holding Oriko's Soul Gem, hangs freely by her side, in contrast with yours, held out between you like a warding shield.
You look away, casting your gaze out over the rusting machinery and old buildings around you. "I don't want to kill her. I... you saw how she reacted to what I told her about Margot. She doesn't known everything, and she can be shaken. If I can... I'd rather talk her down."
You take a deep breath, and meet Homura's eyes. "But if we can't, then as I said, I'll help you. My mess, my responsibility."
She shakes her head slowly. "You can't be this naive."
"I'm making progress," you argue. "You saw how she reacted!"
"She could be acting," Homura counters.
"Could she?" Your eyebrows arch high. You certainly don't think she was.
Homura's lips twist, but she seems to concede the point.
"So, if she'll only talk if you can't hear, then I'll humour her. But in any case, Homura, I'd feel a lot safer if you could take overwatch. If she does anything funny, well..." you gesture at Oriko's Soul Gem. "We need to be connected, so I could use my Grief to form a trail to connect us?"
She nods slowly, letting the hand holding your Soul Gem fall to her side. "That won't be necessary," she says, carefully untying the rope from around her waist. "I have a longer rope." She lets go of her end of the rop-
-e. You grimace. "Ugh. Never going to get used to that." Homura's tying a brightly coloured length of rope to the one currently bound around your waist, and you follow that rope with your eyes - it trails across the landscape, reaching to the top of some old, half built structure, all exposed steel and I-beams. Homura nods at you, finishing the knot, and then lets g-
-o again. "Argh," you mumble into the floor.
Wait, why are you on the floor?
You push yourself up, off the floor, and look at the old structure where the rope led to... where the rope doesn't lead to.
...
At a guess, Homura misjudged the distance? She's now set up on a nearer building, and is waving an arm so that you can see her. You wave back at her, and she puts her hand down.
Well. Nothing for it, then.
You take a deep breath, and walk back over to Oriko, grasping the thread and bringing her back into the timestop.
Colour blossoms across the seer's body, and she blinks in disorientation, looking around in mild confusion before focusing on you.
Heh. So that's what it looks like from the outside.
"So. Homura's out of earshot, now," you snap at her. "What's so earthshattering that you can't let Homura hear it, then?"
Oriko takes a shuddering breath, closing her eyes before looking at you again. "She's making things worse," she says in a low voice. "Kyuubey already knows, and if he tells her that, she will despair. You have to stop that from happening."
It's your turn to laugh. Loudly, and in her face. "That's news, Oriko? That's your great secret? That's what you did all this for?" you say when the laughter subsides. "You... megalomaniacal, delu-"
Oriko makes a cutting gesture with her hand. "That's not why I'm doing this - it's what you need to know," she says, fast and low.
[] Write-in
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You've done well, Akemi Homura. You've raised Kaname Madoka to be the most powerful Witch that will ever exist.
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 50
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 10, 2014

- #5,242

Your hands twitch, and you barely restrain yourself from doing something rather precipitous. "Homura can't hear us. No more secrets, Oriko," you snap. "Each loop makes things worse. I know, she doesn't. So?"
You lean closer to Oriko. "What else, Oriko. Is it linked to what happened last loop?"
"I don't know." A faint crease appears on Oriko's forehead, and then her eyes widen slightly. "I don't always see the entirety of events, just enough."
"That's awfully convenient for you." You glare at her. Is she lying? You're not entirely sure, though you don't think so.
She shrugs. "There is no way I can prove it to you. The feathers annoy me too."
"Ugh," you grunt at the nonsequitur. "Why are you stalling? You asked to speak to me alone, and here we are! Why are you doing this?"
The ghost of a smile flits across her face. "Waiting for the right question. 'Why?' I could not work with you. Not if you are to work with Akemi Homura."
"And you want that?" you ask incredulously, gesturing at her current, rather battered state.
"You need to," Oriko states simply. "And that is something else that Akemi Homura may not know, or she would mistrust you."
"And that is something else I want to know," you reply, imitating her tone. "Why do you want that? Are you trying to assemble a team to beat Walpurgisnacht, or something?"
"Walpurgisnacht will be defeated," the seer says, eyes glinting in the odd, muted illumination of the time stop.
"Answer my questions," you snap.
"No. No, I am not," Oriko replies.
Huh. An actual straight answer. But... "And? I believe I asked two questions."
"Because you working with Akemi Homura can change the course of destiny," Oriko says.
You squeeze your eyes shut in frustration, pressing your fingers against your eyelids. Back to this cryptic nonsense again, after one straight answer.
[] Write-in
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Since it was brought up, ruling on telepathy - it's like dialing a phone. You can reach anyone, but you have to have a good idea of who you're trying to reach. Also, coobie is the base station.
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 51
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 11, 2014

- #5,329

Deep breaths.
Inhale blue, exhale red.
Deep breaths.
You could ask about that off handed feather comment, but your patience has just about run out, now.
"Oriko." Your voice is as cold as the depths of arctic winter. "You seem to be labouring under a misapprehension. I would prefer to know what your reasons are, and why you're doing this, largely so that I can justify sparing you."
You get one leg under you, and rise smoothly to your feet, looking imperiously down at Oriko. "But I do not need to know. Whatever it is you've seen? I am perfectly willing to go in blind, if the alternative is putting up with a delusional idiot with a god complex who relies entirely too much on her precognition despite knowing it's imperfect -that's you, by the way-, then no fucking thank you."
"Last chance. Make sense, or we're done here." You half turn, one hand still holding on to the reel of thread connecting her to the time stop.
A long moment of silence, as Oriko's jaw works. You wait, seeing if she'll actually be useful now.
She swallows, hard, and finally opens her mouth. "I wish you the best of luck, Sabrina. Bury me with Kirika, if you can arrange it," she says, voice shaky. "We will meet again."
You drop the reel of thread, and turn away from the seer, letting the anger drain away, and just staring blankly at a piece of rubble on the floor for a bit. You sigh.
What the hell is her problem?
Moving slowly, you reach for the rope tied around your waist, and start following it back to Homura. When you reach the point where two ropes were tied together, you wearily bend down and untie them, before starting to coil the longer one up as you walk.
The time traveller meets you halfway, having seen you head back. You silently hand her both ropes -the one still tied around your waist, and the one used as an extension-, and she stows the longer one in her shield, juggling the silvery blue jewel that is Oriko's Soul Gem. After storing the rope, she reaches up, and carefully unpins the badge that is your Soul Gem and hands it back to you.
She meets your gaze, purple eyes against blue. "Well?"
[] Write-in
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Short update, but nothing much to say, anyway
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 52
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 11, 2014

- #5,401

You accept your Gem, swaying a little in place. You feel... drained. Furious. More than a little demoralized.
Despair.
You did everything to give Oriko a chance. And she threw it back in your face to... what? Stoke her ego? Fuel her martyr complex? You have no idea.
Homura studies your face. "You should clean your Gem," she says quietly, grabbing your hand and pulling it up to your eye level.
You-
Your Soul Gem is tarnished with a sheen of corruption.
You sigh, and reach out with your power, siphoning off the Grief.
As the Grief leaves your gem, you straighten, feeling a little better. Not much. Moving slowly, you refasten the badge on your longcoat.
"More cryptic bullshit," you mutter in response to Homura's earlier question. "Nothing I didn't already know, and nothing at all of value. I gave her an ultimatum - no more riddles or I walked." You laugh mirthlessly. "Guess which one she chose?"
"I see," Homura says.
"Do you? I genuinely didn't want to kill her, if I could help it. And she threw it all back in my face. So, well! I guess we're done here!" you say, faux cheerfully. You reach for the pistol you took from Homura earlier, now stowed in your pocket, and hold out a hand for Oriko's Soul Gem.
The time traveller doesn't give it to you. "... I'll do it," she offers.
A horrible, horrible idea strikes you. "No. I," you swallow. "I have an idea. It... I. It's a. I. We'll get Kirika's Gem. One last bluff. The only thing that's affected Oriko so far was Kirika's Witch. I..."
The time traveller stares at you.
"It's a bluff," you say. "I don't wan- We need to know what she knows. We- I-" you break off, and shudder, feeling sick to the stomach. You can't meet her eyes.
Homura sighs. "I don't understand why you are so intent on this." In an echo of your earlier action, she gently pulls the pistol from your unresisting hand. "Clean your gem, first."
...
Her hands are warmer than yours, now. Or rather, your hands are colder than hers.
You take another shaky breath, and pull on the corruption in your Gem without looking at it. Even so, you know how much you accrued in this one minute; almost as much as you had throughout the entire conversation with Oriko.
A hand claps you on the shoulder, and Homura gives you a wordless nod of acknowledgement. She's stowed the pistol at some point, you notice.
The two of you walk back to where Kirika is, you looking around uneasily. The black haired magical girl is lying face down, making it easy for you to grab her orangey-yellow -citrine- Soul Gem.
... It's already fairly tarnished. Nowhere near critical yet, but noticeable.
You leave it as such, walking over to Oriko. Still frozen, one good arm wrapped around her knees.
Homura seats herself on the same piece of rubble she was on earlier, and you sit in front of the seer.
Balancing Kirika's Soul Gem in the open palm of your hand, and keeping the amorphous cloud of Grief you'd cleared from your own Gem hanging above you, you grab the reel of thread again.
Colour floods back in to the seer, and she shakes her head in disorientation before putting her hand to it. She looks at you, and smirks, before covering her mouth genteely. "I wasn't expecting to meet you again so soo-"
She sees the Soul Gem in the palm of your hand, and her eyes dart up to the bilious cloud hanging above you. "Oh, no. No. No, no, no."
"Yes." Grim finality. "I will do it, Oriko. I don't want to. I really, really don't want to. Give me a reason not to."
"I... OK. Just... please, don't," Oriko says, breathing hard and fast. She's trembling, full body quivers. "Do you know how muc- yes, of course you do. P-please."
[] Write-in
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You never had to go this far.
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 53
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 11, 2014

- #5,481

You nod, trying not to shudder, and letting your hand drop. Relief suffuses through you, and you give Oriko a slow nod. "So talk to me, Oriko. It's all I ask. It's all I've been asking for all this time. Just talk and tell me why."
Oriko's head is buried in her knees, and her voice is muffled. "You already know it. Something is coming. Not Walpurgisnacht. Something bigger."
"Oriko, no more games," you snap, the hand with Kirika's Soul Gem rising again, to remind her. You stare at your own hand, which is trembling violently. Either way, though, Oriko's not looking at you to notice, though Homura does, you think.
"I don't know!" Oriko bursts out, head finally coming up to stare at you. "I don't know. It... my visions simply stop when I try to look directly at it! If it gets to me or Kirika..." She breaks off, and shudders.
"Not a Witch?" you ask carefully. Not Gretchen, or Homulily? Or your own Witch, whatever that might be?
"It's not," Oriko replies. "A Witch, you can kill."
You sit back. That leaves very few options that you can think of, then.
"Right," you say, putting that aside for now, for the more immediate problems. "What else have you been doing?"
She shakes her head slowly. "I talked to Kirika. I went on a date with her. And she still wanted to make the contract. Chitose Yuma... I told Kyuubey about her. The fire, the bomb, were the first... overt things I put in motion."
"That's it?" you ask.
"Yes," Oriko says, and chuckles bitterly. "You shouldn't have found me tonight. It's enough. Not complete, but enough. Enough that you can win. I hope."
"Oriko." Warning tone clear in your voice.
"I can't explain it," the seer says. "Not... I can see the futures. I can see how they change, and... I've done enough."
"Enough? You burned down Sayaka's apartment, and, what, had Kirika push Hitomi down the stairs?" you snap.
"... yes," she admits.
You sigh. At least you're getting answers, now.
[] Write-in
=====​
Oh dear.
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 54
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 13, 2014

- #5,592

"Alright," you say. "Alright. Let's talk about the thing you saw. What can you tell me about it? When and how does it arrive? What does it do?"
She shudders, a full body quiver. "My visions, I. I cannot see it, or anything it does. I can see the aftermath. The worst of it." Oriko licks her cracked lips again, a sudden flash of pink on her still pale face, and she turns to Homura. "You, dead. Kaname Madoka, dead."
A flash of raw fury, across Homura's face, and her hand tightens on the grip of her pistol.
"Not any more," Oriko adds hastily. "That much has changed."
"Which part?" Homura demands, voice deadly quiet.
"Both are vastly less likely," Oriko says.
Homura's jaw remains tight. "And you did this."
The seer shrugs, a tiny rise and dip of her shoulders.
"And speaking of things done..." you say. "What, was your plan to help us 'win' to gather magical girls to fight it?"
"Yes. No," Oriko says. "You will end this, one way or another, but you need... tools."
White hot rage flares. "Tools? Sayaka and Hitomi are not tools. They are people who you hurt."
Oriko shakes her head frantically, and then winces, putting her hand to the side of her neck. "If Miki Sayaka wasn't moved, she would be dead in..." Her eyes unfocus for a moment. "Two...? weeks."
"What?" you demand. "How- no, I'm guessing you can't tell me."
"I cannot. If I try to look... A blanked spot, and then... Miki Sayaka's corpse. Completely unblemished," she mutters, eyes distant and brows furrowed. "It doesn't happen now that she's not at home."
"I'll echo Homura's question. And you did this," you say, voice flat.
"Yes," she replies, tone even.
"And..." you glance at Homura, trying to convey an apology. "What about Kaname Madoka?"
"It tends to blank her out," Oriko says. "She... doesn't seem to die, under... most circumstances."
Homura subsides, still looking unhappy.
"Hmm. That's good," you say. "And what did you mean about us changing destiny?"
"Just that. I see futures," Oriko says. "Things change, where you go."
"Feel free to start making sense again." You narrow your eyes at her. "Aren't you changing things?"
The seer swipes tiredly at her face. "Can you explain how your powers work?" she asks. "There are... layers to the future. Things change, in the most fundamental way, when you act. I tried to corral your actions."
"Right," you say skeptically. It seems awfully conveninent, how Oriko can now spin a sob story of how everything conspired against her; that she can't see the future properly while being simultaneously convinced of the rightness of her action. Then again, she doesn't seem to be lying, as far as you can tell. Maybe she's just that arrogant?
Maybe.
"Moving on, then. You expected me to kill you, back there," you say.
Oriko nods slowly.
"And you said that 'we would meet again'," you frown at her.
"Yes. It was to happen, sooner or later, but it was a certainty," the seer says slowly. "It's not this meeting."
"And let me guess, you don't know the specifics either. Moving on..." you mutter in annoyance. "What was next on your plans? If we hadn't caught you?"
"Hide," Oriko answers promptly. "We were going to hide for a few days. Shizuki Hitomi will be released from hospital tomorro- today, and return to school tomorrow. Kirika was to return to school to... befriend her, a few days later."
"Befriend her," you echo.
"Yes. It would have made her amenable to manipulation," Oriko says.
"Ugh. Ok, next question. You mentioned feathers. What about them?" you ask.
"I did? Oh. When my visions are blocked, there tend to be feathers. Black, and long pinioned," Oriko says, looking puzzled as to why you're asking.
You suck in a sharp breath. That's... not good.
"Hm," you say noncomittaly, keeping your face blank. Your eyes dart to look at Homura, but she doesn't seem to have reacted to that at all. "OK. Do you have any idea about who I am, where I came from, or why I have amnesia?"
Oriko looks even more puzzled. "I see the future, not the past. You have amnesia?"
[] Write-in
=====​
Questions, and answers. Ho hum.
Last edited: Aug 13, 2014
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 55
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 13, 2014

- #5,674

"Yes, I do," you answer absently, thinking furiously over the whole feathers issue, and more pertinently, how to defuse Oriko safely without having the whole situation blow up under you. "Was wondering if you knew anything about that, but I guess not..."
"You have amnesia," Oriko says flatly, looking faintly perturbed.
"Yeah, yeah... And you, Oriko, were working from just your visions, weren't you?" you say. "I, Oriko, woke up knowing precisely what has happened, including what you've done in previous timelines, and not very much else. So believe me when I tell you this: Your way? Doesn't work. Ever."
Homura twitches. Tightly controlled, and barely noticeable, but with you watching both Oriko and Homura closely, you catch the motion.
You sit back, interlacing your fingers in front of your face. "Between Homura and I 'changing destiny', the feathers interfering with your visions... did it ever occur to you that you can't control everything on your own? That you can't rely on your power to plot out everything with just you and Kirika?"
You wave a hand, and then return it to the front of your face. "The one loop I mentioned before?" Oriko flinches at the reminder. "The Incubator used you, and, well, things didn't go well. We're here, and not then - I'd say that speaks for itself. The one loop you did the best... you didn't try for any grand plans, or plots. You just did your best do... well, do good."
Homura frowns at you, and you shoot her an apologetic look. Later.
"Incubator?" Oriko asks.
"Kyuubey. Incubator," you say. "That's its designation. In any case... let me ask. Did you ever consider just sending me a warning?"
"It doesn't work. For example, without a clear and present threat, you fail to convince Miki Sayaka, barring extraordinary changes," Oriko denies. "Kaname Madoka..." her eyes slide over to Homura, and she cuts off the rest of the sentence.
"And the fact that I and Homura 'change destiny'?" you demand, picking at the obvious flaw.
"Would you take my word for it? Delivered in a letter to your doorstep?" Oriko counters. "Let alone..." she trails off, and very pointedly does not look at Homura. She pauses for a moment, and, looking as if she's fighting with herself, asks, "Could I have some water?" She gestures at the bottle lying by your side.
[] Write-in
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Pride.
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 56
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 15, 2014

- #5,813

You grab the bottle of water, tossing it at her. She flinches, raising her remaining, still broken arm to catch it, but the bottle freezes in midair between the two of you. Hesitantly, she reaches out and plucks the bottle from the air, before laboriously clamping the bottle between her knees and screwing the top off with one hand.
You look at Homura while Oriko struggles with the bottle, and she frowns unhappily in response to your cocked head. Silently, you hold up a finger, and raise the reel of thread connecting Oriko to the timestop in the other hand - we'll talk without Oriko.
Slowly, hesitantly, Homura nods.
From the way Oriko guzzles the water in greedy gulps, without the expected refined manners you'd expect of her, she really needed the drink. While she does, you begin speaking again. "Yes, I would have listened. Maybe not taken you at face value, but I would have at least paid attention, and taken you seriously."
You let the thread reel fall from your hand, and Oriko is frozen mild gulp. Raising your hands to your head, you close your eyes and begin massaging your temples - this headache about what to do with Oriko is perhaps a little more literal than you'd hope.
"Whatever this new thing is... The way Oriko talks about it, Walpurgisnacht is barely a footnote to it," you mutter, without opening your eyes.
"You believe her?" Homura bites the words out.
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure she believes that what she's saying is real," you reply, opening your eyes to fix Homura with a steady gaze. "And really, something spooked her, that she's acting so differently."
Homura frowns severely at you.
"And we know next to nothing about it," you continue. "Her visions could be useful... But she and Kirika harming anybody is unacceptable."
"Why are you arguing for her?" Homura demands. "You have the information you wanted."
"Precognition is a... powerful asset, going forward," you say. "If we give her an outlet, let her feel she's doing her part... I think we can keep her under control. Under house arrest, maybe."
"She killed Madoka," the time traveller snarls. "That loop might have worked."
[] Write-in
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You could always point out that Homura also killed Madoka, once.
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 57
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 15, 2014

- #5,869

This loop will," you counter calmly. "And I know. What that Oriko did was monstrous, but this Oriko isn't that one," you say, cupping one hand as if weighing an invisible object, and then discarding it.
You watch her face twist. She's obviously conflicted about the whole thing.
"Here and now, Oriko may have saved Kyouko," you say quietly, jerking your thumb over your shoulder, "I hate the way she did it. Oriko is smug, self righteous, and maybe even delusional. But she's trying to help, and thought she was saving people, including Madoka."
You frown. "We can use that, if nothing else. And if she's right about what's coming... Something new is coming, Homura. We might just need her power. We don't need to trust her to use her power."
"She could be lying to make you spare her," Homura argues, gesturing at Oriko with her pistol. "She's admitted to lying already."
"Is she, Homura? You saw the way she acted," you say quietly, meeting her eyes. She glares back, just as fiercely. "I don't think she was. She's just a teenager, you know, not some master manipulator, for all she pretended to be. And you heard her. She barely even cares about Madoka except for how she affected her visions. Oriko isn't a threat to her."
"How can you be so sure?" Homura asks, stubbornly sticking to her point.
You shrug. "In the end, I can't be absolutely sure," you admit. "But... if we have to kill her here and now, then we have to kill Kirika, too. Mami isn't going to like that. She's just starting to trust you again, you know? We... I don't want to hurt her, if there's another way."
You swallow. "I don... I'm asking a lot, I know, but I want us to win. Walpurgisnacht, this new threat, whatever. Please... just trust me a little further."
Homura puts her hand up to her face, covering her eyes, and remains that way for a minute. You stay silent, letting her work it out herself.
"Fine," she says quietly, voice flat and emotionless.
[] Talk to Homura
- [] Tell her your plans
- [] Ask her...
[] Back to Oriko
[] Write-in
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Homura is being remarkably accommodating, don't you think?
Threadmarks Direct Intervention pt. 58
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 17, 2014

- #5,937

You chuff out a breath. "I've said it before, but thank you, Homura. Thanks for trusting me... I'll make it up to you somehow, OK? I wish I knew what your favourite food is... or maybe music?" You glance around at your musical instruments formed of Grief, and then back at Homura. "I guess not."
The time traveller shakes her head, looking vaguely perplexed. "There's only one thing I want."
You frown at her. "Protecting Madoka, yes... Defeating Walpurgisnacht and whatever else is to come. But I'm going to do that anyway... Ah, you know what? I owe you one big favour. Anytime, anything, really, so long as it's within my power." You wag a finger at her. "And cleanses and things like that don't count."
Homura scowls. "Just help me save Madoka."
"I'm doing that anyway," you say. "Listen, I really appreciate your trusting me on this. I know it can't be easy for you."
She looks away, and sighs.
You shake your head. "Just... keep that in mind, OK? Anyway, moving on... Here's what I have in mind for Oriko and Kirika." Homura looks back at you, and leans forward, listening intently. You wave a hand at Oriko. "They're injured, and badly. They're not really in any shape to fight Witches, or really to do anything. So I propose that we keep them under house arrest - I visit every few days to debrief them. Since Oriko is so terrified of Witching out, and they can't get any Seeds on their own... I think that should work."
Homura nods slowly. Taking that as tacit approval, you go on. "I think we need to give her one or two Grief Seeds for emergencies. Of course, she doesn't get to go out or anything, and if she does, we hunt her down and stop her for good, this time."
The black haired girl nods again.
"Homura," you say, rising to your feet. You move over to her, and sit beside her so that the two of you aren't talking over a gap, so that it doesn't feel like you're interrogating her. You don't have the chunk of broken concrete she has to sit on, and the difference puts you roughly on eye level with her. "You're sure you're OK with this? Not just the plan, though you're free to disagree with it if you want, really! And... everything else we've learned? What Oriko said, about something else coming?"
Homura is silent for a moment, laying down Oriko's Soul Gem and the pistol before she takes a deep, shuddering breath and begins speaking. "Things are changing so fast. I... I don't know what to do."
"They're changing, yes," you say steadily. "For the better. It'll all be worth it, in the end."
"I hope so," Homura whispers.
"It will be," you insist.
The silence draws out, as you let Homura work through her thoughts, and you find yourself contemplating the damage you did to Oriko. Her left arm is completely gone below the elbow, crudely healed over into a stump, and her right arm remains broken. Crusty brown stains and ragged tears showing smooth, healed flesh adorn her white costume, dried blood from the bullet holes you'd closed over.
Homura breaks the silence. "Sabrina?"
"Hmm?" you half turn to smile at her.
"Could I have a cleanse?" she asks, showing you her Soul Gem. You frown a little, seeing how much corruption she's built up, but answer, "Of course," and siphon off the Grief.
You collapse the Grief, along with the cloud you've been holding the entire time, into the trademark marbles and pack them away in your bag.
Looking at Oriko reminded you of something, though. "Homura?"
She glances at you out of the corner of her eye.
"So... what exactly happened last loop?" you ask tentatively. "But." You hold up a hand to forestall her answer. "I trust you, Homura, and if you're not comfortable with it, you don't have to tell me."
You let the silence drag again.
Finally, she starts speaking slowly, dredging up painful memories. "Mami died to the sweets Witch. Charlotte, you said? Miki Sayaka made a contract, and saved Madoka from the television Witch. Kyouko Sakura arrived from Kasamino, and I made an agreement with her to gain her assistance for Walpurgisnacht. Miki Sayaka Witched out shortly after."
You stare at her, a chill running down your spine. That sounds remarkably familiar. "Did Kyouko and Sayaka meet and fight in an alleyway? And then you intervened?"
Homura nods slowly, staring back at you. "So you do know about it. You told me that the television Witch might trap Madoka again."
"Wait. I'm sorry, Homura, but this is important - did Madoka make a Wish?" you ask urgently.
She swallows painfully. "Yes. She... she wished that everything could be fixed. And then she killed Walpurgisnacht, and..." Homura trails off, and her shield bearing arm makes a little gesture, grabbing at empty air.
[] Back to Oriko
[] Discuss what to tell Mami
[] Write-in
=====​
Four hundred forty nine grief marbles, eight in your pocket, seventeen scattered over the ground, sixteen in your impromptu musical instruments.
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