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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 Our Benefactor pt. 4
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 15, 2015

- #45,593

You deposit the sphere of Grief on your lap and kick off the floor, letting yourself spin idly on your chair as you massage your temples with your thumbs. 'snot like you can't actually just make the chair spin using your Grief control, but where's the fun in that? A few revolutions later, you stop, propping your head comfortably on a fist.
Well.
You scoop up that lump of Grief again, and a moment of focus turns it into a familiar, boxy device seemingly made of grey plastic reeking of Witch. You flip it open with a flick of your hand, revealing the various switches and tiny screen of a Star Trek tricorder. The TR-580 VII, if you recall correctly. You squint at said tiny screen.
Man, Mami's phone has a larger display than this, you're pretty sure. Come to that, so does yours, though only by a slim margin.
You chuckle to yourself, pulling out said phone. You point the tricorder at your phone, and... how do you work this thing? There was an antenna or something, right? Or... no, that's the medical one, isn't it?
You pout at the tricorder. Then again, what's wrong with pushing random buttons and hoping for the best? You poke at the clearly marked 'PWR' button -they've got the right idea there, in any case-, and the device lights up obligingly. Incomprehensible squares with text shuffle across the screen, and you raise an eyebrow at it.
Summation symbol, 'Data', 'Sense'... You try the button labelled with 'Data'. It's probably not going to summon a certain android, but. The screen changes, showing a randomly shifting graph. The axes are labelled with units you don't even recognize, but, well... the graph changes when you point it at your phone. That's something.
You pull Hildegarde's Grief Seed, and point the tricorder at it. The device lets out a high pitched whine before a depressingly obvious 'ERROR' pops up on the screen. You poke the 'Alpha', 'Beta', 'Delta', and 'Gamma' buttons on the side of the tricorder, to no real effect, either. The 'ERROR' remains obdurately there.
You sigh in irritation. You probably wouldn't have been able to read the output if it had worked, in any case.
Only good for a certain flavour of technobabble, you figure. It could probably do something about reversing the neutron flow or some such, though. You briefly contemplate the 'Library' button -different scanning libraries, maybe?- before sighing and collapsing the tricorder back into Grief.
You contemplate Hildegarde's Grief Seed for a moment. That's right, there was a test you meant to do, but you forgot to, didn't you? You remember how you awaken puella magi who were knocked out, a spark of magic, pulsed through your fingers to shock someone back to wakefulness.
You lay your fingertips agaisnt the clear Seed, and jolt it with magic.
The magic flickers out as you'd expected, fizzling in the air before decohering. It mostly seems to skim off the surface of Hildegarde's Seed, to no real effect on the Seed.
Hmmm. You rock back in the chair, trying another flare of magic as the chair spins slowly about. The magic doesn't really seem to penetrate very far into the Seed, mostly vanishing before it gets very far in. Hildegarde herself, itself, doesn't seem to react to the little sparks of magic, either.
Not very helpful.
You sigh, kicking your legs out.
Ugh, this isn't really working.
Maybe another tack?
You're reluctant to get up from your nice spinny chair, and a spare thought has a few Grief marbles zooming over to you with a small rock. The rock drops into your hand, and you smirk as you slip Hildegarde away again. Convenient.
"Sabrina?" Mami's voice sounds inside your head. Oh, has it been that long, then?
"Hey, Mami!" you respond cheerfully. Not a bad time to take a break, anyway. You push against the floor again, spinning idly in your chair. "How are you?"
"Ah, I'm alright, I'm having math lesson now," Mami says. "How are you?"
"I'm good, too. I made a spinny chair!" you say.
"... spinny chair?" Mami asks, sounding amused.
"Yep," you confirm. "I'm spinning on it now!" You push off against the floor again, just to make good on that statement.
"Oh, Sabrina," Mami says fondly.
You chuckle to yourself. "What? It's fun!"
"I'm sure it is," Mami says. "I... should focus on my work now. See you at lunch, Sabrina?"
"Lunch," you confirm, smiling as the telepathic call ends. You look back down at the rock in your hand again - really, more of a chipped off piece of concrete from somewhere.
You start to force magic into the rock, just trying to get the magic to infuse the structure. It seeps in slowly, melding into the structure of the rock. You move slowly, in hopes that that would stop the rock from shattering as keeps happening.
The magic... doesn't really seem to take. Undirected and unfocused, it clings to the rock for a moment before dissipating slowly, and you hiss out an annoyed breath. You grunt in irritation and release the magic entirely, letting it slowly melt away in the air.
You try again, frowning as you focus on trying to get the magic to stay in the rock. Magic slowly pours from your hand and into the rock, a slow, bubbling storm that permeates the rock slowly. You watch as the magic seems to pour through the rock, with no real attachment to it.
Hrm. Not quite helpful, but a negative result's still a result. Annoying.
You sigh in irritation and lean back in the chair. Dead ends everywhere. It feels kinda like the tricorder - you don't even know enough to even guess at where to start, so you're just hitting buttons at random. In this case, the next button you're going to hit is going back to moulding Grief again, you think.
You call a large-ish blob of Grief to you. Maybe an item that'll let you communicate with Grief Seeds and Soul Gems? Safely, you mean? You focus on the Grief, trying to pour your will into it. Magic, your magic, pours into the blob of Grief between your hands, a slow, corsucating storm in your senses.
It feels... sort of like your 'no-properties' enchantment. It just doesn't take, the magic swirling within to no avail.
You release your hold, and the magic drains away, dissipating in the air.
Another failure, really. You sigh, leaning back in the chair and staring up at the sky for a long, meditative moment. Oh, there's the clouds the weather report mentioned - you can see some brooding, grey clouds drifting in on the horizon. You turn your contemplation your Soul Gem. Grief, dark and frothing like a well shaken bottle of fizzy drink, bubbles within it, and a fraction of a thought draws that Grief out to join the rest, still drifting around you in an enormous planetarium.
But then again, that previous failure... was kind of curious, wasn't it? Rather different from the simple denial you got from this experiment.
Odd.
Hm. Maybe something similar, but different? Something that could scan a Soul Seed or Grief Gem -you mean Soul Gem and Grief Seed- and displays the body? It'd be something useful, at any rate, and still involve the analysis.
You pour your attention, your will, back upon the Soul Gem. And you strain-
-it's-
-the same impossible weight-
-the same impossible distance-
-that's just out of reach.
You slump back in your chair, sweat now running in a thin rivulet from your brow. You're sweating, a sticky, unpleasant sensation, and a headache pounds at your headache, like icepicks to your temples and a jackhammer on your skull.
You groan, cleansing your Soul Gem again. You can feel the amount of Grief that built up, without even looking. With your other hand, you clutch at your temples, trying to think. What on earth was up with that?
You could feel the magic, your will, working on the Grief, and then it failed, some indefinable weight holding it back. And you can only think of these in psychosomatic terms you can't put in words.
The buzz of your phone going off in your pocket startles you out of the reverie, and you quickly regret your reflexive jerk - your headache feels like it trebles in intensity.
[] Write-in
=====​
Well that was odd.
Last edited: Apr 15, 2015
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 5
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 17, 2015

- #45,891

You massage your temples. What on earth happened there? How the hell do you proceed? Thoughts, spawned of guesses and strung on chains of logic, cascade through your mind. Ideas, ideas, ideas... you think you might have something, or... Nope. You've no idea, really.
You sigh, and straighten in the chair.
You gesture with both hands, sweeping them inwards from your sides, and some of the Grief you've been lugging around all day pours in, dozens of spheres gravitating in to a common center. They smack into each other, moulding into one larger blob, and a moment of concentration and focus warps the entire structure into a clear glass cylinder with some vaguely high tech fittings.
With a regretful sigh, you heave yourself off the chair, stepping forward and into the shower. Cautiously, you stick a hand in, thumbing the activation button. The air hazes, glittering like silver dust, and you can see the sweat sloughing off your skin. You withdraw your hand, checking it for ill effects.
It seems clear, so you step into the shower, thumbing the activation button, and... you're pretty sure that dial controls the intensity. You turn that right up.
Pulses of sound, shimmering in the air, hammer down at you, a million tiny feathers brushing over your skin. Not those feathers. You can feel goosebumps erupt, crawling up and down your skin as a cloud of dust puffs off your jacket. Something whirs, and the dust vanishes, presumably sucked away into some unseen sump below.
You hastily dial the strength of the sonic shower down, hopping from side to side as your skin crawls under the sensation. The scintillating pulses subside, and you tilt your head back, feeling the sweat wash off your face under the cooling sensation. You knuckle your eyes for a moment, and stump back out of the shower.
Rolling your shoulders, you hop lightly on your feet. That helped, and your face feels almost... exfoliated, even. You poke at your face curiously, stroking your skin.
... yep, that was pretty good for two minutes in the shower.
You take a breath, just... thinking. The tension in your neck and shoulders, unsoothed by the shower, is probably the sheer irritation at the results. Why on Earth did that not work? Can your powers not handle detecting things? Something opposing you?
You snort in irritation. Well, you'll turn you attention to something else for now, something you're pretty sure you have a decent shot of success at. A grand sweep of your right hand melts away the sonic shower, taking with it the stench of Witch as clear glass and plastic and various doodads dissolve into the deep purple of raw Grief.
You plunk back down into your spinny chair again, letting the momentum twirl you around before you bring your focus to bear on the hovering monolith of Grief. A Barrier. You saw how a Witch Barrier works, and you... you think you ca-
Mami's voice intrudes on your thoughts. "Sabrina?"
You smile, and release your concentration. Instead, you lean back in your chair, looking up at the cloudy sky. "Hey, Mami. How are you?"
"Ah, I'm doing alright," Mami replies. "How are you, Sabrina?"
"A little annoyed," you admit. Clouds blowing in from the west, dense and grey, twirling above you as you continue to spin on your chair. "I've been experimenting with my powers, and I hit a bit of a dead end."
"Oh, I see," Mami says. "That happened when I was teaching myself to make my muskets, too. Did I tell you about that?"
"Nope," you say, kicking the floor so that you can spin the the chair. "Sounds like an interesting story, though!"
"Maybe we'll have time tonight?" Mami asks. "Though..."
"Hmm?" you ask.
"I'm sorry, I... can't give you exact advice, since our powers are so different, but... the muskets didn't come that easily, to me, either," Mami says slowly. "I had to work quite hard before I succeeded, too. Maybe your current method doesn't work, but you need to try a different way? Or maybe you need to push harder?"
"Hmm, maybe," you agree. "Thanks for the advice, Mami!" Your feet scuff against the floor as you arrest your spinning motion.
"You're welcome, Sabrina," Mami says. "I... I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yep," you agree. "See you!" Ending the call, you bring your attention back to the monolithic lump of Grief in front of you.
You remember. You remember how the Witch Barrier looked. You remember how it looked. You bring your will to bear on the Grief.
My will be done.
You step forward into the shimmering slit in reality, your senses singing all around you.
Endless void.
And you, the only thing within.
[] Write-in
=====​
So I looked up 'sonic shower' for an image reference. In retrospect, I really should have expected that.
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 6
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 19, 2015

- #46,234

Only one thing to do.
Let there be light.
Runes sear across the endless void, burning power at your direction.
You paint with a brush of willpower and a palette of Grief.
First comes light, photons shed out of the aether.
Then comes matter, moulded of firmament.
Then comes order, marshalled in disorderly lines.
You are, and you will.
A step forward, onto a familiar rug. Another, this one longer to cross a familiar squashy pillow. One to the side, avoiding a familiar glass table.
One more step brings you to the window of Mami's apartment.
A twist of will, to clean up the footsteps dirtying your home.
You reach out, brushing the window with your fingertips. It's cool under your fingers. You breathe in. Faint smells of that shampoo Mami uses, and shares with you. The gentle scent of tea, lingering in the air. Last, residual fragrance of vanilla, spilled while making breakfast.
The window clicks unlocked, and swings open under your will.
You lean against the window sill for a moment, looking down. The rumble of Mitakihara City in the evening reaches your ears, the evening light bathing the city in fiery oranges and soft-edged shadows.
You step forward, through the glass, and you walk on, through the air.
Outside, you can feel the bulk of your Grief, still there. And yet... it's far away. Distant.
You continue onwards, striding through the air. Mitakihara melts away, and reforms into a enormous cavernous room. Huge, two meter tall tiles of grungy, off-white material rise from formless void, assembling into enclosing walls, and you can feel the faint thrum of machinery under your feet. Turqoise lights form a glowing track on the floor, and you trace them backwards.
Back out, through a shuttering set of steel doors, hissing open before your arrival.
You step back into the real world, and look around. The sky's still overcast, the sun barely visible through the dense, grey pall. The cool wind is a sharp contrast from the warmth of the Barrier, of your Barrier, but not an unpleasant one.
You take a breath, absently checking the time on your phone. You'd spent...
...
Half an hour. Half an hour had passed.
You glance quizzically back at the entrance to your Barrier. It hangs there, gleaming gently. Runes etched in silver fire hang form a border to the entrance - your own words. Es werde licht.
"Huh," you mutter under your breath, checking the time again. You... Guess you were just lost in that?
You step back into the Barrier, finding yourself in the dirtied white of the testing chamber again. Hmm. You walk a perimeter lap about the featureless chamber, and then back to the steel door of the entrance again, eyeing your phone, and when you're outside, you glance up at the sun again. That seems about right.
Well, a little less time than you'd expected for experimenting, then, you muse as you step back into the Barrier.
Interestingly, you don't feel the same... nauseating sense of wrongness a normal Witch Barrier gives you. Probably because it's your Barrier. You somehow doubt that that'd be the case for your fellow puella magi, though.
... your fellow puella magi, yes. You're... you're still pretty sure you're not a Witch. You think.
You hope.
You shake your head. Time's a-wasting. You wander through the chamber... the antechamber of your Barrier, you suppose. Stairs rise out of the ground with faint humming noises, each step clicking into place one after another, and you ascend. Out. You want to exit at the rooftop of Mami's apartment block, and you turn your will towards it.
Another steel door forms in front of you, shuttering open as you approach, and you step through, promptly finding yourself-
-wind rushing through the air as you fall, a constellation of Grief surrounding you-
-your Barrier entrance, hovering in the air behind you.
... That's sort of annoying.
You reorient in mid air, longcoat flapping out behind you. A moment later, you crash to the ground, shattering concrete under your feet, sending a billowing wave of dust and sand rippling out. You straighten to your feet, dusting yourself off.
You click your tongue, considering the Barrier opening up above, maybe seventy metres up. Hmm. The one down here is gone, but did it just move, or...? Maybe you need a spotter for that.
You click your tongue in annoyance. Alright, next experiment... Well. You'll need the Barrier entrance back down here. It responds readily to your will, and a stray thought brings the Barrier back down to ground level. You absently check your phone again - a few minutes more before you should be headed to Mitakihara Middle. Time enough for one last experiment.
"What are you doing?"
Your head snaps up, and you glare at the white form perching on the top of the rusty old fence surrounding the warehouse. Kyuubey's tail swishes through the air behind it as the Incubator fixes you with its unblinking, expressionless red stare.
[] Write-in
=====​
Sorry. Been a very busy few days for me.
The next vote will probably bring you to lunch, so include that in your votes, too. A little conversational direction would be nice.
Last edited: Apr 19, 2015
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 7
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 21, 2015

- #46,671

Your bright smile disguises a whirling, back and forth debate with yourself. "I was experimenting!"
"So it seems," Kyuubey observes, standing and hopping smoothly off the fence. It approaches you, tail lashing in a hypnotic, undulating motion as it stares unblinkingly at your Barrier. "Is this Barrier yours?" It approaches the Barrier entrance, sitting on its haunches in front of it.
Well. You're not really sure you want to give it any information at all. Better safe, than sorry, right? So... "Hey, Kyuubey, I meant to ask something," you say. "Been meaning to ask. Can you hook up Hitomi to the telepathy network? She's a friend, and I like talking to my friends that way."
The Incubator turns its head to give you a look, fixing you with its glittering ruby eyes. "Shizuki Hitomi?"
"That's her," you agree. You spare a moment's attention for your Barrier. You'd... like to make it smaller, entrance and the space within. It takes a moment of focus and concentration before the entrance abruptly compacts down to something you could maybe fit your little finger through. Sadly, the Witch signature doesn't seem to reduce much. If anything, it increases.
Kyuubey's head turns back to stare at the Barrier entrance. "Intriguing. I suspect this is another aspect of your power?"
A flash of irritation. But then... it's in the nature of the thing, isn't it? "Anyway," you say loudly. "I have Grief for you."
Kyuubey turns fully away from its contemplation of the Barrier, walking towards you. "I see," it says, monotone and syrupy sweet as always. The Incubator circles you once, tail lashing and unblinking red eyes observing you. You turn along with it, matching stares and giving as good as you get.
It breaks off, and retreats to a short distance away from you, facing away to present its back to you. "Please deposit the Grief in the opening in my back," it reminds you.
Without a word, you gesture, and Grief starts flooding in. You'd only used about a third of your Grief to make the Barrier, and you'd like to keep some spare for your wings, so... You'll keep a nice, round, thousand marbles, along with the Grief that went into your Barrier.
You direct the Grief under your control through a complex dance, Grief planetoids shattering into Grief meteorites and Grief comets. You amuse yourself by having each one vector on an indivdual trajectory to slingshot around you and plunge into Kyuubey's back, waving your fingers lightly like a conductor as you direct the interlocking patterns weaving about you like swarming bees.
"Shizuki Hitomi may now be contacted by telepathy," Kyuubey notes. "May I examine your Barrier from the inside?"
"You may not," you say, jerking the entrance away from the ground and hopefully out of easy reach with a flex of will. It probably won't really do much, but still.
"I see," the Incubator says, remaining in place as you continue to pour Grief into the hole in its back. Out of curiosity, you check what it feels like in your Grief senses.
It's... faint. Very faint. Distant, nearly imperceptible traces of Grief... and magic gather in its body, tiny wisps of both, unlike the full, refulgent glory of a puella magi or Witch. Would explain why you've never really noticed it coming and going, you suppose.
The Grief that you're feeding to it... you still have no idea where it goes. The moment it passes that midnight black portal, it simply vanishes from your senses.
As the last of the Grief disappears into Kyuubey's back, you nod to yourself. "Goodbye," you say, wings already billowing out from your shoulders as you dissolve the remaining Grief marbles into raw Grief. The Barrier takes a moment to undo, exploding out into raw Grief you tug into an orbiting constellation as your fully formed wings pump tugging you away and upwards.
"So that you don't misunderstand," Kyuubey calls, remaining seated as you pull away amidst a cloud of dust raised by your wings. "I don't trick people into making contracts. You humans just fail to ask the right questions."
The hell it doesn't trick people, you think darkly as your wings thunder, lofting you through the overcast sky.
... though the hell did that particular clarification come from? You consider that as you cut across Mitakihara, headed towards the school.
A few minutes later, you shift into a smooth landing on the roof of Mitakihara Middle School. "Caw, caw," you mutter under your breath, grinning as your wings fold and you drop gently onto the roof. You smirk. A much better landing than those you recall making, all those days ago.
It's only been days, hasn't it? Feels much longer.
An effort of will dissolves your wings, accreting into marbles around hundreds of nucleation sites. The marbles cascade into your sling bag, and you detransform, settling onto the bench to wait for the school bell - it'll only be a few minutes.
Sure enough, the bell rings, and the moment it does, Mami pulses a telepathic message to you. "Sabrina?"
"I'm on the roof, Mami," you say.
"Ah, I'm coming!" Mami says.
A bare minute later, you hear footsteps pelting up the stairs, and Mami emerges, lunchbox in hand and eyes hunting for you. You smile at her as she approaches, and she hesitantly raises her arms. A chuckle, and you step into the hug, pulling her close.
"Hey," you say as she clings to you. "I'm here."
"Mmm," she says, leaning against you. She pulls back a little from you a moment later, tilting her head back so that she can meet your eyes. You smile at her, finding an answering smile on her face. "I'm glad you're here."
"I promised, right?" you say, patting her back.
"You did," Mami says. She steps back from you as more footsteps echo from the stairwell, the soft smile unwavering on her face.
"Hey, everyone," you say as the rest of the group troops out of the stairwell, Madoka and Homura in the lead, Sayaka hovering behind a vaguely irritated looking Hitomi. The bleunette's holding two lunch boxes, as... usual. A few greetings later, you all head over to the benches.
"Hmm... Hitomi, sit here?" you say, indicating at the seat beside you. "I can start healing your arm a bit today?"
"Ah... alright," Hitomi says, settling beside you. Mami, on your other side, gives you an encouraging smile, while Sayaka, Madoka, and Homura, seat themselves on the opposite bench.
"How's your days been?" you ask as you pop your lunchbox open.
"Today was fun!" Sayaka declares brightly. "We had PE today!"
"Softball?" you guess, smirking as you pick up some fried pork with your chopsticks.
"Yea- wait, how did you know?" Sayaka looks at you in confusion.
"I remember the bat," you smirk. "What ever happened to that, by the way?"
"Eh? Oh, that," Sayaka says, and shrugs. "It turned back after a while."
Mami nods in agreement. "That's how it works."
"Homura's good, though," Sayaka says, pointing her chopsticks at the time traveller.
"She is!" Madoka agrees. "You were amazing, Homura!"
Homura nods, eating silently.
Which reminds you. "Oh, right!" you say. "Hitomi, I got you hooked up for telepathy."
"Huh?" the greenette... verdette... the green haired girl says, looking up at you, before twitching, eyes going to Sayaka.
The bleunette grins at Hitomi, who blinks back. "Sayaka?"
Sayaka shakes her head, lips pressed together but upturned in a smile.
Hitomi's eyebrows twist in confusion.
You grin, and decide to join in the fun. "Hi, Hitomi!" you say telepathically, including Mami to the call. "How're you doing?"
The verdette snaps her head around, hair flying, and nails you with a glare.
Mami shakes with suppressed giggles, carefully putting her chopsticks down to steady her lunchbox, while Madoka shakes her head mournfully.
You decide to take pity on her. "So... telepathy is a thing," you tell her. "You can communicate by... thinking at someone."
The girl looks at you quizzically. "Like this?"
"Yes, like that," you say. The green haired girl turns back to Sayaka, eyebrows arched high. The bleunette's grin fades a moment later, and Hitomi suddenly looks upset with herself.
You quirk an eyebrow at the silent exchange, and the sudden plunge in mood. "Hey, Hitomi," you say out loud. "Give me your hand?"
"Hmm? Oh, um," Hitomi says. She puts her lunchbox to the side, fumbling at her sling with her working hand. Sayaka immediately jumps to her feet, crossing the space between the benches in a moment and helping Hitomi with said sling. Hitomi sighs almost imperceptibly, but allows it.
"Um, thank you again, Sabrina," Hitomi says as she shifts so that she can present you with her arm, still in a cast.
"No problem," you say, shifting on the bench. "Uhm. This is kinda tricky." You do need to eat your lunch, and so does Hitomi.
"Umm... Sabrina, maybe we should do this after eating?" Mami suggests.
"... That might work better," you concede, giving up on trying to manuveur into position. If the chairs could be moved as opposed to being benches... Alas. "Are you OK with that, Hitomi?"
"Of course," Hitomi says, smiling. "I wouldn't have even this opportunity without your efforts."
"Alright, then," you say. "And before I forget, Sayaka? Mami and I, and maybe Homura need to talk to the new magical girl after school today-" you glance at the time traveller, receiving a disinterested look in return, "-but that shouldn't take too long. We'll should be able to make it for healing Kyousuke afterwards?"
"Ah, OK," Sayaka says, glancing up from the floor to look at you. "Thanks again, Sabrina."
You wave it off. "No problem," you say, starting to eat again, your chopsticks moving with alacrity. Something to do when you're finished eating, after all. "The vegetables are great, Mami," you compliment her. "Perfect and crisp."
"Thank you, Sabrina," she says, smiling at you.
"Ah, yes! Papa made mochi yesterday," Madoka says, producing a small tupperware box.
"Oooh," Sayaka says, eyes lighting up. "I love mochi."
"Sayaka, you just love my papa's cooking," Madoka points out.
"Well..." Sayaka draws the word out.
"You do, Sayaka," Hitomi says, smiling as she, too, eats quickly.
"Oh, fine," Sayaka says, and glances at Madoka. "Your dad's a great cook."
"He is!" Madoka agrees, smiling.
"Oh, speaking of food," you say, snapping your fingers. "Hitomi, did you ask about the picnic?"
Hitomi nods. "I have... my parents say I can go," she says, smiling.
"Brilliant," you say. "Any particular food requests?"
"I, ah..." Hitomi bobs her head from side to side. "I've never been on a picnic before. I wouldn't know?"
"Ah, well," you say, continuing to eat. You quickly finish, and glance at Hitomi. She's just about finished, too, and puts her lunchbox aside, shuffling around to present you with her arm. With an effort of will, you summon the glow of healing magic to your hand, boldly pressing it to her wrist and letting the gentle warmth sink in.
Sayaka watches, eyes bright with interest. Madoka gives you a pleased smile, while Homura just looks on, amethyst eyes dispassionate.
A moment later, you can feel Mami shuffle behind you, reaching across you to to lend her help to the healing process.
"Say, Hitomi," you say slowly, eyeing Hitomi's wavy green hair. "What do you call your hair colour, anyway?"
"Green?" the girl asks, looking at you curiously.
"No, I mean..." you point at Mami with one hand, keeping your hand steady. "In English, Mami is 'blonde', and people with brown hair are 'brunette'."
"Um," Hitomi says. "Green-haired?"
"Well, yes, in English it'd be 'green-haired'," you agree. "But I was thinking it'd be something like 'verdette'? Borrow the French word for green? I suppose Madoka would be a... 'rosette'? 'Rosetop'? Sayaka... 'bleunette'?"
Hitomi shrugs, looking faintly confused. "Um, I have no idea."
"Nope, no idea," Sayaka says, shrugging and steadying the lunchbox on her lap. "Madoka?"
The pinkette... rosetop... pinkette swallows a mouthful. "I don't know," she says. "But, um, Homura, your English is really good! Do you know?"
"No," Homura says, shaking her head. "I don't."
"I... think you're right, Sabrina," Mami offers. "'Brun-' is French, I think? Maybe we could look up a dictionary later?"
"Ah, probably a good idea," you agree. "Still. It kind of bugs me, really."
"I'm sort of surprised you don't know, Sabrina?" Sayaka says.
You shrug, being careful to keep your hand steady, letting the healing magic play over Hitomi's wrist. "I've no idea why I don't," you admit. "Seems like... I dunno. A gap in my memory?"
"Oh," Sayaka says, putting her chopsticks down. "Sorry."
"Nah, it's fine," you say, looking over to give her a reassuring smile. Sayaka grins weakly back at you, while Madoka gives you a faintly worried look.
"Hey, maybe it's a clue?" Sayaka suggests.
"A clue for Sabrina's origins?" Mami asks.
"Yeah!" Sayaka says, seeming to come to grips with the prospect. "I dunno how, but you're just missing this one bit of knowledge, maybe it's a key somehow?"
"Um," Madoka says. "I... think maybe she just forgot?" she says, giving you an apologetic look.
"Eh, it's not a big deal," you say. "Just something that's been bothering me. Though on the subject of hair, something else I've been considering, imagine if we swapped hair colours and styles?" You grin around.
"Dibs on transfer student's hair!" Sayaka grins. "Uh, Homura, I mean. Sorry."
Homura glances over, amethyst eyes resting on Sayaka for a moment before flicking away.
Madoka deflates, pouting. "I wanted her hair. It's really pretty, Homura," she says, beaming at the black haired girl. A moment later, she adds, "Can I have Mami's drills, then?"
The time traveller parts her lips, one eyebrow quirked slightly, as if she's about to say something, before she clearly decides not to.
Hitomi chuckles. "I'll take your hair, Sayaka," she says. "Or... I don't think blue hair would suit me. Maybe Sabrina's?"
"I've thought about straightening my hair before," Mami admits. "That would be quite troublesome, though."
"No, not the hair drills!" you say in feigned terror.
"Mami, no!" Sayaka says, tone equally horrified.
Mami giggles. "Well, if you like them so much..."
"Nah, I'm just kidding," you say. "By the way, uh, I think it's almost time, and we should stop the healing here? Can't heal too much, right?"
"Mmm," Mami agrees, retracting her hand, as do you.
Sayaka looks on, an interested expression on her face. "How does it feel, Hitomi?" she ask.
Hitomi stretches her hand out, flexing her hand as far as she can within the cast. "It feels a lot better," the verdette says, smiling. "Thank you, Sabrina, Mami."
"Ah, no problem," you say.
"Yes, it was our pleasure, Hitomi," Mami says.
"Say... do you think that there's a day when we can heal it all the way in one shot?" you ask.
Hitomi frowns. "I don't think so. The doctors would notice," she says, considering it.
"Yeah," You grimace, leaning back with a sigh. "I was afraid of that."
Mami shakes her head. "It would attract too much attention, Sabrina," she says.
You sigh again. "Dammit."
Hitomi smiles. "You're already doing a lot," she says, now flexing her fingers one by one. "But um... you're right, we should be going now," she says.
Sayaka perks up, and hops to her feet, walking over and collecting Hitomi's lunch box. The green haired girl rolls her eyes at her friend as she carefully slides her arm back into the sling.
"By the way," you send out by telepathy to Mami and Homura as you say your goodbyes. "Um... remember when I asked for a closer look at a Witch barrier? I wanted to see how it worked, and well, I kiiiiinda made my own. No Witch, just a Barrier."
"What?"
"What?"
Mami's and Homura's reactions are identical, nearly in stereo as both snap around to stare at you, drawing concerned looks.
"Uh, yeah," you say sheepishly. "I... thought it might be useful? For storing Grief? I can show you later." Out loud, you say, "Um... just a bit of odd news I got earlier."
Madoka and Sayaka nod, while Hitomi just raises an eyebrow.
"I... see," Homura says.
"Umm... alright, Sabrina," Mami says. "Is it safe?"
"Yeah," you say. "As far as I can tell, anyway."
"Alright, then," Mami says, staying behind as the others turn to head down the staircase.
You pull Mami into a hug. "I'll see you after school, OK?"
"Alright," Mami agrees, giving you a little smile. "I... I'm sorry I'm so..."
You shake your head. "No, don't apologize, Mami."
"Sorr-" Mami catches herself, smiling and shaking her head.
You chuckle, and squeeze her lightly, before letting her go. "Anyway. See you."
"See you," Mami agrees, stepping back. You smile encouragingly at her, and she turns to go.
As she disappears into the stairwell, you open up one last telepathic call to Homura. "Homura?"
"What is it?" she replies, voice curt.
"Are we still going for the, ah, shopping trip later?" you ask.
There's a long pause before Homura replies. "Yes, we are."
"Alright," you say. "Come find me then?"
"Yes," she agrees, a distinct note of finality in her tone as the connection ends.
You huff out a sigh. Well. That's... a good sign, you think. What now?
[] Write-in
=====​
Curiously, the English language doesn't have a word for people with black hair, either. I propose we mug another language for one.
And yes, I am intentionally playing around with Sabrina's internal language. It's funny!
Last edited: Apr 21, 2015
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 8
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 23, 2015

- #46,989

You transform in a burst of light, and Grief ripples out from your shoulders in billowing, swathes of twisting fractal patterns stark against the sky. Time to get out of here before anyone comes along and finds you up here - you've been pretty lucky about that, haven't you? You're sort or surprised no one else comes up to the roof, even. Maybe there's a story behind that?
You put that out of your mind as your wings stroke powerfully, lifting you into the air. The rest of the Grief, the Grief that made up your Barrier, you pull into concentric rings orbiting around you. And speaking of spinning, that reminds you; the next time you make your Barrier, you should add a spinny chair.
Hmmm. You bank, drifting towards the city center and watching the glittering steel and glass of the city roll by beneath you. It occurs to you that you haven't really talked all that much to Madoka or Sayaka, and that you really should.
"Hey, Madoka?" you send out a quick telepathic message.
"A-ah! Sabrina?" Madoka asks. "Is something happening?"
"Hey, um. Would you like to talk later? No rush, though," you ask her. You barely manage to restrain the urge to mutter 'caw, caw' as you wheel about the skies of Mitakihara, longcoat flapping behind you and wings pumping.
"Ah? What about?" Madoka asks.
"Well... just talking, really," you say. "I just realized I don't really talk as much as I should with you."
"Umm, OK," Madoka says. "But... when?"
"Eh. As I said, no real rush. Maybe later today if there's time?" you say. "Just wanted to ask first, so I don't forget, heh."
"Ah, I see..." Madoka says. "Um... OK, then!"
"Yup," you agree. "See you later!"
And next up would be... Sayaka. "Hey, Sayaka."
"Hey, Sabrina," the bleunette replies. "Something up?"
"Nah," you say. "Just wondering, do you want to talk sometime? Nothing in particular, just that I realized I don't talk to you as much as I should."
"... is this another waifu joke?" Sayaka asks suspiciously.
"That's... well no, not this time, but I can make it one if you like," you offer.
"No, I think I can live with it not being one," Sayaka says, tone utterly dry.
You snort. "Well. Offer's open?"
"Yeah... There's kinda stuff I want to talk to you about, too," Sayaka admits. "So yeah. Sounds good. When?"
"Not sure," you say. "When we're free?"
"Sure," Sayaka says. "Sounds good."
"Right. See you later, then," you say.
"Bye!" the bleunette says.
You nod to yourself. That's done, then. You look down as you circle, watching the minuscule forms of cars and trucks travelling through the streets below, ants at the feet of the giants that are the skyscrapers. Criss-crossing flyovers twist and weave over each other in complex patterns only understood by the mad and city planners, but you repeat yourself.
You grin as you swoop past the DBJ building, scaring off a few birds roosting on the antennas. You're wasting a little time, really, but flight.
And it's not like your brain isn't busy. Attack names for yourself, plans for the future, thinking about your Barrier and all the uses you could put it to... Though really. You have a Barrier. That's pretty cool, despite everything, and you're still pretty sure you're a puella magi and not a Witch. You think.
You hope.
Still. It's really quite a neat trick.
Hmmm. You should probably do your daily check in with Oriko and Kirika, too. Which means... you should keep Homura in the loop, too. "Homura?" You reach out by telepathy.
"What is it?" the time traveller responds instantly.
"Ah, I'm going to check in on Oriko and Kirika. I promised I'd let you listen in, right?" you ask.
Homura pauses for a long moment, and you hold your breath. Just as you're about to exhale again, she responds. "Fine."
You exhale. "OK," you say, grimacing to yourself as you bank over swoop through the skies. You're... well, to say that Oriko and Homura would have some friction would be putting it lightly. Nevertheless, you're committed now. You take a deep breath "Oriko, Kirika?"
Kirika's the first to respond. "Hiiii~" she chirps happily.
"Good afternoon, Sabrina," Oriko says a moment later.
"'afternoon," you say. "So, uh, first thing, Homura's listening in."
"Hi, Miss Grum-" Kirika's response suddenly cut off.
"I see," Oriko replies a moment later. "Good afternoon, Miss Akemi."
Homura doesn't respond, but you can practically hear the icy silence intensify.
"Anyway." You interrupt the metaphorical staring contest - it'd be significantly less than metaphorical were they in the same room, you suspect. "Oriko, Kirika, I'm just checking in. Is there anything you need? Cleanse, Grief Seed refresh, more supplies?"
Oriko considers your question for a moment. "No," she says. "Nothing pressing."
"Alright, then," you say. "See you later."
"See~ee you!" Kirika lilts.
"Goodbye," Oriko says.
As you feel the two of them disconnect from the call, you bank, coasting towards one of the skyscrapers below. "Homura?"
She sighs. "No. It's fine," she says. "Thank you for telling me."
"I did promise," you say, rearing back as you drop onto the roof. Your wings pump, slowing you down, and you hop a few steps along the roof as you bleed off momentum and you catch yourself.
Homura doesn't respond.
"Homura?" you ask, looking around the roof. Flat, a ventilation duct over there, a small antenna mast over there, air conditioning compressors.
"You did," she says, voice quiet. "Is there anything else?"
"Nah, that's it. See you after school?" you say.
"See you," she agrees, and you can feel her breaking the call off.
You sigh, walking over to the edge of the skyscraper roof and looking down. That...
You fulfilled your promise. You did that much, at least.
And yet...
Another sigh, as you watch the cars rolling past below.
You turn away from the edge, putting it from your mind. You... you can't really do much about that at the moment, can you? And you don't really feel like experimenting more at the moment, though... it occurs to you that considering people you should talk to, you really should at least check in with Masami and Hiroko. You don't think they're entirely hostile to you, right?
You put action to thought. "Hello, Masami, Hiroko?"
The duo takes a moment to respond. "Good afternoon, Sabrina?" Masami says.
"Hello, Sabrina," Hiroko says.
"Good afternoon," you greet, walking over to the ventilation duct, mindful of the tenebrous wings still undulating against the sky. A little hop boosts you up, and you perch on the edge of the duct, legs dangling freely. "How're the two of you doing?"
"We're doing fine," Masami says, but doesn't elaborate.
"Good to hear," you say. "Say, um... would you like to meet up somewhere and just talk? And hang out?"
"Did Mami put you up to this?" Masami asks sharply.
"Masami..." Hiroko rebukes.
"No, she didn't," you say. "She's in school right now, anyway. And I just want to talk, really. That's all."
Masami sighs. "Hang on, give us a moment."
"Of course," you agree. You kick your legs against the side of the vent, looking up at the sky as you wait.
It takes a moment before they respond. "Yeah, we don't mind," Masami says. "Where d'you want to meet?"
"Where's good for you?" you ask.
"Uhh," Masami replies. "Hiroko?"
"Umm... Is ice cream OK, Sabrina?" Hiroko asks.
"Yeah, that's fine," you agree. Ice cream. Huh.
"OK, then... there's an ice cream parlour two streets over from our house," Hiroko says. "Um, it's block 1437."
"Gotcha," you say, standing. "On my way over right now." You launch yourself skywards, cutting across the cloudy skies.
It only takes a few minutes before you find the ice cream parlour Hiroko suggested. Cheerfully coloured umbrella lend shade to the chairs outside, though the dense clouds scudding across the sky make that rather unecessary today. The counter boasts a modest collection of flavours, from what you can see, nothing particularly unusual.
You wait outside the parlour, looking up and down the street for Masami and Hiroko. You sense the duo before they arrive, two magical presences making themselves felt as they walk down the streets. They turn the corner, slim redhead and shorter, black haired girl walking hand in hand.
Hiroko waves tentatively at you.
[] Write-in
=====​
Conversation!
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 9
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 25, 2015

- #47,311

"Hey, guys!" you call cheerfully, raising your hand in a wave and starting towards them.
Hiroko waves back, a small smile on her face. She's dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, while Masami's dressed in a pale blue, figure-hugging dress that... honestly doesn't suit her, if you're being honest. The redhead gives you a measured nod, a touch of wariness in her eyes as they walk over, meeting you halfway.
"Hey," you say again as you approach.
"Hello," Masami says.
"Hey," Hiroko says.
"Soooo... How's life been treating you two?" you ask, half turning and waving questioningly at the ice cream parlour. Hiroko nods, tugging lightly on Masami's hand, and the three of your start walking towards the little shop.
"Can't complain," Masami says.
"We're doing well, Sabrina," Hiroko says, giving Masami a smile as they walk beside you.
Masami's posture softens, smiling almost against her will. "Yeah, fine. We're doing well," she agrees.
"Good to hear," you say, smiling.
"Stop that," Masami says.
"Stop what?" you ask.
"Stop grinning like that," the redhead says peevishly. Hiroko reaches around to pat Masami's hand with her own in sympathy.
"Ah," you say, covering your smirk.
Masami's eyes say that she's not in the slightest convinced, slender brows drawn low in an unamused look.
You snicker as you enter the ice cream parlour proper. "So, what flavours will you be getting?"
Masami gives you one last glare before rolling her eyes.
"Mint," Hiroko answers, a smile on her lips.
You chuckle. "I think I'm going to see if they have any blueberry," you note.
Masami tugs at her lip with her free hand. "Hm..." she temporizes, staring at the wall mounted menu with a look of indecision. Liquid brown eyes flick over the flavours on offer. "Hiroko, you order first?"
The black haired girl shakes her head in fond amusement.
A few minutes later, you have your ice cream - they didn't have blueberry, so you got pistachio instead, and Hiroko bought mint. Masami...
You raise an eyebrow at Hiroko. She raises one back, before marching over to her still vacillating girlfriend and firmly nudging her over to the counter. You shake your head and walk over to a chair to sit down instead. The marbles and Grief-wrapped notebook within your bag click faintly as you settle it at your side, and you can feel the main bulk of your Grief, lurking in basketball-sized spheres resting on the rooftop of the building.
Masami and Hiroko finally join you, each bearing little bowls of ice cream to match your own. The three of you at the table get a few suspicious looks - school aged girls out of school, but you set those aside for now. Not like you can do much about it. Instead, you peer at Masami's bowl - vanilla, you think?
"I couldn't decide!" she says defensively.
You chuckle, saying nothing as you spoon up some ice cream of your own.
"What's hunting like out here?" you ask curiously, glancing around at them.
"Uhm. Not bad," Hiroko says. "We've been taking it easy, these few days."
"Good to hear," you smile. "If you need help, don't hesitate to call me, OK?"
Masami nods, her mouth full of ice cream.
You eye the woman manning the counter, who's not so subtly watching the three of you. "Say, I'm curious. How do you deal with truancy officers?" you ask Masami.
Masami pauses, ice cream half way to her mouth, to give you a look. "... Really?" At the same time, Hiroko raises her spoon, and it shimmers into a fork for a moment before the illusion disappears.
"... Ah," you concede. "That makes a lot of sense."
"Doesn't it just?" Masami smirks. Hiroko swats her lightly, and the redhead laughs.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," you mutter.
"Some of us have to do what we can with non-bullshit powers," Hiroko informs you gravely, face perfectly straight as she spoons up some of her ice cream.
You snort, flapping your free hand at her in silent concession.
"But we're doing well, Sabrina," Hiroko says, a smile appearing on her face. "And we're grateful."
Masami sighs. "Yeah. I..." she rubs at her nose. "We talked about it. I... wouldn't have gotten healed if you weren't there. Would I."
It's not a question.
If it were... well, you could answer it.
You jerk your head to the side a fraction in a non-answer.
"We're grateful," she says, sighing again.
You shake your head. "And you're very, very welcome," you say. "I'm glad to help."
[] Write-in
=====​
Civil conversation, huzzah!
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 10
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Apr 30, 2015

- #47,694

You smile, digging in to the ice cream. "So what now, if you don't mind my asking? I guess you'll be taking the year off?"
Hiroko shrugs, as does Masami. The black haired girl answers a moment later. "I guess so," she says. "We are going back to school, I suppose, but we haven't thought much about it."
"Ah," you say, eyeing the woman at the counter. She doesn't really seem to be trying to listen in, per se, she's just watching the three of you with distinct suspicion in her eyes.
"It seems kinda small," Masami admits, rubbing at her nose. "After everything."
"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean," you say. "Still. Anything in particular you'll be going for?"
"Animation, I guess," Hiroko says. "It's what I wanted to do, you know, before."
"Heh," you say. Should have guessed something of the sort.
"I dunno, myself," Masami says. "I was kinda interested in doing medicine, but after what happened..." She trails off, rubbing at her nose again. A moment later, she glances up again. "What about you?"
"I don't go to school, either," you admit, surreptiously glancing at the woman behind the counter. She's serving someone at the moment, so... That seems in order.
"Well, that explains your question, then," Masami chuckles.
You shrug. "Guilty," you say. "So... Animation, Hiroko?"
The black haired girl nods. "Mm," she agrees. "I love anime."
"Don't say magical girl anime," you say, smirking.
"She made me watch Higurashi," Masami says, rolling her eyes.
"But the animation was terrible," you point out.
"Oh, yes," Masami says. "Wasn't it, Hiroko?"
Then illusionist pouts and swats at Masami again, which she just laughs at.
"Is that an axe or are you just happy to see me?" you grin.
"Bill hook." Hiroko raises a finger.
"Bill hook," you agree. "Mind, speaking of axes... There's a new girl around. She shouldn't be coming this far west, but she's... ah, nuts. Well, we haven't told her about hunting territories, so she might?" You shake your head. "Anyway, point is, new girl. Light blue costume, black hair, her name's Ono Megane."
It takes a moment for it to click. "Axe... oh, haha," Masami says flatly. "Don't tell me her weapon is actually an axe?"
You shrug. "Could be, haven't seen her fight yet. We literally just ran over her yesterday. Uh, into. We ran into her yesterday."
"Mmmkay," Masami says. Her tone makes it clear that she doesn't quite take your words at face value.
"Uh, yeah," you say with some embarrassment. You gulp down a spoonful of ice cream to hide it. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that if you run into her, cut her some slack?"
Masami shrugs, looking at Hiroko. They both turn back to you a moment later. "It shouldn't be a problem," Hiroko says. "She shouldn't come out here anyway, right?"
"Yeah," you agree. "She's in school right now -Yokosuka- and we'll be meeting her after school. Though on the same note-" you raise a finger, "-if you see any new girls around, send them my way?"
"Can do," Masami says. She glances at Hiroko, the two exchanging wordless communication on a level that might not be just telepathy. Hiroko turns back to you. "Um, Sabrina?"
"Mm?" You quirk an eyebrow at her.
"What happened in Inshinomaki and Sendai?" she asks slowly.
Well. You'd sort of expected that question. You look around the ice cream parlour, stalling for time to decide what to say. "Myself-" you pause, making a snap decision, "-Mami, and another magical girl I know went over to Ishinomaki, then Sendai. Um. It was kind of a clusterfuck, to put it mildly."
"What happened to Miss Mori and Miss Hamasaki?" Masami asks, leaning forward, brown eyes intent.
"Rin's fine," you say. "Good, even. Akiko, uh." You tuck your hair behind your ear, a faintly uneasy sensation sticking with you. "She and her group were extorting another group in the city - have you heard of the University group?" Masami nods, whereas Hiroko looks blank.
"Akiko was extorting them for Grief Seeds. Three a week," you say. "The University group's been suffering for a while, and they tried to take out Akiko's group. I uh, helped, because I don't think much of extortion."
Masami pinches the bridge of her nose. "What the hell."
You shrug. "It happened," you say. "Akiko went completely berserk, after we took her down. Um. She's kind of catatonic now." And... you can't help but feel a guilty spark of relief at that. That you didn't have to figure out how to deal with her yourself.
"Che," Masami grunts, mouth twisting in distaste.
"Mm," you agree, eyeing the redhead and her girlfriend.
In the end, Masami sighs. "Whatever, it's done with. Miss Mori's fine?"
"Yeah, she is," you confirm.
"Hmm," Masami says, clearly thinking it over.
Hiroko glances at the redhead, then you. "Why did you do it?" There's a tone of curiosity in her voice, but no judgement.
You sigh. "Akiko was..." You shake your head. "I don't know. I want to say she's mad, but I'm not sure that's fair to her. We talked, I managed to make everyone sit down and talk. But she kept pushing and pushing, and I'm not sure the University group would have... survived much longer. I wanted to make things better. I think I did, but well. Time will tell."
Hiroko nods, green eyes intent. "Alright."
You sigh, spooning up the melting remnants of your ice cream.
Masami chuffs out a sigh. "If that's the case... I guess there's not much to be said on it, huh."
You shrug.
A few moments of silence later, Hiroko stirs. "Um, Sabrina? Do you mind if we head off?"
"Yeah, sure," you say, looking up. "I can cleanse you girls and refresh your Grief Seeds, if you like?"
Hiroko nods, a small smile gracing her face. "We'd appreciate that."
The three of you retreat from the ice cream parlour, the proprietress sending a parting glare after you, and you head up to the roof, where the brooding mass of your Grief is still lurking. Masami balks at the sight of the collection of basketball sized spheres, drifting slowly through the air, obviously making the connection. "You've been busy," she says, glancing at you as Hiroko joins her.
"Uh. Experiments," you answer.
"Huh," Masami says. "Well, as long as you don't plan on blowing up the city or something..." She materializes her Soul Gem in its egg form on her hand. A moment later, so does Hiroko, fumbling a half used Grief Seed out of her pocket.
A small gesture has clouds of Grief wisping around you to flow around you in a small whirlpool. Another thought crushes it down into marbles to join the rest in the drifting collection as Masami and Hiroko watch, eyes following the motion.
"Thanks," Masami says, inspecting her Soul Gem with a critical eye.
Hiroko gives you a shallow bow. "We do appreciate everything you've done, Sabrina," she says.
You wave it off. "Eh, it's nothing much," you say. "But you're welcome." You briefly debate bring up Walpurgisnacht, since it's kind of weighing on your mind, but in the end... long game, right? "Is there anything else?"
Masami and Hiroko exchange glances. "No, not really," Masami says. "It was nice talking to you." From her tone, she's not not entirely sure herself.
Hiroko nods. "It was," she says. "See you sometime again?"
"Yeah," you agree. "See you."
"Mm. Try not to depose any more magical girls or something in the meantime," Masami says, half seriously.
"No promises," you shrug, smirking.
Masami shakes her head. "Whatever. See you," she says, turning to go.
You watch as they hop off over the roofs, headed back home, and you take a breath. A quick check of the time on your phone says that you've maybe forty five minutes to go, more than enough time to hunt a Witch, you reckon. The Grief is already answering your mental call, tenebrous wings rippling out from your shoulders as the Grief marbles dissolve.
You take wing, heavy wingbeats lifting you into the sky, and you soar back towards the Central Mitakihara. Time to hunt a Witch, then.
You comb across the city, swooping over the brilliant glow of the city, afternoon sunlight cast back by the polished steel and glass of the skyscrapers. A familiar sight, by now, and you drink it all in as you circle about.
Eventually, you find a Witch Barrier, another one lurking on a skyscraper roof. A nasty thought strikes you, and you circle the building warily, looking at the streets below for any... unfortunate accidents, but you don't find anything.
You stand in front of the entrance to the Barrier, inspecting the faintly glowing slice in reality.
[] Write-in
=====​
My last exam is on the 6th of May, by the by.
Last edited: Apr 30, 2015
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 11
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- May 6, 2015

- #48,018

Tick, tock.
You produce your phone from your pocket and thumb through the menus, setting the alarm. An absent minded effort of will has Grief marbles melting away into blades, ready for combat. Heh. You've gotten more use out of the alarm function of your phone than you have the actual calling, haven't you?
Still, not being late for Mami's a decent enough cause.
You look back up at the faintly glowing Barrier, your own Grief surrounding you in a dense swarm, hundreds, thousands of blades drifting around you in a deadly, ever shifting cocoon.
You take a bold step forward, marching into the Barr-
-ier. You choke back the sudden nausea in the back of your throat, swallowing hard, and force yourself to look around.
Your feet clack hollowly on lacquered wood. Cracked, lacquered wood creaks underfoot, once-fine mahogany now dry and splintering. Faint orange light glows from above, illuminating a towering forest of smooth, flowing shapes of some scuffed, black material. They look... almost like faucets, faucets sprouting like gargantuan trees. Shadows gather all around you, overlapping in dense, spidery clusters.
Distant murmurs reach your ears, something sounding almost like angry shouting muffled by distance, and the heavy, cloying scent of...
Your nostrils flare. It smells fruity in here. Sickeningly sweet, with... a barely there undertone of alcohol.
Hm.
You look around, seeing nothing really stirring. What might be motion skitters in the flickering shadows at the corners of your eyes, but when you turn to look at it, it's gone. Your eyes narrow at the sight, but with the cocoon of blades flowing around you in restless motion, you should be fine. Fine enough to try out something quickly, anyway.
You hold up a hand, and a small blade of Grief drops into your outstretched palm. You focus on it, bearing down with your will. Something to detect humans. The Grief quivers and shifts, razor edges losing cohesion and melting into a small, pan-shaped thing with a handle and an antenna sticking out of the top.
Witch.
The distant susurration of noise intensifies, indistinct words angry and loud.
You raise an eyebrow at the device, thumbing what's obviously the activation button. It beeps, the screen lighting up to show green rings on a black background and a single line sweeping it in a circle. You roll your eyes at the ostensible radar, but... you made it, and you're pretty sure it works, so... You wait for the circle to sweep a few times, checking that there's no one arou-
Something moving.
A lot of somethings.
Your head snaps up.
Not on the radar. Your Grief senses.
Familiars.
You release the people-detector. It's gone before it hits the ground, another razor shard to join the deadly cocoon of blades swirling around you. A silvery warhammer flashes into existence to replace it.
The first Familiar whirrs into view, skating through the forest of shapes. A spindly shaft, gleaming in the dim light of the Barrier supports a large, matte green disc. It's taller than you by far - a gigantic stool come to malevolent life.
The Familiar zips forward, tapered end of its shaft skittering over the wooden floor.
A jerk of your hand. Grief blades hammer into it, through it, with enormously loud clangs of metal. Behind you - more blades on intercept. Step to the side, let the shattered pieces whicker past.
You grunt. Dammit. You'd wanted to do stuff.
Trash first.
Or... No reason you can't do both. Blades sweep around you in a guarding swarm, each one flicking through sharp, curving motions to slice through Familiars. One piece vectors away from the swarm to hover in front of you.
You pivot on the spot, letting pieces of Familiar bounce past you again. You frown - you should probably expand your perimeter a bit, if that keeps happening. A moment of thought as you reach out to pluck that shard of Grief from the air, and your seething throng of blades boil outwards, smashing through the crowding Familiars.
Concentrate, rather, on the bit of Grief as a fraction of your attention sends blades singing through their targets. Melee skill. You're... to be honest, you're not bad at it. You're just not a specialist.
There isn't really any reason you can't cheat, though. Or there shouldn't be.
You will the Grief in your hand into... something to guide you. Something to help you fight better in melee. You push for a moment.
More Grief.
Some of your swarm diverts to you, and the Grief melts. Streamers reach for you, questing tendrils that you meet with one outstretched hand. They wrap around you, a harness -a brace- under your coat, singing Witch, Witch, Witch. You feel... direction flow into your limbs, memory of fights won written into your nerves.
Blades sweep around you, exploding outwards in a deadly starburst before sweeping up into the sky, out of sight but not out of mind. You dart forward into the flickering shadows of the Witch Barrier, sprinting hard. Your hammer sings in your hand, light and devastating.
You push off, coat trailing behind you as you leap. A Familiar, cushion-head dead level with your eyes. The spike of your hammer pounds into the felt cushion. You swing around the dying Familiar, and you land feet first against the side of one of the towering faucets.
Behind you, the Familiar tumbles.
You're already soaring into the air again.
Both feet smash against the top of another Familiar, and you ride it to the ground as it topples. A crowd of Familiars bearing down on you, tapered shafts skittering over the lacquered wood. You whirl, hammer flicking out in a silvery arc, and a Familiar folds in half with a resounding clang. You loose the hammer, its ballistic arc terminating in another Familiar.
Another warhammer already in your hand. A sidestep to the left, floating on your feet as a Familiar slams down from above, a skull smashing move if it had landed.
A backhand of your hammer claims that Familiar, and you sidestep again. You reach out and hook with the head of your hammer, and you whip the corpse through an overhead arc to smash into another Familiar behind you. You spin, free hand jabbing palm out to knock a Familiar back before your hammer throws it airborne.
A scything whip of blades forms and follows a flick of your left hand. The blades shear effortlessly through Familiars, cutting them down in droves as you storm relentlessly forward, whip in your left and hammer flashing in your right. Some of the shadowy faucets of the forest are shattered in passing, tepid liquid washing around your shoes.
The cloying, fruity stench fills your nose as you carve your way through the ranks of Familiars. You flow through the motions, effortless dodges and smooth strikes carrying you forward with casual ease.
Another fragment of focus, and you flip your left hand, a silvery beam bursting from your palm to smash a Familiar back. You can feel the cost, palpable tension settling in your shoulders, and you leap skywards, calling Grief to you.
Wings explode out from your shoulders, and you pull yourself airborne. A finger touched to your Soul Gem draws the Grief out.
Incoming.
A Familiar - launching itself upwards at you, soaring upwards in defiance of gravity.
You meet it with a hammer, slamming it back into the ground. More right behind it, though.
You grin to yourself as you draw more Grief around yourself in a defensive swarm. You're all but literally pounding nails. They're stools, giant stools, but that's close enough, right?
You throw yourself to meet the Familiars. Wings thundering at your back, hammer on your right and Grief swirling around you.
Waves of Familiars crash against you and break.
It's almost a surprise when you run out of Familiars.
You look around at the trail of carnage you'd wrought. Shattered Familiars, sunk in foaming, tepid liquid gushing from the faucets.
You shrug, and walk onw-
-ards. The landscape of the Barrier tears away around you with the nauseating sense of transition, stepping through potentialities, and you find yourself staring at a grotesque, mishapen sculpture of concrete, painted green. It's humanoid, and lopsided, one arm vastly larger than the other, head hunched over bulging shoulders.
The Witch is facing away from you, for now.
[] Write-in
=====​
And we're back.
Last edited: May 6, 2015
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 12
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- May 9, 2015

- #48,222

Decisions.
You have perhaps an opportunity to experiment, and perhaps a little time to go for some copyright infringement of a certain rather famous magical girl franchise.
You snort to yourself, and immediately wince. Something sour, old and rancid, hangs in the air. You eye the brooding form of the Witch. Then again, maybe not. It would... probably really be for the best for you to have a spotter if you want to try this, you feel. Maybe mom. Homura, you mean.
Just a quick kill, then. Nothing fancy.
You step forward, footsteps ringingly sharply on plain, dirty tile. The Witch seems to ignore you, and you pick up speed, accelerating to an inhumanly fast sprint in an instant.
You leap, tile shattering underfoot and wings pumping.
The Witch whirls, nimble and impossibly speedy for something its size. A car sized fist flies at you.
You meet it with the silvery flash of your hammer, both hands wrapped tight around the haft. Magically enhanced metal slams into green painted concrete with a concussive boom. Cracks spiderweb out through the fist, and you pivot, planting both feet against the fist.
You leap away, assisted by your wings.
"Dissoluzione-"
A swathe of Grief, like viscera torn from a body, follows your hammer as you rip it away. The outstretched arm dissolves with a drawn out moan, ashy flakes falling in a blizzard.
You land, warhammer sweeping through its full arc.
"-Bianca!"
Grief tears away from the Witch in torrential streams, thick, ropy gouts flowing away from it. Green painted concrete shatters and cracks, bleeding away into sprays of ash.
The Witch moans, low and drawn out as it staggers, remaining arm reaching spasmodically for you.
You purse your lips. Great, weeping sores open up in the Witch, edges crumbling like paper burning away in a flame.
Abruptly, you feel something give. The Witch judders to a halt in great, heaving spasms, and begins to crumble with an awful slowness. Great boulders of concrete fall from the lifeless sculpture, and-
-stone shrieks, torn apart from the inside. A skeletal figure of twisted steel rips its way forward, shedding concrete like a chrysalis. The figure shrieks, the sound of metal grating on metal echoing throughout the confines of the Barrier, and drops to its knees, single arm raised despairingly to the sky before it collapses into a tangled mass of rebar.
The Barrier wavers, and begins to fade, the tiles under your feet losing cohesion. You find yourself everted back into reality one roof over from where you'd started, and a quiet ping sounds - the Grief Seed, falling to the roof a few paces away from you.
You take a moment to suck in deep, grateful lungfuls of the entirely too warm afternoon air as you walk over to the Grief Seed. The fresh air comes as a welcome relief after... what you realise was old vomit, in the Barrier.
You scrub at your nose with a finger while stooping to pick up the Grief Seed. Out of curiosity, you check the Witch name, scanning it with your Grief senses as you slip it into your pocket. Andrea.
Another fraction of thought has your Grief harness unravelling. Grief rises off your body in wisps, flowing into miniature planetoids you set drifting about you. A shudder runs down your spine, and you roll your shoulders as your muscles squirm. Urgh.
You keep the wings, though; you'll still need those. You walk over to the edge of the skyscraper roof, looking down at the cars scurrying along in the streets below. You're glad you don't seem to have vertigo, you muse as you look at the yawning abyss between buildings.
Hrm.
You purse your lips, checking the time on your phone, absently cancelling the alarm, since you won't need that any more.
A step off the side of the skyscraper, and you take wing, soaring across the cloudy afternoon sky. It occurs to you, as you cut across Mitakihara, that this would be a decent time to try out something that you've been... well, you've been meaning to do for a while. Detection, then. You... seem have that apparently hard range limit of a hundred meters on most everything you do.
But your Grief senses seem to be the exception to that, and you certainly managed to augment your melee fighting skills earlier. So what if you tried to play with that?
... probably best to warn your friends first, though.
"Hey, Mami, Homura?" you pulse out telepathically.
"Ah, Sabrina? I..." you can practically hear Mami's hesitance. "How are you?"
Hmm. You haven't heard from her since lunch, have you?
"Ah, I'm good. How are you, Mami?" you ask, mindful of Homura, listening in.
"I'm fine," Mami says. "We, ah, got our tests back today."
"Oh?" you ask. "That was fast. How did you do?"
"I... I got a seventy-eight," Mami replies.
"Ah, that's not half bad!" you say brightly as you hold hand out, summoning a small blob of Grief from the swarm of spheres following behind you. That ring of Grief glints faintly under what sunlight there is leaking through the cloudy skies.
"Mm... I think I'll be taking the retest, though," Mami says.
"... really?" you ask in faint disbelief.
"Yes, I think so," Mami says.
"Oh. Well, I'll help you, Mami," you say. "I promised."
"Thank you, Sabrina," Mami says.
"No problem, Mami. But uh..." you say. "Um, this is important, so first... I'm on my way to school now, but I'm also going to test something, OK? So it might be, uh, a little Witchy. You know how it is."
"Ah, be careful, Sabrina," Mami says, a touch of anxiety in her voice.
"Understood," Homura says, voice clipped.
"Yeah, I will," you say. "Um, see you soon."
"See you soon!" Mami says.
"See you," Homura agrees.
You focus on the Grief in your hand. Something to amplify your detection range, so...
"Sabrina?" Mami's voice intrudes in your head again.
"Hmm, Mami? Is something wrong?" you ask, still considering the lump of Grief. Detection. The Grief wavers, edges becoming fuzzy and indistinct, before it collapses in on itself, shrinking and turning a bright, azure blue. It forms a small ellipsoid that floats into the air seemingly on its own volition, singing Witch in your senses.
The stone swings around your head in a gentle orbit without your prompting. That means it's working, you think?
"... Mami?" you prompt again.
"I... it's OK," she says. "Sorry."
[] Write-in
=====​
Holding in abeyance:
-[x] Make an accessory that amplifies your grief/magic sensing range. A bracelet maybe? Use Mami and Homura as place markers to determine how far you can extend your sensing range. Warn both of them of what you're trying to do and the witchy feeling as you close in. Discreetly revert your accessory back to raw grief once you meet up.
[x] Greet everyone.
[x] Apologize. You can't stay. Gotta talk to the new magical girl.
[x] Go with Mami. Meet up with Megane Ono.
Threadmarks Our Benefactor pt. 13
- View content

#### Firnagzen

Operator

- May 10, 2015

- #48,321

You purse your lips. That is not normal. Very much not normal.
"Mami, what is it?" you ask, mental voice as gentle as you can make it. "Is everything alright?"
"Ah, I," Mami says. "Yes, I'm fine. I just..."
You lock your wings and glide for a moment, frowning at the little blue detection stone still orbiting your head. "Mami?" you prompt gently.
"No, it's just..." Mami stops for a moment before continuing. "I know I've been... a bit."
She stops talking for a moment. Just as you're about to prompt her again, she continues, voice terribly small. "I was... I was trying not to be so..."
"Mami..." you say softly, still gliding towards the school.
"It's hard." She says, mental voice a bare whisper. "I... oh. Um."
"Mami?" you ask, worried again.
"I... I'm going to the nurse's office," Mami says. "I... will I see you after school?"
"Yes, of course, Mami," you say.
"I just wanted to hear your voice again," she says, voice quiet.
"Oh," you say, drifting to a landing atop a building near the school. Down below, you can see the lush foilage of the park that fronts the school, and... you can sense Mami and Homura in school. You frown. It seems to be further than your usual range, you think. But you need to focus on Mami for now.
"Mami?" you ask again.
"I... I'm fine," she says. "School's almost over. I'm sorry, Sabrina."
"Don't be, Mami," you say.
Homura's voice intrudes into your mind. "I assume that's you," she says.
"Yeah, it is," you reply absently. You prompt Mami again. "Mami?"
"Sorry," she repeats. "I... thank you, Sabrina."
[] Write-in
=====​
Hmhmm. Short update today.
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