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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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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 20, 2015

- #57,970

You cock your head, glancing from Sayaka to Madoka, and then back again. "Sayaka... you aren't trying to hide it from Madoka, are you?" You include Mami and Homura, too.
"I... I dunno," Sayaka admits. "Sort of... having second thoughts, a bit, and... I don't know if Madoka would be happy?"
"You shouldn't hide things from your friend," Mami says.
"Mami's right," you say. "She'll figure it out, and it's best to just come clean on this. Hitomi, too."
You look at Madoka and smile. "Good morning, Madoka," you say.
"Good morning, Sabrina," she says, looking from Sayaka to you, a hopeful smile on her face. "Is t-there something wrong?"
You glance sidelong at Sayaka.
The blue haired girl sighs, apparently taking that as a prompt. "I..." In lieu of saying anything more, she raises her left hand, displaying the silver ring and the blue crescent mark gleaming on her fingernail.
"S-Sayaka... is that...?" Madoka trails off.
"I was... I couldn't do anything," Sayaka says, swallowing hard. "And... I've already been helped. I-I had to be helped. Three times in the past few days."
You find Homura's eyes on you, amethyst gaze intent. You can read a little worry in her frown, and dismay in the set of her jaw, and her shoulders are perhaps slumped a little more than might be usual.
You reach out telepathically to Homura. "I'm sorry, Homura. I should have prevented this."
Madoka wrings her hands together. "You weren't... Mami and Sabrina and Hitomi..."
Sayaka shakes her head. "I was, Madoka... I owe them. I owe you, Mami, Sabrina. Homura, too" Mid-sentence, Sayaka turns, and bows. "I'll try my best to help, and pay you back."
Mami shakes her head. "There's nothing to 'pay us back' for, Sayaka," she disagrees. "And..." Mami swallows. "This... your S-soul, Sayaka."
Homura responds to you, finally, with a telepathic sigh. "It's fine," she murmurs. "Miki Sayaka is... fated to contract. I've never succeeded in convincing her otherwise."
Sayaka sags, running her hand -her right hand- through her hair. "I know. I-it's worth it," she says, setting her jaw as she glances from Mami to you, then Madoka. "It is."
You maintain eye contact with Homura, deep blue eyes meeting amethyst violet ones. She looks tired, the beginning of eyebags starting to form, and... resigned, from the set of her shoulders and the microscopic downturn of her mouth. "Homura... Don't worry too much, please? Or, well, try not to? I can work with this."
A pause, as you consider your words. "I understand where she's coming from, and I definitely won't let her die. And Madoka won't have to lose a friend if I have anything to say about it."
Sayaka's speaking to you. "It's worth it, right?" she asks - pleads, really. "I'm a, a, puerla magi now. I can fight with you, I can help."
You shake your head. "I can't tell you whether it's worth it. You have to decide that for yourself," you say. "But Sayaka, for what it's worth, I'm, we're going to make you a great magical girl. Though, um, I'd ask that you don't go and hunt any Witches alone, OK? There's a lot of us for any one of us to be risking our lives alone."
... If you're being fair, you should probably admit that you go on Witch hunts alone, but you are also bullshit levels of absurdly powerful and don't count. But that's not exactly helping your case, so you don't say it.
Sayaka grimaces. "Y-yeah. I get it," she says. "But-"
"Sayaka, we'll fight as a team," you say firmly, cutting her off. "And we'll train you - this evening, I think. But I'll see you at lunch as usual, and we'll train you after school, alright?"
Mami nods in agreement. "Yes, we will, Sayaka," she confirms, assaying a smile. "I... We'll all do our best. Though, ah, speaking of school, we need to go..."
"Ah, right," you murmur, flapping your hands in the general direction of the school. "Let's go, then, we can walk and talk." As you turn to start off towards the school, you reach out telepathically to Madoka. "By the way, Madoka? I need to talk to you later, after school. It's important."
"Yeah..." Sayaka agrees, starting down the road. The rest of you follow.
Madoka responds to you as she walks, pink eyes worried. "A-ah. Of course, Sabrina. I hope it's nothing bad?"
The reveal of Sayaka now being a puella magi seems to have cast a pall on the morning, and all of you walk in silence, lost in your own thoughts. The early morning sunlight shines through the lush foliage to cast dappled patterns on the ground, and you idly try to step on just the sun-lit spots.
You muse on Oriko as you walk. Maybe she saw all this and let it happen, and maybe she didn't. Either way, you need to have words with her. You kind of hope that it's the latter, or if it's the former, then that she had a good reason.
You're sort of starting to like her, really. Her and bestbuddy. You don't want to treat her as an enemy. Of course, some thoroughly paranoid part of you whispers that maybe that was her plan all along.
Sayaka breaks the silence. "Um... Homura? You're OK with... this?"
"Not really bad, but it is important," you reply at last to Madoka.
The time traveller rests violet eyes on Sayaka for a moment before delivering her judgement. "You made a mistake," she says bluntly.
You wince. Oh, Homura. Some things just don't change.
Sayaka bristles. "Hey. I know that this has its... drawbacks, but I don't think it was a mistake," she says. There's hardly any heat to her words, though, and what little ire there is is sapped away by her nervous twisting of the Soul Gem ring on her finger with her other hand.
"Homura, you should respect her decision," Mami says. "I think..." She trails off, biting her lip. "Never mind."
"M-mami?" Madoka asks.
"It's nothing," Mami says, a smile flowing on to her face. If you didn't know her better, you'd say it was absolutely natural. "Just thinking of ideas to train Sayaka with later."
"Ah!" Madoka says, smiling tentatively and giving Mami a hopeful look. "Um... Can I come along? Just to see?"
"I don't see why not," Mami says. "Homura, Sabrina?"
Homura shrugs. You think you see a trade of a frown flit across her face, but she doesn't say anything more.
[] Write-in
=====​
Next vote will likely cover the girls going to school and the start of your next activity, so vote accordingly!
Last edited: Aug 20, 2015
Threadmarks Residue processing pt. 27
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 21, 2015

- #58,072

You shrug. "Yeah, I'm fine with that," you answer easily. You feel a little trepidation about letting Madoka go with you for the training, but... shutting her out isn't viable in the slightest. Not only is that an awful thing to do to a friend... it'd only excacerbate her feelings of hopelessness. This is the least bad option, you think.
Madoka brightens a little. "Yay!" she says, smiling at everyone.
You glance from Madoka to Sayaka, out of the corner of your eyes. Similar, and yet different flavours of uselessness, huh? Kind of funny, if you think about it. And yet not really funny at all.
A shadow of Sayaka's usual grin returns. "You'll get to see how awesome I am, Madoka!" she says.
"Speaking of bad segues," you interject. "Can we all step off the main path for a moment? I think we could all use a cleansing."
"... That doesn't make sense, Sabrina," Mami says. She diverts her course off for one of the side paths, though.
"I said it was a bad segue," you point out with a little smirk. Simultaneously, you pulse a telepathic message to the bleunette. "You're a magical girl now, Sayaka. No regrets, no worrying about the past, okay? Move forward and make a better future."
Sayaka glances at you out of the corner of her eye. "Heh. I guess," she agrees. "Just... yeah. I'm a magical girl now, and my S-soul is a rock. It's... something."
"Mm," you agree. "I know you're worried. Don't be. You'll do just fine."
As the five of you draw into the leafy, pleasantly cool shade of the side path, you stop in a corner, and your friends stop in a loose ring around you. You glance around at them - Mami, giving you a warm smile. Homura, looking as remote as ever, but a hint of tense worry in her posture. Sayaka, at once eager and nervous, and... Madoka, looking a little more cheerful despite a bit of nervousness.
"Alright," you murmur, and raise your hand. Grief seeps into the air from the gathered Soul Gems - yours, and Mami's, and Homura's, and Sayaka's. A deep purple haze swirls into the air, faintly malevolent feeling pressing against that other sense that came with your contract.
Sayaka shivers slightly. "Wow, that feels weird," she says.
You chuckle. "I guess it would." You glance at the cloud that you can see and everyone else can only sense, with its eye-twisting, unnerving fractal patterns that delve deeper and deeper into the fabric of Grief, deeper than the formless mass has any right to be-
"Is that it? I can... feel it, but I can't see it," Sayaka asks, squinting cross eyed at the approximate spot the Grief is hanging in.
Mami nods. "That's right, Sayaka," she says. "This is the corruption that builds up in your..." she bites her lip for a moment before continuing. "In your Soul Gem when you use magic, or feel... negative emotions." She glances at you, and you nod in confirmation. "Normally, we'd use Grief Seeds to cleanse, but with Sabrina here, that's not necessary." Mami gives you a quick smile.
"Right," you say, returning Mami's smile. You clench your raised hand into a fist, and the cloud implodes, Grief marbles nucleating out of firmament.
"Oh, hey, I can see that now," Sayaka says. "And it doesn't feel as... bad."
"Yeah, it seems to be a density thing," you offer with a shrug. "I don't really know why, but that's how it seems to work."
Madoka's looking around. "I don't feel anything..."
You shrug again, eyeing Homura. She's standing still, her hands hanging loosely at her side, and gaze fixed on Madoka.
Telepathy, then. "Homura? I know all this this-ness changes things. Would you like to talk about it after lunch?"
Her gaze shifts to you. "Yes."
"OK. After lunch, then," you confirm. "And... Homura?" You pause to make sure she's paying attention to you. "We'll be alright. We will."
Her only response is a telepathic sigh.
"Hey, uh, we should get going," Sayaka says, glancing around the circle.
"We should!" Madoka agrees, hefting her schoolbag a little. With that, you all start heading off to school.
When you arrive, you find Hitomi standing alone, looking around. A demure smile appears on her face when she catches sight of the five of you. "Oh, good morning, everyone," she greets as you approach her. "I was wondering where you were."
"Oh, uh, well," Sayaka says, rubbing at the back of her head as you all exchange greetings. "I, well..." she presents her left hand to Hitomi, with its gleaming silver ring.
Hitomi gives the ring a once over. "That's a nice ring," she says. "Um... but what does that have to do with anything?"
Sayaka blinks.
... hunh. Hitomi wouldn't know to associate the ring with being a magical girl, would she?
"I became a magical girl, Hitomi," Sayaka hisses.
"Oh," Hitomi says, tilting her head in surprise. "Ohhh, I see. And that ring is your transformation trinket?" She looks around at the rest of you.
Obligingly, you show her your ring, as does Mami.
"Ohhhh," Hitomi says, nodding in understanding. A smile appears on her face. "I'm happy for you, Sayaka."
"Yeah," Sayaka says. "Yeah, it's... yeah. I'm a magical girl now."
"I see," the verdette says with a nod. "That explains it, then. Shall we talk about this later? It's almost time for school."
"Yeah," you agree. "See you all at lunch, OK?"
"Bye!" Madoka says brightly. You exchange goodbyes, and Mami's the last, giving you a smile.
"See you, Sabrina," Mami says, standing in front of you.
You chuckle, and pull her into a tight hug. "See you, Mami," you whisper into her ear before releasing her. She steps back, smiling slightly, before turning to follow the others into the school building.
She disappears into the doors, peeking back out for one last look at you. You huff out a sigh, thoughts returning to the idea of Madoka making a contract as you meander off along the perimeter of the building. It's something that worries you hugely, and you're not really very sure how best to avert it. You... really need to have that talk with her.
"Madoka?" you say telepathically.
"Ah! Sabrina?" Madoka sounds surprised to hear from you.
"Hey... Sayaka's in good hands. Try not to worry too much, OK?" you tell her as you turn down a corner, eyeing the massive steel and glass edifice of Mitakihara Middle School. You can see the students thronging through the building, bound for their first classes.
"I know," Madoka says. "I-I'll try."
"That's all I can ask for," you say, pushing your senses to their limits. Grief and magic alike - neither of them are particularly welcome in the school your friends go to. "I'll talk to you later, OK? Have a good day at school."
"OK!" Madoka says, some of her cheer returning.
You nod, and continue walking around the building. You draw a few odd looks from passersby, but no one seems to be willing to comment, and you continue on unimpeded.
The Mitakihara Middle School building would be postmodernist architecture, you think? All glass and steel and swooping, diagonal lines. Maybe with a touch of pseudo Gothic or something of the sort in there, what with the castle on the roof, and- that signature would be Mami, you think, noting her presence in one of the upper floor classrooms. Nothing you haven't expected so far.
"Mami?" you say telepathically as you continue to circle the school building carefully. Freaking nearly-all-glass construction. You can sense... Sayaka and Homura, judging from the fact that they're in the same class room.
"Sabrina?" she replies, sounding curious.
"Ah, I didn't want to bring this up in front of everyone, but... how are you holding up?" you ask as you continue to pace along the pavements, navigating the thick, early morning crowds.
"I'm... alright," Mami says. "I... I think that Sayaka shouldn't have made her contract like this. It..."
You wait for Mami to continue, and prompt her when she doesn't. "Go on, Mami?"
"Kyuubey," Mami says simply. "He took advantage of Sayaka, didn't he?"
"Yeah. Yeah, he did," you sigh.
Mami's silent for a moment, before she sighs, too. "I... I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yeah. Of course, Mami. I promise," you say. "But, um, one more thing I forgot to mention earlier? I talked to the Sendai and University groups earlier, and I wanted to hammer out a time to begin the cleansing arrangement? They said sometime over the weekend."
"Ah... I'll come with you, Sabrina?" Mami asks.
"Of course," you agree readily. "But I wanted to know if you had any particular preferences?"
"Well, um, we do have that picnic," Mami points out. "I- ah, one minute, the teacher's here... Maybe after the picnic?"
"Yeah. So, Sunday, maybe?" you say.
"Sounds good," Mami replies.
"OK. I'll get in touch with them later today, I guess," you say.
You can almost feel Mami's warm smile. "Alright, then. I'll... see you at lunch, Sabrina."
"See you soon, Mami," you agree. You're approaching the end of your circuit around the school, and there doesn't seem to be anything out of place, so you turn down a convenient alleyway.
An absent glance over your shoulder to make sure that you're properly out of sight from the roads, and you transform with a thought, the familiar, comforting weight of your mantled coat settling around your shoulders.
Marbles dissolve from your bag, pouring into the wings of corruption billowing out from your shoulders. They grow rapidly to fill the confined space of the alley as Grief swirls around you like living smoke. You crouch, and leap skywards, the downdraft from your wings scattering rubbish across the alley.
The thunder of your wings accompanies you as you spiral upwards, banking away from Mitakihara Middle School. It's odd. For all that the Grief carpet and the Grief Mobile Opression Fortress have more utility, the wings feel more comfortable, somehow.
You sigh as you soar through the air, heading towards Oriko's.
[] Write-in
=====​
Wheeeee.
Last edited: Aug 21, 2015
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 24, 2015

- #58,286

The wind whistles through your hair, whipping it into an untidy mop as you soar over Mitakihara. With your massive wingspan, each deceptively lazy seeming downstroke slams through the air like distant thunder, the wingtips swishing with blistering speed.
You sort of wonder if you've started any urban legends yet. Seems like the kind of thing that might happen, what with your wings and the masses of Grief following you around.
... Then again, what with what you'd done in Sendai... Would Kyuubey have mindwiped them? Probably, you have to concede, but still.
You bank into a spiral on a thermal rising from slowly heating concrete and asphalt below, letting your mind drift. People. It's always about the people, isn't it?
Though speaking of memory wipes and people, Hitomi's reaction seemed a little odd. Muted. You're pretty sure Kyuubey agreed not to mindwipe her, and the fuzzy little bunnycat probably keeps its word, but still. Maybe she just doesn't care, or maybe she's just putting on a good face, but maybe it's something to look into later.
Oriko's mansion sits on top of a little hill: a big, white, and vaguely modern building. Dense rosebushes wind their way through a sizable backyard, just starting to bloom. From up here, you can see the gap in the greenery where you'd uprooted that rose bush a few days ago.
You huff out a sigh. Things seemed simpler back then.
They weren't, really, if you're being honest with yourself. It's always been about people. Mami and Homura and Sayaka and Madoka. Kirika and Oriko. Masami and Hiroko. Now... you have to worry about Sayaka being a puella magi, and the Feathers, and maybe Oriko hasn't been honest with you.
You want her to have been honest, or her powers to fail, or something. You... don't want to have to do anything drastic to Oriko or Kirika. You really don't. Especially not bestbuddy.
You sigh again, and fold your wings behind you.
The wind snatches at your hair and coat as you plummet head down towards the sliver of green below. You kind of wonder if anyone's still taking care of the roses? She doesn't have a household maid or anything, that much is obvious, but maybe a gardener? Then again, said gardener would have had an aneurysm at the uprooted bush. And Oriko doesn't like roses, anyway.
Your wings flare wide, an immense downstroke catching you before you hit the ground, flattening the grass and scattering leaves and pebbles. The movement flips you upright, and you land smoothly on your feet.
And...
You frown up at the house. You can feel that. You can feel that. The nauseating, greasy sensation of Kirika's anti-magic at work, rapid, staccato pulses. No real range to it, but... nearly constant, a sphere of emptiness shivering against your senses.
The fractal purple fabric of your wings implodes into marbles, dissolving behind you as you walk towards the house. The glass door isn't locked, and you kick your shoes off before sliding the door aside before heading in. You can feel the quivering sphere of anti magic upstairs, so you take the stairs. As you walk, you draw a warhammer from thin air, hefting it lightly in your left hand. Your right hand is free to snatch the obrez from your bag if you need it.
The Mikuni mansion is richly furnished. Rugs and marble floors, and what you're fairly sure are polished oaken bannisters for the stairs. A thin layer of dust lies over everything.
Not like Oriko nor Kirika would be dusting.
You arrive at a wooden door, and just beyond it, you can feel the shiver of anti-magic.
A deep breath, and you push the door open.
"Hey, Sabrina."
Haggard.
That's your first impression of Kirika. There's bags under her eyes, and you sort of doubt she'd slept. Her blouse looks rumpled and sweat stained, hair lank and unkempt. She's sitting in a chair beside the enormous, opulent bed taking up the centre of the room - well, slumped over in the chair. The usual cheer is completely absent from her face, and she looks up at you with misery in her gaze.
"Hey, Kirika," you say, stopping short of the rapidly pulsing antimagic field. You take in her anguished, exhausted expression and bite your lip, fumbling for words. "Um..."
"No, she's not OK," Kirika says, the words tumbling over each other as they spill out from the black haired girl, gesturing at the bed's sole occupant. "Oriko told me not to call you, but you're here now so I can tell you."
Oriko looks bad. The seer's skin is usually pale, but now... it's almost ashen. All the translucent pallor of a corpse - you can see the veins under her skin as she lies, nearly motionless on the bed. Only the slow rise and fall of her chest indicates that she's still alive. Her hand is clutched in Kirika's and at a guess, she's gripping back with just as much force as Kirika is.
That, and her Soul Gem, gleaming on the bedside table. The clear Seed balances on its point next to it, and the vibrant orange of Kirika's Soul Gem sandwiches it in.
You blink. You came here expecting to maybe chastise Oriko, maybe have to do something drastic, but...
"I'm alive," an utterly alien voice croaks. It takes you a moment to realise that it's Oriko, speaking from between lips that are all but grey with a voice that's half slurred. The seer cracks one eye open, sea-green gaze fixing on you. "Hello, Sabrina. Would you believe me if I said none of this was in my plans?"
"... Quite possibly," you concede, taking in her state. "What..."
"Is going on?" Oriko smiles weakly. It's not really a happy expression. "I don't know. Kirika, dear, could you get us all a drink? Instructions for brewing tea are on the refrigerator."
"But-" Kirika says, jolting up from her half-doze.
"Dear, you know it doesn't help," Oriko says gently, squeezing Kirika's hand.
"I-I-" Kirika stutters. "I wished to help you. I can help you."
Oriko doesn't say anything, simply opening her other eye to look up at Kirika.
The black haired girl wilts, the shivering field of antimagic juddering and fading out. "OK," she whispers. She hesitates for a moment before leaving over the bed to give Oriko a quick kiss on the forehead, before standing. She looks at you. "Take care of her," she says. "I'll be back soon."
Without waiting for a response, she leaves the room at a run, brushing past you.
Oriko sags back into the pillows, her eyes sliding closed. Her one hand fists against the sheets. "I lied," she notes, wincing. "But I wanted her to relax a little."
She exhales. "How am I? Not at all well. What's wrong? I don't know. I... My powers give me headaches," her voice is low, pained. "I've never had one this bad. Ask your questions."
The sudden change in topic almost catches you by surprise.
[] Write-in
[X] Ask her about the clear seed. Any current or future problems with them? You were thinking about handing them out to certain people and needed to know if there would be any issues or if they were safe.
[X] Does she know what happened to Sayaka? You had... really screwed up the other day and now Sayaka is a magical girl and is fully involved in this mess.
[X] Even though this was all on you, you still need to know something. You had asked her to look into the future to see if Sayaka and her family would be safe. And yet, if she saw Sayaka as a magical girl, wearing the ring, or making a wish, she certainly didn't tell you about it. What exactly happened there?
-[X] Did she know?
=====​
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Threadmarks Residue processing pt. 29
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 27, 2015

- #58,745

You sigh, eyeing Oriko's form, collapsed in the bed with her eyes squeezed shut and hand fisted in the sheets. You're...
Suspicions rise to the forefront of your mind. She could conceivably be faking it, and she could have orchestrated everything to date. You choke back your suspicions, for now. They're... there, but you also think that those suspicions are kind of reaching, to put it mildly. Well. You'll keep them in mind, you suppose.
Oriko cracks an eye open to peer up at you again, seemingly waiting for you to say something.
"No," you decide, looking at her. In the back of your mind, you can feel Kirika rummaging around in the kitchen, her actions sharp and hurried. "Not with you like this." She's changing the subject, but you'll let her.
You move over to the bed, claiming Kirika's chair for now. Raising a hand, you summon the silver glow of your magic to your hand.
"That doesn't help," Oriko murmurs before you can apply.it to her forehead. "Kirika tried that."
"... Ah. Well," you say. "Do you know how to turn off pain?"
Oriko squeezes her eyes shut. "No, I don't."
"Alright," you say, sitting back in the chair. You eye Oriko - she's not faking the pain, you don't think. A thin sheen of sweat beads her forehead, and her tightly clenched lips are very nearly grey. Ashen. "I hope this helps, but... Oriko, you know that we are our Soul Gems, right?"
"Yes," she manages.
"Alright, so, concentrate on that link," you say. "There's a, a way of detaching yourself from your body. It dulls pain and sensation. You should be able to do it, just... Focus."
"Yes," Oriko murmurs, her lips barely moving. Her eyes screw shut tightly, and her single hand twists the sheets.
A long moment later, she delivers her verdict. "It doesn't work. But I appreciate the thought."
"Tsk," you say. "Fine. Another thing, then." A marble rises out of your sling bag and drops into your hand.
Pelting footsteps sound at the door, and you look up just in time to see Kirika returning with a tray bearing teapot and cups. Some of the tea slops out of the pot as she sets it down none too gently on the bedside table.
Guessing at her intentions, you rise from the chair just as she rounds the bed to Oriko's side. Kirika gives you a quick, weary grin as she passes you, before dropping into the chair and reaching out to take the seer's hand. "I'm here, Oriko," she says.
"I know," Oriko says, opening her eyes to smile at the black haired girl.
You busy yourself with the tray of tea, pouring it out carefully before taking a tentative sip. To your surprise, it's brewed fairly well. No traces of the unpleasant bitterness you'd expect from overheated tea.
"Anyway," you say, still tactfully looking away. "I'm going to try something that will maybe help? It'll feel Witchy, though."
"You can look," Oriko observes, a trace of dry humour in her voice despite the edge of pain. "We're not doing anything."
"Yeah, yeah," you say, setting down the teacup and holding out the hand with your Grief marble. "Kirika, please don't antimagic, I have no idea how that will interact with this. Now, let me see..." You focus on the marble, and it thins, a hole developing in the center before it forms into a doughnut shape that then warps into a ring. Block the pain of your wearer. You push mentally, bearing down with your will, and-
It gives way abruptly, developing a golden sheen. Runes burn for a moment around the edges before fading away. The ring sings in your senses, Witch, Witch, Witch.
"Alright," you say, turning back to Oriko and Kirika. The black haired girl gives you a hopeful grin, her fang peeking out for a moment. "... actually, while I'm pretty sure this should work, I should probably test it first."
"What's that?" Kirika asks.
"Pain blocking ring for Oriko, I hope," you say, fitting the ring to your right hand. It mirrors the regular Grief ring on your left hand, glinting gold in the light.
Kirika sits up. "I should test it," she says. "What if it doesn't react the same way to other people?"
You blink at her. "It should, but... here." You slip the ring off, and toss it to Kirika.
She catches the ring deftly and slides it onto her own finger. "So how does this work?"
You shrug. "It blocks pain. So, uh, pinch yourself?"
Kirika nods, and pinches her inner arm. Then she pinches harder, and twists the little fold of flesh.
Oriko cracks her eyes open to peer at Kirika. "Dear, I think it works," she whispers, voice thready from pain.
"Ah, yeah, OK," Kirika says, releasing the pinched skin. She removes the ring, and then grasps the seer's hand, holding the ring to Oriko's ring finger. The black haired girl promptly begins blushing furiously.
Oriko stares up at Kirika for a moment, before a mirroring blush starts to suffuse her too-pale face.
You bury your face in your palm. "Oh my god," you mutter into your hand. You can't decide whether to laugh or squee or just yell at them. You decide to do neither, instead reflecting that they really have... well Kirika's Wish did affect her mind, but really they have a healthier relationship than you do with Mami.
... you owe it to her to change that, though you're not terribly sure how.
After a full minute of staring and blushing at each other, Kirika finally slides the ring onto Oriko's finger. Her blush fades a little, expression sobering as she gives the seer a concerned, questioning look.
Oriko's grip on her pillow eases. The blush doesn't entirely fade from her face, a healthier colour taking hold to replace the former pallor. Sea green eyes open, the seer looking surprised. "It... works," she says.
"Excell-" you're cut off by a ballistic, enthusiastically hugging girl, tackling you around the waist.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Kirika squeaks, wrapping her arms tightly around you.
"Y-yeah," you wheeze, patting her on the head. She is strong.
"Sorry!" Kirika says, popping off you and practically flying back to Oriko's side. She grabs the silver haired girl's hand and intertwines their fingers, grinning broadly.
Oriko smiles up at her, before turning and nodding to you. "Thank you."
You exhale slowly, smiling in response. "No problem, Oriko. Mind if I take a look at your Soul Gems?"
"Go ahead," Oriko says.
You walk over to the bedside table, grabbing a cup of tea and sipping it. You squint down at the Soul Gems and the clear Seed. They... look normal, as far as you can tell. They feel normal, too. The clear Seed is...
It's a little fuller than it used to be, which is unsurprising, since it's being used. It's also a little... noisier than it used to be, a kind of pushing sensation bubbling against your senses. It's not exactly the active hunger of a full Grief Seed, but it is different.
You purse your lips, considering the clear Seed, balanced on its point. Mentally, you compare it to Hildegarde's Grief Seed, which is inert.
[] Write-in
-[x] Make sure a window is open for excess grief. Cleanse all soul gems and the clear seed as applicable.
[x] Ask Oriko when the headache started getting 'really' bad.
[x] Is Kirika feeling any pain?
[x] Why didn't you call me?
=====​
OK, so I'll say it for the record, since while I like arguments, there's a limit to it. Oriko's not faking.
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 29, 2015

- #59,170

You exhale, mind spinning with speculation. That worked, and you're glad, but you need to figure out a more permanent solution. It's not like your pain blocking ring will persist without you there, and it's not like you can bring Oriko and Kirika to lunch. But here and now...
"Alright, so... I'm going to go ahead and cleanse your Soul Gems, OK?" you say, glancing over at the window. It's a pleasantly cool day so far, so their window's already open. That's fine.
"Yeah!" Kirika says brightly, good cheer restored.
"Go ahead, Sabrina," Oriko says. She still doesn't look entirely healthy, per se - still, tired, and her skin is still kind of sallow. You can see the veins under her skin, greenish blue and prominent. But then again, a night of crippling pain will do that to you, you suppose.
"Mmm," you say, pinching lightly at the air and pulling. Grief flows out of the Soul Gems, a wispy banner of deep purple haze twisting and writhing through the air. It streams out of the window in ropy tendrils to join the bulk of your Grief lurking in the rose garden below as you cleanse both Soul Gems and the clear Seed, restoring it to its empty state.
To your surprise, the clear Seed doesn't quite go into hibernation. There's still a bubbling sensation, pushing weakly on your senses. You pick up the Grief Seed, frowning at it briefly before putting it down again. You'll... come back to that in a moment. "Hmm. Oriko, do you mind if I ask some questions?"
"No," Oriko says, looking up at you. "Go ahead."
"Alright, so..." You take a moment to marshal your thoughts, debating how much to ask and how much not to. "OK. When did the headaches start, and how did they start? I mean, was it a slow build up, or all at once?"
Oriko closes her eyes, leaning back against the pillow. "I already had a migraine when... whatever happened with Miki Sayaka and the Witch happened. It got worse shortly after."
"About nine?" Kirika offers with a shrug.
"Hmm," you say, considering that. That would... roughly match up with the time Sayaka making her Wish, you think. Which does lend credence to that one theory bouncing around the back of your head about her Wish or power somehow attacking Oriko? You're not sure whether her power, whatever it might be, works that way, though.
You'll find out.
"Any idea what the cause might be?" you ask hopefully. It's unlikely she knows, but there's no harm in asking.
Oriko shakes her head, silver hair brushing against her shoulders. She suppresses a slight wince of pain.
"Hmm. Didn't expect an answer that way," you say with a shrug. "Alright, then... Compare this to, ah, previous, similar situations. How is it different?"
"Those were..." Oriko pauses, searching for the words. "Like a sledgehammer to the head." She gives you a meaningful look. "Or simple cessation, in the case of the feathers. This is... everything squeezing."
That sounds interesting. "Squeezing?" you ask curiously, snagging teacups and offering them to Oriko and Kirika. Still warm, so good enough. No need to refill, or indeed, microwave them.
Kirika accepts the tea and drains it in one long pull, holding it back out to you with a bright grin, fang poking out of her mouth. Oriko sips hers slowly for a moment before she answers. "It feels like... reality is closing in."
You frown, turning that statement over and over as you refill Kirika's tea and hand it back to her, claiming the last cup for yourself. Before you can ask anything more, Oriko speaks again.
"It's like being in a glass room," Oriko murmurs, eyes distant and staring at the ceiling above. "I can see. Sometimes, someone breaks a pane of glass-" another look at you, "-but that gets replaced. Sometimes, a blizzard of black feathers blocks sight out and then rearranges the scenery. Now... the walls are closing in." She sighs, refocusing on you. "Describing powers is hard, and metaphor is imprecise."
"Mine's like a switch!" Kirika volunteers. "I press it, and blaaat. Then there's these knobby things to change the shape and stuff." She mimes playing with a control panel, making beeping and clicking noises, while Oriko gives her a fond smile.
"... that's fair," you say. "I'm not sure how I'd describe my powers, either." You pause, marshalling your thoughts. What she said was interesting, certainly, but you'll get to the end of your list, first. "Alright... how well was Kirika's anti-magic working before we arrived?"
"Not very well," Oriko says, frowning at you. A telepathic message hits your mind. "I was trying to convince Kirika to rest."
Oh. Right, she said as much.
Kirika's smile dims. Oriko squeezes her hand, smiling up at the girl before releasing her hand, only to reach up and slide her hand around Kirika's head and pull her down so that they're forehead to forehead. "It's alright, dear," she mumurs quietly.
"O-OK," Kirika whispers, closing her eyes.
You busy yourself with your teacup for a moment, feeling like an intruder.
A moment later, Oriko glances at you. "Next question, Sabrina?"
"One for Kirika, actually," you say, looking at the black haired girl. She grins back at you. "Are you having any problems?"
"Nah," Kirika says. "I'm A-OK. Sleepy, but thaaa-" she interrupts herself with a yawn "-thaaaat's fine."
"Hm," you say.
"What, you think it might be your funny Grief Seed?" Kirika asks.
You shrug. "I thought it might be."
"Guessing it's not," Kirika says, with a satisfied air of having solved a great puzzle as she sits back, arms crossed smugly over her chest. "No headaches here."
"Right, right," you say absently, considering what you've learned. You hold your hand out, summoning a blob of Grief, and it coasts to a halt in your hand. "OK, so, two things I want to try is... well, a magic scanner, and the other is trying to block off outside influences."
Oriko gives a measured nod.
"Mm," you say, focusing your attention on the Grief. A scanner. You press your hands together, the Grief flowing like putty and congealing into a rigid shape as you withdraw your hands.
Witch.
You get... a screen. One of those vaguely cartoony ones in dark green, concentric circles marked out in a lighter green ones, and two handles on either side of the screen. On the screen, you can see a fuzzy image of what's on the other side.
"It looks like a toy," Kirika notes, nodding solemnly.
"Yep," you agree, pointing it at her. You see the outline of her body and a pseudo-nervous system limned in green fire, delicate traceries spinning across the room to her Soul Gem. It's... more or less the same thing as you see with your Wish-borne senses, disappointingly.
But...
You take a closer look at Oriko's Soul Gem, with both the sensor and your senses.
There's... something strange. It's almost like her Soul Gem's turning in on itself slowly, rotating through odd geometries you can sort of feel. Now that you're looking, it's something like a Klein bottle, burning magic twisting in on itself.
[] Write-in
--[x] If nothing has been found thus far ask if you can see if using a quarantine bubble and taking off the painkiller ring works to stop the effects. Give her the ring back at once if it doesn't work. If it does, can Oriko use her precog in a quarantine bubble?
[x] Examine all the seeds on hand, cleansing as needed to 'standard' cleansed state - that is NO making more clear seeds.
[x] Explain situation to Mami and Homura over telepathy.
[x] Ask why Oriko and company did not call earlier.
=====​
Klein bottle.
Last edited: Aug 29, 2015
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Aug 31, 2015

- #59,484

You tilt your head to the side. That's different. That's also not right. You twitch the scanner to the side, looking at Kirika's Soul Gem both on screen and through your Grief senses.
Kirika's Soul Gem is like every other one you've seen. Delicate, fiery traceries of magic blaze within it, webbing to and from a single point of abyssal darkness that slowly bleeds outwards. Gossamer streamers burn across the aether, invisible lattices spinning towards Kirika's body.
Philotes
That looks normal. And it's one more data point, but you're starting to come to a thoroughly unpleasant solution.
You turn your attention to your own Soul Gem. It's... yes, it's the same. The familiar ghostly strands of magic blazing invisibly in the air. That same quiet sepulchral pres-
Dedolere
-sence lurking in the depths of your Soul.
You suppress a shudder from the sensation of icy fingers running down your spine.
"Is something wrong?" Oriko asks, glancing at you.
"Someone walking on my grave," you mutter in response, shaking your head. "But here. Look at this."
You tilt the screen towards them - shadowy outlines of furniture, eclipsed by the incandescent blazes of light that are the Soul Gems. "That's Kirika's Soul Gem," you say, pointing out the obvious. "And that's yours, Oriko."
Oriko frowns. "What am I looking at?"
"Magic!" Kirika chirps. Her bright grin quickly slides off her face, though. "Yours doesn't look right."
"Yeah, it doesn't," you agree, detaching your own Soul Gem from the lapel of your coat and holding it up to the scanner. "Here's mine for comparison."
"I see," Oriko murmurs, though you can still see confusion in the way her head's tilted slightly to the side and her eyes don't leave the screen as if she might divine meaning by staring at the distinctly and definitionally non-Euclidean geometry of her Soul.
Kirika chews on her lip, staring on the screen. "Oriko, I thin-"
You cut her off. "Kirika, wait."
She falls silent, cocking her head to the side, citrine eyes on you.
"OK. I'm going to try one more thing, first," you say. You don't know whether Kyuubey's actively working against you. He contracted Sayaka, but... that might have been just Coobie being Coobie. For now, you'll still operate on higher security.
"Yeah?" Kirika says, sounding confused.
"Mm," you say, raising a hand. Grief sweeps in through the window, a tide of deep purple flooding in as a torrent. It pours around you, all three of you, wrapping under the bed and over your heads and blotting out the light.
You hear an alarmed squeak before you will the interior of the sphere to glow. As a gentle illumination begins to suffuse the interior of your not-really-a-sphere, another effort of will -shield us from outside influence- turns it into an interdiction still-not-really-a-sphere.
When you turn back to Kirika, you find her clinging to Oriko's side in an awkward, hunched over posture, and the seer's arm is wrapped around her waist. You raise an eyebrow.
"She doesn't like darkness," Oriko notes.
"Orikooooooooo," Kirika whines, lifting her head from Oriko's shoulder. "You didn't have to tell heeeeerrrr."
"But I did, dear," Oriko says, smiling at her.
Kirika pouts and flops over on the bed next to Oriko, reaching up to play with Oriko's silvery mane of hair.
... It occurs to you that this is probably at least part of the reason Megane was so annoyed with you, yesterday. Then again, you're really not going to interrupt what really is the healthiest relationship you've seen.
You suppress your own thoughts and emotions as much as Mami does, if not even more. It... isn't healthy at all. For either of you. You do it for the sake of everyone else, but still.
You... maybe you owe it to her to let things change.
Oriko turns back to you, finalky. "I suppose the barrier you made is for privacy?"
"Yeah," you say. "It shields us from all outside interaction, or at least it's supposed to. Including a certain Incubator's prying eyes." You press your lips together. "So. Kirika, you were going to say something?"
"Yeaaaah but I kiiiiiinda forgot what it was," Kirika says, sticking her tongue out at you. "You scared my train of thought away!"
"Heh. Sorry?" you say. "Though now that we've blocked off everything from the outside..." You lift the scanner again, pointing it at Oriko's Soul Gem.
No change.
"Tsk," you mutter, showing the screen to the pair on the bed. "Oriko? Would you mind taking off the ring? Just for confirmation? You can put it back on immediately if things haven't changed."
Oriko frowns. "I would prefer not to," she says, glancing at the screen. "It doesn't look like anything has changed."
"It's just confirmation," you offer.
She shakes her head. "I would prefer not to," she repeats.
You sigh. "Alright then, I thin-"
"Oh! Now I remember!" Kirika says. "I... I think Oriko's magic is turning on itself somehow? You can fix that, right?" She turns a bright, hopeful smile on you.
You purse your lips. "That's... pretty much what I was thinking, Kirika - about Oriko's magic, I mean. I can't promise anything, though. Let me think about this?"
Kirika's smile dims, but she nods eagerly.
"Hmm..." you say, idly claiming Kirika's chair, since she's not using it, and drag it over to your spot by the bedside table. You plonk yourself on the chair, eyeing Aurora's Grief Seed.
Out of curiosity, you hold Hildegarde's Seed beside it for comparison, inspecting both with the scanner and your Grief senses. Neither reports much difference from what you'd expected. Hildegarde is silent as the grave, a plutonic spot of darkness still stuck in the quiet limbo of hibernation.
Aurora... Aurora grumbles, is the best way you can put it. It's the same tiny speck of darkness, but one that pushes against you, somehow. Weakly, and yet... it's present.
"Sabrina? Anything interesting there?" Kirika prompts, fanning herself with her hand. It is a little stuffy in here.
"Not... really relevant, I just wanted to look while I had my scanner out. Still thinking about it," you say, waving said scanner at Kirika. "But here's a thought, Oriko."
The seer looks at you, sea-green eyes almost luminous in the gentle glow from the inside of your sphere. "Yes?"
"Don't you find it strange that you can't shut off your powers?" you say slowly, dredging up the memories and words from somewhere. "You once told me Wishes do what you want them to. Have you found your answer yet?" You meet her eyes squarely. "What do you think your life's purpose is?"
"To save the world," Oriko answers without hesitation.
"Are you sure, Oriko?" you ask softly, without emphasis. You remember that elsewhere, and elsewhen, she would have realised that her life's purpose wasn't to save the world. It was to protect Kirika.
It's always about the people.
[] Write-in
=====​
Isn't it?
Last edited: Aug 31, 2015
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Sep 2, 2015

- #59,669

Oriko seems thoughtful, brow creased in thought. You're pretty sure she knows you're driving at something in particular, and she's trying to figure out what you might be driving at.
Good. At least you're on the same page.
You consider just telling her, outright. That another Oriko, elsewhere and elsewhen, realised that Kirika was the meaning of her life, as sappy as it is.
Then again.
Saving the world, saving one broken little girl. What's the difference, eh? It's always about the people...
"The world's a big place," you say meditatively. "Does it really matter to you that much? Do people you've never met, people who hate you really mean as much to you as people you know and care about?"
"That, coming from you?" Oriko asks.
"I'm not saying be selfish," you murmur, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward to rest your elbows on your thighs. "I'm saying that you can want to save the world, but you can have a reason for wanting to do that."
"Saving the world sounds preeeetty good to me," Kirika offers, waving a hand at the ceiling.
"Sure," you agree. "But it's a goal, not a reason."
"Oooh. Ooooh, I geddit," Kirika says, nodding sagely. She promptly turns over and cuddles against Oriko.
Come on, Oriko, you're a smart girl, if a bit addicted to convoluted, Byzantine scheming and there's a great big hint attached to your side right now.
... Sweet merciful Madokami above but you want to say it.
"Sabriiiinaaaa? You OK?" Kirika asks curiously, lifting her head to peek at you. "'skinda stuffy in here, isn't it?"
You probably didn't keep all of that last thought off your face, did you. "It is," you agree. Kirika nods, looking satisfied.
You return your attention to Oriko, watching as the seer stares up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Tsk. Missing the forest for the trees, probably, because she's wrapped up in trying to figure out what vast conspiracy there is working the skeins of reality threaded through her skull or some such.
You sort of wonder if you've missed anything important. In general, anyway. Here and now, you're pretty sure on this particular little problem with Oriko.
"What did your magic show you when you first made your Wish?" you ask quietly. You press your lips together, considering for a moment, before adding, "I'm not asking just out of curiosity. I think... I think we might need to do some things differently."
Oriko frowns at you. "I saw... you. Akemi Homura, Kaname Madoka. The Incubator's machinations. Kirika. But what do you mean?"
You purse your lips for a long moment, turning the thought over in your mind. "I think what's wrong with your magic has to do with your wish- if you don't know your purpose yet, if you can't achieve it trapped like this... I don't know. Just think about it, okay?"
Oriko nods slowly. "Will you let me go free, then?"
You shake your head. "I don't think I can. Not yet, maybe. Homura, you know? But..." you chew on your lip for a moment. Another hint, since she still hasn't figured it out? "A thought, Oriko. When we fought, saving the world was what you were willing to die for," you say slowly.
Kirika rolls over, wrapping Oriko in a protective hug.
"But what were you willing to live for?" you ask, letting your eyes flick to the oblivious form of Kirika, and then back to Oriko.
You sigh, swirling the teacup in your hand around and watching the little bits of tealeaf drift along in the current before.
Oriko regards the girl wrapped around her with a thoughtful air. Eventually, she shakes her head slowly. "I... have an inkling of what you're trying to tell me, Sabrina," she says. "But I don't think I understand."
You purse your lips and exhale slowly. "We'll find a way to fix this. Really."
The seer nods cautiously, not saying anything more.
"Feh," you grunt, and reach out to replace the teacup on the tray. With your other hand, you pull your phone out of your pocket and check the time.
... you know, it's sort of interesting that stuff in your civilian clothes remains when you transform? They even redistribute themselves in the pockets of your longcoat, which is nice.
It's only nine or so - you didn't spend that much time travelling here or talking to Oriko. A thought strikes you, and you glance back at the seer.
"Hey, Oriko?" you ask. "One more thing. Why did you try and hide it from me? I could have helped earlier if I'd known."
Oriko sighs. "It was only pain," she murmurs. "I had hoped I could deal with it myself."
You purse your lips. "Oriko... I want to help."
"And sometimes, I want to be able to do things by myself," she counters calmly.
You sigh, closing your eyes. "Point taken. Anyway. I'm going to drop the interdiction barrier now, unless there's anything else?" you say.
Oriko shakes her head, while Kirika doesn't say anything else, apparently content to wind her fingers through Oriko's mass of silvery hair.
Without getting up from the chair, you wave idly at the sphere, and it collapses like a bubble popping. Fresh, cool air floods in, a welcome relief after the stuffy interdiction sphere, and you take a deep, grateful breath. A thought sweeps the Grief aside, pouring back out of the window from whence it came.
"Ooh, fresh air!" Kirika exclaims, bouncing off the bed and spinning in a circle, arms outstretched. Far too much energy, that girl. You briefly consider giving her wings at some point - she wants to fly, doesn't she?
Heh. 'Red Bull gives you wings'.
You take a moment to imagine Kirika on Red Bull, or any other energy drink, and shudder.
Kirika finishes her piourette and drops back onto the bed, flopping lengthwise across Oriko before curling up against the seer.
"Anyway, I'm going to talk to Mami and Homura, OK?" you say. You reach out telepathically for your friends. "Mami, Homura?"
"What is it?" Homura responds almost immediately, followed a hair behind by Mami's cheerful, "Hi, Sabrina!"
"Hi Mami, Homura," you say. "Hey, um, there's a bit of a problem with Oriko."
"Do you need me there?" Homura replies sharply.
"No... not that kind of problem," you say. "Oriko's... powers seem to be acting up. And I can verify it; her Soul Gem does not look right. She's in crippling pain, and she kind of has to stay within a hundred meter range of me."
Homura's glower is so loud you can practically smell it from over here.
"Sabrina, you should be careful," Mami says. "She was our enemy, once."
"I know, I know," you say. "But she's in pain. I... I was thinking maybe Oriko and Kirika could follow me for a while today, at least until lunc-"
"No." Homura's voice is glacially remote.
[] Write-in
=====​
Oh. Mom Homura put her foot down.
Last edited: Sep 2, 2015
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Sep 5, 2015

- #60,148

You groan to yourself, rubbing at your forehead and drawing a curious look from Kirika. You should have expected this. Homura... hates Oriko and Kirika. Mostly the former. You can kind of understand it, you guess, even if you don't agree with it.
Elsewhere, and elsewhen, Homura will once have made friends with Madoka and Sayaka and Mami. And Mami and her fought side by side, and things were going well. They'd gone well up until those last five minutes, and she stumbled upon Madoka's corpse, impaled on a near 'miss' from Oriko.
Defeat, snatched from the jaws of victory and handed to her.
But that was then, and this is now.
"Homura, hear me out, please?" you ask quietly. "If I can't convince you and Mami, then that's that, but can I talk?" You're not absolutely sure you will leave it.
Do you have it in you to go against Homura? Against your friend?
You can't honestly answer the question. Not yet, perhaps.
Mami speaks a few moments later. "Homura?" she prompts, voice tentative.
"Fine," Homura bites out, mental voice impatient.
That's a first step, at least.
You take a deep breath to marshal the thoughts cascading through your mind. Half a dozen ways to present your case, arguments and counterarguments and how Homura might react.
You huff out an annoyed breath, garnering a regal, sympathetic nod from Oriko. She can probably guess what's troubling you. Kirika, on the other hand, seems to be halfway through the process of collapsing into a cuddle on Oriko's lap, apparently content with that.
"Oriko isn't... simply in pain," you say quietly, leaning back in your chair and hooking your arms over the back. "She's really hurting. She looked like a corpse when I got here, and she can't possibly fake... Her Soul Gem, her Soul, it's wrong. It's not something she can fake."
You're pretty sure, anyway. You glance over at Oriko - she still looks kind of drawn, but at least her colour's somewhat healthier, and she doesn't look like she's in pain for now. Her eyes are distant, staring out of the window at what she can see of Mitakihara with a melancholic twist to her mouth. She's got her arm wrapped around Kirika, slowly stroking the other girl's back.
"It's not even something most magical girls can see. It's destroying her from the inside. If I leave... I have no idea what will happen," you tell Homura.
The time traveller doesn't respond, maintaining her stony silence.
You suppress a frustrated groan, rubbing at your forehead. "I understand they're dangerous, Homura," you say. "I get that. I really do."
You take a breath, even if you don't really need to - you're speaking telepathically, after all. "But so am I. I can take them. I won't be taking my eyes off them for a second; I'm prepared for treachery; Oriko's wearing a magical ring with properties of my choosing, which I can change on a whim; I can hold onto their soul gems as a condition of their temporary outing."
How much of that is an empty threat? You grimace to yourself, glancing from Oriko to Kirika, now curled up on top of Oriko like a cat. She seems to sense your eyes on her, and cracks one orange eye open and grins at you, fang poking out.
"They're not going to be anywhere near our friends, Homura. They can't leave my range and most importantly, they're accounted for."
"And..." One last reassurance, maybe. "If they try to backstab me... they won't succeed."
"No." Homura's refusal is short and sharp.
"Homura... from what Sabrina says, it sounds like Miss Mikuni might really be having troubles," Mami says, loyally backing you up. "I understand your concerns, but couldn't you trust Sabrina?"
Homura's silent for a moment. "I trust Sabrina," she admits. "I don't trust them."
[] Write-in
=====​
Well. Shit.
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Sep 7, 2015

- #60,505

That's... actually quite humbling. Homura, of all people, trusts you.
You swallow. Despite that, despite your promise... one last try. Just one last try, you promise yourself.
"Homura... thank you," you say softly. "What I'm asking is for you to trust me with handling them. I understand we can't trust them, but leaving her like this? It's just cruel, Homura, and she might die, or worse. I... something's definitely wrong and I don't want to just leave it like this."
You look at Oriko and Kirika. Sensing your eyes on her, the seer looks up from Kirika, meeting your gaze steadily. Sea green against clear blue. She arches one elegant brow at you. You shrug, grimacing, and she nods slowly.
Homura sighs, the sound transmitting telepathically. "Why do you care?"
"Because they're in my care," you say. "She's helped us. Like yesterday; we wouldn't even have known if Oriko didn't warn us. Sayaka could have been eaten by a Witch."
Homura's silent, but you can sense her displeasure and faint dismay even over telepathy.
"Homura, I... look. If it's just my safety you're concerned about, I won't mess around. I promise. Oriko's still my prisoner. If she steps out of line, or goes for an opportunity, I'll go for the gem," you glance at the seer again. She's now playing idly with Kirika's hair. Would you? Do you really have the heart to?
"No. It's not just that," Homura says. She doesn't say anything more, but... you think you know. Or you can guess. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory must have been... must be a bitter taste to stomach.
A long moment of telepathic silence later, you continue with a sigh. "I need to fix this, Homura," you say wearily. "Out there or inside here, I'm going to try and fix things. I have an idea of what's happening, and I think my best shot is if I can get them out of this house, but... Homura, I said that if I couldn't convince you, I wouldn't bring her out. I meant it."
You pause. "That's what I've got, Homura. Is it too much to ask?"
There's a long pause before Homura responds. "Yes. Mikuni is too dangerous, and Kure isn't much less, she says. And then softly, so softly you nearly miss it even with her speaking directly into your mind, she adds something. "I'm sorry."
You exhale.
That's... it, then.
"OK," you say, disappointment leaking into your voice. "Thanks for humouring me, Homura, Mami."
"Sabrina... be careful, OK?" Mami says.
"Yeah. I will," you say. "I promise. I'll see you both at lunch, OK?"
"A-alright," Mami agrees softly.
"See you," Homura says quietly, before disconnecting.
Mami... doesn't. "Are you OK, Sabrina?" she asks.
You glance at the duo, still on the bed. "Sorry, Oriko, Kirika. Homura, uh, disapproves. I'll still be sticking around to see how I can help, at least for a while, I think. If you don't mind?" To Mami, you sigh. "I don't know. I really do want to help them, and... I think I get some of why Homura's so worried, but still."
"You're helping me," Oriko notes. "I'm hardly going to say that I mind."
"Yeah," Kirika agrees, blinking orange eyes open to peek at you. "Do your best!"
"Ugh," you say. "I wish I could just get you some asprin and be done with it. I mean... you know. We magical girls seem to still run on our bodies somewhat, so asprin should work somewhat, but... magic, right?" The Soujo sisters seem to indicate that body swapping or something can be done, but you don't know if that's a special case.
Then again, Oriko did say that they... she... they were coming by some time, didn't she? First thing you're going to do is issue them some new pronouns, but that's then and this is now.
"Magic," Kirika agrees, nodding sagely. "Ain't gotta explain shit."
Oriko reaches out and pokes Kirika's mouth. "No." The black haired girl clamps her mouth shut, pouting at the seer.
"Sabrina? Talk to me?" Mami asks, voice quiet.
[] Write-in
=====​
Hmmmm?
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Sep 10, 2015

- #60,787

You rub a knuckle at your head. You can feel what's probably a stress migraine building up, a dull throbbing at your temples. It's... you take a quick peek at your Soul Gem, but that looks perfectly normal.
"OK. Hold on a minute, Oriko, Kirika, I need to talk to Mami," you say, holding up a hand.
Oriko nods slowly, whereas Kirika gives you a thumbs up and a bright grin.
You groan, closing your eyes and letting yourself slump in the chair. "It's just... I just wish it'd worked," you tell Mami. "I wish we could all trust each other."
"Oh, Sabrina..." Mami says, voice soft. "You're a miracle worker as it is. You don't know what Homura was like before you came. You don't know what... what things were like for me."
You do know. You don't even trust Mami with everything.
"Oriko and Kirika would be dead now if you weren't here," Mami continues, voice still soft. "And you're still trying to help them, despite... everything. You're a wonderful person, Sabrina."
You exhale slowly. A decision filters through your mind, a moment of crystal clarity coming to light.
"Thank you, Mami," you say, voice equally soft. "It... your support means a lot to me. Not just for this, I... you mean a lot to me."
"Of course, Sabrina," Mami says. "And... thank you."
The conversation lapses into silence for a minute. Eventually, though, you break it again. "Hey, um... Can I talk to you about stuff? Now, and tonight?"
"Of course, Sabrina," Mami replies. A little worry enters her tone, and you can imagine her expression - that little faint frown. "Um... is something wrong?"
"No. Well, yes. But..." you tilt your head to the side. You wish you could hug Mami right now. Not just to comfort her. You could do with a hug yourself, right about now. "It's nothing that would make me leave. There isn't anything that would. I promise."
"I... alright," Mami says. "A-alright. I... what about?" She sounds like she's trying to convince herself that it is, indeed, alright.
"I promise, Mami," you repeat. When you open your eyes again, you spot Kirika eyeing you thoughtfully, citrine eyes glinting. You raise an eyebrow at her.
She raises one right back at you, before raising the other, and then bobbing her eyebrows up and down one after another. She seems to find this incredibly amusing, breaking out in a fit of giggles she muffles in Oriko's midriff. The seer shakes her head, patting the girl's head fondly.
"What did you have in mind, Sabrina?" Mami asks.
"Well... I wanted to run some thoughts on Oriko by you," you say.
"Ah... Of course," Mami says. "Go on?"
"Well..." you say, taking a moment to organise your thoughts. You're fairly sure that at least part of the problem is Oriko's, well, lack of agency. The fact that you're holding her under house arrest. But... Start with the bare facts.
"I looked at Oriko's Soul Gem with my powers," you start. "It's... it's kind of hard to describe, since I'm not really seeing it per se, but it's like her magic is twisting in on itself. Do you know what a Klein bottle is?"
"The, ah, non-orientable surface?" Mami asks. "We covered them briefly in math last term."
... What.
No, really, what. 'God was our dropout' is supposed to be a joke, damn it.
You shake your head, clearing your thoughts. "... Um... right. Anyway, the closest thing I can call it is a Klein bottle. It's like... Oriko's Soul, Oriko's magic, is turning in on itself."
"I see," Mami says, a thoughtful note in her voice.
"Hmm?" you ask. "Any ideas?"
"No, it..." she hesitates for a moment. "Just thinking. Go on, Sabrina?"
"Right. I... I think it's related to her Wish. Oriko wished to find her purpose," you say slowly. "I think she's misunderstanding something important and that's causing her magic to work improperly, and that's what's hurting her."
Mami's silent.
You frown. That's... unusual. "Mami?"
"Um... There are stories like that," Mami says softly. "I've never encountered anything like it, but stories are that if you reject your Wish, then you might lose your magical powers. You'd still be a magical girl, but you wouldn't have your powers any more."
You wince at the unconscious irony. She has encountered it, in Kyouko. The redhead should have the ability to make clones of herself, but... doesn't, because she rejected her Wish after her father snapped. Mami has no idea.
Kirika lifts her head off Oriko's midriff catches your eye, and mouths something to you. 'Be patient. Be there for her.'
You nod back at Kirika. She probably has the wrong idea of what your conversation with Mami is about, but it's good advice, anyway. You purse your lips in consideration, thinking for a moment.
You cast your thoughts back to the first time you'd fought a Witch, with Mami and Homura at your side. Back then, when you first entered the Barrier, you'd freaked out and bled the immediate area of Grief. Had that been similar?
No, you decide. Not really. That had been more like a sensory overload, and lashing out blindly in response. Nothing like what happened, what's happening, to Oriko.
Tsk.
"Sabrina?" Mami prompts you, sounding worried again.
"Sorry. Was just thinking," you respond. "If I'm right, if you're right, then we need to help her find her purpose."
"I agree, but um, Sabrina," Mami seems to be working through a thought. "The... last time we know she was absolutely fine was when she was fighting us. What if... that's the problem?"
You bite your lip. "I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't occur to me," you admit. On the other hand, you're pretty sure you know precisely what her purpose in life is, from your knowledge. "But I don't think it's that simple. Her purpose in life can't be something so, so small."
"That's probably true..." Mami agrees.
"Any thoughts?" you ask.
"She Wished for it, so it must be doable," Mami replies slowly, thoughtfully. "Wishes come true, after all."
"I hope so," you grumble. "If I can't... then I need to figure out how to treat the symptoms. I put a pain blocking ring on her for now, but that will last only as long as I'm in range of her. But that'll disappear once Oriko is out of my range, and the pain will come back. Probably."
"I think only she can answer what her purpose in life is," Mami says. "But... often, we don't know what we have, or want, until it's too late. It's... difficult. I... I'm sorry, Sabrina. I'm not being much help."
"No, it's fine," you say. "You should hear some of the crazy ideas and things I thought of and tossed away - but I haven't come up with anything concrete, either."
"Ah... well," Mami says. She's silent for a moment. "Do you... really think you need to bring her out to help her?"
"I don't know for sure," you say. "But I think it might help?"
"I could... try and distract Homura?" Mami offers hesitantly. "I could probably put a ribbon on her just in case."
[] Write-in
=====​
Oho.
Last edited: Sep 10, 2015
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