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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 Interloper pt. 14
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 11, 2015

- #38,998

You give Oriko a curious look. "Would you mind if I asked why you don't want to go?"
"Not at all," Oriko says.
You look at her, waiting for the answ- oh dammit.
Kirika giggles, nestling her head against Oriko and snuggling into the curtain of silvery grey hair cascading down the seer's side.
"So, why don't you want to go?" you ask, giving the seer a flat look. Really?
"I am a recognisable figure," she says, sea green eyes resting on you. Her expression is utterly neutral. "Very recognisable, especially with... events that have occurred." She shifts on the sofa again. "I do not... especially wish to be out in public."
You sigh. "I understand. If it's just the arm, though, we can disguise that. A Grief prosthesis, maybe, or just hide it with a sling?"
"People recognise me, as..." her expression flattens. "As the daughter of Mikuni Hisaomi. That my arm is... missing is a... lesser concern."
You raise an eyebrow at her. "You're a precog," you say tartly. "Do you really mean that you can't avoid people like that? And, what, does everyone recognise you?"
Oriko frowns, brows contracting elegantly.
"Look, honestly, Oriko, I'd enjoy your company," you say. "Or, you know, we both would. Kirika even more than me, I'm sure. So, please?"
The black haired girl makes a muffled, vaguely affirmative noise. Moving languidly, Kirika reaches up, patting Oriko's cheek. "Please, Oriko?"
The seer looks down at Kirika, expression softening. "Kirika, I shouldn't. I told you why," she murmurs, her own arm coming across to stroke Kirika's hair.
Kirika leans into the hand, nuzzling against it like a cat. "It'll be fun!" she whines.
You give her a narrow eyed look. "What can it hurt? I mean that literally. You can see the future. I do think you should get out of the house a bit, stretch your legs," you say. "And you'll make Kirika happy."
"Pleaaaaase?" Kirika whines.
"... fine," Oriko finally gives in.
"Yay!" Kirika cheers, bolting upright and then throwing her arms around the seer in a tight, delighted hug.
"Sabrina?" The seer looks up at you. "Would you mind stepping outside for a moment. I need to speak to Kirika." She blinks slowly, head tilting slightly to the side. "And yes, I need to speak to Kirika."
"Sure," you say, arching an amused eyebrow at her. "And, uh," you say as you stand, rolling your shoulders lightly.
"Yes?" Oriko regards you with a cool, dispassionate expression.
"Would you mind if I were to uproot a rose bush? I want to test something," you say, hooking a thumb over your shoulder in the general direction of the backyard.
"I don't mind," Oriko says.
"Alright, then," you say, heading out. A flex of your mind has marbles cascading out in front of you, a rippling, glittering tide flooding out into the backyard as you flex your will. "This might feel quite Witchy, by the way," you call over your shoulder.
An effort of will has the marbles melting into the form of a small excavator bucket. Just the bucket and most of the arm; you don't have enough grief for more than that. As the floating machine parts form, they virtually glow in your puella magi senses - Witch.
You look forward again, motioning with your hand. The excavator arm swings forward, biting into the ground with disdainful ease. You flip your hand, drawing it back, and the bucket pulls back, gouging a great hole from the ground and tearing a rosebush from the ground.
"Place it behind the rest of the rosebushes, if you please," Oriko says, walking up to watch dispassionately.
You comply, depositing it out of sight of the house, and then dissolve the excavator arm.
"Sabrinaaaaa?" Kirika asks. She's holding a large piece of cloth she's busily tying into a sling.
"Yes?" you ask as marbles flood back into your bag.
"What are you testing?" she asks brightly.
"Uh, to see whether things I do with Witch Grief are permanent?" you say.
"Ah," Kirika says. "OK. Oriko, do you want me to tear up the rest of the bushes?"
Oriko gives her a fond smile. "No need, Kirika."
"OK!" she says brightly. "Shoppiiiiiiing time?"
"Shopping time," you confirm. "So, uh, where's the nearest supermarket?"
"Walking distance," Oriko says, placidly unruffled. "Two blocks away."
"Well, is walking fine with you?" you ask. "Or maybe roofhopping?"
The seer's eyes go distant for a moment. "Roofhopping," she says, eyes refocusing.
"Sure," you shrug.
A few minutes later, you're roofhopping, Oriko and Kirika right behind you. To your great amusement, you can hear sharp cracks behind you as they follow, while you... You're doing less damage than they are. You're pretty sure. You could revert to actually trying to disperse momentum the mundane way by rolling on the landings, buuuuuuut.
"Sabrina?" Mami, sounding... panicked.
"Mami? What's wrong?" you ask, worry bleeding into your tone.
"Um. There's... We're having a test right now," Mami says. "I... didn't study."
You blink, nearly missing your step at the edge of a rooftop. She did mention a geography test last week, didn't she?
...
Well, damn.
[] Write-in
[x] Subjects for small-talk: (if Oriko comes restrain the jokes, don't talk about ojous, and include her in the general conversation while letting Kirika carry it)
-[x] Talk to Kirika about ojous. And... love? Ask for advice. How do we get her to stop worrying so much and be happier?
-[x] Ask Kirika if she would like to go flying someday.
-[x] Talk to Kirika about things she wants to do but hasn't had a chance to yet.
-[x] Ask how the healing is coming along. Is Kirika's proficiency with healing improving? Has Oriko been taught how yet?
-[x] Talk about cooking/baking. Pretty sure this is a shared interest between all three of us. Nerd out over it if appropriate.
-[x] Ask Kirika to tell you the bad jokes she came up with. All of them.
-[x] Tell all the bad jokes back. All of them.
--[x] How does a precog say goodbye? See you later.
--[x] How does an amnesiac say goodbye? I forget.
--[x] What did the precog say to the meme? I saw what you were going to do there.
--[x] How do you fool a precog? By making her wear motley and a hat with bells on it.
[x] After returning, ask them if they would be willing to assist you with experiments
=====​
And we're back! Breaking here to give an opportunity to refine the conversation a little more and if you want to direct it anywhere in particular other than small talk. And how you want to respond to Mami, of course.
Last edited: Mar 11, 2015
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 15
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 12, 2015

- #39,215

"Ah," you say as your body moves almost on automatic pilot, bounding and leaping for the next building. "We have been pretty busy these last couple of days, huh," you muse.
"I... it was worth it, Sabrina," Mami says. "You're... saving people is so much more important than just a silly test."
"Hmm, well," you say non-committally. "That doesn't make the test less important, Mami. I can help out if you want?"
"Here," Oriko calls to you, suiting action to word and stopping.
You drag yourself to a halt, boots scraping across concrete flagstones of the roof, turning to look at the seer. She points across the street, and you follow her pointing finger across the street.
"I..." you can imagine the worried expression, Mami biting her lip. "I shouldn't."
When you look back to Oriko, Kirika's fussing over her, draping the sling over her neck and carefully settling the seer's stump of an arm into the sling. It isn't perfect, but it's a good enough disguise that most people won't give her a second glance, you think. Oriko gives the black haired girl a smile.
You look away as Kirika leans in. "Are you sure, Mami? It's... important to you," you say as you stride over to the edge of the building and peer down to the alleyway below.
It's clear. You take a long step off the side of the building, falling smoothly to the ground below amidst a flurry of your longcoat.
"I shouldn't," she says. "I... maybe a few questions?"
You nod to yourself, destransforming in a brilliant burst of light. "OK, I'll be here," you say. "And... Mami?"
"Mm?" she asks.
"We could study together next time, if you like," you say.
"... I'd like that," Mami says.
A rustle of cloth and twinned, sharp cracks of breaking concrete behind you signal the arrival of Oriko and Kirika. A doubled strobe of light is Kirika and Oriko untransforming, leaving them in their casual clothes.
"Finally done?" you say, turning to grin at them.
"Yep!" Kirika says, giving you an embarassed grin. The grin turns devious a moment later. "Were you talking to your oujo?" Oriko just settles her sling, working it back into place, giving you a thin, unruffled smile.
"... well, yes," you admit as you stroll out of the alley, the two of them following behind you. The supermarket's just across the street, and as you wait for the traffic light, you raise an eyebrow at Kirika. "How did you even know?"
"It's obvious," Kirika says, as if that in turn is the most obvious thing in the world.
You snort, shaking your head. "Riiiiight," you answer as the light turns and you cross the road. "Maybe to you."
Kirika shrugs, giving you a perky grin. "So how's your oujo?"
"Not my oujo," you correct. "Doing well, in any case." For a given value of 'well', anyway. You can see Oriko giving you a narrow eyed look, out of the corner of your eye. "How's your oujo?"
"She's doing well." Kirika grins happily at Oriko as the three of you step into the supermarket, a blast of chilly air flooding out towards you. "I think she's in a good mood!"
Oriko chuckles slightly, but merely gestures at the vegetable section rather than saying anything.
"Ummm, Sabrina?" Mami asks.
"Yes, Mami?" you reply as you follow Oriko, Kirika snagging a basket and swinging it lightly from her elbow as she bounces along in the seer's wake.
"Um... what controls dynamic metamorphism?" Mami asks.
You blink, vaguely surprised. "Uh," you say, dredging your memories as you help to select tomatoes. "Let me see. Temperature and pressure, so, depth. Um... at different depths you get different types of rock. Breccia, pseudotachylite and, um, mylonite."
"... pseudotachylite, mylonite..." Mami mutters, and you imagine that she's writing it down as you say it. "Um, do you know the depths?"
"Uh, above 5 kilometers, in between, and below 10, respectively," you answer.
"... in between, 5 to 10... Thank you, Sabrina!" Mami says.
"No problem!" you reply, as you pick out nice, plump tomato and drop it into a plastic bag. Oriko runs her single hand over the pile, dipping into it and selecting ones seemingly at random to drop into the same bag.
"So, Kirika," you say.
"Yep?" she asks, giving you a happy, fanged grin as she plucks a tomato from the pile "This one, Oriko?"
Oriko gives it a once over. "No, Kirika, see this bruise here?"
Kirika pouts, and puts it back.
You chuckle. "Would you like to go flying one day?"
Oriko raises her eyebrows aristocratically at you, but Kirika practically bounces in place. "Yes!" she squeaks.
"Hah," you say. "Well, maybe if I can figure something out. Or we can get Chouko on this."
"Yesssssssss," Kirika squeals, spinning in place. "Oriko can come too, right?"
You shrug. "Sure."
Oriko smiles fondly at Kirika.
You chuckle to yourself. "How many tomatoes do you want, anyway?" you ask, hefting the bag up. "There's... six in here already."
Oriko considers that. "That will be enough," she notes, already starting to move on to the next section.
"So anyway," you ask Kirika as you place the bag of tomatoes into the shopping basket. "Anything else you want to do but haven't had the chance to, yet?"
Kirika touches a hand to her chin, looking thoughtful. "That's tricky!" she says. "Uhhh, let me think about it?"
"No rush," you shrug. You do wonder if that's true, but... eh.
"How's the healing, by the way?" you ask Oriko as you catch up with her selecting some celery. "Is Kirika improving?"
"It's been one day," Oriko notes drily. "There hasn't been much time for improvement."
"... well, that's fair," you say, feeling faintly silly. "How 'bout you? You could learn from her."
"I could," Oriko agrees. "And did."
"Alright," you say. The three of you slowly fill the basket up with fresh produce - what they're lacking, it seems, is mostly perishables. Which, in retrospect, makes sense. Meanwhile, you answer another two questions for Mami.
"Say, do you need anything for baking?" you ask idly as you give the basket a once-over.
Oriko gives you a sharp look. "I wouldn't mind," she says.
"Then let's go," you say cheerfully, leading the way to the baking section. "Do you like baking much?"
"... somewhat," Oriko allows.
"Cool," you say, grinning. "Hmmm... plain flour. Confectionary?" You drop a bag of said flour into Kirika's basket.
The seer shakes her head. "Just basic cakes and cookies and the like," she says. "I... haven't learned much."
"Well, you should," you say firmly.
Oriko gives you another inscrutable look, adding her own contributions to the basket - baking powder and various other items.
Eventually, the basket's nearly overflowing, and Oriko pays at the counter. The three of you leave, you and Kirika laden down with bags. Mostly Kirika. Oriko stiffens as she steps out onto the street, and spins in the opposite direction of her house, walking at a stiff, hurried pace away, threading through the crowds.
"Someone who might recognize you?" you ask as you hurry after her.
A stiff nod.
"Down the alley, then," you say.
Marbles flood out of the bag, and form a shallow dish of a platform. "Kirika, drop the groceries in- yeah, like that," you say, watching as she complies.
"Mind the eggs," Oriko says as you close the dish fully over the groceries.
"Yep," you agree, transforming. The three of you bound up to the roof. Oriko relaxes slightly as she lands on the roof, Kirika moving next to her and giving her a hug. You look away.
The three of you are soon bounding away, headed back to Oriko's house.
"By the way," you call telepathically to the two of them. "There's a trick, you can pulse your magic on landing and liftoff, to try and avoid cracking the rooftops. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's something to... y'know, learn."
"Noted," Oriko says. "We don't exactly have much opportunity to practice, I should point out."
"Ehhh, we'll see," you say, keeping a metaphorical eye on the Grief bubble containing the groceries, zooming along on a flat, level path behind you. You consider suggesting that they could practice in the rose garden, but there really isn't much room for that.
It doesn't take you too long to arrive back at Oriko's mansion. You glance at the watch - there's maybe half an hour left before you should go and find Mami.
[] Write-in
=====​
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee~
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 16
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 13, 2015

- #39,369

You bring the bubble of Grief containing the groceries to Oriko's kitchen as you walk into the mansion, considering the future. Things you've planned, things you hope to pull off. Though really, first and foremost is... Mami, you have to admit.
You glance at the silver haired seer. "Oriko?"
She looks at you, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"Um... would you mind if I were to speak privately with Kirika for just a moment?" you ask cautiously, and gesture at the kitchen. "We could unpack the groceries in the meantime."
Oriko eyes you thoughtfully, glancing at Kirika. The black haired girl nods eagerly, her eyes bright. "Very well," she acquiesces, moving over to the sofa and sinking onto it, fumbling the fake sling off.
Kirika bounces into the kitchen, and you follow, if more sedately. An effort of will melts the bubble containing the groceries away, Grief wisping away.
"Your power is so cool," Kirika says as she watches the deep purple cloud swirl and eddy. Marbles accrete out of the formless mass, sliding into your sling bag.
"Thanks," you say, moving over to the piles of groceries. You check the carton of eggs, first, going over each and every single one of them. Intact, excellent. Oriko would probably bitch passive aggressively if you'd broken any of them.
"Sooooo..." Kirika asks. "Whatcha want to ask?"
"Well, it's about Mami," you say as you rummage through the groceries, separating the greens from the rest.
"Who's Mami?" Kirika asks, head tilting birdlike to the side. "... your oujo?"
You pause, blinking owlishly at her. "... yes, but she's not my oujo," you say.
"Right, right," Kirika says, grin spreading across her face. "Your oujo's name is Mami."
"... you're messing with me, right?" you ask, narrowing your eyes at her. You're... you pause, dredging your memory. You're quite sure you've mentioned Mami's name to Kirika before. Quite, quite sure.
"So, what about your oujo?" Kirika asks, turning to store the bag of flour away in a cabinet. You can see the sliver of a grin lurking on her face still.
...
She's messing with you.
Right?
"... well, I've got a bit of a problem," you admit as you shuffle the vegetables into their monolithic, looming refrigerator. Sitting beside it is that minifridge you'd brought over from Oriko's warehouse, plugged in and humming away quietly.
A sudden silence from the other end of the kitchen.
Kirika's halted midstep, brows drawing together seriously as she sets down the cartons and plastic tub she'd been bringing over. "I'm listening."
You stare at the sudden change in demeanour. "Mami's always afraid I'm going to leave her," you sigh. "Do you have any advice to make her understand that I..." you swallow. "I won't leave her, no matter what? I've... told her that, over and over, and regardless, she still seems to think that I... might just be using her. She... she doesn't believe that I care for her, and she's so scared."
Kirika's nostrils flare. A few quick steps, and she's standing right in front of you, staring seriously up into your eyes. "Love her," she says.
"I-"
"No, she-" Kirika stops, stepping back. "Be there for her. She's yours, you're hers, but it, I," she bites her lip. "It was... months, before Oriko even... noticed me. Be there for her, be patient."
"... ah," you say.
"Love is an infinity of limitations," she says, eyes distant. "And it's worth it. Every single one of them."
"... ah," you say again, faintly stunned.
"So!" Kirika says cheerfully, spinning on her heel and marching back to the kitchen table. "The ice cream needs to go into the freezer before it melts!"
"... ah," you repeat, blinking owlishly.
"Earth to Sabrinaaaaa," Kirika lilts at you, nudging you out of the way of the fridge and stuffing it in.
"Right, groceries," you say, shaking your head quickly, moving to the table. "Thanks, Kirika."
"No problem," she grins at you.
It only takes a few more minutes to pack away the groceries neatly, and you return to the living room. "Orikoooooooo," Kirika calls as she bounces ahead of you and flopping bonelessly across the seer's lap.
"So, I need to head off pretty soon," you say, looking at the happy couple. "But one last thing. I'm working on... researching ways to improve the lives of all magical girls. Would you be willing to assist?"
Oriko nods. "Yes," she says, looking curiously at you.
You root around in your pocket, and withdraw Aurora's Seed. "Alright, give me a minute or two and I'll trade you the Grief Seed you have for this one?" You focus on the Grief Seed, dredging deep into it to withdraw the masses of Grief within. Miniature planetoids coalesce out of the billowing Grief, vectoring out into the backyard. Driven by your will, the Grief Seed empties slowly clearing out.
You hold it out to Oriko, looking at the Grief Seed to be sure.
Aurora.
The Witch, Aurora, is inert, torpid within the clear, glassy sphere of the Grief Seed.
Oriko considers the Seed, reaching out a hand and taking it from you. "Kirika?" she murmurs, rolling the Grief Seed in her fingers and studying it.
"Ah, right!" Kirika fumbles in her pocket and holds the Grief Seed -Gwen- out to you.
You take that, sliding the Grief Seed into your pocket. You've got two Grief Seeds, Hildegarde, and Gwen. You're still not sure what's up with Hildegarde, really. Or with clear Seeds in general. Ugh. Still, that's what testing is for.
"Anyway, I should g-" A chill runs down your spine, a familiar feeling prickling at the edge of your senses. Witch. Nearby. Your eyes flicker down to your watch - ten minutes to go before school's dismissed.
[] Write-in
=====​
Kirika is so much fun to write.
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 17
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 14, 2015

- #39,526

Dammit.
You glare up at the ceiling.
"Witch," Oriko murmurs, eyes fixing on Kirika, then drifting to you.
"Yeah," you snap. "Dammit, dammit, damn it."
Kirika twists in Oriko's lap to look up at her, citrine eyes curious. "A Witch?" she asks.
Your lips compress together. It... you've had this worrying sensation all day. That someone, somewhere, is playing les buggers risible... an interloper messing around. Could this be enemy action? You're not sure. And you're not even sure about asking Oriko, here.
You shake your head, watching the Witch Barrier on the edge of your senses. It's... drifting? "Kirika, I'm going to kill the Witch," you say. "Would you come with me?"
She frowns at you, curiosity fading to be replaced by confusion. "It's... school finishes now, doesn't it? Shouldn't you be going to your oujo?"
"Yeah," you grunt. "Wanna set a Witch killing speed record?"
Kirika shakes her head. "It's just a Witch," she says. "I bet it won't even come near here."
"Kill the Witch," Oriko says, eyes focusing suddenly on you. "Be quick about it."
Kirika opens her mouth, but nothing comes out, and she slowly shuts it.
You frown at her. "Why? I mean, I intend to, but what do you see?"
"You were looking for someone earlier today, right?" the seer asks, putting a curious emphasis on her words.
"Yeah?" It takes a moment for it to click. The Glass Witch. "Oh. You mean she's..."
Oriko shakes her head. "Not yet. Hurry, and tell Tomoe Mami."
"Yeah, was going to," you say, mind racing. Interesting. "Kirika?"
"Well, Oriko says so," the black haired girl says, glancing at the seer for confirmation. Oriko nods, and Kirika jackknifes upright, grinning brightly at you. "Let's go!"
You nod, already striding towards the rose garden. "Mami, Homura?"
As you step out to the backyard, you glance at the uprooted rosebush. It's still hidden away behind the rest of the bushes, barely visible, and the hole gouged in the ground is still there, so... you weren't really expecting anything else, but it's confirmation, anyway. You glance down at the ring still on your little finger. Yep, that's still fine, too.
"Sabrina?" Mami says. "Ah, the test is over, we'll be dismissed soon!"
"Is something wrong?" Homura asks.
"I went to check on Oriko and Kirika," you say, striding quickly down the path - there's no really tall buildings in the immediate area to roofhop from, and Kirika can't fly. "Bye, Oriko, thanks for hanging out," you call over your shoulder.
"Goodbye," Oriko calls, sounding faintly surprised.
"And?" Homura prompts.
"There's a Witch nearby," you say. "I'm going to mulch it quickly and then head over, OK? I promise it won't take long."
Silence. "A-alright," Mami says. "W-we'll come and find you?"
You bite your lip. You... you mean to stop curtailing Mami's agency, so that she can regain some more self confidence, so... "Sure, Mami, but take your time," you say as you hurry along the road, Kirika hot on your heels. "I promise this won't take long."
"A-alright," Mami says.
"Understood." Homura, precise and to the point.
You nod, turning down an alley, and you're bounding over the rooftops a few moments later, longcoat flapping behind you. Grief whirls around you, marbles melding to form the interlocking layer of sturdy armour plates under your coat. A thought strikes you as you bound along. "Oriko?"
"Yes?" the seer replies, unruffled.
"Do not put the clear seed with a normal Grief Seed," you say. "Uh, that might lead to the normal one hatching."
"... I see," Oriko says.
"Yeah, nearly found that one out the hard way," you say.
"Thank you for the warning," Oriko replies.
Eleven minutes to go, and the Barrier is right... there.
"Going right in," you call to Kirika.
"Gotcha!" she calls back, giving you a one eyed grin.
You dive off the side of the building, plunging straight into the Barrier below.
The familiar jolt of transition, and the equally familiar, nauseating sensation of Witch, Witch, Witch all around you. Probably how other puella magi feel about your Witch manipulations, if you think about it.
Cavernous cathedral halls yawn out all around you, ancient stone and brick and mortar cast in graceful arches. Above your head gleams a single timeworn chandelier heavy with wax drippings, the sole source of illumination in the Barrier.
Under your feet is a thick, dried layer of... gunk, tough and crusty. The same substance piles up in enormous heaps pressed up against the wall, and a musty, ammoniac scent hangs heavy in the air.
"Nasty," Kirika opines, kicking hard at the ground, and breaking a section off to reveal what looks like yellowed sheets of parchment, paper.
"Witches," you say. "Time's a wasting. C'mon." You start forward at a jog, the floor almost... springy under your feet, and what Grief that isn't in your armour spreading to form a slowly turning storm cloud of razor shards, a deadly hurricane with you and Kirika at its centre.
"Above!" Kirika barks. Before you can react, she's already leaping, and you hear the impact before you're even looking in the right direction - the clear, chiming tone of metal clashing with metal.
Shards of bright steel fall away from the spectre of Kirika's form, along with a flash of colour - a single, wingéd golden hat. With an extra 'éd' sound.
Bigger problems. You can hear more Familiars swarming in, a steady pitter patter. Giant pins, each topped by the same gilded, wingéd hats. You charge, hurricane of blades roaring around you.
Ringing, bell-like tones of steel, effortlessly sheared through. Kirika sprinting in on your left, a black blur even to your eyes, and in her wake, devastation. Shattered steel and tattered golden cloth flutter after her.
The two of you blaze a swath of destruction through the Familiars, dim light shining from the chandelier eternally overhead.
A change, a difference in the texture of the air.
Smoke.
Where?
Under.
"Kirika! Jump!" you yell.
Without hesitation, she leaps, bounding vertically with inhuman speed and height.
Fire roars, bright and voracious and spiteful. A white hot flame, licking out from beneath Kirika's feet.
Flames lick out, consuming the crusted layer. The Familiars, glittering malevolently in the flickering, guttering light. Black smoke gouting into the air, thick and unpleasant.
The way ahead of you is clear. Clear but for the Familiars, as you sprint forward, tearing through the crowd, Kirika now sticking close to you as the fire blazes over the encrustations in the Barrier, forming a solid, flaming wall to bar your exit.
And-
-you're-
-there.​
Another chamber, cavernous and brooding. This one's held up by thick, solid wooden joists, and despite the radiant heat scorching your back from the wall of fire behind you, deep shadows cloak the chamber. A single point of light; an eldritch, lambent blue glow that warps the eye painfully if you look at it straight on.
"Sabrina?" Mami's voice. "Are you here?"
"Fighting the Witch now," you tell her. "I'll be there soon!"
"Oh," Mami says. "I. Um."
"Where are you?" Homura's quiet, impassive voice.
"Oh, um... Block 31-4, I think? Somewhere around there," you say.
"On our way," Homura says.
"We'll be there soon!" Mami says. "Be... be safe, Sabrina."
"I will," you say firmly, turning to look back at the Witch.
Slowly, mechanical clacking, and you can see immense, spidery limbs shifting in the darkness, distorting, curving as they pass before the glow, as if seen through a distorted lens.
Kirika stares down, glancing at you, her single visible eye seeming to burn with a cold light despite the clinging shroud of shadows. You can feel her pulling in her magic, like sucking in a deep breath. You nod at her. Permission granted.
Anti-magic pulses out, a tidal wave focused into a tight cone. It slams home with almost concussive force, and you can see the shadowy form shudder, it's entire form wavering like a mirage before snapping back into focus. Kirika pouts.
Heavy, loud metallic chittering, and the titanic, mechanical figure skitters forward, the motion slowed, listless. The refulgent blue disc -and it is a disc, spinning endlessly in a motion not quite right- casting its eye-warping glow upon the two of you like a baleful eye. It roars.
The sound's like nothing so much as lead pressed through the world's biggest cheesegrater, the roar tearing at your ears.
Kirika crouches, and blurs forward.
You sprint forward, Kirika outpacing you easily - but not your Grief.
A blizzard of blades rips forward, the deadly storm sleeting and parting around Kirika to bite into the Witch. A thousand ringing impacts sound, rents torn in the hulking, spidery figure. One blade slams into the wheel, and distorts, spinning through an angle other to reality, everting a few meters away.
Kirika slams into the Witch, weaving around the limbs stabbing down towards her, claws carving deep rents into the limbs.
You frown, and plant your feet, focusing. "Dissoluzione-"
"-Bianca!" you roar and throw your hands wide.
Grief tears from the Witch, great swathes washing away and ash spraying across the Barrier. Kirika stumbles through a limb suddenly melted away as you feel the Witch end.
The Barrier falters, wavering like smoke in the wind.
You let the Grief, temporarily borrowed, go as you feel the Barrier collapse.
Kirika turns, grinning slyly at you as the Barrier fades around you. "Dissoluzione Bianca?" she imitates.
"Uh," you say, reddening. "Mami suggested it."
The grin widens, and Kirika nods without saying anything further.
...
The Grief Seed pings to the ground in front of you.
You sense a presence -a puella magi- nearby. Two buildings over, and turning to walk away.
[] Write-in
=====​
Today's Witch is brought to you by PI DAY. 3/14/15!
Also, Mami and Homura will be arriving next update too, so take that into account.
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 18
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 15, 2015

- #39,726

"Homura, Mami?" you call, including Kirika as well.
"Sabrina? What is it?" Mami replies immediately, sounding anxious.
"The Witch is dead," you say, glancing at Kirika, who grins at you, and stoops to pick up the Grief Seed. "But, uh, something's come up. Homura, could you get here by timestop?"
"On the way," Homura says, sounding faintly perturbed. You blin-
-k. Hues of grey shroud the world, the colour leached away from surroundings, and Kirika frozen in her bent over position. A golden ribbon's lashed to your waist, winding from you, to Mami, to Homura. Both of them are transformed, and both of them have their guns in their hands - Homura with another of her Desert Eagles, and Mami with a filigreed musket.
Mami steps forward, face anxious and arms rising tentatively. You smile, hugging her tightly, and both her arms close around you, musket tapping against your back. You squeeze her tightly, feeling her heart beat against your own for a moment. A moment later, you step back and look at Homura, over Mami's shoulder.
The time traveller's pistol is half raised as she glances warily at the rooftops, and then at Kirika. "What's the problem?" she asks, her dulcet tones loud in the utter silence of timestop.
You nod. "Can we bring in Kirika, first? She isn't the problem, and she helped me out, so..." you trail off.
Mami nods, ribbon already spooling from her hand. The golden cloth reaches out like a living thing, winding around Kirika's waist. Colour blooms across her body, and her fingers close around the Grief Seed. She straightens up, bright grin still fixed on her face. The grin morphs into confusion, and she blinks at Mami and Homura.
"Oh. Hi!" she says, grin returning full force.
"Hello, Miss Kure," Mami says, tone formal and polite.
Homura regards the berzerker for a moment, before looking back to you.
"OK, so, first thing. Cleansing, everyone?" you ask, raising your hand. As the others present their Soul Gems to you, you begin explaining. "The Witch wasn't a problem," you say, pulling the Grief from their Soul Gems. You note with a pang that Mami's Gem is rather more clouded than you'd expect, Grief bubbling effervescently within the golden Gem.
"After killing the Witch, I noticed a new girl nearby," you say. To your faint surprise, Homura's Soul Gem is clouded rather more than from day to day living. "I've had... a... call it a premonition, all day long, that there'd be something up, and well. I wanted to be sure."
Homura eyes you. "A premonition?"
You nod. "Yeah."
The time traveller nods slowly, lowering her pistol to hang loosely at her side.
Mami sucks in a worried breath. "Is she... do you think she's a threat?"
"I don't know," you answer honestly."That's why..." you gesture wordlessly around, including Homura, Mami, and the frozen world all around you.
Mami nods sharply, expression firming. Her hand brushes tentatively against the back of yours, and you grab it, squeezing lightly.
Homura exhales slowly, closing her violet eyes. When she opens them again, they're steady and resolute. "Very well," she says. "Let's go."
You smile at your friends. You can see yourself facing Walpurgisnacht with them. And you can see yourself winning. It might be an easy fight. It might not be. Certainly, your powers are nearly... tailored to fighting Witches, to murdering them with impunity. But, well. Walpurgisnacht is in a class of its own, after all.
Kirika just bounces on the balls of her feet, directing a cheerful, one-eyed grin at you.
"Yeah, let's go," you say, shaking off the moment of introspection.
A moment later, the four of you are bounding over the rooftops. An effort of will has the masses of Grief you'd drawn free from Aurora following you at a distance - miniature planetoids in the hundreds, far and away enough to pack a room full. And speaking of Grief Seeds...
A thought occurs to you. "By the way, Kirika?" you call back over the rushing of the wind, ducking around a ventilation duct on a roof. "The new girl might need the Grief Seed, so, uh, just hang on to it?"
"Gotcha~" she lilts back at you.
The trip across the rooftops is accompanied by the sounds of your footfalls, and the crack of concrete underfoot. You're... well, you're getting better at cushioning it. You think. Better than Kirika, anyway. Your longcoat snaps out behind you as you soar over the rooftops, vaguely reminding you of wings.
Heh.
Wings. Flying squirrels. Japan has this species of squirrel that are basically tiny balls of fluff and about fifty percent giant adorable eyes by mass, doesn't it? Hmmm... there might even be some in Mitakihara. You could ask, certainly.
On your right. You can sense the girl, a motionless presence ensnared in the time stop. You veer in that direction.
She's on a roof, frozen in a posture that suggests she's stumbling away from the Barrier, head hanging low and shoulders drooping. Transformed, of course. If her face wasn't tear streaked, you'd say she was... nearly classically beautiful, high cheekbones. She has... more than a touch of Asian ancestry, you think, in the set of her eyes and features to soften what would otherwise be chiselled features. Lustrous black hair tumbles in ringlets to mid-back. Her costume is a simple, elegant affair, something very nearly an evening gown.
And she's high on corruption. Nearly half full, you'd guess - you can see the darkness in the Soul Gem on the choker around her neck.
One last bound, and you land on the same roof, your friends a step behind. An effort of will tugs at the Grief, pulling the corruption free in a billowing torrent. Brief colour washes over the girl, her dress revealed to be a sparkling sky blue to match her eyes, though those are currently red and puffy from crying.
The timestop reclaims her as the last of the Grief comes free, drifting over to you in a cloud you shape into marbles as you eye the girl carefully, considering what you want to do.
[] Write-in
=====​
Apologies, I meant to mention this an update ago - you do still have all of Aurora's Grief following you around in a miniature planetarium.
Last edited: Mar 16, 2015
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 19
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 16, 2015

- #39,961

You frown at the girl. You're pretty sure she's the girl who will become the Glass Witch Homura mentioned, but you're... not sure how, or why she's in the state she is. You're...
You're afraid.
You're afraid that she's been Witchbombed. That she's going to spread it around.
The only thing you've got is... Oriko, saying that you should bring Mami. But what if she'd done that to sabotage you? Or to force you to break that lichbomb to Mami? Or...
"Sabrina?" Mami asks, fingers brushing lightly against your elbow.
You force yourself to smile, looking around at Homura and Mami. "I'm sorry," you apologize softly. "I... I guess this girl wasn't... as huge an issue as I'd expected."
Mami shakes her head, smiling faintly. "It's all right, Sabrina," she says.
Homura nods slowly, face a neutral mask. Whether she doesn't care or is hiding her opinions, you don't know. "What will we do now?"
You bite your lip, thinking. You... You want to give the girl a chance. "Homura, Kirika?" you ask. "Would you mind giving us some room? The girl-" you jerk your head at the girl, still locked mid-stumble by Homura's time stop, "-looks like she could use it."
"Sure!" Kirika chirps, taking a step back.
Homura nods again, the motion slow and measured. "Fine," she says, turning to go. A few steps bring her to the edge of the roof, and she leaps away, golden ribbon trailing after her. Kirika grins at you, and follows the time traveller.
You can see Homura give Kirika an undisguised, wary look, and gesture at the far end of the rooftop. Kirika pouts at her, before bouncing over to the far end of the rooftop and plunking herself down on the ledge. Homura watches her go, before pulling out a rifle of some kind from her sheild and resting it on her knees.
You smile at Mami. "Mami, would you like to do the honours?"
"Me?" Mami asks, looking surprised. "I..."
"Yes, Mami," you say, smiling at her. "There's no one better, and no one I'd trust more."
Mami's mouth works, her eyes suddenly wide and vulnerable. "I..." she says. "Thank you, Sabrina."
You pull her into a gentle hug. "Mami, I trust you," you state simply.
Mami holds the hug for a moment, before stepping back, her expression firming resolutely. You smile at her, and she returns it.
You gesture at the girl again. "Just... welcome her to Mitakihara and all that? I... she looks like she needs a strong, friendly face right now. And I'll stay out of the way, OK?" you smile. "But I'll be right over... there," you say, pointing to a corner of the roof.
Mami nods again, her drill hair bouncing. "You... don't have to," she says.
You shake your head. "I think it'll be best if she doesn't feel outnumbered," you explain.
"Y-yes, that's true," Mami agrees.
You give her another quick smile, and move to the corner, seating yourself comfortably. You check on your Grief - marbles in your bag, a huge mass hovering out of sight a block over, and the cloud you'd freed from the girl's Soul Gem. You compress that into marbles, packing them away into your bag. You peer at it - it's getting a little full, but there's still room enough in there, you think.
Mami raises a hand, and a length of golden ribbons spools forth, winding through her fingers before snaking through the air to touch the girl lightly.
The girl gasps, stumbling to the floor, catching herself on her hands and knees. Mami steps forward boldly, a smile fixed on her face and hand extended.
The girl looks up, eyes widening, and then darting around in confusion before settling on Mami's outstretched hand. "Who, what-" she rocks back on her heels, scrubbing at her eyes.
"Hello," Mami says, welcoming smile firmly affixed to her face. "I'm Tomoe Mami, and this is Sabrina. Welcome to Mitakihara."
The girl lowers her hand, running it through her curly black hair, looking up at you and Mami with sky blue eyes. Her costume, now that you see it more clearly, is a sleek affair, something like a ruffled, modestly cut evening gown that leaves her shoulders bare, done in a glittering sky blue to match her eyes. And high heels. Elegant looking high heels. You're... truth be told, you're not sure how she moves in them, and the dress, but then again, Homura manages the heels with aplomb.
And then again, if Kirika can have perfectly functional depth perception with just the one eye... Magic. Which is such bullshit.
The girl stands slowly to face Mami, the motion smooth and fluid.
You're... hmm. You're not entirely sure, but you think that her face looks... less puffy, her eyes less reddened than before. The tear tracks seem to have been erased in the quick pass of her hands.
Huh.
Well, if Mami can style her hair with magic...
The girl speaks in a warm contralto, faltering only slightly. "I'm Ono Megane," she says, taking Mami's hand and shaking it. "I-I'm actually a resident here... I didn't know that there were any other m-magical girls here."
Mami smiles warmly. "There are a few of us. May I ask if you're all right?"
"I am," the girl, Megane, answers with a regal looking nod. "Perfectly fine."
Your head tilts slightly as you observe from your corner. A remarkably quick recovery, for someone who'd been apparently been crying to herself.
Megane looks around, a hint of uneasiness entering her eyes. "Is this... your magic? And-" her eyes settle on you. "-who is this?"
"No, that's my col- my friend's magic," Mami says. "And this is Sabrina, my dear friend."
The girl eyes you for a moment, before turning back to Mami. "I see," she says, apparently discarding you from her mind. "May I leave?"
[] Write-in
=====​
What a rude girl.
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 20
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 17, 2015

- #40,221

Mami purses her lips lightly in consideration. "Miss Ono, if I may," she says slowly. "When we found you, your Soul Gem was dangerously dark. Do you require aid?"
"No, of course not," the girl answers immediately, the words seeming snapped out on reflex. Rehearsed, almost.
Interesting.
"Ah, my apologies, then." Mami's obviously picked up on it too. The girl nods graciously.
You glance at Homura and Kirika, over on the far roof. Homura doesn't seem to have moved at all, a vigilant, watchful statue with her rifle still resting on her lap, while Kirika's kicked her legs out, drumming her feet against the roof with impatient energy.
After a moment of hesitation, Mami continues, voice smooth and unperturbed. "Miss Ono, we would like to extend an invitation to you, to join our group." Mami gestures at you. "We hunt together, and support each other with our powers."
Megane -doesn't that mean glasses?- considers that for a moment. "That is a generous offer," she allows. "May I have a few minutes to think it over?"
"Of course," Mami says, smiling.
The girl walks a few steps away, and Mami turns, walking over to you. You smile up at Mami, patting the ledge beside you. Mami sits gracefully, smoothing her skirt out and tucking her legs neatly to the side. "I hope that was fine?" Mami asks anxiously, keeping her voice hushed enough that it shouldn't be audible over the timestop.
"Yeah," you say, smiling warmly at her. "You did great, Mami."
Mami returns the smile. "Thank you, Sabrina. I..." she bites her lip, glancing at Megane. You follow her gaze, looking at the girl - who, despite her name, does not in fact wear glasses. She's standing at the edge of the roof, looking into the distance. Back in the direction where you'd fought that Witch.
A part of you considers playing some music. Music's soothing, right? And it'd help to fill the awful silence of timestop.
... then again, that'd be a terrible idea. Probably unnerve her right out.
"Mmm?" you look back at Mami. "She's holding something back, isn't she? I mean, she wasn't exactly happy before, and..." you indicate the girl with your eyes again.
"I think so," Mami says, lowering her voice further. "I... she's hiding something, but... I'm not sure what. I think... she might be guilty over something?"
"Hm," you say thoughtfully, eyeing the girl again. She's rubbing her eyes, the motion hurried. You look back to Mami, who's also watching the girl, eyes evaluating. "By the way, Mami?"
"Mmm?" she looks curiously at you.
"You haven't brought up my..." you wiggle your fingers at her, trusting her to understand what you mean. "I trust your judgement, of course," you reassure her quickly. "Just... any reason?"
"I... I think she's new," Mami says softly. "I'm not sure she... you know. Knows about... but we could tell her, too."
"Hmm, I see," you say. "I'll leave it to you, Mami. I trust you, OK?" You give her another warm smile.
Footsteps heading towards you. You notice that her composure seems to have been fully restored, her face almost seeming... made up, the puffy, bloodshot eyes now a clear, sky blue, and what looks like an artful touch of eyeshadow and light touches of blush applied to her cheeks.
Huh.
She gives you an unreadable look, brow furrowed slightly, before turning her gaze to Mami. "I've made my decision," she announces.
Mami smiles, standing and brushing her skirt off. You rise beside her, arching an eyebrow at the girl's apparent snubbing of you. "And what might that decision be, Miss Ono?" Mami asks pleasantly.
"I would like to join your group, if that's acceptable?" the girl asks.
"Of course," Mami says, before glancing quickly at you, eyes questioning. You tilt your head fractionally at her. Your call.
Mami continues smoothly. "We're currently not doing anything, but if you're ever in need of help, or hunting a Witch, let us know, and if we can, we'll come and help. Additionally, Sabrina can cleanse your Soul Gem, if you're ever in need."
"I see," the girl says, gaze flicking to you. You hold her eyes for a moment, trying to look nonthreatening.
"Additionally," you say, reaching into your pocket and pulling out Gwen's Grief Seed. You check it mentally -seems like it was used once?- and absently wipe it clean with an effort of will, Grief billowing away. Not too much in there, so that's fine.
Megane watches the process curiously, only flinching slightly at the weak sensation of Witch given off by the Grief. Her brow furrows as you hold the Grief Seed out to her.
"You may have this," you say. "Also... I can cleanse Soul Gems. I don't ask anything for it, I simply offer the service because I have the ability to, and I want to help as many magical girls as I can."
The girl shakes her head. "I'm fine, I don't need the Seed," she says.
[] Write-in
=====​
Short-ish update. Next update will probably be the end of this little scene, unless you do something to change that.
Last edited: Mar 17, 2015
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 21
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 19, 2015

- #40,616

You eye the girl, hand still outstretched with the Grief Seed held out to her. Theories spin through your mind, thinking about why she might turn down the Grief Seed. Because of pride? Because she's aware of what a Grief Seed is? Because she's... like you? Somehow, you doubt that.
Because she wants to put up a good front?
Because she saw you mess with the Grief Seed? Then again, she didn't actually show much of a response to you pulling the Grief free.
Still.
You want her to take the Seed.
"Miss Ono," you say slowly, carefully considering your words. You don't want to sound condescending, if it's pride that drives her, and you want to tiptoe around... certain facts of life as a puella magi. The girl's eyes flick back to you, centered somewhere around your nose.
Not meeting your eyes?
"After a certain level, Grief in your Soul Gem affects how you feel and think. It's... sensible to keep a Grief Seed on hand," you say, watching her reaction carefully. The girl blinks, her lips tightening slightly and eyes flicking up to yours for a moment before dipping back to your somewhere around your nose again. "And so," you continue with gentle emphasis, "I'd feel a lot better knowing that my new teammate had a safety net. Please take it?"
"Very well," Megane acquieces, holding her hand out in an imperious gesture for the Grief Seed. You place the spiked ball in her hand, and slim fingers close over it. The girl holds the Grief Seed for a moment, as if weighing it. Finally, she brings her arm behind her back, and when her hand drops to hang loosely at her side, the Grief Seed's vanished.
Not like she has pockets in an evening gown, you suppose.
You check Megane's Soul Gem again, in your Grief senses. A little bit in there, perhaps a little more than there was before. Nothing too egregious, you think, merely... noticeable.
You half turn, glancing back at Homura and Kirika, and wave a hand at them in a quick, beckoning gesture.
Homura blinks amethyst eyes once, rising smoothly to her feet, rifle sliding away into her shield, while Kirika bounces energetically to her feet. Both of them leap for your roof, soaring through the dead, still air of the time stop to land - Homura with a quiet click of her heels on concrete, and Kirika with a loud crack of shattering flagstones.
"Heya," you say, shoving the thoughts aside. "Homura, could you end the..." You tap your hand against your left wrist, where her shield would be. You're not sure whether Megane knows what it is yet, but you doubt Homura would appreciate you blurting it out like that, in any case.
Even if a certain little rat bastard's been telling tales.
Homura nods, reaching across to grip the rim. She cranks the shield across with the hum of whirring gears.
Colour and noise floods back into the world, the subtle hum of the living city, the gentle warmth of sunlight, the gentle breeze blowing across the rooftops almost a sledgehammer to the senses after the endless silence of time stop.
Megane shivers slightly, turning her face up to the sun for a moment with her eyes closed before looking back at Mami.
Mami smiles, bobbing her head sideways at Homura. "Miss Ono, this is Akemi Homura," she says, before continuing in a slightly less pleasant tone, "And this is Kure Kirika."
The girl glances at the two, looking them up and down before inclining her head slightly to Homura. "Pleased to meet you," she says, voice neutral.
"Mami?" you ask telepathically. "Could you set up a meeting at her convenience, tomorrow maybe? And if she brings up anything else?"
"Of course, Sabrina," Mami answers warmly. She turns a polite smile on Megane, and asks, "Miss Ono?"
"Yes, Miss Tomoe?" the girl asks, looking back at Mami. This time, now that Mami mentioned it... she's not meeting Mami's eyes either, is she?
"We would like to meet you again tomorrow, if that's acceptable?" Mami asks, smiling.
Megane hesitates. "I have school tomorrow," she says.
"Ah, of course," Mami says, dipping her head with a smile, and continues without missing a beat. "We have school, too. Maybe afterwards?"
... you're vaguely tempted to note that you don't, technically, but that's not a helpful thing to say, is it?
"That would be fine," Megane says, still looking somewhere in the region of Mami's nose.
Kirika yawns hugely, and throws herself onto the roof, plunking herself down into a cross legged seating position in a flurry of cloth. The motion draws Megane's eye, and you see her blink slightly, before shifting her gaze away from Kirika.
"Out of curiosity, Miss Ono," you say, drawing the girl's attention. "Where do you go to school?"
"Yokosuka Middle School," the girl answers. "I'm in the third year."
"Ah, we're from Mitakihara Middle School, mostly," Mami says, smiling.
"I get to skip schoooooool," Kirika lilts cheerfully from her seated position.
A definite flash of something across Megane's face, but you're not sure what. "Ah," she says. "I think that we're supposed to be rivals, then."
Mami shakes her head. "I've never set much stock by the school rivalries."
The girl shakes her head, not saying anything.
Mami smiles, seemingly unperturbed by the awkward silence. "Do you have any other concerns, Miss Ono?"
Megane hesitates for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, there aren't," she says. "May I leave?"
"Ah, actually," you say, raising a finger. "Could I have your phone number? So that we can contact each other?"
The girl hesitates for a moment, before nodding. You pull out your phone, looking at her quizzically, and she lists out a number which you hurriedly punch in, thumbs clicking over the number pad. "Alright, so..." you hit the call, and wait for her phone to ring before cancelling the call. "That's my number."
Megane nods, reaching behind her back and pulling her own phone out to check - it's a smart phone, and a new, high-end model, too, if you're any judge.
"Righty, then," you say. "Nothing else, then. Mami, Homura, Kirika?" You look around at your friends.
"Nope!" Kirika chirps, while Mami and Homura just shake your heads, the former with a smile.
"Tomorrow, then, Miss Ono," Mami says, smiling at the girl.
"Tomorrow," she says, turning and beginning to walk away, gait... elegant and graceful. She reaches the edge of the roof, and steps off, dropping smoothly off the edge.
You sigh. "Well," you say. "That was a thing."
Mami shakes her head. "She's... preoccupied with something," she says. "I'm not sure what."
"Yeah, I get that impression, too," you say, rubbing your chin thoughtfully. "Homura, Kirika?"
Homura shrugs minutely, raising and dipping her shoulders the tiniest fraction of a centimeter.
"No idea," Kirika says.
"I'm heading back to Madoka and the others" Homura says, voice quiet and impassive.
"We should," Mami agrees. "We left them in a hurry. Ah, unless there's anything else, Sabrina?"
"Nah, I don't think so," you agree, smiling at Mami.
"I'm going back to Oriko!" Kirika chirps.
Homura's eyes snap to the girl, frowning, before she glances sidelong at you.
"Ah, yeah," you say. "Kirika, I'll escort you back to Oriko's. Mami, Homura, I'll catch up soon, OK?"
The time traveller nods, satisfied.
Mami hesitates, and you give her a smile. "I'll be fine, Mami," you say. "And I'll catch up as soon as I can, OK?"
"Ah... actually, I could come with you?" Mami says.
"That works too," you say. "Homura?"
Homura nods.
The black haired girl hops lightly to her feet, grinning eagerly at you.
"Alrighty," you say. "See you soon, Homura! C'mon, Mami, Kirika."
With that, the three of you are soon soaring across the rooftops, Kirika just a little bit ahead of you and Mami at your side. The enormous mass of Grief from Aurora follows you at a distance, a cloud of miniature planetoids cascading over each other in a teeming mass.
You smile gently at Mami as the two of you leap from the roof in virtual lockstep, and she returns the smile, looking... content.
A glance forward at Kirika, bounding exuberantly ahead and vectoring back towards her oujo. Something about the timestop, and Kirika's cheerful, irrepressible energy, reminds you of days past, and a time when you had to threaten Oriko with... Witching out Kirika. You're... you're glad that you didn't kill them. But that you had threatened Oriko with that, even in bluff...
You regret it, you think.
You can't help but wonder if Oriko ever feels the same way about what she did.
A sigh. Moving on. You reach out telepathically for Homura as you leap. "Hey, Homura?"
"Yes?" the time traveller asks.
"When we've got the time later, could we talk a bit?" you ask, emphasising the 'time'. You trust that she'll get it.
"... Understood," Homura replies.
"That said... Homura, um, do you have any objections regarding how we dealt with Miss Ono, back there?" you ask, as you push off another roof with a cra- without a cracking noise. You're getting it.
Slowly.
"I don't think she's very useful," Homura says.
You sigh as you vault an air conditioning compressor. "I don't want her dead or worse," you say simply.
Homura doesn't respond to that.
"Anyway," you say, moving on. "I...can't help but notice that you've been accumulating a little more Grief than usual, lately. Is something wrong? Anything I can help with?" you inject as much concern as you can into your mental voice.
"Checking on Madoka, making sure Kyuubey hasn't been around," Homura replies, pausing for a moment before adding, "Resting."
"Ah, that's good to hear," you say.
"I will be doing some stocking up tomorrow," Homura says. "For Walpurgisnacht."
[] Write-in
=====​
Yes, going raiding Yakuza shopping for weapons with Mum Homura is on the table.
Last edited: Mar 19, 2015
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 22
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 20, 2015

- #40,890

... Stocking up for Walpurgisnacht. Which means going... shopping.
"... Can I join you for that?" you ask, mental voice breathlessly eager.
An air of faint surprise permeates the telepathic link.
"You... may?" Homura replies, sounding puzzled. "That would make it more convenient...?"
"Great!" you say, grinning to yourself as you bound across another gap between buildings. "Let me know when!"
"OK?" Homura says.
"Look, I'm looking forward to it, OK?" you say.
"... OK?" Homura repeats.
You snort. "Ah, whatever. See you soon, Homura," you say.
"See you," Homura echoes.
You land smoothly, with a small pulse of magic and legs bending slightly under your weight. To your delight, the concrete flagstones don't shatter under your weight. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of it, Mami!" you say happily as you sprint across the rooftop, hard on Kirika's heels. "Roofhopping, I mean."
"That's great, Sabrina!" Mami turns to give you a warm smile.
Your next leap slips slightly, the timing off by the barest sliver of a second, and your flight through the air is accompanied by the crunch of breaking concrete flagstones. "Whoops," you chuckle.
"Ah, well... you're still picking it up quite quickly!" Mami says, warm approval in her voice as she turns her head slightly to meet your eyes. "I... still have a few tricks I could show you some time? We were in a bit of a hurry last time..."
"That sounds great, Mami," you say, giving her a broad smile. "Sometime soon?"
"Whenever you have the time," Mami agrees.
"Oh, that reminds me!" you say as you swerve around a protruding vent, shifting back to run next to Mami again as soon as you clear it, "Enchantment."
"Hmm, Sabrina?" Mami asks.
"Well, I never really made much progess with it, but I'm curious," you say. "What kind of things can we make with enchantment? Any limits or anything?"
"Eh?" Mami says. "I've... never really found any limits, no. It's just... each effect needs to be figured out on its own, so it takes time and Grief Seeds."
That piques your interest. "Oh? What've you managed to figure out?" you ask, turning to grin at Mami.
"Um," Mami says, thinking. "Durability, magic shields, space expansion, colour, um. Transforming normal objects into similar ones, though that's sort of tricky, keeping my tea warm, uhh, my hair. A few little animated toys, but they don't do much." Towards the end of the sentence, her mental voice shades towards melancholy.
"Oh, that's neat," you say, injecting cheer to your voice, giving her a worried look. She feels her eyes on you, turning midjump to give you a little smile, one tinged with old pain. "Mami, I'm here."
A pause. "Thank you, Sabrina," she says, smiling becoming more natural, more content.
"Almost there," Kirika calls happily, disappearing over the edge of the roof. You follow her down into the alley, where the black haired girl's already detransformed and is bouncing impatiently on her feet, eager to return to Oriko. You shake your head, rolling your eyes at her, and she gives you an unrepentant smirk.
Mami watches the byplay neutrally.
"She's kinda grown on me," you tell Mami as you detransform. You'd been meaning to try and... rehabilitate Oriko and Kirika anyway, so... "And really, she's not that bad."
"I'll take your word for it, Sabrina," she says, glancing sidelong at Kirika as she detransforms you. Kirika's already bounced to the mouth of the alley, peering in the direction of Oriko's mansion.
The three of you head out, merging into the sparse mid afternoon crowds, Kirika ranging ahead of you like an eager puppy.
"Hey Oriko, we're returning Kirika to you now," you inform the seer telepathically.
"I know," Oriko replies.
Seers.
"Yeah, yeah," you say.
Oriko's waiting at the front door when you round the dense hedges surrounding the Mikuni residence. Kirika bounces up and sweeps the seer up in a hug. "Orikooooooooooo."
You glance at Mami. "Anything you need to do here?"
Mami shakes her head. "No, I just wanted to go with you, Sabrina," she says, giving you a warm smile.
"Ah, fair enough," you say, then turn to Oriko and Kirika. "Anyway, see you, and thanks for the help!" you call, raising your voice and a hand to wave them good bye.
"Bye Sabrina!" Kirika chirps.
"Goodbye," Oriko says.
Mami gives them a nod, the barest incline of her head, before turning back to you.
Your smile's a touch rueful. Baby steps, you suppose. "Shall we head back to the others?"
"Yes, let's," she says.
A few minutes later, you're bounding over the rooftops again, wincing at the faint cracks underfoot when you miss the timing. "So Mami," you call over the rushing wind.
"Yes, Sabrina?" she calls back, drills streaming out in the wind rushing by.
"Do you think it's possible to enchant an item with something like, 'cleanses Soul Gems'?" you ask, neatly avoiding an antenna with a bob and weave.
"I... wouldn't think so," Mami says, herself avoiding the same antenna. "I've... never tried, though," she admits. "I... wouldn't have thought powers like yours were possible, either. Maybe you could do it?"
"Well, it's worth a shot, right?" you say. "It's not like it costs much but time."
"Right," Mami agrees with a smile.
"Say, how do you think magic works anyway?" you ask as you crest the next building.
Mami chuckles warmly. "You never go for the easy questions, do you?" she says fondly.
"Sometimes I do," you protest. "Like, um, what should we have for dinner?"
"Hmm," Mami says, giving you a quick smile without breaking stride. "That's not an easy question, either! We need to cook, quickly, for six people, you know."
You waggle your hand at her, snatching it back to avoid clipping an air conditioning compressor. "Ehhhhhh." A stray thought strikes you just then. "By the way, do you know where Homura and the others are right now?"
"Somewhere on the way to the hospital?" she says.
"... Right, I'm checking with Homura," you say with some asperity. Hmmm, hospitals.
Mami giggles.
"Homura?" you ask. "We're on our way, but where are you right now?" You know, now that you think about it, healing Kyousuke... Well, while him crushing on Homura would be -was, is, time travel messes with the tenses something fierce- absolutely hilarious, you'd rather not get tangled up in that mess.
"Block 379-12," the time traveller answers promptly.
"Right, thanks," you say to her. Out loud, you repeat, "Block 379-12."
"Ah, I know where that is," Mami says, "This way." She changes direction slightly, swinging to the left a hair.
"Buuuuuut back on topic," you say, continuing to muse internally on Kyousuke. Maybe charge him for the healing? That's what doctors do, right? "Magic?"
Mami frowns in consideration, looking back at you. "I think... it works on what you want. There's some limits, like how much time and how much corruption we can afford to spend, but..."
"Hm," you say. You do have better ways of getting money, admittedly, and it feels rather... mercenary to charge Kyousuke for healing. It doesn't really sit right with you, for most part. "I've found my range seems to be restricted to a hundred meters out."
Mami gives you a surprised look, avoiding a protruding duct without even looking. "That's... unusual."
"It is?" you ask in surprise, shelving the thoughts of what you'll call the Kyousuke problem for now.
"Um... there are magical girls with a hundred meter range," she says. "Not too many, though."
"Huh," you say. "Oh hey, we're almost there." You can sense Homura and Madoka and Sayaka, on the far edges of your senses.
[] Write-in
=====​
Do suggest something for dinner too, by the by. I could think of something, but indulge me this, yeah?
Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
Threadmarks Interloper pt. 23
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Mar 21, 2015

- #41,078

"We are," Mami agrees, giving you a quick smile.
"This way," you say, taking the lead.
The two of you quickly bound ahead of the group, hopping down into an alley and detransforming. The tremendous bulk of Grief you leave at rooftop level to drift across the roofs in a deep purple tide.
"Hey, everyone!" you call cheerfully as you step out of the alley, raising your hand in a wave. Mami's just a step behind you, a gentle smile on her face.
Homura, Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi, walking in a group. Black, pink, blue and green.
"Hello Mami, hello Sabrina!" Madoka brightens when she sees you. Sayaka waves energetically, hefting two schoolbags in her free hand. "Hey!"
Homura nods at you and Mami. "Hello," she says.
Hitomi blinks at the two of you, head tilting and a faintly baffled frown crossing her face. "Hello, Mami, Sabrina," she says, waving at you with the hand not encased in a cast. "Were you waiting long for us?"
"Ah, no, not really," you say. "Anyway, sorry we're late, something came up."
"That's alright," Madoka says, beaming at you.
Hitomi nods, still looking mildly perplexed.
"Anyway, shall we go?" you ask, motioning down the road towards the hospital.
"Yeah, let's go!" Sayaka says, striding out ahead. The rest of you follow after her. You find your mind returning to the question Mami posed to you earlier. Well, technically, you brought it up, but still. What do you want to prepare for dinner?
"Roast lamb," you muse out loud. Roast lamb, well seasoned with garlic and rosemary and your mouth's watering now at the thought.
"Pardon?" Mami asks, glancing at you.
"Nah, was just thinking what we could cook for dinner," you say, drawing a curious look from Hitomi.
Mami blinks. "I don't think we have any lamb, Sabrina," she says.
"Oh. Good point," you say, rubbing at your nose sheepishly. "Do we have any eel?"
"Well, we're cooking for five," Mami says. "Um, six."
"Mmm," you agree. "By the way, Hitomi, would you like to come?"
The vertette glances back at you, shaking her head. "Ah... I can't," Hitomi says. "I'm expected home for dinner."
You're not really sure 'vertette' works. Greenette, vertette.
You nod. "Oh, that's a shame," you say. You open a telepathic channel to everyone but Hitomi. "Umm... I think we need to tell Hitomi about magic, soon."
Hitomi smiles. "I'll try to make it for the picnic, though," she says. "I'll need to persuade my parents."
"We do?" Sayaka asks, glancing back at you, before realizing and looking forward again.
"Cool," you say. "Hmmm... unagi? I'm pretty sure we bought some eel." Telepathically, you say, "I... think so. I'm afraid of Kyuubey approaching her - as she is, she doesn't know anything, and..."
"We did, Sabrina," Mami offers. "I... she doesn't have much potential, I think?"
"Oh," Madoka says. "That's a... that's a good thing...?"
"I don't think you can have unagi for a whole meal, Sabrina," Sayaka says. "I... I don't know."
"Why not?" you grin at her. "Good and bad, I suppose," you say telepathically, keeping your attention around the slowly increasing crowds thronging through the streets. "I... I'd like her to know, though."
"Well..." Sayaka waggles her free hand at you. "Nyeh. Madoka, back me up here."
"Sorry, Sayaka," Madoka says, shaking her head. She's unable to hide the faint worry from her face, though. "I don't like keeping this secret from Hitomi," she says. "It... it was fun at the beginning, when it was... but now..."
"I don't like unagi," Homura says, glancing back at you with violet eyes. "I don't think it's necessary to tell her."
"Well. That's a good reason," you say, glancing at Sayaka and hooking a thumb at Homura. "Maybe a side dish?" You glance at Mami, whose eyes have dipped a little, and you walk closer to her, bumping your shoulder against hers. She glances up, and you smile encouragingly at her, eliciting a weak answering smile in response.
"Madoka's got a point," Sayaka says. "And of course you don't want to tell her, transfe- ah, sorry, Homura."
Homura doesn't reply, walking ahead with her midnight banner of hair swaying out behind her.
[] Write-in
=====​
Next update will probably bring you to the hospital, by the by.
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