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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 This mortal coil pt. 6
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Oct 13, 2015

- #63,990

A moment, hanging in the balance, for you to decide.
You can't tell her everything.
Homura wouldn't approve, and as much as you joke about her being your mom... Her opinion matters - and it matters to you. It really is that simple.
It isn't the right time, in any case. You can just about imagine a little mental Homura scowling at you, her arms crossed. Obsidian and amethyst earring dangling from her ear. She'll veto telling Madoka, of course.
You'll agree with the Homura in your mind on that score - this simply isn't the right time. She'll probably say that there's never a right time to tell Madoka stuff, and you'll disagree with her that. Heh. A hypothetical mental Sayaka would probably take grave issues with your mental Homura, anyway.
Enough daydreaming, even if that was only for a moment. You don't need to turn to check where the others are - you can sense them well enough, and you can hear to low murmur of conversation from them, around the corner.
They're your friends. They wouldn't eavesdrop on you.
Homura's still facing Madoka, head bowed and knuckles nearly white as they dig into the other girl's shoulders.
"Please," Homura whispers. "Just don't."
"I- I won't," Madoka says. "H-homura, you're h-hurting me-"
Homura lets go, as if Madoka had suddenly turned white-hot, shock on her face. "S-sorry," she stammers.
"N-no." Madoka shakes her head. "N-no, I- I know s-something's happening a-and I'm s-sure you have your reasons, so don't apologise."
The time traveller bows her head, expression pained. You check her Soul Gem again - then again, your Grief sense is always there, hovering at the edge of your perception, like how you're always hearing things even if you're not listening, but that's neither here nor there. Homura's Soul Gem is... within acceptable bounds, but you'll cleanse it later.
"Sayaka and her family were attacked by a Witch yesterday evening," you murmur quietly. Madoka's eyes snap to you, widening in alarm. "No, don't worry - they're fine, Madoka. "Nobody was hurt - I mean, you saw Sayaka, and her parents are OK, too. Still a big scare for her, but... they're all unhurt."
"O-oh," Madoka stutters, starting to wring her hands again. "I-I see. That's w-why?"
"Yeah," you sigh, looking away. "One more thing to pile on to a girl who felt helpless, indebted, alone and cornered, with..." Your lips tighten. "With only one way out that she could see... And Kyubey was there to push her over the edge. And that was that. Sayaka Miki became a magical girl."
"T-that's terrible," Madoka says. "H-he did that?"
"He did," you confirm, expression grim and flat. "I... failed her. I did. I saw the signs, and I meant to talk to her, but I underestimated her pain... I thought she'd be better, if she were with her family, but..."
You grimace, eyes dropping to the ground. Simple flagstones, here on the roof. "I left when I should have stayed. When I finally did... too little, too late."
You stare at the ground.
Your fault, isn't it?
You promise so much.
How much have you actually accomplished?
Mami's alive, and... stable. Ish. Dependent on you, but... it was more or less inevitable that she'd need someone. And who else could it have been?
Could you have helped her without breaking her? Without reducing her to hanging on to your every motion, and fretting when you step away?
You don't know. And that's the worst part.
You failed Sayaka.
She's a puella magi, now. With all that that entails. Consigned to a life of fighting, an-
A hand on your shoulder, and your breath suddenly loud in your ears. The distant chatter of the students is gone, as is the distant hum of Mitakihara city.
Time stop.
You look up in faint surprise, finding Homura in her puella magi uniform.
A pair of violet eyes regard you steadily for a long moment.
"How's your Soul Gem?" she asks quietly.
You check quickly, with a bare flick of your attention. "Not too bad," you say. "I'm not... despairing, Homura. Just... reflective. I've done a lot wrong."
She shrugs fractionally. "I've found that Miki Sayaka is destined to contract. That's... not your fault."
"I could have done better," you argue. "I could have, should have, seen it, hell - I did see it. I didn't give it the weight it deserved. I didn't have the time to, and that's my fault, too."
Homura blinks slowly. "You can't take on everything, Sabrina," she says, voice whisper quiet and tired. Weary. "You can do more than most, but even you can't do everything at once. You'll only fail if you do."
[] Write-in
[x] But we can be there to support her now. Madoka. Sayaka needs your help. Not as another Puella Magi, but as her best friend who cares about her. You can do so much more than you think, just by being who you are. My powers can help her through some of it, and there's no doubt in my mind Mami could make Sayaka into a great magical girl, but there is no substitute for having a good friend, someone who truly cares for you, that you can share your problems with. Sometimes, just being there for someone is the best thing in the world.
[x] And that goes for you too Madoka. If you're ever feeling lost or cornered or pressured. If you can only see one way out. Please talk to me. Talk to Homura, talk to Mami, or someone. If it's Homura, she can be there for you in an instant. That's her power. Not only that but she can bring anyone else you need. Contracting is never the only way out. You should never have to feel that way.
[x] My friends are precious to me. I don't want them to be tricked or pressured into a life of fighting. I don't want them to suffer or feel alone and isolated. I only want the best for them. And that includes you too Madoka. I want the best for you too.
[x] I want all our friends to know and remember that. That we're there for each other always and when we need it the most. I think that would be wonderful. That's something you can do Madoka. I'm sure of it. It won't be easy. We all need to do our part, but I can't think of anyone better suited for the task. My friend, with the biggest heart, who cares for everyone.
=====​
The vote is for what you'll say to Homura - she'll most likely return you to normal time after this.
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 7
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Oct 16, 2015

- #64,235

You swallow. Homura... Homura's trying to comfort you.
"You're all my friends, Homura," you say softly, meeting her eyes. "I want to help. Why else am I here?"
Homura shrugs, a fractional rise and fall of her shoulders. "Are you here for a reason?" she asks, voice quiet.
"I don't know," you mutter, before taking a deep breath, closing your eyes. Madokami above, but it's been a long few days. It feels much, much longer than it's really been. Talking to Mami earlier was nice enough, but still. Things weigh kind of heavily on you.
You exhale, eyes still closed.
"But you're right, Homura," you say softly, straightening up and meeting the time traveller's gaze squarely. "You're right. If I try to do everything, I might end up doing nothing... but I have to do something, at least. Sayaka is... delicate. We both know that."
You sigh, rubbing at your forehead with your knuckles. "Just... I didn't want her to suffer through all of that again. I'll have to make sure she doesn't."
Homura shrugs again. "She's weak," she notes, as if making an observation about the weather. "And she always pulls Madoka down."
"Maybe, maybe not," you sigh again. "Maybe not this time. Damned well not this time, rather." You grimace, and shake your head. "The thing is... she's been Madoka's friend for such a long time."
Homura nods in confirmation, amethyst eyes never leaving yours.
"So beyond failing her, it means I'm that much closer to failing Madoka," you say softly, lips tightening. "And that means I've failed you, Homura. That's... part of why it bothers me so much, because... in a way, I failed all of us when I failed Sayaka." You take another deep breath, steadying yourself. "I can't let that happen again."
The time traveller's eyes shift from you to Madoka, the pinkette frozen in the grey hues of the timestop. "You haven't failed yet," she says, looking back at you. There's an undercurrent of urgency in her quiet voice, a note of worry. "Everyone is... still alive."
You smile wanly at Homura. "I'm OK, Homura," you say. "I'm not despairing. Just... I suppose I'm taking it hard, but not despairing. I don't want t- I can't fail Madoka, because..." you roll your wrist. "It'd mean I've failed the both of you."
She nods slightly.
"I... I want her help with this," you say slowly. "With our friends, with keeping everyone stable. She cares too -too much, maybe- that's arguably the problem. I..." you exhale. "I know it's why she makes a lot of her wishes. This is something she doesn't need to make a Wish to help with."
Homura's hand tightens on your shoulder, and her eyes almost flash, bright and vibrant splashes of violet in the muted colours of the timestop. Her mouth opens, what's probably a reflexive denial rising to her lips, before she chokes it back, considering it for a moment.
"You want Madoka to help keep Miki Sayaka stable?" she asks. You can practically see the gears whirring in her head as she turns the idea over.
"Yeah. But not just Sayaka," you say. "Madoka and Sayaka are friends - but she's also your friend, and Mami's, and mine. I'm not saying we're going to dump all our troubles onto her, or bring her in on the... worst aspects of being a magical girl. Not at all. But I do want to help her feel useful - and she would be helping."
"I see," Homura says. She falls silent, clearly considering the idea. "How?"
"Well, that is the easiest part," you say. "We just need to talk to her. Novel idea, I know." You smile to take the sting out of the gentle barb. "But really, I mean it - we need to talk to her more. You're hanging out with her these days, aren't you? That's a good start right there."
She nods fractionally.
"Yeah," you say. "I'm going to ask her to talk to Sayaka. That's... really all there is to it. She can help without being directly involved, and if she feels like she's helping, doesn't feel useless... Well, you know her as well as, better than I do, Homura. She'll have much less reason to contract."
Homura nods again. "Alright," she says quietly.
You blink in faint surprise before a pleased smile spreads across your face. That was... remarkably painless. "Thanks, Homura," you say, meeting her eyes.
"I hope you're right," Homura says.
"Yeah," you agree. "So do I. I think I'm right, but..." You exhale slowly, looking around again at the frozen greys of the timestopped world. "By the way, Homura?" you ask as a thought strikes you. "Can I bother you later, about enchantment? I still think it's my best shot for maybe turning Witches back into magical girls."
She exhales, looking away from you. "Yes," she answers finally. "But you should probably ask Tomoe Mami. She's better than I am."
"I'm asking you," you say firmly, smiling. "And I remember, Homura. Just... I'm asking you, too."
She nods again, looking faintly bemused. "Yes, you can."
"Thanks, Homura," you say. "I... appreciate it. More than I can say." You pause for a moment and smile wryly, shaking your head as you eye her faintly baffled expression. "I... I'm still doing it, aren't I? Pushing everyone too hard. Myself included."
The time traveller blinks slowly, her eyebrows contracting a bare millimetre as her lips twist into a small grimace.
"Heh," you say, taking that for agreement. "I guess I just... don't know when to stop. Kind of hypocritical of me, really, and probably a good thing, ninety percent of the time, but... Yeah." You rub wearily at your face. "I guess it doesn't really make putting up with me, dealing with me all that easy, does it?"
She shrugs microscopically. "You've done a lot," she observes. A simple statement of fact. And true enough, you have.
"Yeah, but - it really does mean a lot to me, Homura," you say. "That you put up with me, and that you trust me, and I... Yeah. Thanks, Homura."
You want to hug her.
"Hey. Homura? I'm going to hug you now, if that's OK?" you ask. Best to make sure, first.
Surprise flickers across her face, before her expression softens slightly, her perpetual frown easing. "... Alright," she murmurs.
You smile. Stepping forward, you wrap your arms around her too-thin form, enfolding her in a warm hug. She leans forward a little, resting her head against your shoulder. "Thank you, Sabrina," she whispers, almost below your threshold of hearing.
"You matter to me," you say simply. "You, and Madoka, and Mami, and Sayaka and Hitomi and everyone else - you're my friends."
"Nevertheless," she responds.
How long has it been since someone was there for her?
She separates from the hug a moment later, keeping an arm on your shoulder and expression firming back into her usual implacable mask. "Anything more?"
"Not really..." you demur. "Well... Soul Gem cleanse?"
"That would be good," Homura agrees, lifting her arm to display her Soul Gem to you.
You smile at her, and a flick of will draws away the Grief, almost-black purple wisps flowing through the air. You have masses of Grief - masses and masses, far more than you ever expected to have. Every single bit is tightly under your control, every part just there in the back of your mind in the same way you know where your limbs are.
You turn a warm smile on Homura. "Now... let's help Madoka," you say.
"Let's," she agrees.
[] Write-in
[x] But we can be there to support her now. Madoka. Sayaka needs your help. Not as another Puella Magi, but as her best friend who cares about her. You can do so much more than you think, just by being who you are. My powers can help her through some of it, and there's no doubt in my mind Mami could make Sayaka into a great magical girl, but there is no substitute for having a good friend, someone who truly cares for you, that you can share your problems with. Sometimes, just being there for someone is the best thing in the world.
[x] And that goes for you too Madoka. If you're ever feeling lost or cornered or pressured. If you can only see one way out. Please talk to me. Talk to Homura, talk to Mami, or someone. If it's Homura, she can be there for you in an instant. That's her power. Not only that but she can bring anyone else you need. Contracting is never the only way out. You should never have to feel that way.
[x] My friends are precious to me. I don't want them to be tricked or pressured into a life of fighting. I don't want them to suffer or feel alone and isolated. I only want the best for them. And that includes you too Madoka. I want the best for you too.
[x] I want all our friends to know and remember that. That we're there for each other always and when we need it the most. I think that would be wonderful. That's something you can do Madoka. I'm sure of it. It won't be easy. We all need to do our part, but I can't think of anyone better suited for the task. My friend, with the biggest heart, who cares for everyone.
=====​
Final confirmation and nitpicking! (The post dragged out rather much, so I broke it here.)
Last edited: Oct 16, 2015
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 8
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Oct 20, 2015

- #64,354

"Left arm further back. Head down," Homura instructs. You arrange your body to suit, trying to hide the fact that you'd been timestopped. It's hard not to let a massive grin split your face from sheer relief, though, that Homura accepted your reasoning.
The time traveller nods in satisfaction and steps back, releasing your shoulde-
-r. Sound crashes into you like a tidal wave, the hum of a living city and happy chatter of schoolchildren sweeping in to chase away the echoing silence of the timestop.
"Sabrina?" Madoka's voice, sounding anxious and worried.
You draw in a deep breath... and you blow it out, hard, shedding your regrets and self-recrimination. For now, it's time to talk to your pink haired friend and save her from herself. Hugs probably mandatory, nor are they futile.
Or, like, friendship time. It is by friendship alone you set your mind in motion, and all that.
... Not entirely inaccurate.
You smile, discarding those thoughts, and look up at Madoka. Homura, hovering by the pinkette's shoulder, gives you a shallow nod. "I'm OK," you say. "I am."
"O-oh. OK," Madoka says, looking unsure.
"I am, Madoka," you insist. "Just... some passing thoughts. But anyway... The point I was going to make is - Madoka, Sayaka needs your help. Not-" you raise a finger for emphasis, "-as another puella magi. But as her best friend, who cares about her."
"I- ah?" Madoka asks, sounding befuddled.
You sigh heavily, opening your palms towards her. "You can do so much more than you think, just by being who you are, Madoka. As I said - girls who can fight are... easy to find. Other challenges... My powers can help her through some of it. Mami can and will make Sayaka into a great magical girl, but there is no substitute for having a good friend, someone who truly cares for you, that you can share your problems with. Sometimes, just being there for someone is the best thing in the world. And I'm asking you to be that friend for Sayaka."
"A-ah... I don't know what it's like, though..." Madoka says, starting to twist her fingers together again.
"Then let her tell you," you say firmly, meeting her eyes. "Talk to her. Talk to us. And Madoka, everything I've said applies to you, too. If you're ever feeling lost or cornered or pressured, if you think there's only one way out... Talk to me. Talk to Homura, talk to Mami, Sayaka, someone. You are not alone."
You pause, and switch to telepathy for emphasis. "We're never far away, Madoka," you say. "Mami and I will only ever be a few minutes, and Homura can be there in an instant - that's her power.." You nod your head at the time traveller.
Homura nods slightly in response. Madoka glances from you, to Homura, and then back to you, looking overwhelmed.
"Don't make a contract, Madoka," Homura says quietly. Surprised, Madoka jumps a little.
It's only because you're watching Homura closely that you see that tiny, tiny flinch.
You give Homura a quick, reassuring smile before meeting Madoka's eyes squarely. "Madoka, it... contracting is never the way out. My friends are precious to me. I don't want them to be tricked or pressured into a life or fighting, or for them to suffer or feel alone and isolated. And that includes you too, Madoka."
You pause to let that sink in.
"I-I-" Madoka looks up at you. "I'll do it." She nods resolutely, a determined expression appearing on her face. "I'll h-help Sayaka and Homura and Mami and you. A-and I won't make a contract!"
There's a hint of steel in her spine, her shoulders perhaps a little straighter, set more firmly, than they were before.
Homura sags in place, some ephemeral weight lifted from her shoulders... but she doesn't relax. Not fully.
You're not sure she ever will.
"Alright, Madoka," you say softly. "I... Well, thank you."
The pinkette smiles at you. "Y-you're my friend, too. And you, Homura!" She turns to the time traveller, smiling warmly.
Homura nods slightly in response.
"A-ah... we should go back to the others now, though..." Madoka says, glancing at the time. "Lunch is almost over!"
You smile at her, then Homura. You arch an eyebrow at her - anything else?
Violet eyes blink slowly, and she shakes her head as Madoka turns to go.
"Thank you," her voice sounds inside your head.
[] Write-in
=====​
The next vote will close lunch, so include your next activity.
And if anyone's wondering where my update speed went - I am drowning in uni work, and I don't have the energy to write during my commute, most times.
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 9
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Oct 24, 2015

- #64,671

"Anytime, Homura," you respond, giving her a smile. Relief floods your body - you did it! You navigated a metaphorical social minefield, and you didn't mess up! With help from Homura, and... you've maybe sort of convinced Madoka not to contract? At least for now? And getting her to help Sayaka - even if you don't know her powers yet, that can only be a benefit.
If your smile were any wider, you'd probably have to get stitches later.
"Hi, Mami!" you greet cheerfully as you round the corner.
"Ah... Hi, Sabrina!" Mami says, an answering smile chasing away the worried expression on her face.
You beam, and catch her in a cheerful, empathic hug before plopping yourself down on the bench next to her. "Hi, everyone!"
Sayaka and Hitomi seem faintly perplexed by your sudden good mood, but greet you back.
Everyone's finished their lunches by now, and it's nearly time for them to head back in, but still... "How's everyone doing?" you ask, still smiling around.
Homura raises a puzzled eyebrow at you, to which you respond with a cheerful grin, too happy to let anything get you down for now.
"Ah... we're doing well," Mami says, sounding unsure. "How about you, Sabrina?"
"Peachy," you say, smiling at her. You slide your arm around her waist and pull her into a sidelong hug, squeezing her lightly. The uncertainty fades into a glad smile.
"Oh, Sayaka!" Madoka says, looking at her friend. "Have you started on the math homework yet?"
"Eh? No, I was going to do it tomorrow," the bleunette says.
"Well... Maybe we could work on it after school today?" Madoka suggests.
"I wanted to go see Kyousuke today," Sayaka says, pursing her lips. "After that, maybe?"
That's probably as good a time as any for you to interrupt. You were going to bring this up telepathically, but since it's already out in the open, as it were...
"Um, don't forget the training," you say. "Maybe hospital first for a while, then training, then dinner and we can all split up?"
"Ah... we could have dinner at my place after the training?" Mami suggests.
Madoka clasps her hands, beaming. "That sounds great!"
"Sounds like a plan," Sayaka says, nodding decisively.
"You're invited too, Homura, Hitomi," Mami says, before glancing at you. "Ah, if that's alright, Sabrina?"
You shrug, smiling. "Sure, that sounds good," you say. You're not entirely sure about Hitomi coming along, but she is a friend too. No real reason why not, you reckon.
Y'know, when you put it that way, it sounds like the kind of thing that would be ironic in hindsight, doesn't it? And you'd think back to this moment and bemoan yourself for not doing something about it all the way back then.
...
Nah.
You're just being paranoid.
Bad habit of yours.
It's not like there's hidden thoughts and flashes of impossible insight in your head. There is that amnesia and the fact that you seem to be just over a week old, but no, that's... fairly normal. For you, anyway.
Right, paranoia.
... You really do want to know what a mindreader would make of you, though.
"How are you doing, Mami?" You turn to the blonde sitting beside you as Sayaka starts expounding on the wonders of Mami's cooking to Hitomi, Madoka contributing the occasional sentence.
"I'm alright," Mami says. She hesitates for a moment, before shaking her head with a smile. "I'm glad to see you happy, Sabrina."
"Heh," you chuckle. "I'm happy to be happy. But how are you feeling?"
Mami falls silent for a moment, emotions flickering across her face as she works through her thoughts. "I'm... content," she offers, finally, nestling into your side. "I have friends. I have you."
You hug her again. "That's great!" you say. "Though I uh. Meant more like, how's your morning been and so on?"
"Well... I'm still a little worried about you," Mami admits. "You seemed upset."
You smile warmly at Mami. "I'm OK," you say. "I... really am."
"Alright," Mami says, returning the smile. She cuddles against your shoulder. "You won't leave me, right?"
"No, of course not," you respond, raising an eyebrow at Sayaka's gesticulations. "Hey, I helped with the cooking, OK?"
"I know!" Sayaka says. "But Mami's cooking is amazing. Are you going to bake another cake any time soon?"
Mami perks up, looking up from your shoulder. "We could do that for the picnic? Today looks like it might be a bit too full to fit that in."
"That sounds good!" Madoka claps her hands in delight.
You laugh, joining the conversation. The rest of the lunchbreak speeds by, and far too soon, it's about time for them to go.
"Alright," you say, standing and offering a hand to Mami. "See you all after school?"
"Yeah, later," Sayaka says, tossing you a lazy wave as she tries to help Hitomi up. The verdette gives her an irritated look, pushing herself to her feet and dusting her skirt off with an upraised nose. Sayaka sighs, shaking her head.
Madoka smiles in... what she probably thinks is a conspiratorial manner. "See you later!"
"See you," Homura says. Her amethyst eyes meet and hold yours for a long moment, and she nods slightly barely a centimetre.
You turn to Mami as Madoka starts to nudge Homura and Sayaka towards the stairs, Hitomi following with an amused look. You wrap your arms around Mami in a warm hug, trying to convey your simple affection and concern for her. You care about her, damn it. It's that simple. "And yes, see you after school, Mami. Of course I will," you murmur.
She hugs you back tightly. "See you, Sabrina," she says, voice soft.
"Yeah," you say, releasing the hug. She lets you go reluctantly, and you smile as you step back, calling Grief to you. "Soon."
"Alright," she says, nodding and turning to head off towards the stairwell.
Your wings unfurl as marbles of Grief dissolve, melting away into the fractal, dizzying patterns curling and writhing at the edges of your vision. Homura's wings, once upon a never, as she fought Wraiths at the... what, the end of the world? You have no idea, to be honest, and the memory's an odd one.
You shrug it off, and throw yourself skywards and a powerful flap. You soar into the clear blue sky, joining the few clouds scudding on their way. Onwards to Yokosuka, just to check on Megane, then.
There's an entire flock of Grief spheres trailing after you in a loose cloud. Containing... Well, a lot of money.
... What'd happen if you handed Oriko that money and told her to play the stocks?
...
She probably wouldn't crash the world economy.
Probably.
You have to admit the thought of her sitting on Kirika's shoulders, wearing a trenchcoat, and hobnobbing with all the highpowered financiers to be a pretty appealing mental image, though.
Though speaking of finance, that reminds you of Akiko, and that reminds you of the University girls. Hm. Best let them know about Sunday... "Miss Tsubaki?" You reach out mentally for the leader of the University Group.
"Good afternoon, Miss Sabrina!" the girl responds cheerfully.
Well. She's in a good mood.
"Hey, just checking in - is Sunday OK for a cleansing trip?" you ask, wings pumping.
"Sure, Sunday's fine," Chouko responds.
"Cool. Any problems, recently?" you ask.
"Nah. Miss Mori's taken over the Sendai group, more or less... she seems OK," Chouko says. "They stay out of our way, for most part."
"Good to hear," you say. "Anyway. Sunday, yeah?"
"Yeah. See you then," she says.
You smile to yourself as that connection closes. Alright. Next up, Rin, who's apparently developed quite a bit of backbone. Then again, you knew that. "Miss Mori?"
It takes a moment for her to respond. "Good afternoon, Miss Sabrina," she says.
"Heya. Just checking in - is Sunday good for me dropping by for cleansing?" you ask.
There's another pause. "That's fine, yes," she responds.
"Cool. Say, I'm curious - are you officially the leader of your group now?" you ask, banking on a thermal. You don't need to, per se, but it's an easy way to gain height.
"I... suppose so," Rin says. She doesn't sound sure. Kind of startled. Which makes sense, you guess. "We don't exactly have an official ratification procedure, you know. The others listen to me, so yes, I suppose I'm the leader."
"Hunh. Neat," you say. "Alright, then. Sunday?"
"Sunday," Rin confirms. "I take it you'll be visiting the University Group at the same time?"
"Yup," you confirm.
"Noted," she says. "See you on Sunday."
"See you!" you say cheerfully.
Yokosuka Middle School's just up ahead now, that enormous edifice of Glass and steel. You coast in for a gentle landing on the deserted roof - if Mitakihara Middle School's roof is Anor freaking Londo, then this is freaking Asgard.
You crouch, wings drawing in around you, and scan the building. Let's see. Magical girls, potentials... Hm. That's Megane down there, you think, with her Soul Gem filling slowly. She's got the Grief Seed you'd given her, Andrea with her. As far as you can tell, she's sitting in class. There are... hm. Three shades of Grief scattered about the school. Potentials.
Interesting.
First things first - you do want to check in with Masami and Hiroko. So, to that end... "Good afternoon, Masami, Hiroko?"
The illusionist is the first to respond. "Good afternoon, Sabrina."
"'afternoon," Masami says, sounding considerably less grumpy than she had in the morning.
"How's everything? And is... well, not quite now now, but within half an hour or so a good time for me to drop by?" you ask, considering the three potential puella magi down below.
"Eh. Sure," Masami says. "What do you need, anyway?"
[] Write-in
=====​
Bah. Sorry for the slow update rate.
Last edited: Oct 25, 2015
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 10
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Oct 29, 2015

- #65,047

"Well," you say, pausing to consider the question. "Two things, really. One is... I need to ask a big favour, and the other is... there's a project I've been working on that should be a big help for the both of you."
You spare a thought for the potentials in the school below. To be absolutely honest... there's not much you can do with them right at this instance? You'll have to come back to them later.
"Oh? Go on?" Masami prompts, voice guarded.
You crouch and spring hard, throwing yourself skywards with a massive sweep of your wings. A mass of Grief trails after you, a rarified mass of deep purple spheres in differing sizes. Hard enough to see from the ground at the heights you fly at, usually.
"Yeah... I'm having a problem with the new magical girl across town I told you about, earlier," you say. You hesitate. "I'd rather talk to you in person, though, if that's alright?"
"One moment," Hiroko responds.
You huff a sigh, and continue climbing, winging upwards and onwards with thundering strokes of your wings.
You're pretty lucky you haven't been spotted yet. Or maybe you have? You... don't think it's the kind of thing that gets spotted in the news, though you don't watch it terribly much. And Kyuubey would probably censor it, anyway.
Tsk.
"Sabrina?" Hiroko asks, a few peaceful minutes' of flight later.
"Yep?" you ask.
"Ah... We're willing to talk about it?" she says.
"Cool. I'm on my way over, then?" you respond, banking towards their district.
"Alright," the illusionist says. "How long will you be?"
"Not too long," you respond.
"Alright," she says. "See you when you get here, then."
"Yep!" you confirm, swinging past the glittering steel of Mitakihara's central business district. Skyscrapers by the dozen, towering towards the clear blue sky, and yet far beneath you as powerful wingbeats drive you onwards. Wings much like Homura's, writhing and twisting.
Heh. Once upon a never, Homura will have had these wings, and then again, exchange them for another pair, one with awfully familiar black feathers.
You sigh. That'll never come to pass, if you have anything to say about it. Though speaking of feathers... you dwell on that one damned Feather again. It came out of your Barrier. And you don't even know what it is, what it signifies...
Tsk.
You don't even know how to start investigating it.
You frown at that thought, the wind whipping at your hair. You don't know how to start investigating it.
Do you?
Something niggles at the back of your mind with that thought, but... you can't really place it. Hm.
Well. A thought to ruminate on. For now, you have more immediate responsibilities.
You reach out telepathically. "Hey, Kirika?"
"Sabrina? Are you coming back?" Kirika responds, almost immediately.
You bite back a pang of regret. "I... not yet, Kirika. I'm sorry. I promise I'll be back today," you say. Tonight, if nothing else. Dinner plans... made things a little troublesome, but that really wasn't entirely your decision.
You either have to bring Mami over, or let her sleep alone. You rather seriously doubt she'd agree to the latter.
Tsk.
"Oh," Kirika says. "Oh."
Guilt bites deep into you, worrying at your guts. "I'm sorry," you say again. "How are you?"
"I'm-" she bites off the first response that rose to her lips. "I'm OK."
"You're sure?" Very carefully, you don't ask about Oriko.
"Yeah," she says, and there's a hitch in her voice that says she's worried and fretting and probably not really OK at all.
You bite your lip. "Kirika, I swear I'll be back as soon as I can. And remember that you can wake Oriko up if you need to."
"Yeah, I know," she mutters.
"I'm sorry," you say again, sighing as you coast in for a landing on a building next to Masami and Hiroko's apartment block. It's a nice, upscale neighbourhood - recent enough, you think, and new buildings still going up. You vaguely wonder how they have the money to afford it, but... eh. A question for another time.
Kirika makes a wordless noise, pain and worry eloquent and obvious. "Come back soon," she says.
"I will. Today," you say.
"OK," Kirika says, worry saturating her tone.
You walk the rest of the way, hands in your pockets as you thread through the sparse afternoon crowds. You draw a few curious stares, but this is Japan, and nobody bothers you as you frown to yourself, thinking. So damned many things to do today...
It doesn't take you long to get to the seventh floor of the couple's apartment block, and you ring the doorbell, rocking on your heels as you wait. You sense Masami and Hiroko getting off the couch, and walking over towards the door. A moment later, you hear the rattle of the security chain, and the black haired girl cracks the door open, the slightly taller Masami standing at her shoulder.
"Hi, Sabrina," Hiroko says, green eyes crinkling with a little smile.
"Hi, Hiroko, Masami" you say. "May I come in?"
"Hi, Sabrina," Masami says with a sigh. "Sure, come on in."
Hiroko pulls the door open as you take your shoes off, and soon enough, you're settled on their couch - they're on the loveseat, cuddled into each other with Hiroko's head leaning on Masami's shoulder. Cups of fresh tea sit in front of each of you.
"So how have you been?" you ask, claiming your cup and taking a sip.
"We've been good," Masami says. "Great, really." Hiroko elbows her in the side, and she sighs. "I... OK, look, I never really thanked you properly, did I?"
You purse your lips, thinking back. "You did?"
"Not properly," Hiroko says, tilting her head up to look at Masami.
Masami sighs, giving you a 'what can you do' look. "Not properly," she concedes. "So... thank you Sabrina. I still think you meddle too much, but... thank you."
Your shrug depreciatingly. "You're welcome," you say. "I'm glad to hear you're doing well."
"Mmmm," Hiroko hums, taking one of the teacups and sipping. "How about you, Sabrina? Drink your tea, Masami."
"Eh." You wave your free hand in a vague circle. "Busy, busy, busy. Too many crises to handle."
"Which is why you're dumping one on us?" Masami asks shrewdly, crossing her arms. Hiroko swats her lightly. "What? I'm right, I know I am."
You sigh. "In... a manner of speaking."
"Hah!" Masami says, turning a smug look on Hiroko.
The black haired girl chuffs out an aggrieved sigh, swatting at Masami again. "Sorry, Sabrina, she's always like that," she says, glancing at you.
"Hey, you know you love me," Masami says, the smug grin on her face widening and a trace of cockiness colouring her voice.
Hiroko rolls her eyes. "That doesn't mean you're not annoying~" she says with a singsong lilt to her voice. "Now apologise!"
Masami pouts. "Fine. Sorry, Sabrina."
You shake your head with a laugh. "'sfine."
"What do you need?" Hiroko asks, sitting up straight from Masami's shoulder.
You click your tongue, searching for the words. "Well... there's a new magical girl out to the east of the town."
"Hooo boy, I know where this is going," Masami interjects, cutting you off. "She needs a trainer, and you don't have the time?"
You nod slowly. "It's... a little worse than that, because of the attitude she has, but..." you wave your hand in another floppy circle. "Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."
Masami snorts. "Wouldn't be the first magical girl I've trained," she offers with a ghost of a smirk.
"If this one ends up like the last one, darling, we're going to have words," Hiroko notes with a smile.
"Not bloody likely," Masami says, laughing.
Hiroko shakes her head. "Sorry, Sabrina. Go on?"
"Yeah, well..." you say, stifling your smirk. "I told you about Ono Megane, right? New girl out east?" At their nod, you continue. "Right, so... she doesn't know about how to live as a magical girl. She's using her magic too fast, she doesn't really seem to get that we are our Soul Gems, and she doesn't even really want to hunt Witches, apparently."
"And you want us to smack some sense into her?" Masami asks, head tilting over to the side.
You waggle your hands. "That's putting it too harshly. But she's kind of a brat, and we got off on the wrong foot through no fault of my own-" you ignore her snort, "- and none of my other friends have the attention to handle her. She underestimates Witches, and she can't or won't switch her power off and she's going to get herself killed."
Masami and Hiroko exchange a look, clearly considering it. To your surprise, they seem to be considering it, right off the bat. Just to sweeten the pot, though...
"I'm not asking you to do it for free, either," you say. "I can compensate you, and not just with cleansing, either. Money, too, and uh, well, I maaaaaaay have recently acquired some gold bars, and that's on the table too."
"... gold bars?" Masami asks, raising her eyebrows.
"Yep," you say, raising a hand, palm out. A blob of Grief zooms in through the window, and deposits a single bar of gold in your hand. It's a small thing, barely the size of two or three of your fingers put together, but it weighs... exactly half a kilo, judging from the stamped words on it. "Gold bars."
You hand it over to Masami, and she nearly drops it in surprise at the weight. "Whoa."
"Yep," you say. "Anyway, well, money, gold bars if you want them, and of course, cleansing."
Masami glances at Hiroko again, and the other girl tips her head to the side in a vague nod. From the lightning fast flicker of expressions across their faces, you can tell they're communing by telepathy.
You fidget with your teacup as they confer. Hmm. You rather hope they'll agree. You really can't handle Megane yourself. Not when you have to handle Sayaka too. Maybe you could foist her off on Kyouko, but no, you'd rather not. Hm.
You still don't know what powers Sayaka has. Does she even have swords any more? Heh. Swords. Swords swords swords swords. You rather prefer your hammer, of course.
"We'll do it," Hiroko says, nodding at you.
"Really?" You blink in surprise. "Just like that?"
Masami shrugs lightly. "I... I don't mind teaching," she admits.
"And she doesn't mind helping a new girl," Hiroko adds, elbowing the redhead.
Masami sighs. "Yeah, that too," she says.
You grin. "Brilliant!" you say brightly. "Thank you both so very much, Masami, Hiroko. So um, what kind of compensation do you want? Money, gold, cleanses?"
Masami and Hiroko exchange looks. "To be honest, cleanses and Grief Seed refreshes are plenty?"
"... really? Um, I don't mean to be ungrateful, but that's all?" you ask, faint incredulity colouring your tone.
They shrug, almost in unison.
[] Write-in
=====​
... well then.
Last edited: Nov 21, 2015
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 11
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Nov 3, 2015

- #65,431

"... Well, thanks!" you say, beaming at them. That went well. That went really well.
You kind of sort of want to just launch yourself at them and give them a hug for being reasonable, but they probably won't take it very well.
Hiroko giggles abruptly, and passes her hand over her face. You can feel the illusion weaving into place, delicate, fiery strands of magic twisting to alter her appearance. It's a subtle effect - deepening of the shadows, her eyes a little sunken, her face a little more gaunt.
She coughs, and speaks in a far deeper voice than usual. "This is your magical girl on Grief." Even her voice is slurred. Exhausted.
"Or you could always illusion me back into the skeleton state," Masami offers.
"... Don't scare her too badly," you say, shaking your head with a smile. "I mean, the idea is to train her. I mean, scaring her straight has its place, but still."
"... I'll rein her in" Hiroko asks, giving her girlfriend a look.
"Aw, don't be like that," the redhead says. "Remember back when you were my cute little kohai?"
"Yes," Hiroko says. If her voice were any drier, you could market her as industrial grade dessicant. "Yes, I do."
"Doesn't look like you managed to scare her straight," you say, jabbing a thumb at the black haired girl.
The couple roll their eyes in unison. "Har har," Masami says.
"Anyway," you say. "What shall I tell Megane? Or... do you want me to just patch you through by telepathy?"
Hiroko clicks her tongue, cutting off Masami. "She doesn't like you, right?" she asks.
"Yeah," you admit. "Through no fault of my own! I just... made a bad impression."
"Mmmhm." Masami injects a certain amount of scepticism into the noise.
"I think it would be best if we were to contact her on our own," Hiroko says slowly. "So that we can make our own impression. Do you know where she lives? Where she goes to school?"
"Yes, and yes. Yokosuka Middle School," you say, nodding. Are you that bad at making first impressions? You absently rattle off her address. "... Do you think business cards would help?"
"... Business cards?" Hiroko asks, thrown by the sudden change of topic.
"Uh, sorry. Was just thinking that I'm awful at making first impressions," you explain, shaking the thoughts away. "So I was thinking, like, making a business card? White Ribbon Corporations, with a picture of a Grief Seed on the back, but uh, never mind."
"... Right," Masami says, exchanging a look with Hiroko. The black haired girl shrugs, looking just as confused.
"Anyway," you say, waving your hand at them. "I mentioned a project too, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did," Hiroko confirms with a nod. "Uh, do you want the gold bar back, by the way?"
"Hm? Yeah, pass it back? And right, so..." You root around in your pocket, and produce Hildegarde's Grief Seed. "Right, see this?" You pass it over to Hiroko, exchanging it for the gold bar.
"... is this a Grief Seed?" she asks, holding it so that both her and Masami can examine it.
"Kind of?" you say. "I call it a clear Seed, and uh. Well, I basically just take a Grief Seed and keep pulling Grief out until there's almost nothing left."
"Sooo..." Masami asks, raising an eyebrow. "It can be used more?"
"Yeah," you say. "Exactly. A couple hundred times, if I'm calculating it correctly? Or was it a couple thousand?"
Masami's eyes widen. "Holy shit."
Hiroko nods in silent agreement. "That's... amazing," she whispers. "If we'd had these..."
"Yeah," you say. "That's the idea. I... I haven't entirely perfected these, but I'm passing them around for testing."
Both Masami and Hiroko look at you with eager anticipation in their eyes, an identical smile spread across two faces.
"... Look, ease off on the puppy dog eyes and let me lay out the downsides first?" you say, rubbing at your forehead.
"I'm not making puppy dog eyes," Masami protests.
... She totally is. Quite effectively, too, with her devastatingly large, soft brown eyes.
"Sabrina?" Mami's voice sounds inside your head.
"Hi, Mami!" you respond cheerfully while raising an unimpressed eyebrow at Masami. "OK, the first problem is that if you put it together with a normal Grief Seed, the normal one will pull as much Grief as it can from the clear one, which, uh, can bring it pretty close to hatching."
"So... Keep it away from normal Grief Seeds?" Masami asks.
Mami's mental voice brightens. "Hi, Sabrina. How are you?"
"I'm doing fine. How are you?" you respond to Mami, giving Masami a judicious nod. "Just so. And the other thing is... I'm... not quite sure they're absolutely safe yet, I have to admit."
"Feh. Knew it was too good to be true," Masami mutters.
"I'm doing well, too," Mami says. "It's math class now!"
"Yeah... They're definitely safe for a few days, a week at least," you say. "I have a friend who's a seer, and she's been using them for a few days. She hasn't forseen any particular consequences with them."
... hm. Friend? Is that what Oriko is to you? You're... not really sure. You muse on that as you reply to Mami. "Ah, how's that going?"
"... of course you know a seer," Masami mutters. Hiroko shakes her head, swatting Masami lightly.
"It's going well!" Mami responds. "I- ah! Miss Sakaguchi's calling on me, I need to present. I'll... I'll talk to you soon?"
"Soon," you promise Mami. You shrug at Masami. "Well. Yeah, I do," you say. "But yeah, that's the current state of affairs with the clear Seeds. They're functional. And... the one I have there's a... prototype of sorts, but I can make one for you girls if you want? I'd just need to go fight a Witch."
Hiroko leans forward. "Would any Grief Seed do?" She reaches inside her skirt pocket and pulls out a Grief Seed. You check it - about half full.
[] Write-in
=====​
Well, yeah.
Last edited: Nov 3, 2015
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 12
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Nov 7, 2015

- #65,793

"... yep, that'll do," you say, blinking at the Grief Seed being proffered towards you.
"Well?" Masami prompts.
"Well. In that case, we should take this outside," you say, taking the Grief Seed from Hiroko. "There's going to be a lot of Grief. Could I have my clear Seed back?"
"Sure," Hiroko says, standing gracefully. She passes Hidlegarde back to you, and you tuck the Seed into your pocket.
Masami pops to her feet, an inquisitive look on her face. "So you pull all the Grief out of a Grief Seed?"
"Yeah," you say, waiting politely as Hiroko unlocks the door. You could just pop out through the window, but that'd be just rude.
"What do you do with it?" Hiroko asks, giving you a curious look. "The Grief?"
"I tend to just hang on to it, actually," you admit, following Masami out the door. "I haven't found a better use for it, other than giving it to the little white rat. I mean, I use it for combat, but I don't use that much. Mostly." Except in times of extremely large fights.
"Hrm," Masami says as Hiroko locks the door behind you. "Can't you just leave it somewhere?"
"Nope," you say. "It just dissolves if it leaves my control range."
"Ergh," the redhead says, leading the way to the lift.
"Yeah, it's a thing," you grumble. "I've been trying to work around it, but not to that much success."
Masami snorts. "First class magical girl problems?"
You shrug, and waggle a hand. "Ehh." You have grander goals, in any case.
Granted, you aren't quite sure what those goals are, just yet, but... you're working on it.
Hiroko giggles, politely raising one hand to cover her mouth.
"Anyway," you say loudly. "As I was saying, there's going to be a lot of Grief, and your, uh, Witch senses might go off, but it's fine. It's a normal part of the process."
"Gotcha," Masami says, nodding.
You chat amiably with the couple as you head towards the lift, and then the fire escape for that last level. Masami seems to have eased up considerably in her dislike for you. Then again, getting to experience life again probably mellowed her out considerably.
You emerge ahead of the couple, stepping out onto on the bare, sunbaked concrete of the rooftop. You transform absently, the familiar weight of your longcoat settling around your shoulders, and you beam at Masami and Hiroko, turning to face them.
"Alright, this'll take a moment," you say, holding up the gold bar you'd retrieved from Hiroko in one hand. "Oh, and if you're curious as to what about a... quarter? Nah, less... whatever, a substantial chunk of Grief looks like, well, that's it." You toss the gold bar lightly, flipping it towards the corner of the roof.
Masami follows the glittering arc described by the gold bar, turning to spot the Grief spheres, piled up like so many bowling balls made of some iridescent, deep purple material. One sphere lurches into the air at your will, gobbling up the slab of gold.
"Hunh," she says, giving the pile a glance. "Alright then."
"Hmmm," you murmur, looking down at the Grief Seed balancing on its point in your hand. "Alright. Nothing for it, then." You take a deep breath, looking around at Masami and Hiroko. "OK, here we go. Again, this is probably going to light off your Witch senses."
"Right," Hiroko nods, along wiht Masami. "We understand."
With that reassurance, you focus on the Grief Seed in your hand, and you tear free a river of Grief. A dense miasma of a purple so dark it's very nearly black pours around you in a rippling cloud. Spheres accrete out of the roiling bank, stellar formation in fast forward.
Out of the corner of your eye, you see Masami flinch, backing away a step before steeling herself. Hiroko squeezes her hand.
Spheres of Grief, solid and compact, fill the air. A slight breeze picks up, stirring your coat... before promptly dying away.
... damn it! One day you'll get your dramatic billowing.
One day.
Dozens, then hundreds of spheres of Grief drift around you, occluding the sun in dappled, rippling patterns.
After what feels like hours but is probably bare minutes, the Grief Seed is empty, but for the single, abyssal speck remaining.
Joanne.
The Witch is quiet. Quiescent.
You exhale, smiling, and banish the constellation of Grief to join the rest of the Grief with a wave.
"And... voilà," you say, holding out the glassy-clear Seed to the couple.
Masami's the first to step forward, eyeing the considerably larger pile of Grief in the corner - really, it's not so much in the corner as it is taking up a good third of the roof, now.
She takes the clear Seed, from you, turning it over in her hands. "Feels about the same," she notes.
You shrug. "Were you expecting it to be different?"
"A Grief Seed that might last pretty much forever?" Masami fires back. "Yeah, I do."
"... I can go and get some glitter to throw on it?" you offer.
Hiroko swats Masami, a smile on her face. "What she means to say is thank you, Sabrina," she says.
You hide your snicker behind a hand as Masami apologies.
"Anyway, give it a try?" you say.
Masami holds her hand out, her Soul Gem appearing on the flat of her palm with a faint flash of light. She offers it to Hiroko with a smile, and the black haired girl returns it before tapping the clear Seed to it. Without fuss, Grief drains away from the Soul Gem and into the Seed.
"Excellent," you says, satisfaction in your voice. "All good there, Masami?"
"Yeah," she says, nodding. "Just like using a regular Grief Seed."
"Cool," you say. "Anything else?"
"No... Thanks, Sabrina," Masami says, rubbing at the back of her head.
"No, thank you both," you say. "For agreeing to help. And if you need any help, or cleansing or talking or anything, give me a call, OK? I'll be happy to help."
"Sure, thanks," Masami says. A cocky grin flickers across her face. "Doubt we'll need it, though."
Hiroko nods, smiling. "Thank you, Sabrina. We appreciate it."
"Anytime," you say. "So, anything else?"
Masami and Hiroko shake their heads. "No, that's everything, I think," Masami says, starting towards the stairs.
You stride over to the edge of the roof, wings forming behind you in billowing wisps. "Alright. Take care, you two, and see you around, then," you call.
"Yeah," Masami says, raising one hand in a careless wave.
"Bye, Sabrina!" Hiroko calls.
You leap, wings snapping out to their fullest extent. You soar upwards banking around to spot two figures still on the roof, if receding rapidly. Hiroko raises her hand to wave at you, and as you wave back, the couple turn to head back down the stairs.
Well.
A good deed done, you think. Perhaps more than one.
You glance at your phone, fumbling it out of your pocket. One forty-five. You...
Hm. Kyouko, you think?
No, bestbuddy first.
"Kirika?" you reach out telepathically.
"Heya," Kirika responds, voice subdued.
"Hey. You OK?" you ask, voice quiet and worried as you bank over Mitakihara, rising on an updraft.
"Yeah," she says. "I'm keeping Oriko's Soul Gem clean, don't worry. My own, too."
"Ah," you say. "That's not really what I'm asking, though."
Silence for a moment. "I'm OK," Kirika says, sounding listless. "It's just hard, seeing her like this. It's almost like she's d-dead."
You sigh, letting the thunder of your wingbeats and the flapping of your coat fill the air for a moment. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Kirika," you say.
"Not 'xactly your fault," Kirika says.
"Still," you say. "I'll come by as soon as I can, OK?"
"Yeah," Kirika responds.
"Alright. See you and Oriko soon," you, banking east, past the central business district.
"See you," Kirika responds, closing the connection.
You sigh again.
Damn it.
You ruminate on it for a few minutes before sighing. Nothing for it, really - you simply have too much to do today, and you need to have Mami there, and then there's dinner plans... You'll talk to her in a moment about that. Kyouko first.
"Kyouko?" You reach out again, this time to the redhead.
She doesn't respond immediately. "Yeah?"
"Hi, Sabrina here," you say. "D'you mind if I drop by? There's a few things I'd like to ask you about."
"Yeah? Whatcha got in mind?" Kyouko challenges, voice belligerent.
[] Write-in
-[x] Chat with Mami on the way if so. Ask her about our plans for today after school. Gently bring up Oriko if necessary.
=====​
What do you have in mind? And what, specifically, do you want to talk to Mami about?
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 13
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Nov 15, 2015

- #66,626

You briefly debate asking Kyouko about gold, and possible bribing thereof to persuade her to come over to Mitakihara. Probably not the best idea, really. And besides, gold is for bling. And possibly jewellry. Like rings.
... heh. Rings. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them... then again, your powers being what they are, that could apply to your Soul Gem ring. Hm.
"Eh, I kind of just want to drop in for a chat, if that's OK?" you respond instead. Something occurs to you just as the words leave your mind, and you hastily amend it with a quick, "A short chat, I have to say. I'll have to run again shortly."
School's out soon, and you have to be there.
"Yeah, sure," Kyouko says grudgingly. "You're bringing cleanses, yeah?"
"Mmmm," you say, heeling over and cutting across the city directly for Kasamino. "It's not like I can leave my powers at home."
"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko grumbles. "So since I've agreed will y' stop dodging the question?"
"Can't I go over just because I want to talk?" you protest, wings thundering in huge booms behind you as you milk them for all the speed you can.
"Given as it's you, maybe, but..." The irritated, somehow pointed silence perfectly conveys that fist planted on a hip and eyebrow raised in challenge.
You snort. "Fine, fine," you say. "Look, I kind of do want to just hang out a bit, but there is something I was wondering... would you interested in a possible job?"
"I ain't exactly the kinda girl people just hang out with," Kyouko grumbles. "What kinda job?"
"Don't be ridiculous, you are the kind of girl people hang out with," you retort. Be the speedy Sabrina, you tell yourself as you tear your way towards Kasamino. Best to make use of every moment. "I'm heading over to do just that, aren't I?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she says. "You don't count. Now, what job?"
"Well, it'd be for sparring with a new magical girl. I'm not exactly the best candidate, myself, and you're good with that spear of yours," you say. "Just to show her the ropes and stuff."
"Yeah, yeah, enough with the flattery," she grumbles. "So, kicking around a newbie?"
"Mmmm," you agree. "I can pay with Grief Seeds later, even."
You can hear the scowl in her voice when she responds. "If I say no?"
"I'm still coming over to hang out," you say.
"Not what I fucking meant," she responds tartly.
"I'll try and teach her myself," you respond with a shrug. Even though you're kind of running yourself ragged, now. You really kind of wish you could be in more than one place at once.
Which may be a possible use for your Familiars, now that you think about it, but then again - you have a feeling that any Familiar you make will either be weird beyond words, or possibly run off to hug Mami. And quite possibly both.
... and possibly try to persuade her to put on pants, too, while they're at it.
Tsk.
Well.
"Friend of yours?" Kyouko asks.
No point denying it, is there? "Yeah. The two of you should get along like a house on fire," you say. People screaming and running in every direction, and no survivors left behind.
Kyouko sighs. "Whatever," she says. "How long 'til you get here?"
"Minutes. Maybe fifteen?" you reply.
"Right. See you when you get here. We'll be at the same park," she says, and cuts the connection.
... well, you were going to ask her about Yuma, but this gives you time to talk to Mami and Kirika, you guess. Mami first, you think.
"Mami?"
"Ah, Sabrina?" Mami responds promptly. "Is something wrong?"
"Nah," you say. "I just wanted to talk. How are you?"
"Ah... Well, I'm still in class," she says. You can tell she's smiling, though. "Nothing much happened so far, apart from Ayako going to the nurse's office. But I'm glad to hear from you! How are you?"
"Doing well," you say, smiling. It's nice to hear Mami cheerful. "Looking forward to training Sayaka?"
"Ah, more looking forward to spending time with you," she says. "And everyone else, of course!"
"Yep! I'm looking forward to it too," you say, feeling a faint pang of guilt. You might have to skip on dinner... You're not sure, really. Maybe. "Though... we're going to have to help Oriko, too."
"Ah, yes," Mami says, her tone darkening a little. "When do you think would be good?"
"As soon as we can make it, I think?" you say. "I did tell Kirika I'd be back as soon as I could."
"Alright," Mami says. "Then... when you want to, Sabrina."
"I... thank you, Mami," you say softly. "Thank you."
A few moments pass in silence, until you finally break it. "Ah... In happier news, I went to talk to Masami!"
"Oh? How is she?" Mami asks, seizing on the topic.
"Ah, she's doing quite well, really," you say. "She's a lot happier now, and... she and her girlfriend have agreed to look after Ono! So that's quite a weight off my mind, at least."
"That's great, Sabrina!" Mami says, voice warm. She pauses, and you get the impression that she just blinked in surprise. "Masami has a girlfriend?"
"Oh, yeah," you say. "Wakahisa Hiroko, illusionist. She's a sweet girl, I guess?"
"Ah, good," Mami responds. "Is she treating Masami right?"
"Yeah," you say. "She stuck with Masami even through, you know... her getting hurt."
"That's great," Mami says, sounding faintly wistful. "That's... good."
"Mmm," you say, winging past the rising plumes of flue gas from the power plants - they're practically a landmark for you now, every time you head over to this part of the city. "She's fine."
"I know," Mami says. "And... I'm fine too, Sabrina. You're here."
"Yeah. Yeah, I am," you murmur.
"Thank you, Sabrina," she whispers quietly. "Thank you so much."
"Of course," you say softly. "I care about you, Mami."
"And that's-" Mami trails off. "That's everything, Sabrina."
"Mmm," you say.
You lapse into silence for a moment. The river's coming up ahead of you, glittering silver in the afternoon sun. Hm. It occurs to you that you don't actually know what that river's called. It's just 'the river'.
You're just about to broach the subject of the picnic when Mami speaks up. "What do you think we should train Sayaka on?"
"Hmm..." you say, considering the question. "I'm actually not very sure. I was planning on deferring to you, Mami. I suppose we could see what powers she has, first?/" Hm. It occurs to you that you should talk to Kirika, too.
"Ah, alright!" Mami says. "Yes, I think we'll let her show us what she can do first, though... I'm thinking we'll want to train her on her weapon, almost certainly."
"That makes sense," you agree, smiling. "Say, Mami, what do you think we should do for the picnic?" Simultaneously, you reach out to Kirika. "Hey, Kirika."
"We're baking a cake, right?" Mami asks, voice brightening. "Ah, I was thinking of a vanilla cake? With cream? I haven't made that for a while."
"Hey, Sabrina," Kirika says, voice listless.
"Whatcha doing, Kirika?" you ask the black haired girl. The river rolls past beneath you, heavy, thudnering wingbeats propelling you at breakneck speeds. To Mami, you respond with, "Oh, just plain vanilla?"
"It's not just vanilla," Mami says reprovingly. "I mean, I don't use the cheap chemical vanilla 'extract'."
"Nothing much," she says. "Shitposting on 2chan."
"I didn't mean that you would, Mami," you say contritely, even as you blink in faint surprise at Kirika's response. "Shitposting?"
"Yeah," Kirika says. "Pulled my laptop over."
"Good!" Mami says, a teasing smile in her voice. "Vanilla cake, then. We'll need to go shopping; I think we're out of cream."
"Yeah, we are," you agree. "Low on butter, too." To Kirika, you respond, "... what are you shitposting about?" You're not entirely sure you want to know the answer, but still.
"Nothing much," Kirika says glumly.
"Mmm," Mami agrees. "We can do that tomorrow, maybe?"
"Sounds good!" you say. You're closing on the park now, so... "Anyway, Mami, I should let you get back to your classes - I'll see you after school, OK?" You take a deep breath, and turn your attention to Kirika. "Hey, Kirika, I need to go now, so, see you soon, OK?"
"Yeah," Kirika says. "See you soon."
"You weren't disturbing me," Mami says. "But... yes. See you after school, Sabrina."
You smile to yourself. "See you, Mami," you say. To Kirika, you respond, "Yeah. Soon."
You can see the park just ahead. From the sky, you can see a pair of figures - one taller and redheaded, the other short and green haired. Both of them are sitting on a bench by a small pond.
[] Write-in
=====​
Whooo. And if anyone's wondering - I've just been dealing with way too much work, and exams coming up. *sarcastic confetti*
Last edited: Nov 15, 2015
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 14
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#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Nov 21, 2015

- #67,077

"I see you!" a piping, youthful voice echoes inside your head. The smaller, green haired figure raises a hand, waving enthusiastically at you.
"Hi, Yuma, hi, Kyouko!" you call back, waving back at Yuma, dipping a wing at her.
Kyouko responds with a lazy, muttered, "Yo."
"Is the park empty?" you ask, cautiously scanning said park from above with your own eyes as you wing towards it.
"Middle of the day," Kyouko drawls in response. "Yeah, 'sclear."
"Cool." You flare your wings, adjusting your speed and angling back so that you're descending feet first towards the park.
You snap your wings shut, and you plummet.
The wind whistles through your hair and snatches at your coat, and you flare your wings wide for just a moment before you land, dropping those last two meters to the grass just a few steps away from the pond.
"Sabrina!" Yuma calls, jumping off the park bench with a beaming grin on her face. She's filled up some, you notice - it might have been just a few days, but she looks healthier, less emaciated, than she had when you first met her. And she's wearing new clothes - practical, durable looking jeans and a pink hoody with fuzzy bobbles on the drawstrings.
"Yo," Kyouko says again, waving lazily. She's dressed, as always, in that ratty green hoody of hers and short pants, lounging on the bench. "Say, those wings a' yours are Grief, yeah?"
You shrug, said wings rippling with the motion. "Well, yeah. Hi, Yuma, hi, Kyouko!"
Kyouko chews on the stick of pocky dangling from the corner of her mouth for a moment. "Mh. 'splains why they're so god-awful creepy," she grunts, stretching and hooking her arms over the back of the bench.
"Big Sis, don't be tsundere," Yuma says, wandering back to the bench and plopping down next to Kyouko.
The redhead gives you a baleful glare, jabbing a thumb at Yuma. "This is your fault," she grumbles. "She won't shut up 'bout it now."
You snort. "If the shoe fits..."
"Fuck you," Kyouko retorts.
"Hah. You sound just like Sakura," you observe, smirking as you hunt for somewhere to sit down yourself. It's a pleasantly green area, soft grass and smooth pebbles lining the side of the pond, a small path winding by the waterside. Absently, you tuck your wings away, the fabric wicking away and imploding into marbles.
Kyouko rolls her eyes. "Whatever. What're you here for?"
You give up trying to find anything to sit on - they're taking up the only bench in the area, so you make a small, hovering platform of Grief and sit on that instead. "Like I said, just hanging out. I've only got half an hour or so here, but... here I am. Oh, and, uh, before I forget, can I say something?"
She jerks her head at you in a kind of 'go on' gesture.
"About my friend, the one whom I asked if you could spar with?" you say, rubbing at your nose sheepishly. "Well, uh, if you do agree to teaching her, do me a favour and, uh, don't mention getting on like a house on fire?"
"What, did her house actua-"
You're already nodding.
"... really?" she asks.
You nod again.
Kyouko eyes you, finishing her pocky with a few noisy crunches and producing a small bag of taiyaki from somewhere in her jacket pockets, which she shares with Yuma. She grimaces, and offers you the bag. "Want one?"
"Sure, thanks," you say, taking one of the fish shaped pastries. She's just going to pretend that never happened, then? "So anyway. How've you been? Do you need cleanses?" You sense one half filled Grief Seed... with Kyouko.
Jane. The one you gave her, the last time you came here. And neither of their Soul Gems are quite fresh.
Kyouko folds her arms. "Y' know the answer, don't you?" she asks, cocking a challenging eyebrow.
You sigh. "I'm trying to help," you say, raising an eyebrow right back.
Yuma's gaze darts from you to Kyouko, suddenly nervous.
Kyouko's lips press into a flat line. "Hunting's awful recently," she grunts.
"How bad is bad?" you ask.
"Haven't seen any Witches since you last showed up," she grumbles. "Not a single one."
"... Ah," you say. "That's... ah."
"Yes, 'ah'," Kyouko says, lounging back against the bench with deceptive casualness. Her crimson eyes narrow at you.
You click your tongue, considering how Mitakihara seems to have at least one Witch every day. Then again, you're reasonably sure you remember something about Mitakihara having such a high Witch density because of the oncoming Walpurgisnacht.
"Well," you say in lieu of a proper answer. "Cleanse?" You raise one hand towards them.
Kyouko grunts, digging in her pocket of her hoody and producing Jane's Grief Seed. She manifests her Soul Gem in her other hand. "Yuma?"
Yuma follows suit, cupping her hands to present her Soul Gem to you and a shy smile peeking up at you through her thick bangs. "Thank you," she says.
"No problem," you respond, crooking a finger. The familiar miasma of Grief billows into the air, thick and cloying and painful to the eye. "There you are," you offer, cleansing your own Gem as well.
Kyouko relaxes, almost imperceptibly. "Thanks," she says grudgingly, inspecting her Soul Gem. The Grief Seed disappears back into her pocket.
"So... can I buy you guys lunch?" you ask.
"Don'tcha have to go pretty soon?" Kyouko asks.
You shrug. "I can get us all in, and then leave when I need to go?" you say.
"Yeah, sure," Kyouko mutters. "What'd'ya want from me this time, 'nyway? 'part from the sparring thing? That's not a yes, by the way."
[] Write-in
=====​
Blah. Studying for exams.
Threadmarks This mortal coil pt. 15
- View content

#### Firnagzen

Operator

- Nov 27, 2015

- #67,304

"I wanted to show you a project I've been working on, actually," you say, detransforming in a prismatic burst of light. You roll your shoulders, enjoying to cool air in the park, and you take a bite of your taiyaki. "Walk and talk? Time's wasting, and all."
Kyouko grunts, and hops to her feet, snacking on... you're pretty sure that's her third taiyaki. You're not even through your first! She offers Yuma a hand, which the younger girl takes. "So talk," Kyouko says, waving in the general direction of where you know that buffet place is.
"Mmmm," you hum, rooting about in your pocket with your free hand to pull out Hildegarde, glassy and clear as it always is. "Here." You hand the clear Seed over to Kyouko.
The redhead tucks the last of her pastry into her mouth. "What's this?" she grunts, taking the clear Seed with her now empty hand. She holds it up in front of her, narrowing red eyes at it. "... the fuck?"
"It's a clear Seed," you explain as the three of you leave the park and merge into the sparse foot traffic. "I start with a Grief Seed, and I just keep draining it until I end up with this."
"Soooo... what. It can clean more times?" Kyouko asks.
You can see the wheels turning behind those dusky crimson eyes of hers. For all her abrasiveness, she's not stupid. Jaded as hell, but street smart and perceptive. How many times has she caught you out?
"Yeah," you say. "And-"
"Y' want to give me one," she says.
... In fairness, given that you're you, that's a perfectly reasonable guess to make.
"Well... yeah," you admit, wind taken out of your sails.
Kyouko grunts, handing the clear Seed back to you. Her hand now freed, she produces a stick of Pocky from somewhere in her jacket and gnaws on that, looking thoughtful. "I'll think about it," she says at last, glancing at you with narrow eyes.
"A few things to note," you say, meeting her eyes without flinching. "One of these Seeds should last... I dunno, maybe a year, maybe more." Her eyes widen a fraction, mouth opening to say something. You shake your head, cutting her off, and raise a finger for emphasis. "But there are a few caveats."
"'course there are. Lay 'em on me," Kyouko says, a frown flickering across her face.
"Right. You can't let them touch a normal Grief Seed, otherwise the normal one sucks all the Grief it can out of the clear one," you say. "Had a close call with that - a Seed nearly hatched. The other thing is..." You rub at your nose. "I only became a meguca recently, and I've only tested these for a while? So... I've noticed an oddity in the first one that's been in testing."
"'course," Kyouko mutters, snorting and glancing away. The pocky disappears into her mouth in a few quick crunches, replaced by another. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Yuma glance up at Kyouko, a little frown on her face.
"Yeah..." you admit as you turn the corner. "I'm still figuring out what's up with the thing, but well, it's been safe so far. It's this way, right?"
Kyouko nods absently, chewing on her pocky. "What else?"
"That's pretty much it," you say with a shrug.
"Hnh," she mutters, pointing out the buffet place. There's not much of a crowd at the moment - not at the current time. "There."
You pay for all three of you, garnering an odd look from the man working the counter, but a waitress shows you to a table without fuss. Kyouko makes a beeline for the buffet line, Yuma staying for a moment to give you a shy smile before scurrying after her adoptive big sister.
You sigh, rolling your shoulders before following them. A plate of salad, you decide - you've already had lunch, after all. Aaaand a bowl of soup. You return to the table, waiting politely for Kyouko and Yuma, who both return with plates piled high.
Kyouko plops onto the chair and immediately starts scarfing down her food, as does Yuma. By contrast, you eat a lot more sedately. You're short on time, but not that short.
"You two look like you're doing OK," you say. "Beyond the Witch situation, I mean."
"Mmmf," Kyouko mumbles through a mouth full of food.
"Big sis is clever!" Yuma offers between mouthfuls.
"Yeah... you look better," you say, smiling at her.
"W'ssat supposed t' mean?" Kyouko asks with a sharp glare.
You blink slowly. "You know what I mean, Kyouko," you say.
The redhead glares back at you, before subsiding and returning to her food.
"Look, I think I can guess what her situation was like before you took her in," you pulse to Kyouko, shooting Yuma a reassuring smile. "And I can see the difference."
"Good f' you," Kyouko snaps back at you without looking up from her plate. "The fuck do you want to make out of it?"
"Nothing," you respond, working your way through your salad. You're kinda full, really, but no wasting food in front of Kyouko and all that. "All I'm saying is, you've done good by her."
The redhead doesn't respond, demolishing a stack of cold cut beef with quick, vicious little bites.
Yuma glances back and forth between you and Kyouko. "Big sis?"
Kyouko sighs, expression softening. She shakes her head, her massive ponytail waving behind her. She ruffles Yuma's green hair gently. "You're fine," she says.
You sigh, glancing at the clock on the wall.
Kyouko catches the motion and glances at you. "Got to go?"
"Not quite," you say, shaking your head. "But if you want the clear Seed, I do need a little time to make it."
Kyouko chews slowly on a mouthful of something, thoughtful eyes never leaving yours.
The silence drags out.
One minute, then two.
"Too good to be true," she says at last.
"Hey, I-" the reflexive protest, defense of your honour, comes naturally, but Kyouko cuts you off.
"Nothing 'gainst you," she snaps. "Fuck, I just about believe you're as goody two shoes as you act. And I reckon your weird Seeds have worked so far. Buuuut I'd rather not be a guinea pig and wake up on day addicted to Grief heroin or whatever. So thanks, but no."
[] Write-in
=====​
A few more days...
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