Puella Magi Senescent Lux

[Schwer-Muta]

Aki's eyes nervously dart back and forth once she leaves her dimension. She doesn't think it's likely she's so unlucky that she's going to be immediately attacked again, but it doesn't stop the idea from scaring her. Luckily, no ambush happens and both girls make their way to the roofs. Aki notices the smoke pretty quickly. Another wave of dread shoots through the blond.

@DrZiztah

"Do you see that, Julie?" Aki asks, pointing towards the rising pillars of smoke. "It looks like we weren't the only ones fighting."

 

[DrZiztah]

@Schwer-Muta

Julie pulls to a halt and her attention snaps towards the commotion you point at. Her eyes are as wide as saucers and her expressions edges towards worry with each passing second. Gears turn in her head. "Wait... Sis said they were going to the city today, and-" She cuts herself off, and for a moment it loks like she might run towards the columns of smoke to check what is going on.

Fortunately, she doesn't. Instead she reaches out towards Ophélie with her telepathy, bringing you into the conversation as well.

"Sis! What's going on? Are you alright?"

There is a moment's silence before the answer comes, tired but not as snappish as she could have been. "We are all fine, do not worry." It's as if she was interrupted in the middle of an intense day of hard work. "An encounter could not be avoided, unfortunately, but we all made it through in one piece."

The news does appear to put Julie slightly more at ease, but her doubts remain.

"The fighting has also ceased and the aftermath taken care of for the most part. Do not even consider rushing out!"

===
@EtchedSteel, @Krecart

"Huntin' down every witch and familiar we could find... And there were a lot of us with experience," Stormy summarizes her response with a somewhat speculative expression. "Not my best description, sorry. And by the way-" She looks at you quizzically. "-You're aware that Familiars can escape barriers and eat people, right? It ends in 'nother witch being born after about five, so lettin' them be is common among older Girls."

Though she seems to have something else to say about the topic, the girl lets it be after that in favor of your request to know more about magic. Perhaps she finds it easier to approach.

"Well, yeah, kinda? How to put this..." A very vague start to the explanation. You get the distinct impression that this is not exactly Stormwind's area of expertise. "Becomin' a Magical Girl gives you powers to do lots of magic in general sense. And that you can practice if you have the resources, will and time. But you have to practice to get a grip of those."

She points her finger at Yvette. "But in addition to that, you get a sorta 'specialty', an affinity for specific area of magic. You've got that fixin' of yours for example," she says. "Your specialty is kinda like an idea of one kind of magic innate to you, somethin' only you can achieve and understand effectively. It makes certain common stuff easier to do and learn too."

Stormy withdraws her finger to rub her forehead with the hand. "Honestly, this really ain't my field. You'd have to ask someone with expertise, like Sister Adélaïde, Lady Celiné, or Mrs. Hicchan if she visits again... But they're very easy to annoy, usually busy, and on another continent respectively."

The girl shrugs. "For what it's worth, enchantin' yourself and stuff is apparently a pretty common first step after healing."

 

[Ugolino]

@Dirtnap, @Ugolino

"Past grievances and resentment built over time," Celiné explains."The presence and actions of Hospitaliers resulted in witches becoming scarce in Metropolitan Paris. Though good in general sense, those girls who preferred to keep their distance had much less to hunt for themselves. A general belief of us hoarding witches came about."

The older girl frowns. "The fall of the Order came with the very obvious disappearance of our base of operations. This coincided with an influx of witches across the city. Seeing this as vindication for their resentment and beliefs, these girls went out their way to get rid of each and every Hospitalier-associated person they could find or lure out. This continues to this day, as numerous veterans are still around, and now also carrying other scars. It was not just the lives of Hospitaliers that were lost in the chaos.".

Click to shrink...

Claire's been sitting there for this entire conversation, listening. She hasn't said much in all this time- shrinking into herself. Everything since the cafe- after...stopping that girl- it's been a blur.

She can't stop thinking about what happened- that sickening crunch, the cars, seeing Mari thrown through the air- all of it blurring together already with still-raw guilt. And when it's not that, she can't help but glance around the peaceful cafe nervously, half-expecting another explosion at any moment despite knowing she's being stupid. Lightning won't strike twice, and they won and she knows the girl'd had her memory...removed. They're safe now. They have to be.

She almost forgets to be nervous about talking with- well, listening to- Stormwind's boss and the leader of all the Hospitaliers. She's unconsciously twisting one of the napkins into a spiral, sitting next to Mari as her best friend questions Celine with typical directness. If she wasn't so distracted, she might have pinged her about that- after all, Celine's a Hospitalier like Stormwind and Claire has a vague sense of that deserving respect, but...the memory of how she let Mari down is still very raw. So instead she sits and says nothing.

Hearing about the situation from Celine definitely doesn't help her frayed nerves, either. Hospitaliers like Stormwind constantly being attacked by girls like that one, fights just like the one at the cafe happening all the time, girls blaming Stormwind and the other Hospitaliers for hoarding Witches, as crazy as that sounds...She knows she should probably want to help, should want to step up and ask what she can do to help Stormwind and the others, to stop others from being caught in the crossfire. It's what Mari probably does. But all she can bring herself to feel is a gnawing dread and a formless sense that this is just...wrong. All of it, and she's just been...flailing blindly in the dark, surrounded by pitfalls that she's probably dragging Mari into as well.

"But...you can stop them, right?"

Oh. She'd spoken out loud. She winces slightly at the vaguely pleading note to her own question to Celine.

 

[Schwer-Muta]

Aki listens to Ophélie and slowly goes from feeling relieved to feeling worse and worse. Ophélie must already be worrying about her sister and Aki doesn't have any good news for her. She didn't think there was any way she could have stopped what happened, but that doesn't make her feel like any less of a failure.

Aki only has a place to stay right now because of Ophélie. A part of Aki always felt that a part of why Julie's sister did everything she did for Aki wasn't really about her, but about Julie. Aki's cowardly disposition and magic almost uniquely suited for retreat could help keep her sister safe. And for that Ophélie would give Aki a place to stay, and a life surrounded by people that really seem to like and care about her. And now standing here, unable to stop Julie from hunting in territory that wasn't hers and unable to stop that scary Jester girl from nearly cutting her open... it makes Aki feel like she's not keeping up her end of the bargain.

"I... I'm glad you're all okay," Aki sends back. "I'm s-sorry but... we were attacked, too. Julie found a labyrinth in the skating rink, and a lot of people were going to get hurt and... we dealt with it. And when we left someone was waiting for us. We... we're fine now. But it could have been really bad."

 

[Dirtnap]

"Past grievances and resentment built over time," Celiné explains."The presence and actions of Hospitaliers resulted in witches becoming scarce in Metropolitan Paris. Though good in general sense, those girls who preferred to keep their distance had much less to hunt for themselves. A general belief of us hoarding witches came about."

The older girl frowns. "The fall of the Order came with the very obvious disappearance of our base of operations. This coincided with an influx of witches across the city. Seeing this as vindication for their resentment and beliefs, these girls went out their way to get rid of each and every Hospitalier-associated person they could find or lure out. This continues to this day, as numerous veterans are still around, and now also carrying other scars. It was not just the lives of Hospitaliers that were lost in the chaos."

Click to shrink...

"But...you can stop them, right?"

Click to shrink...

"What she said...or do you need more help?" Mari says softly, crossing her arms. "Are you trying to get back to what you had? I'd be willing to help. Witches hurt people and Magical Girls shouldn't be fighting each other. It's bad wrong."

 

[DrZiztah]

@Schwer-Muta

You can practically hear the blink over the telepathic link as Ophélie processes your words. You can practically count the seconds to the reply. "Thank goodness, are you two alright?" she gushes out, her voice laden with an Ophéliesque mix of relief and agitated worry. "Do you have any injuries? Where are you now?"

Despite your doubts, she has nothing but worry for you as well. To your side, Julie winces. Her side is no longer bleeding, but she has yet to fully heal the stab wound she received from the Jester's doll. "Nothing major, sis, we're just a couple of blocks from safe areas!" she sends out, not wanting to worry Ophélie any more than necessary.

===
@Dirtnap, @Ugolino

Celiné looks at you quietly for a moment, a strange expression on her face. And then she lets out a quiet sigh. "228," she says out loud with her eyes closed. "That was the number of people I could call sisters almost two months back, and a lot were hoping to be there with us as well." Given her powers and demeanor, she could probably list each and every one if you asked with descriptions and all.

She shares a meaningful glance at you, and continues with an answer to a silent question. "Below ten... And maybe a couple of people, depending on how you count, still willing to take up the mantle." Though she tries to smile, you can tell it's not exactly a happy one. "There is no such thing as going back, miss Mataroi, and we can merely try to survive and take care of each other, while doing what we can."

She glances at the counter of restaurant, and you can tell that you're soon about to get your dinner. "Yet, I'm thankful, even happy, that you would even offer help, and I hope you never let go of that part of yourselves that allow you to speak up. But..."

But.

"To closely associate with Hospitaliers is to risk your lives. Would you really be alright with that?"

 

[Dirtnap]

"To closely associate with Hospitaliers is to risk your lives. Would you really be alright with that?"

Click to shrink...

Mari winces when Celine goes through her story, shaking her head mutely. When she asks her question, Mari's eyes shine with a bit of fervor.

"Do you know what being a blonde tall teenage foreigner makes you in Japan? Gaijin, outsider, freak, dangerous." Mari scoffs, "When you can't even have any friends because you're a half-breed. If it weren't for Claire, I would have had all of four people to call my friends back home. Yes Home. I was born and raised in Japan and they still didn't consider me Japanese."

Mari crosses her arms, "I'm used to flirting with danger, Celine. We fight literal abominations. I think I can handle some angry idiots, I did before."

 

[Schwer-Muta]

"Nothing major, sis, we're just a couple of blocks from safe areas!"

Click to shrink...

"And that's where we're going," Aki adds on. "I just... thought you should know. Also, this isn't as important but... the Grief Seed we got from the Witch looks really strange."

 

[Krecart]

"Honestly, this really ain't my field. You'd have to ask someone with expertise, like Sister Adélaïde, Lady Celiné, or Mrs. Hicchan if she visits again... But they're very easy to annoy, usually busy, and on another continent respectively."

The girl shrugs. "For what it's worth, enchantin' yourself and stuff is apparently a pretty common first step after healing."

Click to shrink...

"Thank you." Yvette jots down notes in the margins of her map. "Even if you can't help me work on magic directly, it's going to help a lot just to know 'enchanting' is possible." A diagnostic spell might be a good place to start then as opposed to telekinesis.

Maybe after figuring out how to deal with being covered in death-glitter, she can ask Nina and Marie for help.

"Also, I did not know that about Familiars. Nor that it is a 'common' practice among some magical girls." Yvette takes a sip of her tea, using to buy a bit of time to think. There's something here she's not seeing. There has to be, or what Stormwind said makes no sense. What could possibly be so dire about running out of magic that girls would be willing to sacrifice people—half a dozen at a time—to Familiars in order to have a larger population of Witches to hunt?

Do magical girls die if they run out of magic? Meringue is terrible at managing the girls he contracts, but surely he wouldn't neglect to mention that if it were the case. If only so that he doesn't lose girls that would otherwise still be able to provide him with Grief Seeds.

"Hopefully..." Yvette hesitates before setting down her cup. There's still so much she'd like to ask about. Enough that she'd almost prefer not to know if the Hospitaliers have fed people to Familiars. "Hopefully, you're not among their number, or I don't think we're going to be able to be friends."

It'd be a shame to lose out on the chance be friends with the Hospitaliers—especially Solenn, who Yvette thinks is adorable and in need of hugs—and dangerous to make enemies of any of the ones she has met, but some things just cannot stand.

 

[Ugolino]

Celiné looks at you quietly for a moment, a strange expression on her face. And then she lets out a quiet sigh. "228," she says out loud with her eyes closed. "That was the number of people I could call sisters almost two months back, and a lot were hoping to be there with us as well." Given her powers and demeanor, she could probably list each and every one if you asked with descriptions and all.

She shares a meaningful glance at you, and continues with an answer to a silent question. "Below ten... And maybe a couple of people, depending on how you count, still willing to take up the mantle." Though she tries to smile, you can tell it's not exactly a happy one. "There is no such thing as going back, miss Mataroi, and we can merely try to survive and take care of each other, while doing what we can."

She glances at the counter of restaurant, and you can tell that you're soon about to get your dinner. "Yet, I'm thankful, even happy, that you would even offer help, and I hope you never let go of that part of yourselves that allow you to speak up. But..."

But.

"To closely associate with Hospitaliers is to risk your lives. Would you really be alright with that?"

Click to shrink...

Mari winces when Celine goes through her story, shaking her head mutely. When she asks her question, Mari's eyes shine with a bit of fervor.

"Do you know what being a blonde tall teenage foreigner makes you in Japan? Gaijin, outsider, freak, dangerous." Mari scoffs, "When you can't even have any friends because you're a half-breed. If it weren't for Claire, I would have had all of four people to call my friends back home. Yes Home. I was born and raised in Japan and they still didn't consider me Japanese."

Mari crosses her arms, "I'm used to flirting with danger, Celine. We fight literal abominations. I think I can handle some angry idiots, I did before."

Click to shrink...

Claire listens, arms folded around herself. She's kept her thoughts to herself throughout Celine's story, though there's a sharp, if quiet breath from her when she says 'ten'. She chews her lip, uncertainty and worry written on her features. The bleak picture Celine's painting...It's almost too much for her to grasp. Two hundred people, people she knew that well...all of them gone- how many streetfights like the cafe have there been? What would that even have been like for them?- and for Celine and Stormwind to be down to the last few...still trying to do the right thing and help others even after all that...

It's enough to make her feel very small, insignificant. More so because her first, overwhelming instinct is to...back away. To say nothing, even though she knows it's wrong. This...It scares her. More so than even the cafe or witches in some ways. She doesn't want to risk dying again- she doesn't want to feel like she did in that warehouse, ever again, but-

And then Celine asks and Mari answers, because she's Mari, and of course she wouldn't answer any other way.

Of course, Claire doesn't agree with her on everything. Home? That's Paris for her, it's always been Paris. And...if she's a magical girl now- she shouldn't shirk that responsibility to help keep it safe. Knowing that...It makes what she's about to say a little easier.

She clears her throat, sitting up. Inhales.
"I. I'm in as well."

She nudges Mari gently, glancing away from Celine to her best friend.

"You weren't going to leave me behind again, Mari, were you?" A slightly strained smile.

She's said it. She can't unsay it, and...she doesn't want to. If Mari's in- of course she was going to be in- Claire's going to be right there with her. And there's the fact Stormwind saved her before, her near-slip earlier, on top of everything else- and it sounds like the Hospitallers need every friend they can get right now.

Besides, it's definitely the right thing to do.

 

[Dirtnap]

Having said her piece Mari relaxes a little, a bit of personal history she hadn't expected to come out seeming to have lightened her burden a bit. Still she knows Claire isn't exactly one for conflict. Even in Japan, she tried to de-escalate and placate rather than stand up.

"I. I'm in as well."

Click to shrink...

Which is probably why Claire's answer catches her off guard a bit. Her friend, standing up for herself? Maybe this will work out after all.

"You weren't going to leave me behind again, Mari, were you?" A slightly strained smile.

Click to shrink...

"Never in a million years, Claire." Mari beams at her friend, hugging her from the side with one arm. "I just wanted you to make the choice on your own."

 

[DrZiztah]

@Schwer-Muta

"Ah, that is good," Ophélie answers you, still tense but not displeased at all by the direction you're headed to. "Please remember to be careful. If you're still outside the safe zone, there's always a risk." There's a moment's pause as the older girl processes the news you've shared with her. "Strange? Could you please elaborate on this?"

Julie has brought out the rusty seed and holds it on her open palm. You didn't have much time to inspect it earlier with the appearance of the Jester, so you can take in more details. Though the frame is nigh identical to what passes for a normal grief seed, sans the rust, there is another peculiar element to it.

So far the trinkets have borne some individual differences in symbols to each other with themes attributable to the witch in question. Here, those small symbols in the casting are a complete mess, as if there was nothing unique or clear disinguishing the witch from others. It's not blank, but rather as if those unique symbols had melted off.

===
@Dirtnap, @Ugolino

Celiné looks at you for a while, as if assessing everything you just said. If you had to warrant a guess, this is probably the closest she gets to being caught completely flat-footed, though that may be an overly dramatic way of putting it. Regardless, she isn't immediately sure what to say.

She blinks, and you can hear the steps of the waiter approaching. She quickly pre-empts the young man by getting in a short answer before having to thank the waiter, "Well... I will be the first to admit that I did not expect this conversation escalate to this direction, especially this fast."

The waiter arrives, handing you your pizzas with Celiné thanking him with a friendly smile and formal pleasantries. She drags out a quiet moment to let the man walk back to the kitchen, before continuing. "...Regardless, I am grateful, and I suppose it's only fair to make it clear - if you land in trouble, just telepathy Sister Stormy. She will be there first, being the fastest we have."

The older girl twiddles lightly with her soda cup. "Do you two have any particular territory to yourself, if you don't mind me asking?"

===
@EtchedSteel, @Krecart

"We have not, do not nor will not feed people to familiars," Stormwind says without a moment's pause, actually looking somewhat offended by the suggestion you're making.

 

[Dirtnap]

Celiné looks at you for a while, as if assessing everything you just said. If you had to warrant a guess, this is probablyt he closest she gets to being caught completely flat-footed, though that may be an overly dramatic way of putting it. Regardless, she isn't immediately sure what to say.

She blinks, and you can hear the steps of the waiter approaching. She quickly pre-empts the young man by getting in a short answer before having to thank the waiter, "Well... I will be the first to admit that I did not expect this conversation escalate to this direction, especially this fast."

The waiter arrives, handing you your pizzas with Celiné thanking him with a friendly smile and formal pleasantries. She drags out a quiet moment to let the man walk back to the kitchen, before continuing. "...Regardless, I am grateful, and I suppose it's only fair to make it clear - if you land in trouble, just telepathy Sister Stormy. She will be there first, being the fastest we have."

The older girl twiddles lightly with her soda cup. "Do you two have any particular territory to yourself, if you don't mind me asking?"

Click to shrink...

"We...don't yet." Mari says looking awkward. "We were gonna go uh, north of where The Witch is...but we ran into a pair already there and well it didn't go well. Stormy bailed out Claire and I managed to fend off the girl attacking me." Mari squeezes Claire's shoulders in her hug then lets go. "We're thinking further north and a bit east. Maybe there'll be less issues," She folds her hands in front of her then shrugs. "At the very least we'll find some small bit of somewhere, hopefully not too far away."

 

[Schwer-Muta]

@DrZiztah

The subject having turned from a danger to a curiosity, Aki calms down a bit and her 'voice' takes on its usual tone. "The entire frame is rusty, and it has no identifying symbols. Wherever they should be, they've been... warped or melted beyond recognition." Aki thinks a bit as she studies the seed closer. "I think maybe the Witch was killed once before and the seed was overfilled and the Witch broke back out. I don't see how you could do this to a Grief Seed while it's still inside a Witch. Even if you could, I also don't know why you would, and then just leave it there without killing it."

 

[DrZiztah]

@Dirtnap, @Ugolino

"I have heard of the incident from Sister Stormy, yes," Celiné nods. "Though if I am understanding the geography of your description right, that would take you to the very Center of Paris. I cannot in good conscience recommend going there, even if the place gathers the most witches in the city. It is the most desired territory here for far more experienced Magical Girls who have no desire to share."

The older girl takes a sip out of her cup and starts to divide her pizza into slices with her knife. "The safest venture would be in the Western parts of the city, where there's little activity as far as I can tell. Nanterre, Puteaux, Colombes, Asnières and the like. Sister Stormy did spot a newly forming team of five with potential in Gennevilliers a while ago, but I do not know what has come of that beyond that."

===
@Schwer-Muta

"...No, rehatched seeds do still look like normal grief seeds for the most part," Ophélie summarily shoots down your theory from personal experience. It's easy to picture her frowning in thought. "Even when repeatedly rehatched, they remain identifiable. I can also tell that they do not age normally."

"But what would the seed being rusty mean?" Julie asks.

"That is a very good question. This is the first time I have even been told of rusty seeds existing," Ophélie notes. "Can you hold on to the seed and pass it on for either Lady Celiné or Sister Adélaïde later? This would fall within their area of expertise if anything and I will inform them of this. Do not attempt to use it to cleanse either, if you can help it."

 

[Krecart]

"We have not, do not nor will not feed people to familiars," Stormwind says without a moment's pause, actually looking somewhat offended by the suggestion you're making.

Click to shrink...

"S-Sorry!" Yvette stammers around the entire foot she's shoved in her mouth. "I, uh, I know it's awful of me to, um, I mean..." Of course she's offended, I just accused her of murdering dozens of people! "I- I didn't think that you did. I just worried, and it's-" She even said they hunted down every Witch and Familiar they could. What have I done?

"Sophie, what do I do?!"

 

[Firnagzen]

@Firnagzen

"Don't mention it... But I'm afraid I don't know. The Girl shed all glitter on her person when she pulled that off. I doubt it's exactly teleportation because off that, but that's semantics," Nina explains slowly.

Meanwhile, Genéviève curses under her breath, and you actually learn whole new slew of expletives. Émilie on the other hand just asks, "So... Wh-what now!"

Genéviève gathers herself on hearing that, and somewhat begrudgingly forces herself to speak up. "You, uh... Need healing or such?"

Click to shrink...

"I know a healer 'round these parts," Marie says cheerfully. "But if you can heal, it'd be appreciated. And as to what now..."

Marie sighs. "I don't know, for your friend. The Jester still has her body, and we've lost track of her."

 

[DrZiztah]

@Firnagzen

Genéviève lowers her hands with some hesitation and dispels the motes of light. With a healer friend on your call, she seems to think that it's better to leave it to her. "...Well, guess it's more effective there."

Émilie on the other hand casts down her eyes and clenches her fists. She's fighting back tears from unwanted emotions.

"This was more of a chance encounter... There's nothing stopping proper planning with the info we think we got," Nina takes her turn to reassure the Faeries, putting on a smile despite everything. "Just give it a bit to regroup."

"Yeah, about that," Genéviève interjects uncomfortably. "To make it a bit faster... Do you guys, um, need a lift? You don't look like you're going anywhere very fast."

 

[EtchedSteel]

"S-Sorry!" Yvette stammers around the entire foot she's shoved in her mouth. "I, uh, I know it's awful of me to, um, I mean..." Of course she's offended, I just accused her of murdering dozens of people! "I- I didn't think that you did. I just worried, and it's-" Yvette She even said they hunted down every Witch and Familiar they could. What have I done?

"Sophie, what do I do?!"

Click to shrink...

Sophie froze right before sipping her tea and sideglanced Yvette.

Running damage control.

"Pardon us, we didn't mean to offend you, miss Stormwind." She placed her cup back on the table. "Is that with everything that happened so far - ever since the school was temporarily closed. Well... We weren't aware of the stuff the little white cat brought us into, aside of witches."

For a moment she thought on where Dad and Mom work. Better make sure familiars were not to be found nearby later.

"Is good to know there are magical girls doing the right thing out there, yes?"

 

[DrZiztah]

@EtchedSteel, @Krecart

Stormwind lets out a sigh and takes a long gulp from her own drink. "None taken. Although you two should probably be more careful 'bout what you blurt out to others. Can think of several people who'd take that pretty damn badly."

 

[Ugolino]

"We...don't yet." Mari says looking awkward. "We were gonna go uh, north of where The Witch is...but we ran into a pair already there and well it didn't go well. Stormy bailed out Claire and I managed to fend off the girl attacking me." Mari squeezes Claire's shoulders in her hug then lets go. "We're thinking further north and a bit east. Maybe there'll be less issues," She folds her hands in front of her then shrugs. "At the very least we'll find some small bit of somewhere, hopefully not too far away."

Click to shrink...

@Dirtnap, @Ugolino

"I have heard of the incident from Sister Stormy, yes," Celiné nods. "Though if I am understanding the geography of your description right, that would take you to the very Center of Paris. I cannot in good conscience recommend going there, even if the place gathers the most witches in the city. It is the most desired territory here for far more experienced Magical Girls who have no desire to share."

The older girl takes a sip out of her cup and starts to divide her pizza into slices with her knife. "The safest venture would be in the Western parts of the city, where there's little activity as far as I can tell. Nanterre, Puteaux, Colombes, Asnières and the like. Sister Stormy did spot a newly forming team of five with potential in Gennevilliers a while ago, but I do not know what has come of that beyond that."

Click to shrink...

Claire blinks, then glances from Celine back to Mari. A quick telepathic blurt to her friend.

"Er, Mari? Weren't we supposed to be over by...Suresnes anyway? At least that's what Yvette gave us... Isn't that out West too?" There's only a brief moment of hesitation as she furrows her brow in memory...She kind of knows her way around the Paris map- bits of it anyway- but it has been a long, long time...even if she poured over maps and photos whenever she was feeling particularly lonely in Japan...

And why is it coming down to territory and the horrible things that happen if they go to the wrong part of it, again?

 

[Krecart]

"Is good to know there are magical girls doing the right thing out there, yes?"

Click to shrink...

"Thanks, Sophie. I'm really glad you came by this morning."

Stormwind lets out a sigh and takes a long gulp from her own drink.
"None taken. Although you two should probably be more careful 'bout what you blurt out to others. Can think of several people who'd take that pretty damn badly."

Click to shrink...

"R-Right. I'll keep that in mind. Sorry for-" More apologies won't do any good. Yvette shakes her head and presses on with another question. "Anyways, about other people? Do you know if there are any meeting places, or message boards that magical girls use to communicate? I feel like a lot of this mess my city's in could be helped if we just had a better means of keeping in touch with one another, but telepathy doesn't have a broadcast setting. So I'm not sure what to do."

 

[Firnagzen]

@DrZiztah
"That would be very much appreciated, yes," Marie says, flashing a grin. "We've got a bit of cargo to haul along for a look too, if you're offering. A souvenir from the fight."

"Or..." Marie pauses, eyeing the two very green girls. "Nah. We can come back for that later. Just a lift would nice nice."

 

[Dirtnap]

Claire blinks, then glances from Celine back to Mari. A quick telepathic blurt to her friend.

Click to shrink...

Mari blinks a few times, having completely forgotten everything that morning thanks to the unexpected arrival of the magnetic girl.

"I uh. I dunno. Isn't it northeast-ish? I'm pretty terrible without a map in front of me. Besides, I told her we had a spot already but if she wants us to go further west...gonna mean a lot of short nights. Even if we can travel on the roofs."

 

[Schwer-Muta]

@DrZiztah

"...I see," Aki says. Any further speculation on the seed can wait. "Well, I shouldn't keep you any longer. Julie and I should get moving." Nodding to herself, Aki begins to start walking in the direction of home.

"...Stay safe out there."