SayakaQuest: Trauma is a Thing

[TheOneMoiderah]

[x] Talk to...
-[x] Hitomi
-[x] Madoka
[x] About...
-[x] Why you skipped.

"Hey!" You rub the back of your head. "Sorry 'bout skipping school."

"What happened?" Madoka asks. "You never do that."

"Well, my mom..." You look back at her. "She just lost her job."

"In the plant fire?" They both immediately look distraught.

"Yeah. You heard about how it exploded, right?"

Madoka nods. "I checked on you last night because of it."

"Yeah." You sigh. "Kind of terrifying." You look at her, then at your mom. "She didn't take losing her job that well. I needed to stay home to help her out."

Madoka nods. "That's really nice of you."

"I couldn't have just left her." You smile. "She never left me. I couldn't have done that."

Hitomi nods. "...That's admirable of you, Sayaka." She says, quietly.

You sigh. "...Then there's what happened with Kyousuke."

"Hm?" Both of them look at you.

-[x] Kyousuke.
--[x] "Well...it didn't go quite how I expected it to..."

"Did he...?" Hitomi looks hesitant.

"He rejected me." You say quickly. "He said he couldn't see me as his girlfriend."

Both of them look saddened by it. Hitomi doesn't seem too broken up.

"Oh." Madoka says, quietly. "Are you still his friend, at least?"

"...I don't know." You say. "...I mean, it hurt, but not as much as..." You look at your mom. "Not as much as seeing my mom lose her job."

"It wasn't pretty." She says. "And I don't think Sayaka wants to go into details. Hel-" She notices Madoka. "Heck, I don't want to go into details."

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Talk to...
-[] Mom.
-[] Hitomi.
-[] Madoka.

[] About...
-[] Job.
-[] Being meguca.
-[] Idle chatter.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

OOC: Oh, he did? Huh. I only remember one moment from a long ass fuckin' time ago.

[X] Talk to...
-[X] Hitomi.
[X] About...
-[X] Kamijou

"...You have a crush on him, right?" You move aside to Hitomi. "Looks like you have a chance now, huh?"

She nods slowly. "I...yes. I do." She says.

"You don't sound too sure 'bout yourself." You say. "You're pretty! I'm pretty sure he'll give you a shot!" You grin at her like a moron, but just saying this hurts a little.

She just sighs with a blush. "I know I do." She says to you. "But-"

"Hey, don't be modest." You wrap an arm around her shoulder. "Should be fine!"

She nods at you. "Thanks, Sayaka."

[X] Talk idly to...
-[X] Everyone

So you do. You start talking about stupid stuff with Hitomi, Madoka, and your mom, starting with the movie you watched last night and ending at a discussion on the ethics of cyborg pigeons.

"Well, I think it'd be pretty damn cool!" Your mom says. "I mean, robo-pigeons!"

"Yes, but isn't that against their will?" Madoka says. "I mean...pigeons can't give consent to these kinds of things."

"But still. ROBOT PIGEONS." Your mom crosses her arms. "Sure you'd have to deal with a few things in order to make them not die, but still. It's friggin' awesome!"

Just as she says that, the door swings open. You all turn to look and, just as you do, Junko Kaname comes in, finger raised, arm straight, and eyes half-asleep. "Awesome, maybe, but what about the consent and the...wait what are you talking about?"

"Mom!" Madoka shouts.

"Hi, Madoka." She says with a smile. "Today wasn't quite as hard, but..." She notices your mom. "Oh! Miho!"

"Junko." Your mom grins. They both walk to each other slowly, both of them glaring. "I see that business is good?"

"Of course. How about yours?"

"It exploded."

"In popularity?"

"Literally."

"Oh." Junko frowns. "That's unfortunate. I guess you're just shit out of luck?"

"Maybe." Your mom doesn't cry at that. "How're the miserable fucks at your job?"

"You just said it. Miserable and fucks." Junko smirks. "So I see engineering is carrying you well?"

"How about running a company that's more often than not incompetent?"

They both seem to glare at each other...before they laugh riotously and give each other a huge hug. "It's good to see you!"

"I know! It's like we barely even see each other!" Your mom wipes a tear. "Oh, man..."

"...So is it true? Did it actually burn down?"

"I wasn't joking when I said it exploded." She says.

Junko gasps. "You weren't? That's horrible! Don't tell me you're..."

"I'm out of a job, yeah." Your mom says, sheepishly.

Junko frowns. "Oh, fuck that. I'm gonna find you one as soon as possible. Should be an open position." She rushes off, and your mom just sighs.

"...She's a lot busier than I remember her being."

"It's gotten more hectic over the past year." Madoka says. "She got promoted."

"Hm." Your mom nods. "Why the hell isn't she the boss yet? I mean he-"

"You can swear." Madoka says, flatly. "I don't know. I actually don't know how it works that well...you can ask her later, though."

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Talk to...
-[] Your mom.
-[] Hitomi.
-[] Madoka.
-[] Junko.

[] Stay here.

[] Go...
-[] Home.
-[] To meet Kyouko.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

OOC: Two votes. Several hours. Fuck it, this is pretty much close enough.

[x] Stay here and talk to everybody.

You're gonna have to go train another time. You and Madoka start chatting away from the others. "What happened yesterday?" Madoka asks.

You sigh. "I think a witch destroyed mom's workplace." You say.

"What?" Madoka's eyes widen. "How do you-?"

"I went to go check it out. Found the witch. Killed it with Kyouko." You grin. "It wasn't that hard a kill but I got a little burnt."

"Sayaka!"

"It's alright, Madoka." You say. "Kyouko was there. Heck, I was gonna practice with her later...then last night happened." You murmur. "Mom realized that I was near the plant and was worried about the fact that I was really really close to it." You frown.

"Sayaka..." Madoka frowns. "Don't do that!"

"It was important." You say. "I mean...if the witch caused it, then some people probably did die! It's like what almost happened to Hitomi."

She stops...then she frowns. "Oh." She sighs. "...This...being a magical girl is that much more important, isn't it?"

"Yeah." You say. "But still. Dangerous. I almost got my arm burnt off." You wave it around.

She nods. "Hm."

You and Madoka go back. "Hey, don't worry! We're still okay." You smile. "If a little battered and bruised."

"Alright, Sayaka."

You look at your mom. "So now what?"

"Just waitin' for Junko." She says. "And I was having a lovely discussion with Hitomi."

"About...?" You blink.

"Nothing important. Mostly nonsense." Your mom puts her hands behind her head and leans back. "Actually, I can't think of much else to talk about."

Just then, Junko comes downstairs. "Alright! Found you several positions. You'll be interviewed over them throughout the week!"

"Good." Your mom says. "...How's the pay?"

"Check it yourself." Junko gets her a stack of papers. "Printed, shiny, all kinds of good. Being an exec has its perks." She grins.

"...And downsides?"

"Don't get me fucking started."

Your mom laughs a little.

It's then that your phone rings.

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Answer it.

[] Ignore it.

[] Stay here.

[] Go meet Kyouko.

[] Talk to...
-[] Junko.
-[] Madoka.
-[] Hitomi.
-[] Your mom.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

OOC: I haven't read it, nor do I care to right now.

[X] Answer it.

You whip out your phone. "Hello?"

"Hey!" On the other end, you hear someone.

"Kyouko?" You grin. "Hey! Why're you calling my phone?"

"Just got my own! It's a disposable one." She laughs. "So...yeah. Where're you at now?"

"I'm at Madoka's." You say. "Just walked over to talk a little. 'Cause, you know, I skipped school."

"Ah. Yeah." She says. "...Just kinda wanted to try calling you."

"How long does that phone last?"

"A month." She says back.

"We'll have to get you a more permanent one later." You say.

"Alrighty...so are you still up for practice or is that totally out the window? 'Cause I still kinda wanna do that."

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] "I'm up for it."

[] "It's out the window."

[] Think of a time later.

[] Talk to...
-[] Junko.
-[] Madoka.
-[] Your mom.
-[] Hitomi.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

[X] "I'm up for it."

"Yes!" She shouts. "Alright! When?"

"Later on." You say. "Like, maybe when I'm not with friends. Kinda don't wanna ditch them. That'd be kinda scummy."

"Heh. Alright. Whatever floats your boat."

[x] Put her on speaker, introduce her to Hitomi

"Oh, and before you hang up..." You put it on speaker and rush over to Hitomi. She seems surprised. "Say hi!"

"Uh...hi?" You hear Kyouko on the other end.

"Hitomi, Kyouko. Kyouko, Hitomi." You grin.

"Hello." Hitomi says as softly as ever.

You can hear Kyouko laughing a little. "Friend o'yours?"

"One of my best friends." You say.

"Ah." Kyouko seems to pause on the other end. "Man. So, good t'meetcha."

"Hello, Kyouko." Hitomi says again. "You're another friend of Sayaka's?"

"I just met her a few nights ago." She sounds flustered. "Was kinda quick. It didn't even take that long! Just played a few rounds of DDR and boom! She kicked my ass, by the way."

Hitomi laughs a little. "That's funny." She sighs, before she looks at you. "So you were talking about meeting her?"

"Yeah. After this, alright?" You shoot her a thumbs up. "Can't just ditch ya!"

[x] Over telepathy: Maybe later tonight when everyone's gone to bed? It's a school night, so...10:30 sound good?

You pause...then an answer comes back.

'Sounds good by me. I'll be waiting by the forest again.'

'Alrighty. See yah!'

[x] Timeskip to dinner.

The talk doesn't seem to last long, before Madoka's dad gets dinner ready for everyone. As usual, he made his own ingredients from scratch. You don't know if it's because he likes cooking or if it's because he likes showing off...screw it, it's delicious anyway. When everyone's done eating, there is still plenty of chicken, rice and noodles left.

​

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Get some food for Kyouko.

[] Get going now.

[] Skip to 10:30.

[] Talk to...

-[] Madoka.
-[] Junko.
-[] Hitomi.
-[] Your mom.

[] Let someone know where you're going.

[] SECRET SNEAK OUT.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

[x] Talk to Madoka and Hitomi

"That was good!" You grin. "How'd your dad get so good?"

"My mom says witchcraft." Madoka says back with a smile...before she breaks off quickly. "Are you going to go?"

"Yeah. Probably after this." You say back. "Thanks for having us, anyway!"

Madoka nods. "Thank you for coming!"

Hitomi looks over at you. "So what are you going to do?"

"Just gonna hang out in the forest." You say. When you see Hitomi's look of terror, you wave your hand. "We can handle ourselves! Not like we're gonna get jumped or robbed or anything."

She nods slowly, before she swallows uncomfortably. "Alright...I guess?"

"Hey, we're both tough girls. Don't worry!" You grin. In the corner of your eye, you can see Madoka looking away for a second.

[x] If its okay, grab to-go for Kyouko.

"Is it alright if I grab some food for Kyouko?"

Mr. Kaname blinks, before he nods. "Well, sure. Grab some and bring her a bit." He smiles. "Pretty sure she could use it."

You nod back. "Thanks."

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Get goin'.

[] Stay here. No need to go yet.

[] Talk to...
-[] Madoka.
-[] Hitomi.
-[] Your mom.
-[] Junko.
-[] Tomohisa.
-[] Tatsuya.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

[X] Get goin'.

You look at your mom and your friends. "I'll be heading out now!" You say. "Gotta go meet Kyouko!"

Your mom nods. "Alright. Just let me know when you're back, alright?"

You nod back. "Okay. See yah!" You leave them all there and start running over to the forest. Someone's on top of a nearby building, watching Madoka's house silently.

It takes you all of twenty minutes to get there. When you reach it, it's nighttime, the sun has since gone down, and you can see a ruined, disheveled building among the trees. You walk slowly through it, dinner in hand, when you see Kyouko sitting. "Hey!"

Her back's turned away from you, and she's staring at the tree. Just as you shout, she perks up. "Sayaka?" She turns around. "Oh, hey!" She grins. "Didn't think you'd be here so soon!"

"I got you some food!" You say with a grin. "I mean, you didn't eat that much of their food last time so I thought that I'd get you some more."

"Heh." She grins. "Thanks. I mean, it was good last time, but I ran off. Kinda felt like shit for that." She rubs the back of her head. "Did they throw it away?"

"Actually..." You raise up a bag. "They kept it in case you came back."

"Oh!" She smiles. "Tell 'em I said 'thanks'. That's actually pretty fuckin' cool of them, not gonna lie." She grabs it and begins chowing down.

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Try talking to Kyouko.

[] Look around.

[] Look at the building.

[] Slice a tree.

[] EXPERIMENT.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

[X] EXPERIMENT.
[X] Modify the cape to make it safer. Break away clasp, short shawl(Artorias style), turn it into light armor, etc.

You decide to try changing the cape first. First, you decide to try changing the clasp. When you transform, you modify the clasp just slightly. This time, it's easy to break off. It's still wrapped around your neck, but it isn't nearly as tight, and it can easily break off. "Okay. That's better than getting strangled." You change something around and, with a little bit of extra magic, you change it. This time, the cape's been reduced to a small shawl, and you form yourself some light armor. Your arms are a lot more covered than before, your shoulders are covered, and the shawl is wrapped around your neck rather nicely.

"Okay, that's much better."

"Changing around your outfit?" Kyouko asks.

"Yeah. Trying to see what I can do with my cape." You say. "I mean, I dunno, but I keep thinking 'maybe I'll get strangled to death' and stuff."

"Hm." Kyouko shrugs. "I didn't even think we could do that."

'It's possible.' You both hear another voice in the area. 'It does cause your soul gem to darken a little.'

You immediately decide to check yours.

[CORRUPTION: 17%]​

"Jeez." You murmur. "Uh...are the changes permanent or-?"

'They're permanent.' He says.

Kyouko grins. "Oh, cool! So I could do somethin' like that?" ...Then she snarfs down some more food.

"Why the hell didn't we do this earlier?" You murmur.

'Most magical girls don't bother.' Kyubey says. 'There's simply no need to, and the majority don't care. However, some do change their minds. Like what you just did.'

"Huh." You look at your shawl. "So many possibilities."

'Adding things that weren't previously a part of your uniform will add strain to your Soul Gem. Simply changing it is easier to do, but adding things is problematic. If you add too much, then simply transforming will darken your soul gem."

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Keep figuring this stuff out.

[] ADD MORE TO YOUR OUTFIT.

[] Modify your cape.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

OOC Okay, gonna change it a bit. Because making the percentages into decimals is a pain in the ass, let's make them as parts of 1000.

[x] Keep figuring this stuff out.
- Making a Better (Cheaper) Throwing Sword.

First thing's first. You could fix your coat and armor, but right now? Sword time. You quickly decide to start with the obvious; making your throwing swords smaller. You make a tiny little rapier and launch it into a nearby tree. The thing penetrates the bark and slides into it quickly, stopping right at the hilt. You grin, and Kyouko looks at it.

"Huh." She murmurs. "Smaller."

You look at your Soul Gem.

[CORRUPTION: 172/1000]​

Huh." You murmur. "Much cheaper." You throw another one. This time, there isn't much, with only a stick as a hilt. The sword hits the tree, bends against the bark, and then proceeds to bounce off before sticking itself into the ground.

"Okay, so that's actually worse." You look at it again.

[CORRUPTION: 173/1000]​

Kyouko looks up with a chunk of rice in her mouth. "Welp."

"Perhaps there's a better way?" You murmur. "I mean, I can't just rely on that."

"Maybe you can make a tiny dense sword and launch that?"

You shrug, and make yourself a little dagger. You throw it hard and, despite its size, it smashes apart the bark and winds up sticking out of it. It doesn't seem too far deep, but the hole in there is pretty harsh.

[CORRUPTION: 176/1000]​

"Well, that's a thing." You grin.

[MOVES UNLOCKED]​

[] Dense dagger toss. [+3 Corruption]

[] Rapier toss. [+2 Corruption]

[] Pin toss. [+ 1 Corruption]

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Keep experimenting.

[] New armor.

[] New weapons.

[] Wait for Kyouko to get done eating.

[] Talk to Kyouko.

 

[TheOneMoiderah]

OOC Enough talk about Whataburgernight Warionight Walmartnight Waldonight Whambamthankyoumaamnight Whatever-the-fuck night. LET'S DO DIS.
[X] EXPERIMENT.

[X] Let's try juggling swords.
-[X] Throw a target of some kind in the air, pitch swords around. Start with just a couple, to get a feel for it. Grab the sword out of the air, swing and hit, then release and move to a different sword.
--[X] Assuming you don't accidentally slice off a finger or something, see how far you can push this for juggling.

"Okay!" You grin. "Lezzdodis!" You toss several swords into the air, and immediately, you can see Kyouko grabbing her food and leaping backwards. You grab a sword by the hilt and slash a tree, before you kick a branch into the air. Your technique isn't very good, but it doesn't stop you from slashing apart the branch. You smirk as you toss the sword again, and you slash the branch a second time, then a third, then a fourth.

It's then that Kyouko blinks. "Whoa. I thought you'd get yourself killed with that. What the fuck was that?!"

"Sword juggling!" You shout. "Woohoo!" You slash a tree apart.

Being a magical girl has its perks.

[CORRUPTION: 191/1000]​

[TECHNIQUE UNLOCKED]​

[] Sword juggling. [+15 Corruption] [Less swords wasted] [Run risk of getting swords knocked away] [Can still recover them]

Kyouko takes another bite. "Man there's a lot of food in here."

"You full yet?"

"Hah! Fuck no!"

[X] New armor.

You grip your hands tight. "Alright...let's do this." You wave your hands over your body and...immediately, you transform again in a brilliant blue light. Your chestpiece grows, covering your collarbones as pauldrons cover your shoulders. A pair of blue and gold gauntlets form on your hands, and your legs are covered in armor. Your feet suddenly feel like they're weighed down, before you quickly get used to them.

By the time you're done transforming, you smirk. You're covered in armor, with only a small amount of your skin showing. That is to say, an area around your shoulders, and the place where your soul gem is.


You're pretty OK with this.

You take a look at your Soul Gem.

[CORRUPTION: 266/1000]​

Jesus! You flinch at the new corruption in your gem. "Okay, that's costly!"

"Hm?" She looks up, and immediately notices you in your armor. "...Whoa. Pretty snazzy looking."

"Yeah. But it costs so much. If I transformed like this, it'd eat up plenty of my gem."

"Still. Pretty sure it's worth it." She stands up. "Hold still for a moment." She puts the food aside.

"What are you doing?" You ask.

"Just wanna try something." Before you react, she takes out a polearm, and it's then that she stabs the sharp end into your chest. The blade immediately shatters on impact, and you just stare at it for a few good seconds.

"...Whoa."

"Yeah." She pats your shoulder. "That's pretty damn tanky."

"...Jeez." You tap your chestpiece several times in disbelief. "Did you really need to stab me?"

"Nah." She says. "But it looked pretty tough. What, didn't you trust me?"

"You didn't give me time to consider it!"

"But it worked, right?"

You open your mouth...then you sigh. "Okay, yeah. It did." You flex your hands. "...Looks pretty friggin' sweet, too."

[TECHNIQUE UNLOCKED]​

[] Armor Transformation. [+75 Corruption] [+30% to all damage avoidance rolls] [+1000% style] [No loss of mobility] [Extra tanky and extra crunchy]

[X] Talk to Kyouko.
-[X] She have any suggestions?
-[X] How was her day?

You turn to her with a flex of your fingers. "So, any suggestions?"

"I kinda wanna try armoring myself up, too." She smirks. "...Or I could find a way to update my own fighting style."

"How do you fight, anyway?"

"Mostly rely on chains and my spear." She says with a shrug. "Actually, I could probably upgrade my speed somehow. Just gotta figure out how to abuse it."

[X] Ask Kyubey what we can do and/or are naturally good at with our magic besides making swords and healing. Also ask if there are any general Puella Magi tricks like changing our costume that we don't already know about.

"Alright, just gotta ask you." You look at Kyubey. "What am I good at with my magic? Besides, you know, making swords and healing."

'Your abilities are also heavily music based. You can easily make your attacks flow just by thinking of certain musical hues at certain times. Perhaps a soothing piano solo would help with your healing, and a harsh symphonic number would make your attacks more damaging."

"Huh." You blink. "Wait...this is based on...?"

'Kamijou. That is who you wished for, right?'

You open your mouth...then you let it shut. "...Yeah. Yeah it is." You smile weakly. "But...even if I can't be with him, I can at least protect him, right?"

'If you want to think of it that way, then sure.' He looks nonplussed.

[OPTION SELECT]​

[] Keep experimenting.

[] New weapons.

[] Wait for Kyouko to get done eating.

[] Talk to Kyouko.