You shouldn't entirely be surprised by these half-tempting, horribly pragmatic ideas from Niko any more. And that's the thing. Part of you is revolted by the notion, but another part of you recognises the sheer pragmatic use something like that could be.
But then again.
This is not who you are.
"Maybe as a therapy tool," you say finally. "It's not... It's not a good solution to
imprison her with that. If she's
willing... yeah, maybe it could be useful."
"Losing your memory sounds awful," Sayaka says, shuddering.
"Speaking as someone with amnesia-" probably, maybe sort-of, you amend mentally, "-I have to agree."
"It's not like that," Niko says, shaking her head. "It's more like very small tweaks, like... perception filters. It's not that different from what Kyuubey does, to cover up our existence. And anyway, if you leave the area of effect, it wears off instantly."
"Last resort, at best," you say with a firm nod. "It's... it's a better last resort than knocking out Anri, I think. I... modifying someone's memory, whatever way it is, isn't something I'm really confident with, and I wouldn't be able to really try and help her through her issues if we did this. So it's a very, very last resort."
"I understand," Niko says, nodding.
You wonder for a moment whether she's feeling useless, what with the ideas she's offering... But then again, she doesn't seem that disappointed. Thoughtful, but not disappointed. Really, if you had to guess, she just prefers to simply throw herself into her work and keep busy. Maybe. That's for Kazumi to keep an eye on, though.
Kazumi herself is cuddled up against Niko, chin propped on her shoulder as Niko pops the back off the device. Crimson eyes flick up to you, curious and warm.
"Is there anything else, Sabrina?" Kazumi asks.
"Mami, Sayaka?" you ask in turn, smiling at your friends.
"I got nothing," Sayaka says, shrugging.
"I don't think so," Mami says.
"Then no, I... guess we're out of things," you admit. A flick of thought generates benches out of Grief for Mami and Sayaka and yourself, and you plop down on yours. Mami beams and claims her place right next to you.
"Then we just have to wait," Kazumi says, glancing at the empty blackness of the privacy sphere. "And hope that Miss Oriko manages to pull off something."
"Mm," you agree, glancing at Sayaka as she sits down. "I have faith in her. In the meantime, we'll leave you to it for a few moments - going up!"
Sayaka squawks, clutching at her bench as the three of you rocket straight up, benches soaring upwards until you've cleared the roof by a good twenty meters. She clutches at her chest, glaring pointedly at you.
"Oh, don't be like that," you say, grinning and waving at the Pleiades Saints. "I just wanted to give them some privacy, and have our own conversation. And besides, Mami wasn't bothered, right?"
"Nuh-uh," Mami mutters, happily cuddled up against your side.
"Yuh-huh," Sayaka snorts, rolling her eyes. "That doesn't count. What's up?"
"Well, so... I just want to get everyone on the same page, honestly," you say, waving your hands in the cool, crisp air winding around you. "I mean... we're all a team, yeah? And, well, what do you want to do today?"
"Eh?" Sayaka asks, kicking her feet idly.
"Well, it's, uh..." You check your phone. "It's nine fifty. You could still conceivably tag back into school, switching with your clone. And Mami-" You give her a warm smile. "You've missed half a day of school already. It's your choice, do you want to go back when we return?"
"I- I should." Mami bites her lip, curling up against your side.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," you say, wrapping your arm around Mami and giving her a smile. "Same for you, Sayaka, though I warn you that the rest of the day probably isn't going to be anywhere as exciting as this. Nadia's arriving soon, so I'll be settling the Shiogama girls in and all... oh, yes! Enchantment practice this evening."
"Right, right," Sayaka says, scowling thoughtfully. "Honestly, I kinda want to meet them, but I can do that after school."
"I... I should go back too, then," Mami says, swallowing.
"That's fine," you say, smiling warmly at her. You lean over and remove her beret to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "Then I'll still come and meet you for lunch, of course. I'll make something! Or maybe buy something, depending on how much time the Shiogama girls take. Hm. I'd really rather cook for you, though."
"Alright," Mami whispers, nestling a little closer. You squeeze her gently.
"I'm keeping this, by the way," you say, raising your free arm so that she can see the loop of golden ribbon around your wrist. It's the same hand as the Grief ring that you never took off, glinting around your finger. Which is still distinctly
not corroded off.
"Mm?" Mami asks, and blushes when she sees what you mean. "Oh."
Sayaka shoots you a grin and a roll of her eyes, leaning backwards with nary a care for the drop below her. Then again, magical girl.
"So anyway!" you say, lowering your arm. "Anri. I'm... well, I've got a few goals. One, make sure she doesn't cause more trouble, to the Pleiades Saints
or to us. To that end, I'm planning on hiring the Fukushima girls, since they're known to be reliable and for hire."
"And paying with a Clear Seed?" Sayaka guesses, raising her eyebrows at you.
"If they'll accept it!" you agree cheerfully. "If they insist on regular Grief Seeds, guess it's time for hunting. Second thing for Anri is... well, I'm planning to try and rehabilitate her. Or find someone who can, maybe, I know I'm not exactly the best person to do that. I don't intend to just leave her under lockdown indefinitely, is what I'm getting at."
"I think you could do it, Sabrina," Mami says. "But... it might be better to delegate because we're so
busy these days."
"Mm," you say noncommittally.
"Yeah, well..." Sayaka says, waving her hand. "Are you going to look for, what, a magical girl therapist or something?"
"There's
got to be one out there somewhere!" you say, grinning. "Failing that, I think just having someone to
try and talk to her would be useful. Or, and here's a thought... maybe 'just' a therapist. I mean, I demonstrate magic, read them in, and then brief them. We're still human, after all."
"Ehhhh, sounds good to me," Sayaka says.
"I think as long as you try, it'll do good," Mami says warmly.
"By the way, just so we're clear," Sayaka says, frowning suddenly. "Niko's idea earlier. She means... taking away Anri's Soul Gem, right?"
"Yep," you say. "And then using magic to lock it down."
Sayaka grimaces and falls silent.
"Yep," you repeat. "It's an
ugly solution. I'm very, very reluctant to consider it at all, but... if one day I should run into the magical girl equivalent of Luis Garavito or Ted Bundy or Yoshio Kodaira or something... I don't know, maybe that kind of person simply doesn't get contracted, but I just don't know for sure."
"Yeah," Sayaka says, looking faintly ill. "Yeah, maybe."
"Sorry," you say, sighing. "Unpleasant thought, I know."
"Nah, nah," Sayaka says.
The conversation lapses for a while.
"Sabrina?" Mami murmurs, tilting her head to look up at you. "Maybe... maybe I could stay with you until lunch? Then I can rejoin the afternoon classes?"
"If you want," you say, giving her a reassuring smile. "Mami, you should do what you want to. I'm always glad to have you along, and it'd be good for you to meet the Shiogama girls right off the bat, but if you need to go to school? That's fine too."
"Alright," Mami says, nodding.
You eye the beret you'd taken from Mami for a second before plopping it on top of your own head. Sayaka rolls her eyes at you, propping up one leg on the Grief bench and kicking her foot out to balance as she leans over backwards, nearly horizontal.
Your senses twinge, and you look over just in time to spot Oriko leaving the privacy sphere, and the Pleiades starting to gather. Well, that's your cue. Your descent is a lot more sedate, giving Sayaka enough time to backflip off the bench and drop into an effortless three-point landing.
The jerk.
"Anri has agreed to be brought to Mitakihara," Oriko announces to the rooftop at large.
"Oh, thank goodness," Kazumi says, tension draining from her shoulders. She walks up to Oriko, extending her hand. "Thank you for your work, Miss Oriko."
"It was... not precisely a pleasure, but I am glad to help," Oriko says, nodding and shaking Kazumi's hand.
Kazumi beams, bouncing away from Oriko as the rest of the Pleiades crowd around Oriko, thanking the seer. Kazumi, on the other hand, bounds over to you, beaming from ear to ear. "Thank
you, Mami, Sabrina, Sayaka, for coming over to help. We couldn't have resolved this entire thing so easily ourselves."
"Considering it was partly my fault that this entire thing started, I couldn't do any less," you say, smiling. "And it's not like you girls didn't do anything, either, we all worked together to get this done, right?"
"Oh psht,
I wanted to visit my old sempai," Kazumi says, grinning at Mami. "Speaking of, I'd love to visit again, without the crisis this time."
"I- we would be glad to have you," Mami says, her smile just a little watery.
"Yeah!" Sayaka says. "It'd be fun!"
Kazumi nods, pleased. Really, what is
up with her mood swings? You've really got to wonder whether it's magical, considering how she was able to simply disguise her despair in the elsewhen that never will be.
"You have to go now, right?" Kazumi asks.
"We do," Mami says, nodding firmly. "We have refugees travelling to Mitakihara, and they're arriving soon."
"Gotcha," Kazumi says with a pout. She flicks a glance to Oriko, who's making her way over. "Well... I suppose this is goodbye for now, then. Stay in touch, ok?"
"I- I will," Mami says, swallowing. "I will."
Kazumi grins, and lunges forward to throw her arms around Mami
and you - and you're promptly inundated with the
rest of the Pleiades, who crush Sayaka and Oriko into the giant group hug.
"Oh, one moment," you say, giving Mami a quick, reassuring smile and disentangling yourself from the hug. You hurry over to the corner of the roof to grab the Kure's shopping. "Let's
not forget these."
"Indeed," Oriko says drily, following you. "I shall collect Kirika and Anri."
You exchange farewells with the Pleiades, taking a moment to praise everyone for their contributions today as Oriko disappears into the privacy sphere and re-emerges with Anri in tow, Kirika following with a sharp grin on her face.
Anri, in all her ridiculously skimpy fuschia glory, simply stands and glares daggers at everyone. She doesn't bother to hide the raw, seething hatred on her face, the Pleiades almost flinching back from the look. Mirai glares right back, as does Umika.
You step between them, meeting Anri's eyes calmly. "Airi Anri," you say. "You agree to be detained in Mitakihara?"
"Yes," she bites out, lips barely moving. "Get me
away from these
murderers."
...
oof. You can sense the anger catching like a fire behind your back, the Pleiades all listening close.
"Riiight," you say loudly, raising a hand. Grief sweeps in, seemingly-empty air fading to deep purple in whirling eddies. You make it theatrical and
flashy, rippling tendrils of Grief swirling into a giant disc to form your Mobile Oppression Fortress.
Better that attention be focused on
you than anyone else. Kirika jabbing Anri in the back is... appreciated, though.
"Alright. All aboard," you say, waving your friends -and Anri- up.
You're the last to mount up, giving Kazumi a little wave before stepping up to the disc. You pass the shopping bags to Kirika, before taking your seat beside Mami. Well, between Sayaka and Mami, but really. Beside Mami. Anri's seated at the back, the greasy touch of Kirika's anti-magic bracelet still hanging around her wrist. And if you concentrate the Grief fog around her just a touch denser, well, no one would even notice enough to call you out on it but Mami.
It might be better to
restrain her, but you've got Mami
and Kirika here with you. And you've got your metaphorical eye on her, too, the Grief fog layered close around her body to watch her movements.
"Right. Next stop, Mitakihara City!" you call loudly, lifting the fortress into the air. Grief bleeds out of the air, forming a shuttered windshield you'll grow to include a roof and convert to glass as soon as you have a moment.
It's an awkward, quiet flight out of Asunaro, especially as you dip low to buzz and junkyard and snatch a piece of rebar from the ground. You don't bring it up to eyelevel, but rather trail it far behind you. Grief shaves a small, coin-shaped piece of steel from the end, which you convey up to Kirika.
"
Hey, Kirika?" you speak into her mind, dangling the steel shard in front of her. "
Could you apply your anti-magic enchantment to this? I'm going to make something more permanent for Anri."
"
Can do!" Kirika chirps, taking it from the air.
"
Thanks," you say, and expand the conversation to Oriko. "
So here's something interesting I discovered recently, and... hm. Right, before I share, I'm gonna have to ask for you to not
try this right now?"
"
Of course," Oriko says.
"
Mmm," you say. A nice, somewhat fashionable bracelet, you think. And to that end, you shave the rust from the rebar and start moulding. "
So - if you channel magic into something belonging to someone else, you wind up... not quite sharing your emotions with them, but you get a feel
of them. It's... it's hard to describe, but you just get a feel of them
."
"
I see
," Kirika says, sounding
very interested.
"
Yep," you say, tilting your head far enough to give her a grin. "
Just a fun tidbit I found recently."
"
Appreciated~" Kirika says.
You're well past the outskirts of Asunaro now, and so you start to pour on the speed, countryside and farmland roaring past below you in an accelerating blur. You continue to craft, and think.
The rebar you pare to size with Grief, smoothing it into a rounded strip curled into an open C-shape. You carve a coin-shaped depression into its underside, with flaps to seal an enchanted disc into. Tough enough to be nearly impossible for simple magical girl strength to bend, but more than yielding under the irresistible pressure of your Grief.
Speaking of Grief... you kind of want to check on Aurora. It
seems like Clear Seeds are quiescent, with the notable exception of, well, Aurora. Could be worth checking on.
"
Oh, by the way, Oriko," you continue. "
Could I swap the Clear Seed out for another one later? I wanna check something."
"
Certainly," Oriko says. You can
feel her slow, nonplussed blink.
And as for what to do with Oriko and Kirika... you said you'd see about loosening the restrictions on them, but the hard part is convincing Homura and Sayaka. Both of whom have legitimate grievances against them, but they've been good. You don't
want to trap them in their house indefinitely.
"
They are here. I'm meeting them now." Homura's voice.
Well, speak of the devil. Not that you think she's the devil, probably not. If anything, she might be Homulily de-Witched. "
We're on our way back," you respond. "
Be there soon!"
"
Noted," Homura says, and ends the call and leaving you with your thoughts and the howling wind rushing past your mobile oppression fortress.
There's perhaps a solution, or a way to get
at a solution. "
Mami?" you say. You'd thought about including Oriko and Kirika in the discussion, but it might be a bit rude to be talking
about them like that to their faces.
"
Yes, Sabrina?" Mami asks.
"
So... I want to lessen Oriko and Kirika's restrictions somewhat. They've been more than helpful, and Oriko in particular worked wonders today," you say, motioning at Anri, who remains quiet and seething at the back of your flight disc. You add to Mami alone, "
They've been nothing but well behaved."
"
Are you sure that's a good idea, Sabrina?" Mami asks, giving you a worried frown. "
I don't mean that as a slight to them - I... agree that they've been helpful. I'm worried about Sayaka and Homura's responses."
"
Yeah, well, that's what I'm trying to figure out," you say. "
I was wondering if you had any ideas?"
"
I... don't understand Homura that well," Mami says quietly. "
Perhaps you could convince her that the Kures are useful if allowed to roam?"
"
Perhaps, but... Homura's problems run deeper than that," you say.
"
Mm," Mami suggests, looking thoughtful. "
Sayaka... you could say, truthfully, that the Kures are working to atone
. I think that would help."
"
Agreed," you say. "
That could work."
"
Do you have any ideas?" Mami asks, smiling faintly at you. "
I could be a sounding board?"
[] Mami
- [] Involving Kirika's parents
- [] Oriko's newly given role
- [] Any ideas?
[] What do you do with Anri back at Mitakihara?
[] Oriko and Kirika
- [] Send them home
- [] Keep them around
[] Homura
- [] Discuss Oriko and Kirika
[] Sayaka
- [] Discuss Oriko and Kirika
[] Meet the Shiogama girls
- [] How do you present yourself?
- [] Bring them to the housing
[] Lunch
- [] Cook something (You need to allocate time for this)
- [] Grab takeout
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
Turning the Derrick Witch into a Clear Seed and trading it for Aurora will be an automatic action.
!
