Magical Girl Phantom Ascension

You freeze up, not quite sure how to react to that, but you finally settle on "You're a lot less skeletal than I was expecting."

She pouts a bit, trying and failing to look like she wasn't just about to reach behind her back, but brightens up at your comment. "Hehe, thanks. I mean, the robe-and-skeleton look has its place and all, but it's just not me, you know? Let me tell you, it's been hilarious to see the reactions of some people when they see me for the first time, expecting someone a whole lot more… grimm."

You nod awkwardly, not sure if the pun was intentional or not, until she wiggles her eyebrows at you. "...No? Tough crowd." She shrugs. "Anyway, I suppose I should get to the point already."

"I am curious what this is all about," you admit. She takes a seat back on the wide tombstone, and you lean up against a tall cross opposite her.

"There are two reasons I brought you here. I'm sure you have a lot of questions about this whole situation you're in, and I wanted to provide some clarity there. The other reason, is because I have a request to make of you. But, let's start with the AMA."

You glance over at the stranger, their shrouded form still frozen in place. "What's that all about?"

She cocks her head thoughtfully. "I'll admit I don't know the full story there. I can observe, and I learn a lot from talking to the dead, but I'm not omnipotent. But they've been around a while, and seem mostly on the up-and-up, so I don't see any reason to distrust them."

You nod. "Alright. Then I guess the other thing I wanted to ask was… why me? Why this whole thing about recruiting a ghost, and why was I the first one they could contact?"

"Hmm, now isn't that a tricky one." She sighs, taking on a more serious expression. "You stuck around longer because I allowed it, to be honest. Most of the other spirits they tried to approach, I came in and scooped up right before they could make contact; I didn't realize what they were trying to do until just recently, so I let taking care of you… slide a bit, just to see if anything would actually come of it. I'm sorry about that, I guess."

You're not quite sure how to feel about that; this whole situation is mind-boggling enough as it is that you can't even begin to parse out the morality of it.

"And I guess that brings me to the other reason I'm talking to you now; which is the same reason I'm letting their little experiment progress at all," she continues, sitting up straighter as her more jovial attitude creeps back in. "You see, my job is to ferry souls, but I can't actually influence the outside world or interact with anyone until they're already dead. I can observe, but I am actively unable to intervene." You have a feeling you know where this is going, but you let her keep on.

She chuckles wryly, a hint of bitterness creeping in. "Trust me, there are some wars I would have stopped in their tracks if I could, and not just because of the ridiculous workload they gave me. Death is a natural thing, but having to take someone before their time is… not fun, to put it lightly."

"So one of the reasons I wanted to see if this would even work, is with the idea that you could on occasion help me out a little bit, too." A long silence as you stare at each other, before her eyes widen. "Whiiiiich, I suddenly realize, kind of sounds bad when I put it like that. I won't make you do anything bad, and you don't have to agree to it in the first place, but… I think it could help. Leaving one soul, who may just be able to save countless others."

You consider the idea, weighing the pros and cons. You have a choice to make.

Do you acce-

"You don't have to answer me right away!" She adds, waving her hands before you. "Just bringing it up now, to give you time to think it over. Anyway, that should be about it for now…" She stands up again, before another thought hits her, mouth becoming an 'o.' "Right, one other thing I ought to mention. Being a ghost means you can't die the same way a normal human would, but you're not invulnerable. If your soul becomes too fragile, I will have to come and ferry you, or else you may risk being erased entirely. As a magical girl, some of the things you fight may be able to hurt you like that, so be careful, okay?"

You nod in understanding, and she heads to the edge of the graveyard. Out in the road, there's a chopper motorcycle you're pretty sure wasn't there moments ago, its pale white-silver-tan hues standing out amongst the oppressively grey backdrop. As she takes a seat and grips the tall handlebars, she turns to you one last time. "Oh yeah, since you were pretty nice about all of this, I figure I'll give you one last hint - ghosts can go through walls, if they try hard enough." She winks and kicks the stand up into place, engine roaring to life with a sudden ferocity.

And suddenly you're back in the real world. The night sky is a dark velvet shade, the crow you spotted earlier comes to a landing in the grass, the breeze ruffles your hair, and there's no sign of the strange girl or her pale horse.

"Anyway, we can discuss the rest later; for now I'll give you some time to think about this. Would you prefer to stay here, or go somewhere else? Your home, perhaps?" The stranger opens their eyes, and jolts in surprise. "How did you get all the way over there?"

What to say?
> Tell Them (Explain the meeting with Death)
> Don't Say Anything (Brush it off, and don't tell them about the encounter.)