Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

"So... we're going nowhere, right this particular moment!" you say, grinning at Sayaka, who promptly rolls her eyes.

You give her a blank, aimless look, letting yourself drift slowly through the air, wings spread wide and motionless.

"Uh-huh," she says. She looks thoroughly unimpressed.

You snicker.

"OK, so, for real, I haven't confirmed yet," you say. "But as I said, the general plan is diplomacy. I'm going to be finagling... well, so, you know the Sendai mess? One of the groups that was going to be called in, had we not stopped it early, was the Osaki group. So, I'm going to chat with the Sendai University group and ask for a referral, and hopefully to meet up."

"Ooh," Sayaka says, nodding. "OK, that sounds fun. Count me in, and, uh, which Osaki? There's an Osaki... not that far from here, I think, and in Tokyo? I remember that Madoka and I were joking about mixing up Osaki and Osaka the other time."

"I should hope so," you say with a grin. "That's why you're here, after all. And, uh, well, that's one of the things I need to find out. I'll have you listen in on the conversations if that's OK with you?"

"Yup, yup," Sayaka says. "So we're headed to Tokyo for an afternoon trip?"

"Potentially. Potentially! And I dunno if they'll see me today or anything," you say. "But that's the hope, if it's Tokyo? We should be able to make it there and back if I push it."

Sayaka snorts, rolling her shoulders. "We should get a head start towards Tokyo, then. Right? Since time is of the essence? If they decline to meet us today, we can turn back, if they're willing, then we're halfway there, or we can divert to, uh, the other Osaki. Either way, we save time."

"Hm, yeah, sure," you say. "That's a good idea. OK, gimme a second here..."

Grief boils forth from thin air, dropping sideways from your hammerspace in great swathes and sweeping around you to form a bullet-shaped hull. Sayaka settles to the floor with a happy sigh, sprawling out as you form the transparent forward windshield. Her cloak pools around her, a puddle of white in the middle of the nightmare-black floor.

You point the Mobile Oppression Fortress north, and with a touch of will, start flying towards Tokyo.

"So, Tokyo, huh?" Sayaka asks. "The way I hear Homura talk about it, they're all kind of stuck up."

You blink at her. "You talk to Homura?"

"... I mean, yeah?" Sayaka says. She gives you a narrow-eyed, sidelong look. "We're teammates and friends and all? She's all calm and cool and collected, but really she's kind of a softy isn't she?"

"Um, well, yeah," you say weakly. That's just... well, you're happy, and you know that they're friends now thanks to what you've pulled off, but it's still odd. "Sorry, just... you did kind of have a rocky start."

"I guess," Sayaka says with a shrug. "People change, you know? And hey, I'm not that stubborn."

"I don't know..." you say, giving her a dubious look. "Who are you and what have you done with- oh, I see, it's obvious. One of the original Sayaka's clones took over, didn't she? Quietly replaced the original and no one noticed."

"... Hey!" Sayaka says, slugging you on the arm.

You snicker happily.

"Alright, alright. Serious mode, ish, now," you say. "At least for a bit. Let's get in touch with the University group and get that referral."

"Cool," Sayaka says, relaxing and flopping over backwards, head pillowed on her arms.

A deep breath to steady yourself as you look over the rolling outskirts of Mitakihara City, soon to be left behind. You need to contact Yuki as well, but that can wait for a bit - time critical permission first. You reach out with your mind.

"Miss Tsubaki? This is Sabrina, do you have a moment?" you call. You include Sayaka in the call, as promised, reaching out to the butterfly-winged leader of the University Group. At least you think she's their leader, you're not absolutely sure.

"Ah, Miss Sabrina!" Chouko responds. You can imagine orange eyes, bright with interest. "Good afternoon! How are you?"

"Quite good, thank you," you say. "It's been a productive few days for me. How about you?"

"Relaxing," Chouko says happily. "The Clear Seed you gave us works perfectly so far. Thank you so much for it, Miss Sabrina."

"I'm here to help," you say simply, squinting out the windscreen ahead. Mitakihara is almost behind you, so it's time to open up the metaphorical throttle. "That's just part of it. I'm glad things are going well - is there any particularly important news?"

"Ah... not really, unless you consider fighting Witches to be news?" Chouko says. "Miss Mori has been quite pleasant to us, and she's been keeping Hamasaki's thugs in line."

"That's good," you say. You think. You hope. You might want to check back on that later.

"It is!" Chouko says. "... oh, is that Miss Miki there? Apologies, I didn't realise!"

"Oh, no prob, I'm just listening in, anyway," Sayaka says, grinning at you. You reach out and bop her on the head.

"Oh?" Chouko says. "And I hope the powers you copied off us are holding up well?"

"Yep!" Sayaka says. "Paper is surprisingly useful."

"I'll tell Rei you said so," Chouko responds. "But what are you listening in on?"

"An... errand of mine, as it were," you say. "Two things - first, do you know of any friendly magical girl groups we could get in contact with, to share Grief Seeds with? And similarly - you're in contact with the Osaki group, correct?"

"Hrmm," Chouko says. "The Tome group. I... we told you about Fukui, right?"

"You did," you confirm quietly. One of their former members, who left after one of their other members died to a Witch. Thanks to Akiko's pressure on them. "You're still in touch, right?"

"We are," Chouko says softly. "She's a good person, a good friend, just..."

Sayaka catches your eye, grimacing, and you shake your head, raising a finger. Later. This kind of story is all too common.

"The Tome group are good people, from what she tells us," Chouko says, after a moment of silence. "We've never met, but we've talked a few times by telepathy and Skype."

"That's fair," you say. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I can't really think of any other groups that we know well enough to recommend, and... Osaki? Rissho University, in Osaki, Tokyo," Chouko says. "Um... Yuko's brother studies there, and that's... um, well, he found a girlfriend? And he noticed her ring, and fingernail mark, and, ah, yes. Sorry, that's not what you were asking."

"... no, please, do go on," you say, raising an eyebrow. Huh. A magical girl with a boyfriend.

Sayaka's crush on Kyousuke doesn't... doesn't count, since they're not actually together.

Chouko snickers quietly, the sensation of her giggles carrying easily over telepathy. "There's not much more to tell than that, barring a few misunderstandings and calls back and forth. But it was a heck of a coincidence, you know?"

"I can imagine," you say. "... remind me to get the full story out of you sometime."

"After you beat me in a flying race, maybe," Chouko fires back.

"... yyyyeeah maybe one day," you say. "Anyway. Would you be able to give me a referral for that?"

"Ah, certainly," Chouko says. "Could I call you back in... fifteen minutes?"

"Sure," you agree. "I'll be here!"

"Right! Talk to you in a bit," Chouko says brightly, and ends the call.

"Hm," Sayaka says. "Boyfriend, huh?"

"Eh, it's not like it's unheard of," you say, carefully eliding the fact that that was just about your exact reaction. "Remember Nadia told us about that one girl eloping with a tourist off to... Spain?"

"Portugal," Sayaka says. She frowns. "I think?"

"No, no, you're right. Portugal," you agree, and grimace, sobering for a more serious topic. "Anyway, Kazue Fukui... from what I gather? One of their members, name of Ayano Chika... died to a Witch, because they had to hunt recklessly just to survive. Miss Kazue had a falling out with part of their group over it, especially since it was due to Hamasaki Akiko's pressuring them."

"... damn," Sayaka says.

"Yeah," you say with a sigh.

"Damn," Sayaka repeats. She looks down at her lap, fists clenching. "That..."

"Yeah." You scowl out at the rolling landscape rushing past you. "Like I've said. I'm here to help. Because this kind of thing shouldn't happen."

Sayaka takes a shaky breath and nods sharply, eyes burning.

"And I know you want to help too," you tell her, matching that fiery gaze with your own. "That's why I'm having you listen in, and come with me."

She nods again, jaw tight. You both fall silent at that - yourself for a lack of anything more to say, and Sayaka... Sayaka stares out through the windshield, glaring furiously at the hills curving away from you as if she could will the injustice righted.

Still, Chouko won't call you back for a few minutes yet. You'll make another call in the meantime.

"Miss Tsuruya? Are you free?" you ask.

"For you, certainly, Miss Sabrina," Yuki responds, crisp and alert. "What's happening?"

"Ah, nothing urgent, but I wanted to update you on a few things and ask for some updates in return?" you say. "First of all - I've... made enough progress on what I'm going to call The Project, ominous capitalization included, that I think I might want to meet Miss Anri and tell her about it?"

"And you would like to ask how she has been?" Yuki asks.

"Yeah, actually," you say. Yuki is alarmingly quick on the uptake with this kind of thing. "How is she, and could we perhaps drop by sometime to talk?"

"Our doors are open," Yuki says. "Hmm. Our... guest has been quiet. Moody, but cooperative. She's refusing neither food nor cleansing, and she hasn't made any attempts at escaping, though she is generating more Grief due to her... anguish."

"Anguish?" you ask sharply.

"She is not despairing," Yuki says. "But she is sad. If I may, it's... to be expected of her situation."

"Ah," you say. "That's... fair."

"Indeed," Yuki says. "Will you visit today, or tomorrow?"

"Eh... tomorrow, I'd say? Morning?" you ask. You're not sure you'll have time today.

"Tomorrow is fine," Yuki says.

"OK, tomorrow, then!" you say, and sober. "Alright... the other thing I wanted to talk about is Rionna."

You take a moment to detail Rionna's abilities, and more in depth of what had transpired. Yuki's willing to take charge of the Soul Gem, and seems relieved when you mention that you intend to wake her up when you have better councillors available than yourself.

"... and that's it, I guess," you say. "Thank you for being willing to handle that."

"Thank you for being willing to handle that," Yuki says. "I can't imagine the situation was easy."

"It wasn't, but... ugh," you say. You rub your forehead, trying to massage away a phantom headache you can't possibly have. "I'd rather not dwell on it more than necessary."

"I understand," Yuki says. "Is there any other business, then?"

"Nah, that's it," you say. "See you tomorrow, then?"

"We'll be waiting!" Yuki says, and ends the call.

Just to be sure, you cleanse your Soul Gem. Sayaka's attention flickers over to you, questioning.

"Nothing, just... sorting out what to do with Rionna," you mutter.

"Ah," Sayaka says. She gives you a sympathetic look, patting you on the shoulder. Oddly enough, it helps, and you grin weakly back at her.

"So..." Sayaka drags it out. "Osaki, Tokyo, huh?"

"Seems so," you say. You're still accelerating on the ascent towards Tokyo, a smooth, brachistochrone curve that optimizes flight time and minimizes the sonic boom by taking you as high up as possible.

"As opposed to Osaki, Miyagi," Sayaka muses. "Who names these groups?"

"I mean, why are we the Mitakihara group?" you ask, shrugging. "It just... comes about from whatever works, I guess. Maybe there's no organized group in the Miyagi one, or maybe they don't make enough waves to claim the name from the Tokyo one, or something."

[] How will you introduce yourself to the Osaki Group?
[] Do you confirm a meeting today?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)


And update! Aiming for the next one on Thursday.