Spoilers for Lobotomy Corporation, Library of Ruina, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Most of them not right now, but they will come up. No dedicated knowledge of either setting necessary to participate.
A colossal building shook under the agony of one man. Like all others, the Magical Girl of Love had risen to join the defenders. Abnormalities, Librarians, all who came to call this place home. They joined hands, yet one by one he cut them down. No mercy, no quarter, no hesitation.
The last Love recalled was the resonance of his wrath as his body began to break, so painfully familiar. He billowed outward into a horror of melting flesh. Steaming corpses began to rise from the puddles. A streak of crimson raced through the crowd, leaving behind devastation and red mist. Black pillars hammered into the horror. From far above, strings of golden light directed the Librarians. It was a symphony of violence rarely seen even in this horrible City.
For herself however, the Librarian she supported was caught under a mighty stomp. A moment of pain followed, then all went black.
Love knew she would go back to sleep in her book until woken once more. But in her unformed dream she thought she saw a gleaming, golden pillar. She saw Angela, the Pale Librarian. Her skin was a rosy pink and framed by blue hair, suit ruffled and torn in places as she desperately fought off another woman with equally blue hair. Love reached out, but the scene faded into white.
Instead of falling dark however, the quality of light changed. A voice she could not understand echoed through the ether.
Bit by bit, her eyes come into focus. Her body begins to relay sensations. A body she should not have.
Love blinks. A soft breeze caresses her pale skin, carrying the scent of freshly cut grass.
Rising slowly into a sitting position, Love takes in her surroundings. She has been lying on a patch of green at the side of a blue channel. Several large bridges cross it in the distance. The entire skyline is dominated by skyscrapers gleaming in bright sunlight. The sun itself stands high in the sky. Standing and absently cleaning green blades, Love's head turns to behold more of the same behind. As her senses continue to adjust, the buzz of a crowd reaches her ears.
This seems like a Nest, she reasons. An area directly controlled, maintained, and protected by one of the twenty-six Wings of the world. The megacorporations take good care of their employees, horrific secrets and occasional human experimentation notwithstanding.
How does she know this? She never left Lobotomy Corporation or The Library. All she has are the books they gathered and what memories Roland left within her the day they synchronised. Remembering him has her shiver, as with that comes the memory of that horrible battle. How did it end? Where is The Library? Angela? Tiphereth? Her friends? Why is Love in the City? And most importantly, why does she have a body? These sensations are too real to be dreamt off.
With nobody so much as taking notice of her, the magical girl approaches the channel. Staring into the blue, she studies her reflection; a young woman with flowing, light blue hair that turns purple around her waist and runs out at thigh level, the same height as her pink and maroon striped skirt. A large, magenta ribbon crowns her equally pink vest, arms bare. An unfamiliar metal cross is attached to the center of her ribbon, too; she touches it thoughtfully, only to prick her finger on a band of thorns wrapped tightly around it. The wound closes soon after.
Running a hand over her thighhighs and feeling the material, Love knows it is cloth made from magic. She always makes her outfits that way. But still, why is she wearing it? Her memory seems to be missing something.
As that thought registers, she gasps in horror and whirls around to find the carnage she must have caused. But once again, only tranquility answers her. Love's wide eyes scan the entire area, but no trace of blood or tragedy presents itself. She heaves a sigh of relief, reassured that it was not like before. Every time her memory cut out, she woke up to death she just knew she caused.
Not this time. Instead, Love found herself in a Nest she did not recognise. Even though she worries for her home, she puts that aside and manages a smile. If she is out and has a body, she can finally help people. But first off, she needs to figure out where she ended up.
Her first step runs into issues at once. She climbed the gentle slope and found a busy street, its layout unfamiliar to anything Roland knew. Moreover, listening to people talking reveals she does not understand them at all. Neither can Love read any of the signs or billboards. Thankfully, this can be fixed with a quick spell to translate for her. Then she simply joins the throng of busy people, receiving barely more than a few odd looks.
"Excuse me, miss?"
Only for a man in uniform to stop her; dark blue pants and vest, as well as a light blue shirt beneath the latter. He smiles politely while Love comes to a halt in front of him. He must be a Fixer, though the insignia of a 'Police' office was unfamiliar to her. Is her cover already blown?
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Uhh...." Love stares up at the man, uncertain how to respond. She never attended school before. "Should I?"
Perhaps it is her bafflement, but his smile remains in place. "I believe so. If I could have your name, we can call your parents and sort this out."
This quickly went from bad to worse. Love has no parents and she needs to think. Might as well do the first thing. "I'm Love."
He frowned momentarily. "Miss Ai, I see. And your home phone number?"
At this point, Love's budding panic snaps. She throws out her hand and sparkling dust coats the Police man. "Forget-me-not!" she chants quietly and takes off into a nearby backstreet. Contrary to the words spoken, he will not remember her after staring into the air for a minute.
After a quick dash, she finds herself back in the spot she woke up. Now that she is not put on the spot, his last words return to her mind. 'Ai', he called her. Was the translation spell faulty? Then again, an alias does sound useful. So she shrugs and resolves to call herself Ai from now on.
Although, it was kind of weird. No Fixer worth their money should let themselves be caught flat-footed like that. Which Nest would allow amateurs like this to guard the streets? 'Ai' shakes her head to chase the Roland-coloured thoughts away and leaps. Pink platforms appear beneath her feet as footholds, allowing her to ascend all the way to a lone cloud's level.
Right beneath it, she gazes toward the horizon... and pauses. Turning on her faintly glimmering platform, she slowly begins to realise the extent of the trouble she is in. Not only is this Nest weird, the City around it is straight-up missing. Where The Backstreets should have been, fertile land stretches into the distance. Well-maintained roads lead beyond, implying more than she can see.
"Where am I?"
She slowly sinks back to the ground, once more unseen or ignored by the crowd. Standing on the grass, Ai blankly stares into the distance.
"Roland? Angela? Tiph? Where are you? Where am I? And why?"
No one answers.
What now?
[] Cross the channel into the sister city and explore there
weight: x1
[] Attempt infiltrating the city again, figure out where you are
weight: x1
[] Search for evil to fight
weight: x1.5
[] Something else? (Write-in)
-Voting Unlocked
-Character Sheet Unlocked
-Dramatis Personae Unlocked
-General Notions Unlocked
Please stand by while I reserve three more posts.