2.1.13 - Warmth
Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
Chapter 92 - Warmth
As you step across the roof to retrieve the fallen Grief Seed, Kyoko's disguise reasserts itself. Burning golden rings and symbols flare around the towering Distortion before collapsing inwards, compressing her down into a humanoid shape before a final flash returns the guise of normalcy. As you pick the Seed up off the ground, Kyoko shoots you a disconcerted look.
"Feels weird seeing a Grief Seed and just… not needing it anymore. Those things were basically our lifeblood back then, and now I can just… leave it."
"Well, Mami and Sayaka still need them. At least until I find some way to circumvent that, too."
You tuck away Angelina's Grief Seed in a pocket and seat yourself on a ventilation tube. Fighting like that took more out of you than expected. You can still feel the aching of your bones fade away as you let your body relax. It takes longer than you'd like for the pain to recede. Perhaps a concerning amount of time. You'll need to remember not to push yourself so far in the future unless necessary.
"Speaking of Mami, there's something I'd like to ask you about. You've known her longer than anyone else" you ask.
Kyoko looks away in shame, energy bleeding out of her body. "Fat lot of good I did, though. Spent most of that time dragging her down and then left."
"None of that, now." you chide. "Mami's been a lot happier since you came back. You make her life better, not worse. You're a good person, and I won't have anyone saying otherwise. Not even you."
Kyoko stares at you, taken off-guard by your sudden sternness. She blinks, then nods slowly. With that resolved, you proceed with the original question.
"But that's besides the point. I was going to ask about Witches."
Kyoko's confusion intensifies, prompting you to elaborate.
"I mean about how Magical Girls give birth to Witches. She's going to find out at some point, and I'd like to control the circumstances when it happens. To make sure to lessen the impact as much as I can."
Kyoko looks down contemplatively, then shakes her head. "I don't think telling her would be a good idea any time soon. If there was ever somebody who tried to live up to the ideal of a 'perfect' Magical Girl, it was Mami. Learning that it was a trick the whole time… it wouldn't be good." She walks over and flops forwards across the vent tube next to you, feet dangling. It's a start reminder of just how small Kyoko actually is. None of your kids act like it, but they are children. Children preyed upon by a cold, emotionless beast that sees them only as resources. "Give her some time to get used to things. I can help you try and make things better for her. I still owe you that much, at least. Once everything's stable, then we can decide how to break the news. Until then… she'll be better off not knowing the truth."
"We might not have that kind of time." you respond. Kyoko just sighs.
———————————————
The two of you return to the apartment, receiving a very warm welcome from your kids for the second time today. Stories are shared about the hunt, with Kyoko downplaying her contributions and you doing the opposite. It creates a weird sort of balance, where the resulting story is quite close to the actual course of events.
Dinner is prepared and served. Mostly to help Kyoko's peace of mind, you let Mami take the lead in preparations. The end result is a flawlessly-cooked lasagna that lasts nowhere near as long as you'd like. Dinner conversation is muted, and you have to make a constant effort to keep people talking, but it's still a nice experience. Yuma certainly helps, given she simply doesn't have the necessary context to experience the same awkwardness as everybody else.
After dinner Mami brings out a game console, and a rather new one at that. Distantly, you wonder what Mami's primary source of income is. She clearly has a large amount of money to live in such conditions and be so well-supplied, but between school and Magical Girl duties she doesn't have enough free time for a job. Maybe life insurance or an inheritance?
Mami picks out a few different first-person shooters, which she is unsurprisingly good at. More interesting is Kyoko, who while not as good as Mami is clearly experienced with a few of these games. Your enhanced senses let you keep up rather easily despite your comparative lack of experience, and Yuma is happy just to be included. The two Magical Girls end up teaming up to hunt you, which you aren't going to contradict despite it being technically against the rules. While the three of you duel, Yuma performs the actual objective and ends up winning.
By the time the sun has finally fallen to the horizon, the sound of laughter echoes out from the cozy apartment.
———————————————
Patrol…
[] Team 1
-[] Who?
[] Team 2
-[] Who?
———————————————
Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
The patrol members include You, Mami, Kyoko, Sayaka, and Homura & Madoka. If you would like, you can put everyone in one patrol team, but that will prevent you from covering as large of an area. For the sake of my sanity, please structure all votes as plans.
Short chapter this time, but that's just how it goes. I'll throw in a surprise in the near future if possible to make it up to you.
As you step across the roof to retrieve the fallen Grief Seed, Kyoko's disguise reasserts itself. Burning golden rings and symbols flare around the towering Distortion before collapsing inwards, compressing her down into a humanoid shape before a final flash returns the guise of normalcy. As you pick the Seed up off the ground, Kyoko shoots you a disconcerted look.
"Feels weird seeing a Grief Seed and just… not needing it anymore. Those things were basically our lifeblood back then, and now I can just… leave it."
"Well, Mami and Sayaka still need them. At least until I find some way to circumvent that, too."
You tuck away Angelina's Grief Seed in a pocket and seat yourself on a ventilation tube. Fighting like that took more out of you than expected. You can still feel the aching of your bones fade away as you let your body relax. It takes longer than you'd like for the pain to recede. Perhaps a concerning amount of time. You'll need to remember not to push yourself so far in the future unless necessary.
"Speaking of Mami, there's something I'd like to ask you about. You've known her longer than anyone else" you ask.
Kyoko looks away in shame, energy bleeding out of her body. "Fat lot of good I did, though. Spent most of that time dragging her down and then left."
"None of that, now." you chide. "Mami's been a lot happier since you came back. You make her life better, not worse. You're a good person, and I won't have anyone saying otherwise. Not even you."
Kyoko stares at you, taken off-guard by your sudden sternness. She blinks, then nods slowly. With that resolved, you proceed with the original question.
"But that's besides the point. I was going to ask about Witches."
Kyoko's confusion intensifies, prompting you to elaborate.
"I mean about how Magical Girls give birth to Witches. She's going to find out at some point, and I'd like to control the circumstances when it happens. To make sure to lessen the impact as much as I can."
Kyoko looks down contemplatively, then shakes her head. "I don't think telling her would be a good idea any time soon. If there was ever somebody who tried to live up to the ideal of a 'perfect' Magical Girl, it was Mami. Learning that it was a trick the whole time… it wouldn't be good." She walks over and flops forwards across the vent tube next to you, feet dangling. It's a start reminder of just how small Kyoko actually is. None of your kids act like it, but they are children. Children preyed upon by a cold, emotionless beast that sees them only as resources. "Give her some time to get used to things. I can help you try and make things better for her. I still owe you that much, at least. Once everything's stable, then we can decide how to break the news. Until then… she'll be better off not knowing the truth."
"We might not have that kind of time." you respond. Kyoko just sighs.
———————————————
The two of you return to the apartment, receiving a very warm welcome from your kids for the second time today. Stories are shared about the hunt, with Kyoko downplaying her contributions and you doing the opposite. It creates a weird sort of balance, where the resulting story is quite close to the actual course of events.
Dinner is prepared and served. Mostly to help Kyoko's peace of mind, you let Mami take the lead in preparations. The end result is a flawlessly-cooked lasagna that lasts nowhere near as long as you'd like. Dinner conversation is muted, and you have to make a constant effort to keep people talking, but it's still a nice experience. Yuma certainly helps, given she simply doesn't have the necessary context to experience the same awkwardness as everybody else.
After dinner Mami brings out a game console, and a rather new one at that. Distantly, you wonder what Mami's primary source of income is. She clearly has a large amount of money to live in such conditions and be so well-supplied, but between school and Magical Girl duties she doesn't have enough free time for a job. Maybe life insurance or an inheritance?
Mami picks out a few different first-person shooters, which she is unsurprisingly good at. More interesting is Kyoko, who while not as good as Mami is clearly experienced with a few of these games. Your enhanced senses let you keep up rather easily despite your comparative lack of experience, and Yuma is happy just to be included. The two Magical Girls end up teaming up to hunt you, which you aren't going to contradict despite it being technically against the rules. While the three of you duel, Yuma performs the actual objective and ends up winning.
By the time the sun has finally fallen to the horizon, the sound of laughter echoes out from the cozy apartment.
———————————————
Patrol…
[] Team 1
-[] Who?
[] Team 2
-[] Who?
———————————————
Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
The patrol members include You, Mami, Kyoko, Sayaka, and Homura & Madoka. If you would like, you can put everyone in one patrol team, but that will prevent you from covering as large of an area. For the sake of my sanity, please structure all votes as plans.
Short chapter this time, but that's just how it goes. I'll throw in a surprise in the near future if possible to make it up to you.
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