Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice (A Tokusatsu/Magical Girl Quest)

A Twisted, Beautiful Dream

Soundtrack: City of Shadow - AZALI

Laying low in the dirt, a shattered skull mask wearing man struggles to stand, body refusing their desire to rise from the filth they can taste in their mouth.

The moon above is shining bright, all of its surface in view, yet it's so dark. The flows and plants that wave in the nighttime winds waltzing like shadows, their colors traded away, becoming only silhouettes.

But the woman before him, illuminated by moonlight, the deep crimson dress barely covered their arms and legs, the black stockings into red heeled boots, the fishnet wrappings that covered her arms and the palms of each hand.

The amber light of her hair, the green depths of her eyes.

Each and every color on the demon's form radiant, rarely a scratch on their finish.

The world was quiet, the only noise from flowers dancing with tired winds.

As if there was no struggle here, a fight of life clashing life. Of the red stained in the grass behind him. Of the bodies that didn't breathe.

This woman- this monster… she smiled down at him, at his struggles, at the futility of continuing a fight that hadn't even caused her to sweat.

Knowing he was still alive, knowing yet not moving from the unnatural way the moonlight descended upon her enrapturing presence.

And yet, as if she was waiting for the perfect time, as the man finally rose to his knees…

She spoke.

"Why do you fight?"

The man let out a blood laugh, straining green with crimson.

"For the promised world we will make…"

The scarlet woman hummed, stepping across the grass plain to look down at the struggling soul.

"What kind of promised world?"

"One with no magic… no heroes and monsters… without death and hardship-"

The man lunged upwards, knife in hand, swinging wildly for the lady who so arrogantly got in his range, "WITHOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU!"

Yet it was pointless, for the next thing he knew was pain.

On the ground he layed, knocked away with a simple movement, and with one less arm, which he cradled the stump of as he screamed.

"There will always be monsters," the woman began, from under moonlight once again she said, striding step by step towards the agonised fighter of the dark, barely registering the world over the pain roaring through his flesh.

"There will always be someone who will kill," Her stride took her closer to shivering prey.

"There will always be exploitation of those unfortunate," Her dress bellowed in the wind.

"There will always be those who harm and maim something pure," Her sole crushed a blooming white flower in her path.

"Magic that allows for miracles, Technology that allows new opportunities…"

The woman in the crimson dress leaned down, lifting the bleeding man skyward, her unhidden eyes meeting the ones that said behind that broken mask.

"It matters not if they exist or not, those tragedies will simply continue in another form."

Her free arm waved to the moon and stars above, "Have you thought of the monster that eats at the world, the very demon people unleashed, changing the climate for the worst?"

With a deceptively short motion, the man crashed into the ground, crushing plants and uprooting flowers in the impact.

"Have you thought of the pollution that people unearth from below, that they allowed to spill out and taint the seas and very food we eat, the only reason being carelessness and greed?"

A gargle was her only response.

"... You say you wanted to fight for that world? The one promised to you?

"Then why must you use power that only consumes. Summon souls warped and twisted by tainted influence, and usher in havoc and despair to reach a world of… of peace?"

There was no response.

The woman still knew she was heard.

"You will die here.

"You're dream ruined the moment it was planted… your life ended because of a lie you heard, so melodic that you turned your back on harsh truth."

The crimson woman looked towards the sky, a bittersweet smile reaching to her eyes as wind danced past her legs, dress swaying in the midnight air.

"These are the words I want to declare to you."

"Oh, once leader of mine."

The next morning, a group of seventeen bodies were discovered in an empty plain near the borders of Tokyo by authorities, all victims showing signs of dismemberment and each wearing matching costumes with a skeleton motif.

Wednesday, March 5th, 2080, 3:41 PM
Yagami-Yamaguchi Magical Vault

"...Kirata."

You sure about that, lass?

You just have a feeling. Akasuki and Sora seem like they're just powerful Kamen Riders— like Fuji, but extra competent. Takeshi seems like a nice dude, but you're not too interested in seeing what Will Seeds can do. Especially considering that from what you can tell, the Will Seeds are super rare. Also, you don't have any reason to get your ass kicked that hard.

For that reason you aren't even considering fighting against Yuki. Hell no.

Probably a smart choice.

The Archmage in question seems to jolt in her chair, but she regains her balance quickly. "I… um, I'm not really a combatant. Akasuki and Sora are Kamen Riders, they'd be more your speed."

Akasuki shakes his head. "No, you'll do fine, we've seen you fight others. You're actually much better than you think."

Yuki just shrugs in her chair. "I believe we could create an arena on the top floor. Considering that three of us would be helping with it, I believe that it wouldn't even be that hard…"

---

3:43 PM
Yagami-Yamaguchi Magical Vault - Upper Floors

You and Kirata stand about ten feet apart from each other. With a flick of her hand, she dismisses her cane (which shrinks until she can pocket it) and takes a deep breath. "Hm. Never thought I'd be the one standing here. Good luck?"

The environment is fairly bland. Some scrolls and spells lie asleep in metal crates, and metal bars hold up the roof. You're basically in the attic of the museum. As you and Kirata stretch a bit, Yuki draws a circle made of chalk around you two. She stands up, and dusts some of the chalk off of her black pants. "Children, you both are ready. May the odds be ever in your favor."

Takeshi taps his foot nervously. He and the other Archmages are standing a few feet away from the edge of the circle. As for you, you simply just sigh and readjust your suit's tie. "Good luck to you too, Kirata."

Akasuki puts a hand up, warning you two to pay attention. "Alright, we'll be starting in three… two… one!"

He crouches down, and puts a hand to the floor. Sora claps their hands together, while Yuki simply waves one of hers—

And the world changes.

>Whoa.

[BEAUTIFUL]

The small chalk circle around you seems to expand, before black walls go up around you and Kirata. You blink, and when you open your eyes again, the environment has changed. You are standing in a field of flowers of all types: brown, green, red, white. It doesn't seem to end, stretching out impossibly forever. Above both of you, the night sky shines brightly, with stars you've only seen around the other Kuromi you've gotten to know. You take one more second to admire the scenery, before getting out the deck from your coat pocket.

"Blackbeard. You ready?"

Of course lass. Let's go!

You snap your fingers, and your belt manifests out of nowhere, snapping onto your waist. You grab the card that you need almost out of pure instinct, before slamming it into your transformation device.

CARD SET - PLUNDER PATROLL!

"I'll be burning bright as I can now," you mumble, taking a deep breath for what may be the most difficult battle you'll face for a while. "Against the darkness, and to prove that I can do this. Henshin."

Kirata readjusts her glasses and cracks her knuckles, as armor begins to fly around and clip onto your body. You slowly walk towards her as the armor begins to equip itself, and crack your neck.

Your outfit looks a bit like Fuji's. A black and brown coat surrounds your grayish armor, lined with fur that you're 90% sure came from a bear. A tricorn hat manifests itself into your hand, and as you put it onto your head, you notice that this time your gray armor is lined with glowing neon green lines. Nice.

It's our pirate uniform! Guess we can call you Brownhair, right?

Goldenhair, I'm pretty sure humans like her prefer their first name…

Kirata doesn't look much worse. When you use those personal, non-one-use spells, your shoulder glowed. As she takes off her coat and throws it to the side, you see both of her arms glowing with green, intricately linked Glyphs meant for spells. They look like tattoos, or maybe body paint. The wind begins to pick up, blowing away some of the flower petals into the distance.

Silently, you both begin to charge at each other, with you running and Kirata floating off the floor. She hovers towards you, but when she tries to hit you with a chop, you manage to catch it with both your hands. But something's wrong.

It's the lass's arms. Check it out.

You push Kirata away from you, but she simply flies towards you again, both of her hands wildly reaching for you. Not much physical combat experience, but there's something else to it. You duck another swipe, and then counter with a shoulder check to her gut. She staggers back, but regains her balance in midair by flipping over. There's the trick.

What?

There's a tiny barrier around her… you didn't make any skin contact, her clothes didn't ruffle. Invisible air?

Try and weaken her. We'll help.

You readjust your stance, before centering your energy into your right fist. Kirata attempts to fly through the air for another flying kick, but you shift your head to the side just in time. A telescope made of red energy appears in your hand, and you swing it right at her forehead. She wrenches her eyes closed, before skidding back and landing her feet in the flowers. A red crack appears on top of her shirt; looks like your theory was right. As she slowly gets back up, you grab another card from your pocket and get ready. With a quick flick of your hand, you slam it in.

CARD SET - SIX SAMURAI!

Why is this stupid belt even so loud anyways?! Kirata dodges to the left as the pirate armor flies off you to be replaced with the garb that you donned last time— the red and black of the Secret Six Samurai.

Oh hey, cool, we're back. -Kizaru

Head in the game! -Hatsume

For a second you consider chastising the voices in your head, but you're stopped when you turn your attention back to the outside world and— where's Kirata.

You look behind you and just out of the corner of the eye, she's there, floating and blowing away the flowers with her simple presence. How fast…?!

"Always wanted to do this. Sorry, nothing personal." She says, grinning. She reaches out an arm, and flicks her finger. You hear a whistle, right before a huge displacement of air hits you.

Oh fuck. -Fuma

Yeah, displacement is the best way to describe what hits you. Saying that this is a "gust" is like saying a hurricane is a tiny storm. The air in front of you, behind, up, down— all of it and all of the armor pieces that were just flying off of you slice back into you, and they pierce through your ninja garb.

The remaining few pieces of Plunder Patroll armor just barely protect you, but it still hurts for a good few seconds as the air breaks and you're sent flying away into the flowers. When you fall, it's unfortunately onto your face. Ouch.

Hm. We might be a bit outmatched. -Kizaru

Uhh… try and prevent her from hitting you? Distract her??? -Hatsume

The fact that the professional killers in your head sound very unsure about what you should be doing here should probably be clueing you in as to how you should be running or playing dead. Instead, you stand up once again. Oh god.

With a flick of your wrist, you toss a smoke bomb onto the ground just as she attempts to bash your head in from behind using her cane. The smoke surrounds the area in a gray mist, but the wind's still picking up. At most, it'll last for thirty more seconds. That's enough. You run forward—

And are pushed back by a huge gust of wind which almost seems to lock you down. No- Kirata's trying to vacuum you down to the floor. It's similar to what you experienced back in the hallway, but this time there's no walls for you to jump off of. Thankfully, you have another trick up your sleeve.

Distracting her? -Hatsume

Yup, distracting her. You point at Kirata, and underneath your black and red helmet, you open your mouth.


"C'mon, you'll have to hit me harder than that! What, are your arms too sickly? If you're not strong enough to land a good punch on me, how're you going to even stand a chance against any of the Guild?"

Kirata blinks in confusion, clearly taken aback. You regret what you just said. What the fuck just came out of your mouth. You were supposed to distract her, not piss her off. Um.

C- Can we salvage this? -Kizaru

There's a beat, and you miss your chance to interject. She squints at you. "The fuck did you just say?"

There's no salvaging this.

You try to open your mouth again, or try to at least make a friendly, disarming expression, but then you realize that your face is completely covered by your helmet. With a death glare locked on to you, Kirata floats a bit backward, before everything around you is obscured by gray winds.

This may hurt. -Hatsume

The vacuum around your legs intensifies tenfold, before your feet are shoved down into the ground. Uh oh.

You can almost vaguely hear Kirata yelling something, and you can almost see a glow of magic outside of the wind-walls you're trapped inside. With a deep breath, you make an executive decision, pointing in one random direction and magically creating the teleporting gateway, the one that distracted that Shade back from when you were fighting alongside Fuji. The wind-walls dissipate, and across from you, you see Kirata, her arms and part of her cheek glowing green… and red.

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME "SICKLY"!"

Oh shit. -SSS

You look towards the gateway, and see it— a glowing teal portal right underneath the leaves and uprooted flowers. If you time this just right…


She thrusts both arms forward, and just in the nick of time, you tilt your head to the left. The world folds around you, making Point A=Point B for the tiniest fraction of a split second, before you pop out of the leaves. When the leaves clear, you're hit by a wave of heat, which sears your face. You're walking on thin ice, and the sun underneath that ice is very hot indeed. Only a quick form swap prevents you from taking the damage, ocean water cooling desert heat.

CARD SET - PLUNDER PATROLL!

As the new armor makes its way back onto your body, Kirata's head snaps over to look at you. You realize with a jolt that what just passed you by was the outer radius of her spell. She didn't even hit you with that directly. You're going to be cooked like someone stuck in a microwave if you keep this up.


Kirata doesn't even speak this time. Her jaw seems locked into a stern grimace. For a second, you think about trying to explain that you didn't mean what you just said. But a flick of her cane uproots the dirt and portal beneath you with another blast of air, and you discard the possibility.

Erm… lass, we might be in over our heads.

"No shit, Blackbeard. Help me out here!" you say, as you dodge another wind slice that almost takes your head clean off, before returning fire with a flintlock pistol. It isn't working. Kirata's barrier is too strong. There's nothing you can do.

Wait. There might be one thing you can do. Your hand. Try and focus on it.

As you duck into a bushel of flowers, you realize what Bluebeard's referring to. The Void Glyph in your hand is sealed, partially because of Kirata's seals, partly because of your willpower. But if you focus, and draw out just the tiniest ounce of power…

It's an insane idea. Possibly a horrible one. But as Kirata lands on the ground and begins slowly walking towards you, it hits you that it's also your current best idea. She used a lot of her own prana to cast that last spell. She'll have to recharge and wind down, giving you just enough time to do this. You take your right hand, reach down towards your belt (Driver?) and grab it. With a shuddering breath, you feel a dark power coursing through your veins.
KILLSENDSBEGINS—
But you wrench it down, leaning your head to the side to just barely dodge another wind blade that she sends out at you. "Kirata, I'm sorry about what I just said. Really. But I'm not going to go out so easily."

You take one more deep breath, before power surges around you, blowing away the plants and glowing brighter than the stars. Contrasting Kirata's green glow is you, radiating a new purple energy. The neon green of the Plunder Patroll is nowhere to be seen, and your armor has gone from a light gray to obsidian black. As you do that, Kirata kicks her cane upward and dramatically points it towards you. She takes a deep breath of her own, and says her piece. "I know you didn't mean what you just said. You're not that type of person. But you can't just…" her words waver for a second, before she goes back to glaring at you with a deathly expression, "...say that shit. I'm not some sort of crippled girl. And we're already sparring, so…"

"Yeah. I know." you sigh, regret already on the tip of your tongue.

"That I'm gonna kick your ass? Because you're not going to insult me to my face like that and not expect me to take it lying down. I've gone through just as many if not more challenges than you have, just because of the way I was born. But I want you to know that I earned the title of Archmage through my own blood, sweat, and tears. My body has nothing to do with that, y'know?" She growls, sounding… if you're being honest? She sounds insulted from the bottom of her heart. And honestly, you totally see why. That was kind of a horrible thing to say on your part.

You drop your head, but try your best to keep eye contact with her. "If anything I genuinely have it coming for that. I'm really sorry. Try your best, I guess? I'll be trying too."

Well, at least you apologized!

And now you'll get to learn a lesson! Through failure, of course. This is going to hurt a lot.

Yeah, this is gonna suck. Kirata closes her eyes for a second and smirks— did she find what you just said amusing? She reopens her eyes, before pulling her wooden cane back as if it's some sort of lance. It glows green, just like her eyes do. As she does, you clasp your hands together. Your coat and tricorn glow with new golden linings, and behind you, a ghostly ship manifests, emerging from the dirt. It's a construct made out of water, but it also glows with the Void's ghastly purple. Cannons line it from stern to mast, and a wooden dragon's head heralds its arrival, roaring silently. Meanwhile, Kirata's pupils dilate, as she prepares to cast her greatest spell once more.

"<Quis crura habet cum alas habeat?>-- yet if I have no wings, then let me burn." She chants, eyes, arms, and cane glowing brighter than ever before, her words empowering the spell. Every syllable she speaks seems to shake the magical domain, the stars of the fake sky above seeming to dim in the presence of her power.

Meanwhile, you pull down your tricorn hat, before jumping and backflipping onto the head of the spectral boat. Fuck it— if you have to go down, you're going down with your ship. Despite a lack of water, it glides forward as if it was sailing on the seven seas. Slowly but surely, you can feel it begin to accelerate, its sides bursting into magical flame. "Alright, here we go. I'm not going to avoid this, but I'm not going to take it lying down either! All units! Patrollship Brann, set sail!"

The winds pick up again and billow around Kirata, creating a mini-cyclone. "<Sit hoc desertum aestus omnes immunditiae exuret.> Rest in peace, and goodbye. DEATH VALLEY BURST!"

"VOID CANNON FIRE!!!"

Your ship charges forward like a raging phoenix, just as Kirata's cane bursts into flame. Everything bursts into light, with a blast of pure, unfiltered heat hitting your face from Kirata's spell, and black cannon fire redirecting from the sides of your ship and piercing through Kirata's barrier. For a second, your world is simply pain—

And then you feel someone's arms tackling you down, while a blur of white seems to shut down the radiating heat right where it starts. As you faint, all you're able to make out is a pair of red, glowing compound eyes…

---

3:51 PM
Yagami-Yamaguchi Magical Vault - Museum Medbay

When you come to, two people are looking down at you, concern clear in their eyes. It's… wait, what were their names again?

Takeshi and Yuki. And welcome back to the land of the living, by the way.

Thanks, Atry. You blink and try to sit up, but a sharp pain in your back tells you how good of an idea that is. Yuki shakes her head in disbelief. "Honestly, child. Both of you try much too hard to impress us elders. Most people would have fainted or died on the spot from the heatstroke that experimental spell of Kirata's causes. And she was sorely overextending her barrier…"

"Akasuki's away right now, says he needs some hydration after healing you. Did it work? On a scale of 1-10, tell us how much it hurts." Takeshi asks.

"Uh, emotionally or physically? Because I'm feeling like a real jerk right now."

You don't miss how the older man's eyes flicker over to the other end of the white room. "The latter for now."


>From what it looks like to me you're alive enough. Get up, you've been hit by worse. Well, actually that's probably the hardest-hitting thing you've been hit by so far, but some hydration should do you just fine!

As questionable as Dormouse's "encouragement" just was, it's still better than what some of your Guild instructors have told you, so it's enough. You take an ice pack off of your head, and slowly sit up. Your suit's unscathed, so you readjust your tie before getting off the bed. "3.5. How's Kirata?"


Takeshi and Yuki slowly back away, revealing Kirata behind them. She's awake as well, leaning against the back of her bed. When she speaks, her tone's practically glacial. "Hey."

Almost as quickly as they entered, both Yuki and Takeshi seem to slip out of the room. You almost have to reassure yourself that they weren't a trick of light, as one second they're standing in the middle of the room, and the next? Gone. But that isn't really important right now. What's really important is Kirata. "Hey. Are you feeling alright?"

Her eye twitches a bit, but she addresses you cordially. "I'm ok. Your whole pirate ship thing hit me pretty hard, but it's just a rib. With the privileges I'm afforded as an Archmage, it'll be fine by the end of the week."

But something's telling you to recognize that tone. That sudden cordiality, it's just like…


Like your own! You've had that "faux polite" tone on as well. Like when you were dealing with annoying customers, or when you were injured in Guild practice but didn't want to go through the tiring process of getting medical assistance. So the best move here, if you were in her shoes, would be to… change the subject. It doesn't look like she's mad at you at the moment, so you pivot a bit.

"That spell you cast on me earlier was really cool."

"Which one?" she drawls.

"The, uh, Death Valley one. You named that after a real place, didn't you?"

Wait, which Death Valley? The one in New Mexico, or…

Shh. Not important right now.

She blinks. "Yeah. I went to another desert in California, once, on this whole cross-country road trip the folks took me on. I don't think Himari was old enough to remember, but I was. We stopped through two deserts; there was this one national park in California, Joshua Tree. It was so quiet there…"

4 minutes later…

"...And that's how I got this shot," Kirata says, pointing at a few landscape pictures saved on her phone. When she gestures at them, there's a sense of fondness, maybe even nostalgia coming off of her.

"That's really nice. The Washington Monument is definitely on my bucket list after this." you comment.

There's a fine silence in the room for a second, before Kirata takes a breath and grabs the cane from the bedside table. It magically extends outward to hit the ground, and she steadily lowers off the bed to brace her wrist and weight on it. You consider helping her for a second, but it looks like she's got it. When she's fully on the ground, she looks at you and nods. Her expression is carefully neutral, but you can see how her eyes are shining with an almost-smile.

"Alright, meeting time's almost over, it's time for us to go. Oh, and by the way, Rei?"

"What?"

"I don't hate you for what you said back there earlier. I probably would have said something just as weird in your place." And with that, she turns to leave.

Kirata kind of reminds you of… you. Easygoing, but weirdly fierce at the same time. If it had been her working Animate on that fateful day…

>If your positions had been swapped, you still would have found yourself standing in this room.


You walk out of the dreary hospital room (why is that in a museum? Unless…) before taking a turn and following Kirata down the hall, to where you can see the Archmages sitting down. Kirata takes a seat at the table, and you sit down as well. All the Archmages sit across from you, and also Takeshi. You look at the man for a second. Out of all the people in this room, he was probably the first one who went in to save you and Kirata. Why?


He looks back at you, and it doesn't look like he's disappointed this time. Instead, he's… curious about you?

No. He's impressed. You were doing some pretty crazy things back in the fight with Kirata. -Hatsume

Akasuki, Sora, and Yuki are all looking at you and trying to scrutinize you. But Takeshi doesn't seem like he's trying to judge you at all. At most he's just trying to figure out your strengths, and how he can play to them.

…he'd try to recruit you no matter how badly you screwed this up. That's the type of guy he is. He catches your gaze, and smiles back. Hm.

You turn your attention back to the four Archmages, who seem to be discussing among themselves. Eventually, Akasuki turns to you.


…right as Yuki opens her mouth first. "We'll help you out."

Akasuki looks aghast. "Wh— c'mon Yuki, I was trying to make this cool!"

"Too bad, child. I'm tired of this, and I've got a swap meet to get to. Besides, Kirata said that she was cool. Rei, you have our word that we'll do all we can to protect those who Umbra will try and target."

Sora silently chuckles at their boyfriend's(?) suffering. You look at the glasses-wearing girl in question, who just silently shrugs. Looks like she doesn't care too much at the end of the day.

[PHEW]

You can say that again.

[PHEW]

>Not literally, man.


Takeshi also turns to you, before pulling something out of his pocket. It's your phone. "I've airdropped you my contact info, and some contact info for some other Riders in the Tokyo area that are willing to explain some more to you. I haven't unlocked it though, so it's your choice whether to accept." He then hands your phone back— oh hey, looks like somebody charged it while you were having that meeting. Nice.


You take a moment to consider whether you need anything more as you take your phone back. You've only got a few more minutes before Akemi and Purrson are going to start getting worried.

Hey, aren't Akasuki and Sora Kamen Riders? You might be able to wake somebody up in here with their help.

Oh right! You should probably say something about that. Probably best to word this carefully though, it's best to not have another "deck-touching" incident…

"Thanks, everybody. Before we go though, can you all put your hands on my deck of cards?" you say, pulling out the Deck of Darkness (you need to rename it, that's so chunni, ugh) from one of your many hidden pockets. "So that I can gain more power. And voices in my head, but I've got a system for that."

Takeshi is sitting next to you, and thus reaches out first. "I've done weirder things in order to help out others. Here, let me try." He touches it, and…

Nothing happens. There's some quiet in the room for a second, before out of curiosity you flip over the brown-backed card. It's completely blank, aside from the black text in the center of a white blank space on the card.

[LOVE/JUSTICE/????]

Only the word "Justice" glows brightly, and even then you wouldn't say it's any brighter than the average smart watch. Takeshi blinks twice. "Huh. Didn't expect that. Is that normal?"

"Nope. That's new." you respond, quizzically, "I guess there's something else I need to do, someone else I need to meet." You take the card back. Another thing to ask Purson (the god one, not the cat) later.

>Oh goddammit it's a collection quest. You've got to have most of Tokyo touch your deck now.

Language, little lass.

You pass it over to the Archmages this time, sliding the deck of cards over the marble table. At first it's Sora who puts their hand on it, but before long Yuki, Akasuki, and Kirata are all lending their power. Their hands glow with a gentle mixture of soft color, before they take their hands away and look at you expectantly. There's another silence in the room as Sora picks the deck up and tosses it back into your hands. "I think it should work now, but contact me or Yuki if you can't use our powers well enough." They turn to face the other Archmages. "Kirata, Yuki, can you please set up portals for all of us to go home? It's almost 3 PM, after all."

Kirata nods. "I'll be right on it, just gimme a second… I think we can consider this Archmage conference closed. See you tomorrow, Rei."

As she and Yuki shuffle off to the other end of the room, you take a moment to look down at the top card. At the very least, all of the words on this one are glowing.

[WINTER/SUMMER/SPRING/FALL]

You put it away into your pocket. You're about to leave, but…

Wait. There's still one last thing to do, remember?

"Ok, one last thing before we go. Sora, can I have your autograph for a friend?"

---

These Overlays seem incomplete, with only one move for each of them. Perhaps there's a way to make them better…?

[ ] Artificer…?

[ ] Summoner…?

[ ] Cleric…?

---

Author's Note:
Kirata translations: (apologies, I don't speak Latin or have any professional translations)
"Who needs legs when I have these wings?"
"May this desert heat purify everything."

This chapter was a fucking slog at times to write. I can't explain why. Maybe holiday week took away my whole flow. (I have so much free time, I'm gonna do it on Monday! I'm gonna do it on Wednesday! I'm gonna do it on Friday! I'm gonna do it on—) Oh, and there was also the fact that during tennis practice I sprained both of my arms and got my chest bruised.

…Ok, maybe I can explain why lmao

I wanna take a week break, do something more relaxing like making more Kagurabachi reactions, but Kirata and Himari also really should get that scene together. Ugh, I can't freaking get enough time…

The first four spells that Kirata uses (Zephyr, Monsoon, Mistral, Khamsin) are all spins off of Himari's (Code) move series. The latter three are also based off of the Winds of Destruction from Metal Gear Revengeance. For example, Zephyr raises Kirata's damage while Break lowers the damage that Himari will take next turn. Just something interesting to note.

Also, holy shit that Nat 1 changed up a few things. If you hadn't made Kirata irrational (and angry) she would have used a lot of regen moves you haven't seen yet and stalled you out into a boring win for her instead of… trying to kill you. Go and ponder on that. Happy voting heroes.