Puella Magi Megami Tensei

Hey, everyone.

I...

...I'm gonna be honest with you guys. Things are a shit show on my end. I don't know if I can keep going with daily updates. So many things are demanding my attention, and I just feel absurdly overwhelmed. I need time to think and plan right now, and I simply don't have that. At first, I considered just playing it off, putting on a show for everyone here, but that would not only be visible in my writing, but it wouldn't be fair to any of you.

I still want to write PMMT, I still want to finish all of these stories, but at this point, I don't think I can reasonably do that. Which brings us to here, to now. On the cusp of a New Year.

I understand if you're angry, or sad, or frustrated, or anything else. Believe me, I'm frustrated too. But for now, I need to focus on my own wellbeing before it's too far gone.

Until I get my shit together, I'm gonna have to put PMMT on hiatus. I'm truly sorry for this, but I just physically can't do this right now. I want to be here, I want to write, but I'm not mentally or physically steady enough for that anymore.

But this isn't goodbye. This isn't me killing the quest.

I just need to fix myself.

So, once I'm ready to continue this, I'll close the vote. I hope you all will be able to join me once I return.

I hope I'll see you guys soon.

Okay, so. I have good news, slightly worrying news, and average news.

The slightly worrying news: Last night (and most of yesterday) I was having a horrible depressive episode while also having an anxiety attack. I didn't know that they could tag-team me like that, so I was utterly unprepared for it. I think I'm passable for okay now, though.

Average news: I am still taking a "hiatus", albeit not as long as I first alluded to. I think I need the break to figure everything out still, but I could probably manage to sprinkle in some Apocryphas or Updates when inspiration strikes (read: whenever I can reliably write for an hour or so).

Good news: I'm doing okay. Thank you for all of your kind words. You guys mean the world to me.

Thank you all for everything.

I'll be seein' you soon(er than I expected)!

OOC: Couldn't sleep, write this.

You skid to a stop at another street sign you can't decipher. As if being stranded in another world wasn't bad enough, you can't even read anything here. Super.

You sigh, shaking your head, "Where's Tails when I need him...?" You're only joking, but still.

...While you're out and about, you might as well learn the streets some more. Not like you've got anything better to do, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Witch down! You're doing great today!

Your musket unfurls back into ribbons as you land on the sidewalk with a skip. This marks your fifth Witch this week, and it's only...?

You see a peculiar sight, standing just in front of Mitakihara Park. It looks to be some sort of blue, spiny, bipedal creature tapping its foot impatiently.

It must be the leftover Familiar from some other Magical Girl hunting in your territory. While you'd like to find this girl and lecture her on the importance of finishing off Familiars, you should take care of this first. You manifest a new musket, take aim, and fire--

It's gone?! Did you overdo it? Was it really so weak that it--?

"Didja get him?" Something taps your shoulder.

You glance to your side, only to find the Familiar standing right beside you, glancing at where it just was.

"Did you... Just... Speak?" You ask, your eyes trained in the strange creature that you don't think is a Familiar anymore.

"Did you... Just... Shoot at me?" It asks right back, mimicking the cadence of your voice.

Your face pales.

It raises an eyebrow.

"...I apologize." You tell the strange creature, "I thought you were something else."

"Do you usually shoot at things you don't understand?" It-- No, he jabs, "That seems like a bad way to make friends, kid."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh... My head...!" You place your hand to your forehead, "...Sage, status report."

Sage instantly appears beside you, "That anomaly over South Island suddenly spiked in activity, and drew us to another point in space." She says in her trademark calm demeanor, "Other than the bare minimum, I'm afraid I have little information aside from that."

"Well, at least we're still in one piece..." You get up, rotating your arm a little to loosen up the joint, "...Mostly. Where's Metal?"

"Metal Sonic stopped responding when we were pulled into the anomaly." Sage informs you, "I can locate the unit, but it will take some time to calibrate the Eggmobile's scanners to lock on to his frequency."

"The Eggmobile survived the trip, then?" You breath a sigh of relief, "Good. We'll need it."

"It is a little... "Dinged up", but should still be fully operational." Sage says, floating beside you as you both walk to the Eggmobile, "I used most of its energy shielding to protect you instead of it. With your brilliant mind, you can construct another Eggmobile. I cannot construct another you, Father."

"...Thank you." You almost mutter, finding the Eggmobile on its side.

There are scorch marks all over the hull, the windshield is shattered, but the interior is...

...Fine, actually. At least you're getting your money's worth on the leather seat.

You climb into your personal hovercraft, and take off.

Look out, unnamed city, here comes Dr. Ivo Robotnik!

"Vergil?" You knock just loudly enough for him to hear, "Can I talk to you?"

You hear the floorboards groan as he rises (almost masking groans of his own), and soon after, the door to the shrine turned home opens.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Mercury?" Vergil growls, clearly still tired from last night.

"...It's only five o'clock?" You shoot him a slightly worried glance, "Were you sleeping all day?"

"No." He states plainly, "Other things demanded my attention. Kind of like what you are doing, right now."

"W-Well, then, I suppose I should, um, get to the point." You smile slightly as you produce the small basket of goodies that you and the other Sailor Guardians put together, "Um, here!"

Vergil glances at the basket, but quickly returns his gaze to you. "...What is this?"

"It's a care package!" You calmly answer, "Mars, Moon and I put it together for you after Nephrite's... Passing. We didn't know what you like to eat, so we decided to put in some of our favorite snacks and drinks!"

Vergil stares at you for a long moment, face completely unreadable.

"...And, um, we didn't know when your birthday was, so... Happy Late or Early Birthday?" You raise the basket up a little more.

"...It was two and a half weeks ago." Vergil's voice seems to lose its usual edge for a moment, "It didn't seem relevant to bring up at the time." Very slowly, he takes the gift from your hands, and sets it inside off to the side.

"...Vergil? May I ask you something?" You break the silence that has settled between you two, "How do you feel about the Dark Kingdom, the Sailor Guardians... All of this?"

Vergil sighs, "It's a headache with pastel colors." He states, "But I consider your group as... Neighborly acquaintances. Mostly." He adds.

...Well, it's certainly a better standing than you thought! "I see. And the Dark--?"

"Enemies." He spits out.

"...That's kinda all I had for today." You shift around awkwardly, "See you soon...?" You turn to leave--

"He came to me." Vergil's voice cut through the silent afternoon, "In the nights leading to his death. I spoke with him."

"I'm glad he didn't suffer alone." You say, turning back with a sympathetic smile. "See you, Vergil."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...She's far enough away for you to shut the door. You take a deep breath, turning back to the unlit, unpowered shack you call a home, and sit down on a nice couch you found in an alley. You glance over at the basket of "goodies" on top of the small table beside the door.

"...Happy Birthday," You scoff, "Not even close."

Hey, everyone.

I think I figured out why I had a complete mental breakdown (besides being tag teamed teamed by my worst enemies, depression, anxiety, and general burnout) when I put the quest on hiatus.

I originally thought I needed time away from PMMT, but it wasn't that. Even when I was supposed to be "on break", I couldn't physically keep myself from checking the thread every half hour. I even wrote a couple Apocryphas while I was supposed to be resting!

Then, I thought it was because I ran out of ideas for the quest, and didn't want to disappoint anyone. Then again, of course I could predict where the main plot is going, I'm the one fucking writing it.

Finally, I hit the nail on the head. What had me so stressed, so vulnerable to these outbursts wasn't anything to do with PMMT at all. In fact, this little break only served to make me more anxious about you guys!

As it turns out, your family (and some girl) suddenly bringing a newborn baby (not mine) right home (where I live) and pushing all the responsibilities onto other people (everyone else in the household) and having it cry at random intervals isn't good for mental fortitude. Who'da thunk it?

But, thankfully, they moved out again, and everything is quiet again.

...I have no idea if this comes off as heartless or not, but I couldn't really function with them around stressing everyone out. But you didn't come here for "Milk blogging about his problems". You're here for PMMT. So, just this once, I'm going to write while the paper's... Hot? I don't think that analogy really works well with writing.

After tonight, I am going back to my regular schedule. But right now, as a one-time treat...

...On with the 2 AM Show!

[X] Plan Youtube Marathon

You stand up, walking over to the Wii you haven't yet set up, "I've got a better idea!" You smile back at everyone, "Just gimme a sec...!" You begin to set up your console, and...!

"...There!" You turn the Wii on, picking up the Wii remote on the way back, "Just a little more finagling, I swear!"

"I thought you didn't swear in front of kids!" Kyoko snickers, "Man, I must be a horrible influence on you!"

"Hush up, I need to-- oh, there we go!" You smile gleefully as you open the internet channel on the Wii, and head over to YouTube. "Pug VS. Laser, huh?" You wrap your arm around as many of your friends as you can, and click the video.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You drag your feet a little as you walk. You know what Yumi had to do, you know that she had to do it alone...

...But you still wanted to help. Sure, she's older than you, stronger than you, prettier than you, cooler than you, taller than you, and all that, but--?

"Sayaka?" Kazuya's sudden voice snaps you out of your stupor, "What are you doing here? School's done for the week."

"Huh?!" You stumble back, nearly falling down the stairs--

"Blue Girl!" You land on Cerberus, who moves his entire body to stand you back up, "You must be attentive to your surroundings! If Master Kazuya frightened you this much, then what reaction would a hostile demon elicit?"

"Oh, uh, s-sorry! I just... Um, needed to walk. To, uh, clear my head." You admit by complete accident.

Kazuya sighs, "Is this about not being able to fight the Messians?"

"The who? Are you talking about the Disciples?"

"Yeah, uh, them." Kazuya scratches the back of his head, "Well, you are pretty young for a summoner, so don't take it to heart. Everyone was worried about how you'd... Develop under pressure."

"What do you mean?" You raise an eyebrow.

"Master Kazuya has seen other warriors be tempted off of the path of peace, and doesn't wish to--?"

"Cerberus." He cuts his demon off, "Enough about the past." He sighs, "...Is there anything I can do?"

[] "No. I'll be okay."
[] "Uh, I don't want to be a bother...!"
[] "Well, if you're offering, do you think you could... Tutor me in swordplay?"
[] ????????????????????????????????????????