Puella Magi Adfligo Systema - Story only

Your eyebrows shoot up. That's... that's an offer and a half.

It'd work too, wouldn't it? Mami will once upon a never have done it, after all. She is that good.

But... no. Homura. She trusts you... and she deserves to have that trust repaid.

"I appreciate the offer, Mami," you say softly. "Thank you, so very much. But... Homura said that she trusts me. She's been through a lot. It's hard for her to trust anyone. If I can, I want to honor and reward that trust as much as possible. But thank you."

"I... yes, I understand," Mami says, a touch of trepidation in her voice. "Um, to be honest, I didn't think it would have been the best move, either, but... I just wanted to support you. Um. Sorry."

"Hey, no," you say, keeping your mental voice gentle and warm. You purse your lips, rubbing at your forehead in thought. "I appreciate it, Mami, I really, truly do. But you're right - it's not the best option here. So don't apologise, OK? Please."

"A-alright," Mami says. "Thank you."

"For nothing, Mami," you say firmly. "I honestly am thankful for you wanting to help, OK? Just that for now, I'll just try the best I can with what I have."

"Alright," Mami says, voice a little stronger. "Do your best, Sabrina. I believe in you."

A smile blossoms on your face. "Thanks, Mami."

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Kirika flash a grin at you before she burrows back into Oriko's side.

"I- Of course, Sabrina," Mami says. "Um... is there anything else?"

"Yeah, actually, one last thing for now," you respond easily, rolling your eyes at Kirika. "Or actually two, but first thing is - I turned my Grief into a ring that blocks pain, yeah? Do you think I'd be able to use enchantment magic to do something similar?"

"Hmm..." Mami takes a moment to consider this. You can just about imagine her expersiion, lips slightly pursed and brow furrowed gently in thought. "You should be able to," she replies finally. "I think everything that can be done with, ah, normal magic can be done with enchantment? It's just a matter of how much effort you need to put into it."

"Aha. That makes sense," you say, ruminating on that notion.

"Enchantment is... it gives permanent form to what magic already is? Does that make sense?" Mami says. "Some things are much harder than others, it's about how much control you need to exert over it, really."

"Yeah, it does," you say. "Hm... might be worth looking into. Thank you, Mami, for everything."

"Of course, Sabrina," Mami says softly. "You said you had one more thing?"

"Ah, yeah. I'll see you at lunch, Mami," you say, smiling. She can't see it, but this sort of thing seems to carry across telepathy, kind of. A faint impression of the other person. "I will."

"A-ah. Yes, of course," Mami says. "See you, Sabrina."

"See you," you agree, ending the connection.

You exhale slowly and lean back in the chair, closing your eyes and rubbing at your temples wearily.

"How'd it go?" Kirika chirps. "Good, I reckon?"

"Yeah... just lots to think over," you respond, opening your eyes to glance at the black haired girl.

"Great!" Kirika says, beaming. "Whatcha thinkin'?"

"Well," you say telepathically. "One of the things I'm thinking is that in order to help Oriko, I need to have her... really start questioning herself. Her actions. Her motivations. Everything. And to do that I have to talk about things that may be upsetting for the both of you. But I do think it's to help."

Kirika frowns. "Are you sure about this?" she asks.

"As sure as I can be," you answer. "I'm trying to help."

"Sure, then," Kirika replies, slowly, eyeing you thoughtfully.

"Is there anything you'd like me to know? Anything you think would help? Last minute advice?" you ask.

"Yeah. Don't you dare hurt my Oriko," Kirika replies, all traces of levity fleeing from her face.

"Not intentionally," you say with a slow, sober nod. "For what that's worth."

Kirika nods, a smile returning to her face, bright and sunny as if it had never left.

"Alright, then," you say, returning your attention to Oriko and cracking your knuckles. "First things first - I'm going to try something Witchy." You hold out your hand, and a blob of Grief plops into your grasp. At your will, it divides into three smaller pieces.

Communication and interdiction. Privacy.

You breathe your intention into the Grief, shaping three bracelets out of the Grief to ensure that you can talk freely, without fear of being overheard or voice-read. An extra thought to spare, for allowing incoming telepathy, while denying Kyuubey eavesdropping.

The bracelets sing in your hand, warming to the touch, and you know it works from the sensation pressing against your skin. You slip one onto your wrist, waggling your fingers, and holding the other two out to Oriko and Kirika. "Here," you say. "This'll let us talk privately."

Kirika's eyes go very wide, staring at you, and she exchanges a glance with Oriko.

The seer nods slowly, still looking at you with a considering look. "Sabrina, how do these work?" she asks.

"Well... I don't know," you admit. "I just, um, tell my magi-"

You're interrupted by an explosion of giggles from Kirika. The black haired girl claps her hands over her mouth, trying to muffle them as she stares at you.

"... what?" you ask.

Kirika's laughter redoubles, the black haired girl collapsing to the bed helplessly and beating one fist against the mattress.

... even Oriko starts laughing quietly, genteely covering her mouth with one hand. Weakly, she fumbles in the drawer beside the bed, emerging with a mirror and holding it up to you.

You inspect the mirror. You look perfectly fine, as far as you can tell. "I don't ge-"

You stop, tilting your head to the side. "Test, test," you mutter under your breath. "I wish ta control grief! My fuckin own! That of others muthafucka! Da grief of tha Witches muthafucka! All of dat shiznit son!"

There is a distinct mosaic filter over your mouth when you speak.

Kirika appears to be having a fit.

Rolling your eyes, you hold the bracelets out to Kirika and Oriko. The seer accepts them, giving one a dubious look and slipping it on with some difficulty. Silently, she puts one on Kirika, who's practically howling with laughter right now.

You cross your arms and one leg over the other, arching an eyebrow at Oriko while you wait for Kirika's laughter to subside. The seer quirks her eyebrow right back at you, a hint of a smirk lurking around her lips.

You sigh. No support to be found there.

Eventually, Kirika's laughter dies way to breathless, hiccuping giggles, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Alright, so now we can talk freely without Kyuubey listening in," you say.

"Aw, the pixels are gone" Kirika says, looking disappointed.

"They are indeed," you say, equally disappointed. "I think it's just people outside the effect who see it."

"Bah, that's no fun," Kirika complains with a pout. It occurs to you that you could probably add the mosaic filter back, just for her, but... nah.

"What did you want to tell me?" Oriko asks.

"Well." You take a moment to collect your thoughts. "Wishes come true. If you wished for something, it must be possible, if it hasn't already happened." You meet Oriko's eyes squarely, making sure that she knows that you're talking about her. "Well. It's not ideal. Only you can find the meaning of your life, Oriko. But there's not enough time, and that ring won't last outside my range."

You lean forward, propping your elbows on your knees and interlacing your fingers. "So, I'm going to talk a bit, Oriko. Maybe it'll help." You smile at Oriko, enjoying the moment. For once... for once you get to be cryptic at the seer. "Will you listen?"

The silver haired girl arches an eyebrow at you. "I'm listening," she allows.

"Hmm..." you say, eyeing Oriko over your hands. "I'm going to talk a little about another Oriko, elsewhere and elsewhen. An Oriko who did find the meaning of your life. An Oriko was a force for good who used her powers to help others. Who saved Yuma and fought and defeated a ruthless magical girl."

"Hey, my Oriko's a force for good!" Kirika protests.

You click your tongue reprovingly. "With the help of her Kirika," you continue, inclining your head towards the black haired girl. "She found the meaning of her life and gained full control of her powers."

"Now, see..." you tilt your head slightly in the other direction, still holding Oriko's gaze. The seer's brows are furrowed in heavy thought. "The answer that other Oriko came to... had nothing to do with dying or sacrificing herself for the sake of the world."

Kirika's expression, in the corner of your eye, crumples, all traces of her earlier mirth fading away.

"So, Oriko. You told me that I would end this, one way or another, and that you wouldn't be around to see it," you murmur. "My question, then, is why? Why are you so fixated on dying?"

"I see the future, Sabrina," Oriko says. "There's no room for me in it."

"And that means... what, exactly?" you ask. "Do you explicitly see yourself dying?"

"No," Oriko admits. "I simply don't see myself, past a certain point."

[] Write-in


Perception without comprehension-

"No. Oh, no," you say, straightening and freeing your hands from the clasp. "There is a place for you, Oriko, and if there isn't... well, we can make one. You're good people, and you deserve better than that."

Oriko eyes you. "So quick to forgive and forget, are we?" she asks.

You shrug. "Point remains, Oriko, glib words aside. Look... you're resigned to dying, that there's no place for you in the better world you're trying to make...just because your power doesn't show you you're there?" You spread your hands. "I hope you see my problem."

"There are simply no futures where I exist," Oriko says, pushing herself upright. Kirika, looking worried, hurries to fluff up the pillow behind her.

"Well, considering that I don't show up properly, and we've apparently got something out there messing with reality, and Feathers -the last two may be the same thing, but my point stands- I'm not sure how solid an objection that is," you say, crossing your arms. And it's entirely possible that gaining her full powers would prevent her past self from seeing her future self, you think. "It seems to me that you're determined to die."

"I see you perfectly fine," Oriko counters. "It's merely that every time you act, changes ripple outwards. The shape of the future remains, but details differ."

"No," you say sharply, raising a finger. "No changing the subject. Maybe we'll come back to that later, but no. For now, we're talking about you." You debate trying to prove to her that it's entirely possible for her to simply disappear from her own sight - you could probably make something to suit the task.

Mayble you'll come back to that later, but no. Not now.

"You see pieces of the future, Oriko, and we we both know it's imperfect." You tilt your head back, frowning at her.

"It is," Oriko replies, silvery grey brows lowering and repaying frown in kind. "Do you think I haven't looked? I don't exist past a certain point."

You continue frowning at her. She's still got nothing on Homura's frowns. "And just where do you see Kirika after that? She loves you. She ha-"

You're interrupted by a high pitched squealing noise, and Kirika flails herself upright with a bright , scarlet blush on her face. "Don't just say it like thaaaaat!"

"Indeed. It's quite rude to presume," Oriko says. "... even if not inaccurate."

"'Presume'? Really?" you give Oriko a flat look.

Oriko sniffs haughtily. The effect is rather thoroughly ruined by the faint pink flush on her pale face.

"And," you say, raising a finger again. "Subject. What about Kirika? She would have reacted if you just disappeared out of the blue?"

"We've talked about it," Oriko replies, looking away. Silently, she slips her arm around Kirika's waist to hug the black haired girl close to her. Kirika cuddles her right back, wrapping her arms around the other girl.

"And... you're both going to just roll over and accept it," you say, unimpressed. "And what about me? I'd be pretty damned unhappy if you just died or vanished or something."

"I don't vanish," Oriko says tonelessly. "Mostly."

Kirika makes a pained, keening noise and burrows into Oriko's side, wrapping herself around the seer like a particularly affectionate octopus.

"And that's better?" you ask.

Oriko falls silent, Kirika nuzzling in to her side. "No," she admits.

"So...?" you say.

The seer shrugs. "It happens. What more is there to say?"

"It hasn't yet," you say. "And as I said - I'm not sure how solid an objection that is, Oriko. Have you even considered any other possible explanation as to why you can't see yourself?"

"Have you considered that gravity might be caused by invisible pink fair-"

You cut Oriko off. "Oriko, please," you say, a touch of pleading in your tone. "None of that. I'm trying to help."

The seer sags. "I'm sorry." She holds up a hand, and you wait for her to continue, which she does after a minute. "Sabrina, I've come to terms with it. It's... painful, continuing to speak as if I might survive."

You sigh heavily. "Oriko... I can think of, offhand, a few hypotheses as to why your powers are behaving that way. And sure, maybe they're not even that, and more conjecture. Guesswork." You unfold your arms, gesturing with an open palm. "How are you doing any better? You're acting based on a guess. Your precognition has been fooled before. I think it's way too early to accept your death as an absolute."

"Perhaps," Oriko says, acknowledging that with a nod. "But... I think that I'm right. It feels right."

"Listen." You jab a finger at Oriko, the seer swaying back from your finger as if it's a loaded gun. "Even if that's what's happening, I'm going to make my stance clear. I do not accept your death. Nor Kirika's. I do not accept a future without Mikuni Oriko or Kure Kirika in it."

"I do not accept that the meaning of you life is to die. Why are you accepting this?" you snap, rising from the chair and starting to pace. "You know me, Oriko." You jab a thumb at your own chest. "You know I'd fight if it were your lives on the line, and hey - maybe they are." You spread your arms. "You know I'll fight with everything I have. So give the fatalistic seer routine a rest."

"Enough. Please," Oriko whispers, barely loud enough for you to hear, looking down at her lap. "I've come to terms with it, Sabrina."

[] Write-in


-is a dangerous combination.

You slump, metaphorically and literally. You drop back into the chair, letting your legs slide out from under you.

"... well. I can't," you say with a sigh.

What ever happened to humility and 'I am not omniscient', you wonder.

Then again, death is the ultimate humbler.

Lives, lived, will live.

Tsk.

"Sabrina, I appreciate it," Oriko says quietly, looking up at you. "In truth, I do."

"Me too," Kirika interjects, the usual bubbly cheer noticeably lacking from her voice.

Silently, Oriko squeezes her a little tighter before continuing. "I understand what you're trying to say. And I know you believe it." She takes a slow, shuddering breath. "But this... It feels..." She shakes her head, apparently lost for words.

You click your tongue in annoyance. "The future is a malleable thing, Oriko, and you know it. Just look at what happened to Sayaka. You had no clue right up until it was almost too late."

"This is different," she says quietly. "It feels... I know it. I know it, as sure as if I'm looking at my own grave."

Your magic can be fooled. The words are on the tip of your tongue and you'd blurt them out and you want to just slap some sense into her and you want a hug from Mami right about now.

Well.

You're not going to say the first, you're not going to carry through on the second, and Mami is still in school. Maybe at lunch. That'd be nice.

You sigh. "You've... with what you've told me you've saved hundreds of innocent people, and one of my friends. We can change things for the better, Oriko. You already have."

"I know," the seer agrees with a slight nod. "And... I'm glad I have."

You rub a knuckle against your forehead. "You've been a force for good, in this last week. You deserve to live," you say stubbornly, crossing your arms.

Oriko's gaze drops back to Kirika, wrapped around her waist. The black haired girl smiles up at her, worry in her citrine orange eyes. "Maybe. I would argue the point, but 'deserve' has nothing to do with it."

"Ugh," you mutter softly, before raising your voice. "OK. Look, you say I change the future. Ripples, but changes nevertheless, yeah? Ripples in the right direction can do quite a bit." You close your eyes and exhale slowly, steadily. "Perhaps it's just a question of degrees. What precedes your death? What happens?"

"It varies," Oriko says. "Sometimes, an enemy magical girl. Mostly... cessation. I..." she swallows. "I die. Simple as that."

"Details, Oriko?" you urge gently, leaning forward. "Maybe there's something I could do?"

Oriko shakes her head. "Sabrina, I believe you," she says, giving you a wan, pale smile. "I believe you'll try."

"Oriko, please. I'm sure there's something I can do to assure that you and Kirika get to live in the world you've made," you say, quiet urgency in her voice. "Please. Work with me. Not just for the people you'll save, but for Kirika."

She sighs and nods. "I'll work with you," she says.

[] Write-in


Short update today.

"It's a start," you say. You know she's just humouring you, but... it is a start, and it's more than you had going in to this conversation. You're not going to turn your back on it.

Oriko gives you that damnable faint smile.

You sigh. "OK. I know it's a morbid question, but I need to know - how much time do we have before we hit 'that certain point'?"

"Nineteen days, Sabrina," Oriko says, with ghastly, mirthless smile. "The twenty sixth of April. No further."

Kirika, looking stricken, wraps her arms tighter around the seer with a quiet whimper. Oriko's expression softens as she wraps her own single arm around Kirika, shaking silvery, sweat-matted hair out of her face and holding the girl close.

"Alright," you say, biting your lip. You don't exactly like seeing them in distress, but the only weapon you can wield right now is information, so you'll scrabble for every bit of it you can. "Can you describe the enemy magical girl? It's a long shot, but maybe I'll recognize her?"

Oriko grimaces. "You must understand, if it's a magical girl, then it happens... early. But of the already few times that it is a magical girl... many times, it's Akemi Homura. Other times, Miki Sayaka. Seldom, it's a blonde magical girl with long hair, and green eyes."

She gives you a razor thin, edged smile. "Generally, you do a good job of preventing it. But very rarely..." Sea-green eyes flick over to regard you steadily.

She means you.

You worry at your lower lip. "What do you do that makes that happen?"

"I take matters into my own hands, to preserve your chances of success. I manipulate, I deceive, and I kill," Oriko says with another mirthless smile. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be necessary."

You rock back in your chair. "What do I have to do to avoid that happening?"

"Do not alienate Akemi Homura," Oriko says, twisting her fingers through Kirika's hair. "Virtually anyone bar you, her and Kaname Madoka are... expendable. I doubt that you like the word, but it's simple fact."

"I don't like the notion, Oriko," you say, frowning. "And you know it."

Oriko shakes her head. "Don't spread yourself too thin."

You sigh. "What else can you tell me?" you ask. You're not going to convince her on this, and she's not going to convince you. "Anything at all, no matter how significant, about the feathers and the... murders." You pause, exhaling. "Everything, Oriko. I need your help - you're the only one who can help, here."

"Mmm," Oriko says, not really agreeing nor disagreeing. "Where do I start... The feathers. They're quite large. About two handspans long, and about so thick." She holds up her fingers about five centimetres, two inches, apart. "Black coloured, with white coloured afterfeathers, I believe the term is. I have no idea what kind of bird they might come from; I'm not an ornithologist."

"Right," you agree, contemplatively. That matches with the feather you'd found, then, the one still riding in one of your Grief spheres. Absently, you mentally check your metaphorical inventory - bag of Grief marbles, obrez and lunchbox in said bag... Homura's Witch notebook, assault rifle, ammunition, gold.

All in order, then. "Go on, Oriko?"

"When I encounter them in my visions... It's like snow. The feathers just fall, and they shroud out the vision in question," she says, frowning in concentration. "It's like... static on a television."

Oriko pauses for a moment. "Could we have a Soul Gem cleanse?" she asks, gesturing at hers and Kirika's Soul Gems.

"Sure," you say. "I was going to ask soon, actually." You twitch a finger, drawing free the Grief swirling within the two Soul Gems. A considerable amount in both of them - a touch more in Kirika's, but not by much. You huff out a quiet sigh. "Anyway, go on, Oriko?"

The seer nods. "The deaths... Generally, you're away," she says. "It's close to Walpurgisnacht, and you feel the need to arrange for more allies."

"And if I stick close to Mitakihara?" you ask.

"Does not materially change the outcome," Oriko asks. "Your presence... I would hazard a guess that the, the, entity avoids your direct presence." She raises a finger. "I don't know whether it's an entity or not, merely that... it doesn't happen directly in your presence."

"Alright," you say. "How does it happen, generally?"

"Soul Gem, rarely," Oriko says "Sometimes, the feathers." She makes a little gesture with her hand, holding up her clenched fist before suddenly snapping it open, fingers spread. "You must realise, I don't see every outcome. Merely some possible ones."

You sigh. And there it is again. "Alright," you say again, and trying to remember everything Oriko said. Not that you really have trouble remembering things. Sure, sometimes you have trouble recalling things, but you generally have a good memory for details. "I'll... talk to Mami and Homura about this later, and we'll come up with a plan. We'll beat this, OK?" You glance at Kirika. "Kirika, we'll beat this."

The black haired girl gives you a smile that's a shadow of her usual bright, sunny grins. "Yeah," she says. "We'll beat this."

You heave a sigh. "Right. We'll come back to this later," you say. "For now... we need to figure out a better solution for your headaches than my ring. It'll only last as long as I can stay here, after all. But Oriko, keep what I said in mind, OK?"

Oriko nods silently, giving you a wan smile. "I appreciate it, Sabrina. I really do."

You smile back at them. "Anyway... I'd like to take this outside - I think some fresh air would be good for everyone?"

"Sure!" Kirika chirps, a stronger smile returning to her face. "Oriko?"

The seer shrugs, pushing herself to upright. Kirika bounces to her feet, and turns around to help Oriko up.

"By the way, Oriko," you say as the three of you start heading out of the room.

"Yes?" Oriko asks.

"Did you find any problems with the clear Seed?" you ask. "Did it work OK?"

"No, I did not," the seer replies. "It seemed perfectly fine for usage, though judging from your expression earlier, something unusual might be up with the Seed?"

"Maybe," you say. "But barring that investigation... I'm thinking of distributing these to my friends and other magical girls. What do you think?"

Oriko shrugs. "It seems unwise, if there's something bothering you about them, but apart from that, we've had no trouble with it over the time we've been using it."

"Excellent," you say, rubbing at your nose. "It's not a full solution to the, ah, resource problem, but I'm intending to develop alternatives. Independence from Grief Seeds."

"I wish you the best of luck," Oriko offers, smiling faintly at you.

"Thanks," you say as you reach the garden, pushing open the glass door. "... say, Oriko?" you add as you remember something. "What ever happened to that Kyuubey body you stuck in a cat carrier?"

"I let it go after a while," Oriko says with an ambivalent shrug as she wanders over to the small table in the garden, Kirika following and pulling a chair out for her. "I wanted to keep it away from your lunchtime conversation."

"Oh. Is that all?" you say, joining the duo at the table and sitting down opposite to them.

Oriko shrugs. "Sometimes, it's the little things?"

"... sure," you agree. "Anyway... enchantment magic. I talked to Mami and she gave me the green light."

"Oh?" Oriko asks cautiously.

"Yeah... OK, do you know what enchantment magic can do?" you ask rhethorically.

Oriko and Kirika both shake their heads, the latter adding a cheery, "Nope!"

"Basically anything a magical girl's normal magic can," you say. "So, reinforcing, shielding, extending, and... hopefully, pain blocking."

"I see," Oriko says. "That's your plan, then?"

"Yeah," you agree. "I'm hoping we can figure it out here and now? It might take time, but I'm hoping to make a substitute for the ring."

Oriko nods. "That makes sense. Judging from your choice of words, though, you don't know how to do it?"

"No, I don't," you confirm. "I think... well, there's two reasons. First so that you can have your own pain blocking ring, and second..." you rub at your nose. "I'm hoping we can use enchantment to turn a clear Seed into a Soul Gem."

"... I see," Oriko says. "That might be possible?"

[] Write-in


I presume your next vote will be experimenting with enchantment - so cover that, and then lunch.

As an additional note, my rate of updates this week is likely to slow down even more, unfortunately - upcoming midterms.

First things first, then, you need something disposable you can afford to break. Multiple somethings. Hmmm...

"Oriko? Can I grab some of the pebbles?" you indicate the polished rocks lining the rosebeds. "I'm... well, we're quite likely to break a fair number of them."

The silver haired girl indicates the rocks with a regal, 'go ahead' gesture, and a flick of attention and sliver of Grief scoops up a round dozen, dropping with a clatter to the table.

You grab one. It's cool and smooth to the touch, and you balance it on the flat of your palm, displaying it to Oriko and Kirika. "Alright," you say. "So enchantment. It's as... simple... as channeling magic into an object with the intent to do something. There's a... way of twisting the magic that Japanese isn't really adequate for explaining, or even any human language, and I haven't really mastered it yet."

"If it's simple, then how come you haven't mastered it yet?" Kirika asks. There's no malice in her tone. Just curiosity in the birdlike tilt of her head.

"Simple isn't the same as easy," you say with a shrug. "Lifting a car engine is simple. But it's not easy.' You pause for a moment. "For a non magical girl, I mean."

"OK, that makes sense," Kirika says, nodding rapidly and swiping a rock from the table to bounce in her hand. "So how do we do it?"

"Well... I was thinking that I'd show you how it works, first. And then we can all practice and try and get it?" you say, glancing at Oriko. "Just a general idea first, to see roughly which way to go?"

The seer looks dubious, but nods slowly.

"Alright, so... I'm going to try and put a barrier shield on the rock," you say.

You take a breath and reach for that feeling, that wellspring of power, and the memory of how Mami did it. You've practiced this. Not to any great success, but you have. Magic trickles up your fingers, the sensation almost like a warm blush rising underneath your skin, before it bubbles into the rock at your focus.

You try to shape the magic. You try to bring to mind how Mami did it, and you try to imitate it. The magic twists like this and then curls this wa-

Crack.

You scowl at the shattered rock in annoyance, and drop the shards to the table. "... well, yeah," you say. "That's what happens when you do it wrong. Haven't gotten it right yet, though." You dust your hands off, and pick up one of the three fragments instead.

"Cool! Lemme try," Kirika says, assuming an expression of great concentration as she stares down at the rock. "Hnnnnnngh."

Oriko's eyes widen a hair, and she smacks Kirika's hand lightly. "No."

Kirika makes a confused face. "No?"

"No," Oriko repeats.

"Oh," Kirika says sadly.

"Too much," the seer says tartly.

"Ohh," Kirika says, nodding. "What if-"

Oriko shakes her head.

Another pout.

You tilt your head, eyeing the pair. "Yeaaah," you say. "Control's the tricky part of this. Which is sadly my worst part."

Oriko nods, pushing through the pile of rocks and selecting one for herself. "Control," she murmurs to herself, frowning at the rock. She continues to frown at it for a minute, without actually doing anything - but you can feel her Soul Gem, now in Kirika's pocket, start to fill with Grief.

You take a moment to consider her Soul Gem - still the same, defitionally non-Euclidean inversion on itself. It's not... grinding on itself, per se, merely twisting itself into a tighter and tighter wound knot.

"Oriko?" you ask.

"I'm trying to determine the best way to do this," she says.

"Right," you say. "I'm just going to try, OK?"

Oriko shrugs. "Go ahead, Kirika."

The black haired girl, mouth half open to ask, blinks and grins, holding up her rock.

Magic flares, and the rock crumbles.

"... Oh," Kirika says, shoulders drooping and voice sounding utterly woebegone as she looks down at the sand sifting through her fingers. "Oh."

Oriko replaces her rock on the table with a quiet plunk and pats Kirika on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Sabrina?" Mami's voice intrudes on your head.

"Hey, Mami," you say as you refocus your attention on the shard of rock in your hand. "How are you?"

"Ah... I'm doing OK," Mami says. "I was wondering about you..."

You find yourself smiling, some of the pent up stress and tension relaxing from you. It's not a hug, but it's nice to hear Mami's voice. "I'm OK, Mami. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"Don't be silly," Mami says. You can hear the warm smile lighting up her face.

"Mmm," you say, not really agreeing or disagreeing.

"What are you doing?" she asks. "Um... If you're not too busy to tell me."

"No, I always have time for you," you say, smiling. You let magic seep gently into the stone fragment on your palm, trying to keep it slow and controlled. "I'm practising enchantment right now, trying to see if I can replicate the anti-pain ring."

"Ah, sorry," Mami says. "We never did find the time to practice it."

Crack. That would be your rock shattering. You grimace, and drop the fragments to the table.

"If anything, it's my fault," you say, poking the broken shards around. "I keep tripping over... well, everything."

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't, Sabrina," Mami says softly.

"That doesn't make it good," you counter, choosing the largest remaining shard and trying to channel magic into it again.

"I... Sabrina?" Mami says, voice worried. "I... don't want to argue with you."

You sigh. "OK." Magic ripples from your fingers, seeping slowly into the rock, and- crack. "Ugh," you grunt under your breath, dropping the splinters to the table.

You sift through the remains in annoyance for a moment. "Mami? I'm not mad at you or anything."

"A-alright," Mami says. "Um... How's the enchantment going?"

"Not terribly well," you admit, absently checking on Kirika and Oriko. The black haired girl has reduced another two stones to fragments, whereas... Oriko's still staring at her rock. You take a moment to cleanse all of your Soul Gems. "I do wish I could have gotten your help."

"I'd be glad to," Mami says. "When we can?"

"Yeah," you agree, smiling as you pick up yet another shard.

"Alright... I'll see you at lunch?" Mami asks. You can hear faint relief and warmth in her voice.

"Yeah. Of course, Mami," you say. "See you soon."

"See you," Mami says, and ends the connection.

You exhale slowly, finding yourself still smiling. Kirika looks up to catch your eye and grin, the smirk threatening to split her face in two.

You raise your eyebrow at her, but the grin doesn't abate. If anything, it widens.

You shake your head, though the smile remains on your face. "Anyway... I'm going to try and make something else, OK?" you inform Oriko and Kirika. "Gonna be Witchy again."

Then again, the two of them are dealing with the rather Witchy pain blocking ring just fine, aren't they? Still best to warn them, you figure, reaching out and pulling with your mind.

Oriko nods, whereas Kirika gives you a thumbs up, dusting off the remains of try number... you're not even sure. You lost count somewhere. "Cool," she says. "Whatcha making?"

"An enhancer for control. I hope," you say, holding out your hand just in time for a Grief sphere to smack into it.

"Oooh," Kirika says brightly. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Well yes, I thought so too," you say, focusing on the Grief. Enhancement of enchantment control... Heh. Alliterative. Hm. You bear down on the Grief with your will, twisting and prodding and mouldin-

-and it's done. A gleaming steel bracelet sits innnocuously in your palm, humming faintly in your senses.

"Shiny," Kirika observes.

"Yep," you agree. It always feels so easy, you muse as you slip the bracelet on. "How long did that take me?"

"A few minutes," Oriko says.

"Hmm," you say, filing that thought away for later and flexing your fingers. It doesn't feel any different, so... Testing time! You snag a fresh rock from the table, holding it flat on your palm, and start to pour magic into it again.

Right away, you notice the Grief, tiny slivers of it wicking away and intermingling with the silvery fire of your magic. Nearly imperceptible, but... They're there. Your lips curl in annoyance, but you force yourself to stay the course.

"It doesn't hold," Oriko notes quietly, eyeing the rock in your hand.

"Hrrrm," you say, magic still seeping into the rock. Finally, you... stop. It feels like the right place to stop, as if you're tying off a knot in the magic.

You blink at the rock. It looks normal to your senses, but it... resonates in your senses, a miniature, crackling silver storm. Not too different from how it felt when Mami did it.

"Cooooool," Kirika says, ogling the rock. She reaches across the table and snags the rock, tossing it from hand to hand.

"... Huh," you say. "Smack it with a rock or something? It's supposed to be a defensive barrier."

"Sure," Kirika says cheerfully, grabbing another rock and bringing it down on the glowing barrier. It bounces off with a resounding chime and flash of light. "Cooooool."

"It doesn't hold, though," Oriko murmurs, watching as Kirika smacks the enchanted stone again with another rock - the black haired girl seems to take an extraordinary amount of delight in the chiming noise. "When you leave the area."

"Well, damn," you mutter. Just to confirm, you reach for the faint specks of Grief drifting within the enchantment, and extract those with a thought.

The magic collapses, and Kirika's next blow with the rock ends with a dismal, clacking noise of stone on stone. "Awww," she pouts.

"Hrrrm," you grumble. You'd... sort of expected this, to be honest. It's not like Science! isn't useful, but... it seems like effects touched by Grief remains touched by Grief. With one exception that you've found so far - moving that rosebush. Which is still uprooted. It's right over there, leaves slowly withering. "No shortcuts, it seems."

Oriko shrugs, looking faintly annoyed.

"Alright, then," you say with a sigh. "We do it the hard way, then."

The seer nods, starting to turn that rock over and over slowly in her hand, still eyeing it slowly. Tentatively, she channels a little magic into it, but pulls back quickly, shaking her head.

You sigh, returning your focus to a new rock. Your mind wanders as you work, vaguely wondering about setting up a website for meguca. You could probably make a server out of Grief, though goodness knows how that would work. And a magic wifi connection.

Hah. You could get Megane to be a moderator.

Then again, maybe you could make moderators of your own out of Grief. But that'd require intelligence, probably maybe. Which... suggests that you'd need Familiars of some kind. Which is an old, old topic. You're not a Witch. Totally. You're pretty sure. You swear.

Which does rather lead you to the whole Grief problem, doesn't it? You kind of want to find a way to dispose of Grief without Kyuubey being involved. Cut it out of the loop entirely. On the other hand, it is harmless-ish, at least on that aspect - it wants Grief, pure and simple. And there are more important things to handle before you can get to it, like hopefully working out enchantment and de-Witching and spending time with your friends.

Time passes slowly, with another call from Mami but without much success - by the time it's eleven thirty, none of you have made much success at all.

Kirika's looking increasingly disappointed and bored, sorting through a large pile of rock flakes, whereas Oriko's still spending most of her time just staring at her own rock. She's still on her first one.

You've gone through a fair number yourself.

Tsk.

You tilt your head back, staring at a lone cloud drifting through the clear blue sky, musing. It's about time to go for lunch now, which means... you glance sidelong at Oriko.

"Yes?" the seer asks quietly.

[] Write-in


Midterms are still ongoing, but have an update. Written entirely during my daily commutes.

Here ends Book 2, chapter 4: Residue Processing. The next update will be chapter 5: This Mortal Coil.

"I think..." you purse your lips as you consider the possibilities, turning thoughts over. "I'm going to ask Mami to make you a substitute for the pain blocking ring."

Oriko gives you a look conveying extreme dubiousness, but you cut off her probably biting rejoinder with a raised hand. "I don't know if she can or if she'll agree, or if Homura will help out," you say. "But I'm going to ask. Which segues into my next point nicely."

"And what is that?" Oriko asks, putting her rock down on the table, running her hand wearily over her face. Her skin's still kind of sallow, really, not entirely recovered from the... whatever it was.

"The two of you need to continue practicing, too," you say. "Use the clear Seed for cleansing, and... Oriko, no shortcuts. That means no precog. I'll be honest - I considered giving Kirika a squirt bottle to use for when you try to substitute precog for actual work." Kirika jerks straight up in her chair, a grin spreading across her face.

Oriko gives you an unimpressed look. "I'm sure that won't be necessary, Sabrina," she says.

"I dunno. I say 'considered', but really I mean 'am considering'," you say, leaning back and crossing your arms. "Look, Oriko, I think enchantment is more like learning the piano or some other skill. It's a skill, and precog won't help much - you need to try, and probably fail, and keep trying."

The seer blinks slowly, before nodding fractionally.

You're not really sure if she's agreeing or just humouring you, but well, it's Oriko. She thinks in lines about as straight as she herself is.

"What will you do if Tomoe Mami is unwilling to help?" Oriko asks quietly.

You purse your lips. "I was going to cross that bridge when I came to it, to be honest. There are really only two good options I can think of, and neither of them are good ones."

"I see," Oriko says. "What are they?"

You shake your head. "Let me check with Mami and Homura first," you say. "What I have in mind are really backup options, and maybe I'll think of something in the meantime."

"Does that happen much?" Kirika pipes up.

"Eh?" you ask intelligently.

"Thinking of things like, like-" Kirika snaps her fingers. "Like that. I know I get all sorts of ideas all the time but Oriko usually tells me they're bad ideas."

Oriko chuckles, reaching out to pat Kirika's hand lightly. Kirika turns her hand over and catches Oriko's, interlacing their fingers.

You shrug. "Well, yeah, kind of," you say. "I think fast."

"Neat," Kirika says.

"I'm not sure they're always good ideas, either," Oriko says, raising an aristocratic eyebrow at you.

You reply with a gimlet stare, raising an eyebrow to match hers. "Anyway, anything else you need to tell me before I remove the bracelets?"

Oriko meets your eyes squarely. You can hear Kirika shifting about to the side, the Grief bracelet on her wrist moving as you lock eyes with the silver haired girl, raising your eyebrow in silent challenge. Oriko speaks after a moment, her voice slow and quiet. "Thank you for trying, Sabrina," she says.

You shrug. "It's... well, as Mami likes to say, I wouldn't be me if I didn't," you say.

"Nevertheless," Oriko replies.

A sigh. "You're welcome, Ori-"

A muffled giggle-snort interrupts you, and both your heads snap around to stare at Kirika. The black haired girl has her hand clamped over mouth, stifling her laughter. There is a conspicuous lack of bracelet on her wrist, which means...

"Kirika..." Oriko says chidingly, only to be answered by another explosion of giggles. Kirika practically howls with laughter, one hand thumping against the table. The seer rolls her eyes fondly as she removes her own bracelet, depositing it on the table.

You remove yours, too, dropping it on the table. A twist of will has all three bracelets dissolving into wispy, deep purple smoke you draw away to rejoin the main mass of Grief lurking out of sight.

"Alright, so, I'm going to go check with Mami and Homura," you say. "Oriko, do something about Kirika before she chokes on her tongue or something."

Oriko raises an unimpressed eyebrow at you while you reach out for your friends. "Mami, Homura?" you say.

"Yes?" Homura responds first, followed by Mami. "Hi, Sabrina."

"Hey," you say with a smile. "I... well, bad news. I wasn't able to make a substitute for the pain blocker in time. Could I ask for a favour?"

Kirika hops to her feet, wandering over to a small gardening shed. You take a moment to boggle at its existence - in Japan? Then again, given the size of the grounds attached to the Mikuni residence...

Abruptly, Oriko groans, glaring at you. You quirk an eyebrow at her.

"Of course, Sabrina," Mami says. "What do you need?"

"Well, I was wondering, could you both come over here really quickly?" you say, raising your eyebrow as Kirika emerges with a bulge tucked under her shirt. "Then, Mami, could you make a substitute for the pain blocking ring?"

Out loud, you speak to Oriko. "What?"

"I... Sabrina, each enchantment effect needs to be figured out separately. It might take me anywhere from hours to days," Mami says slowly. "I can, but it'll take time..."

"This is your fault," Oriko says, sounding faintly aggrieved.

"Ah. Right," you say, disappointed. You were... kind of prepared for failure, really. "Well, with timestop...?" You raise your other eyebrow at Oriko. "... what?"

"No," Homura says, her voice final. "Not for her."

You exhale slowly, closing your eyes. Not unexpected. Which means more to do for your already over-full plate.

"Alright," you say. "That's OK."

"Sorry, Sabrina," Mami says softly.

"It's not your fault, Mami, not at all," you reply. "Not yours either, Homura. I get it."

"I... Alright," Mami says. "Um..."

"I'll see you at lunch, Mami," you say, smiling. You quirk your eyebrow at the seer, who's grumpily folded her arms. Kirika's nowhere to be seen. "Of course I will. You too, Homura."

"Ah... alright," Mami says, a note of relief in her voice. "See you soon, Sabrina."

"See you," Homura echoes.

You sigh again as the connection closes. So much for that. And no new ideas, either... Feh.

"Oriko?" you say.

She sighs, and nods.

"Yeah. I suppose you can guess," you murmur, as Kirika reappears at the table, setting a filled squirt bottle dow-

Oh.

Ohhh.

That is your fault.

Kirika's bright grin fades a moment later. "What's wrong?"

"I have to go," you say heavily. "And that means that the ring will go, and the pain will come back."

"Oh," Kirika says. Silently, she grabs Oriko's hand, squeezing.

"I... have two options for you, Oriko," you say. "One is you endure the pain. I'll be back soon, with Mami, and we'll crack this together. She's much better at this than I am."

"What's the other option?" Kirika asks, subdued.

"I disconnect Oriko from her Soul Gem, temporarily," you say. "I'll give her Soul Gem to you, Kirika, to watch over, and if you need to wake her up, then you just need to give it back to her." You shift your gaze to Oriko. "It's your choice. Either way, I promise it'll be temporary."

Kirika sags in place, and you can feel despair spiking in her Gem. "... Oh," she says. "Nothing else you can do?"

[] Write-in

Firnagzen said:

"Eh?" Mami says. "I've... never really found any limits, no. It's just... each effect needs to be figured out on its own, so it takes time and Grief Seeds."

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

If you have any new ideas, now's the time. Otherwise, Oriko'll be picking one of the two. Additionally, the next post will probably take you through to lunch, so vote accordingly.

You lick your lips. "I... maybe one last idea, Kirika? I don't have much hope for it, but..."

"Anything," Kirika says, perking up a bit.

"Do you think you can channel your antimagic, Kirika?" you ask. "Make it continuous?"

"I t-tried before," Kirika says, an unfamiliar tremor in her voice. "Earlier."

"Do you think you can put your power into something?" you ask. "Buffer it somehow, and that might work?"

"I don't know," Kirika says. Sudden determination crosses her face, and she snatches up a rock from the table. "Let's find out." She takes a deep breath, a frown of concentration crossing her face. You can feel the roiling, nauseating disruption of anti-magic start to build up again, and you steel yourself as shuddering pulses start to roll off the other girl.

You glance at the other girl sitting at the table. "I... long shot, but Oriko? Can you think of, or see, any other magical girl that could help?"

Oriko presses her lips together, shaking her head. "Do you think I haven't thought about it?" Her lips curl into a momentary, mirthless smirk. "I only used my powers for part of it, too."

You sigh. "There goes that idea, then," you say. Defeat is a rather bitter pill to swallow, even as... minor... as this is.

"There's a magical girl from Europe," Oriko says. "She can affect Soul Gems. And... Asunaro. I don't recommend going there, though." She shudders slightly.

You sit up straight, excitement and... trepidation filling your gut. Asunaro. "Really?" you say, before grimacing. "Doesn't help us now, though."

Oriko shrugs, looking tired and resigned. "The magical girl from Europe will be arriving in just over a week," she says.

"... really? Of her own volition?" you ask.

She shrugs again. "Word of your exploits is going to will have spread."

"Huh," you say. "Anyway, that's not really helpful now, though I suppose as a last ditch we can try and see if we can entice them to come over..." You exhale wearily.

The three of you fall silent, Kirika worrying away at her piece of stone, while you and Oriko look away, lost in your own thoughts. You chew at your lip, contemplating what other tricks you can attempt with your Grief, and how you're going to proceed from here on out. Part of you thinks that devoting more time to figuring things out can only be helpful, but on the other hand...

What are your goals? How do you win?

It's a difficult question to answer.

Here and now, though...

"Disconnect me," Oriko whispers, finally. "I'm sorry, Kirika."

Kirika makes a despairing noise in the back of her throat, tossing the river stone on the table and turning to Oriko.

You shake your head, exhaling as you look to the side. "I'm... I'm sorry," you say regretfully.

"Oriko..." Kirika begs. "There's got to be something. Sabrina, can't you stay?"

"I... I'm sorry," you say. "I have to be elsewhere. I'll come back soon."

"Sabrina?" Oriko gives you a wan smile. "Give us a moment?"

"Yeah. Of course," you say, pushing yourself off the chair. "And hey. This isn't goodbye, not between the two of you, or the three of us. OK? You better not be saying goodbyes, because I'll be back, and I'll fix this."

Kirika nods. "Y-yeah. OK."

"Understood, Sabrina," Oriko gives you another tired smile.

"Right," you nod firmly, stepping around the corner.

You wander around a corner of the Mikuni mansion, leaving the pair behind. You stare up at the white-painted building, and... there's streaks of dried, crusty stuff here and there. The smell, old and weathered, is enough to tell you what it is - rotten egg.

Nothing you didn't know, but... still.

Honestly, a house being egged in Japan is rather odd, but Mitakihara's a tad more westernised than most places, you suppose.

You brush your hand along the hedge as you wander.

Ficus foxtrot.

You can feel the Grief building in Kirika's and Oriko's Soul Gems, and... yeah, they're cleansing. They're using Aurora, which is well enough.

You sigh, and continue walking.

It really would be nice if you could be in more than one place at once, or if you could have Familiars, or space distortion of some kind. Down that path lies increasingly insistent claims of your non-Witchhood, though. Not exactly a problem, but, uh, unfortunate implications.

A telepathic ping interrupts your thoughts. "Sabrina? We're done" Oriko.

"On my way back," you respond, quickening your steps.

You round the building a few minutes later, and you find Kirika sitting across Oriko's lap, arms wrapped around the other girl in a tight hug. Both are dry eyed, but Kirika seems a hairsbreadth away from it. A silver Soul Gem sits on the table.

"Take it," Oriko whispers.

You nod, walking over. "I'll be back soon."

You claim Oriko's Soul Gem, holding it carefully in your hand. Kirika looks like she wants to stop you, but... she holds her tongue, and keeps her arms around Oriko.

You open your mouth to apologize, but what could you say? Instead, you simply sigh, and start walking away, pulling your phone out with your free hand to check the time. Enough of it.

Threading through the rose bushes, you walk away from Oriko and Kirika.

And eventually, you feel the wispy fires of magic connecting Oriko to her Soul Gem simply wink out.

And you feel the Grief in Kirika's Soul Gem spike once more.

You make your way back, finding Kirika cradling Oriko's body. Bright, citrine eyes look up, dry and fierce as you present Oriko's Soul Gem to her.

"You better come back soon," she says, accepting the silvery Gem with both hands.

"I know," you say. "I will. Kirika... you can wake her up. As and when you need to. It's just as if she went to sleep. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Kirika says. "Just..." She smooths a hand along Oriko's cheek.

"I get it," you say.

You could mistake Oriko for a corpse. No breathing, no heartbeat.

"Yeah," Kirika says lamely, getting to her feet. "I'll bring her upstairs."

"Kirika, wait," you say, crossing the distance and catching the black haired girl in a hug. She stiffens in your arms for a moment, before sagging into the hug, her hands hanging limply at her side, Oriko's Soul Gem clutched in one.

"I'm not giving up," you say firmly. "We will fix this. I'll be back soon, OK?"

Kirika nods slowly.

You hold the hug for a moment longer, before releasing Kirika and stepping back. She gives you a weak grin. "Do you think she'd be mad if I drew on her face?"

"Probably," you say. "Do it anyway."

Kirika grins a little. "Yeah, probably."

You take a moment to ponder on the fact that Kirika's Wish probably means that deep down inside, Oriko secretly likes the, ah, quirkiness.

Heh.

"Alright. See you in a bit, Kirika," you say, focusing a moment to draw the Grief away from her and Oriko's Soul Gems, as well as your own. Kirika barely seems to notice. "I need to get going."

"See ya," she says.

You focus for a moment, and your Grief wings billowing from your shoulders, deep, starry fractal patterns blooming across their breadth. You launch yourself skyways, the last you see of Kirika being her picking up Oriko's body in a careful bridal carry.

You swoop over the city, flicking into a barrel roll with your coat snapping all around you as sky and earth tumble around you. And then you follow up with an aileron to, also known as that thing most people think a barrel roll is.

It doesn't take you terribly long to arrive at Mitakihara Middle, and you alight on the roof, folding your wings carefully to avoid the fences before dissolving them.

The bell rings a few moments later, and you can hear the resounding scrape of chairs as a thousand students stand near simultaneously. It's only a few minutes later when you hear pelting footsteps at the stairwell, and Mami emerges a split second later.

You meet her halfway across the roof, sweeping her into a hug - or maybe she sweeps you into a hug. Same difference. "Hi, Mami," you say, letting yourself relax, just a little.

"Hi, Sabrina," Mami responds. "How are you?"

[] Write-in


You've got a moment or two to talk to Mami before the others get to the roof.

It takes you just a heartbeat to decide.

You let your guard down.

You let yourself feel the weight.

"Tired," you whisper, answering honestly. "So very tired."

"Sabrina?" Mami asks. "What's wrong?"

You take a shuddering breath. "Too many things happening at once. Just... too many things going wrong, all at once," you say. "I don't... I don't think I can deal with everything."

And sometimes, you wonder if you can deal with anything.

There's so much to do to set up for the future. Walpurgisnacht and Feathers and... magical girls, and Witches. You need to figure out something, but there's precious little for you to start from. You think that enchantment might help you with de-Witching, and you don't know what you'll do if you can't.

"Oh, Sabrina," Mami says, hugging you close. You close your eyes, just letting her soothe you. She nudges you over towards the bench - you're aware of Homura and Sayaka and Madoka and Hitomi arriving, but Madoka obviously urges them to pull back for a moment.

"You don't have to deal with everything alone," Mami whispers gently, rubbing your back soothingly.

It feels odd, being the one comforted.

"I'm-" you say, voice hitching. "I'm trying."

It's true. You involve your friends where you can, but you're so worried for Mami. You're worried for Homura, and now Sayaka. And not to forget Madoka, either. You worry about how much you can put on them, and... maybe more practically than that, they don't have the time to spare, either.

"Alright," Mami says, still hugging you. "I'm always willing to help you, OK? However I can."

It feels nice, being the one comforted.

You breathe out. "Yeah," you agree. Yeah. She is. A faint smile touches your face. "Thanks, Mami."

"Oh, Sabrina... you've done so much for me," she breathes. "Me, and everyone else. It's the least I can do."

"Mm," you say. "How are you doing, Mami?" you ask.

"I'm... alright," she answers. "I'm worried about you, Sabrina."

"Yeah... Things'll work out, I'm sure," you say, smiling up at Mami. "Besides, I have you and everyone, to help me, right?"

"Right," Mami says firmly. "We can talk over lunch?"

"Yea-"

Sayaka cuts you off. "Hi, Sabrina!" she calls nonchalantly, stretching grandly as if she's just arrived. Madoka, Homura, and Hitomi follow her out of the stairwell. "How're you doing?"

You give her a flat look. "I -we- knew you were there," you say tartly, glancing at Mami. She nods in confirmation. "And you're a terrible actress."

"We didn't look!" Madoka protests.

"I know," you say, smiling as you look around at all your friends, all wandering into the roof - Madoka and Hitomi have rather sheepish expressions, and Sayaka's looking somewhat abashed. Homura is... Homu-ing. She's mildly annoyed, you think, which is frankly to be expected.

Ah, well.

Everyone settles themselves on the stone benches - Madoka on the bench opposite to you, Sayaka and Homura on her left and right. Hitomi sits, at Sayaka's insistence, on her other side. Mami sits beside you, of course.

"Are you alright, Sabrina?" Madoka asks, soft pink eyes anxious as you all start in on your lunch.

"Yeah... more or less," you say with a smile. "I've just had a long morning. A few long days, really."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sayaka says, glancing up at you from her lunch. "Saved any kittens this morning?"

"... in a manner of speaking," you say. A pair of white and black kittens, in point of fact. A fairly adorable pair.

"What, really?" Sayaka asks, giving you a quizzical look.

"Kiiiind of," you say. You sigh, pressing your lips together. "Though... well. I need to talk to all of you."

Everyone takes notice of that. Mami sits up a little straighter, setting her lunchbox aside for the moment, while Madoka turns an anxious expression on you. Sayaka and Hitomi both look rather curious, tempered by worry. Homura frowns slightly, looking faintly worried.

"What is it, Sabrina?" Mami asks.

"It... well, I might have made our lives more complicated," you say. "Not to put too fine a point on it - I'm... just about unique, as magical girls are. It's not boasting or anything. My powers, my ability to cleanse Grief is unique." You're explaining more for Madoka and Hitomi and Sayaka's benefit, really.

Mami nods.

"Go on," Homura prompts, voice quiet. There's a small frown on her face - she knows where this is going.

You grimace. "I might have made our lives more complicated. I haven't exactly been keeping it quiet, so... word's probably-" no probably about it, but bringing up Oriko is a whole other can of worms, "-spreading. And we might be getting... immigrants at some point."

"I see," Homura says, frown smoothing out into an impassive mask.

She's hiding.

Mami purses her lips. "That... could be problematic," she says thoughtfully. "Mitakihara can't support too many more magical girls." She glances at you. "I mean, I'm sure you can help, Sabrina, but you can't be everywhere."

"Yeah, I know," you agree. "That's why I'm worried about it. And it's more people to manage and more people who might have conflicts with each other."

Homura exhales. "We'll just turn them away," she says without any particular emphasis - but you know what she means.

"Oh..." Madoka says, wringing her hands. "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Don't be silly, Madoka!" Sayaka exclaims, clapping the pinkette on the back. "We'll handle it. Right, Mami? Sabrina, Homura?"

[] Write-in


Open mouth...

You click your tongue, your mind whirling with thoughts, sparked from an innocent comment. You didn't give it much thought earlier, but... Meguca, magical girls, trickling in from as far away as Europe. That implies things, doesn't it? No, wait, answer Sayaka first.

"Yeah," you say with a nod at Sayaka. "Yeah, we probably can, if we're careful."

Mami nods with a confident smile. "We can handle it."

Even Homura essays a minute nod in response, her lips still pressed together into a thin line. She probably means it differently from you, but... the united front somewhat reassures Madoka. The pinkette relaxes a little, returning to her lunch.

"On that note, though?" You look from Sayaka, to Madoka, to Hitomi. "Never, and I mean never, talk to an unfamiliar magical girl without backup. You won't know what they want, or what they could do."

"Ah... is there that much danger?" Hitomi asks, green eyes sharp as they focus on you.

You nod again. "There could be," you say, waving your chopsticks in the air. "Most magical girls are... selfish, at the least. Magical girls as nice as Mami are rare."

"Or you, Sabrina," Mami says, smiling warmly at you.

You shrug. "Anyway, point being, be careful, all of you."

Madoka nods seriously.

... you can't help but remember that her first reaction to finding you in an alleyway was to try and help you. And she cheerfully went along with Kyouko, once upon a never, even after her first and second introductions to the other girl was the redhead beating up Sayaka.

Hitomi's measured, thoughtful nod you can probably trust.

Sayaka shrugs. "Yeah, OK. So what else?"

You pick up some rice with your chopsticks and chew on it thoughtfully for a moment.

"Hmm..." you say. "As far as they'd've come, I don't expect they'll want to turn around."

Hitomi blinks slowly. "How far do you think they'll be coming from? I'm sorry, this is still new to me..."

"I... well," you temporize for a moment. You don't really want to bring Oriko's information up. "Certainly from around Japan, possibly as far as China? And... how fast does word travel, anyway, Mami? Homura?"

"That depends," Mami says. "Word usually travels by wandering magical girls, but I've heard there are some IRCs? Mostly they were set up by girls who split up." She shakes her head. "As near as Korea, and maybe as far as the US. I'm sorry, Sabrina... I can't say more precisely than that."

Which is pretty much the entire world.

"Don't apologise, Mami, that's plenty," you say firmly, laying your chopsticks down to give her a quick hug around the waist. "Hmm. With my power, it shouldn't be an issue to support a fair number of girls. Between clear Seeds and manual cleansing, I can keep them from running high on Grief."

"That many magical girls here will be a, a powderkeg," Mami notes, looking worried.

"Yeah," you agree. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"How bad could it be?" Sayaka asks glibly.

"First of all, don't taunt Murphy like that," you say tartly, waving a finger at the bleunette. "Second of all... teenaged girls, all with superpowers, quite possibly from across the world. It's a recipe for a disaster."

Hitomi chews her lip thoughtfully. "Ah... It seems to me that anyone who comes this far, as you said, would have already put in a large investment," she says, words careful and measured. "If they're so intent on coming here to meet you, Sabrina, wouldn't they want to stay on your good side?"

"I would hope so," you say. "But... what if they're here to... make me an offer I can't refuse? Recruit me by force? Or what if they're just desperate? I'm not sure all of them would be so... innocent."

"We'll defeat them," Mami says firmly. "Between the three -four, sorry, Sayaka- of us, I'm sure we'll win."

You wave your hand. "I just... That's going to be a huge mess. I don't want it happening here," you say. You purse your lips, considering. "We could probably rent them a penthouse or something to live in, I have enough money for that."

"Is that a concern?" Hitomi asks curiously. "If they're already flying all the way here, I don't think housing them is really a problem? I'm sure they can get hotel rooms or something..."

"Teleporting!" Sayaka says brightly. "I'm sure that's a kind of magic, right? So maybe they won't have hotels ready?"

"It's a kind of power," Mami says with a nod. "... Sabrina, how do you have enough money to rent a penthouse?"

You shrug. "Uh, remember when Homura and I raided the Yakuza?"

Mami blinks. "You... oh. Oh. You..."

"Yep," you say cheerfully. "Anyone wants to see what an bona-fide solid gold bar looks like?"

"... You stole from the yakuza?" Sayaka asks, expression torn between disbelief and amusement.

"Homura helped!" you say, pointing at the time traveller. "Well, more like she did all the work, I just tagged along for the shinies." You eye Hitomi. Sometimes, you speculate that she's actually a yakuza princess, but she just seems halfway exasperated and halfway disbelieving.

"Wasn't that dangerous?" Madoka asks, looking worried.

"Nah, not with Homura's powers," you say. "Right, Homura?"

She nods, violet eyes fixed on Madoka. "We weren't in any danger," she agrees.

"Oh... good," Madoka says, smiling a little in relief.

"So, yeah," you say, returning to your lunch. "That's a thing." You savour some of the vegetables, still crisp and crunchy.

"Um..." Mami says tentatively, looking up at you. "I think Hitomi's right, though. I don't think housing the incoming magical girls is going to be much of a problem."

"Hmm... that's fair," you say with a nod. "On the other hand, I have actual gold bars."

"You- gold bars- argh," Sayaka complains.

"It's true!" you say, putting down your chopsticks for a moment and holding out a hand. A moment later, a gold bar plops into your hand, dispensed by a blob of Grief. "See? I think these are pure gold, too."

You hold it out to the other girls - a small slab, not much larger than two fingers out together, but surprisingly heavy for something so small. Mami takes the bar from you, nearly dropping it in surprise.

"... Oh, Sabrina," she says with a fond sigh, turning the bar over in her hands.

"Meh," you say flippantly. "I couldn't not take them."

"Oh, Sabrina," Mami repeats, shaking her head with a smile. She passes the bar to Homura, who takes it, giving it a perfunctory look before passing it to Madoka.

You laugh. "What?"

"You stole gold bars from the yakuza," Sayaka says, starting to make strangling noises.

"Well, yeah," you say. "What else was I suppose to do?"

"But- I- argh-" Sayaka says.

Madoka pats her shoulder, handing her the gold bar. "Eat your lunch, Sayaka," she says.

Sayaka gives the pinkette a baleful glare. "Bah," she grumbles, fiddling with the gold bar. "This thing's a lot heavier than it looks."

Hitomi nods. "Gold is denser, remember?" The greenette, verdette, whatever-ette doesn't seem particularly perturbed by your looting the yakuza, so you'll chalk her down as not a Yakuza princess, then. That, or having a fantastic poker face.

"I know why, I'm just saying," Sayaka grumbles, passing the gold bar onwards.

Lunch proceeds on a lighter note, and you eventually finish, tucking away the gold bar back into the Grief constellation.

"By the way, Madoka?" you say as you pack away your lunch box, letting it clack away amidst the Grief marbles in your bag. "Could I talk with you a moment?"

"Ah? S-sure," Madoka says, giving you a curious, if startled, look. Mami gives you a puzzled look too, and you turn to give her a smile and a quick, one armed hug.

You catch Homura's gaze out of the corner of your eye. "I'm going to try and emphasise that she shouldn't contract," you send telepathically.

She nods fractionally. "Understood," she says. She hesitates for a moment, before continuing. "May I come along?"

[] Write-in


Well that was fun. I accidentally uninstalled the desktop manager from my Linux computer. Whoops.

Not much of a choice there. "Of course," you respond. You give her a quick smile, before turning to Mami. You slip your arm around her in another one armed hug. "We'll be just a few minutes, OK?"

"Alright," she says, returning the smile. She's obviously curious, but she doesn't ask.

You stand, and the three of you head around the corner of the stairwell to talk away from the others. You turn around, finding Madoka looking at you, faint confusion on her face while Homura hovers protectively beside the other girl.

You give Homura a quick smile. Trust me.

She nods fractionally, her violet eyes never leaving yours.

"A-ah, Sabrina? Homura?" Madoka asks, looking between the two of you. "What's this about?"

Homura blinks slowly, tilting her head at you, and Madoka obligingly turns to you, her eyes worried.

A deep breath, and you focus on Madoka. "Madoka...you're probably one of the most important people here, honestly," you say, choosing your words with care. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Homura stiffen. "And, well, I... I want to ask for your help with something."

"I- ah? W-what can I do?" Madoka asks, voice tremulous.

"More than you know," you say, trying to project confidence. The best lie is one that's true. She can do so much more than she knows. "For us magical girls... the most important thing is really to be able to talk about our problems."

"I... Oh. But you're so strong," Madoka says.

You shake your head, smiling sadly. "I know it doesn't feel like much. But it is. To have someone who we can trust, who can keep their head on straight. And I do mean we, Madoka, myself included. It's a lot. It's..." A wave of the hand, as you search for the words. "There are always girls to help fight, but what's rarer, what we need is a good person who cares about us."

"I... I don't understand," Madoka says. "I-is something wrong? I- of course I'll be your friend, Sabrina, and you, Homura. And Sayaka and Mami!"

"Um," you say, mind skidding to a halt as you frantically back up on your speech. "No, Nothing's wrong, per se, just... I'm getting kind of stressed, and I'm worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Madoka asks, pink eyes huge and worried. "A-ah... Nothing's happened to me. Not like Sayaka or you or H-homura or Mami."

"We don't want you to make a contract," Homura says bluntly.

"I-I wasn't thinking about it!" Madoka protests weakly, the little hitch in her throat giving voice to the lie.

Homura seizes the pinkette by the shoulders, spinning Madoka to face her. "Madoka, please. It's not worth it. Nothing's worth you making a contract."

"H-Homura?" Madoka stammers.

"Just... please, don't make a contract," Homura says, quiet despair in her voice. You keep an eye on her Soul Gem - nothing too bad.

"W-what's wrong?" Madoka asks, seeming to sag in on herself. "I- I won't. I won't make a contract, b-but what's wrong?"

"Nothing, not really," you say, trying to reassure her. You step forward, laying a gentle hand on Madoka's shoulder. "Madoka... yeah. We are concerned about you making a contract, Sayaka notwithstanding. It's not worth it, and... there's so much more that we need other than a contract."

"Ah... OK," Madoka says, sounding more confused than anything, what with Homura still clutching at her shoulders in a death grip, head bowed.

You sigh again. "Madoka, you're a good person, and a good friend. Sayaka, Homura, Mami... me. We need someone like you, to keep our heads on straight." You pause, as you hear what you just said.

... in your defense, you hadn't intended the pun.

And Charlotte's long gone, anyway.

"But yeah," you say, shaking your head. "Sometimes... it's easy to lose perspective, to think that there isn't anythng we can do, or that there aren't people who care about us."

"That's not true!" Madoka protests, interrupting you. "I care about everyone!"

Yeah. There's the problem isn't it?

"I know," you say. "And that's so very much, Madoka."

"B-but," Madoka stutters, soft pink eyes darting from Homura to you, and then back again. "I- I don't- what's happening, in the first place?"

[] Write-in


Hmmm.

A moment, hanging in the balance, for you to decide.

You can't tell her everything.

Homura wouldn't approve, and as much as you joke about her being your mom... Her opinion matters - and it matters to you. It really is that simple.

It isn't the right time, in any case. You can just about imagine a little mental Homura scowling at you, her arms crossed. Obsidian and amethyst earring dangling from her ear. She'll veto telling Madoka, of course.

You'll agree with the Homura in your mind on that score - this simply isn't the right time. She'll probably say that there's never a right time to tell Madoka stuff, and you'll disagree with her that. Heh. A hypothetical mental Sayaka would probably take grave issues with your mental Homura, anyway.

Enough daydreaming, even if that was only for a moment. You don't need to turn to check where the others are - you can sense them well enough, and you can hear to low murmur of conversation from them, around the corner.

They're your friends. They wouldn't eavesdrop on you.

Homura's still facing Madoka, head bowed and knuckles nearly white as they dig into the other girl's shoulders.

"Please," Homura whispers. "Just don't."

"I- I won't," Madoka says. "H-homura, you're h-hurting me-"

Homura lets go, as if Madoka had suddenly turned white-hot, shock on her face. "S-sorry," she stammers.

"N-no." Madoka shakes her head. "N-no, I- I know s-something's happening a-and I'm s-sure you have your reasons, so don't apologise."

The time traveller bows her head, expression pained. You check her Soul Gem again - then again, your Grief sense is always there, hovering at the edge of your perception, like how you're always hearing things even if you're not listening, but that's neither here nor there. Homura's Soul Gem is... within acceptable bounds, but you'll cleanse it later.

"Sayaka and her family were attacked by a Witch yesterday evening," you murmur quietly. Madoka's eyes snap to you, widening in alarm. "No, don't worry - they're fine, Madoka. "Nobody was hurt - I mean, you saw Sayaka, and her parents are OK, too. Still a big scare for her, but... they're all unhurt."

"O-oh," Madoka stutters, starting to wring her hands again. "I-I see. That's w-why?"

"Yeah," you sigh, looking away. "One more thing to pile on to a girl who felt helpless, indebted, alone and cornered, with..." Your lips tighten. "With only one way out that she could see... And Kyubey was there to push her over the edge. And that was that. Sayaka Miki became a magical girl."

"T-that's terrible," Madoka says. "H-he did that?"

"He did," you confirm, expression grim and flat. "I... failed her. I did. I saw the signs, and I meant to talk to her, but I underestimated her pain... I thought she'd be better, if she were with her family, but..."

You grimace, eyes dropping to the ground. Simple flagstones, here on the roof. "I left when I should have stayed. When I finally did... too little, too late."

You stare at the ground.

Your fault, isn't it?

You promise so much.

How much have you actually accomplished?

Mami's alive, and... stable. Ish. Dependent on you, but... it was more or less inevitable that she'd need someone. And who else could it have been?

Could you have helped her without breaking her? Without reducing her to hanging on to your every motion, and fretting when you step away?

You don't know. And that's the worst part.

You failed Sayaka.

She's a puella magi, now. With all that that entails. Consigned to a life of fighting, an-

A hand on your shoulder, and your breath suddenly loud in your ears. The distant chatter of the students is gone, as is the distant hum of Mitakihara city.

Time stop.

You look up in faint surprise, finding Homura in her puella magi uniform.

A pair of violet eyes regard you steadily for a long moment.

"How's your Soul Gem?" she asks quietly.

You check quickly, with a bare flick of your attention. "Not too bad," you say. "I'm not... despairing, Homura. Just... reflective. I've done a lot wrong."

She shrugs fractionally. "I've found that Miki Sayaka is destined to contract. That's... not your fault."

"I could have done better," you argue. "I could have, should have, seen it, hell - I did see it. I didn't give it the weight it deserved. I didn't have the time to, and that's my fault, too."

Homura blinks slowly. "You can't take on everything, Sabrina," she says, voice whisper quiet and tired. Weary. "You can do more than most, but even you can't do everything at once. You'll only fail if you do."

[] Write-in


The vote is for what you'll say to Homura - she'll most likely return you to normal time after this.

You swallow. Homura... Homura's trying to comfort you.

"You're all my friends, Homura," you say softly, meeting her eyes. "I want to help. Why else am I here?"

Homura shrugs, a fractional rise and fall of her shoulders. "Are you here for a reason?" she asks, voice quiet.

"I don't know," you mutter, before taking a deep breath, closing your eyes. Madokami above, but it's been a long few days. It feels much, much longer than it's really been. Talking to Mami earlier was nice enough, but still. Things weigh kind of heavily on you.

You exhale, eyes still closed.

"But you're right, Homura," you say softly, straightening up and meeting the time traveller's gaze squarely. "You're right. If I try to do everything, I might end up doing nothing... but I have to do something, at least. Sayaka is... delicate. We both know that."

You sigh, rubbing at your forehead with your knuckles. "Just... I didn't want her to suffer through all of that again. I'll have to make sure she doesn't."

Homura shrugs again. "She's weak," she notes, as if making an observation about the weather. "And she always pulls Madoka down."

"Maybe, maybe not," you sigh again. "Maybe not this time. Damned well not this time, rather." You grimace, and shake your head. "The thing is... she's been Madoka's friend for such a long time."

Homura nods in confirmation, amethyst eyes never leaving yours.

"So beyond failing her, it means I'm that much closer to failing Madoka," you say softly, lips tightening. "And that means I've failed you, Homura. That's... part of why it bothers me so much, because... in a way, I failed all of us when I failed Sayaka." You take another deep breath, steadying yourself. "I can't let that happen again."

The time traveller's eyes shift from you to Madoka, the pinkette frozen in the grey hues of the timestop. "You haven't failed yet," she says, looking back at you. There's an undercurrent of urgency in her quiet voice, a note of worry. "Everyone is... still alive."

You smile wanly at Homura. "I'm OK, Homura," you say. "I'm not despairing. Just... I suppose I'm taking it hard, but not despairing. I don't want t- I can't fail Madoka, because..." you roll your wrist. "It'd mean I've failed the both of you."

She nods slightly.

"I... I want her help with this," you say slowly. "With our friends, with keeping everyone stable. She cares too -too much, maybe- that's arguably the problem. I..." you exhale. "I know it's why she makes a lot of her wishes. This is something she doesn't need to make a Wish to help with."

Homura's hand tightens on your shoulder, and her eyes almost flash, bright and vibrant splashes of violet in the muted colours of the timestop. Her mouth opens, what's probably a reflexive denial rising to her lips, before she chokes it back, considering it for a moment.

"You want Madoka to help keep Miki Sayaka stable?" she asks. You can practically see the gears whirring in her head as she turns the idea over.

"Yeah. But not just Sayaka," you say. "Madoka and Sayaka are friends - but she's also your friend, and Mami's, and mine. I'm not saying we're going to dump all our troubles onto her, or bring her in on the... worst aspects of being a magical girl. Not at all. But I do want to help her feel useful - and she would be helping."

"I see," Homura says. She falls silent, clearly considering the idea. "How?"

"Well, that is the easiest part," you say. "We just need to talk to her. Novel idea, I know." You smile to take the sting out of the gentle barb. "But really, I mean it - we need to talk to her more. You're hanging out with her these days, aren't you? That's a good start right there."

She nods fractionally.

"Yeah," you say. "I'm going to ask her to talk to Sayaka. That's... really all there is to it. She can help without being directly involved, and if she feels like she's helping, doesn't feel useless... Well, you know her as well as, better than I do, Homura. She'll have much less reason to contract."

Homura nods again. "Alright," she says quietly.

You blink in faint surprise before a pleased smile spreads across your face. That was... remarkably painless. "Thanks, Homura," you say, meeting her eyes.

"I hope you're right," Homura says.

"Yeah," you agree. "So do I. I think I'm right, but..." You exhale slowly, looking around again at the frozen greys of the timestopped world. "By the way, Homura?" you ask as a thought strikes you. "Can I bother you later, about enchantment? I still think it's my best shot for maybe turning Witches back into magical girls."

She exhales, looking away from you. "Yes," she answers finally. "But you should probably ask Tomoe Mami. She's better than I am."

"I'm asking you," you say firmly, smiling. "And I remember, Homura. Just... I'm asking you, too."

She nods again, looking faintly bemused. "Yes, you can."

"Thanks, Homura," you say. "I... appreciate it. More than I can say." You pause for a moment and smile wryly, shaking your head as you eye her faintly baffled expression. "I... I'm still doing it, aren't I? Pushing everyone too hard. Myself included."

The time traveller blinks slowly, her eyebrows contracting a bare millimetre as her lips twist into a small grimace.

"Heh," you say, taking that for agreement. "I guess I just... don't know when to stop. Kind of hypocritical of me, really, and probably a good thing, ninety percent of the time, but... Yeah." You rub wearily at your face. "I guess it doesn't really make putting up with me, dealing with me all that easy, does it?"

She shrugs microscopically. "You've done a lot," she observes. A simple statement of fact. And true enough, you have.

"Yeah, but - it really does mean a lot to me, Homura," you say. "That you put up with me, and that you trust me, and I... Yeah. Thanks, Homura."

You want to hug her.

"Hey. Homura? I'm going to hug you now, if that's OK?" you ask. Best to make sure, first.

Surprise flickers across her face, before her expression softens slightly, her perpetual frown easing. "... Alright," she murmurs.

You smile. Stepping forward, you wrap your arms around her too-thin form, enfolding her in a warm hug. She leans forward a little, resting her head against your shoulder. "Thank you, Sabrina," she whispers, almost below your threshold of hearing.

"You matter to me," you say simply. "You, and Madoka, and Mami, and Sayaka and Hitomi and everyone else - you're my friends."

"Nevertheless," she responds.

How long has it been since someone was there for her?

She separates from the hug a moment later, keeping an arm on your shoulder and expression firming back into her usual implacable mask. "Anything more?"

"Not really..." you demur. "Well... Soul Gem cleanse?"

"That would be good," Homura agrees, lifting her arm to display her Soul Gem to you.

You smile at her, and a flick of will draws away the Grief, almost-black purple wisps flowing through the air. You have masses of Grief - masses and masses, far more than you ever expected to have. Every single bit is tightly under your control, every part just there in the back of your mind in the same way you know where your limbs are.

You turn a warm smile on Homura. "Now... let's help Madoka," you say.

"Let's," she agrees.

[] Write-in


Final confirmation and nitpicking! (The post dragged out rather much, so I broke it here.)

"Left arm further back. Head down," Homura instructs. You arrange your body to suit, trying to hide the fact that you'd been timestopped. It's hard not to let a massive grin split your face from sheer relief, though, that Homura accepted your reasoning.

The time traveller nods in satisfaction and steps back, releasing your shoulde-

-r. Sound crashes into you like a tidal wave, the hum of a living city and happy chatter of schoolchildren sweeping in to chase away the echoing silence of the timestop.

"Sabrina?" Madoka's voice, sounding anxious and worried.

You draw in a deep breath... and you blow it out, hard, shedding your regrets and self-recrimination. For now, it's time to talk to your pink haired friend and save her from herself. Hugs probably mandatory, nor are they futile.

Or, like, friendship time. It is by friendship alone you set your mind in motion, and all that.

... Not entirely inaccurate.

You smile, discarding those thoughts, and look up at Madoka. Homura, hovering by the pinkette's shoulder, gives you a shallow nod. "I'm OK," you say. "I am."

"O-oh. OK," Madoka says, looking unsure.

"I am, Madoka," you insist. "Just... some passing thoughts. But anyway... The point I was going to make is - Madoka, Sayaka needs your help. Not-" you raise a finger for emphasis, "-as another puella magi. But as her best friend, who cares about her."

"I- ah?" Madoka asks, sounding befuddled.

You sigh heavily, opening your palms towards her. "You can do so much more than you think, just by being who you are, Madoka. As I said - girls who can fight are... easy to find. Other challenges... My powers can help her through some of it. Mami can and will make Sayaka into a great magical girl, but there is no substitute for having a good friend, someone who truly cares for you, that you can share your problems with. Sometimes, just being there for someone is the best thing in the world. And I'm asking you to be that friend for Sayaka."

"A-ah... I don't know what it's like, though..." Madoka says, starting to twist her fingers together again.

"Then let her tell you," you say firmly, meeting her eyes. "Talk to her. Talk to us. And Madoka, everything I've said applies to you, too. If you're ever feeling lost or cornered or pressured, if you think there's only one way out... Talk to me. Talk to Homura, talk to Mami, Sayaka, someone. You are not alone."

You pause, and switch to telepathy for emphasis. "We're never far away, Madoka," you say. "Mami and I will only ever be a few minutes, and Homura can be there in an instant - that's her power.." You nod your head at the time traveller.

Homura nods slightly in response. Madoka glances from you, to Homura, and then back to you, looking overwhelmed.

"Don't make a contract, Madoka," Homura says quietly. Surprised, Madoka jumps a little.

It's only because you're watching Homura closely that you see that tiny, tiny flinch.

You give Homura a quick, reassuring smile before meeting Madoka's eyes squarely. "Madoka, it... contracting is never the way out. My friends are precious to me. I don't want them to be tricked or pressured into a life or fighting, or for them to suffer or feel alone and isolated. And that includes you too, Madoka."

You pause to let that sink in.

"I-I-" Madoka looks up at you. "I'll do it." She nods resolutely, a determined expression appearing on her face. "I'll h-help Sayaka and Homura and Mami and you. A-and I won't make a contract!"

There's a hint of steel in her spine, her shoulders perhaps a little straighter, set more firmly, than they were before.

Homura sags in place, some ephemeral weight lifted from her shoulders... but she doesn't relax. Not fully.

You're not sure she ever will.

"Alright, Madoka," you say softly. "I... Well, thank you."

The pinkette smiles at you. "Y-you're my friend, too. And you, Homura!" She turns to the time traveller, smiling warmly.

Homura nods slightly in response.

"A-ah... we should go back to the others now, though..." Madoka says, glancing at the time. "Lunch is almost over!"

You smile at her, then Homura. You arch an eyebrow at her - anything else?

Violet eyes blink slowly, and she shakes her head as Madoka turns to go.

"Thank you," her voice sounds inside your head.

[] Write-in


The next vote will close lunch, so include your next activity.

And if anyone's wondering where my update speed went - I am drowning in uni work, and I don't have the energy to write during my commute, most times.

"Anytime, Homura," you respond, giving her a smile. Relief floods your body - you did it! You navigated a metaphorical social minefield, and you didn't mess up! With help from Homura, and... you've maybe sort of convinced Madoka not to contract? At least for now? And getting her to help Sayaka - even if you don't know her powers yet, that can only be a benefit.

If your smile were any wider, you'd probably have to get stitches later.

"Hi, Mami!" you greet cheerfully as you round the corner.

"Ah... Hi, Sabrina!" Mami says, an answering smile chasing away the worried expression on her face.

You beam, and catch her in a cheerful, empathic hug before plopping yourself down on the bench next to her. "Hi, everyone!"

Sayaka and Hitomi seem faintly perplexed by your sudden good mood, but greet you back.

Everyone's finished their lunches by now, and it's nearly time for them to head back in, but still... "How's everyone doing?" you ask, still smiling around.

Homura raises a puzzled eyebrow at you, to which you respond with a cheerful grin, too happy to let anything get you down for now.

"Ah... we're doing well," Mami says, sounding unsure. "How about you, Sabrina?"

"Peachy," you say, smiling at her. You slide your arm around her waist and pull her into a sidelong hug, squeezing her lightly. The uncertainty fades into a glad smile.

"Oh, Sayaka!" Madoka says, looking at her friend. "Have you started on the math homework yet?"

"Eh? No, I was going to do it tomorrow," the bleunette says.

"Well... Maybe we could work on it after school today?" Madoka suggests.

"I wanted to go see Kyousuke today," Sayaka says, pursing her lips. "After that, maybe?"

That's probably as good a time as any for you to interrupt. You were going to bring this up telepathically, but since it's already out in the open, as it were...

"Um, don't forget the training," you say. "Maybe hospital first for a while, then training, then dinner and we can all split up?"

"Ah... we could have dinner at my place after the training?" Mami suggests.

Madoka clasps her hands, beaming. "That sounds great!"

"Sounds like a plan," Sayaka says, nodding decisively.

"You're invited too, Homura, Hitomi," Mami says, before glancing at you. "Ah, if that's alright, Sabrina?"

You shrug, smiling. "Sure, that sounds good," you say. You're not entirely sure about Hitomi coming along, but she is a friend too. No real reason why not, you reckon.

Y'know, when you put it that way, it sounds like the kind of thing that would be ironic in hindsight, doesn't it? And you'd think back to this moment and bemoan yourself for not doing something about it all the way back then.

...

Nah.

You're just being paranoid.

Bad habit of yours.

It's not like there's hidden thoughts and flashes of impossible insight in your head. There is that amnesia and the fact that you seem to be just over a week old, but no, that's... fairly normal. For you, anyway.

Right, paranoia.

... You really do want to know what a mindreader would make of you, though.

"How are you doing, Mami?" You turn to the blonde sitting beside you as Sayaka starts expounding on the wonders of Mami's cooking to Hitomi, Madoka contributing the occasional sentence.

"I'm alright," Mami says. She hesitates for a moment, before shaking her head with a smile. "I'm glad to see you happy, Sabrina."

"Heh," you chuckle. "I'm happy to be happy. But how are you feeling?"

Mami falls silent for a moment, emotions flickering across her face as she works through her thoughts. "I'm... content," she offers, finally, nestling into your side. "I have friends. I have you."

You hug her again. "That's great!" you say. "Though I uh. Meant more like, how's your morning been and so on?"

"Well... I'm still a little worried about you," Mami admits. "You seemed upset."

You smile warmly at Mami. "I'm OK," you say. "I... really am."

"Alright," Mami says, returning the smile. She cuddles against your shoulder. "You won't leave me, right?"

"No, of course not," you respond, raising an eyebrow at Sayaka's gesticulations. "Hey, I helped with the cooking, OK?"

"I know!" Sayaka says. "But Mami's cooking is amazing. Are you going to bake another cake any time soon?"

Mami perks up, looking up from your shoulder. "We could do that for the picnic? Today looks like it might be a bit too full to fit that in."

"That sounds good!" Madoka claps her hands in delight.

You laugh, joining the conversation. The rest of the lunchbreak speeds by, and far too soon, it's about time for them to go.

"Alright," you say, standing and offering a hand to Mami. "See you all after school?"

"Yeah, later," Sayaka says, tossing you a lazy wave as she tries to help Hitomi up. The verdette gives her an irritated look, pushing herself to her feet and dusting her skirt off with an upraised nose. Sayaka sighs, shaking her head.

Madoka smiles in... what she probably thinks is a conspiratorial manner. "See you later!"

"See you," Homura says. Her amethyst eyes meet and hold yours for a long moment, and she nods slightly barely a centimetre.

You turn to Mami as Madoka starts to nudge Homura and Sayaka towards the stairs, Hitomi following with an amused look. You wrap your arms around Mami in a warm hug, trying to convey your simple affection and concern for her. You care about her, damn it. It's that simple. "And yes, see you after school, Mami. Of course I will," you murmur.

She hugs you back tightly. "See you, Sabrina," she says, voice soft.

"Yeah," you say, releasing the hug. She lets you go reluctantly, and you smile as you step back, calling Grief to you. "Soon."

"Alright," she says, nodding and turning to head off towards the stairwell.

Your wings unfurl as marbles of Grief dissolve, melting away into the fractal, dizzying patterns curling and writhing at the edges of your vision. Homura's wings, once upon a never, as she fought Wraiths at the... what, the end of the world? You have no idea, to be honest, and the memory's an odd one.

You shrug it off, and throw yourself skywards and a powerful flap. You soar into the clear blue sky, joining the few clouds scudding on their way. Onwards to Yokosuka, just to check on Megane, then.

There's an entire flock of Grief spheres trailing after you in a loose cloud. Containing... Well, a lot of money.

... What'd happen if you handed Oriko that money and told her to play the stocks?

...

She probably wouldn't crash the world economy.

Probably.

You have to admit the thought of her sitting on Kirika's shoulders, wearing a trenchcoat, and hobnobbing with all the highpowered financiers to be a pretty appealing mental image, though.

Though speaking of finance, that reminds you of Akiko, and that reminds you of the University girls. Hm. Best let them know about Sunday... "Miss Tsubaki?" You reach out mentally for the leader of the University Group.

"Good afternoon, Miss Sabrina!" the girl responds cheerfully.

Well. She's in a good mood.

"Hey, just checking in - is Sunday OK for a cleansing trip?" you ask, wings pumping.

"Sure, Sunday's fine," Chouko responds.

"Cool. Any problems, recently?" you ask.

"Nah. Miss Mori's taken over the Sendai group, more or less... she seems OK," Chouko says. "They stay out of our way, for most part."

"Good to hear," you say. "Anyway. Sunday, yeah?"

"Yeah. See you then," she says.

You smile to yourself as that connection closes. Alright. Next up, Rin, who's apparently developed quite a bit of backbone. Then again, you knew that. "Miss Mori?"

It takes a moment for her to respond. "Good afternoon, Miss Sabrina," she says.

"Heya. Just checking in - is Sunday good for me dropping by for cleansing?" you ask.

There's another pause. "That's fine, yes," she responds.

"Cool. Say, I'm curious - are you officially the leader of your group now?" you ask, banking on a thermal. You don't need to, per se, but it's an easy way to gain height.

"I... suppose so," Rin says. She doesn't sound sure. Kind of startled. Which makes sense, you guess. "We don't exactly have an official ratification procedure, you know. The others listen to me, so yes, I suppose I'm the leader."

"Hunh. Neat," you say. "Alright, then. Sunday?"

"Sunday," Rin confirms. "I take it you'll be visiting the University Group at the same time?"

"Yup," you confirm.

"Noted," she says. "See you on Sunday."

"See you!" you say cheerfully.

Yokosuka Middle School's just up ahead now, that enormous edifice of Glass and steel. You coast in for a gentle landing on the deserted roof - if Mitakihara Middle School's roof is Anor freaking Londo, then this is freaking Asgard.

You crouch, wings drawing in around you, and scan the building. Let's see. Magical girls, potentials... Hm. That's Megane down there, you think, with her Soul Gem filling slowly. She's got the Grief Seed you'd given her, Andrea with her. As far as you can tell, she's sitting in class. There are... hm. Three shades of Grief scattered about the school. Potentials.

Interesting.

First things first - you do want to check in with Masami and Hiroko. So, to that end... "Good afternoon, Masami, Hiroko?"

The illusionist is the first to respond. "Good afternoon, Sabrina."

"'afternoon," Masami says, sounding considerably less grumpy than she had in the morning.

"How's everything? And is... well, not quite now now, but within half an hour or so a good time for me to drop by?" you ask, considering the three potential puella magi down below.

"Eh. Sure," Masami says. "What do you need, anyway?"

[] Write-in


Bah. Sorry for the slow update rate.

"Well," you say, pausing to consider the question. "Two things, really. One is... I need to ask a big favour, and the other is... there's a project I've been working on that should be a big help for the both of you."

You spare a thought for the potentials in the school below. To be absolutely honest... there's not much you can do with them right at this instance? You'll have to come back to them later.

"Oh? Go on?" Masami prompts, voice guarded.

You crouch and spring hard, throwing yourself skywards with a massive sweep of your wings. A mass of Grief trails after you, a rarified mass of deep purple spheres in differing sizes. Hard enough to see from the ground at the heights you fly at, usually.

"Yeah... I'm having a problem with the new magical girl across town I told you about, earlier," you say. You hesitate. "I'd rather talk to you in person, though, if that's alright?"

"One moment," Hiroko responds.

You huff a sigh, and continue climbing, winging upwards and onwards with thundering strokes of your wings.

You're pretty lucky you haven't been spotted yet. Or maybe you have? You... don't think it's the kind of thing that gets spotted in the news, though you don't watch it terribly much. And Kyuubey would probably censor it, anyway.

Tsk.

"Sabrina?" Hiroko asks, a few peaceful minutes' of flight later.

"Yep?" you ask.

"Ah... We're willing to talk about it?" she says.

"Cool. I'm on my way over, then?" you respond, banking towards their district.

"Alright," the illusionist says. "How long will you be?"

"Not too long," you respond.

"Alright," she says. "See you when you get here, then."

"Yep!" you confirm, swinging past the glittering steel of Mitakihara's central business district. Skyscrapers by the dozen, towering towards the clear blue sky, and yet far beneath you as powerful wingbeats drive you onwards. Wings much like Homura's, writhing and twisting.

Heh. Once upon a never, Homura will have had these wings, and then again, exchange them for another pair, one with awfully familiar black feathers.

You sigh. That'll never come to pass, if you have anything to say about it. Though speaking of feathers... you dwell on that one damned Feather again. It came out of your Barrier. And you don't even know what it is, what it signifies...

Tsk.

You don't even know how to start investigating it.

You frown at that thought, the wind whipping at your hair. You don't know how to start investigating it.

Do you?

Something niggles at the back of your mind with that thought, but... you can't really place it. Hm.

Well. A thought to ruminate on. For now, you have more immediate responsibilities.

You reach out telepathically. "Hey, Kirika?"

"Sabrina? Are you coming back?" Kirika responds, almost immediately.

You bite back a pang of regret. "I... not yet, Kirika. I'm sorry. I promise I'll be back today," you say. Tonight, if nothing else. Dinner plans... made things a little troublesome, but that really wasn't entirely your decision.

You either have to bring Mami over, or let her sleep alone. You rather seriously doubt she'd agree to the latter.

Tsk.

"Oh," Kirika says. "Oh."

Guilt bites deep into you, worrying at your guts. "I'm sorry," you say again. "How are you?"

"I'm-" she bites off the first response that rose to her lips. "I'm OK."

"You're sure?" Very carefully, you don't ask about Oriko.

"Yeah," she says, and there's a hitch in her voice that says she's worried and fretting and probably not really OK at all.

You bite your lip. "Kirika, I swear I'll be back as soon as I can. And remember that you can wake Oriko up if you need to."

"Yeah, I know," she mutters.

"I'm sorry," you say again, sighing as you coast in for a landing on a building next to Masami and Hiroko's apartment block. It's a nice, upscale neighbourhood - recent enough, you think, and new buildings still going up. You vaguely wonder how they have the money to afford it, but... eh. A question for another time.

Kirika makes a wordless noise, pain and worry eloquent and obvious. "Come back soon," she says.

"I will. Today," you say.

"OK," Kirika says, worry saturating her tone.

You walk the rest of the way, hands in your pockets as you thread through the sparse afternoon crowds. You draw a few curious stares, but this is Japan, and nobody bothers you as you frown to yourself, thinking. So damned many things to do today...

It doesn't take you long to get to the seventh floor of the couple's apartment block, and you ring the doorbell, rocking on your heels as you wait. You sense Masami and Hiroko getting off the couch, and walking over towards the door. A moment later, you hear the rattle of the security chain, and the black haired girl cracks the door open, the slightly taller Masami standing at her shoulder.

"Hi, Sabrina," Hiroko says, green eyes crinkling with a little smile.

"Hi, Hiroko, Masami" you say. "May I come in?"

"Hi, Sabrina," Masami says with a sigh. "Sure, come on in."

Hiroko pulls the door open as you take your shoes off, and soon enough, you're settled on their couch - they're on the loveseat, cuddled into each other with Hiroko's head leaning on Masami's shoulder. Cups of fresh tea sit in front of each of you.

"So how have you been?" you ask, claiming your cup and taking a sip.

"We've been good," Masami says. "Great, really." Hiroko elbows her in the side, and she sighs. "I... OK, look, I never really thanked you properly, did I?"

You purse your lips, thinking back. "You did?"

"Not properly," Hiroko says, tilting her head up to look at Masami.

Masami sighs, giving you a 'what can you do' look. "Not properly," she concedes. "So... thank you Sabrina. I still think you meddle too much, but... thank you."

Your shrug depreciatingly. "You're welcome," you say. "I'm glad to hear you're doing well."

"Mmmm," Hiroko hums, taking one of the teacups and sipping. "How about you, Sabrina? Drink your tea, Masami."

"Eh." You wave your free hand in a vague circle. "Busy, busy, busy. Too many crises to handle."

"Which is why you're dumping one on us?" Masami asks shrewdly, crossing her arms. Hiroko swats her lightly. "What? I'm right, I know I am."

You sigh. "In... a manner of speaking."

"Hah!" Masami says, turning a smug look on Hiroko.

The black haired girl chuffs out an aggrieved sigh, swatting at Masami again. "Sorry, Sabrina, she's always like that," she says, glancing at you.

"Hey, you know you love me," Masami says, the smug grin on her face widening and a trace of cockiness colouring her voice.

Hiroko rolls her eyes. "That doesn't mean you're not annoying~" she says with a singsong lilt to her voice. "Now apologise!"

Masami pouts. "Fine. Sorry, Sabrina."

You shake your head with a laugh. "'sfine."

"What do you need?" Hiroko asks, sitting up straight from Masami's shoulder.

You click your tongue, searching for the words. "Well... there's a new magical girl out to the east of the town."

"Hooo boy, I know where this is going," Masami interjects, cutting you off. "She needs a trainer, and you don't have the time?"

You nod slowly. "It's... a little worse than that, because of the attitude she has, but..." you wave your hand in another floppy circle. "Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."

Masami snorts. "Wouldn't be the first magical girl I've trained," she offers with a ghost of a smirk.

"If this one ends up like the last one, darling, we're going to have words," Hiroko notes with a smile.

"Not bloody likely," Masami says, laughing.

Hiroko shakes her head. "Sorry, Sabrina. Go on?"

"Yeah, well..." you say, stifling your smirk. "I told you about Ono Megane, right? New girl out east?" At their nod, you continue. "Right, so... she doesn't know about how to live as a magical girl. She's using her magic too fast, she doesn't really seem to get that we are our Soul Gems, and she doesn't even really want to hunt Witches, apparently."

"And you want us to smack some sense into her?" Masami asks, head tilting over to the side.

You waggle your hands. "That's putting it too harshly. But she's kind of a brat, and we got off on the wrong foot through no fault of my own-" you ignore her snort, "- and none of my other friends have the attention to handle her. She underestimates Witches, and she can't or won't switch her power off and she's going to get herself killed."

Masami and Hiroko exchange a look, clearly considering it. To your surprise, they seem to be considering it, right off the bat. Just to sweeten the pot, though...

"I'm not asking you to do it for free, either," you say. "I can compensate you, and not just with cleansing, either. Money, too, and uh, well, I maaaaaaay have recently acquired some gold bars, and that's on the table too."

"... gold bars?" Masami asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Yep," you say, raising a hand, palm out. A blob of Grief zooms in through the window, and deposits a single bar of gold in your hand. It's a small thing, barely the size of two or three of your fingers put together, but it weighs... exactly half a kilo, judging from the stamped words on it. "Gold bars."

You hand it over to Masami, and she nearly drops it in surprise at the weight. "Whoa."

"Yep," you say. "Anyway, well, money, gold bars if you want them, and of course, cleansing."

Masami glances at Hiroko again, and the other girl tips her head to the side in a vague nod. From the lightning fast flicker of expressions across their faces, you can tell they're communing by telepathy.

You fidget with your teacup as they confer. Hmm. You rather hope they'll agree. You really can't handle Megane yourself. Not when you have to handle Sayaka too. Maybe you could foist her off on Kyouko, but no, you'd rather not. Hm.

You still don't know what powers Sayaka has. Does she even have swords any more? Heh. Swords. Swords swords swords swords. You rather prefer your hammer, of course.

"We'll do it," Hiroko says, nodding at you.

"Really?" You blink in surprise. "Just like that?"

Masami shrugs lightly. "I... I don't mind teaching," she admits.

"And she doesn't mind helping a new girl," Hiroko adds, elbowing the redhead.

Masami sighs. "Yeah, that too," she says.

You grin. "Brilliant!" you say brightly. "Thank you both so very much, Masami, Hiroko. So um, what kind of compensation do you want? Money, gold, cleanses?"

Masami and Hiroko exchange looks. "To be honest, cleanses and Grief Seed refreshes are plenty?"

"... really? Um, I don't mean to be ungrateful, but that's all?" you ask, faint incredulity colouring your tone.

They shrug, almost in unison.

[] Write-in


... well then.

"... Well, thanks!" you say, beaming at them. That went well. That went really well.

You kind of sort of want to just launch yourself at them and give them a hug for being reasonable, but they probably won't take it very well.

Hiroko giggles abruptly, and passes her hand over her face. You can feel the illusion weaving into place, delicate, fiery strands of magic twisting to alter her appearance. It's a subtle effect - deepening of the shadows, her eyes a little sunken, her face a little more gaunt.

She coughs, and speaks in a far deeper voice than usual. "This is your magical girl on Grief." Even her voice is slurred. Exhausted.

"Or you could always illusion me back into the skeleton state," Masami offers.

"... Don't scare her too badly," you say, shaking your head with a smile. "I mean, the idea is to train her. I mean, scaring her straight has its place, but still."

"... I'll rein her in" Hiroko asks, giving her girlfriend a look.

"Aw, don't be like that," the redhead says. "Remember back when you were my cute little kohai?"

"Yes," Hiroko says. If her voice were any drier, you could market her as industrial grade dessicant. "Yes, I do."

"Doesn't look like you managed to scare her straight," you say, jabbing a thumb at the black haired girl.

The couple roll their eyes in unison. "Har har," Masami says.

"Anyway," you say. "What shall I tell Megane? Or... do you want me to just patch you through by telepathy?"

Hiroko clicks her tongue, cutting off Masami. "She doesn't like you, right?" she asks.

"Yeah," you admit. "Through no fault of my own! I just... made a bad impression."

"Mmmhm." Masami injects a certain amount of scepticism into the noise.

"I think it would be best if we were to contact her on our own," Hiroko says slowly. "So that we can make our own impression. Do you know where she lives? Where she goes to school?"

"Yes, and yes. Yokosuka Middle School," you say, nodding. Are you that bad at making first impressions? You absently rattle off her address. "... Do you think business cards would help?"

"... Business cards?" Hiroko asks, thrown by the sudden change of topic.

"Uh, sorry. Was just thinking that I'm awful at making first impressions," you explain, shaking the thoughts away. "So I was thinking, like, making a business card? White Ribbon Corporations, with a picture of a Grief Seed on the back, but uh, never mind."

"... Right," Masami says, exchanging a look with Hiroko. The black haired girl shrugs, looking just as confused.

"Anyway," you say, waving your hand at them. "I mentioned a project too, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did," Hiroko confirms with a nod. "Uh, do you want the gold bar back, by the way?"

"Hm? Yeah, pass it back? And right, so..." You root around in your pocket, and produce Hildegarde's Grief Seed. "Right, see this?" You pass it over to Hiroko, exchanging it for the gold bar.

"... is this a Grief Seed?" she asks, holding it so that both her and Masami can examine it.

"Kind of?" you say. "I call it a clear Seed, and uh. Well, I basically just take a Grief Seed and keep pulling Grief out until there's almost nothing left."

"Sooo..." Masami asks, raising an eyebrow. "It can be used more?"

"Yeah," you say. "Exactly. A couple hundred times, if I'm calculating it correctly? Or was it a couple thousand?"

Masami's eyes widen. "Holy shit."

Hiroko nods in silent agreement. "That's... amazing," she whispers. "If we'd had these..."

"Yeah," you say. "That's the idea. I... I haven't entirely perfected these, but I'm passing them around for testing."

Both Masami and Hiroko look at you with eager anticipation in their eyes, an identical smile spread across two faces.

"... Look, ease off on the puppy dog eyes and let me lay out the downsides first?" you say, rubbing at your forehead.

"I'm not making puppy dog eyes," Masami protests.

... She totally is. Quite effectively, too, with her devastatingly large, soft brown eyes.

"Sabrina?" Mami's voice sounds inside your head.

"Hi, Mami!" you respond cheerfully while raising an unimpressed eyebrow at Masami. "OK, the first problem is that if you put it together with a normal Grief Seed, the normal one will pull as much Grief as it can from the clear one, which, uh, can bring it pretty close to hatching."

"So... Keep it away from normal Grief Seeds?" Masami asks.

Mami's mental voice brightens. "Hi, Sabrina. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. How are you?" you respond to Mami, giving Masami a judicious nod. "Just so. And the other thing is... I'm... not quite sure they're absolutely safe yet, I have to admit."

"Feh. Knew it was too good to be true," Masami mutters.

"I'm doing well, too," Mami says. "It's math class now!"

"Yeah... They're definitely safe for a few days, a week at least," you say. "I have a friend who's a seer, and she's been using them for a few days. She hasn't forseen any particular consequences with them."

... hm. Friend? Is that what Oriko is to you? You're... not really sure. You muse on that as you reply to Mami. "Ah, how's that going?"

"... of course you know a seer," Masami mutters. Hiroko shakes her head, swatting Masami lightly.

"It's going well!" Mami responds. "I- ah! Miss Sakaguchi's calling on me, I need to present. I'll... I'll talk to you soon?"

"Soon," you promise Mami. You shrug at Masami. "Well. Yeah, I do," you say. "But yeah, that's the current state of affairs with the clear Seeds. They're functional. And... the one I have there's a... prototype of sorts, but I can make one for you girls if you want? I'd just need to go fight a Witch."

Hiroko leans forward. "Would any Grief Seed do?" She reaches inside her skirt pocket and pulls out a Grief Seed. You check it - about half full.

[] Write-in


Well, yeah.

"... yep, that'll do," you say, blinking at the Grief Seed being proffered towards you.

"Well?" Masami prompts.

"Well. In that case, we should take this outside," you say, taking the Grief Seed from Hiroko. "There's going to be a lot of Grief. Could I have my clear Seed back?"

"Sure," Hiroko says, standing gracefully. She passes Hidlegarde back to you, and you tuck the Seed into your pocket.

Masami pops to her feet, an inquisitive look on her face. "So you pull all the Grief out of a Grief Seed?"

"Yeah," you say, waiting politely as Hiroko unlocks the door. You could just pop out through the window, but that'd be just rude.

"What do you do with it?" Hiroko asks, giving you a curious look. "The Grief?"

"I tend to just hang on to it, actually," you admit, following Masami out the door. "I haven't found a better use for it, other than giving it to the little white rat. I mean, I use it for combat, but I don't use that much. Mostly." Except in times of extremely large fights.

"Hrm," Masami says as Hiroko locks the door behind you. "Can't you just leave it somewhere?"

"Nope," you say. "It just dissolves if it leaves my control range."

"Ergh," the redhead says, leading the way to the lift.

"Yeah, it's a thing," you grumble. "I've been trying to work around it, but not to that much success."

Masami snorts. "First class magical girl problems?"

You shrug, and waggle a hand. "Ehh." You have grander goals, in any case.

Granted, you aren't quite sure what those goals are, just yet, but... you're working on it.

Hiroko giggles, politely raising one hand to cover her mouth.

"Anyway," you say loudly. "As I was saying, there's going to be a lot of Grief, and your, uh, Witch senses might go off, but it's fine. It's a normal part of the process."

"Gotcha," Masami says, nodding.

You chat amiably with the couple as you head towards the lift, and then the fire escape for that last level. Masami seems to have eased up considerably in her dislike for you. Then again, getting to experience life again probably mellowed her out considerably.

You emerge ahead of the couple, stepping out onto on the bare, sunbaked concrete of the rooftop. You transform absently, the familiar weight of your longcoat settling around your shoulders, and you beam at Masami and Hiroko, turning to face them.

"Alright, this'll take a moment," you say, holding up the gold bar you'd retrieved from Hiroko in one hand. "Oh, and if you're curious as to what about a... quarter? Nah, less... whatever, a substantial chunk of Grief looks like, well, that's it." You toss the gold bar lightly, flipping it towards the corner of the roof.

Masami follows the glittering arc described by the gold bar, turning to spot the Grief spheres, piled up like so many bowling balls made of some iridescent, deep purple material. One sphere lurches into the air at your will, gobbling up the slab of gold.

"Hunh," she says, giving the pile a glance. "Alright then."

"Hmmm," you murmur, looking down at the Grief Seed balancing on its point in your hand. "Alright. Nothing for it, then." You take a deep breath, looking around at Masami and Hiroko. "OK, here we go. Again, this is probably going to light off your Witch senses."

"Right," Hiroko nods, along wiht Masami. "We understand."

With that reassurance, you focus on the Grief Seed in your hand, and you tear free a river of Grief. A dense miasma of a purple so dark it's very nearly black pours around you in a rippling cloud. Spheres accrete out of the roiling bank, stellar formation in fast forward.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Masami flinch, backing away a step before steeling herself. Hiroko squeezes her hand.

Spheres of Grief, solid and compact, fill the air. A slight breeze picks up, stirring your coat... before promptly dying away.

... damn it! One day you'll get your dramatic billowing.

One day.

Dozens, then hundreds of spheres of Grief drift around you, occluding the sun in dappled, rippling patterns.

After what feels like hours but is probably bare minutes, the Grief Seed is empty, but for the single, abyssal speck remaining.

Joanne.

The Witch is quiet. Quiescent.

You exhale, smiling, and banish the constellation of Grief to join the rest of the Grief with a wave.

"And... voilà," you say, holding out the glassy-clear Seed to the couple.

Masami's the first to step forward, eyeing the considerably larger pile of Grief in the corner - really, it's not so much in the corner as it is taking up a good third of the roof, now.

She takes the clear Seed, from you, turning it over in her hands. "Feels about the same," she notes.

You shrug. "Were you expecting it to be different?"

"A Grief Seed that might last pretty much forever?" Masami fires back. "Yeah, I do."

"... I can go and get some glitter to throw on it?" you offer.

Hiroko swats Masami, a smile on her face. "What she means to say is thank you, Sabrina," she says.

You hide your snicker behind a hand as Masami apologies.

"Anyway, give it a try?" you say.

Masami holds her hand out, her Soul Gem appearing on the flat of her palm with a faint flash of light. She offers it to Hiroko with a smile, and the black haired girl returns it before tapping the clear Seed to it. Without fuss, Grief drains away from the Soul Gem and into the Seed.

"Excellent," you says, satisfaction in your voice. "All good there, Masami?"

"Yeah," she says, nodding. "Just like using a regular Grief Seed."

"Cool," you say. "Anything else?"

"No... Thanks, Sabrina," Masami says, rubbing at the back of her head.

"No, thank you both," you say. "For agreeing to help. And if you need any help, or cleansing or talking or anything, give me a call, OK? I'll be happy to help."

"Sure, thanks," Masami says. A cocky grin flickers across her face. "Doubt we'll need it, though."

Hiroko nods, smiling. "Thank you, Sabrina. We appreciate it."

"Anytime," you say. "So, anything else?"

Masami and Hiroko shake their heads. "No, that's everything, I think," Masami says, starting towards the stairs.

You stride over to the edge of the roof, wings forming behind you in billowing wisps. "Alright. Take care, you two, and see you around, then," you call.

"Yeah," Masami says, raising one hand in a careless wave.

"Bye, Sabrina!" Hiroko calls.

You leap, wings snapping out to their fullest extent. You soar upwards banking around to spot two figures still on the roof, if receding rapidly. Hiroko raises her hand to wave at you, and as you wave back, the couple turn to head back down the stairs.

Well.

A good deed done, you think. Perhaps more than one.

You glance at your phone, fumbling it out of your pocket. One forty-five. You...

Hm. Kyouko, you think?

No, bestbuddy first.

"Kirika?" you reach out telepathically.

"Heya," Kirika responds, voice subdued.

"Hey. You OK?" you ask, voice quiet and worried as you bank over Mitakihara, rising on an updraft.

"Yeah," she says. "I'm keeping Oriko's Soul Gem clean, don't worry. My own, too."

"Ah," you say. "That's not really what I'm asking, though."

Silence for a moment. "I'm OK," Kirika says, sounding listless. "It's just hard, seeing her like this. It's almost like she's d-dead."

You sigh, letting the thunder of your wingbeats and the flapping of your coat fill the air for a moment. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Kirika," you say.

"Not 'xactly your fault," Kirika says.

"Still," you say. "I'll come by as soon as I can, OK?"

"Yeah," Kirika responds.

"Alright. See you and Oriko soon," you, banking east, past the central business district.

"See you," Kirika responds, closing the connection.

You sigh again.

Damn it.

You ruminate on it for a few minutes before sighing. Nothing for it, really - you simply have too much to do today, and you need to have Mami there, and then there's dinner plans... You'll talk to her in a moment about that. Kyouko first.

"Kyouko?" You reach out again, this time to the redhead.

She doesn't respond immediately. "Yeah?"

"Hi, Sabrina here," you say. "D'you mind if I drop by? There's a few things I'd like to ask you about."

"Yeah? Whatcha got in mind?" Kyouko challenges, voice belligerent.

[] Write-in


What do you have in mind? And what, specifically, do you want to talk to Mami about?

You briefly debate asking Kyouko about gold, and possible bribing thereof to persuade her to come over to Mitakihara. Probably not the best idea, really. And besides, gold is for bling. And possibly jewellry. Like rings.

... heh. Rings. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them... then again, your powers being what they are, that could apply to your Soul Gem ring. Hm.

"Eh, I kind of just want to drop in for a chat, if that's OK?" you respond instead. Something occurs to you just as the words leave your mind, and you hastily amend it with a quick, "A short chat, I have to say. I'll have to run again shortly."

School's out soon, and you have to be there.

"Yeah, sure," Kyouko says grudgingly. "You're bringing cleanses, yeah?"

"Mmmm," you say, heeling over and cutting across the city directly for Kasamino. "It's not like I can leave my powers at home."

"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko grumbles. "So since I've agreed will y' stop dodging the question?"

"Can't I go over just because I want to talk?" you protest, wings thundering in huge booms behind you as you milk them for all the speed you can.

"Given as it's you, maybe, but..." The irritated, somehow pointed silence perfectly conveys that fist planted on a hip and eyebrow raised in challenge.

You snort. "Fine, fine," you say. "Look, I kind of do want to just hang out a bit, but there is something I was wondering... would you interested in a possible job?"

"I ain't exactly the kinda girl people just hang out with," Kyouko grumbles. "What kinda job?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you are the kind of girl people hang out with," you retort. Be the speedy Sabrina, you tell yourself as you tear your way towards Kasamino. Best to make use of every moment. "I'm heading over to do just that, aren't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she says. "You don't count. Now, what job?"

"Well, it'd be for sparring with a new magical girl. I'm not exactly the best candidate, myself, and you're good with that spear of yours," you say. "Just to show her the ropes and stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the flattery," she grumbles. "So, kicking around a newbie?"

"Mmmm," you agree. "I can pay with Grief Seeds later, even."

You can hear the scowl in her voice when she responds. "If I say no?"

"I'm still coming over to hang out," you say.

"Not what I fucking meant," she responds tartly.

"I'll try and teach her myself," you respond with a shrug. Even though you're kind of running yourself ragged, now. You really kind of wish you could be in more than one place at once.

Which may be a possible use for your Familiars, now that you think about it, but then again - you have a feeling that any Familiar you make will either be weird beyond words, or possibly run off to hug Mami. And quite possibly both.

... and possibly try to persuade her to put on pants, too, while they're at it.

Tsk.

Well.

"Friend of yours?" Kyouko asks.

No point denying it, is there? "Yeah. The two of you should get along like a house on fire," you say. People screaming and running in every direction, and no survivors left behind.

Kyouko sighs. "Whatever," she says. "How long 'til you get here?"

"Minutes. Maybe fifteen?" you reply.

"Right. See you when you get here. We'll be at the same park," she says, and cuts the connection.

... well, you were going to ask her about Yuma, but this gives you time to talk to Mami and Kirika, you guess. Mami first, you think.

"Mami?"

"Ah, Sabrina?" Mami responds promptly. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah," you say. "I just wanted to talk. How are you?"

"Ah... Well, I'm still in class," she says. You can tell she's smiling, though. "Nothing much happened so far, apart from Ayako going to the nurse's office. But I'm glad to hear from you! How are you?"

"Doing well," you say, smiling. It's nice to hear Mami cheerful. "Looking forward to training Sayaka?"

"Ah, more looking forward to spending time with you," she says. "And everyone else, of course!"

"Yep! I'm looking forward to it too," you say, feeling a faint pang of guilt. You might have to skip on dinner... You're not sure, really. Maybe. "Though... we're going to have to help Oriko, too."

"Ah, yes," Mami says, her tone darkening a little. "When do you think would be good?"

"As soon as we can make it, I think?" you say. "I did tell Kirika I'd be back as soon as I could."

"Alright," Mami says. "Then... when you want to, Sabrina."

"I... thank you, Mami," you say softly. "Thank you."

A few moments pass in silence, until you finally break it. "Ah... In happier news, I went to talk to Masami!"

"Oh? How is she?" Mami asks, seizing on the topic.

"Ah, she's doing quite well, really," you say. "She's a lot happier now, and... she and her girlfriend have agreed to look after Ono! So that's quite a weight off my mind, at least."

"That's great, Sabrina!" Mami says, voice warm. She pauses, and you get the impression that she just blinked in surprise. "Masami has a girlfriend?"

"Oh, yeah," you say. "Wakahisa Hiroko, illusionist. She's a sweet girl, I guess?"

"Ah, good," Mami responds. "Is she treating Masami right?"

"Yeah," you say. "She stuck with Masami even through, you know... her getting hurt."

"That's great," Mami says, sounding faintly wistful. "That's... good."

"Mmm," you say, winging past the rising plumes of flue gas from the power plants - they're practically a landmark for you now, every time you head over to this part of the city. "She's fine."

"I know," Mami says. "And... I'm fine too, Sabrina. You're here."

"Yeah. Yeah, I am," you murmur.

"Thank you, Sabrina," she whispers quietly. "Thank you so much."

"Of course," you say softly. "I care about you, Mami."

"And that's-" Mami trails off. "That's everything, Sabrina."

"Mmm," you say.

You lapse into silence for a moment. The river's coming up ahead of you, glittering silver in the afternoon sun. Hm. It occurs to you that you don't actually know what that river's called. It's just 'the river'.

You're just about to broach the subject of the picnic when Mami speaks up. "What do you think we should train Sayaka on?"

"Hmm..." you say, considering the question. "I'm actually not very sure. I was planning on deferring to you, Mami. I suppose we could see what powers she has, first?/" Hm. It occurs to you that you should talk to Kirika, too.

"Ah, alright!" Mami says. "Yes, I think we'll let her show us what she can do first, though... I'm thinking we'll want to train her on her weapon, almost certainly."

"That makes sense," you agree, smiling. "Say, Mami, what do you think we should do for the picnic?" Simultaneously, you reach out to Kirika. "Hey, Kirika."

"We're baking a cake, right?" Mami asks, voice brightening. "Ah, I was thinking of a vanilla cake? With cream? I haven't made that for a while."

"Hey, Sabrina," Kirika says, voice listless.

"Whatcha doing, Kirika?" you ask the black haired girl. The river rolls past beneath you, heavy, thudnering wingbeats propelling you at breakneck speeds. To Mami, you respond with, "Oh, just plain vanilla?"

"It's not just vanilla," Mami says reprovingly. "I mean, I don't use the cheap chemical vanilla 'extract'."

"Nothing much," she says. "Shitposting on 2chan."

"I didn't mean that you would, Mami," you say contritely, even as you blink in faint surprise at Kirika's response. "Shitposting?"

"Yeah," Kirika says. "Pulled my laptop over."

"Good!" Mami says, a teasing smile in her voice. "Vanilla cake, then. We'll need to go shopping; I think we're out of cream."

"Yeah, we are," you agree. "Low on butter, too." To Kirika, you respond, "... what are you shitposting about?" You're not entirely sure you want to know the answer, but still.

"Nothing much," Kirika says glumly.

"Mmm," Mami agrees. "We can do that tomorrow, maybe?"

"Sounds good!" you say. You're closing on the park now, so... "Anyway, Mami, I should let you get back to your classes - I'll see you after school, OK?" You take a deep breath, and turn your attention to Kirika. "Hey, Kirika, I need to go now, so, see you soon, OK?"

"Yeah," Kirika says. "See you soon."

"You weren't disturbing me," Mami says. "But... yes. See you after school, Sabrina."

You smile to yourself. "See you, Mami," you say. To Kirika, you respond, "Yeah. Soon."

You can see the park just ahead. From the sky, you can see a pair of figures - one taller and redheaded, the other short and green haired. Both of them are sitting on a bench by a small pond.

[] Write-in


Whooo. And if anyone's wondering - I've just been dealing with way too much work, and exams coming up. *sarcastic confetti*

"I see you!" a piping, youthful voice echoes inside your head. The smaller, green haired figure raises a hand, waving enthusiastically at you.

"Hi, Yuma, hi, Kyouko!" you call back, waving back at Yuma, dipping a wing at her.

Kyouko responds with a lazy, muttered, "Yo."

"Is the park empty?" you ask, cautiously scanning said park from above with your own eyes as you wing towards it.

"Middle of the day," Kyouko drawls in response. "Yeah, 'sclear."

"Cool." You flare your wings, adjusting your speed and angling back so that you're descending feet first towards the park.

You snap your wings shut, and you plummet.

The wind whistles through your hair and snatches at your coat, and you flare your wings wide for just a moment before you land, dropping those last two meters to the grass just a few steps away from the pond.

"Sabrina!" Yuma calls, jumping off the park bench with a beaming grin on her face. She's filled up some, you notice - it might have been just a few days, but she looks healthier, less emaciated, than she had when you first met her. And she's wearing new clothes - practical, durable looking jeans and a pink hoody with fuzzy bobbles on the drawstrings.

"Yo," Kyouko says again, waving lazily. She's dressed, as always, in that ratty green hoody of hers and short pants, lounging on the bench. "Say, those wings a' yours are Grief, yeah?"

You shrug, said wings rippling with the motion. "Well, yeah. Hi, Yuma, hi, Kyouko!"

Kyouko chews on the stick of pocky dangling from the corner of her mouth for a moment. "Mh. 'splains why they're so god-awful creepy," she grunts, stretching and hooking her arms over the back of the bench.

"Big Sis, don't be tsundere," Yuma says, wandering back to the bench and plopping down next to Kyouko.

The redhead gives you a baleful glare, jabbing a thumb at Yuma. "This is your fault," she grumbles. "She won't shut up 'bout it now."

You snort. "If the shoe fits..."

"Fuck you," Kyouko retorts.

"Hah. You sound just like Sakura," you observe, smirking as you hunt for somewhere to sit down yourself. It's a pleasantly green area, soft grass and smooth pebbles lining the side of the pond, a small path winding by the waterside. Absently, you tuck your wings away, the fabric wicking away and imploding into marbles.

Kyouko rolls her eyes. "Whatever. What're you here for?"

You give up trying to find anything to sit on - they're taking up the only bench in the area, so you make a small, hovering platform of Grief and sit on that instead. "Like I said, just hanging out. I've only got half an hour or so here, but... here I am. Oh, and, uh, before I forget, can I say something?"

She jerks her head at you in a kind of 'go on' gesture.

"About my friend, the one whom I asked if you could spar with?" you say, rubbing at your nose sheepishly. "Well, uh, if you do agree to teaching her, do me a favour and, uh, don't mention getting on like a house on fire?"

"What, did her house actua-"

You're already nodding.

"... really?" she asks.

You nod again.

Kyouko eyes you, finishing her pocky with a few noisy crunches and producing a small bag of taiyaki from somewhere in her jacket pockets, which she shares with Yuma. She grimaces, and offers you the bag. "Want one?"

"Sure, thanks," you say, taking one of the fish shaped pastries. She's just going to pretend that never happened, then? "So anyway. How've you been? Do you need cleanses?" You sense one half filled Grief Seed... with Kyouko.

Jane. The one you gave her, the last time you came here. And neither of their Soul Gems are quite fresh.

Kyouko folds her arms. "Y' know the answer, don't you?" she asks, cocking a challenging eyebrow.

You sigh. "I'm trying to help," you say, raising an eyebrow right back.

Yuma's gaze darts from you to Kyouko, suddenly nervous.

Kyouko's lips press into a flat line. "Hunting's awful recently," she grunts.

"How bad is bad?" you ask.

"Haven't seen any Witches since you last showed up," she grumbles. "Not a single one."

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

"Yes, 'ah'," Kyouko says, lounging back against the bench with deceptive casualness. Her crimson eyes narrow at you.

You click your tongue, considering how Mitakihara seems to have at least one Witch every day. Then again, you're reasonably sure you remember something about Mitakihara having such a high Witch density because of the oncoming Walpurgisnacht.

"Well," you say in lieu of a proper answer. "Cleanse?" You raise one hand towards them.

Kyouko grunts, digging in her pocket of her hoody and producing Jane's Grief Seed. She manifests her Soul Gem in her other hand. "Yuma?"

Yuma follows suit, cupping her hands to present her Soul Gem to you and a shy smile peeking up at you through her thick bangs. "Thank you," she says.

"No problem," you respond, crooking a finger. The familiar miasma of Grief billows into the air, thick and cloying and painful to the eye. "There you are," you offer, cleansing your own Gem as well.

Kyouko relaxes, almost imperceptibly. "Thanks," she says grudgingly, inspecting her Soul Gem. The Grief Seed disappears back into her pocket.

"So... can I buy you guys lunch?" you ask.

"Don'tcha have to go pretty soon?" Kyouko asks.

You shrug. "I can get us all in, and then leave when I need to go?" you say.

"Yeah, sure," Kyouko mutters. "What'd'ya want from me this time, 'nyway? 'part from the sparring thing? That's not a yes, by the way."

[] Write-in


Blah. Studying for exams.

"I wanted to show you a project I've been working on, actually," you say, detransforming in a prismatic burst of light. You roll your shoulders, enjoying to cool air in the park, and you take a bite of your taiyaki. "Walk and talk? Time's wasting, and all."

Kyouko grunts, and hops to her feet, snacking on... you're pretty sure that's her third taiyaki. You're not even through your first! She offers Yuma a hand, which the younger girl takes. "So talk," Kyouko says, waving in the general direction of where you know that buffet place is.

"Mmmm," you hum, rooting about in your pocket with your free hand to pull out Hildegarde, glassy and clear as it always is. "Here." You hand the clear Seed over to Kyouko.

The redhead tucks the last of her pastry into her mouth. "What's this?" she grunts, taking the clear Seed with her now empty hand. She holds it up in front of her, narrowing red eyes at it. "... the fuck?"

"It's a clear Seed," you explain as the three of you leave the park and merge into the sparse foot traffic. "I start with a Grief Seed, and I just keep draining it until I end up with this."

"Soooo... what. It can clean more times?" Kyouko asks.

You can see the wheels turning behind those dusky crimson eyes of hers. For all her abrasiveness, she's not stupid. Jaded as hell, but street smart and perceptive. How many times has she caught you out?

"Yeah," you say. "And-"

"Y' want to give me one," she says.

... In fairness, given that you're you, that's a perfectly reasonable guess to make.

"Well... yeah," you admit, wind taken out of your sails.

Kyouko grunts, handing the clear Seed back to you. Her hand now freed, she produces a stick of Pocky from somewhere in her jacket and gnaws on that, looking thoughtful. "I'll think about it," she says at last, glancing at you with narrow eyes.

"A few things to note," you say, meeting her eyes without flinching. "One of these Seeds should last... I dunno, maybe a year, maybe more." Her eyes widen a fraction, mouth opening to say something. You shake your head, cutting her off, and raise a finger for emphasis. "But there are a few caveats."

"'course there are. Lay 'em on me," Kyouko says, a frown flickering across her face.

"Right. You can't let them touch a normal Grief Seed, otherwise the normal one sucks all the Grief it can out of the clear one," you say. "Had a close call with that - a Seed nearly hatched. The other thing is..." You rub at your nose. "I only became a meguca recently, and I've only tested these for a while? So... I've noticed an oddity in the first one that's been in testing."

"'course," Kyouko mutters, snorting and glancing away. The pocky disappears into her mouth in a few quick crunches, replaced by another. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Yuma glance up at Kyouko, a little frown on her face.

"Yeah..." you admit as you turn the corner. "I'm still figuring out what's up with the thing, but well, it's been safe so far. It's this way, right?"

Kyouko nods absently, chewing on her pocky. "What else?"

"That's pretty much it," you say with a shrug.

"Hnh," she mutters, pointing out the buffet place. There's not much of a crowd at the moment - not at the current time. "There."

You pay for all three of you, garnering an odd look from the man working the counter, but a waitress shows you to a table without fuss. Kyouko makes a beeline for the buffet line, Yuma staying for a moment to give you a shy smile before scurrying after her adoptive big sister.

You sigh, rolling your shoulders before following them. A plate of salad, you decide - you've already had lunch, after all. Aaaand a bowl of soup. You return to the table, waiting politely for Kyouko and Yuma, who both return with plates piled high.

Kyouko plops onto the chair and immediately starts scarfing down her food, as does Yuma. By contrast, you eat a lot more sedately. You're short on time, but not that short.

"You two look like you're doing OK," you say. "Beyond the Witch situation, I mean."

"Mmmf," Kyouko mumbles through a mouth full of food.

"Big sis is clever!" Yuma offers between mouthfuls.

"Yeah... you look better," you say, smiling at her.

"W'ssat supposed t' mean?" Kyouko asks with a sharp glare.

You blink slowly. "You know what I mean, Kyouko," you say.

The redhead glares back at you, before subsiding and returning to her food.

"Look, I think I can guess what her situation was like before you took her in," you pulse to Kyouko, shooting Yuma a reassuring smile. "And I can see the difference."

"Good f' you," Kyouko snaps back at you without looking up from her plate. "The fuck do you want to make out of it?"

"Nothing," you respond, working your way through your salad. You're kinda full, really, but no wasting food in front of Kyouko and all that. "All I'm saying is, you've done good by her."

The redhead doesn't respond, demolishing a stack of cold cut beef with quick, vicious little bites.

Yuma glances back and forth between you and Kyouko. "Big sis?"

Kyouko sighs, expression softening. She shakes her head, her massive ponytail waving behind her. She ruffles Yuma's green hair gently. "You're fine," she says.

You sigh, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Kyouko catches the motion and glances at you. "Got to go?"

"Not quite," you say, shaking your head. "But if you want the clear Seed, I do need a little time to make it."

Kyouko chews slowly on a mouthful of something, thoughtful eyes never leaving yours.

The silence drags out.

One minute, then two.

"Too good to be true," she says at last.

"Hey, I-" the reflexive protest, defense of your honour, comes naturally, but Kyouko cuts you off.

"Nothing 'gainst you," she snaps. "Fuck, I just about believe you're as goody two shoes as you act. And I reckon your weird Seeds have worked so far. Buuuut I'd rather not be a guinea pig and wake up on day addicted to Grief heroin or whatever. So thanks, but no."

[] Write-in


A few more days...

For some reason, Kyouko's offhanded comment about Grief heroin puts the image of giant, woobie spiders in your mind. It's a valid enough concern -unfortunate side effects, not the giant spiders- so you have to accept it, you guess.

And hey, progress. You're not forcing her to take it for her own good.

"Alright, fair enough," you say, nodding. "That's your prerogative."

Kyouko gives you a suspicious glare, her jaw working as she chews through another mouthful of food.

Your lips quirk into a faint smile. "No, really," you say. "I get why you don't want to, I do. Maybe when these things are more tested, then?"

"Maybe," she grunts, and stands abruptly, pushing aside her emptied plate. She promptly makes a beeline back towards the buffet table.

"Alright," you say again, and return to your food, as does Kyouko. You work your way contemplatively through the rest of your salad, taking care to clean your plate thoroughly.

"I think big sis is glad to see you," Yuma confides, peeking up from demolishing a good-sized heap of corn

"... Really?" you ask, giving the green haired girl a smile.

Yuma nods vigorously, blinking huge, blue-green eyes at you. "She was worried."

"What over?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Grief Seeds," Yuma says. "She says that the hunting is really bad here."

"Ah," you say, chewing on your lip and glancing at the time just as Kyouko returns with a fresh plate. That's a little worrying. But it's something you can help with.

"Got to go?" she asks.

You sigh. "Pretty much," you admit. "Kind of ran out of time today."

"Out of time for what?" Kyouko grunts, crunching through sticks of celery.

"Just talking," you say. "I... there is something important I need to talk to you about soon; tomorrow possibly if that's alright."

"Sure, make an appointment with my secretary and I'll see if I can slot you in," Kyouko drawls, rolling her eyes.

You shake your head. "Point taken."

Yuma perks up, smiling at you. She coughs, clearing her throat, and adopts a solemn, serious expression. "Would you like to make an appointment to meet Miss Sakura tomorrow? I think we could slot you in at any time during the lunch slot." Her cheerful, bright expression rather ruins the effect, though.

You laugh. "I'll have to get back to you on the exact when, Yuma," you say, pushing aside your empty plate. "But yes, quite possibly tomorrow."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd ask you what it was you wanted to talk to me about," Kyouko observes. "'course, that'd defeat the point, wouldn't it."

"It's really that I ran out of time," you say, rubbing at your forehead as you stand. "Just... tight schedule. You'll get back to me on the sparring thing?"

Kyouko glances at you, jaw busily chewing. She swallows the mouthful, and nods.

"Anyway... I'll see you around, OK?" you say.

"Mmmf," Kyouko grumbles.

"See you!" Yuma says, voice bright and cheery.

You smile at them one last time, and head out through the door - you'd already paid.

The bright afternoon light and heat of the urban sprawl smacks you in the face as you step outside, and you take a deep breath, hopping on your feet as you roll your shoulders lightly. That went well.

You exhale, smiling, and step down an alley, bounding smoothly up to the roof in a few powerful hops to join the masses of Grief already waiting for you there. You're getting better at this - you hardly ever shatter the walls or the floor now.

You glance towards the river, glittering under the sunlight, and you remember that time you once leapt all the way across it. You grin to yourself. No real time to do it now, but... well, that had been fun. You snort, wings starting to billow from your shoulders, deep, tenebrous purple swathes cut from the sky.

You leap, powerful strokes lofting you into the sky to wing back towards Mitakihara. The river fairly glows beneath you in the afternoon sun, sparkling waves.

You smile, and wing onwards, heading towards the school to meet your friends.

[] Write-in


Freeeeeeeeedom!

Your mind fills with a back and forth debate of whether you should try out something with your powers. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't...

Hm.

The fact that you seem to loose track of time when you make something with your Grief powers is kiiind of a concern, though. Especially if you might plummet out of the sky while doing it.

... Nah, it's not like you loose control of the huge bunch of Grief that you now have perpetually following you now, anyway. Crashing into something might be a concern, though.

Then again... when you fail to make something, you realise it immediately. You don't lose any time - rather, you gain a headache. Which... is probably an acceptable tradeoff?

Hrrrm. In the end... you'll give it a shot, you think. Just a small test. You'll try and make a book that contains something you don't know.

You flare your wings wide, pumping hard to gain height.

Best to warn Mami, too. "Hey, Mami?" you pulse to her.

"Ah, Sabrina? School's nearly over, I'll be there soon," she responds, sounding a little surprise.

"Yup, so will I!" you say. "I'm flying over right now, actually. But anyway - I'm trying out something right now, I might go unresponsive for a bit, OK? But I'll be fine."

"Ah..." Mami says, concern creeping into her voice. "Um... be careful, Sabrina."

"Yeah," you say, nodding to yourself. "I will."

"Alright," Mami says. "I- I'll see you after school?"

"Yeah," you say firmly. "You will."

"Alright," she says again.

High enough. You lock your wings into a glide that, worse comes to worst, will land you somewhere in the industrial district. You think.

You take a deep breath, summoning a blob of Grief to your hands, and you focus on it. This shouldn't be too hard... You want to know something you don't already. You push, pouring your will into the blob of Grief, and-

You have something.

There's a paperback book, thin and new and crisp, held in your hands and there's something right in front of you-

You snap into a roll. You barely miss- your wings nearly clip the side of the steel structure.

Climb, climb, climb! And left to avoid that tower, and tuck your wing in to avoid cleaving through a steel strut, and veer left again and then up and over that concrete batching plant-

A few frantic, panicky moments later, you're flying straight and true again, the book dangling from one hand. You exhale a sigh of relief as you coast through the clear skies, angling towards Mitakihara Middle School.

It's a plain looking thing, a cheerful pastel blue, with a plain, unmarked cover. You didn't have anything in particular in mind when you made it, so... You have no idea what to expect, really.

You open it.

... Numbers, tables, terse annotations for weight and consistency and proportions of sand and cement and aggregate and pozzolans and fly ash and water aaaaand you're pretty sure that these are concrete mixing specifications.

... Huh.

You weren't really expecting that to work.

Well then.

You shake your head, incidentally brushing the hair out of your eyes with your free hand. That's a thing. You page idly through the book, though hmm... you don't have much more flight time. You should probably check in with Kirika before you land.

"Hey, Kirika," you pulse out towards the black haired girl, leafing through page after page of concrete specifications and curing times and myriad details. "How's the anons biting?"

"Eh," Kirika responds, voice listless. "S'going. Hi, Sabrina."

"Heya," you say, still speeding back towards Mitakihara Middle School. "How're you doing?"

"Eh," she says, and you get the distinct impression of a shrug.

You sigh, wincing. You wish you could do more for her, but there's just so many things demanding your attention. "Hey, Kirika. I'll be there soon, OK?"

"I know," she says."I know. Just... hurry, please?"

"I will, Kirika," you say, still paging through that book. Did you really get a book full of concrete specifications? "I'll come as soon as I can."

"OK," she says. "Today, right?"

"Yeah," you agree. "Today."

"OK," she sighs. "See you soon."

"Yeah," you say. "Soon."

You end the call, exhaling. Damn it. Too many things.

Tsk.

You fly onwards, thundering wingbeats driving you towards school. Absently, you dismiss the book.

More important... Or more immediate concerns, now. Or not even concerns, really - your friends. You smile to yourself as you coast to a landing atop a nearby building, wings folding and dissolving.

You drop neatly into a nearby alleyway and stroll out into the street, wandering over to the school. You lean against the gate, raising an eyebrow at the truant officer standing there. The severe looking woman frowns at you, but seems reluctant to accost you.

The schoolbell rings a few moments later, and chatter explodes from the halls. You can hear the scrape of chairs and the rumble of hundreds of feet in the corridors, and a bare minute later, Mami emerges from the front door, her warm golden eyes scanning around for you.

You wave, pushing off the gate and waving at her.

Mami smiles, and crosses the distance with a few swift steps.

"Hi, Mami!" you call.

"Hi, Sabrina," she says as she approaches, smiling. "How are you? Did the thing you were working on, um, work?"

"It worked, kind of," you say, returning the smile. "I tried to make a book from Grief."

"Oh?" she asks. Over her shoulder, you can see the rest of your friends emerging from the main doors.

"Yeah... I tried to make a book containing information I don't know," you say. "I uh. Well, I got a book full of concrete batching specifications."

Mami blinks. "... um."

"Yeaaaah," you say, rubbing at your nose. "It's a success, I guess."

"Hey, Sabrina!" Sayaka calls, waving energetically at you, two school bags slung over her shoulder. Hitomi walks at her side, looking exasperated, and Madoka just a step behind. Homura brings up the rear of the group.

"Hey," you call, waving back at your friends. They chorus greetings, and you smile around at everyone.

"So... how d'you guys want to do things today?" you ask, beaming at them and waving down the path. Walk and talk.

"I thought we were going to the hospital?" Sayaka asks, turning to follow.

"Hmm?" Hitomi glances at her. "I thought it was training first?" She smiles faintly. "I must admit, I'm quite curious to see what it's like."

"Eh?" Sayaka asks, blinking.

"In fairness, we haven't really decided," you offer. "But I was going to suggest that, actually. Train a bit first, and we can teach you how to heal, then you can heal Kyousuke?"

Sayaka blinks. "Oh! That sounds like a good idea," she says, brightening. "C'mon, then!" She starts down the street, ranging out ahead of you.

"Ah... where are we going?" Madoka asks.

Sayaka blinks, stopping in her tracks. "Well, uh..."

You shake your head, snickering at Sayaka. Mami, walking at your side, covers her giggles with a hand. You glance back at Madoka, smiling. "Madoka, are you coming?"

"Ah... yes?" she asks, tilting her head in confusion. Beside her, you can see a frown flicker across Homura's face.

[] Write-in


... Apparently I'm an idiot and didn't count the votes correctly. I blame sleepiness. But for once, I'll exert a little GM executive power.

"Eh, no, that's fine," you say, smiling reassuringly at Madoka as you all pull into a loose circle, waiting for a decision on where to go. "I wanted to talk to you later, actually." At the same time, you glance aside, meeting Homura's amethyst eyes, and open a telepathic channel. "Homura? Are you OK with this?"

"Ah, me? What about?" Madoka asks, blinking at you in surprise.

Homura's standing beside her, and you can see her nostrils flare a tiny fraction of a centimetre. "I don't like it," the time traveller responds.

"Eh... nothing that can't wait," you say, still smiling at her. To Homura you respond, "I... I know, Homura, but cutting her out won't help."

"So you've said," she agrees.

"So where are we going?" Sayaka asks, grin firmly affixed on her face.

"Well actually... Mami? What do you think?" You give her a warm smile. "I normally go to this one abandoned warehouse in the industrial district, but it's a little bit far if we're not flying or at least roofhopping." Mentally, you plead with Homura. "I really do think this would be for the best, Homura."

"Hmm," Mami rubs her nose, returning your smile. "I usually go to the junkyard underneath an expressway when I need to practice something new. We've been there before? But it's not that nearby, either."

Homura blinks slowly, sending you a telepathic impresison of a sigh. "Fine."

Some of the tension leaches from your shoulders. "Thanks, Homura," you say to her. Simultaneously, you tilt your head in Sayaka's direction with a smirk."Well... I was thinking somewhere near the hospital would be good?"

"Oh," Mami says, an answering smirk on her face. She thinks about it for a moment and nods decisively. "The junkyard under the flyover, then. It's the nearer to the hospital than the industrial district. This way." She waves down the street.

"Alright!" Sayaka jabs a finger in the air and starts off in the indicated direction. Hitomi trails along, giving her bag, still firmly over Sayaka's shoulder, a somewhat exasperated look.

"Well actually..." you say, catching up to Sayaka. "Have you girls ever wanted to fly?" You beam around at your friends.

"... yes?" Hitomi ventures.

Madoka nods enthusiastically. "Yes! I always wanted to visit other countries. Like Paris!"

"Uh, nooo, I meant... just flying around," you say, blinking. Mami gives you a fond smile, cottoning on to what you're planning.

"Ohh, like Superman?" Sayaka asks, glancing at you. "Yes, I've always wanted to."

You chuckle. Should have guessed. "Well... it's not quite Superman flight, but..."

"Yes," Sayaka says fervently, stopping and turning to you with shining eyes.

Hitomi looks at you, seeming interested. "Oh?"

"So how about it?" you ask, looking around. Homura's expression is blank as she stares at you. Mami, on the other hand, gives you a warm smile, which you return.

"That sounds fun!" Madoka says, clapping her hands.

"Hitomi?" you ask.

She nods decisively. "I would like to try."

"Alrighty!" you say. "This way, then!" You lead them all down a secluded side road, checking around for onlookers. No one to be seen, so... you transform and hold your hand up, calling Grief to you - a fairly substantial quantity of it.

With a grand, sweeping gesture, you spread it into a wide carpet, large enough to seat everyone comfortably.

"Hop on!" you say, following suit with a smile. Without hesitation, Mami climbs on right beside you. Homura steps up too, hesitating for a moment before offering Madoka a hand. The pinkette accepts with a smile, climbing on.

Sayaka eyes the carpet for a moment before dropping the two schoolbags off with a relieved sigh. "Cool," she says, squinting at the carpet. "So this can fly?"

"Well, it already is," you point out - it's half a metre off the floor.

Sayaka laughs sheepishly, and climbs on.

Hitomi's the last to step up, giving the deep purple material a dubious look, testing the give with one foot before trusting her weight to it. You can't quite blame her, you suppose.

"Alright!" you say, grinning. "Meguca Airlines flight SA-004, taxiing for takeoff from, uh, random alleyway Mitakihara City."

"I still think it's 'Sabrina Airlines'," Mami says, shuffling a little closer to you and leaning her head against your shoulder.

"Meh," you say, raising the carpet straight up the alleyway, careful not to clip anything.

Sayaka leans over the edge to peek at the receding ground. "That is so cool," she says.

"Sayaka, be careful..." Madoka says, looking torn between restraining Sayaka or joining her.

"Meh," the bluenette says.

"All body parts inside the vehicle, please," you say, grinning back at the others. Sayaka harumphs, but complies, unable to hide her grin, while Madoka gives you a grateful smile. Hitomi looks like she's barely restraining an excited squeal. Homura, sitting beside Madoka, gives you an inscrutable look.

"And here we go," you say as you pass rooftop level. You ease the carpet forward, slowly at first, but with smooth acceleration.

Sayaka whoops with joy. "Faster!" Madoka squeals in delight.

You oblige, accelerating until the wind's whipping at your hair, Mami's ringlets bobbing and Homura's hair streaming out like a mesmerizing black banner.

You tear your eyes and your thoughts away. Hm. It occurs to you that Kirika said that Oriko's Soul Gem was still accumulating Grief - despite her being disconnected. Which is terribly odd, to say the least.You reach out telepathically for the black haired girl. "Kirika?"

"Hm?" she responds. "Hey, Sabrina."

"Hey, just confirm something for me - Oriko's still accumulating Grief?" you ask.

"Mmm," Kirika says in agreement.

Interesting. "OK. Kirika, can I ask you to start practising something?" you ask. "You know your antimagic? Try to trade range for duration, or try to make it a passive effect.

"Hmm?" she asks, a little more animation in her voice. "Do you think it will help? Oriko said it didn't."

"It's worth a shot," you urge. "I suppose I could offer advice if you want, but I think the biggest one is to go with your gut feeling. Any progress is good. Or maybe a way to cut off a meguca from her magic entirely?"

"Yeah... Guess I can try that," Kirika agrees.

"Alright. I'll be there as soon as I can, OK?" you say. By your side, Mami cuddles a little closer against you, nestling into your side.

"Yeah. See you," she says.

"See you," you respond.

The flight passes all too quickly, Mami directing you towards the junkyard, and you coast in for a smooth landing. "Ladies and gentl-" you cough. "- welcome to little junkyard under the flyover, Mitakihara city. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seatbelts on- oh forget it." You snort, and hop off the front of the carpet, now hovering half a meter off the sandy floor of the junkyard.

"Well, here we are," you say, spinning to face the rest of your friends, longcoat flaring out around you.

"It's a junkyard," Hitomi says, looking around at the rusting heaps of metal with a wrinkled nose.

Mami nods, smiling as she hops off the carpet to join you. "It's where I come to practice. People can't see us here from the main road, and it's abandoned."

Sayaka steps off, shoes crunching on the sand. "How do we do this?" she asks, bouncing eagerly. Behind her, Madoka and Homura dismount from the carpet, Homura stalking off to the side and the pinkette following.

You smile. "Mami?"

"Me?" Mami blinks in surprise.

"You," you say, beaming at her. "All yours."

A smile spread across her face as understanding dawns. "Ah," she says. "If you're sure?"

"There's no one I'd trust more," you say simply, spreading your arms.

Mami nods, back straightening a little. She smiles at you, before turning to Sayaka. "Alright. Sayaka, do you know what your power is?" she asks.

"Ah, no?" she says.

"That's out first goal, then," Mami says. "Transform, please? Madoka, Hitomi, please stand back?"

Sayaka grins, forming her Soul Gem on her hand and holding it up. "Transform!" she calls.

...

Nothing happens.

Madoka giggles in the resounding silence. Hitomi's facade cracks, and she muffles a giggle behind a hand.

Sayaka pouts.

"... no, not like that," Mami says. "Just... focus, Sayaka, you should already know how to transform."

Sayaka nods vigorously, frowning in concentration. A heartbeat later, she erupts in a blaze of light, sapphire blue and clean.

When the light fades, Sayaka's in her magical girl costume. Her costume, white and blue and accented in blue, with that diagonal cut skirt and flowing white cloak. Her Soul Gem, a blue C, rides in its place on her torso, in the parting of her shirt, and a golden fortissimo shaped hairpin in her hair.

You grin. "Nice costume," you say, wandering over to the side of the junkyard and dragging a barrel over.

Madoka claps in delight, happy smile on her face, as does Hitomi.

Sayaka blinks slowly, as if dazed, before shaking her head and grinning back at you. She looks down at her self, patting her costume. "This is so cool," she breathes.

Mami smiles. "Congratulations, Sayaka!" she says. "Do you know what your power is?" she asks.

Sayaka frowns in concentration. "I... I think so," she says. "Um, Mami-senpai, can you come over here?" She holds out one gloved hand.

Mami tilts her head curiously, walking over to Sayaka and offering her hand. You fold your arms, leaning against a rusting hulk of a car as you watch.

Sayaka grabs Mami's hand, frowning in concentration. Your mind wanders as you watch - you really should get some identification for yourself, though you're not sure what you'd put down for a surname. 'Just Sabrina' is one thing, but still... You kind of want a name ending with 'V', though. Or maybe something long and massively complicated.

"OK," Sayaka says, letting out a breath and stepping back. She holds her hands out, palm down, and without any fuss, white coloured ribbons spill from her palms like an endless stream, pooling on the floor.

"Oh!" Mami says. "Power copying?"

Sayaka nods. "I think so!" she says, cutting off the flow of the ribbons. She grins around at all of you, bouncing happily on her feet. "This is so cool."

[] Write-in


Training will continue, along with talking and stuff in the next post - this one got long.

You flash Sayaka a grin and a thumbs up. "Yeeeep," you drawl, fighting not to squeal over her powers. She lucked the hell out with them, you figure, and there's so much she'd be able to do with it.

You have to fight not to blurt out all the ideas springing to the front of your mind. It's Mami's show, you remind yourself.

... That doesn't stop you from taking a few eager steps forward to inspect the ribbons, though. In the corner of your eye, you can see Madoka looking around for somewhere to sit, as does Hitomi.

Mami smiles. "Then I think we should see what the limits of your copying is," she says. "How long do you think it will last, Sayaka?"

The bluenette frowns, considering. "I don't know," she admits.

"We'll find out," Mami says, nodding. "Can you do this?" She holds a hand out, golden ribbons wrapping into the familiar, filigreed shapes of one of her muskets.

Sayaka watches the musket form, frowning and scratching her head. "Uh..." She holds her hand out, concentrating on it, and an explosion of white ribbons erupts from it, spilling from her upturned palm to flop all over the floor. "No." She rubs sheepishly at her forehead.

"That's alright," Mami says, nodding with a smile. "I expected that. I wasn't able to make the guns at first, either. Can you do anything with the ribbons? Make them move around?"

You glance past Sayaka frowning in concentration, looking at Madoka and Homura and Hitomi. The pinkette and verdette are both rather comfortably perched on top of the hood of a car, a plastic sheet spread over it. Probably courtesy of Homura. The time traveller herself seems to sense your gaze, and violet eyes flick to you.

"Yeah!" Sayaka cheers, the puddle of white ribbons writhing like a pit full of snakes. Or... judging from the way Homura's eyes tighten, a can full of worms.

"Hey," you say to Homura. "It'll be OK."

Homura makes an annoyed sound in response. You glance anxiously at her, and you can feel a small frown crawl across your face.

"Well done, Sayaka!" Mami says, nodding. "How about this?" She gestures with her hand, and a golden ribbons lashes out from her open palm. It smashes into the barrel you'd dragged over earlier. With a resounding crash, it goes tumbling over the coarse send.

Mami curls her hand into a fist, and the ribbon pulls back, coiled around the barrel, and sets it back upright. There's a massive debt in the sheet metal, crumpled and almost torn.

You rub at your nose. That really should surprise you less than it does. It's not like Mami had the muskets from the get go; she must have had some way of fighting without them.

"Homura?" you say as you watch Sayaka concentrate on her ribbons.

Homura sighs into your mind. "This won't end well," she murmurs.

"I'll talk to Madoka later," you say, quiet urgency in your voice. "I'll do all I can to talk her out of considering contracting."

Sayaka thrusts her hand at the barrel with a cry of effort, ribbons flowing with the motion. The ribbons smash into the barrel, sending it tumbling with a crash - but it's noticeably less forceful.

Hm. Should have expected that, you muse as you clap.

"And if the worst should happen?" Homura's eyes flick over to Sayaka, who's crowing over her success.

"Not with me around," you say simply. "I'll do everything I possibly can to prevent that, too. You know I will."

Sayaka fairly bounces as she waves her hands, laughing and guiding the ribbons around the junkyard like a surging mass of seafoam.

Homura sighs again. "I know."

"Is there anything I can do, Homura?" you ask. "Anything to help, or anything to make you feel better?"

"Hey, should I try someone else's power?" Sayaka asks, voice bright and cheery. She grins at you, teeth nearly flashing in the later afternoon sun.

Mami shakes her head. "No, not yet... unless you think you can hold more than one power at a time?" she asks.

Sayaka frowns. "I think... I think I can only hold one at a time," she says. "It feels like it."

"That's probably right, then," Mami says, smiling. "Your first instinct usually is, when it comes to magic. I think we should wait for it to run out first, so that we know how long it takes? It wouldn't do to not know and have your powers run out in the middle of a Witch fight, right?"

Sayaka nods thoughtfully. "That makes sense, Mami-senpai!"

Mami beams, first at Sayaka, then you. You laugh, and pull Mami into a quick, sidelong hug. It's nice to see her happy.

"What about your weapon, by the way?" you ask, giving Sayaka a curious look, before glancing back to Homura. The black haired girl's still hovering at Madoka's shoulder, eyes darting from her, to you, to Sayaka, and back again.

"Hmmm," Sayaka says. She frowns, reaching under her cloak as if groping for something hidden there, and withdraws...

Hah. A sword. Her sword; gently curved steel with a grip long enough for two hands, a boxy hand and trigger guard wrought of golden metal. Sayaka looks down at the sword and grins. "Cool," she says, waving the sword in the air, tip tracing out a figure-of-eight loop.

You grin. "Oh that's nice," you say. "Hey, can I take a look at that?"

"Eh? Sure!" Sayaka says, handing you the sword.

Homura's been quiet for a minute. Worryingly so. You glance sidelong at her as you examine the sword closely, finding a trigger inside, well, the trigger guard. Homura watches, her expression and posture studiously neutral in sharp contrast to Madoka and Hitomi's obvious interest and glee.

"She doesn't have the right mindset," Homura says at last, her weight shifting back a little.

"Yeah... but I am going to talk to her about it," you say, while pointing out the trigger guard to Sayaka. "Any idea if this does anything?"

"I dunno," Sayaka says, taking the sword back and pointing it at a rusting car. She depresses the trigger with a click.

The hilt bucks in her hand, launching the blade towards the rusting hulk. The steel hammers into the engine hood with a clear chime of metal on metal, embedding itself nearly a handspan deep. "Whoa!" Sayaka exclaims.

"Oh, that will be useful," Mami says with a smile. "That can catch people off guard. Hmmm... Do you still have the ribbon powers?"

Sayaka nods. "Yeah!" she waves a hand, ribbons trailing in a loose semicircle with the motion.

"Alright," Mami says. "I wonder if it will wear out, if it does?"

The bleunette shrugs, bouncing on her toes.

"Hmmm..." Mami considers, tapping a finger to her lips. "Normally I'd tell you more about being a magical girl, hunting Witches and cleansing our Soul Gems with Grief Seeds, but you're already aware of that. I think that we can try to find out how accurate you are, then."

"Yup," Sayaka says, still bouncing energetically. "Sounds good!"

Mami smiles. "Let me set up some targets."

You wander across the small clearing to join Madoka, Homura, and Hitomi by that old car, giving Homura what you hope is a reassuring smile. "I'll talk to her," you murmur to the time traveller. "I'll do everything I can, OK?"

Homura sighs.

"Hey, Madoka," you say as you approach.

"Ah?" the pinkette looks up from watching Mami make some targets out of ribbons. "What's happening?"

"Nah, just wondering, how are you?" you ask, leaning against the flaking paint of the old car. Not like your coat will get permanently dirty. "Anything wrong in particular?"

"Ah... not really," she says, smiling at you. She waves at Sayaka, who's now giving a dubious look in the general direction of the targets Mami put up. "Just watching."

"Try and hit the targets, Sayaka!" Mami calls, waving from the furthest one, which is... nearly half a kilometer away, on the top of a building. "Start with the nearest one."

Sayaka's jaw firms, and she raises the sword with both hands firm around the hilt.

"Well," you say, smiling at Madoka. "Then... thank you, Madoka. For understanding."

Madoka blinks at you, looking puzzled for a moment before understanding dawned. "Oh. You're welcome?"

"No, really, Madoka," you say, shaking your head. "It's just fantastic to be able to talk to a friend, or friends-" you smile at Hitomi, who's looking curiously at you, "-that can pull us down to the earth without crashing."

Madoka nods, her smile becoming a little more confident. "You're welcome," she says.

"Anyway, I meant to ask... do you think there's anything we can do about Sayaka's, um, debt issue?" you ask.

Hitomi perks up. "Yes, I would like her to not do that," she says, glancing over. "Sayaka's my friend, and she really doesn't owe me anything."

You can feel Homura's eyes on the back of your head as your rub at your nose. "Yeah... I'm worried that she's going to push herself too hard because of it."

Madoka shakes her head. "I... I've already talked to her," she says, a little frown crossing her brow. "She feels indebted to all of you because you helped her." Madoka presses her lips together and gestures at Sayaka, who's managed to hit the closer targets, but is currently yelling at the ones that are maybe two hundred meters away.

"I think... I think she became a magical girl partly because of that," Madoka says, voice quiet as she glances from Hitomi, to you, to Homura. "So that she could protect people, and... fight with you."

[] Write-in


The post that keeps growing.

You sigh. "I was afraid of that," you mutter, half to yourself. Not a terribly difficult conclusion to arrive at, really.

"Tch," Homura bites out, garnering looks from Madoka and Hitomi.

Madoka shakes her head. "She feels guilty," she says. "So she's being very hard on herself."

Your lips quirk into a faint smile. "Yeah. I was going to say that," you admit. Well, if there's any truth to the idea that Madoka's your mother in a wibbly, wobbly, timey way... Well, you could say 'like mother, like daughter'.

Heh.

"Honestly..." you huff as you watch the girl in question struggle with the mid ranged targets, Mami calling encouragement at her. "I'd have been happy just for her friendship. Friends don't keep score."

Hitomi nods emphatically. "I... it doesn't help that her parents think that they do owe my parents too," she adds.

Damn.

You huff another aggrieved sigh.

"I'm going to try and talk to her about that in a bit," you say, pursing your lips. "Do you have an ideas for that? Anything I could say or do that might help? Madoka, Hitomi?"

Madoka's brow wrinkles in thought, and she worries at her lower lip.

Hitomi sighs. "I've been trying," she grumbles, shifting her sling. "Do you see the way she carries my bag for me? I have a broken arm, not a broken leg."

"I think... she needs something to do," Madoka says at last. "She needs to do something to help, however small it is. I think... maybe being a magical girl will be good for her?"

Homura snorts quietly, so softly you're not even sure of you'd heard it.

You eye Sayaka. She seems to have stalled out with the midrange targets, but Homura's skepticism notwithstanding, she seems happy and uncowed, bouncing energetically on her toes even as she talks over Mami, who's come over to examine one of her swords.

Madoka's suggestion... is entirely reasonable, you guess. Give her something to hold on to. Something substantial, you suppose.

... Of course, you share some of Homura's doubt. Sayaka is, well, Sayaka, and doesn't have the best track record with being a puella magi.

That aside, though... You exhale, shaking your head with a smile. "That makes sense," you say. "Thanks, Madoka."

"Ah, no..." Madoka shakes her head. "She's my friend, too."

"Yeah, just... talking to you makes a difference for me too, you know?" you say, leaning against the car and tilting your head to look up at the sky. "Right, Homura?"

The time traveller nods, a microscopic movement of her head.

"Ah... That's good," Madoka says, blinking.

You glance over at Sayaka again. Mami's now aiming one of her own muskets at the same targets that had been troubling Sayaka, one eye squeezed shut. With a smooth pull, she depresses the trigger. The ball slams square into the bullseye of the target.

"Whoo! Nice shot, Mami!" you cheer, joined by Madoka and Hitomi.

Mami turns to beam at you, expression dazzling and bright. You smile back, and wave at her. Her expression softens into a warmer, but no less cheerful smile, and she turns back to offer corrections to Sayaka, whose face is set in a mask of concentration as she aims her sword at the target Mami just hit.

You chew on the inside of your cheek. "What about you, Madoka?"

"Eh?" Madoka glances at you in surprise.

"No, just... you don't feel useless, right?" You shake your head, giving her a depreciating smile. "I worry."

"Ah, no, I'm alright," Madoka says, blinking in confusion. Over her shoulder, you can see Hitomi giving you a raised eyebrow. And you can feel Homura hovering by your shoulder, a looming spectre of both general and directed grumpiness and worry.

You huff out a sigh, shaking your head. "I... well, to be honest," you say, glancing from Madoka to Hitomi to Homura. "I... really wish she hadn't contracted. She has a good power - and she'll do fine! Especially with Mami and Homura and I around." You give Madoka a reassuring smile.

"But...?" Hitomi asks, eyeing you.

You shrug, propping the heels of both palms against the hood of the rusting old car and leaning back to look up at the sky. "Fighting as a magical girl, the way things are? It's... rough. Homura can back me up here."

The time traveller makes a noise of vague agreement.

"It... it can isolate you," you say, choosing your words slowly. "From friends, from family, and powers are fun, but... they don't make up for it, you know?" You finally look away from the scudding clouds, smiling warmly at Madoka and Hitomi. "I want to change that for the better, but it doesn't make it better in the short term."

Madoka nods, looking faintly poleaxed.

"It's a job, isn't it?" Hitomi says, slow and thoughtful. "Like being a policeman, or a firefighter. It seems..." she waves her good hand, searching the air for a word. "It seems glamorous, and in many ways it is, but it's risky. Hard work."

You nod. "That's it," you say. With a few hidden caveats. "That's essentially it. I... I just worry that she'll regret her choice later, or blame herself for something."

"Ah... do you regret anything, Sabrina?" Madoka asks.

A fair few things, if you're honest with yourself.

"Eh," you say, shrugging. "Hard not to go through life without picking up some. But..." You smile, letting your gaze drift to include Madoka and Hitomi and Homura, and Mami and Sayaka. "I have you guys. It helps, you know, it really does, without any magic involved."

Hitomi nods, smiling faintly.

Madoka nods vigorously, twin ponytails flying. "I know!" she says.

You let the silence stretch out, watching as Mami tries to coax Sayaka into better accuracy. Not with terribly much success, though; she's still struggling with the targets about two hundred meters away.

"Homura?" you ask, speaking into the time traveller's mind. "Are you OK with this?"

Cloth rustles as she shifts slightly. "You're doing better than I have," she says, voice toneless and quiet.

You're about to respond when Mami glances over, beaming at you. "Sabrina!" she calls. "Would you like to spar with Sayaka? Just melee against melee?"

[] Write-in


Gods that talk just keeps getting pushed back!