Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

So many questions.

So many questions.

You have so many questions. Where do you begin? Should you comment on your plans for not-world-domination? Homura's right, you'd make a terrible Empress, so you probably shouldn't be pushing too hard in that direction, but you don't want to give the wrong impression, either. You absolutely do want to change things. So should you-

"Yes, please," Mami answers, nodding.

... or that works too.

Nadia rubs her hands together, bright white teeth flashing in a broad grin. "Yes. To begin, I assume you are aware of the recent fight in Sendai."

"We were there, yes," Mami says with a thin smile.

"You know that Mori Rin has taken over leadership, yes?" Nadia asks. At your nod, she continues on.

"The Murasaki shrine maidens recruited two new members," Nadia says, frowning in thought, and holds her hand up with four fingers extended. "Another healer and a, mm, a conjurer. She makes things out of nothing, fimti? That brings their numbers up to four. They're still quite nice. Shichigahama group, ay... They lost a member, Maeda Chiko. Do you want to know how?"

"How?" Mami asks, raising her eyebrow.

"Eloped," Nadia says with a shake of her head. "Ran away with a tourist."

"... seriously?" you ask, making a face.

"Yes," Nadia says, throwing her hands up. She barely misses Sayaka, who flinches away with a yelp. "Some pretty boy from Portugal, from what I am told. I am not joking."

Mami giggles, shaking her head even as she tightens her hand slightly on yours. You squeeze back, thumb stroking lightly over the back of her hand. No way in hell you'd elope with someone else, anyway. Or run away, or anything stupid like that.

Sayaka gapes at Nadia, then Mami, then Homura. "This kind of thing happens?" she asks, sounding torn between horror and amusement.

Nadia looses a deep, belly laugh. "We are mostly teenaged girls, set out to fight horrible monsters, ay? We live how we can."

"... Yeah, OK," Sayaka says with a grimace. "That sucks."

You sigh, rubbing your face. "Yeah, well, there's a reason I want to help magical girls, right?" you say. "Oh. On that note, Nadia, and related to what you said - mostly teenaged girls, right?"

"Ya?" Nadia cocks her head.

"Who's the oldest magical girl you know?" you ask.

"Oldest, eh?" Nadia asks, drumming her fingers thoughtfully on the table. "I think... there is an American girl, name is Catherine... Catherine Hamilton? I think she is fifty-three years old."

"Huh," you say, blinking. "That's impressive."

"Fifty-three?" Homura asks, actually sounding taken aback. Just a bit.

"Paranoid, cynical bitch," Nadia opines, making a face. "I made her show me her birth certificate, once. She is old. I hear older, old stories that the previous oldest magical girl was over sixty, but that was fifty years ago, fimti? Before my time."

"Wow. That's..." On the one hand it's impressive for magical girls, on the other hand it's a rather sad commentary on the lethality of being one. On the third, non-Euclidean-and-probably-made-out-of-Grief hand, that Catherine must be dangerous as hell. Beware an old woman in a job that kills young, to paraphrase that saying.

"Mmm," Nadia agrees, tapping her chin.

"Can you tell me about... I dunno, the world at large, actually? Anything interesting or dangerous happening, what are the big groups like in general?" you ask.

"Hmm. I assume you know Japan, Mami must have told you. Walpurgisnacht," Nadia says, frowning and placing her hand down on the table beside her plate. She snags a fry and stuffs it in her mouth before continuing, moving her hand over to the side. "Then... South Korea is peaceful, mostly. North Korea... hunting is plentiful. The magical girls surviving there do well."

She purses her lips in consideration. "China is big. There is much more variation in, mm, in society there, fimti? The biggest group is the... Zhū Què Xié Huì, uh. Red bird association? They have many teleporting people."

"Zhū Què... oh, Suzaku!" you say, snapping your fingers, and glance around at your friends. "They're the same thing, just a different name in Japan. They named themselves after a constellation."

"It's a nice name?" Sayaka offers with a shrug.

Madoka nods in agreement. "Ah... if I may ask, what do they do?"

Nadia wobbles her hand from left to right. "They organise? Most big magical girl groups do the same. They are loose groups, they cooperate to fight off outsiders trying to invade, ay?"

"Like a defense pact!" Madoka says, beaming. "We covered those in History!"

"Defense pact..." Nadia mutters to herself before nodding firmly. "Yes, a defense pact."

"Hmm... most magical groups are like that, you say?" you muse. "Are there any that actually try and help its members other than with territory claims? Redistribute Grief Seeds?"

Nadia hesitates before answering, looking thoughtful. "Only very small groups," she says, waving her hand around at the five of you. "It is not, mm, practical to go to other cities. Only in emergencies, and maybe if you have a teleporter, ay?"

"That sucks," Sayaka says, crossing her arms. "That... really, really sucks."

"It is life," Nadia says, sighing.

"Well, not to belabour the point, but that is exactly what I want to fix," you say, earning you a warm smile from Mami. "Go on, Nadia? About the world in general, I mean."

Nadia adjusts a strand of black hair that escaped her hairband, clearly thinking over it. "The world is big," she says. "I can go country by country and we will be here still tomorrow."

"Maybe just the highlights, Miss Bennouna?" Mami suggests, patting your hand with her other one.

"OK. Forget the minor skirmishes, ay? The conflict in Omsk was heating up," Nadia says. "I left town quickly. Arab Springs... I did not go there. It is a warzone, I know magical girls are running." She scowls, tapping her chin. "It is possible you might get refugees from there, if they can travel. The Americas... I have not been there in months, I do not know much recent news."

"And that's the major ones," you say with a frown. You'll come back to them later - questions and answers first. "Right, so, uh, I have a laundry list of magical girl powers I'd like to ask about, if you know any?"

"Ask away," Nadia says with a grin.

"Alright, uh," you take a deep breath before starting to rattle off your wish list. "Strategic level teleportation or portals, by which I mean a few hundred kilometers, danger sense that can find people before the danger happens, magic amplification, mind protection, uh... Very strong healers, exceptional enchanters?"

"Um," Nadia says, looking about as stunned as your friends do. Apart from Homura, of course, who looks more thoughtful than anything. "Uh. Locals will be better, I am assuming. You already know Tachibana Sakura in Sendai for teleporting, ay?" She continues at your nod. "Hiroto Nagi from Niigata. Uh, Yakumo Yukari from Tokyo has portals, but her range..." She shrugs.

"Wait wait wait," Sayaka interrupts. "Yakumo Yukari? Like from that anime, uh, Touhou?"

"Touhou?" Nadia asks blankly.

Your eye twitches as you fight not to correct Sayaka about Touhou not being an anime. "It's a game," you say mildly.

"She likes to pretend," Homura offers tonelessly. "Her real name is Taniguchi Emi."

Nadia raises her eyebrows. "Really?"

Homura shrugs with one shoulder, an ambivalent gesture that says 'take it or leave it'.

"Right," Nadia says, pursing her lips and giving Homura a curious look. "Next... danger sense, I can't think of any. It doesn't sound common. Magic amplification, I mentioned the Murasaki group, they have a girl, but they do not like to leave their shrine. Hm."

She hauls her book out, thumping it on the table once more and flipping through its pages. "Yes, here. Koyanagi Saki, magic amplifier, Kyoto. Mind magic... There are many who can read minds. It is a common desire, fimti? To protect is the other side of the same coin." She peers over the edge of her tome, rolling her hand from side to side to demonstrate. "All you need to do is to find one, I can tell you who. Healers, quite common."

She pauses, paging idly through the pages of her book. "You understand, most... all of these girls have lives, ay? They have their own groups. They might not wish to leave. But your last question, enchanter? You have two right here." She grins, pointing at Mami, and then herself. "I do not have much to do in between cities, and Tomoe Mami has managed to teach me tricks."

"Hah, fair enough," you say, beaming proudly at Mami, who flushes in embarrassed pleasure. You always knew she was awesome, but well, she has what frankly amounts to international fame and recognition. "Hey, one more for the list - do you know of any magical girls who can manipulate the Soul? I've heard that there was one on the way here."

Nadia arches an eyebrow. "Riona Mag Aoidh," she answers without missing a beat. "She is well known. And feared."

"... go on?" you say.

"She is known in much the same terms as Tomoe Mami," Nadia says with a wave of her hand. "She holds Edinburgh by herself."

"Hold on, I have to ask here," you say, raising your hand. "Riona Mag Aoidh is an... Irish name, yes, but Edinburgh is Scotland...?"

Nadia shrugs delicately. "I suppose?"

"... OK then," you say, scowling. "Go on?"

"She manipulates the Soul, as you say," Nadia notes. "She is very powerful against other magical girls and Witches. I have not heard she is travelling, but it would have been within the last week?"

"About there," you agree.

"How do you know that?" Nadia inquires, frowning.

[] Write-in


Man there are a lot of questions to answer.