Libra's Lament, a Magical Girl Quest [Complete]

Winning Vote: Look one further up.

---

You are now the other twin, Rico Vescovi. At least you think so.

Not that it really matters, as you continue hugging your sister close for warmth. All of this is so terrible, you just wanted to have some fun and play with Eva... and now everything is broken.

You almost died, your sister is hurt and you are Magical Girls on top of that. Each time you think you can stop and push the sadness down, another wave of feelings rolls over you and brings it all back; it is the same for Eva.

At some point, the soldier woman that was looking after you carefully wraps her arms around the two of you, another source of warmth while everything else is cold.

...

You have no idea how much time passed, but the sadness slowly subsides at last and you feel the arms around you let go. Eva stopped sobbing with you, her eyes puffy and red... your own are no different, but you do not care.

You carefully pull your hand back into your sleeve so you can wipe her face with it. After a moment, your sister does the same to you without another word.

You do not even need any words now, not that you did before.
But now you can feel the warmth from her even without having to see. You can tell that Eva will be there with you, no matter what.

The soldier next to you looks relieved, maybe because you stopped crying... you leave your sister's face alone and turn to the older woman. "Can we go home?"

Your voice is raspy and your throat hurts a little... not that it matters much. Eva still hurts more than you do; you can feel a little sting in your side, too, even if there is nothing there. Your twin's shirt is bloody at that point, too.

The woman looks at you for a moment after you asked, then slowly nods at you. "Sure... uh, wait, hold on a second."

She quickly walks over to an even older man, probably her superior, and talks to him while gesturing back to you; Eva slips her hand into yours in the meantime, squeezing quietly while your thoughts whirl all around.

On top of that, why are you squeezing and being squeezed at the same... ugh, that again. You have no good idea what it is, but something definitely happened. Eva feels some of your pain and you feel some of hers, you have... a weird sensation deeper down, feelings that are not yours.

Your sister hums in thought, which means she agrees with you.
Whatever happened, it is weird; you do not dislike it, though. Neither does Eva.

The soldier comes back after talking with her bossman and smiles at the two of you. "Okay, you're good to go. I can drive you, if you want?"

A look is exchanged between the two of you, but neither minds. You just want to go home now. This Friday is awful.


Most of Verona had been destroyed or made uninhabitable during World War III. Now that the war is over though, humankind had slowly started to rebuild what was lost.

You hardly remember how the city looked like before that time; you were only three when the war rolled over Europe and your hometown was gone. At least the new buildings built in the city center look a lot like the ruins you found during previous scavenging trips, nice and cozy and brown and orange.

Just not packed as tightly as they used to be; there are now pretty gardens around the houses, where people grow vegetables.

Your own house stands just about a hundred metres away from the Adige, so you know you are almost there the moment you reach the wide bridge crossing the river; this does not make the ride anymore comfortable, though. Military jeeps have almost no cushions and cold air is rushing all around you! Your butt hurts from all the bumps in the street, too!

You should have walked... but then again, Eva is hurt. Walking might have made it worse, so you decide that you can bear with that much.


"Should I come in with you to explain to your parents?"
You look at each other again, then shake your head and smile up at the woman in synch. ""It's fine, miss. Thank you!""

This is a trick you always loved, to talk at the same time; it is easier than usually, especially because Eva normally talks slower than you. Right now however, you pull it off perfectly and can see the adult's expression softening. She is young, at least twenty years younger than your mother...

"Okay then. Take care, girls."
""'Kay!""

She pats your heads as a goodbye and you continue to smile up at her, waving until the jeep is out of sight. Only then do you drop the smiles and take each other's hands again, but there are still weird feelings rolling over you.

"Maybe something linked us together", Eva instantly switches tracks. You already knew the second half of the sentence before she said it, though; it makes sense to you, too. Actually, thinking is a lot easier now, even when it is really confusing as well.

You shrug and start pulling your sister. "Doesn't matter right now, I think. Let's go talk to mommy."

There is no resistance to your pull and another pair of feet follows without complaint. Eva always goes along with what you want to do... but you recently started making sure she gets to do things she likes too. Like the big sister you are.

"I'm the older one, Rico."

Oh, right... she heard that, even if you did not say it.

The two of you carefully look at each other in your eternal struggle of who is the big sister; Eva always wants to be, but she is too shy to actually act the part. She looks more boyish too, with her shorter hair.

Rico always gets into fights, so she can not be the... hey, wait.

"Hey!"

Eva giggles at your indignation and fiddles with her keychain before opening the door. You do not get to continue your half-spoken conversation, though, because a small, black and white projectile comes shooting at you and bowls you over with a happy yelp.


"Ah, Ludger!"
He is upon you immediately, licking your face and wagging his little tail while Eva pets his head. Ludger, your dog. Your very best friend in the whole world.

You giggle as the wet tongue slobs over your cheek and catch the corgi in your arms, rubbing his back while he continues to sit on your belly. Your sister joins the laughter and pushes the door closed with her foot.

After a moment of enjoying the warmth of the little bundle on you, you gently push him away and get up. "Okay, stop."

He stops and looks at you, then jumps off your belly once you push yourself upwards. "Sit."
No reaction. Ugh, so he still did not learn what you want him to do. Eva giggles again and helps you up... but you can feel a slight sting in your side again and she wheezes for a moment.

While you wipe the half-dried dog saliva off of your face however, another voice cuts into the silence.

"Welcome home, girls! Did you find anything?"

That is your mother in the next room, probably looking through the schoolwork she will throw your way next week; she is a teacher at the local school, so you always have to do your homework or she will know.

You look at each other again and Eva shifts uncomfortably. Neither of you will like this conversation, especially because your mom will probably not allow you to go out by yourself anymore.

But instead of overthinking this, you get a gentle nudge to... no, you nudged your sister to get going and then walked over to the living room. "Mommy? Um..."

There she sits, looking your way from the black couch; the stone table in front of her is filled with papers and folders and some pens, but she immediately sets down the one she is holding and gets up. "Did something happen?"

Before you can answer, Eva comes up next to you and your mother's eyes widen at her sight. "Eva, what..."

You never saw her move that fast before; you can hardly follow how fast she swings around the table and runs to your side, kneeling in front of the two of you and looking your sister over. "What happened?!"

"Um... "

Eva looks down sadly and the older brunette picks up on it, slowly easing her grasp on your sister's shoulders. "Come on, sit over here and let me see. Tell me everything."

You do sit, Eva lifts her arms so your mother can take off her shirt and look at the injury...


...but you do not tell her everything. You told her about the monster appearing and running away, but not about having become Magical Girls. You left out the part where you share your feelings and thoughts now, too.

Neither of you is sure how she will react after losing your father to World War III... and she hates Magical Girls.

Right now however, after hugging you and telling you everything is fine, she is ushering the two of you to sit and... and.... and.....

And places a large bowl of ice cream in front of you!

Best mom ever!


Three hours, lots of chocolate and strawberry ice cream as well as many hugs and headpats later, you sit in your room together with Eva. Your sister already changed out of her bloody clothes, which your mother will try to wash in a bit... after dinner. It is getting late and you do not feel like doing homework.

There are still many thoughts floating around both of your heads. Ludger lies next to your sister and has his head in her lap while she reads one of your schoolbooks... ugh, math.

You get glimpses of it if you concentrate on that weird sensation, but not enough to understand. Whatever Eva is doing seems to work for her, though.

"I... I get it. It's... easy."

That one stops you for a moment; both of you are not really good at math, so how can she suddenly understand this? Maybe the magic?

You crawl over to her side and look over her shoulder, reading the same page she does; those things you caught before... now that you can see the passages, they start to make sense.

The two of you quietly read a few more pages, partly making sense of the alien concepts before you, until a calm voice calls through the house: "Rico, Eva! Go wash your hands, dinner is ready!"

Your sister slowly closes the book and puts it on the ground; you help her up again, this time being careful about her injured side while Ludger gets up and looks at the both of you with this wide puppy-eye stare he never really lost.

It's so cute!

This time however, you manage to barely resist the urge to dive back down and cuddle with your dog, the little cheater. At least he paid for all the petting and playing in advance by teaching you and Eva how to use this look, too.


You have pasta for dinner today; not your favourite, but it is good and Eva likes it a lot.
It feels weird to feel the taste intensify at times, though. Really, really weird. At least your sister seems to be fine with that, seeing that she gets more out of the food.

Your situation here in Verona is far better than elsewhere, though; you both know that by heart. Italy was one of the first countries that reestablished a steady supply of electricity and water for the people after the UES was formed, right after Germany and France. Others still have to spend their night to the light of candles or get water from nearby lakes and rivers.

It makes sense to you; Europe got off much better than the rest of the world... if you just knew more. All that you do know is what you got from News broadcasts and your history book, same for Eva. Your mother does teach history and art, though... you could ask her about this.

"Say, children", a voice cuts into your thoughts, your parent gently pushing a strand of greyish brown hair behind her ear, "would you like to see Bianca?"

Both Eva and you turn your heads fully now; the last time you saw your big sister was the previous December. She works for the government and is really busy, so she has little time to come back. But she made it a habit to drop by for the whole month and celebrate your birthdays as well as Christmas and the New Year with you.

In your opinion, having her around for one month in the whole year is not enough at all.

Right now, you beam at your mother. "Big sis is coming?!"
She gives you a smirk that you usually see on Rico's... that others usually see on your own face. "She doesn't know it yet."

Oh. Heh.

You have the same smile now and Eva looks between the two of you. She understands, though.
In moments like these, your similarity to your mother becomes even more obvious; you all look a lot alike, to the point where people only need to look at her to know you are her children.

Your big sister is very similar, too. From what the adults told you before, girls in your family looked a lot like their mothers for generations.

"I will call her later, now eat up."

""Okay!""

---

You have an hour or two after dinner before you have to go to bed. Pick two:
(votes will be counted by line, not by plan)

[] Spend time with your mother, you feel bad after giving her that scare earlier

[] Read your schoolbooks and see if you can find some clues on how to deal with your situation

[] Stay in your room and figure out how this mind-thing works

[] Play with Ludger

[] Go play outside
-[] Actually play
-[] Train your magic

[] Go to bed early; the day was exhausting
[] Run away, you are no longer safe here
[] Write-in


[] EXP Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it


+1xp Met Ludger
+5xp Pet the Dog
+1xp Ice Cream!

EXP gained: 7 + 7 = 14
Total EXP: 34


(Unlocked Character Sheet Level 3: Ludger the Faithful!)


Everyone loves dogs, right?
Besides, this write-in is for things not listed but which might be useful.