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

The afternoon was really bad... but you got ice cream and pasta, so it is okay now. Especially with how your weird connection with Rico doubled the taste of dinner, things have become nice again.

Ludger is right by your side the moment you push your chair back and bring your plate into the kitchen; he yelps happily and runs circles around you, begging to play and have fun with him. He normally does that to Rico, but you do not mind him, either.

Your sister is right behind you and darts ahead once she is done putting her plate down; you ponder starting to wash the dishes, but your mother shoos you away. "Not today, Eva. You go and play today."

The stern look she gives you already says that there is no arguing the point; you like washing things, though... you like things being clean, too. "Okay..."

Your mother loses the frown in an instant and ruffles your hair. "Good girl."

After she let go, you turn around and wander through the hallway, following the sound of laughter and happy corgi. You can feel a wet tongue sliding over your cheek, even though there is nothing.

Ludger is a great dog... he has been with you for around three years, ever since your big sister brought him for your birthday; you took good care of him ever since, even when your mother did not believe you could do it at first.

It took maybe a week for her to fall in love with the new pet as much as you two already had.

He is a great friend and really protective; there was that one day last year when some older boy scared Rico with his mastiff... the memory has your stomach grumble and you shudder; there is a note of remembrance from elsewhere.

Neither of you ever saw that much blood before. And none of the older children ever tried picking on you again, at least when you were walking your dog. When you told your big sister about it later, she made some weird comment about Ludger being a German corgi, as if that had any influence. You still think it was a joke, but have no idea what it means.

Somehow, you doubt being able to understand this anytime soon; however, you do not mind. Ludger is Ludger.

Speaking of which, you find him proudly sitting atop your giggling sister; his eyes are on you at once, the dog happily yelping again while you scratch him behind his ears. "Good Ludger, you caught the evil Rico. Now we force her to do her homework."

"Hey!"

You join Rico's giggling and carefully slide to the ground next to her; your injuries still sting a little, but you barely notice it when you do not have to move too fast. Another pair of hands joins yours in ruffling through your pet's fur, the soft hair leaving happiness with both of you. This is nice.

You are still Magical Girls... but things are not as bad as they may be.

Character sheets go from Level 0 to Level 4, with the former being the barebones sheet you get upon meeting someone new and the latter being the complete sheet. Spending time with someone unlocks higher levels of their character sheet; notice how Ludger's original sheet was Level 3, which means he still has abilities you are not aware of.
This one counts as only half an Interaction due to being tied with another option, which is why you do not get his Level 4 sheet this time.


After a few more minutes of petting and cuddling with your dog however, you can hear the sound of water stopping. Then your mother's head pops into the room, her eyes quickly finding the three of you on the floor. She pauses for a moment, a knowing smile playing around her lips. She found you like that rather often.

"Having fun?"
""Yes!"" "Woof!"
"Too bad Ludger has to go for a walk now."
""Aww...""

Even the dog looks a little sad, but he quickly trots over to where your mother stands; she carefully adjusts his collar and clicks the leash onto it, then waves at you and moves off. "You should wash up and change."

Oh, right... you do kind of have a lot of dog hairs on your clothes.

Rico carefully helps you up, making sure to put as little pressure as possible on your injured side; while the front door opens and closes, you two make your way over to the bathroom for a quick wash. It does not take long before you are back in your room and slipping out of your clothes, the cute blue and pink pyjamas your mother bought already waiting to be put on.

"Hey, with Mommy gone... what do you think that weird thing with our feelings is?"
There is a tingle of curiousity that is not your own coming with the question, which is a little bit weird; but you do not mind. "I'm not sure, Rico. I think I like it."

After all, this connection you seem to have now lets you be with your sister even if she is not with you. And you get to have twice the taste of your favourite food. And...

And you get to feel when the other is hurt.
Wait, that one was not your... oh. Again.
"I guess so..."


Two Minds Joined in Harmony is a powerful ability if used right. However, it will be detrimental in its current state. Due to what it does, both of your protagonists have to be careful with what they do.


Rico does not respond, at least not verbally. She buttons up her top while you continue thinking about it. You remember feeling the pain in your... uh... Rico's ankle right before healing it back there. It hurt really bad for just a moment.

You tug at your collar for a bit, then carefully pick up your discarded clothes; they are still full of hairs. Your sister is right behind you as you wander over to the patio and shake them out with quick snaps, just like mother taught you.

"But we can do math now, too."
Rico hums in agreement, although the mental cheer betrays how she actually feels. Noticing that you noticed, your sister ducks her head and blushes a bit.


However, it is also a unique capability to link their brains together; Eva and Rico are instinctively capable of using each other's mental capacities without inconveniencing the other. By the way, it is not so much them being able to do math all of a sudden, it is that they have a far easier time processing what they read and thus understanding the theory.
As it is, the bonus of their enhanced reflexes and processing power is minimal, but can be increased as they grow more proficient in handling it.


With your clothes somewhat clean, the two of you return inside and put them away for tomorrow.

Your room is actually really small; you have a medium-sized dresser each, a desk that fits two chairs, and bunk-beds. The furniture takes in more than half of the room... and you will probably be too big to lie on the floor together in another two or three years.

"Hey, let's try doing things on purpose."
"Huh?"

Rico looks at you with a bright smile and settles down on your bed, patting the space next to her. You do not really get what she wants to do, but it will be fine. Careful not to step on Ludger's excess fur, you make your way over to sit next to her; there is a moment of silence and a mixture of curiousity from both sides before she pokes your cheek.

Eh?

"Hm..."
Rico pokes you again and it still makes no sense. What is that supposed to do?
"I'm... trying to feel things from your end. It doesn't work!"

Hu... oh. Ohh.
Now you get it. Rico wants to try seeing if you can sense each other or from each other however you want instead of it being random.

"Oh, I see."

But how to go about it?

You think for a moment, then smile cheerfully and poke Rico's side; your sister eeps and tries to swat away your hand, but you just poke her other side. She is ticklish there and soon you have her giggling and laughing openly under your assault.

"Wahaha... ugh, Eva! Ahaha, stop!"

Somehow, you can feel fingers tickling your sides and have the urge to giggle as well. It gets stronger the more you do to Rico... but you stop the moment she starts feeling uncomfortable instead of just trying to fight back.

By now you are lying on your bed, with Rico below you breathing heavily and looking up. "Uhhh... why? What did I ever do to you?! I can't even tickle you back, it's not fair!"

You giggle at her overly dramatic shouts and go back to sitting on the edge. After a moment of hesitation, Rico comes up as well; you are the first to speak, though: "I... uh... I wanted to see if it gets easier when you feel something... um... stronger? I could feel you being tickled better when I tickled you more..."

She blinks for a moment, then her eyes light up. "Eva, you're a genius!"

Ehehe, not really...

Then, all of a sudden, a wave of admiration rolls over you, bringing out a gasp of surprise; Rico smiles and shows you a victory-sign. "Ha, I can do it, too!"

So... you kind of figured out that things are easier to feel together when the feeling is strong. That... does not really help you in keeping it down, though.


You continue poking each other with feelings and fingers for a bit, until your mother comes home. It is not that late already, but you can feel how tired Rico is... and so are you.

You found out how to send things deliberately... or at least more clear, but suppressing things still does not really work. You tried by poking your side a few times and clamping down on the feeling... but Rico still yelped in pain with you every time.


Do not believe that doing an option once and not receiving anything means it was worthless. Many a thing requires dedication and constant exercise to be achieved.


In the end, neither of you figured out much. It is a start, but Rico does not seem too happy. Now that your mother is back, you can not continue anyway, at least not with anything that does too much noise.

You yawn loudly, your twin mimicking you a moment later. Glances fly from one to each other and you can feel that Rico is comfortable where she is, even though this is your bed. You do not mind.

The door creaks open and a pair of eyes peeks inside, looking what you are doing. Eva... no, you; you smile at your mother and usher your sister to lie down before getting up and going for the light switch. "We're tired, mommy. Good night."

"I see. Good night, Eva; good night, Rico."
"G'night", a drowsy Rico murmurs while pushing your blanket around; you hug your parent and kiss her cheek, then she closes the door and you turn off the lights before crawling into bed as well.

It is just a bunk-bed. It is small and tight, but you make do. It is also warm with the two of you sharing a blanket.

Rico is already out like a light; she never takes long to fall asleep... although that remains true during classes, too.

It feels a little weird, so peaceful. You enjoy your sister's warmth a bit longer, cuddling against her side while sleep...



Your eyes snap open and you take a deep breath. That was... weird. You turn your head towards the slightly opened curtains, noting that you forgot to close them properly yesterday. It is still early, seeing that the sky has a really dark blue and you can see no sunlight.

The alarm on your nightstand says it is a little after eight, so... you have about three to four hours to spend before your mother gets up.

And your arm is still asleep.

Looking back, Rico seems to have shifted it under her head during the night... or did you do that? You are not sure. Either way, you gently pull it out from under your sister and move it around, feeling the needly sensation all through your skin. This feels so weird...

After your arm is finally back and the feeling passed, you carefully slide out of bed; Rico is not that heavy a sleeper, but you do not mind her staying there a bit longer. She is always groggy in the morning, much in difference to you.

Quick steps bring you to your wardrobe and you get changed as quietly as possible, sneaking glances at your sibling as you do. Your side still stings a bit, but it feels better than yesterday.
Once you put on your clothes for the day, you head to the door and gently close it behind you; the first stop is the bathroom, but you only wash your face to get this weird stuff out of your eyes. Then you are off to the kitchen.

Ludger is lying in his basket in the living room, looking up upon hearing you walk by. He gets up and trots over, following you around as you gather the watering can and fill it up halfway with lukewarm water. Then you turn around and towards the patio, where your flowers are.

Mornings are nice. The air is fresh and cold and birds are chirping and you can hum to yourself while giving your plants water to drink. There are some weeds growing in-between again, so maybe you should go through the garden and pull them out one of these days...

Over all of this, you can still feel this note of tranquility from Rico. Your shuffling around apparently did not wake her up.

With the water expended and the garden no longer thirsty, you smile at your flowers and turn back inside, a slight spring in your step; Ludger continues to follow you, patiently waiting like you taught him.

After putting away the watering can, you slip over to the cupboard where the dogfood is stored; the regular packages are far too big for you to heave up, but your mother always puts a bit into a smaller bag sitting next to the large one. You get that and put it on the counter, then check Ludger's bowl; it is clean, so you quickly fill it and place it down, the Corgi happily getting to his breakfast.

While he is busy, you wash out his water bowl and refill it, too.

And then the feeling of peacefulness suddenly shatters away, making you flinch and shudder with its absence. There is a spike of confusion you know is not from you, so... Rico woke up.

While turning to wipe your fingers dry, you notice a lone knife lying on the counter. What is that doing there? Your mother usually keeps them all accounted for and out of your reach... over there. Huh, you can not put it back like this.

Contemplating the situation for a moment, you get yourself a stool and gently slide the knife back into its holder, alongside its three friends who probably missed it.

Reluctant steps can be heard outside, leading past the door and towards the bathroom. You giggle at the sense of water on your face and this tinge of unhappiness, then step down and push the stool back where it belongs.

Rico comes in while you are pouring two glasses of juice, growling angrily as she usually does. "Who thought mornings are a good idea?"

You ignore her grumbling and hold a glass out, which she takes with a quiet "Thank you". A long sip later, your sister's eyes are on you.

"Good morning, Eva."
Now you smile back at her and take a sip yourself. The cool juice feels nice. "Good morning, Rico."

---

There is some time to spend before your mother wakes up. Pick three:

[] Take Ludger for his morning-walk
[] Run away, you are no longer safe here
[] Play with Ludger

[] Make breakfast for everyone and surprise your mother

[] Go through your situation with Rico; what can you do now?

[] Continue examining your connection; there has to be something there

[] Tend to the garden; those weeds were not invited to live with you, they are rude

[] Go into the basement to examine your magic; maybe you can find out how it works?

[] Read your schoolbooks to find out more about the situation; you might need it

[] Have Rico do her homework; slacking off is not a good thing

[] Write-in


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


+5xp Not Above Testing Things on Yourself
+2xp Twin Sisters Are For Cuddling
+5xp Survived Your First Day
+2xp My Little Garden (only Eva)

EXP gained: 12 + 14 = 26
Total EXP: 60


(Unlocked Bonus Data: Timeline)
(Unlocked Bonus Data: Eva's Thoughts)