STATUS QUO
- Location
- England
When you open the door, you come face to face with a small crowd of people. You step backwards and Daiyu steps forwards, shield raised over her body. The people beyond don't have a chance to make a sound before she narrows her eyes at them and leaks her magic. It crashes into the world in an inaudible crunch, smothering any chance words may have had to be made. "Stay silent, sister is sleeping."
They let out shaky nods as you step through the door with her, closing and locking it behind you. Daiyu moves forwards with you, the crowd scattering before her as she moves. The hallways are large, perhaps three metres across, but it almost looks like they are trying to make them larger by how strongly they are pushing against the walls.
You pass in silence, the only noise the clinking of your armour as the plates touch. You don't meet anyone else in the corridors, the entire base seemingly empty. They can probably feel us coming. You reach Karens room in two minutes, opening the door without knocking and stepping forwards.
Karen is sitting in her chair, trying her best to look unruffled. She is doing a pretty good job of it, you might be convinced if not for the fact that you can feel the pathetic effort of her magic pushing back against Daiyu's. She stays quiet, waiting for you to speak first, her customary greeting and offer of tea nowhere to be found.
You stop next to Diayu, harsh frown on your face. You desperately wish you could just fucking shout and let her have a piece of your mind, but you don't trust your... voice not to do that thing right now. You raise your piece of paper and write out your words instead. You tried to replace me after six days? You are quietly frustrated at how difficult it is to convey 'WHAT THE FUCK' and 'FUCKING WHY' in a written sentence.
She seems to get the idea though, because she shakes her head smoothly. "Gaia is not known to return things that she takes, the last Magical Girl that I met went away in a similar manner. She was never seen or heard from again." She lets out a practised sigh, apparently it was too much effort to keep Daiyu at bay and keep her perfect persona up. "I understand why it looks bad that we tried to have Daiyu take over your position so fast, but we needed her right now. We still need you right now."
Daiyu makes an unhappy sound, but remains silent, letting you write your response.
And what was it that needed her right now? So much so that you couldn't even bother trying for a week?
Karen lets out a very small sigh, the only sign of her frustration. "We were still looking for you when you came back. But I was preparing for the worst in case you didn't." She shuffles through a paper on her desk and holds up a picture. It takes you a second to understand what you are seeing, it's an aerial view of a village of some sort, only it's been completely destroyed. Every building has been burnt to the ground or smashed into a dozen different pieces. You can see bodies, more human sized lumps of carbon at this point than corpses.
"This is why we need you right now. It turns out that the idiot who provoked the Peluda was a part of a cult who believed that they could gain immortality by dying in it's flames. The problem is that they decided to extend this 'gift' to a nearby village at the same time as them." She drops the picture back to the table and rubs her face. "Now it's running wild within the area we've trapped it, destroying everything indiscriminately. So yes, we need you right fucking now."
Her words take a little bit of the wind out of your sails, but to be fair, you really don't give a shit. Not my problem. You can see her almost start gaping at your response. Were you going to keep your end of the deal with Una? You threw me away so quickly that I really don't know if you would.
"Yes! Of course I would." She almost rises from her seat as she raises her voice. Her response surprises you, it's by far the loudest and most energetic you've ever heard from her. She drops back into her seat with a long sigh, settling herself as she rubs her forehead. "Yes." She starts more quietly. "I uphold my deals, especially regarding children." Her statement hangs for a moment before speaking again, softer. "Do I come across as that sort of person then? A backstabber who betrays everyone whenever it's convenient to her?"
You grit your teeth as you grudgingly respond. No. She would never have made it to her position, let alone hold it, if she constantly lied and betrayed people. But that does not mean that you don't make exceptions. You wanted to trust her, believe what she was saying. But you'd seen her type before, she was a good person, but she would make the hard decisions. The ones that got people killed and betrayed promises. The perfect military leader, but not the one you could ever trust absolutely.
Karen lets out a long sigh as you look at the still silent Daiyu. You weren't sure, but you were fairly confident that she agreed with you, and that she would side with you whatever you decided. Karen closes her eyes, staying still for a long moment.
When she next opens her eyes, they are cold. The real Karen looks out at you and speaks. "You knew this when we made our deal, but I will keep your sister safe as long as I can if you die, that is a promise I will not break." You feel an ugly churning in your gut as you reluctantly accept her words. Why the fuck do I want to believe you. A little part of your mind whispers back to you. Because you know what it's like to make those choices.
She continues. "But, regardless of that, there is a bigger problem." She glances down at the picture. "This needs to be stopped before it carves a path through half of France and exposes magic, we are already going to have to try to make a village and everyone who lived there disappear. If this lasts much longer, there won't be a masquerade to uphold."
You press your lips together as you stare her down. You really don't care about her problems right now, but if the masquerade breaks you have no idea what could happen.
[] Accept her mission
[] Refuse her mission
And so, it begins
They let out shaky nods as you step through the door with her, closing and locking it behind you. Daiyu moves forwards with you, the crowd scattering before her as she moves. The hallways are large, perhaps three metres across, but it almost looks like they are trying to make them larger by how strongly they are pushing against the walls.
You pass in silence, the only noise the clinking of your armour as the plates touch. You don't meet anyone else in the corridors, the entire base seemingly empty. They can probably feel us coming. You reach Karens room in two minutes, opening the door without knocking and stepping forwards.
Karen is sitting in her chair, trying her best to look unruffled. She is doing a pretty good job of it, you might be convinced if not for the fact that you can feel the pathetic effort of her magic pushing back against Daiyu's. She stays quiet, waiting for you to speak first, her customary greeting and offer of tea nowhere to be found.
You stop next to Diayu, harsh frown on your face. You desperately wish you could just fucking shout and let her have a piece of your mind, but you don't trust your... voice not to do that thing right now. You raise your piece of paper and write out your words instead. You tried to replace me after six days? You are quietly frustrated at how difficult it is to convey 'WHAT THE FUCK' and 'FUCKING WHY' in a written sentence.
She seems to get the idea though, because she shakes her head smoothly. "Gaia is not known to return things that she takes, the last Magical Girl that I met went away in a similar manner. She was never seen or heard from again." She lets out a practised sigh, apparently it was too much effort to keep Daiyu at bay and keep her perfect persona up. "I understand why it looks bad that we tried to have Daiyu take over your position so fast, but we needed her right now. We still need you right now."
Daiyu makes an unhappy sound, but remains silent, letting you write your response.
And what was it that needed her right now? So much so that you couldn't even bother trying for a week?
Karen lets out a very small sigh, the only sign of her frustration. "We were still looking for you when you came back. But I was preparing for the worst in case you didn't." She shuffles through a paper on her desk and holds up a picture. It takes you a second to understand what you are seeing, it's an aerial view of a village of some sort, only it's been completely destroyed. Every building has been burnt to the ground or smashed into a dozen different pieces. You can see bodies, more human sized lumps of carbon at this point than corpses.
"This is why we need you right now. It turns out that the idiot who provoked the Peluda was a part of a cult who believed that they could gain immortality by dying in it's flames. The problem is that they decided to extend this 'gift' to a nearby village at the same time as them." She drops the picture back to the table and rubs her face. "Now it's running wild within the area we've trapped it, destroying everything indiscriminately. So yes, we need you right fucking now."
Her words take a little bit of the wind out of your sails, but to be fair, you really don't give a shit. Not my problem. You can see her almost start gaping at your response. Were you going to keep your end of the deal with Una? You threw me away so quickly that I really don't know if you would.
"Yes! Of course I would." She almost rises from her seat as she raises her voice. Her response surprises you, it's by far the loudest and most energetic you've ever heard from her. She drops back into her seat with a long sigh, settling herself as she rubs her forehead. "Yes." She starts more quietly. "I uphold my deals, especially regarding children." Her statement hangs for a moment before speaking again, softer. "Do I come across as that sort of person then? A backstabber who betrays everyone whenever it's convenient to her?"
You grit your teeth as you grudgingly respond. No. She would never have made it to her position, let alone hold it, if she constantly lied and betrayed people. But that does not mean that you don't make exceptions. You wanted to trust her, believe what she was saying. But you'd seen her type before, she was a good person, but she would make the hard decisions. The ones that got people killed and betrayed promises. The perfect military leader, but not the one you could ever trust absolutely.
Karen lets out a long sigh as you look at the still silent Daiyu. You weren't sure, but you were fairly confident that she agreed with you, and that she would side with you whatever you decided. Karen closes her eyes, staying still for a long moment.
When she next opens her eyes, they are cold. The real Karen looks out at you and speaks. "You knew this when we made our deal, but I will keep your sister safe as long as I can if you die, that is a promise I will not break." You feel an ugly churning in your gut as you reluctantly accept her words. Why the fuck do I want to believe you. A little part of your mind whispers back to you. Because you know what it's like to make those choices.
She continues. "But, regardless of that, there is a bigger problem." She glances down at the picture. "This needs to be stopped before it carves a path through half of France and exposes magic, we are already going to have to try to make a village and everyone who lived there disappear. If this lasts much longer, there won't be a masquerade to uphold."
You press your lips together as you stare her down. You really don't care about her problems right now, but if the masquerade breaks you have no idea what could happen.
[] Accept her mission
[] Refuse her mission
And so, it begins
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