questioningmeme
Just be yourself
- Location
- River of Light
Aside from that, I wonder what X will be doing.
Given that the current vote isn't about X specifically.
Given that the current vote isn't about X specifically.
“Human Resources” Shouldn’t Be This Literal: A PMMM/ProjectMoon Quest
- Thread starter Lepidoptera
- Start date
-
- Tags
- library of ruina lobotomy corporation project moon puella magi madoka magica eldritch horror magical girl crossover eldritch protagonist female protagonist fluffy gore non-human protagonist suffering violence discussion is always good civ good decisions identity crises nuclear moth detected parenting powers activate
Angela: "X, get out from under my desk, weren't you the one that told Hokma to stop clinging to the loop? You have to stop using the TT2 protocols as a security blanket."
X *rocking back and forth under the desk*: "Too much chaos, everything out of control, can't confront my daughters, wish I was back in the facility."
questioningmeme
Just be yourself
- Location
- River of Light
: You act as if the facility lacked things that can bypass your TT2 protocol sis.X: ...But I can't restart if I fail now...
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] Homura Akemi…
-[X] …wanders to the lowest floor.
[X] Sayaka Miki…
-[X] …ends up in a room filled with clocks.
[X] Kyoko Sakura…
-[X] …learns how confusing her new mother's family tree is.
[X] Mami Tomoe…
-[X] …has a chat with another yellow-clad child.
-[X] …wanders to the lowest floor.
[X] Sayaka Miki…
-[X] …ends up in a room filled with clocks.
[X] Kyoko Sakura…
-[X] …learns how confusing her new mother's family tree is.
[X] Mami Tomoe…
-[X] …has a chat with another yellow-clad child.
Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
There will in all likelihood be one event for each girl, selected over a series of votes. Possibilities will change as these votes go on, however, so don't worry if none of the options for a certain character appeal.
X has worked very hard to maintain a certain image to the kids, and that image offers a lot of certainty that whatever she decides is the correct course of action. It also helps that X is very experienced in giving orders in a logical, understandable fashion and getting people to go along with her plans.
The last condition was just to knowingly and willingly kill somebody without regret, which X did during the fight with the Adult killing off the tortured souls she used as an attack.
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Well, she had to wrangle the shitshow that were the sephiroth for millenias, of course she's good at herding cats.
Mercy kill to the rescue!
Poor souls, hope they are in a better world now, thought it is a very low bar to clear given how they were.
[X] Kyoko Sakura…
-[X] …learns how confusing her new mother's family tree is.
-[X] …learns how confusing her new mother's family tree is.
questioningmeme
Just be yourself
- Location
- River of Light
Our kids' personalities are all also pretty likely to listen to X.
X's image as basically (and literally) the group's mom is well-known at this point but even without that.
-Mami is our kid, and knowing her personality she's going to trust us on that basis alone;
-Kyoko will likely get bought over by Mami and you, she's also our kid too and trust us on the basis that we saved her life.
-Sayaka is currently injured, and she's trained by Geburah too; it's not too unlikely Geb gave her bits of advice on being bullheaded, so we can expect her to be more logical. Even without that, with Mami (Sayaka's original idol), Kyoko, and especially X (literally a hero out of the myths) all agreeing on something, she'll get dragged along.
Convincing Homura is the only problem. Since out of everyone she's the most independent of X and also the one that is least likely to get affected by mob mentality given her past experiences with the rest of the girls.
In this case, convincing her likely required a combination of trust (a capable adult who shares in her experience), an appeal to her own logical mind (She literally only has an arm), and specifically a way to assure her we aren't just doing this with no plans in mind. I'm pretty sure Homura would fight a hella lot more about it if she had more than 1 limb left.
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Twei
I have a face!
- Location
- the land where they write things
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I genuinely think people aren't taking the possibility of X losing it quite seriously enough. Or maybe they are, it's not clear what we could DO about it, but she's definitely not okay right now, lol
Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
Has X ever been okay, really? Her mental state isn't quite what one could call healthy, it just happens to also be very functional.
Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
And to the surprise of nobody, here we are.
Let's all enjoy a nice, peaceful chapter together.
questioningmeme
Just be yourself
- Location
- River of Light
I don't like that tone but here's hoping for the best.
I wonder how X and Angela would be able to help Homura recover-
Wait, that stupid group we were shown a dozen chapters back isn't going to attack the Library now are they?
I wonder how X and Angela would be able to help Homura recover-
Wait, that stupid group we were shown a dozen chapters back isn't going to attack the Library now are they?
2.5.6 - I Won’t Let You Keep Doing This
Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
Chapter 144 - I Won't Let You Keep Doing This
"How quickly will this procedure be completed?" Homura asks robotically from her place on the operating table in the Floor of Geography. The cool marble-colored platform stands stark against the uncomfortably large pile of fine purple sand that has leaked out of Homura's broken body. Homura, of course, is completely unbothered by this fact or the general state of her injuries beyond how they relate to saving Madoka.
"It should be a few minutes at most. Angela could do it faster, but she's seeing to Sayaka right now. It's the most efficient way to do it." you explain. Apparently whatever spell the Adult Who Tells Lies used against Sayaka that crystallized her arm and leg did damage on a very deep level, and you'd have needed to use Lobotomy to fix it. That sort of usage would take a toll you can't afford right now, so you left the job to your sister. Meanwhile, you have an excuse to give Homura a talking to.
"While I've got you here, I'd like to ask a favor from you." you begin. Homura nods for you to continue as you pull over a large microscope you made from the ambient Light in your floor in preparation and start looking over Homura's wounds.
"While we're in the Emerald City, I want you to look out for yourself." you ask. Homura's eternally-unchanging face stares up at you from the operating table, somehow appearing confused. Your attention is mostly in the tiny runes carved into the skin around Homura's injuries. You're not knowledgeable enough about the Adult's specific form of magic to tell exactly what they do, but running Lamp over them tells you they're screwing with time somehow and where to break them to safely make them stop working.
"I will not act recklessly. I know better than to take unnecessary risks." Homura says. You resist the urge to roll your eyes as you take a scalpel to the symbols scrawled onto the inside of Homura's chest and begin scraping them away.
"I have a feeling you and I have different definitions of 'unnecessary risk'. I've seen your memories, you aren't hiding anything from me." you deadpan.
"I was less emotionally stable in the past. I won't make the same mistakes I have in the past." Homura defends. While you do have to admit that she's right as far as emotional stability, having a stable emotional state and a good one are two wholly separate things. And stable as it might be, the clockwork girl's state of mind right now is perhaps the furthest thing from healthy.
"So you wouldn't have dragged yourself into the Emerald City to rescue Madoka and gotten yourself killed?" you ask pointedly as you scrape away the last rune in Homura's chest and move down to her legs.
"There was a possibility, however small, that I would have succeeded in rescuing Madoka. The risk was acceptable in exchange for that chance." Homura explains. This time, you do roll your eyes.
"I'm not sure if 'small' and 'risk' are really the words you're looking for. You would've died, and I can't imagine how you would've accomplished anything in doing it. But that's still not the point." A harsh edge enters your voice as you get to work on the symbols scrawled into the stump of Homura's left leg. Still level and not raised, but undeniably sterner. You can hardly help but notice you've slipped into the tone you used when disciplining a coworker. Typically an agent, though even some of the Sephirot needed a firm touch every once in a while. Children, clearly, are the same way.
"I don't understand." Homura says simply, and for that moment you can almost imagine she's a normal child. You set down your tools and meet her gaze.
"The point," you say, letting your voice soften, "is that you were going to do something you knew was going to get you killed. That's not okay. What Mami said earlier about not trading lives was right. When we save Madoka, it's not going to be because somebody else died in her place."
"If I must die to save Madoka, I will accept that path. I am not the only one defending her anymore." Homura answers, a tremor inexplicably making its way into her voice. "You alone would be acceptable, but Tomoe Mami and Miki Sayaka would doubtless assist as they are. Sakura Kyoko would follow out if a desire to remain with her new family. That is an adequate defense."
You close your eyes and breathe deeply, letting the swell of emotions that bubbles up inside you drain away and return to calm. "You might be willing to accept that, but I'm not, and I don't think anyone else would either. Madoka definitely wouldn't. Just… keep in mind that whatever you think about yourself, there are people that care about you here." You lean down, placing yourself closer to the mechanical Distortion's eye level, and rest a hand on her shoulder. Homura stares forward, pointedly ignoring you for what feels like an eternity before finally turning her head to meet your eyes. "When you get yourself hurt, it hurts the people who care about you. So for right now, I want you to promise me that you aren't going to die when we're in the Emerald City."
Homura nods obediently. "I promise to avoid death if at all possible while-"
"No," you interrupt, your voice once again steeled. "Not 'if at all possible'. Just promise me that you'll stay alive. I don't accept anything less than survival from anyone under my care. So no matter what happens, I won't let you die. Got that?"
For a moment that stretches on beyond its time, you and Homura remain alone in the silence of the Floor of Geography. There is no life in its sterile, marbled halls. Only the distant presence of Abnormalities and the quiet clicks of Homura's internal structures. Slowly, you withdraw your hand from Homura's shoulder. Maybe that was too much.
Just before you pick back up your tools, a voice pierces the quiet.
"I promise."
—————————
Kyoko didn't really know where she was going.
The blue-haired lady who'd been there when Kyoko had woken up (apparently she was X's sister, which made her Kyoko's new aunt) had taken her aside and done some weird magic Kyoko didn't recognize to get her looking like a regular person again. She had explained a bunch of stuff about "circumventing limitations by implying the shape for the self" and "activating a preexisting restriction to repress the alternative shape" and all that, and Kyoko had tried to pay attention and understand what she meant but in the end couldn't make any sense of it and just gave up. When Angela let her go, Kyoko had started down one of the staircases that connected the Library's different Floors. But after walking for who knows how long, she hadn't found anyone she knew.
Kyoko poked her head into another room, this one painted in bright gold. Sunlight inexplicably streamed through a massive glass window overlooking something too distant to make out, fully illuminating the various book-covered tables and desks set about the cavernous room in an organized fashion. Sorting through the books was a blonde girl about Kyoko's age, maybe a little older, wearing a yellow suit like the ones the Librarians had. Maybe one of the other Magical Girls who had been freed along with Kyoko had wanted to try one on? There wasn't much feedback from the others that… that thing had taken while they were all stuck together, just vague impressions of people. Maybe there had been some way for them to reach out to each other, but Kyoko never found it. She had been-
-twisting and stretching, tearing apart at the seams and pulling back together again over and over and over not stopping always deeper and further and creeping through thoughts and memories and taking taking taking-
-distracted. Yeah, distracted. That was a good word. Nice and free of implications.
Anyways, that other Magical Girl looked pretty at home here, so maybe she'd know where Kyoko could find somebody else. Or at least direct her to somebody who could.
"Hey! Know where I can find who's in charge here?" Kyoko yelled. The Magical Girl looked up from her books, annoyed. She scanned the room for a moment before her eyes fell on Kyoko, and the irritation faded to something more like pity. A breath passed silently, and Kyoko squirmed uncomfortably. She'd never liked the feeling of being pitied before, and she liked it even less now. It was always either some snob looking down on her or someone offering sympathy over something that was Kyoko's fault.
"Oh. You're Kyoko, right? If you're looking for the person in charge of this Floor, that's me. I'm Tiphereth." the girl said, still looking a bit disgruntled from being interrupted.
Kyoko felt another squirm of discomfort. Having a stranger not just know who she was, but call her by her first name felt weird. That discomfort was quickly swallowed by a different emotion, though.
"Wait, you're one of the Sephirot? I thought you were a Magical Girl!"
"Former Sephirah, but yeah, I was. What made you think I was a Magical Girl? It's not like I'm dressed for the part." Tiphereth half-complained.
Kyoko stares at the girl, incredulous. She couldn't be serious, right? "But weren't the Sephirot all X's coworkers? You don't even look as old as me."
Mami and Yuma might've jumped onto calling X "mom" about as fast as Kyoko expected, but personally she wasn't quite ready for that. She appreciated having a place to stay, and there was definitely something nice about being part of a family again, but that was a bit quick for her preferences. The flicker of guilt that came with the lack of gratitude wasn't great, but Kyoko could manage.
"I'm not a kid! I'm older than X is, for that matter! And I'm definitely older than you!" Tiphereth shouted suddenly, not at all looking more mature as far as Kyoko would say.
"How're you supposed to be older than X? She's basically twice your size!"
"I'm older, she just started with an older body! If anything, I'm the oldest out of all of us!"
"I don't know what any of that means!" Kyoko wasn't sure how this had escalated into a shouting match, but she wasn't going to back down now.
"I'm the oldest sibling!" Tiphereth yelled before seeming to realize what she'd said a moment after and pulling back. The indignant fire that had possessed her a moment earlier was replaced by a sort of sheepishness that also did the yellow-clad girl no favors in looking grown-up as far as Kyoko was concerned.
"So let me get this straight," Kyoko said, lowering her voice back to an appropriate level in reply. "Are you a Sephirot, or are you somebody's sister?"
Tiphereth sighed deeply. "I was just thinking about something stupid that X said last time we talked. I was the Sephirah of the Central Command Team back in Lobotomy Corporation, and as far as X's concerned we're sisters because the guy who made her took care of me and Enoch for a while. But you can just ignore that part. That guy wasn't a father to anybody as far as I'm concerned."
That answered at least some questions Kyoko had. Angela and X looked different, but they did share the same basic body structure even if X was a head taller and had twice the muscle mass of her sister. But Tiphereth looked nothing like either of them. The rest of the explanation had been confusing at best, but that last part Kyoko could understand clearly enough. Her father had been a kind man, but there had always been little moments where he slipped. All things considered, she was pretty lucky to have had the family she did. Before she ruined it, of course. Screwed everything up by making a stupid, stupid deal messing with things she had no idea about and-
"Hey! Quit zoning out in the middle of a conversation! It's rude!"
The sudden shout jolted Kyoko from her spiral, returning her attention to the once-again irritated girl standing in front of her. Kyoko shook her head, forcing away the last few whispers like traces of smoke, and tried to fall back into the same mood she'd been in moments before.
"Right, yeah, I'm paying attention. You were saying about X's dad being awful, I think?" It wasn't the most articulate distraction, but the other girl took a moment to acknowledge the change in topic and accepted it with all the grace Kyoko could have expected.
"If you really wanna hear somebody complain about Ayin, talk to Angela. She could go at it for hours if she really wanted to." Tiphereth said. "I guess I don't have a lot to say about him or Carmen. They weren't the best parents in the world, and I was never really that friendly with either of them, but they took care of me and Enoch well enough."
There was that name again, Enoch. Kyoko'd never heard it before, though it sounded like they were another kid that X's parents had taken in. Between their conspicuous absence and the weight that Kyoko felt every time Tiphereth used the name, she could put two and two together.
Instead of setting off that landmine, Kyoko decided to push the main issue further. With everything else that was going on in her life, there was something refreshing about the simplicity of it. "So they adopted you sometime after they had X and Angela?"
"No!" Tiphereth denied, the irritated glare she was giving Kyoko declaring that she both knew what the Distortion was going for but also couldn't be bothered not to go for it anyways. "X and Angela weren't born in the first place. That's why they look older."
It was Kyoko's turn to stare in incredulity. Weren't born? Sure, Kyoko knew that X was actually some kind of terrifying eldritch creature. But she'd also said that was a thing that happened to her, and that she'd been a regular human before then.
Recognizing Kyoko's confusion and her sudden position of informational superiority, Tiphereth grinned. "Oh? Didn't you know? Carmen and Ayin were both scientists. X and Angela were made, not born. Ayin made them to fulfill certain roles in the Facility, and when that was done everyone just kinda kept going."
Kyoko could barely process what was being said. Made? The way Tiphereth said it so casually made it sound like it was no big deal, like anyone could just create life however they wanted. But somehow, under everything, the question that made its way past Kyoko's lips was "Isn't this all really personal stuff?"
Tiphereth paused to consider for a moment, then shrugged. "X is pretty relaxed about this sort of thing. She would've just told you if you asked, and I could handle a bit of flak from her if it came down to it. I was usually the one criticizing her mistakes, so it'd be a nice change of pace. As for Angela? I think she's just used to everybody already knowing."
Seeing Kyoko's still-confused expression, Tiphereth elaborated.
"She hasn't really gotten to know that many people. It's pretty much just us Librarians, X, and the new Magical Girls now. Of the above groups, two were there for just about her whole life and the third are a bunch of kids she barely talks to. Maybe she'd make a fuss about this, but I don't think she'll actually care that much."
Kyoko could understand that, at least. "She's the youngest, isn't she?" That kind of mindset wasn't new to Kyoko, who'd been an older sister before. But of course, nothing was ever that simple.
"Actually, X is the youngest. Angela's in the middle."
"Then why does she act like that?"
"It's a combination of a lot of things." Tiphereth deadpanned. "Now stay where you are, I'm going to get a board so I can explain this properly."
———————————————
Just pick one.
In the Library…
[] Homura Akemi…
-[] …finds the weekly book club.
-[] …talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend.
-[] …wanders to the lowest floor.
[] Sayaka Miki…
-[] …ends up in a room filled with clocks.
-[] …stumbles into the tail-end of a math lesson.
-[] …is hoping to get in some last-minute training.
[] Mami Tomoe…
-[] …runs into a familiar face in the lounge.
-[] …nearly trips over a man asleep on the floor.
———————————————
Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 3/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Schadenfreude's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
CENSORED's Sapling - Observation Level EXPUNGED/REDACTED
Haha! Nobody expects a chapter of characters actually just talking to each other! Though the subjects might tend towards the grim, this and the next will mostly just be a moment of rest before the next big finish.
"How quickly will this procedure be completed?" Homura asks robotically from her place on the operating table in the Floor of Geography. The cool marble-colored platform stands stark against the uncomfortably large pile of fine purple sand that has leaked out of Homura's broken body. Homura, of course, is completely unbothered by this fact or the general state of her injuries beyond how they relate to saving Madoka.
"It should be a few minutes at most. Angela could do it faster, but she's seeing to Sayaka right now. It's the most efficient way to do it." you explain. Apparently whatever spell the Adult Who Tells Lies used against Sayaka that crystallized her arm and leg did damage on a very deep level, and you'd have needed to use Lobotomy to fix it. That sort of usage would take a toll you can't afford right now, so you left the job to your sister. Meanwhile, you have an excuse to give Homura a talking to.
"While I've got you here, I'd like to ask a favor from you." you begin. Homura nods for you to continue as you pull over a large microscope you made from the ambient Light in your floor in preparation and start looking over Homura's wounds.
"While we're in the Emerald City, I want you to look out for yourself." you ask. Homura's eternally-unchanging face stares up at you from the operating table, somehow appearing confused. Your attention is mostly in the tiny runes carved into the skin around Homura's injuries. You're not knowledgeable enough about the Adult's specific form of magic to tell exactly what they do, but running Lamp over them tells you they're screwing with time somehow and where to break them to safely make them stop working.
"I will not act recklessly. I know better than to take unnecessary risks." Homura says. You resist the urge to roll your eyes as you take a scalpel to the symbols scrawled onto the inside of Homura's chest and begin scraping them away.
"I have a feeling you and I have different definitions of 'unnecessary risk'. I've seen your memories, you aren't hiding anything from me." you deadpan.
"I was less emotionally stable in the past. I won't make the same mistakes I have in the past." Homura defends. While you do have to admit that she's right as far as emotional stability, having a stable emotional state and a good one are two wholly separate things. And stable as it might be, the clockwork girl's state of mind right now is perhaps the furthest thing from healthy.
"So you wouldn't have dragged yourself into the Emerald City to rescue Madoka and gotten yourself killed?" you ask pointedly as you scrape away the last rune in Homura's chest and move down to her legs.
"There was a possibility, however small, that I would have succeeded in rescuing Madoka. The risk was acceptable in exchange for that chance." Homura explains. This time, you do roll your eyes.
"I'm not sure if 'small' and 'risk' are really the words you're looking for. You would've died, and I can't imagine how you would've accomplished anything in doing it. But that's still not the point." A harsh edge enters your voice as you get to work on the symbols scrawled into the stump of Homura's left leg. Still level and not raised, but undeniably sterner. You can hardly help but notice you've slipped into the tone you used when disciplining a coworker. Typically an agent, though even some of the Sephirot needed a firm touch every once in a while. Children, clearly, are the same way.
"I don't understand." Homura says simply, and for that moment you can almost imagine she's a normal child. You set down your tools and meet her gaze.
"The point," you say, letting your voice soften, "is that you were going to do something you knew was going to get you killed. That's not okay. What Mami said earlier about not trading lives was right. When we save Madoka, it's not going to be because somebody else died in her place."
"If I must die to save Madoka, I will accept that path. I am not the only one defending her anymore." Homura answers, a tremor inexplicably making its way into her voice. "You alone would be acceptable, but Tomoe Mami and Miki Sayaka would doubtless assist as they are. Sakura Kyoko would follow out if a desire to remain with her new family. That is an adequate defense."
You close your eyes and breathe deeply, letting the swell of emotions that bubbles up inside you drain away and return to calm. "You might be willing to accept that, but I'm not, and I don't think anyone else would either. Madoka definitely wouldn't. Just… keep in mind that whatever you think about yourself, there are people that care about you here." You lean down, placing yourself closer to the mechanical Distortion's eye level, and rest a hand on her shoulder. Homura stares forward, pointedly ignoring you for what feels like an eternity before finally turning her head to meet your eyes. "When you get yourself hurt, it hurts the people who care about you. So for right now, I want you to promise me that you aren't going to die when we're in the Emerald City."
Homura nods obediently. "I promise to avoid death if at all possible while-"
"No," you interrupt, your voice once again steeled. "Not 'if at all possible'. Just promise me that you'll stay alive. I don't accept anything less than survival from anyone under my care. So no matter what happens, I won't let you die. Got that?"
For a moment that stretches on beyond its time, you and Homura remain alone in the silence of the Floor of Geography. There is no life in its sterile, marbled halls. Only the distant presence of Abnormalities and the quiet clicks of Homura's internal structures. Slowly, you withdraw your hand from Homura's shoulder. Maybe that was too much.
Just before you pick back up your tools, a voice pierces the quiet.
"I promise."
—————————
Kyoko didn't really know where she was going.
The blue-haired lady who'd been there when Kyoko had woken up (apparently she was X's sister, which made her Kyoko's new aunt) had taken her aside and done some weird magic Kyoko didn't recognize to get her looking like a regular person again. She had explained a bunch of stuff about "circumventing limitations by implying the shape for the self" and "activating a preexisting restriction to repress the alternative shape" and all that, and Kyoko had tried to pay attention and understand what she meant but in the end couldn't make any sense of it and just gave up. When Angela let her go, Kyoko had started down one of the staircases that connected the Library's different Floors. But after walking for who knows how long, she hadn't found anyone she knew.
Kyoko poked her head into another room, this one painted in bright gold. Sunlight inexplicably streamed through a massive glass window overlooking something too distant to make out, fully illuminating the various book-covered tables and desks set about the cavernous room in an organized fashion. Sorting through the books was a blonde girl about Kyoko's age, maybe a little older, wearing a yellow suit like the ones the Librarians had. Maybe one of the other Magical Girls who had been freed along with Kyoko had wanted to try one on? There wasn't much feedback from the others that… that thing had taken while they were all stuck together, just vague impressions of people. Maybe there had been some way for them to reach out to each other, but Kyoko never found it. She had been-
-twisting and stretching, tearing apart at the seams and pulling back together again over and over and over not stopping always deeper and further and creeping through thoughts and memories and taking taking taking-
-distracted. Yeah, distracted. That was a good word. Nice and free of implications.
Anyways, that other Magical Girl looked pretty at home here, so maybe she'd know where Kyoko could find somebody else. Or at least direct her to somebody who could.
"Hey! Know where I can find who's in charge here?" Kyoko yelled. The Magical Girl looked up from her books, annoyed. She scanned the room for a moment before her eyes fell on Kyoko, and the irritation faded to something more like pity. A breath passed silently, and Kyoko squirmed uncomfortably. She'd never liked the feeling of being pitied before, and she liked it even less now. It was always either some snob looking down on her or someone offering sympathy over something that was Kyoko's fault.
"Oh. You're Kyoko, right? If you're looking for the person in charge of this Floor, that's me. I'm Tiphereth." the girl said, still looking a bit disgruntled from being interrupted.
Kyoko felt another squirm of discomfort. Having a stranger not just know who she was, but call her by her first name felt weird. That discomfort was quickly swallowed by a different emotion, though.
"Wait, you're one of the Sephirot? I thought you were a Magical Girl!"
"Former Sephirah, but yeah, I was. What made you think I was a Magical Girl? It's not like I'm dressed for the part." Tiphereth half-complained.
Kyoko stares at the girl, incredulous. She couldn't be serious, right? "But weren't the Sephirot all X's coworkers? You don't even look as old as me."
Mami and Yuma might've jumped onto calling X "mom" about as fast as Kyoko expected, but personally she wasn't quite ready for that. She appreciated having a place to stay, and there was definitely something nice about being part of a family again, but that was a bit quick for her preferences. The flicker of guilt that came with the lack of gratitude wasn't great, but Kyoko could manage.
"I'm not a kid! I'm older than X is, for that matter! And I'm definitely older than you!" Tiphereth shouted suddenly, not at all looking more mature as far as Kyoko would say.
"How're you supposed to be older than X? She's basically twice your size!"
"I'm older, she just started with an older body! If anything, I'm the oldest out of all of us!"
"I don't know what any of that means!" Kyoko wasn't sure how this had escalated into a shouting match, but she wasn't going to back down now.
"I'm the oldest sibling!" Tiphereth yelled before seeming to realize what she'd said a moment after and pulling back. The indignant fire that had possessed her a moment earlier was replaced by a sort of sheepishness that also did the yellow-clad girl no favors in looking grown-up as far as Kyoko was concerned.
"So let me get this straight," Kyoko said, lowering her voice back to an appropriate level in reply. "Are you a Sephirot, or are you somebody's sister?"
Tiphereth sighed deeply. "I was just thinking about something stupid that X said last time we talked. I was the Sephirah of the Central Command Team back in Lobotomy Corporation, and as far as X's concerned we're sisters because the guy who made her took care of me and Enoch for a while. But you can just ignore that part. That guy wasn't a father to anybody as far as I'm concerned."
That answered at least some questions Kyoko had. Angela and X looked different, but they did share the same basic body structure even if X was a head taller and had twice the muscle mass of her sister. But Tiphereth looked nothing like either of them. The rest of the explanation had been confusing at best, but that last part Kyoko could understand clearly enough. Her father had been a kind man, but there had always been little moments where he slipped. All things considered, she was pretty lucky to have had the family she did. Before she ruined it, of course. Screwed everything up by making a stupid, stupid deal messing with things she had no idea about and-
"Hey! Quit zoning out in the middle of a conversation! It's rude!"
The sudden shout jolted Kyoko from her spiral, returning her attention to the once-again irritated girl standing in front of her. Kyoko shook her head, forcing away the last few whispers like traces of smoke, and tried to fall back into the same mood she'd been in moments before.
"Right, yeah, I'm paying attention. You were saying about X's dad being awful, I think?" It wasn't the most articulate distraction, but the other girl took a moment to acknowledge the change in topic and accepted it with all the grace Kyoko could have expected.
"If you really wanna hear somebody complain about Ayin, talk to Angela. She could go at it for hours if she really wanted to." Tiphereth said. "I guess I don't have a lot to say about him or Carmen. They weren't the best parents in the world, and I was never really that friendly with either of them, but they took care of me and Enoch well enough."
There was that name again, Enoch. Kyoko'd never heard it before, though it sounded like they were another kid that X's parents had taken in. Between their conspicuous absence and the weight that Kyoko felt every time Tiphereth used the name, she could put two and two together.
Instead of setting off that landmine, Kyoko decided to push the main issue further. With everything else that was going on in her life, there was something refreshing about the simplicity of it. "So they adopted you sometime after they had X and Angela?"
"No!" Tiphereth denied, the irritated glare she was giving Kyoko declaring that she both knew what the Distortion was going for but also couldn't be bothered not to go for it anyways. "X and Angela weren't born in the first place. That's why they look older."
It was Kyoko's turn to stare in incredulity. Weren't born? Sure, Kyoko knew that X was actually some kind of terrifying eldritch creature. But she'd also said that was a thing that happened to her, and that she'd been a regular human before then.
Recognizing Kyoko's confusion and her sudden position of informational superiority, Tiphereth grinned. "Oh? Didn't you know? Carmen and Ayin were both scientists. X and Angela were made, not born. Ayin made them to fulfill certain roles in the Facility, and when that was done everyone just kinda kept going."
Kyoko could barely process what was being said. Made? The way Tiphereth said it so casually made it sound like it was no big deal, like anyone could just create life however they wanted. But somehow, under everything, the question that made its way past Kyoko's lips was "Isn't this all really personal stuff?"
Tiphereth paused to consider for a moment, then shrugged. "X is pretty relaxed about this sort of thing. She would've just told you if you asked, and I could handle a bit of flak from her if it came down to it. I was usually the one criticizing her mistakes, so it'd be a nice change of pace. As for Angela? I think she's just used to everybody already knowing."
Seeing Kyoko's still-confused expression, Tiphereth elaborated.
"She hasn't really gotten to know that many people. It's pretty much just us Librarians, X, and the new Magical Girls now. Of the above groups, two were there for just about her whole life and the third are a bunch of kids she barely talks to. Maybe she'd make a fuss about this, but I don't think she'll actually care that much."
Kyoko could understand that, at least. "She's the youngest, isn't she?" That kind of mindset wasn't new to Kyoko, who'd been an older sister before. But of course, nothing was ever that simple.
"Actually, X is the youngest. Angela's in the middle."
"Then why does she act like that?"
"It's a combination of a lot of things." Tiphereth deadpanned. "Now stay where you are, I'm going to get a board so I can explain this properly."
———————————————
Just pick one.
In the Library…
[] Homura Akemi…
-[] …finds the weekly book club.
-[] …talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend.
-[] …wanders to the lowest floor.
[] Sayaka Miki…
-[] …ends up in a room filled with clocks.
-[] …stumbles into the tail-end of a math lesson.
-[] …is hoping to get in some last-minute training.
[] Mami Tomoe…
-[] …runs into a familiar face in the lounge.
-[] …nearly trips over a man asleep on the floor.
———————————————
Der Freischütz's Sapling - Observation Level 3/3
Porccubus' Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
Schadenfreude's Sapling - Observation Level 2/3
CENSORED's Sapling - Observation Level EXPUNGED/REDACTED
Haha! Nobody expects a chapter of characters actually just talking to each other! Though the subjects might tend towards the grim, this and the next will mostly just be a moment of rest before the next big finish.
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WilyMachineKing1
Executive Manager of Limbus Company
- Location
- Reno Nevada
[X] Homura Akemi...
-[X]...talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend
[X] Sayaa Miki...
-[X]...stumbles into the tail-end of a math lesson.
[X] Mami Tomoe...
-[X]...Nealy trips over man asleep on the floor.
-[X]...talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend
[X] Sayaa Miki...
-[X]...stumbles into the tail-end of a math lesson.
[X] Mami Tomoe...
-[X]...Nealy trips over man asleep on the floor.
questioningmeme
Just be yourself
- Location
- River of Light
Talk about a weird family board. Technically Tiphereth is older than Angela and X, but she's worse off than the two since her sisters seem to follow the "oldest should be shortest" rule (Angela was 100% petty by giving Tiph a short body).
[X] Homura Akemi…
-[X] …talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend.
Anyhow I'll continue pursuing Roland's screentime.
Afterward, maybe have Sayaka meets Yesod? He never really get any screen time in most fanfics I've seen. Though I suppose that's something he, Netzach, and to a lesser extend Hod shares.
Also why the weird purple name? Is this someone from PMMM that we should know about?
[X] Homura Akemi…
-[X] …talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend.
Anyhow I'll continue pursuing Roland's screentime.
Afterward, maybe have Sayaka meets Yesod? He never really get any screen time in most fanfics I've seen. Though I suppose that's something he, Netzach, and to a lesser extend Hod shares.
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Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
They have been mentioned in this thread before, though only once by name in the story and only briefly. While you could probably guess, the color isn't going to help. It's just a brighter shade of the color used for Grief.
[X] Homura Akemi…
-[X] ...talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend
-[X] ...talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend
- Pronouns
- Him/Mr
[X] Mami Tomoe…
-[X] …runs into a familiar face in the lounge.
-[X] …runs into a familiar face in the lounge.
Error: instruction not making sense, did you mean: I want you to save Madoka at all costs?
Remember people, stable only means that it isn't probe to change easily, it says nothing about it being desirable.
Madoka agrees! She says you should sacrifice her instead!
She also asks why X did this:
Meanwhile, Homura's mind:
Kyoko! Godamnit, we already have Homura and X on lack of self esteem! This is not a competition!
Important question:
Did she include Abrham, Able and Adam in her explanation?
[x] Homura Akemi…
-[x] …talks with her aunt's not-boyfriend
I think a good long talk about throwing your life away for someone and the consequences thereof would be good for her.
Mami meting Kazumi then, and thinking she's Kazumi instead of Kazumi.
questioningmeme
Just be yourself
- Location
- River of Light
Interesting topic note. Did X ever mentioned her three wayward uncles/brothers to the rest of the gang?
Lepidoptera
Mother of Monsters, Unverified Impuritas Civitatis
- Location
- Indeterminate Unknown
Not so far, no, and nobody but X, Ayin, and presumably Carmen actually know what went down, so unless you bring it up it's going to remain an unknown.