//This is a revival of an old idea used in one of my early quests that I ran on Spacebattles several years back, and I honestly missed the main character so much that I decided to bring back the concept here.
//Unlike the previous iteration, though, this will be a more traditional quest format. In the original version this was a text adventure, and while being subjected to the unfiltered insanity of a forum was good for chaos and rapid progression, the major downside was that if too many people made commands (or worse, did wall of text commands) it got a bit overwhelming to parse, which likely contributed to the burnout I suffered towards the end of the original.
//However, to keep the spirit of the original's insanity somewhat alive. Assume "Write-In" is implicitly always an option even when its not listed unless I explicitly ask that you don't use Write-ins on a particular vote for whatever reason (such as it not making sense in a particular context). I reserve the right to temporarily revoke this if it gets abused too much though.
//Also don't expect a consistent update schedule for this at the moment, but I'll try to update this every few days or so, give or take a day.
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Your name is Takara Suzu, and you are a Magical Girl.
...
...Well, in a technical sense at least, the reality is a bit more complicated...
You're actually more of a… special case... at least that's what you think. Not too long ago, your Soul Gem filled up completely and you subsequently succumbed to despair. However, to your surprise, you remained mostly as yourself, though your Soul Gem has been replaced by some kind of weird looking Grief Seed that looks more like a hybrid between a seed and a gem…
There's also your other half, a presence that sits somewhere in the back of your mind, just waiting for the right opportunity to take control. Obviously this isn't something you feel very comfortable with, especially given recent events...
You wonder if your strange existence is a side effect of the wish you made when you made your contract with Kyubey. You had a rather poor memory in the past, to the point where your forgetfulness was infamous to the point where it was something that you were constantly berated and teased for... As a result, you became increasingly distressed over the years, as well as paranoid that you would forget something important, like your own identity or something…
It was then that Kyubey approached you and made you the offer to become a magical girl. You accepted the contract, with your wish simply being to never forget anything... You suppose that retaining your humanity (somewhat) after falling technically counts as "not forgetting yourself", but you should probably ask the albino cat thing about it sometime if you get the opportunity...
As far as your magical girl abilities go... You honestly weren't one long enough to really experiment with them. It doesn't help that your weapon manifested as a thick book -- of all things -- which is probably the most ineffective and useless thing you could've gotten. The pages are even blank for crying out loud! You'd expect at least something to be written on it with how thick it is... On the bright side, though, you do find it kinda funny to hear that comical whack when you bludgeon familiars to death with it. However, trying to bonk a Witch with it doesn't work nearly as well... Especially if they have a longer reach than you...
Case in point was your disaster of a second witch hunt. The witch in question was so grotesque and terrifying looking that you'd rather blot the encounter from your memory... Oh, right. You can't... You mentally berate yourself for thinking about it as every traumatizing detail floods back to the forefront of your thoughts, including the feeling of complete helplessness as another passing Magical Girl attempted to save you only to be ensnared in that attack herself, and your subsequent feelings of regret as you could literally do nothing to save her as she and the witch in question ended up killing each other.
In the end, it really was too much, ever since that encounter -- unable to not accidentally think of it and relive the experience -- you've sorta regretted your wish, and combined with repeatedly remembering that trauma your soul gem gradually flooded with darkness.
That was the first time you lost control.
Your Soul Gem, fully black, proceeded to twist and contort into the familiar shape it is now, and you soon found yourself trapped in the back of your mind, helpless to observe as your body contorted into an eldritch horror and a Barrier formed itself around you. You remember mentally crying as you watched the newborn witch devour a few humans as well as slaughter a pair of Magical Girls who were unlucky enough to be in the path. After it dealt with them, your other half seemed to tire, and you soon found yourself lying on the ground -- with your body seemingly back to normal -- with the Barrier fading around you.
Obviously, you weren't in a good spot mentally after that, and you recall spending the next few minutes crying over the deaths of those innocent people, staring vacantly at the odd grief seed in your hands. You noticed that as you continued to despair, your seed gradually became saturated with icky, black stuff much like it did as a Soul Gem…
You lost control for the second time when it filled completely.
With your other half's second rampage over, you, terrified of what you can do and certainly NOT wanting any more unnecessary deaths on your hands, decided to distract yourself with other memories and run as far away from your home town as possible until you eventually collapsed from exhaustion...
...Which brings you to now, sitting under a tree and wondering how things came to this. The hill you're on overlooks a city you've known about but have never been to personally: Mitakihara.
It is early morning, and you find yourself debating what to do. Idly, you glance at your oddly shaped Grief Seed... (Or is it more of a Soul Seed? ...Grief Gem?)
>Grief Saturation: 10%
...And notice its partially full, but still mostly empty. That's good... At least that's one less thing to worry about before you make your next move. Maybe you could even keep yourself from turning if you're careful...
That sounds like an exercise in futility...
The sound of a feminine voice in your head startles you out of your thoughts. You quickly look around for the source but find yourself alone...
[] "....Hello?"
[] Ignore the voice. It was probably just your imagination. Or a hallucination brought on by stress or something... You have more important things to do anyway, like...
-[] Head into town. Might as well scope out the area while you're here...
-[] Examine your weapon. Maybe you could draw the deceased Magical Girls in it or something to honor their memories... At least it would make the useless thing useful in a way...
-[] Try to contact Kyubey? It's a stretch but maybe he could provide some insight and advice on your unusual situation?
[] (Write-in?)
