Confringentur 2; a Madoka Magica / Fate/Stay Night sequel

SVS · Dec 23, 2020

[X] Plan: Let's take care of our friends and new teammates (part 1)

"You should talk to Kyouko when you get the chance."

You make a stop at Sayaka's desk on your way out of the classroom. She looks up, her head previously lolling about on her desk as the class waited for next period's teacher to arrive. "Oh, yeah, I probably should," she says. Sayaka pulls herself into something resembling an upright position, glancing over in the direction of Kyouko, who is still sulking. "I guess I don't really know what to say to her right now. I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around everything; I can't imagine how she must be feeling."

"Right now, I think knowing that her girlfriend is there for her is more important than any conversation topic in particular." You aren't Kyouko, but you know that if you were feeling down, knowing Madoka was there for you would make you feel better than anything else someone could say to you. "As long as you're there for her, I don't think she'll care that you didn't come with a conversation topic in mind."

Sayaka nodded. "Right," she said. "I'll talk to her next period."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it." You turn to Madoka once you and Sayaka have finished, and you say to her "Alright, let's go."

You know the way to the nurse's office by heart now, but it's always better to go with Madoka than by yourself. By yourself, there's a good chance you'll get in trouble if you return from one of your talks with Nurse Ortensia after the next period has started; but with Madoka, the nurse's aide, at your side you're perfectly fine to return late and not get in trouble. Usually it doesn't come to that, but from now on, you have a feeling things will be different.

"Come to see me again?" Nurse Ortensia asks as you enter her office. "We simply must stop meeting like this."

"My memory isn't perfect, but I think you've already used that one." Your head turns to the side as you hear an annoyed snort coming from the corner; it's Assassin. She's discarded her elegant purple robe for a mundane skirt and shirt, and with one of Nurse Ortensia's lab coats draped over her shoulders she almost looks like she belongs in the office. She looks up from her magazine - you weren't even aware Japan had a horse racing industry, let alone a dedicated magazine for it - and sends a derisive eye your way before returning to her magazine. "At any rate, I was hoping you and Assassin would be willing to join the rest of us for a practice session later in the evening."

"Practice for what?" Nurse Ortensia asks.

"Combat." As if there were any other kind of practice your team needs right now. "We've just taken on four new teammates, and it's imperative that we all learn to work together if we're going to come out on top."

"I hope you weren't planning on having me fight those girls," Nurse Ortensia says. "The tools at my disposal are really only good for combating men and evil spirits, and I don't think our enemy girls are either of those things."

"We can help you, if you're lacking in good tools to fight them," you reply. "Oriko's servant is quite a good instructor of runic magic. I'm sure she could help you."

Nurse Ortensia rolls her eyes, sighing as she says "Of course; damn that cousin of mine." Another sigh accompanies the shaking of her head, and Nurse Ortensia says "I guess I don't have a choice then, do I? If it's not you inviting me, then I'm sure Oriko would have invited me sooner or later."

You nod, before turning to Assassin. "We never had a proper introduction last night," you say to her. "I'm Akemi Homura, master of our team's Archer. I hope we can get along going forward." Assassin makes no reply. You try again. "Are you interested in joining the rest of us for team exercises later in the evening?"

"What for?" Assassin doesn't even bother looking up from her magazine to answer you. "In life I was the greatest warrior in all of Alba. What use do I have for training with a bunch of children and their deceased hangers-on?"

"Because we're a team, and we need to learn to fight like one," you reply. "I'll understand if you're still upset at being summoned to an improper class. I'll understand if you're never not upset about that. But we need you. Being an Assassin gives you a class advantage over the enemy's Rider, and we desperately need your assistance to defeat him."

"You know how to flatter," Assassin says. "That's a good skill to have in the presence of your betters."

That's neither an affirmation nor a rejection of your offer you're hearing from Assassin, but you don't know enough about her to say if pressing the matter further is worth it, or even safe. At least she's chosen the office to sulk, and hasn't wandered off to be away from her master. You hope that's a sign of improving relations between Assassin and Nurse Ortensia, but you won't claim anything until you're sure. "I'm glad you're at least being civil with each other," you say to both at once. "It wouldn't be good to have you at each other's throats when we've already got enemies to deal with." Both Nurse Ortensia and Assassin snort at your words. "I know it's a long shot," you say to Nurse Ortensia, "But do you happen to have any information on the enemy masters we might be able to use? Or maybe the Church has some information on them?"

"Why would I?" Nurse Ortensia replies. "I've never met any of those girls before in my life. Asunaro's not my responsibility."

Well, you did say it was a long shot. Hearing that Nurse Ortensia doesn't have any useful information doesn't really surprise you. But she's not your only option at the moment, is she? You turn to Assassin, and dare to ask her "How good are you at scouting?"

"I have Presence Concealment, but since I'm not supposed to be an Assassin it's about as useful as a sheep that can't grow wool. Other than that? I was a warrior, not some skulking snitch. If you're asking me to hunt down an enemy fortification, I'd sooner raze it to the ground than sneak back with information."

"That might also be useful," you say. "For the moment, I'm just feeling for my options." In all this conversation, you've completely forgotten to take your medication. You down your pill and the water which follows, and make for the door. "Thank you. You've both given me plenty to think about."

You don't miss being trapped in an endless repetition of the same stretch of days. But you do miss how much easier school was when you knew everything without having to think about it. By the time you make it to lunch, your brain can hardly take much more. Add to that the crisis that was last night, and how unhelpful Nurse Ortensia and Assassin are being, and it's only when you sit down beside Madoka in the cafeteria that your mind feels at ease once more.

"You look exhausted, Homura-chan," Madoka says "Maybe you should go back to the nurse's office and get some rest."

"I don't know how much rest I'd get in there," you reply. "Those two might just start bickering at any moment."

Hitomi nods, chiming in with "I'm actually a little worried for Nurse Ortensia," she says. "I hope she and Assassin don't hurt each other."

You have to stop yourself from laying your head down on the cafeteria table. "I don't even want to think about-" You gesture to nothing in particular with a wave of your hand. "-This, right now. Let's think about literally anything else." Madoka. You'll think about Madoka. "When all of this is over, is there anything you want to do together?" you ask her. "Anything at all. You name it, and when winter break rolls around I"ll do my best to make it happen."

"It's a little early to be thinking about winter break, isn't it?" Madoka asks. "That's still two months away. Besides, I thought you were going to teach me archery, and that we were all going to go ice skating together."

"Nothing's saying you can't do it all," Sayaka says. "Besides, it's not like we're going ice skating every day of winter break; I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for you two to think of something romantic to do." Sayaka wraps her arm around Kyouko's shoulder, pulling her girlfriend in close as she says "Me and Kyouko are gonna hole up at my place and play videogames whenever we're not doing anything with the rest of you guys, aren't we?"

"Only if I get ta stick my tongue down your throat whenever I beat ya," Kyouko replies.

Sayaka rolls her eyes, saying "Please, that time at the dance machines was a fluke. I've got you beat, easy."

"If by fluke, ya mean it happens every time we play, then yeah." Kyouko sticks her tongue out at Sayaka, who lunges forward, attempting to bite the offending appendage off. "It's a fluke all right; a fluke so flukey it happens every time we play."

You're glad to see Kyouko sounding a little livelier than she was this morning; whatever they said to each other, Sayaka's talk must have done something. "Maybe we could do something similar?" Madoka asks. "We could get cozy at one of our places and marathon a bunch of anime together, if you wanted. I think you'd like the show Sayaka got me for my birthday."

"Symphogear, right?" you ask. "You said the main lead sounds like you?"

"Yeah! Her name's Tachibana Hibiki; she's voiced by Yūki Aoi, and she sounds just like me. That was actually the reason I started watching it, when I found out. It's a lot of fun, and the songs are really good, too. I think you'd like it." Madoka giggles, leaning closer to you as she says "Maybe we should find a series where Saitō Chiwa voices the main character, since she sounds so much like you do."

"Maybe." You said you didn't want to deal with any of this, but you find your mind won't let it rest. Ugh, typical. "Are you feeling any different from how you felt this morning?" you ask Hitomi. "Do you still have an abnormal appetite? Have you tried any magecraft since last night? If Saber's draining your supply of magical energy, it wouldn't be a bad idea to know where your new limits are."

"No, I haven't tried anything," Hitomi replies. "When I got home, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. But don't worry about me; if something changes for the worse, I'll be sure to let you know."

You nod; but even as you do, another thought creeps up on you. Even if Saber proves to be too much of a drain on Hitomi for her to safely use magecraft, there might still be a way for her to help you out. She did some research for you awhile back; actually, it was her investigation that led to her wanting to learn magecraft in the first place. Maybe you could use her again? No, you shouldn't word it like that. It sounds like you're taking advantage of her. "Actually, I was hoping you might be able to do some research for me..."

SVS · Dec 24, 2020

[X] Plan: Let's take care of our friends and new teammates (part 2)

"I know we can't stop you, but I need to know that you're okay with this."

Between Saber, Rider, and Assassin watching over the school - though you still aren't completely sure how far you can trust that last one - you felt secure enough in the fates of Homura and her friends to go take care of some things. Currently, that means talking with Lancer about her role in the coming battles. "Sigurd..." Lancer utters the name as though it were her death rattle, her voice a shaking, husky mess. "I have to fight him... Have to kill him... Nothing else matters but Sigurd..."

"Be that as it may, it's not healthy for you to be going into fights with your mind all messed up like this," you say. "You need to keep a clear head if you want to actually beat him."

It is so hard to keep a clear head when I know Sigurd is out there," Lancer replies. "Is he thinking about me? Is he compelled to fight me the same way I feel compelled to fight him?"

"Mikuni is worried about you." You don't actually know that, but for as few pillars of emotional stability as Mikuni has in her life - Kirika, Lancer, her extended family in Italy whom she only sees once or twice a year - you feel confident that your guess is correct. "We all are."

"I know." Lancer is composed, but holding back, as if any moment the turmoil inside her will erupt and take over. You don't know how many Command Seals Mikuni had to spend to bring Lancer down to this state from where she had been the night before. "I wish it were easier to calm myself, but now that I know Sigurd is here, it takes everything just to hold myself back this much. I know my master would prefer to keep me from him, but every part of me is screaming; I need to fight him; to kill him; to quell the flames that threaten to devour me from within if I let Sigurd live for another day."

"Is there anything you can tell us about him that might let us help you defeat him?" you ask. You don't know if Lancer will even want your help, but you aren't going to let her face this by herself. She's at a disadvantage against him; not only does she have a class disadvantage, but she's also going to have a hard time just keeping her head on straight while fighting him. "I've got a class advantage over Sigurd, and Berserker is our strongest hitter who can match him with a sword. We're going to help you, if you'll let us-" Actually, you're going to help Lancer whether she wants it or not. "-but we need to know what Sigurd is capable of first. You knew him in life; what is he capable of?"

"His strength is exceptional," are the first words out of Lancer's mouth. "He has the strength to fight off an army, and the endurance to do so without ever tiring. He knows the ancient runes, too; I taught him everything he knows." Without any prodding from you, Lancer elaborates, saying "He is proficient with the Isa and Tiwaz runes especially; with them he can make blizzards, imbue his body with the strength to win any fight, or empower his sword to break through any barrier." Lancer shakes her head, adding "Not as though he needs the last one; within Gram is contained an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm. It is strong enough to slay a dragon in a single blow, or tear down an entire castle leaving not a single brick or defender behind."

"Is there anything else?" you ask. "What about what he's like as a person? Is there a way to, I don't know, defeat him without having to actually fight him?"

"Sigurd is perfect," Lancer says with the shaking her head. "Perhaps I could defeat him if my mind were not so clouded, but I am doubtful that Berserker would be so lucky. I do not know why Sigurd let Berserker live after I was forcibly withdrawn from the battle, and I cannot say whether his master will allow him to do so again. Perhaps he was only humouring Berserker to fight then, and now that he has chosen me as his opponent he has no interest in fighting another. He was always terribly stubborn like that." For a moment, a sad smile creeps up onto Lancer's lips as she speaks, as though the thought that Sigurd has chosen to fight her is a small comfort she can cherish, before the expression is wiped from her face. "How do you and Berserker plan to attempt to fight him?"

"Berserker has a pretty big sword, and I'm sure I can find something in my arsenal capable of punching through Sigurd's armour," is your response. "I can't speak for a finalised plan, but I think the idea is going to be that we let you set the pace when fighting him, and we'll do our best to keep up. Maybe if he's splitting his focus between you and Berserker, he won't notice me shooting at him from several kilometers away."

"What will you do if you are wrong?" Lancer asks.

"Then that's a bridge we'll have to cross when we get there." You really don't want to think about what might happen if you're wrong.

After ending your conversation with Lancer and leaving the Mikuni mansion, you make for Asunaro to see if you can gather any useful information on the enemy team. It's been a long time since your last visit to Asunaro, seventeen or eighteen months, you think, but the city doesn't look all that different from the last time you were here. You can still make out the same landmarks as last time; there's the town hall, the local shopping mall, a hot dog shack, a boutique clothing outlet, a hair salon, a large dome-shaped building which you once again presume to be a sporting arena because you never bothered to confirm what it was the last time you were here, an amusement park, and the sweets shop outside of which you met Kazusa Michiru the last time you were here. She was a nice girl, and you hope she hasn't gotten herself mixed up in of this mess; or worse.

You also spot some new things that weren't here the last time. There's a new building that proudly bills itself as a teddy bear museum - Wait, what? An entire museum, just for teddy bears? Is the owner for real? - and some very conspicuous construction occurring within a few hundred meters radius of the museum. Not the normal type of construction work, either; the kind you've gotten used to seeing in the wake of those witches that have been popping up in Mitakihara lately. Does that mean Asunaro also has a problem with that type of witch; or is there something else at work here?

You don't see anything on your first pass through the city, and are about to give up after your second pass when you spot someone exiting the sweets shop. It isn't Kazusa Michiru, but you'd recognise those low-hanging platinum-blonde twintails anywhere. The combination of a faded green hoodie, cutoff jean shorts, and boots makes Kanna Niko appear very much like Sakura Kyouko; but the backpack she's also wearing makes you suspect that she's cutting class, rather than just not attending school entirely.

Well, things just got interesting, and it looks like you've got a bit of investigating to do. Fortunately, you've got access to some of the best tools of the trade that Projection magecraft can make. You'll stay a fair distance behind her, keeping in spirit form as added precaution, and follow her to see where she winds up. Worst case, you just follow her back to whatever school she came from. Best case, you follow her back to the enemy's base of operations.

Your eyes follow her trail for a little under a half-hour, and in that time she never gives you a clear indication of her destination. She moves from intersection to alleyway, stopping once at a trash can in the local park to dispose of the iced coffee she had been sipping, before returning to her pattern of intersection and alleyway. You don't sense the presence of any servants nearby, neither friendly nor foe, but her movements - calm and deliberate, and yet at the same time without a single apaprent end destination in mind -
keeps your interest mounting. It's almost as if she's aware of your presence, and is making her moves in an attempt to throw you off her trail.

You follow her until what appears to be the end of her destination, the rear entrance of the apparent teddy bear museum. Either she's into that sort of thing, or there's more going on inside this "Angelica Bears" than meets the eye.

Do you
[ ] Keep watch for a little while longer; maybe she'll come out
[ ] Report back to Homura with news of her destination; if this is the enemy's hideout, she'll want to know
[ ] Go inside and have a look around for yourself; maybe you'll find something worth mentioning to Homura
[ ] Use your biggest swords and raze the museum to the ground; damn the collateral, there's an enemy inside
[ ] Other (write-in)

[Homura] Wat do?

SVS · Dec 25, 2020

Snow fell thick over Mitakihara that Christmas Eve, blanketing the city in a thick coat of white. The temperature was respectably cold outside, but the inside of the Akemi apartment was pleasantly warm. Maybe that was the heat from the oven in the kitchen, maybe that was the warm sweater Minako was wearing, or maybe the wine was finally kicking in, but it was comfortably warm. A tree, decorated and brightly lit, sat beside the television, on which Minako watched... Ah, it didn't really matter to her what she was watching. These Christmas specials were all the same, anyway. She had unwrapped her present early this year, and was currently wearing the red woolen sweater that accentuated her assets. Black jeans, a few glasses of wine, and her feet tucked snugly into the cushions of the couch completed her ensemble, and she smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten to experience a real Christmas; certainly not since the divorce, at any rate.

Homura poked her head into the living room, saying to Minako "Archer says dinner will be ready shortly."

"'Kay," Minako replied, finishing the last of her wine. "Are we expecting any guests, or is it just going to be us this year?"

"Kirika invited Oriko over for dinner, but other than that I think it's just going to be us."

Minako smiled again. "That's fine," she said. As long as she got to spend Christmas with her family, she was fine. *Ding-dong* rang the doorbell, and Minako asked Homura "That's probably Oriko now. Can you get that?"

Before Homura could respond, a red blur passed her in the hall calling out "I'll get it!" That would be Kirika, naturally, her senses attuned to any mention of Oriko's name. Unlike Minako or Homura, who were each wearing sensible attires, Kirika had opted to wear a fuzzy red Santa outfit, cropped short so as to reveal her midriff and her legs. Her fuzzy Santa hat flopped back and forth in front of her face as she dashed to the door, opening it to the less-than-enthusiastic statement, "You're not Oriko."

The girl at the door was short; no taller than Homura, with straight white hair and cherry-coloured eyes. She wore a less-than-festive purple coat and a hat to match, and in her hands she held several wrapped boxed, piled precariously high in her small arms; "And you don't look much like how Big Brother described you, either" she replied.

Kirika pursed her lips as she stared at the girl, saying to her "Listen, kid, I think you've got the wrong address."

"No I don't!" the girl pouted. With careful precision, she pointed to the name plate on the door, saying "This is the Akemi residence, isn't it; and you're Homura?"

"Oh," was all Kirika could say. Inviting the girl in, she called out "Hey Homura! There's a little girl with white hair here to see you! You got any idea what's going on?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Homura said as she approached the door. Her eyes met the eyes of the white-haired girl, and when she tried to say "Hello," she was cut off by a rather abrupt hug and forced to respond with a started "Uagh!" instead.

"Oh my gosh!" The white-haired girl exclaimed as her arms tightened their hold on Homura's body. "You're so adorable! You look just like Big Brother described!"

"Thank you," Homura managed to squeeze out. "Um, do you think you can tell me what's going on?"

"Oh, right, of course." That was enough to break the white-haired girl's embrace. She let Homura go, backing away a few steps to properly introduce herself. "My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern," she said, giving Homura a brief curtsy. "You might find this hard to believe, but I'm Big Broth- Er, Archer's, older sister." Illya was right; Homura did find that hard to believe, especially considering how different she looked from Archer. "So, I guess that makes me your aunt, doesn't it?" With a smile, Illya stepped aside to reveal the pile of wrapped boxed she had brought with her. "I brought presents. I wasn't sure what sort of things you'd like, so I guess I brought a little of everything. I've got chocolates and candy straight from Germany, some clothes that would look absolutely adorable on you, some videogames, if you're into that stuff..."

Illya's list went on, and it was more than Homura could imagine. Overwhelmed, she said the first thing her mind could think of. "Archer didn't say you were coming."

Illya shrugged at Homura's remark. "I felt like surprising you," she said, before surprising Homura with another hug. "It's so good to finally meet you! I really hope you like your presents."

"Hey dad!" shouted Kirika, who had been watching this all unfold. "Your sister's here. Did'ja know she was coming?"

"Wait, 'dad'?" Illya said, confused. "I thought Homura was Archer's adopted daughter. You mean he's got two kids now?"

"Eh, kind of," Kirika replied. "Archer's dating my mom, and me and Homura are basically like sisters anyway, so he's basically close enough to being my dad."

Illya's face fell at the news. "Oh no," she said, rushing to give Kirika a hug as well. "I'm so sorry! I didn't bring you anything! Um, maybe we can go shopping later if the stores are still open? I'll buy you anything you want; Auntie Illya's promise!"

"Uh, thanks?" Kirika said. "I mean, I appreciate the offer, but there's only one thing I really want for Christmas, and I'm already getting it." And speaking of getting it... *Ding dong* "I'll get it!" This time, when Kirika answered the door, it was the correct white-haired girl there to greet her. "Oriko! You came!"

Oriko had barely taken her shoes off before her lips were greeted by Kirika's own. "So, do you have someone special like that?" Illya asked Homura, gesturing to Kirika and Oriko. She laughed, adding "They look just like Big Brother and Tohsaka when they think no one's watching. I'm surprised I don't have more cute nieces like you two yet."

"If you don't mind me asking, Einzbern-san-"

"Please, 'Auntie Illya' is fine."

"Right." Homura corrected herself, saying "Aunt Illya, I was under the impression that Archer's sister was older than him; but you're, well..."

"Tiny?" Homura nodded. "It's... Complicated," Illya said. "The short version is, my grandfather did some weird magecraft stuff to me before I was born, and that ended up stunting my growth. I'm actually a few years older than my version of Big Brother, but since he's taller than me, well..." Illya shrugged, adding "It should be obvious. But then your version of Big Brother actually is older than me, so it all works out; and I've actually grown a bit in the past couple of years, too. I used to be even shorter, believe it or not. I don't think I'll be growing much more than this, though; I've been stuck at a hundred-fifty-eight centimeters for the past three years or so." Illya's eyes lit up as she spoke, and she enthusiastically added "But that just means we're the same height! I can buy you whatever clothes you'd like and I won't even have to guess what size you are!"

Homura couldn't help but laugh as Illya said that. "I suppose there's always an upside, isn't there?"

"Girls! Dinner's ready!" Archer's voice calling from within the kitchen is what ties the disparate stories of the Akemi household together. Minako snuggled up and warm on the couch, Homura and Illya, and Kirika and Oriko in the hallway, and Archer in the kitchen; dinner brings them all together. "Illya, it's nice to see you," Archer says as everyone files into the kitchen at the scent and call of dinner's allure. Turning to Minako, he adds "Minako, this is my sister, Illyasviel von Einzbern. Illya, this is my girlfriend, Kure Minako. I see the girls have already met her."

"Hey," Minako said, waving to the white-haired girl who wasn't her daughter's lover. "I didn't know we'd be expecting company. It's nice to meet you, though."

"It's nice to meet you too," Illya replied as Archer laid out the night's dinner spread, a whole chicken with an assortment of sides. "Do you like being with Big Brother? Is he treating you right?"

"He's been wonderful. Though, if he'd get off his butt and do a bit more to establish himself as a real, legal person, I'd like if we could be a little bit more than just boyfriend and girlfriend." Minako smiled as Archer poured her another glass of wine, adding "Ah, but maybe I should wait until my girls can get married first. It'd be unfair to them if I got married when they can't."

There was one more guest making her way into the Akemi kitchen for dinner; Amy. Her approach was silent, until she settled by her food bowl and gave a loud "Mew" to signal her desire to be fed. "Don't worry, there's plenty for you," Archer said. He leaned down, petting her as he placed a few pieces of chicken into her bowl. "Merry Christmas, Amy."

"Aw, she's so cute," Illya cooed. Her cooing face quickly turned into a pout, and she said to Archer "Jeez, just how many people did you not tell me I had to bring presents for? It's bad enough I didn't bring anything for your girlfriend, her daughter, and her girlfriend, now you're telling me I forgot to bring something for your kitty as well?"

"Homura's got Amy pretty well taken care of," Minako said; "And you don't need to get anything for me either; though I appreciate you wanting to get Kirika and Oriko something."

Illya pouted, crossing her arms to say "But I want to," like the small child her appearance made her out to be. She turned to Kirika, and to Oriko as well, saying to them "I really wasn't kidding about what I said earlier. If the stores are still open after dinner, I'd be happy to take you out shopping to buy you anything you want. You too, Homura. That way you won't feel left out."

"That's quite alright, Einzbern-san," Oriko said. "Really. I'm perfectly content to spend Christmas with my girlfriend and her family. I'm blessed just knowing them; I don't need anything more."

"Well, if you change your mind before dinner's done, don't hesitate to let me know."

"Oriko," Archer addressed Kirika's girlfriend as he finished laying out the night's assortment. "We're not usually religious, but since you're here, would you like to lead us in saying grace?"

"I'd be honoured to, Archer." Surrounded by family and friends, Oriko smiled, and brought her hands together in prayer. "Bless us oh Lord, for these thy gifts..."

SVS · Dec 25, 2020

The sensation struck Niko the moment she stepped out of the sweets shop, almost causing her to drop the iced coffee she had purchased. She didn't, instead forcing her body to stay calm and relax, lest her reaction give herself away to whomever was watching. She walked slowly, deliberately, occasionally checking the reflection of the city skyline in the windows of the shops she passed, never once catching sight of her unseen tail. Whoever they were, they were uncannily good at keeping their presence concealed.

As she snuck around to the back entrance of Angelica Bears, Niko had no idea if she had managed to shake her tail or not. She had taken the long way, cutting through several busy intersections and back alleys alike, hoping to lose them. With the sensation of being watched refusing to leave her until the moment she had closed the back door, she had to ask; had she lost them or not? Was the lingering sensation proof that her tail had been watching right until the very end, or just her paranoid mind playing tricks on her?

The elevator doors closed, and it wasn't until Niko had stepped out, hearing her footsteps echo on the tiled floor of the basement level, that her breathing calmed itself. "I'd never have guessed that you of all people would have decided to go for a stroll," Asami Saki said, greeting Niko as she returned to base. "That's unlike you. What if someone were to notice 'Hijiri Kanna' walking around in broad daylight?"

"It wasn't my choice," Niko replied. "Assassin was getting uppity; told me I had been inside for too long and that my body needed the vitamin D. What about you?" Saki cocked an inquisitive eye in Niko's direction as she asked "What are you doing here? Don't you have classes Thursday afternoons?"

"It's Friday, Niko," Saki said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't have classes on Friday, remember? Assassin was right; you do need to get out more often if you're starting to lose track of what day it is." Niko refused to dignify Saki's comment with any more answer than an absentminded nod of her head. "At any rate, we need to talk."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." Wakaba Mirai may have been Saki's right hand, but when it came to keeping the machinery of the Pleiades Saints ticking, it was Niko that Saki came to, and no one else. The walk to Niko's workshop was long, winding, but both girls knew the way. "Before Assassin kicked me out, we were going over some data I had been collecting on the performance of our Soul Gems; how frequently and how efficiently we're using our mana, things like that."

"You found something out of the ordinary, didn't you?" Saki asked; there wasn't any other reason Niko would have brought the topic up. "What was it?"

"Last night I was finally able to get some real-time data on how the regeneration module I was working on plays out, and the results aren't looking the way I'd hoped." Saki had been lucky, having avoided any major injury in her fight with the bow-using girl last night; but she knew Mirai and Satomi hadn't escaped so easily. "I don't know if it's as good an idea as I thought it would be. The data showed a considerable uptake in mana usage at the point of regeneration. Wakaba's data in particular has me worried. Even though her injuries were less severe than Usagi's, the mana cost to her Soul Gem was greater."

"That's not good, is it?"

"It depends on what future data looks like," Niko said. "There's a chance it's just a fluke, and we'll start to see their mana usage level out once their Soul Gems are used to the module, but if not it could be a sign that the module is doing more harm than good. Wakaba already has a lower pool of mana than Usagi, on top of Rider taking more out of her than Archer takes out of Usagi. If worse comes to worst, I might have to disable the module entirely for Wakaba, before the regeneration causes her to..." Niko didn't dare finish her sentence, and Saki didn't dare finish it for her. Standing before the large, double-wide doors of Niko's private workshop, finishing that sentence didn't feel right. "If it proves to be a problem for you or Misaki, let me know. How your Soul Gems react to the module will let me know whether I should keep it active or not."

Saki nodded. "What about the homunculus? Umika told me last night that you think her magic wore off. What does that mean for us going forward?"

"It means we'll have to keep a close eye on her, to make sure the work that's already been done wasn't for nothing. In case of another relapse, I've given her permission to make whatever alterations she sees fit. As long as she is combat-worthy, and manages to stay alive until Caster can complete his work, that's all we really need from her."

"You sound rather nonchalant about the whole thing," Saki said. "You know what will happen to her once Caster is finished. I thought you'd be a little more concerned about the fate of your alleged masterpiece." As if she could ever call her a masterpiece. She was just the first attempt that hadn't been a failure, after all.

"I know that the work I've done has been leading up to this moment," Niko replied. "If Caster is successful, then everything I've done will have been for that purpose. Besides, you were the one that loved her, not me. I'm just doing the job you asked me to do."

"And you really don't have any complaints with everything I've asked you to do so far?"

"I'd be lying if I said I was okay with the things we've done." With the things she had done. "But that's just human nature. In truth, I lost the right to complain about my work a long time ago. Now, I'm just doing the only thing I'm any good at."

Saki turned, saying to Niko as the two parted ways "At any rate, I'm glad you're as good at is as you are. It's... Been difficult, I know; for all of us. But we're almost there. We will see her again, and when we do it will have been thanks to you."

"Thanks to me," Niko repeated the words to herself as Saki turned the corner and vanished. She snorted, saying softly "As if." Assassin soon appeared beside her master, handing a bottle of orange juice to her. "Now with added vitamin D," Niko said, taking the bottle from Assassin and drinking. "You really do think of everything, don't you?"

"I figured keeping you outside for any extended period of time would be a fool's errand," Assassin said. "So I thought I might at least find another way to get your body the nutrition it requires."

Niko finished her orange juice without complaint, stuffing the empty bottle into the pocket of her hoodie once she had finished. "Assassin, let's go over the data we collected last night one more time," Niko said. "I want to see if there are any calibrations I can make to the regeneration module that'll make it less mana-intensive when Wakaba uses it."

"As you wish, master."

The pair turned their backs on the tall, double-wide doors and made for Niko's workshop. Niko knew she could never turn her back on what she had done; what lay behind those double-wide doors. To think otherwise was just her mind playing tricks on her, like it had earlier when she thought she was being followed.

SVS · Dec 25, 2020

[X] Keep watch for a little while longer; maybe she'll come out

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better compared to this morning."

After lunch, you decide to take a moment in order to talk to Kyouko in private. Well, private might be a bit much; it's hard to find a place to be private in a school, especially during the after-lunch rush when everyone is trying to get back to class before the next period. But your chosen meeting place is private enough. "I don't know what Sayaka already said to you about this, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever need to talk, or even just vent about something, I'm willing to listen."

Kyouko fusses, but she noticeably does not refute you. "I mean, anything I'd say to ya would just be a repeat of what I said ta Sayaka," she says. One awkward shuffle later sees Kyouko facing away from you; perhaps just so she doesn't have you facing her if she needs to cry. "I wish I could punch that stupid cat-eared bitch right in her dumb ugly face. Even though it was just a burnt-up wreck, it's still got a lotta meaning ta me, ya know? It's like... Yer from Tokyo originally, right? It'd be like if the place where you used ta live burned down; even though ya ain't lived there in a long time, it still means something to ya, don't it?"

You can barely remember what that luxury apartment overlooking the Meguro River looked like. To you, memories of the life you lived in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward are those from a lifetime ago. But that apartment is the last place you ever saw your mother before she died. "I suppose you have a point," you say. "It would feel like someone had taken away the only thing that's left of my mother."

"That's how I feel. I mean sure, there's the stuff my dad did at the end, but I still got a lotta good memories too; of mom, and dad, and Momo. I lost the picture I had of Momo back when Wallyworld attacked, and now that the church is gone it's like I lost it all over again."

You place a hand on Kyouko's shoulder, and say to her "You're a strong girl. I know you'll get through this no matter how much it hurts. We're all here for you if you need any of us."

"Thanks, Spooky. But..." Kyouko picked your hand up off her shoulder, as her cherry eyes roamed around the currently-empty toilet. "I mean, me and Sayaka already went over this stuff, so if yer not gunna let me stick my tongue down yer throat it ain't like there's a reason fer us ta still be here."

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." Oh thank the gods, it's Archer. His timing is impeccable, and his presence gives you a way out of dealing with the embarrassing statement Kyouko has just issued. "But I've got some information I think you'll want to hear."

"I'm free," you reply. Anything to not have to think about kissing Kyouko. "What do you have?"

"While I was doing reconnaissance in Asunaro, I spotted Kanna Niko while she was out for a stroll. I followed her to, get this, the local teddy bear museum. Did you know Asunaro has one of those?"

"I did not know that." A teddy bear museum? Madoka likes stuffed animals; maybe once this is all over she might like to go and visit that museum? Yeah, that sounds like it could be a fun date. "I hope that's not the extent of your report."

"Well, it's been a little while and she hasn't come out yet. I've circled the building a few times, but I haven't spotted her through any of the windows. I'm not certain, but I've got a hunch that this place might be where the Saints are operating out of."

"Why would they have chosen a teddy bear museum as their base of operations, though?"

"One of them has the ability to command an army of teddy bear familiars; you think there might be a connection?"

"It's the best lead we've got so far. What's the museum called? I can do some digging when I get home, maybe see if there's something I can dig up that we can use."

"It's called Angelica Bears." Angelica Bears... You'll have to remember the name, just in case it turns out to be something Madoka would be interested in visiting later on. "It's a pretty unassuming place, aside from potentially being the enemy stronghold. Maybe when this all blows over you'd want to take Madoka to see some of the exhibits? I know she likes stuffed animals."

"Funny, I was actually thinking the same thing." That settles it; you're taking Madoka to see the teddy bear museum once things have quieted down. "I want you to keep your eyes peeled for Kanna Niko for a little while longer. If the Saints are using the museum as their base of operations, it's likely she won't be leaving again for awhile. If you don't see her, then we'll at least know something is up that warrants further investigation."

"Right. I'll get out of your hair now so you can go back to class."

You've barely said goodbye to your father before Kyouko asks "So, are we gunna make out now, or what? 'Cause if we're doing this, we ain't got a whole lotta time before class starts again."

"I think I'll pass," you have to say. "You aren't Madoka, and I doubt Sayaka would appreciate you sticking your tongue down another girl's throat." Those words sound so weird coming out of your mouth, considering you and Madoka haven't yet used your tongues when kissing. "Now, let's get back to class so I can forget you ever asked that of me."

Finally, you think as the last bell of the day rings. You pack your things into your bag and make ready to head out when Sayaka approaches your desk, stopping you to ask "Hey Homura, you wanna go to the mall with me and Kyouko?" You weren't expecting an invite from Sayaka, much less when there are other things you should be taking care of. Something you're sure she knows. "I was thinking it'd just be us at first, but then I thought maybe you and Hitomi would like to come with us, since I doubt you'll have much time to just hang out in the future."

"What were you thinking we would do at the mall?"

Sayaka shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno," she said, evidently having not thought that far ahead. "We could go to the arcade, go shopping, get something to eat at the food court... You know, just general hanging out stuff, I guess. It's been awhile since we just hung out together, you know? So, you interested?"

A few desks over, you catch Kyouko approaching Hitomi, presumably about the same offer which Sayaka has presented you with.

Do you
[ ] Accept; you can take one afternoon to hang out with friends
-[ ] What's your mall plan for the afternoon? (write-in)
[ ] Reject
-[ ] You've got team stuff to do; and Kyouko should be coming with you, not Sayaka
-[ ] It's too dangerous to be wandering around when there are enemies on he loose
-[ ] Madoka has one of her clubs today, and you don't want to make her feel left out
-[ ] Other reason for rejecting Sayaka's offer (write-in)
--[ ] What are you doing instead?
---[ ] Team exercises
---[ ] Rune/magecraft practice
---[ ] Go home and do your homework
---[ ] Other (write-in)
[ ] Other (write-in)

SVS · Dec 26, 2020

[X] Plan Base Building 101

Finally, you think as the last bell of the day rings. You pack your things into your bag and make ready to head out when Sayaka approaches your desk, stopping you to ask "Hey Homura, you wanna go to the mall with me and Kyouko?" You weren't expecting an invite from Sayaka, much less when there are other things you should be taking care of. Something you're sure she knows. "I was thinking it'd just be us at first, but then I thought maybe you and Hitomi would like to come with us, since I doubt you'll have much time to just hang out in the future."

"What were you thinking we would do at the mall?"

Sayaka shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno," she said, evidently having not thought that far ahead. "We could go to the arcade, go shopping, get something to eat at the food court... You know, just general hanging out stuff, I guess. It's been awhile since we just hung out together, you know? So, you interested?"

A few desks over, you catch Kyouko approaching Hitomi, presumably about the same offer which Sayaka has presented you with. Inside you, part of you wants to accept Sayaka's offer. Things are about to get hectic, and having a few moments of reprieve may be what your mind needs, something to hold onto in the dark and the heat of battle to center you. But then you recall the events of last night. The Pleiades Saints are intent on waging a war of annihilation against your faction, and proved last night their willingness to accept collateral damage as the cost of defeating you. What's to stop them from attacking in broad daylight? Even with you, Kyouko, Hitomi, and your servants, would that be enough if the Saints brought their full force to bear against you? What about Sayaka? She's got no way of fighting back; one wrong move, one serious injury, might force this timeline down a dark path you aren't prepared to accept.

"I'm sorry," you say after some consideration of the costs. "But Madoka has one of her clubs today, and I'd hate to make her feel left out if I went without her."

"Hey, no problem," Sayaka replies. "I get it, okay? Maybe we'll try again for Sunday or next Wednesday when we can all get together?"

"Maybe." You don't know if you'll be able to accept Sayaka's offer then, either. How long can you reject her offers? Your eyes shoot over to Kyouko; by the look of things, she's convinced Hitomi to come along. "Make sure you two keep your servants nearby in case you're attacked," you say to the pair. "We can't afford to take any chances. If you're attacked, focus on getting out rather than on fighting."

"Then why don't'cha come with us, Spooky? If we got Archer watching us, it'll be easier fer us than if we've just got Rider and a Saber who can't do shit."

"I have Archer doing overwatch at a location he believes to be the Saints' base of operations. If you're attacked, let me know and I'll have Archer level the building, hopefully with at one a couple of them still inside."

"Man, that's ruthless."

"We don't have a choice. They've displayed their willingness to be ruthless first."

Sayaka cuts in between Kyouko and Hitomi, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. For a brief moment, you can see the trio wearing the blue-and-green uniform of the school they attended in Chigasaki as they leave down the hallway, before the image fades and the tan-and-black Mitakihara uniform is back where it belongs. You know Hitomi wishes she could still attend Chigasaki to be with her boyfriend, so maybe her reason for accepting to hang out in spite of the danger present is the reminder being with the pair brings to her of that time. You hope Saber and Rider are enough to get the trio to safety; certainly they wouldn't be enough against the enemy's own Saber and Rider servants.

As for yourself, you've got the war effort to consider. Given Archer's information, chances are good the Saints aren't operating out of individual residences. That's an advantage to them, because if they attack one of your side's bases of operation, that's someone's residence. Given Archer's information, your team should also be thinking about establishing a neutral base of operations that isn't any one teammate's residence; And you know just who to get in contact with.

"Tomoe-san, Oriko, I need your help in setting up a neutral base of operations for us to operate out of. We'll need Oriko and Caster to find a suitable location, and Caster and Lancer to do the actual building and fortifying."

"Won't that take some time to construct?" Tomoe-san asks. "Do we have the time to spare, when those girls are already attacking us? Wouldn't it have been better if we had done this before?"

"It would have," Oriko chimes in. "I'm so sorry for not noticing this happening sooner. I was so focused on everything going on with those strange witches that I completely missed checking for anything else."

"If they were able to avoid being seen until they wanted us to see them last night, then chances are good they have ways of avoiding your precognition. You don't need to feel bad about not seeing them," you say to Oriko. "Granted, that doesn't change the fact that we should have done this earlier, but it isn't your fault that we didn't." You know Oriko has problems dealing with guilt. You know telling her it isn't her fault likely won't be enough. "If you still feel like you need to make it up to us, then can you get in touch with Nurse Ortensia and ask her if Assassin would be willing to lend a hand with this as well? She knows the runes, so she could probably help Lancer with setting things up."

"I can ask her, but..." But you already know what she'll say. "Well, I'm worried that Assassin might not be very cooperative, given the relationship she has with Caren-san. Maybe if we had a way to placate her or, well, bribe her, I guess, we might have better luck, but I don't know that much about who Assassin is as a person to be able to say what we should consider offering to her."

"If you get in touch with Nurse Ortensia, I can ask Archer if there's anything he might be willing to gift Assassin with to keep her compliant." You don't know what Archer might have to offer Assassin, but you're sure he probably has something that might succeed in appeasing her.

"Right. Are you working on anything in particular at the moment, Akemi-san?"

"As soon as I get home, I was going to do some research on the building Archer singled out. It's a teddy bear museum, and I'm hoping there might be something off about it I can find that'll give us useful information. Kyouko and Hitomi are off doing their own thing with Sayaka at the moment, but maybe once they're free and Kirika gets off work we can all get together and discuss this further, if you're both willing."

"Yes, that sounds agreeable. I assume I should bring Caster with me if we're not meeting at my apartment?"

"I assume so. I'll be bringing Lancer with me if we're not meeting at the mansion. What about you, Akemi-san? Will you be bringing Archer with you if we aren't meeting at your apartment?"

"Possibly," you reply. "Currently, I have Archer doing overwatch at a location he thinks could be the Saints' base of operations. It'll depend on whether I can afford to pull him away from that. But if I can afford to, then it's likely he'll be joining us. I'm sure he's got some good insights we'll want to take into consideration."

Amy is the only member of your household to greet you as you return to the apartment. As you take your shoes off, she nuzzles in turn each of your legs as you remove each shoe from the opposite foot to the leg being nuzzled. Once both your shoes are off, you lean down to scratch the back of her head, to which she responds with a content "Mew" in typical Amy fashion. "I've got some work I need to do for a little while," you say as Amy follows you into your room. "I'll be more than happy to play with you when I'm finished, okay?" Again, a content-sounding "Mew" is al the response you get, but it's enough. "That's a good girl."

You sit down at your desk and open up your laptop, which still displays the results from last night's searches on Sigurd and Ramesses. You clear them, and type in "Angelica Bears" into the search bar int heir place. "Let's see what you're all about," you say as the search engine generates your results. "Not bad."

The museum has a website, which is good news for you; and although it's a fairly new establishment at less than a year old, it has impressive collection of both vintage and contemporary bears, some dating back to over a hundred years ago. The website shows a floor plan of the museum; three floors and a basement, with the bulk of the exhibits being located on the first and second floors. It doesn't appear that anything is amiss with the floor plan; until you notice a strange irregularity.

Similar to the Mitakihara aquarium, the basement floor is attached to a subway station, with a rear entrance serving as an additional point of entry to the subway station. On the floor plan you count four elevators, clustered into two groups of two on either end of the museum's wing exhibits; but there's a fifth elevator located near the rear entrance that doesn't appear to actually go to any other floor of the museum. As if it goes down instead of up. Is that access for subway workers; a blueprinting error; or is there something else at play here? You print out a copy of the museum's floor plan, circling the location of the mystery elevator with a red marker.

Do you
[ ] Have Archer investigate the fifth elevator
[ ] Investigate the fifth elevator for yourself
[ ] Wait and assemble a team to investigate later
[ ] Other (write-in)

While you wait to hear back from the others, do you
[ ] Do your homework
[ ] Practice runes/magecraft
[ ] Play with Amy
[ ] Watch TV/play videogames
[ ] Other (write-in)

[ ] Aside from base construction, is there anything else you need to address at the meeting tonight? (write-in)

SVS · Dec 27, 2020

[X] Plan The Mystical Arts... And Bears (part 1)

The website for Angelica Bears is kind enough to give you a floor plan of the museum; three floors and a basement, with the bulk of the exhibits being located on the first and second floors. It doesn't appear that anything is amiss with the floor plan; until you notice a strange irregularity.

Similar to the Mitakihara aquarium, the basement floor is attached to a subway station, with a rear entrance serving as an additional point of entry to the subway station. On the floor plan you count four elevators, clustered into two groups of two on either end of the museum's wing exhibits; but there's a fifth elevator located near the rear entrance that doesn't appear to actually go to any other floor of the museum. As if it goes down instead of up. Is that access for subway workers; a blueprinting error; or is there something else at play here?

You print out a copy of the museum's floor plan, circling the location of the mystery elevator with a red marker. With the cap back on the marker, you tap it against the printout as your mind mulls over the possibilities. If the museum is open to the public, which it apparently is, then there's no way the Saints could be using it as their base of operations, not without unwanted attention noticing a gang of girls who were otherwise uninterested in the museum's offerings. But what if it weren't? What if the museum were only a cover, and the Saints had a proper base of operations located underneath the museum? An elevator that isn't connected to the rest of the museum would be easy for them to block off to unwanted foot traffic, giving them a perfect means of accessing their true base of operations below.

"If that's the case, then whatever is down there is probably being heavily guarded by their servants," you say to yourself with a sigh. Amy looks at you, almost as if she were concerned, so you reach over to scratch her behind the ears. "Don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to go charging into the enemy's stronghold without a plan," you say to her. But even with a plan, you aren't sure launching an impromptu investigation of their underground base would be a good idea. You still only know roughly half of what their fourteen-strong team of masters and servants is capable of, and what you've already seen inspires middling confidence in your ability to come out on top as you are now. Unless you were willing to commit all of your team's resources to a full dive and sweep of their hideout - their home turf - then the smart move would be to postpone the investigation for later.

Still, there's no point in sitting on this information for yourself, not when you've got a man on the ground who might appreciate what you've found. "I've got some interesting news," you say to Archer. "I was looking at the floor plan for the museum on their website, and there's an elevator located near the rear entrance that looks like it goes down instead of up. I think that's the entrance point for the Saints' true hideout underneath the museum."

"By the rear entrance?"

"Yeah. There's a subway station connected to the basement floor, and the rear entrance leads to it. But it also leads to this elevator that isn't connected to the rest of the museum."

"That makes sense. I saw her going in through the back door." There's your confirmation. "So what do you want me to do now? Should I go in and take a look around?"

"Don't bother. The place is likely crawling with servants. Not to mention whatever other security measures they've put in place." Now that you think of it, there might not even be a way for Archer to get in, if security is especially tight at their most public choke point. "I think you're good to pull out now, unless you've got a reason to stick around."

"What about you? What are you going to do now that you've found this?"

"I was thinking I'd get in some practice before we all get together later for tonight's team meeting;" and so you do. Immediately after ending your conversation with Archer you get to work, but not before giving the muscles in your back a quick stretch. You've been sitting for far too long. Amy lets out a soft "Mew" as you scratch her behind the ears one last time before getting to work.

Your skills in Projections and runic magecraft are not a natural part of your skills as a puella magi. Barring limited applications of the three fundamentals of magecraft - two in your case, as Alteration is almost completely impossible for you - your magecraft was something you had to teach yourself. As such, without regular practice your skills will atrophy, and as you possess no other way of fighting, now that your ability to stop time has been lost, letting your skills atrophy is not something you can allow.

First, you Project your bow, your primary weapon against all manner of threats. As you run your finger along the length of the bow, you take a moment to consider its material composition. Your bow, a slightly scaled-down version of your kyūdō bow with elements lifted from your image of Madoka's rosewood bow, is primarily composed of ebony, but also features diamond-cut amethysts studding the hand guards. The weapon is unusual, being given shape by the image of it in your mind and existing nowhere else, but that suits you just fine. Without you to imagine it, your bow cannot exist; and without your bow, you cannot fight. You and it exist as two sides of the same being.

Next, your Project a handful of arrows. When you first attempted to learn Projection magecraft, arrows were a source of irritation for you; too little and they are no good for combat, but too much and they shatter in your hand. With their heads Reinforced and imbued with the Isa rune they, like your bow, exist only as constructs of your mind and nowhere else.

The Isa rune was the first rune you mastered. A line of frozen water vapour follows your finger as you invoke the rune; Isa is the rune of ice, and imbued with its power your arrows can splash ice over large swathes. When invoked as its own power, you can use Isa to create walls of ice, platforms of frozen vapour which float in place, or freeze liquid water to walk on its frozen surface; not that you would ever flaunt that last ability in front of Oriko.

Last is the Inguz rune. Inguz is a rune which, by using yourself as the conduit to invoke the rune's power, either transfer energy into and away from you, or through you from one person to another. It is the rune which Lancer uses, in conjunction with one of Archer's Projected short swords, to draw Grief out of your spent Grief Seeds, replenishing them at no additional cost and leaving you and the others free to use them again without needing to turn them over to the Incubator. Not that you could even if you wanted to; the little white bastard has been missing ever since Walpurgisnacht was defeated. Inguz allows you to take the mana of your allies into yourself, fueling powerful finishing moves like the Quintett Fuoco you used to finally defeat Walpurgisnacht, and it allows you to expel in short bursts the corruption which forms inside your Soul Gem, spitting it out in the form of a bullet of dark energy.

"Do you want a snack?" Your practice has taken you quite some time, and you must have been so engrossed in what you were doing that you didn't notice Archer returning home. "I brought cookies." You take one of the offered cookies from the plate Archer has, and he asks "You been working hard?"

"Yeah." Your dad makes a really good chocolate chip cookie. "What time is it?"

"A little before eight, actually. Minako should be home soon, if you want to stick around to say goodbye."

Usually a basic practice session only takes you about an hour, maybe a little more if Amy causes you to get sidetracked; as you munch on another one of Archer's cookies, you check the time on your phone, wondering what could have stolen the time away from you this time. "Yeah, I can stick around to say goodbye to mom." You finish your second cookie, as Archer leaves the plate on your desk beside your laptop. "So, we know the Saints have a base of operations now, and I was thinking we should go about putting up one of our own. That way, if they attack and level our base, it's not someone's residence they're leveling."

"That's not a bad idea."

"I figure we can get Oriko and Caster to plot out a good location, one that's not too far from any one of our residences, and then have Caster and Lancer do the actual construction and magical reinforcement." You reach for a third cookie, but instead have to swat Amy away as she leans in. "Assassin is also knowledgeable in the runes, so I was thinking she might be able to help us as well; except she's, well..."

"A bitch?"

"I was going to say that she has an attitude problem, but I suppose yours gets the point across too." You have to move the plate of cookies to the other side of your laptop, as you pick Amy up and set her down on the floor. "Either way, I was wondering if you had something you could give her that, I don't know, bribe her into helping us, but I don't know enough about her to suggest something she might be interested in."

Archer ponders your request for a moment, before settling on "How about one of these?" as he Projects one of his short swords, the same kind as the one he and Lancer use to eliminate the Grief from your refreshed Grief Seeds. "She's angry at being shoved into a class she doesn't belong to, right? If we hand over one of these bad boys, it'll help seriously beef up her magic and give her a decent weapon to fight with. It's not a perfect solution, but it'll help alleviate some of the problems she's having as an Assassin."

Archer gives the sword to you, and you set it down on your desk as you hear the front door unlocking. The sound causes Amy gives up her pursuit of cookies in order to investigate. "That'll be Minako now," Archer says, as you follow him to the front door.

She didn't give birth to you, but as soon as Minako is done embracing Archer as he welcomes her home, she leans down and gives you a kiss on your forehead. "You're not going out to see the others tonight?" she asks, remaining at your height for a little while longer as she takes her shoes off at the door.

"Actually, I was just about to head out," you reply. "I was just waiting for you to come home so I could say goodbye."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you," Minako says, giving you another kiss, this time on the cheek. "Be safe out there, okay? I worry about you girls when you're out late at night."

"Don't worry, mom, I've got my big sis to keep me safe."

"That's my girl." Minako smiles, taking her first - and unexpectedly pained - steps on her way to the living room. "Stupid heels..." you hear her mutter to herself. "Hey Archer, do you think you can give me a foot massage when you and Homura get back? Those heels are killing my feet." With a smile and a seductive wink, Minako adds "I'll make it worth your while if you do."

You need to get out of here before things get really awkward.

SVS · Dec 27, 2020

[X] Plan The Mystical Arts... And Bears (part 2+)

Tonight, as you have the previous two nights, the team meets at Tomoe-san's apartment. "I'm sorry," you say to her. "I'm sorry we keep imposing on you so frequently. I promise I'll find a way to make it up to you, soon."

"Oh, no, that's quite alright Akemi-san," Tomoe-san replies. Her tone is chipper, but inside you have to wonder how much of that chipper tone is an act she's putting on to make you feel at ease. It wouldn't be the first time she's done that. "I don't mind the company, really."

You nod your head, passing the rest of your teammates on your way to the already-stocked-with-snacks sandstone table at the far end of the living room. Kyouko sits in front of the television, watching nothing in particular. Hitomi sits at the table alone, presumably she and Tomoe-san were discussing something before you interrupted their conversation. Oriko and Kirika are passionately kissing in a secluded corner of the living room, while Nurse Ortensia watches - is that jealously in her eyes, or just irritation? - as her cousin makes out with their lover right in front of her. You swallow; seeing them like that reminds you of Kyouko's jest towards you earlier in the day; it reminds you that you and Madoka still have yet to use your tongues when kissing.

"Alright everyone, let's get settled in," Tomoe-san says, drawing the attention in the room onto her as she guides her straggling guests to the table. "I think we've got a lot to cover tonight, so we'd best get started." She turns to you, asking "Akemi-san, would you lead us off for the night?"

You nod, retrieving the printout of Angelica Bears' floor plan form your pocket and unfolding it for everyone to see. "This is the teddy bear museum the Pleiades Saints are using as their base of operations," you say, tapping your finger against the center of the printout. "At least, that's our best guess at the moment, but we've got some evidence that supports it. Earlier, Archer was doing an investigation in Asunaro when he spotted Kanna Niko, who led him to this location." You tap your finger against the rear entrance. "She entered through the back here, which according to this map would have taken her to the basement, where there's also a subway station. If we look at the rest of the museum's floor plan, we can see four elevators, two here, and two here. But-" you tap your finger again, this time against the location of the fifth elevator. "-there's also this elevator here, which doesn't connect to anywhere else in the museum. It's only accessible by entering the museum through the rear entrance. If the Saints are using the museum as their base of operations, it's likely this elevator is what they use to enter and exit their hideout."

Which brings me to the next thing I have to bring up." You flip the printout over, revealing the blank white underside of the paper. "Having a base of operations that isn't one of their residences puts them at an advantage. Since we're operating out of our own residences, if they attack and wipe on of our bases out, that's someone's home they've just destroyed. They don't have to worry about that if we destroy their museum. That's why I'm proposing we also construct our own base of operations, preferably in a neutral space where none of us has to travel too far to get to." That caveat is especially beneficial for Oriko and Kirika; instead of having to come over an hour from the mansion in Shirome, instead they might only have to travel twenty of thirty minutes to a neutrally-owned base.

"Well, I don't think it would be a bad idea to have our own base to work from," Tomoe-san says. "Certainly it would take the strain off being expected to host more people than our residences can hold. But what does everyone else think?"

Kyouko is the first to raise her hand, asking "So, like, who's gunna have ta clean the place up? If it's neutral territory, are we gunna, like, share cleanup duties, or do we just have Lancer do it all since she's already Big White's maid?"

"I imagine we would share cleanup duties," Oriko says. "That seems the most fair to me."

Kyouko rolls her eyes, letting out a long, loud "Ga~ay," at Oriko's suggestion. "Well, if we're gunna be expected ta clean up after ourselves, do we at least get, like, a game room or something? You know, ta keep us occupied when we're not doing team stuff?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Kirika chimes in next, enthusiastically waving her arm back and forth as she adds "And some beds, too! Maybe some private rooms so we can be alone and take naps when we're not doing anything?"

"Don't lie, you just want a place where you and Big White can- Ow!" Tomoe-san silences Kyouko with a swift pinch of her ear. "Come on, Mami, that ain't funny. We both know it's th' only reason she wants a private bedroom, and I-" Again; when will Kyouko ever learn? She crosses her arms, pouting as she says "I at least hope ya soundproof yer stupid nap rooms... When are we gunna knock their stupid blocks off, anyway?"

"Attacking immediately probably won't be a good idea," Oriko says, to which you and Tomoe-san both nod. "We only know about half of their current force; if we attacked now, we would be at a disadvantage." Kyouko, her arms still crossed, grumbles once again at Oriko's words. "I can try to look ahead and see if there's anything about our future encounters with them that I can see, but I'm doubtful I'll see anything if I haven't already." Oriko closes her eyes, leaving the conversation behind as she attempts to peer through the future. Kirika's hand finds its way to Oriko's own, and she refuses to let go of her lover until Oriko's eyes open again. "It is as I feared; there's nothing new about them that I can see."

Tomoe-san drums her fingers against the edge of her table. "Maybe Caster could see something, if you couldn't?" she asks, turning her gaze away from Oriko and over to her servant. "If you can't see anything about those girls in the future, perhaps you can tell us something you can see about them in the past?"

Caster nods, entering a contemplative state for a few moments before replying. "Asami Saki and Wakaba Mirai are both students at Asunaro's local university. If you go hunting for them expecting to find them at the local junior or high schools, you will not find them. Kanna Niko is of university age, but does not attend; nor does she live at any home that I could identify. In fact, based on the number of times she disappears from my Sight, it appears that she lives within the base, and I believe their base to be guarded by wards designed to prevent outsiders from Looking in onto their activities." Interesting; so your foes this time are older than most of your team, and by a significant amount, too. "As for your idea to construct a base of operations, I am able to assist with the construction without difficulty. I, after all, built the splendid walls around the city of Uruk, whose craftsmanship is unrivaled even among the modern age."

"Uh-huh, sure they are," Kyouko says, rolling her eyes as Caster's proclamation.

"If you wish to refute my claim, them you need only present evidence to the contrary," Caster states, effectively shutting Kyouko up. "However, my efforts would be hastened and your base's craftsmanship improved, if I had assistance from another among our number with the Territory Creation skill."

"What?" Assassin asks, as several pairs of eyes turn towards her. "Don't look at me. I don't owe you brats anything."

"I thought you might say that," Archer says to Assassin. Thankfully, he's brought his trump card. "However, I've got an offer that I think sway your decision." Standing tall, Archer dangles his short sword just out of reach of the seated Assassin servant. "This is the sword of Paracelsus; it's an incredibly powerful amplifier of magical energy, and it's not too shabby as a sword, either." Assassin, no doubt knowing the value of Archer's offer, reaches for it like a child might for a jar of cookies atop a high shelf. It's actually kind of funny, seeing this previously aloof and arrogant woman acting like a small child at the sight of Archer's offered weapon. "You agree to help us construct the base, and I'll gladly hand this over to you. It won't put you in one of your preferred classes, but it should give you the boost to your spells and combat abilities you need."

"You can make weapons from nothing?" Saber asks, his eyes lighting up at the chance he sees in Archer's ability. "Then, perhaps you could lend me one of my Lancer incarnation's spears? I would be far more comfortable with a spear and a sword, rather than with two swords alone."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Archer says. After addressing Saber, Archer turns to each of Caster, Lancer, and Assassin, saying to them in turn "You three are going to have to be our primary builders. While I'm on the subject of things I'm willing to Project for the team, if any of you are worried about being seen, I can hand these out." A small dagger, appearing in Archer's hand almost completely obscured by a shadow which comes from nothing, and he says "These'll help keep any prying eyes away while you're setting things up."

Assassin crosses her arms and ruffles the mane of feathers at her shoulders. Once again, her peacock-like preening makes you want to take Madoka to see the peacocks at the zoo. "So, about this stupid base you girls have cooked up- I assume you've got some sort of blueprint in mind you want us to follow?"

You hadn't gotten that far.

[ ] Wat do?

SVS · Dec 28, 2020

[X] Plan There Are Plenty Of Bases In The World But This One Is Mine

Assassin crosses her arms and ruffles the mane of feathers at her shoulders. Once again, her peacock-like preening makes you want to take Madoka to see the peacocks at the zoo. "So, about this stupid base you girls have cooked up- I assume you've got some sort of blueprint in mind you want us to follow?"

You hadn't gotten that far. "Uh..."

"If I may?" Before you can react, Hitomi has taken the printout of Angelica Bears' floor plan from you, reaching for a pen with her other hand. Quickly, she's sketched out a rough outline of Mitakihara; devoid of many of the city's important features, but still recognisably Mitakihara, with its rail line and waterway, along with a few general landmarks you're all familiar with. "Now, I think the first thing we should consider is how easy such a base would be for all of us to access. Mikuni-san, you and Kure-san live quite a distance away from everyone else, don't you?" Oriko nods, and Hitomi makes a note of that, adding a small marker in the northwest corner, representing Shirome, no doubt. "Now, the best way to accomplish this would be to build the base somewhere that isn't too out of the way for any of us- It might be made into a slightly longer commute for us, but it'll mean Mikuni-san and Kure-san don't have to make as long a commute, either."

Hitomi marks a few locations of possible interest; a location in Uptown, a location closer to the last northwestern train station before entering Shirome; places like that, where the travel time wouldn't be more than a half hour or so for all parties involved. "I think we should figure out where to build first," Hitomi says, handing her drawing of Mitakihara off to Archer. "If we know where we can build, that'll also help inform the structure of our building. Archer, you've got a good idea of this city's leylines, don't you?" Archer nods; that's good news for Hitomi. "Do you think you could tell us which of the areas I've selected would be the best, based on our team's own needs and access to the local leylines?"

Archer takes the drawing from Hitomi, looking over her sketch. Hitomi may be competent as a problem-solver, but an artist she is not. Inwardly, you're grateful for what little skill she has, or else you doubt her map would have been recognisable as Mitakihara at all. "I think this would be the best place," Archer says, circling an area by the northern train station, before handing the drawing back to Hitomi. "Putting it here means we can tap into the leyline that runs northwest along the rail line, and it's not too developed, meaning we're less likely to arouse suspicion if we drop a new building there, than if we were to do so right int he middle of Uptown or somewhere else that's more developed."

"Right." Hitomi looks over Archer's choice, before saying "I suppose that means we've got a bit of free reign to build things as we'd like to, without having to really constrain ourselves by what other buildings are already surrounding us. That's good. I admit, I'm not much of an architect, so I don't know how much help I'll be in coming up with what the base should look like."

"That's fine," Archer says. "You've done more than enough already."

"If you all think you'll need help deciding on the architecture, I believe there's a copy of the mansion's blueprints in my father's study," Oriko says. "I could bring that with me tomorrow, perhaps?"

"That might not be a bad idea," you say. Oriko smiles at your comment, causing Kiriika to nuzzle up close to appreciate her lover's happiness. "The mansion is big enough to fit all of us, and if we're thinking we might want a place we could potentially live in, that much space would be nice, so we're not all cramped together. Perhaps we could also think about building down into the ground, similar to the Saints. That would give us even more room to work with."

"If that's the plan, then we'll have to wait for Oriko to come back tomorrow with those blueprints before we can see what we're working with, but there's no reason to be lazy while we wait." Archer crosses his arms, as whispers pass among the human members of your team, discussions about the things each of them would like to see in a functioning base of operations. "I see some of you are already getting ahead of me. Even if we don't know where we'll put them yet, we can still plan out what our base should have in order to be functional."

"Well, I know I'm the only proper mage among us, but I think there's enough of us who would benefit from having a place to practice our crafts," Hitomi suggests. "So, I think having a workshop or two would be beneficial."

"I think we should also have storeroom for important objects, since I can't really bring whole arsenals with me wherever I go anymore," you add. "If nothing else, having a place to store our collected Grief Seeds when we're not using them should be a necessity, since we've got so many of them." That goes double for the lumpy Grief Seeds you've also been collecting, as well as the Grief Fruit you collected from the witch Elsa Maria, that you have yet to find a proper home for.

Tomoe-san nods in favour of your suggestion, before adding one of her own. "We've had... Problems, with keeping important people secure before," she says. "Whether that's needing a place to keep Gray-san before Elsa Maria arrived, a place to keep girls like the trio from Shirome, or even a more secure place to keep Hijiri-san, it would be nice to have a place for them somewhere we're already inclined to watch over."

"Those are all good ideas for things we should consider for the lower level," Oriko says. "If we're keeping with the theme that seems to be emerging, perhaps the upper floors could be used for more... Domestic, activities, I suppose, like the gaming room Sakura-san suggested, or for bedrooms or a common area."

"What about the garden?" Kirika asks. "We've got Caren and Seaweed we've gotta get up to snuff now, so what if we had some kind of training grounds where the garden is?"

"The garden might be a bit small to host all fourteen of us, if we're all doing training exercises at the same time," Oriko says. "But it's a possibility, if we were to expand the fenced-in area a bit more. Certainly, a strong Bounded Field would be necessary at that point, to keep unwanted attention away. Though, I assume we were already planning to install a Bounded Field, so that's not really an issue."

"Assassin and I can use our runes to set up more than just Bounded Fields," Lancer says. Assassin huffs, as though she's upset Lancer would volunteer her without her permission, until Archer silently reminds Assassin of what's at stake if she contributes. "Motion detectors, traps, familiars, sensors that would only allow certain people to enter; if any of you have ideas for defensive arrays, I am sure Assassin and I can make them into a reality."

They probably wouldn't be much use against an attacking party of servants, and their use would certainly be illegal if anyone were to find out, but "Perhaps I could also contribute some of my machine guns to our defensive fortifications? It's not as if I'm using them for anything else."

"Then that just leaves the actual building itself," Archer says. He crosses his arms over his chest, and his eyes pass over Caster, Lancer, and Assassin in turn. "We're trying to make something that won't stand out too much," he says, stressing the emphasis where he can, in spite of the already-present difficulty in attempting to make a mansion not stand out. "Caster, that means you'll have to tone down the Sumerian influences wherever possible. Keep them inside the mansion if you must include them, because that's not exactly a style that meshes well with everything else in this city. Lancer, Assassin, the same goes for you two as well. Try not to make the mansion seem too out of place with your design choices. I trust you three to figure something sensible out once we've got the blueprints in front of us."

While all of this is being discussed, Oriko turns to Nurse Ortensia, prodding her cousin to speak up. "You've been awfully quiet, Caren-san," she says. "Don't you have anything to add?"

"What would I even need to say?" Nurse Ortensia replies. "I don't really have a stake in what this place looks like, as long as it's functional and has the proper amenities."

Oriko nods her head, before a sudden jolt of mental electricity knocks her head in the other direction. "Well, even if you won't share your ideas with us, I hope you'll at least fight with us."

"What are we up against?" you ask. "Is it the Saints?" You aren't prepared to fight them again, not without a better plan of attack than the nothing of a plan you had last night.

Oriko shakes her head. "No, it's witches," she says. "Three of them this time. They're splitting up, moving north and west like this." Using her finger to mark the spawning point above Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed, Oriko traces three lines over Hitomi's map; one heading north along the river, one heading northwest into Downtown, and a third heading west towards Madoka's house.

How do you divide the labour?
[ ] Who takes the witch heading north along the river? (write-in)
[ ] Who takes the witch heading northwest into Downtown? (write-in)
[ ] Who takes the witch heading west to Madoka's house? (write-in)

[ ] When you encounter a witch, what's your plan of attack? (write-in)

SVS · Dec 29, 2020

[X] Plan: Reactive attack

"What are we up against?" you ask, as Oriko gives news of an impending attack. "Is it the Saints?" You aren't prepared to fight them again, not without a better plan of attack than the nothing of a plan you had last night.

Oriko shakes her head. "No, it's witches," she says. "Three of them this time. They're splitting up, moving north and west like this." Using her finger to mark the spawning point above Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed, Oriko traces three lines over Hitomi's map; one heading north along the river, one heading northwest into Downtown, and a third heading west towards Madoka's house.

And a third heading west towards Madoka's house.

You aren't fast enough to make it there in time.

It takes everything you have not to scream, but you know screaming won't do you or your teammates any good. It isn't Oriko's fault that a witch is heading there. "Uh, you okay there Spooky?" Kyouko asks. "'cause yer looking a little pissed."

"If I had to guess, I'd say she's upset because there's a witch heading towards Kaname's place," Nurse Ortensia points out. She shrugs, adding "Apparently it's of great concern to her, but I don't even know what a witch is. You'll have to refresh my memory."

"Witches are the corruption of the negative thoughts and energies within us all," Oriko explains, casually cutting out the part about witches being formed from the souls of fallen puella magi. "At least, that's what witches are supposed to be. But for awhile now, the witches we've faced have been a little different. Less 'Russian surrealist art' and more 'hulking amalgamation of random animal parts'."

"That still sounds pretty surreal to me."

"There is a difference, Nurse Ortensia, I assure you," Tomoe-san says. "Though I pray you never have to experience what that difference is." You vaguely hear Nurse Ortensia mutter something to the effect of "I suppose I"ll have to take your word for it," as Tomoe-san resumes control. "At any rate, there's three of them this time. We're going to have to split up, and hope that having servants with us will be enough to get through them." Tomoe-san's eyes dart to you, and then to Kyouko as she says "Sakura-san and I will take the one heading towards Kaname-san's house. We can get there the fastest, and between the four of us we should have enough power to put it down before the witch is able to harm her."

"In that case, I'll take Hitomi and Nurse Ortensia and tackle the one heading up the river," you say. "It's the closest one to our current position, so there's less of a chance for them to fall behind me, and it'll be a good experience for the both of them." You would have liked to split the load differently; perhaps given Nurse Ortensia to Oriko and taken Kirika in her stead; but there's an obvious reason why you didn't do that.

"That just leaves Kirika and myself to handle the one heading towards Downtown," Oriko says, as Kirika hugs her lover's side, a wide grin on her face at the prospect of time spent with her. "Are you sure about taking both Shizuki-san and Caren-san with you? I could take one of them if you think it would be too much."

"No, that's fine." Even though the temptation is right there. You could let Oriko deal with her cousin; it would be that easy. "Like I said, that one's the closest to our position. There's less of a risk of them falling behind than if one of them went with you." It also means you'll be stuck with two servants whose usefulness is up for debate, but you're sure between you and Archer you can think of something. "Before we go, there is something you can do for me, actually. I need to know if the Pleiades Saints are going to take this opportunity to attack us while we're divided."

Oriko only needs a moment to confirm the best, "We're in the clear tonight," she says, prompting a sigh of relief. "In that case, let's all do the best we can out there to keep the city safe."

A brisk ten minutes after departing, and you find yourself wishing you could speed things along by jumping from rooftop to rooftop, without having to worry about your trainees keeping up with you. "So, what should we be expecting to find tonight, Akemi-san?" Hitomi asks, in the moments when she isn't gasping for breath. You've been pushing your trainees hard, because you need to get to the witch before it can travel any further up river than it already has.

"The witches we've been dealing with lately are big, like something out of a monster movie," you reply. "They're usually a little shy of ten meters tall, with thick black hides and bodies resembling a mismash of animal parts. Most of them don't have any noteworthy powers, so as long as you keep your distance and stay behind Saber, you should be safe."

"Understood."

Tonight's quarry, surfacing from the river for a moment, has a long, slender body, with patches of fur matted against its leathery scales by the water. It crawls up the river bank on its short, stumpy legs, and stares at you, blinking each of its five eyes - the right eye is normal, but the left eye more closely resembles four eyes smashed together - that sit on either side of its narrow head, shaped like an arrowhead and borrowing characteristics of a chameleon and a great white shark. It chews the air in a sideways motion, like a grazing cow, as it stands motionless, just staring at you.

"My, that's certainly a face only a mother could love," Nurse Ortensia says. "I'm glad I'm not its mother."

If the witch could have heard Nurse Ortensia's remark, it no doubt would have taken offense; maybe it did, because after a few moments apparently spent contemplating her insult, it opens its mouth, lashing out with a long tongue. You sidestep to avoid the tongue, but pause when you hear the sound of snapping fingers. In a flash, the witch's tongue has gone up in flames and Hitomi, standing with one arm outstretched and the other on her hip, says to the witch "That's rather rude of you. I suggest you keep your tongue inside your own mouth where it belongs."

All this talk of tongues has, once again, got you thinking about kissing Madoka. No, you berate yourself. You'll have time to think about kissing Madoka later; now, it's time to focus. "Nice save," you say to Hitomi. You knew she had been practicing with her oxygen density-manipulation Mystic Code, but you didn't know she had gotten such precise control down. To Archer you turn next, saying "Alright, let's hit it with everything we've got."

"You too, Assassin," Nurse Ortensia says. Assassin grumbles, but squares up alongside Archer with only minimal prompting. "You know what will happen if you don't cooperate."

"This had better be a good fight," Assassin snarls. Turning to Archer, she says "Follow my lead. Not that I've got much hope for an Hispanian."

"I'm Japanese."

Assassin rolls her eyes as Archer corrects her, before conjuring several Isa runes in the air with a wave of her wand. The Isa rune is your cue to join the battle, so you bring your bow up, loosing a volley of arrows in time with Assassin, who joins you in launching a shower of frozen daggers in the direction of the witch as it lashes its tongue out again, only for the tongue to be met with another lashing of fire from Hitomi. "Whatever you are, make like these girls and at least try to keep up," she says to Archer. "I'd ask my master to do the same, but she's useless."

Archer rolls his eyes and, doing what he can to keep up with Assassin, calls on his bow before nocking it with some rather large sword or another, loosing it and several others in rapid succession. That's when you see the glint in Assassin's eyes. "Maybe you aren't worthless after all," she says, conjuring another set of runes; Tiwaz this time, if you remember Lancer's lessons right. Her runes flash violet, before forming into swords of Assassin's own, thin specters of violet and silver hovering in the air in a circle above her head, which she launches in time to another volley of swords from Archer.

"I'm glad to see I was so inspirational," Archer says, as he and Assassin loose still another volley of swords. "Maybe one day I can even get you to be nice to other people."

The witch wades back into the water, fording the river and quickly coming up on the other bank. A wall of ice blocks the witch's path, and when the witch tries to lumber over the wall, it is met with volleys of swords. It bellows in agony, before lashing out with its tongue and its tail. The tail strikes first, crashing into the wall of ice and sending ice shards spraying everywhere. The distraction is enough, and Hitomi is unable to scorch the witch's tongue as it lashes out again. You move to dodge; not a moment too soon. The road shatters at the impact, and a frozen crater is left when the witch rolls its tongue back into its mouth.

Well, that's different.

Does an ice tongue warrant a change in tactics?
[ ] Yes (write-in)
[ ] No

Confringentur 2; a Madoka Magica / Fate/Stay Night sequel

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