[X] Plan: Next Part of the Day
"Anyway, that's all from us," Maki Kaoru says. "Akemi, great call on asking your aunt to come with us, by the way. She's really cool, even if all that magic stuff she and Niko talked about went wa~ay over my head."
"I'm glad to hear that," is about all you can say. Frankly, as of this moment, Maki Kaoru and her team know your aunt better than you do. You turn to the aunt in question, and ask her "Still, I'm sorry about sticking you on a team of complete strangers. Did you at least enjoy yourself?"
"I guess so?" You aren't sure if that was supposed to be a question or not. "Niko's really smart, but even still, I wasn't able to get much out of her regarding how she makes her homunculi."
"Don't count on getting any more from me than that," Kanna Niko says. "I already told you, I don't want to talk about my homunculi with you."
"So then let's not," Archer says, butting into the discussion before anything else has a chance to make Kanna Niko feel worse about her situation. "Kanna, why don't you go check on how things are going with Nightingale and your homunculus. I'm sure they both need you more than this group does."
For one brief moment, Kanna Niko looks on Archer with grateful eyes, before quietly shutting them away and saying "Thanks," as she looks anywhere else. "I… I'll go do that now, yeah."
So Kanna Niko leaves, heading off to the opposite corner of the main room to work with Matou Sakura and Scáthach, while Archer addresses Maki Kaoru; "And you," he says to her, leaning in to close the gap in their heights. "Not to sound like I'm playing favourites or anything, but 'Don't count your Berserker out'? Is that the best you've got?"
"What?" Maki Kaoru takes up a defensive posture as she stares right back at Archer. "It's true, isn't it? My Berserker's able to hold her own against Kure's; why would this be any different? They're both Berserkers, right?"
"It's not just their class that's important," Archer says. "Illya's Berserker is wa~ay stronger than that. Maybe stronger than any of our other servants, bar Caster or Ramesses." You see Scáthach poke her head up from what she's doing, as if Archer's words have called her out. "But actually, you brign up a good point."
Maki Kaoru looks shocked that Archer would say that. "I do?" She sounds it, too.
"Yeah. You bring up the point that, for as long as she's working with us, you guys should actually know what Illya's Berserker is capable of in a fight. You're familiar with what I and the rest of our team's servants can do, but you don't really know much about what Rider or Berserker can do, and in a fight as important as what's coming tomorrow, it's critical to know what your allies are capable of."
"No, I totally agree," Asami Saki says, poking her head into the conversation. "Actually, we've kind of only seen bits and pieces of what your own team's servants can do. Compared to what you know about us, that really puts us at a disadvantage, information-wise."
Kazumi is busy working with Kanna Niko – fawning over her is probably more accurate, but you won't hold it against her if she wants to be close to her girlfriend. But you will hold it against her that she got to land in Madoka's bedroom when it should have been you – but Asami Saki pokes her head in, and is fortunately willing enough to serve as the other representative of the Saints' command structure to listen to Archer's words.
"So then sit down and listen up," Archer says, gesturing for Asami Saki to join him, and you, and Aunt Illya. You imagine he would have invited Matou Sakura over as well, so she could talk a bit more about her own servant, but she's busy. "Because just Berserker over here is going to cover a lot."
By the time Archer is done explaining what Aunt Illya's Berserker is capable of, you're left wondering, how on earth did Archer actually manage to defeat him? Even if it cost him his life, you can't imagine how Archer could have put down a monster like that.
You haven't even seen the real Heracles in action yet. You've only heard stories, or seen the hollow familiar made from Grief that Walpurgisnacht threw at you a year and a half ago.
"O…Kay, now I see what you meant," Maki Kaoru says. "Yeah, there's… Probably no way Berserker could beat, uh, Berserker."
Aunt Illya adopts a smug expression, possibly the smuggest expression you think you've ever seen a person wearing, and she places her hands on her hips as she proudly declares "I told you, Berserker's the strongest there is!"
A defeated "Yeah… I guess he is,' Is all Maki Kaoru can say.
"Now, while that's all well and good, Homura-" You turn to look at Archer when he addresses you. "There's still some parts of the city that I'd like to make sure get evacuated, and we've only got today to do it. If Sakura, Illya, and I put some things together, do you think you could show the Saints the ropes on how to go about hypnotising people so they'll get the hell out?"
"Yeah," you say. "That shouldn't be a problem. How long do you think it'll take to put together?"
"Shouldn't be more than a couple of minutes, tops," Archer says. "I'll probably call Rin over to help out also, but she's close by so that shouldn't add too much extra time." Archer gives you a pat on the shoulder, and says "If you want, you can go out back and continue to practice with your familiars. I… Don't know how much I approve, but I won't tell your mom, and it'll at least be a good use of your time so you're not sitting around waiting for us while we're working."
You'll do that, then. "Thanks, dad," you say.
"Oh!" Aunt Illya raises her hand, and says to Archer "If you don't mind, I'd be willing to help her with that. If you've already got Tohsaka and Matou helping you with this, then you won't need me as much, right?"
You can see Archer chewing on Aunt Illya's words, as though he's hesitant about letting her go. But finally, "All right," he relents. "Your help would have been appreciated, but I guess since I did promise to let you spend time with your nieces, you can go help Homura with her familiars."
Aunt Illya makes a noise like a satisfied cat, and she takes the lead in skipping off with you to the corner outside where you've taken to practicing. "All right, then," she says, placing her hands on her hips as soon as you're both in position. "Show me what you've got."
You oblige, focusing on your positive memories of Madoka as you invoke the Inguz rune, and channel your Grief out of your soul and into a solid vessel. When you say to Aunt Illya "They're not that impressive," the bird does its best impression of a pout. That's right, they're smart enough to understand you. "But, this is what I'm working with. Did Archer explain to you already how… How our system works around here?"
"You're magical girls, right?" You nod your head, and it's all Aunt Illya can do to restrain herself as she squeals "That's so~o cool! My nieces are real-life magical girls!" Almost as quickly as it comes on, it cools off, and she collects herself. "Archer also told me the, uh… Less than pleasant aspects, but he mentioned that you girls have things under control, right?"
"Yeah. So, basically, what I'm doing is channelling my Grief into a physical form, and that's how I make familiars." Quickly, you add "Grief is what we call the negative energy that builds up in our souls as we use magic. It's… Curses, essentially. Not all of us can manipulate it; I just happen to have the right skills to make it possible."
Aunt Illya nods her head. "Archer mentioned that this other lady, Sidonia whats-her-name, can also do that." Unfortunately; and she's got more of it than you do. "So, what else can you make, besides birds? Don't get me wrong, they're really cute, but-"
"I can make more than that," you say. "I've found that my ability to make familiars is tied to positive memories that I have of certain people; Madoka – that's my girlfriend – and Archer, specifically. I think I could manage more, but right now it's a matter of figuring out which memories would spawn which familiars."
Aunt Illya cocks her head to the side, and asks "Why just those two? You've got a mom and an older sister, right? Why don't you have anything for them?"
"It's… Complicated," you say. "I don't know how much Archer's told you about… Well, about me, but…" You love Kirika and Minako; really, you do. You don't know if you can say you love your current family more than the family you were born into, but that's only because your birth parents died so many lifetimes ago that you can't even remember them. But you remember being alone; and you remember how it felt to not have to be alone again. "Archer was there first. When I had no one else, I still had him. Kirika and Minako came later, and while I do love them, it's… Different, with Archer. The two of us have a bond that I just don't have with anyone else."
"That's 'cause he's also your servant, right?" Aunt Illya asks. You nod your head. "Yeah. It's the same with me and Berserker. Outside of my various big brothers, and my two maids, I'm all that's left of my family; but I'm okay with that, because I know I'll always have Berserker by my side." That's when, almost as if in a cartoon, a lightbulb appears above Aunt Illya's head. "So try that," she says.
"Try what?"
"If you're making your familiars based on positive memories you have, then try making ones based on your mom and your big sis. Archer told me you've all been living together for a year now, so I'm sure you've got plenty, right?
"It's… A bit more complicated than that," you say. "For witches – the mature form of a magical girl under our system – familiars are based on specific emotions and people. I'm… I guess you could say that what I'm doing is, essentially, tapping into the powers of a theoretical witch of myself that doesn't exist yet, if that makes any sense." Aunt Illya gives you a look, one which you can't quite place. "So it's not just about having positive memories of someone, they have to be the right memories of the right things."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"
"No," you say. "I guess it wouldn't."
So that's where you are now, concentrating on the positive memories you have of Kirika and Minako. Who are Kirika and Minako to you? They're your sister and your mother; obviously, but there has to be something more to your relationship with them than that.
Let's go a step backwards, then. Who are Madoka and Archer to you?
They're both people you couldn't bear to lose.
You don't know what sort of tragedy would have to befall you to make you give up hope and become a witch in timelines passed, but now, your biggest fear is that everything you do is permanent. You can no longer turn back the clock. Everything that happens, every second that goes by, is final. Every loss is final, too. You were lucky that Archer was able to come back to you. You don't know if you'll be so lucky again.
You don't know what would happen if he didn't.
You know what; you just don't want to admit it.
Madoka and Archer are both people whose loss would devastate you, to the point that you couldn't ever come back from it. Are Kirika and Minako the same?
Yes, of course they are. You'd be devastated if loss came for any member of your family. So what makes Madoka and Archer so special in that regard? Because they were there first? Because the bonds you share with them mean that much more to you? Why do you have familiars which represent your feelings towards Madoka and Archer, but not Kirika and Minako?
Maybe you just aren't thinking about it the right way?
Instead of thinking about individuals, maybe you should think about groups; categories of people who are important to you. Your family is one, obviously; your friend group; your team; your total support network. You'd be lost without any of them, but it's because the people in those groups are important to you for their role in the group, just as much as who they are as individuals, that makes you so vulnerable to you.
So you decide to focus on one memory in particular; Oriko's beach house on Lake Ashi, where you and your friends went last year to relax after defeating Elsa Maria. That was when you first saw Oriko and Kirika in a different light; when you first saw them turning into the people who would become your family today; when you first met Minako, and when she first met Archer. You have so many memories of your support group, your entire support group, wrapped up in that one weekend a year and a half ago. That was the last memory you have of all of your friends being together in one place, before Walpurgisnacht arrived and you were scattered for the better part of a year.
A familiar *pop* sound accompanies your memories, followed by a surprised "Ah!" from Aunt Illya. "It's so cute!"
Looking at it, you would beg to differ. It reminds you of the witch your team fought the first night at the beach house; six spindly legs stuck onto a body that's vaguely spider-shaped, with a small head and a larger, inner-tube-like bag seated beneath it. It's small, like your other familiars, coming up no higher than your knees. It turns its head towards you, staring up at you with its eyeless face, and on its six stilt-like legs it approaches you, each step of its tiny toes causing the ground beneath it to freeze up.
"It's… Certainly something," you say, reaching your hand out to give the familiar the affection it's asking for. But when your hand approaches, it feels as though time has become stagnant, and it only resumes at its usual speed once you've withdrawn your hand. "I can't say I was expecting that, though."
You'll have to think about what you can do to best use this thing, whatever it's supposed to be, and how it can help you against Sidonia.
[ ] Wat do?
