The city of Mitakihara has weathered calamity after calamity, and each time it has managed to rebuild. But the stress is mounting, threatening to overcome not just the city and its inhabitants, but the people responsible for defending it as well. Two months after the most recent catastrophe almost brought the city to its knees, thousands are dead in the aftermath, familiars of a dead witch stalk the streets looking for prey, the Yakuza have moved in and have carved the city up, and Akemi Homura is feeling the weight of everything that has happened as it slowly darkens her mind to the breaking point. And around the corner, even worse is still yet to come.
Don't give up yet, Homura. You've got your family and friends behind you, no matter what happens. But you'll have to first face the consequences of your actions and find it in you to muster up one last fight to save the city Madoka loves. Will you? It's time to find out.
Third in the Confringentur trilogy. Knowledge of the original quest and its sequel is not required, but is recommended. They can be found here for part 1 and here for parts 2 and 3 of the original, and here for the sequel.
Sleep refuses to take you, and by now you've no doubt spent several hours churning restlessly in your sleeping bag. You don't regret spending yesterday on a camping trip with your friends, but the frozen earth underneath the sheer fabric of the tent is doing your already-restless body no favours. Eventually, after what feels like an eternity spent lying awake, you give up. Tomorrow – now today – might be a school day, but you've given up trying to find sleep tonight. Carefully, so as not to disturb the people sleeping all around you – 'Lucky them,' you think to yourself – you pull your clothes out from the bottom of your sleeping bag, quietly dress yourself, and go outside where the crisp night-time air greets you in its embrace. You relight the fire in the fire pit, and you stare up at the stars as the flames crackle and give off their calming, wood-smoke scent. You don't bother taking your phone out to look at the time, but it's well past midnight, you're sure of that, meaning that today is Monday the seventh. You'll be returning to school again just a few hours, and it'll be as though winter break, and even this past year, never happened. The world keeps spinning whether you like it or not.
Alone with your thoughts, it isn't long before they turn towards the negative. Here, in the middle of the park, it's hard to see the damage that Mitakihara has sustained. Even along the city's eastern seaboard, where the fighting was at its fiercest, the city has been rebuilt as if nothing had ever happened. The physical scars have faded, just as they would if the city were a living organism.
But also like a living organism, while the physical scars have faded, there are scars unseen that are still red and raw. The dead number in the thousands and the missing, just as numerous, each one of them a mistake which hangs solely on your shoulders. Food and water are scarce and tightly rationed, and power outages are frequent across large swathes of the city where repair crews haven't yet had the chance to complete work on the city's power and water lines. Many have already fled to neighbouring cities, either having grown superstitious and wary of whatever curse had befallen the city, or just plain sick of dealing with calamity after calamity. The ones who remain have become less trusting. When you return to school tomorrow – today – you're confident that your class will be half of what it was just a few months ago.
What's worse, in the vacuum of power left by the virtual collapse of the city, other forces have stepped in to claim Mitakihara as their own. Yakuza men freely roam the streets, flaunting their newfound power and harassing people they wouldn't have even dared to just a few months before. You know the police are doing their best, but each time you pick up the newspaper and see that a major gang has been dealt with, their hideouts raided and their assets and enforcers taken into police custody, it feels like two more take their place soon after. The poison leeching from Walpurgisnacht's fallen Grief Seed may have been cleaned up and the massive Grief Seed itself removed, but even now, you and your team will occasionally find remnants of its corruption which even your best efforts have been unable to unseat: lingering illnesses for which mortal science has no answer, or ravenous familiars seeking to slake their hunger on the unsuspecting. You were away for the holidays, and returned the day after New Years' to find that Tomoe-san and Kyouko had killed three just by themselves: just shy of one every other night.
In hindsight, perhaps extending your camping trip well into the night was a poor choice when there are still familiars afoot. Just one more mistake you've made among many.
In either case, whether it's the Yakuza or the familiars, you're certain that at least some of the dead or missing are more recent than others. One night spent roughing it in the woods won't change that fact.
You bring your head down and cradle it in your hands. It's all your fault. Your decisions, your inadequate ability to lead your team, are what failed this city, and you've been reminded of that fact every day since the fighting stopped. You breathe in deep, and try to focus on the positives. It's all you can do to keep from throwing up in shame. You are alive. Your friends and family are all alive. If nothing else, it's a small spot of hope that you've managed to keep the people you care about alive and safe despite your failures. Madoka is alive.
You hear rustling coming from behind you, and you feel your body bristle. You feel the mana in your Soul Gem thrumming as you turn your head, on the chance that it might be a wolf – or worse – and you need to quickly transform and act. It's only when you see a frock of pink hidden behind a winter scarf that you feel your body relaxing. "Can't sleep, Homura-chan?"
It's just Madoka.
"No," you say, and gesture for Madoka to take a seat on the log beside you. "Too much going on in my head." Too much time alone with your thoughts will do that.
As if she can read your mind – or maybe so much of you has bled into Madoka due to your meddling in her karmic destiny that she can just innately sense these things about you, Madoka asks "Are you worried about something?"
"Yeah," you say. An extended silence soon follows, only broken when you admit to Madoka "I failed." You don't feel the need to say anything more.
"You didn't fail, Homura-chan," Madoka says to you, as she places a hand onto your shoulder. "Sure, you made some mistakes, but you did the best you could-"
"Did I?" You didn't mean to snap at Madoka, but even though you know she means well you don't have the stomach to be coddled or talked down to when you know you're the one at fault. "It's me and my team out there, trying to keep this city safe. When I make a mistake, it's not like getting a bad grade on a test. People's lives are at stake, and when I mess up, people die. My mistakes cost thousands of lives this time, Madoka. What if, next time, it's even more?" Your hands clench into tight fists, and you feel your nails digging into your skin. "I can't afford to just do the best I can, Madoka. I have to do better."
"I know." Madoka takes your emotions in stride, and her hand never once leaves your shoulder. "You made mistakes, Homura-chan, but you didn't fail. Even…" You don't dare to look at Madoka's face as she speaks. You know the next words out of her mouth will be hard for her. "Even if people are dead – even if a lot of people are dead – you still managed to keep the rest of them safe."
"That's not hard to do when the rest of them have either left the city all together, or shut themselves inside their houses."
"You could have run away, too," Madoka says. "You told me before, about how you'd keep resetting the timeline whenever you'd get a result you weren't satisfied with. You could have run away again this time. You could have done nothing, and let the city suffer. But you didn't." You turn to face Madoka, and despite the waver in her voice, there's still a smile on her face. "You stuck with it until the end, Homura-chan. Even though you made a bunch of mistakes, you didn't run away. The city's still standing, and there's still people here who owe their lives to you and the others being here. You didn't fail."
You say nothing. It's hard to see the world from Madoka's eyes. What good would running away have done you? Sooner or later, what you were running from would have caught up with you anyway. Better to stand your ground and see it through to the end. You didn't stay out of some selfless desire to save the city. You stayed because you're selfish, and couldn't bear to let go of what you'd finally managed to grab onto.
"I'm sorry…" you finally manage to whisper. "I can't help but see it as my failure. If I'd been better, maybe-"
This time, it's Madoka's turn to cut you off. But she doesn't do it by snapping at you. She silences you by planting her lips to yours, silencing you with a kiss. "Homura-chan," she says your name as the two of you break away. "I don't like it when people say bad things about my girlfriend." Madoka draws you in close again, but it's not for a kiss this time. "I know you're still beating yourself up over the way things went, but… That's all in the past now. Sure, it must still hurt a lot for you, but beating yourself up over what happened won't do you any good."
Truth be told, it's all you know how to do, really. "I've been beating myself up for my failures for so long," you say to Madoka. "At this point, I'm not sure I know how to stop."
"Homura-chan…" Madoka's hand finds its way to your own, and she places her hand on top of yours. Even though neither of you is wearing gloves, your hand doesn't feel cold in the winter air. Entangled by Madoka's fingers, your hand feels pleasantly warm, as if it were spring and the cherry blossoms, their petals the same beautiful shade of pink as Madoka's hair, were in full bloom. "Maybe you just need someone to help you figure out how…"
Madoka leans in again, pressing her lips against yours until she's confident that you believe her. You don't, but you can't bear to tell her the truth. You love her too much to hurt her any more than you already have, even if she doesn't see it that way. Without you, without the spectre of your actions in timelines past looming over her shoulder at all times, Madoka could live her life as a normal girl, without the burden of an immense karmic destiny on her shoulders. You shudder to think of just what could go wrong, how readily all of your hard work could be broken – how readily the entire world could be broken – if the wrong hands were to place themselves on Madoka.
Wait, no, you're shuddering because there's snow running down your back.
Somewhere in the middle of kissing, you and Madoka had lost your balance, and now the two of you are laying sprawled out on the cold, snowy forest floor. Somehow, despite the dark thoughts that had been clouding you just moments earlier, you manage to snort out a laugh, and Madoka's own laughter joins yours. You hope your laughter hasn't woken up any of your other friends.
"I like hearing your laugh," Madoka says. She smiles for you, and the moon in the sky above your head is dulled by the beauty shining in Madoka's eyes. "I know you've got a lot of bad things on your mind right now, but did you still have fun today, Homura-chan?"
"Yeah," you reply. "I've never been camping before, but this…" You smile, and a content sigh escapes your lips. The snow running down your back suddenly doesn't bother you quite so much. "Today was a lot of fun. I'm glad we all got to do this."
"I'm glad we got to do this too, Homura-chan."
During your timeloops, you were stuck experiencing the same month and a half for countless lifetimes. The world was always stuck in spring for you, the cherry blossoms always in bloom, their pink petals reminding you of your mission to keep Madoka safe. It had been so long since the last time you saw a winter, back then, that even now, almost two years since you were finally freed from your eternal looping, winter feels strange to you. Seeing snow on the ground – and not just that, but feeling it crawl up your back as you lay on the snowy ground with Madoka – is something you spent a lifetime without, and even though this is your second winter since being freed from your looping, seeing snow still feels magical to you, because it, just like Madoka, was something always out of your reach.
But even as you lay there, something else troubles you. "Homura-chan?" Madoka asks when she sees that your attention is no longer on her. "What's wrong?"
Silently, you reach your hand out, grabbing hold of the tiny thing glinting on the ground. It's small enough that, without being here on the ground yourself, you're sure you would have missed it, but for being here on the ground, and the glint of the flames, you did. It's the spent casing from a bullet, and you can immediately tell that it isn't one from your own arsenal. The larger size confirms as much, and as you bring it in close to examine it further, the lingering smell of burnt gunpowder residue still left inside tells you it was left here fairly recently, perhaps less than a week ago, if even that. You only see the one, and can't recall hearing the sound of gunfire coming from this direction, so that leads you to believe this wasn't a dispute that turned violent.
No, this was more than likely an execution. Somebody, some poor unfortunate soul, crossed the Yakuza and won't be living to tell about it.
Your name is Akemi Homura. This is your city, and these are the consequences of your failure to keep it safe.
Do you
[ ] Tell Madoka what you found
[ ] Don't tell Madoka
Regarding the Yakuza, do you
[ ] Go and deal with them; you won't take them executing someone in your backyard lying down
-[ ] Go by yourself
-[ ] Rouse the rest of your team and get to work
--[ ] What's the plan? (write-in)
--[ ] Storm their hideout without a plan; you've got magic and they don't, so this will be easy
--[ ] How do you plan on finding out which group was responsible for the killing when you only have a single spent casing to go off? (write-in)
[ ] Leave the Yakuza to the police; it's their job, not yours
-[ ] Keep the spent casing
-[ ] Turn the spent casing over to the police
--[ ] How do you explain why your fingerprints are all over the spent casing?
[ ] Consider dealing with them yourself, but table any action until later when you and your team can make an effective plan for action
Regarding any familiars that might be out tonight, do you
[ ] Go out hunting and deal with any that you see
-[ ] Go by yourself; no need to wake the rest of your team when you're already up
-[ ] Rouse the rest of your team and get to work
--[ ] Where do you go searching? (write-in)
[ ] Leave them; one night to try and mentally refresh yourself won't do any more damage than has already been done
[ ] Other (write-in)
- Meta -
[ ] Give yourself a recap so you know what you can do and who you have on your side in the event you choose to do anything tonight (or even if not).
Our story's primary heroine, one of its two protagonists alongside her servant Archer. This isn't the same Homura you might remember. Archer's presence in her life has forced her to open up and become proactive at managing her relationships with others, and finally managing to defeat Walpurgisnacht has allowed her to leave the unending timeloop she was trapped in and settle into something resembling a normal life. She has friends in Sayaka and Hitomi, a girlfriend in Madoka, and together with Archer and the Kures Kirika and Minako she even managed to cobble together a relatively normal family.
It's just too bad that, by the nature of her being Akemi Homura, things are never bound to go her way for very long.
[Abilities]
\Maledictus Mulier\ (8)
Specialized knowledge of the runes Inguz and Isa combined with a peculiar technique which places one between a Witch and a Magical Girl. Allows Homura to spawn familiars, 'stagnate' things and manipulate ice, and shoot or transfer grief. As it uses both runes and Homura's inherent abilities together, the rank is directly tied to her Mana stat, and can display stronger effects if hooked up to a greater power.
Anarchist's Cookbook (4)
Obtained through a reading of a modernized and updated variant of the Hara Hara Tokei and lots of practice. Involves various terrorist or militaristic actions, proper disposal of evidence and avoiding surveillance, maintaining and using various improvised or created weapons, and so on. As a 'skill', it can be used in the place of various actions.
Rudimentary Magecraft (4; -2 Academics)
Basic knowledge of the usage of magecraft, primarily using gradation air (the creation of phantasmal objects), hypnosis (using magic to implant suggestions into others' minds; nullified by having active magic circuits), and reinforcement (which can enhance something to its 'natural limits'), as well as a far lesser degree of academic knowledge relating to formalcraft or mechanics.
Command Seals
3 command seals, connecting the master and Servant. Command seals can pit themselves against a Servant's Soul (Willpower), Mana (Resistance), or other similar abilities. Depending on the specificity of the command, it can rank anywhere from 1 to 12 to pit up against the target's stats. If not resisted, it can instead serve to buff the target to a degree that, again, depends on the specificity of the command. Command seals may be stacked.
[Traits]
\Limited Magical Girl Mastery\ (4)
Due to the user's nature, their abilities as a magical girl are limited. They are able to sense magic and emotions, and are able to use a form of enchantment to perform tactile telekinesis, manipulating an object from any angle so long as it is contacted.
Hell's Grasp
A cursed twist on the ritual of the Heaven's Feel, placing one's soul into an object and attaching it to the original body. The user's stamina is replaced entirely by their Mana capacity, and Mana can be used to heal physical conditions. Conditions have no effect, save for the effects of structural damage (such as an arm being separated). If one's mana capacity is at 0 or below, they will become a Witch.
Allows the user to convert themselves into a transformed state, allowing the enhancement of their Body and the usage of their abilities. Abilities locked behind this transformation are denoted through being surrounded by the \ symbol. Being transformed passively increases mana costs of all actions by a significant amount.
Universal Antidote (12)
Resists or immunizes Homura against poisons or toxins. Due to her nature as a magical girl, grief-based poisons or toxins still have an effect on her soul gem, though they do not affect her body in any way.
Element: Love
Homura's Element. It grants up to +2 to any magic-based actions related to this concept, while also reducing the actions of unrelated or clashing concepts by up to -2. It is more powerful than a standard element due to being unique, but also means that Homura is unsuited for most forms of magecraft. Due to the nature of this ability, one may temporarily break past their limits for the sake of strong love.
Double Origin: Limitation & Perseverance
Homura's Origin. Grants +1 to all actions relating to using supernatural feats within these concepts. Inflicts -1 to all supernatural actions that directly clashes with these concepts. This can be doubled if something fits within both concepts. It makes Homura's magic unable to do anything it 'was not meant to do' but grants +1 to anything that isn't being 'jailbroken', and can grant bonuses to make her magic more 'enduring'.
Kaname Madoka is Homura's greatest love, and the safety of Kaname Madoka is Homura's greatest priority, but Madoka just wishes she knew how to help her girlfriend, friends, and the people around her. Despite possessing an incredible magical potential, as well as knowledge of the world of magic, Madoka wants nothing to do with the world her girlfriend is part of, nor with the immense power sleeping within her. It's almost unfortunate, because for someone with no mage lineage to have more magic circuits than can accurately be quantified is beyond miraculous.
Element: World and Leyline
Origin: Kindness
This timeline continues to be very kind to Miki Sayaka. She has yet to sell her soul to the Incubator, she hasn't had to see anyone get their head bitten off, and she and Homura are on very good terms, all things considered. Despite this, Sayaka remains a very foolish girl. She has a desire to learn magecraft and to be involved in the world of magic, despite having no magic circuits and an almost guaranteed Fate of death or worse should she get herself involved. Instead, she's forced to vicariously enjoy the world of magic and magecraft through her friendships with Homura and Hitomi and through her relationship with Sakura Kyouko, whom she has been dating for almost two years, since April of 2011.
Element: Water
Origin: Music
[Parameters]
Body: 4 (14 upon activation of the Ultimate Shield)
Mind: 5
Soul: 3 (+1 Combat)
Mana: 2 (+5 Circuit Quality)
[Abilities]
Material Alchemy (5)
A fairly high level of competency with material-based magecraft, allowing the user to mostly put forth minor or common effects, and use stronger spells via formalcraft. Among non-standard abilities are Material Alteration, the addition, removal, or modification of an object's properties, and Tracing, an improved form of Gradation Air that replicates an understood object. The user is particularly specialized in material transmutation, with a focus on elemental gasses, allowing them to change the structure and composition of object Also denotes equivalent skill in chemistry, able to be used for relevant actions.
Ultimate Shield (10)
A technique whose knowledge was accidentally implanted into Hitomi's mind via memory manipulation, which allows her to transmute the carbon in her skin, increasing its hardness. Provides a +10 bonus to attacks made against Hitomi, as well as a +1 bonus to her abilities in combat, representative of the combat knowledge required to use the Ultimate Shield in battle. However, upon exiting the Ultimate Shield, Hitomi's Body condition suffers a -1 penalty, as the inflexibility of her non-puella magi body is unable to properly adapt to the transmutation of her skin. With extensive practice and technical instruction, however, this penalty could be mitigated.
Primordial Rune: Dagaz (5)
Specialized knowledge of Primordial Runes. Allows one to draw scripts using runes as a basis, to create effects based upon the related symbols. Primordial runes primarily scale with mana, and can be used for such a wide variety of effects and have such a large limit to their power that they can essentially be used for anything if one is skilled enough. As it scales with mana, the rank is primarily to indicate how it compares to other users.
Command Seals
3 command seals, connecting the master and Servant. Command seals can pit themselves against a Servant's Soul (Willpower), Mana (Resistance), or other similar abilities. Depending on the specificity of the command, it can rank anywhere from 1 to 12 to pit up against the target's stats. If not resisted, it can instead serve to buff the target to a degree that, again, depends on the specificity of the command. Command seals may be stacked.
[Traits]
Element: Wind (Godai)
Hitomi's Element. It grants up to +1 to any magic-based actions related to this concept, while also reducing the actions of unrelated or clashing concepts by up to -1. As it relates to the eastern element of Wind found within the Godai, it correlates with air, wisdom, evasion, resiliency, circulation, and will.
Origin: Structure
Hitomi's Origin. Grants up to +1 to all actions relating to using supernatural feats within this concept. Inflicts up to -1 to using supernatural actions that directly clash with this concept. She is incapable of using spells 'without structure', such as conceptual or non-physical spells.
[Abilities]
\Ribbon Creation\ (8)
Allows Mami to create ribbons from surfaces within a wide range, which is not set in stone, but rather depends on how much magical power she puts into it. These ribbons can manifest a number of properties, with their only real limits being that they are made of a flexible material; they are versatile enough to create a combat-effective body double, for example. They can be moved by Mami's will, and can be pulled taut to simulate hardness.
Primordial Runes; Wunjo & Berkano (5)
Specialized knowledge of Primordial Runes. Allows one to draw scripts using runes as a basis, to create effects based upon the related symbols. Primordial runes primarily scale with mana, and can be used for such a wide variety of effects and have such a large limit to their power that they can essentially be used for anything if one is skilled enough. As it scales with mana, the rank is primarily to indicate how it compares to other users.
Command Seals
3 command seals, connecting the master and Servant. Command seals can pit themselves against a Servant's Soul (Willpower), Mana (Resistance), or other similar abilities. Depending on the specificity of the command, it can rank anywhere from 1 to 12 to pit up against the target's stats. If not resisted, it can instead serve to buff the target to a degree that, again, depends on the specificity of the command. Command seals may be stacked.
[Traits]
\Magical Girl Mastery\ (6)
An ability that allows the user to sense magic and emotions, enchant objects in a way relating to one's powers as a magical girl, and produce weaponry (in this case represented by the Ribbon Creation ability above), with mastery allowing these abilities to be stretched far.
Hell's Grasp
A cursed twist on the ritual of the Heaven's Feel, placing one's soul into an object and attaching it to the original body. The user's stamina is replaced entirely by their Mana capacity, and Mana can be used to heal physical conditions. Physical conditions have no effect, save for the effects of structural damage (such as an arm being separated). If one's mana capacity is at 0 or below, they will become a Witch.
Allows the user to convert themselves into a transformed state, allowing the enhancement of their Body and the usage of their abilities. Abilities locked behind this transformation are denoted through being surrounded by the \ symbol. Being transformed passively increases mana costs of all actions by a significant amount.
Element: Wood
Mami's Element. It grants up to +1 to any magic-based actions related to this concept, while also reducing the actions of unrelated or clashing concepts by up to -1. As it relates to the eastern element of Wood, it correlates to physical growth, strength, flexibility, community, spring, and windy weather more than actual plant matter.
Origin: Togetherness
Mami's Origin. Grants up to +1 to all actions relating to using supernatural feats within this concept. Inflicts up to -1 to using supernatural actions that directly clash with this concept, but otherwise has no effect. Instead grants up to +3 when working in conjunction with others, while ignoring clashing concepts.
[Abilities]
\Mirage Artist\ (9; -9 Conscious Usage)
A former magical ability, which allowed Kyouko to implant ideas in the heads of others and create phantasms that can interact with the physical world. Due to her resentment of her wish, this ability can only sometimes be used subconsciously, and cannot be willingly manifested.
Primordial Runes; Sowilo (5)
Specialized knowledge of Primordial Runes. Allows one to draw scripts using runes as a basis, to create effects based upon the related symbols. Primordial runes primarily scale with mana, and can be used for such a wide variety of effects and have such a large limit to their power that they can essentially be used for anything if one is skilled enough. As it scales with mana, the rank is primarily to indicate how it compares to other users.
Command Seals
3 command seals, connecting the master and Servant. Command seals can pit themselves against a Servant's Soul (Willpower), Mana (Resistance), or other similar abilities. Depending on the specificity of the command, it can rank anywhere from 1 to 12 to pit up against the target's stats. If not resisted, it can instead serve to buff the target to a degree that, again, depends on the specificity of the command. Command seals may be stacked.
[Traits]
\Magical Girl Mastery\ (6)
An ability that allows the user to sense magic and emotions, enchant objects in a way relating to one's powers as a magical girl, and produce weaponry (in this case represented by the Ribbon Creation ability above), with mastery allowing these abilities to be stretched far.
Hell's Grasp
A cursed twist on the ritual of the Heaven's Feel, placing one's soul into an object and attaching it to the original body. The user's stamina is replaced entirely by their Mana capacity, and Mana can be used to heal physical conditions. Physical conditions have no effect, save for the effects of structural damage (such as an arm being separated). If one's mana capacity is at 0 or below, they will become a Witch.
Allows the user to convert themselves into a transformed state, allowing the enhancement of their Body and the usage of their abilities. Abilities locked behind this transformation are denoted through being surrounded by the \ symbol. Being transformed passively increases mana costs of all actions by a significant amount.
Element: Fire (Western)
Kyouko's Element. It grants up to +1 to any magic-based actions related to this concept, while also reducing the actions of unrelated or clashing concepts by up to -1. As it relates to the western element of Fire, it correlates with ideas like plasma, sharpness, dryness, heat, and activity.
Origin: Adversity
Kyouko's Origin. Grants up to +1 to all actions relating to using supernatural feats within this concept. Inflicts up to -1 to using supernatural actions that directly clash with this concept. The bonus is rendered as +2 during contests.
[Abilities]
Precognition
The ability to see into the future. Rather than showing her a 'guaranteed' future, this ability only shows Oriko a future that could potentially happen if she does not act. In the past, this has gotten her into trouble, but with a much more judicious use of her abilities Oriko can now provide critical forecasting to the rest of the team. In battle, she tends to use her ability as a 'burst' function, showing her a brief glimpse into the immediate future, allowing her to act accordingly to make up for her lesser combat coordination as compared to her peers. Using this ability is costly, however, and the longer Oriko is looking into the future, whether actively or not, the greater the mana cost becomes.
Primordial Runes: Othala & Uruz (5)
Specialized knowledge of Primordial Runes. Allows one to draw scripts using runes as a basis, to create effects based upon the related symbols. Primordial runes primarily scale with mana, and can be used for such a wide variety of effects and have such a large limit to their power that they can essentially be used for anything if one is skilled enough. As it scales with mana, the rank is primarily to indicate how it compares to other users.
Command Seals
A multitude of command seals, connecting the master and Servant. Command seals can pit themselves against a Servant's Soul (Willpower), Mana (Resistance), or other similar abilities. Depending on the specificity of the command, it can rank anywhere from 1 to 12 to pit up against the target's stats. If not resisted, it can instead serve to buff the target to a degree that, again, depends on the specificity of the command. Command seals may be stacked.
[Traits]
\Magical Girl Mastery\ (3; -3 Weapon Modification)
An ability that allows the user to sense magic and emotions, enchant objects in a way relating to one's powers as a magical girl, and produce weaponry (in this case represented by the Ribbon Creation ability above), with mastery allowing these abilities to be stretched far. In Oriko's case, she is able to summon remote drones capable of shooting lasers (Drones are rank 7 by default), but cannot modify their function like other magical girls do with their weapons.
Hell's Grasp
A cursed twist on the ritual of the Heaven's Feel, placing one's soul into an object and attaching it to the original body. The user's stamina is replaced entirely by their Mana capacity, and Mana can be used to heal physical conditions. Physical conditions have no effect, save for the effects of structural damage (such as an arm being separated). If one's mana capacity is at 0 or below, they will become a Witch.
Allows the user to convert themselves into a transformed state, allowing the enhancement of their Body and the usage of their abilities. Abilities locked behind this transformation are denoted through being surrounded by the \ symbol. Being transformed passively increases mana costs of all actions by a significant amount.
Element: Light
Oriko's Element. It grants up to +1 to any magic-based actions related to this concept, while also reducing the actions of unrelated or clashing concepts by up to -1. It is primarily related to Christian beliefs, and is best suited towards Abrahamic systems.
Origin: Prudence
Oriko's Origin. Grants up to +1 to all actions relating to using supernatural feats within this concept. Inflicts up to -1 to using supernatural actions that directly clash with this concept, but otherwise has no effect.
[Abilities]
Primordial Runes: Fehu & Gebo (5)
Specialized knowledge of Primordial Runes. Allows one to draw scripts using runes as a basis, to create effects based upon the related symbols. Primordial runes primarily scale with mana, and can be used for such a wide variety of effects and have such a large limit to their power that they can essentially be used for anything if one is skilled enough. As it scales with mana, the rank is primarily to indicate how it compares to other users.
\Time Alter\ (10)
Allows Kirika to alter the flow of time on herself or a target through touch. This can be done to nearly any degree so long as Kirika has the necessary mana. It is multiplicative or divisive, and thus the rank is simply for the sake of resisting it rather than power. When done on a target, it can be supplied and controlled remotely at a greater cost.
Command Seals
3 command seals, connecting the master and Servant. Command seals can pit themselves against a Servant's Soul (Willpower), Mana (Resistance), or other similar abilities. Depending on the specificity of the command, it can rank anywhere from 1 to 12 to pit up against the target's stats. If not resisted, it can instead serve to buff the target to a degree that, again, depends on the specificity of the command. Command seals may be stacked.
[Traits]
\Magical Girl Mastery\ (3)
An ability that allows the user to sense magic and emotions, enchant objects in a way relating to one's powers as a magical girl, and produce weaponry (in this case Kirika's claws), with mastery allowing these abilities to be stretched far.
Hell's Grasp
A cursed twist on the ritual of the Heaven's Feel, placing one's soul into an object and attaching it to the original body. The user's stamina is replaced entirely by their Mana capacity, and Mana can be used to heal physical conditions. Physical conditions have no effect, save for the effects of structural damage (such as an arm being separated). If one's mana capacity is at 0 or below, they will become a Witch.
Allows the user to convert themselves into a transformed state, allowing the enhancement of their Body and the usage of their abilities. Abilities locked behind this transformation are denoted through being surrounded by the \ symbol. Being transformed passively increases mana costs of all actions by a significant amount.
Incarnation: Love
Kirika's Element and Origin. Grants up to +6 to all actions related to supernatural abilities based upon love, and allows for the manifestation of love-related abilities through study and intent. Unrelated abilities may be reduced by up to -6.
True name - Emiya Shirou
Master - Akemi Homura
Parameters
Strength - D
Endurance - C
Agility - C
Mana - B
Luck - E
Noble Phantasm - ???
Class Skills
Independent Action - B
Magic Resistance - D
Personal Skills
Clairvoyance - C
Eye of the Mind (True) - B
Magecraft - C-
Noble Phantasm
Unlimited Blade Works - ???
The heroic spirit Emiya does not have a true Noble Phantasm that is the crystallized embodiment of a hero's existence like many demonic or holy swords, but if a Noble Phantasm is considered to be a symbol of the Heroic Spirit, then the Reality Marble,'Unlimited Blade Works', is his Noble Phantasm. It is the one true specialization of his magecraft, the result of "Sword" being both his Origin and Element, and the basis for his projection and reinforcement skills. Through the Unlimited Blade Works, Archer may call upon reproductions of any famous sword, weapon, or armament known to Archer. Their entire histories, material compositions, and designs are all available at Archer's fingertips, and he may even modify them as he sees fit through his use of magecraft.
True name - Brynhildr
Master - Mikuni Oriko
Parameters
Strength - B+
Endurance - A
Agility - A
Mana - C
Luck - A
Noble Phantasm - A
Class Skills
Divinity - E
Magic Resistance - B
Riding - A
Personal Skills
Hero's Bridesmaid - C++
Mana Burst (Flame) - B
Primordial Rune -
Noble Phantasm
Brynhildr Romantia - B+
Rather than being a spear itself, Brynhildr Romantia is instead the manifestation of Lancer's deep-seated affection and hatred for Sigurd, given form by wrapping the essence of her feelings around her spear Gungnir, the spear which also belongs to her father Odin. The tip of the spear grows larger and heavier the more emotion Brynhildr feels towards her target, even allowing Lancer to kill divine spirits when her emotions have grown the spear to its fullest.
True name - Gilgamesh
Master - Tomoe Mami
Parameters
Strength - C
Endurance - D
Agility - C
Mana - B
Luck - A
Noble Phantasm - EX
Class Skills
Divinity - B
Item Construction (False) - A
Territory Creation - A
Personal Skills
Charisma - A+
Golden Rule - A
King's Return - A
Sovereign of Magical Wands - EX
Noble Phantasm
Melammu Dingir - B
The walls of Uruk, summoned by Gilgamesh as a weapon of both defense and offense. When employed in a defensive role, the walls of Uruk are capable of repelling an attack by a force seven-hundred men strong; and when employed in an offensive role, the Gate of Babylon spills open atop the parapets of the walls, loosing a rain of swords upon any who would approach the King.
Gate of Babylon - EX
The treasury of the King, containing within all the wealth that has been collected by Gilgamesh in his lifetime. Every treasure and every weapon contained within Babylon is a Noble Phantasm in its own right, ranking from the very least to the very greatest, all of them able to be called upon at will to serve a specific purpose, or loosed as a storm without thought for careful selection. Among Babylon's greatest wealth is contained the prototypes for many of the strongest Noble Phantasms of the strongest heroic spirits, as well as the weapon Ea, an impossible sword-before-swords once used by the Babylonian god Marduk to split heaven and earth during the creation of the world.
Sha Naqba Imuru - EX
The Sight of the King, allowing Gilgamesh to See into the past, present, and future with perfect almost clarity. He does not use this Noble Phantasm as a weapon, but rather as a tool and a form of instruction.
True name - Aífe
Master - Caren Ortensia
Parameters
Strength - B
Endurance - C
Agility - A
Mana - A+
Luck - E
Noble Phantasm - B+
Class Skills
Item Construction - C
Presence Concealment - E
Territory Creation - C
Assassin has been summoned to a class vessel for which she is unsuited. As a result, her Class Skills have suffered demerits.
Personal Skills
Celtic Martial Arts - C
Lust for Battle - C
Primordial Rune -
Assassin has been summoned to a class vessel for which she is unsuited. As a result, her Personal Skills have suffered demerits.
Noble Phantasm
Sword Breaker - B+
Crystallized from the act of breaking of Cú Chulainn's sword when they fought, Sword Breaker is a technique created to destroy Noble Phantasms and Mystic Codes. By invoking this Noble Phantasm's name and striking another Servant's Noble Phantasm, Assassin can severely damage or destroy it depending on its rank. Noble Phantasms of C-rank or below will instantly be destroyed barring any special circumstances, and Noble Phantasms of B-rank or above will be damaged depending on how low the ranking is, with B-rank Noble Phantasms taking the most severe damage.
If the Noble Phantasm that Assassin strikes is a sword, then this Noble Phantasm is boosted in potency. Sword Noble Phantasms of B-rank of below will instantly be destroyed, while those of A-rank or above will be damaged accordingly. Striking an already damaged Noble Phantasm - whether it be damaged from this Noble Phantasm or otherwise - will likely cause it to break regardless of rank.
Fáinne Connla -
The second Noble Phantasm of Assassin, Fáinne Connla is the golden ring that Cú Chulainn forced her to be bound by in exchange for her life. Acting as a curse, Assassin is unable to come into conflict with her sister Scáthach for as long as she is bound by this Geis. However, now that the Geis associated with this curse has been broken, the ring's abilities as a Noble Phantasm have been lost, and it now serves only as a memento to Assassin's humiliations.
True name - Lancelot du Lac
Master - Kure Kirika
Parameters
Strength - B
Endurance - B
Agility - A
Mana - C
Luck - B+
Noble Phantasm - A++
Because his rank of Mad Enhancement has been reduced to the lowest value, Berserker's physical parameters have been reduced.
Class Skill
Mad Enhancement - E
Through the use of a Command Seal, Berserker's rank of Mad Enhancement was reduced to the lowest value in order to reduce the strain commanding him was placing on Kirika.
Personal Skills
Eternal Arms Mastery - A+
Magic Resistance - D
Protection of the Spirits - A
Noble Phantasm
Arondight - A++
Arondight is the holy sword wielded by Lancelot, considered to be a counterpart to King Arthur's Excalibur. When drawn, it increases all of Lancelot's physical parameters and deals increased damage against dragons and dragon-kind, in addition to increasing Lancelot's Luck against mortal wounds. However, Arondight is a cost-intensive weapon, and unleashing its full power takes a tremendous toll on Kirika's body. Wisely, its true power is rarely unleashed, but Arondight can still be used as a sword to no ill effect on Kirika.
For Someone's Glory - B
An ability cultivated by Lancelot in life, allowing him to disguise himself as anyone he chooses. It is a manifestation of Lancelot's tradition of winning fame and glory while disguising himself in a number of his endeavors, and is also able to conceal his identity and parameters from onlookers. Drawing Arondight seals this ability, along with Knight of Owner, until such time as Arondight has been sheathed.
Knight of Owner - A++
Rather than taking the form of a weapon, Knight of Owner grants Berserker the ability to make any weapon in his possession into his own. Once Berserker grabs hold of anything which he recognises as a weapon, it instantly gains the property of 'becoming his Noble Phantasm' and allows him perfect mastery over that weapon as though it were his own. This ability can be used at any time, for as long as Berserker has not drawn Arondight. Drawing Arondight seals this, along with For Someone's Glory, until such time as Arondight has been sheathed.
The divorced single mother of Kure Kirika. Because she was forced to drop out of high school when her then-boyfriend got her pregnant, she previously had to work multiple jobs in order to provide for herself and secure her daughter's future. As of a year ago, she has moved in with Akemi Homura and Archer, completed her equivalency certification, and started attending online classes for a four-year degree out of a local university while working only a single job, coincidentally at the same realty firm where Kaname Junko works. She is currently in a committed relationship with Archer, and cares for Homura as though she were her own daughter.
A representative of the Holy Church, acting undercover in Mitakihara on their behalf. Her cover is that of a nurse at the local junior high school, a cover she accepted because it allows her a front-row seat to the suffering of children. While normally no sane school board would ever allow a woman like her anywhere near children, there's more going on here than meets the eye, and what the Church wants from Caren's mission in Mitakihara is anyone's guess. This irritable woman is also master for Mitakihara, commanding the team's equally irritable Assassin servant.
In a surprise twist of Fate, Caren is related to Mikuni Oriko. Their maternal grandmothers were sisters, and their mothers were lifelong friends. Though Oriko wishes to have a similar relationship with Caren, her cousin's prickly attitude understandably makes things difficult.
Well, it's July, and just like I said, we're back with the 3quel. For those of you reading who know what Confringentur is and what it's about, you're probably either saying to yourself "Oh hey, neat. I hope this one goes better than the sequel," or you're saying "And after how poorly the sequel ended?" Either way, I hope you'll find the 3quel to be better. This time around, we're starting off on a bit of a darker foot with a city in decay and threats already looming. Homura didn't exactly handle the sequel the best that she possibly could have, and so now it's time to own up to our mistakes and hopefully come out better for them. But do be warned, because it isn't going to be easy.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Confringentur, don't worry. You don't need to be, and I'll try to keep the reliance on prior knowledge of the original quest and its sequel to a minimum. What you do need to know is as follows: Confringentur puts you in the shoes of Akemi Homura and the heroic spirit Emiya, with the end goal being to save the city and help make the broken people you come across, yourselves included, a bit better than they were the day before. I've provided the option for both new and returning players to vote for a recap that'll get everyone up to speed and onto the same page, and if you have any other questions I'd be more than happy to answer them.
If you're new and are interested in the long slog to full series knowledge, I've provided links to both threads of the original quest and to the sequel in the header. Just know that you're getting yourself into an almost 2.6 million word doorstopper if you choose to take that path.
[x] Plan just doing our job.
-[x] Don't tell Madoka
-[x] Leave the Yakuza to the police; it's their job, not yours[
--[x] Turn the spent casing over to the police
---[x] You found it and weren't sure what it was at first. It's not like Japanese schoolgirls see these things everyday.
-[x] Go out hunting and deal with any that you see
--[x] Go by yourself; no need to wake the rest of your team when you're already up
-[x] Give yourself a recap so you know what you can do and who you have on your side in the event you choose to do anything tonight (or even if not).
The bullet isn't really magical girl business. It's not like we went around fighting crime in the last two quests.
Voting for the recap because I imagine new players being very confused by the whole "Kirika is our stepsister" thing.
Whoo boy, yeah, that's going to be a shock to any Madoka fans who haven't seen this before.
Also, not just to you but to any other returning faces who might show up, I don't know if I'll be able to guarantee the same output pace as before. Not that it really matters since we're already dead, but I digress. If it's not meant to be, at least I tried.
Just as a reminder Homura has presented herself as at least somehow connected to the Second Owner of Mitakihara, if not outright being the Second Owner, in the Moonlit World and in Fate/Type-Moon certain Yakuza families actually have connections to the Moonlit World so just ignoring the Yakuza and leaving them to the police may not be an option.
Also I've been hit with like three different updates of quests including this one and inchoate rage from watching the newest episode of My Adventures With Superman so I think I'll hold off on voting tonight and go vote in the morning with a clearer head.
Just as a reminder Homura has presented herself as at least somehow connected to the Second Owner of Mitakihara, if not outright being the Second Owner, in the Moonlit World and in Fate/Type-Moon certain Yakuza families actually have connections to the Moonlit World so just ignoring the Yakuza and leaving them to the police may not be an option.
Funny thing is, if we go by what's been covered in the previous quests, the Mage's Association actually probably thinks that Oriko is Mitakihara's second owner, since that was what Bazett put in her report way back when. So bare minimum she is connected to the second owner. There's a chance that Bazett's report has since been amended and it's Homura's name on the record, but either way it's still funny. But I still like the way you think.
Also I've been hit with like three different updates of quests including this one and inchoate rage from watching the newest episode of My Adventures With Superman so I think I'll hold off on voting tonight and go vote in the morning with a clearer head.
I don't know whether to give your post a like for commenting, or a hug because you're having a less than stellar day. I haven't watched My Adventures with, but if the newest Superman series has got you down, I'll always recommend the original Fleischer studios cartoons. If you haven't seen them, they're amazing. If you have seen them, then you already know.
I don't know whether to give your post a like for commenting, or a hug because you're having a less than stellar day. I haven't watched My Adventures with, but if the newest Superman series has got you down, I'll always recommend the original Fleischer studios cartoons. If you haven't seen them, they're amazing. If you have seen them, then you already know.
Oh the Fleischer Studios cartoon was a favorite of my childhood. It's also free to watch and distribute as it's copyright specifically has ran out and I've seen some of the efforts to upscale it to 4k. I'll see you all in the morning for voting and talking about the 3quel's plot.
Hey, weird question, but can you tell me whether or not you see a like on your post? I had to click the like button three times for it to finally register, so I want to know if there's any problems on your end seeing it.
Hey, weird question, but can you tell me whether or not you see a like on your post? I had to click the like button three times for it to finally register, so I want to know if there's any problems on your end seeing it.
[X] Plan Facing the World:
-[X] Tell Madoka what you found
-[X] Consider dealing with them yourself, but table any action until later when you and your team can make an effective plan for action
-[X] Go out hunting and deal with any that you see
--[X] Go by yourself; no need to wake the rest of your team when you're already up
-[X] Give yourself a recap so you know what you can do and who you have on your side in the event you choose to do anything tonight (or even if not).
A single week old spent casing a clue to the police does not make. We have multiple types of magic and are more likely to track down what exactly happened here. Also the whole Yakuza can sometimes be magical in Type-Moon means this might be a problem we have to deal with.
Madoka is our girlfriend and practically a goddess. She should know what is going on, it's actually one of the way we could do this better than what we did in the sequel.
Homura needs to hit things right now so lets go hit things.
Edit: Forgot the meta vote which is a must if we want more voters than just the usual suspects to participate in this quest.
I don't know how much we want them either, actually. I know Kevin Spacey is a pretty shady character; do we really want to chance that the rest of The Usual Suspects' cast are any worse? I kid. I know what you mean, and that's why I included the option in the vote. I'd really like to see more faces this time around, if we can manage it.
Anyway, since I'm not in a position to write anything at the moment, I'll let this percolate in case anyone else would like to either change theirs or have a debate with you regarding the merits of either vote. On a related note, for everybody else reading this, @NMS, @Riku_Furude, and @K4lepo if you're still around since I did see your name yesterday, Plague told me they won't have as much time to invest in vote-making as before, so I'm going to depend on the rest of you to collaborate more in putting things together this time around.
I don't know how much we want them either, actually. I know Kevin Spacey is a pretty shady character; do we really want to chance that the rest of The Usual Suspects' cast are any worse? I kid. I know what you mean, and that's why I included the option in the vote. I'd really like to see more faces this time around, if we can manage it.
Anyway, since I'm not in a position to write anything at the moment, I'll let this percolate in case anyone else would like to either change theirs or have a debate with you regarding the merits of either vote. On a related note, for everybody else reading this, @NMS, @Riku_Furude, and @K4lepo if you're still around since I did see your name yesterday, Plague told me they won't have as much time to invest in vote-making as before, so I'm going to depend on the rest of you to collaborate more in putting things together this time around.
Ah, yes, the Yaks. Classic enemy of the magical girl. Just look at this heinous criminal face. Surely, this is the greatest threat Homura and co. will face this time around.
😓 Sorry about that. That game was my first encounter with writing plans in my head so I still sometimes default to it's into music to psych myself up for writing plans especially if the story/quest I'm reading has inflamed my imagination in the way Consringentur has.
Sorry about leaving out this explanation from my original post and for confusing you with said post.
😓 Sorry about that. That game was my first encounter with writing plans in my head so I still sometimes default to it's into music to psych myself up for writing plans especially if the story/quest I'm reading has inflamed my imagination in the way Consringentur has.
Sorry about leaving out this explanation from my original post and for confusing you with said post.
Goodness, now that is something. I'm flattered that you've gotten so much out of my works. The sequel might not have been my best showing, but that is still some high praise, and I accept it with all grace. Thank you. I hope the 3quel will keep your imagination inflamed.
"Homura-chan?" Madoka asks when she sees that your attention is no longer on her. "What's wrong?"
Silently, you reach your hand out, grabbing hold of the tiny thing glinting on the ground. It's small enough that, without being here on the ground yourself, you're sure you would have missed it, but for being here on the ground, and the glint of the flames, you did. It's the spent casing from a bullet, and you can immediately tell that it isn't one from your own arsenal. The larger size confirms as much, and as you bring it in close to examine it further, the lingering smell of burnt gunpowder residue still left inside tells you it was left here fairly recently, perhaps less than a week ago, if even that. You only see the one, and can't recall hearing the sound of gunfire coming from this direction, so that leads you to believe this wasn't a dispute that turned violent.
No, this was more than likely an execution. Somebody, some poor unfortunate soul, crossed the Yakuza and won't be living to tell about it.
Internally, a debate rages inside your head: do you tell Madoka the truth, or keep it hidden from her? She's right here, and this did happen in your backyard. Debate or not, you don't see a way out of telling her.
You sigh, and show Madoka what you've found. "It's the Yakuza," you say to her, as you pull yourself into a seated position beside Madoka. "They've been here, and recently, too."
Madoka bites her lip as she joins you in sitting upright. You can see her slowly coming to the same conclusion as yourself. "Should we… Should we tell the others it's not safe here?" she asks. "What if they come back?"
You aren't going to tell Madoka that it's doubtful they'll be back. If they've already chosen this spot to execute someone once, that's reason enough to think they'll do it again for the next person who crosses them. You pocket the spent casing, and make a mental note to bring the matter up with the rest of your team once you're all awake. You'd call this a job for the police, but a single spent casing does not make for conclusive evidence, to say nothing of the fact that you've now got your fingerprints all over it. If you think you can give them some more conclusive evidence, maybe you'll tip them off later. But not right now.
Right now, "Just do what you need to feel safe," you say to Madoka. "That's all that matters to me right now."
You stand upright, and brush your hair to the side to keep it from swaying in your face as you stare off into the distant night. "What about you, Homura-chan?" Madoka asks. "What are you going to do?"
"I can't sleep," you respond. "So I'm going to try and make the most of what's left of the night."
Madoka rises to meet you, though she falls short by a few centimetres and has to stand on her tiptoes for her lips to meet yours. Her arms snake around your neck as she pulls you in close, and even through your thick winter layers you can still feel her body heat as she presses against you. "Just be careful out there," she says when she finally breaks away from you.
You stay there long enough to make sure Madoka returns to the tent before setting off. You'd liken yourself to disappearing into the night, but your footsteps make obvious sounds as you wade through the snow, so you're sure Madoka can hear you walking away. She'll be safe here tonight; you've got the rest of your team watching over her. As you fade into the night, and your clothes are washed away in a sea of violet flames, replaced by the white and grey-violet garb of your puella magi battle costume, you go over them in your head, reminding yourself of everyone that's still on-hand who can keep Madoka safe while you are away.
There's Tomoe Mami, of course. She was the first ally to join your team – back when it wasn't even a team, but just the two of you – when this timeline first came to its start, almost two years ago now; and there's Sakura Kyouko. She took more than her fair share of convincing before she finally decided to join you. But despite her abrasiveness and her obstinate willingness to be a thorn in your side when it comes to reaching a consensus among your teammates, she's still proven her worth time and again.
Miki Sayaka, fortunately, is not a puella magi in this timeline. You managed to convince her of the dangers of the system and have held her off from contracting. Though, you do have to worry about another person you hold in close esteem: Shizuki Hitomi. She isn't a puella magi, but she's something almost as dangerous: a mage. By some quirk of Fate, this timeline's Hitomi has been gifted the ability to use magic – technically magecraft, though you won't waste time debating the semantic differences to yourself – and has devoted quite a bit of her own free time to its study and mastery. It's been enough to put her in harm's way in the past, and you hope that whatever this city decides to throw at you as penance for your failings won't cause either of them any further harm.
Which brings you to two members of your team which you, still to this day, are amazed by. In any other timeline, you would have greeted Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika with frozen time and a bullet to each of their Soul Gems. But in a surprising upset, you've managed to turn the pair into incredibly valuable allies, and they're two people you could not have gotten this far without. When it came time to fight Walpurgisnacht almost two years ago, they were right there by your side, and they've stood by you through other, more recent calamities as well.
"Archer, I'm going out to hunt. Can you meet me?"
You would, of course, be remiss if you made a mental list of your allies without including this one. Call him many names, Archer, heroic spirit, Emiya Shirou, but there's one name you know him by more than any other. "Homura…?" Archer's voice sounds groggy inside your head, as if even he has been sleeping better than you this night. You can picture him, inside your mind's eye, looking as though he's just woken up. His tone is pitch-perfect for conveying that image. "Ugh, what time is it?"
"It's both far too late, and far too early," you respond. "Did I wake you? Or were you and mom in the middle of something?"
"Dad". That's the name you know Archer by best. It was a strange and sometimes rocky road to fatherhood for him, but to his credit your servant has managed to not just adapt, but thrive in the role of your father. The rest of your teammates were also saddled with servants of their own – some by choice, while others such as yourself found their servant partners thrust upon them by quirk of Fate – but none of their partners have come as close as Archer has to you. In fact, were it not for Archer's presence, coaxing you – and not always with a gentle hand – out of your shell, this timeline too would have been lost. You never would have approached Tomoe-san, never would have had the opportunity to convince Kyouko to join you, never would have had the opportunity to convert Oriko and Kirika from enemies into allies.
"I'm not keeping your mom up when she has work in the morning." A statement like that would almost imply that your mom would have given him a choice in the matter, were she in the right mood. "What about you? I thought you were out camping with Kirika and the others. What happened?"
Oh, yes, that. If you're going around making mental notes of all the people you can count on to keep Madoka safe tonight, that's one you desperately need to make note of. Kirika is your sister. Stepsister, to be sure – her mother and your servant-cum-father are in a serious relationship, and she even signed off on the Kure family register to have you officially adopted as her second daughter – but neither you nor Kirika have ever cared much for the distinction before. It would cause the you of timelines past to blow a gasket were you to hear the news that you're living with one of Madoka's former killers as your sister, but the you of this timeline doesn't care. You've turned Kirika into your ally. She is your sister, and you wouldn't have it any other way.
"Couldn't sleep," you respond. "Too much on my mind, so I decided I'd at least make myself productive and go out hunting for familiars."
"Is anyone else with you?"
"No. That's why I was requesting that you meet up with me. I don't know what I'll be running into tonight."
That just leaves you. You're the only one going out on patrol tonight, so your abilities are the only ones you need to concern yourself with. Your once-dependable magical ability to stop time has been lost to you, taken away once the battle against Walpurgisnacht was won almost two years ago. You've been able to keep the shield itself, though, and after sitting down with Archer over the holidays to give it some much-needed repairs you've even managed to make it stay put on your arm in spite of the damage it's taken, which it previously had been unable to do. It's not much, but having access to your hammerspace pocket again is still something.
So, if you're without the ability to stop time, what does that leave you with? Magecraft of your own, that's what. Archer has taught you the basics of Projection and Reinforcement, and you've taken what he's taught you and given yourself a new weapon: a bow, to remind yourself of Madoka, always. It's nowhere near the bow she once used as a puella magi in timelines past, but it has served you well these past two years all the same. To complement it, you've taken to using arrows formed from the rune of ice, which Oriko's servant Lancer was kind enough to teach you.
That isn't all Oriko's Lancer servant taught you. Another rune, one whose purpose is the transfer of energy, has allowed you to access abilities which frankly, should not be possible for someone of your station. As you go out to hunt for familiars, you are reminded of the fact that you as well can make familiars; and more than that, you've discovered a way to turn the very Grief that clouds your Soul Gem into a resource. The Incubator responsible for your territory has made it clear to you that you've surpassed the limits of the puella magi system to become something else entirely.
Though it sickens you to even think it sometimes, you are a witch. You have completed your maturation as a puella magi and become the impossible: a witch who has retained her mortal form and mind. Though it has only been two months since your maturation, and you cannot yet say what long-term effects such a glow-up might have on your psyche.
'Fortunately,' you think, as Archer appears at your side, 'You've got people who can help you get through this, whatever it might mean for you.'
"What's the situation?" Archer asks, appearing at your side in the red-and-black garb he wears into battle.
"At the moment?" you say, as you point your Soul Gem out in front of you, angling it towards the city that's to your east. "Nothing." The light emanating from the purple gem attached to the back of your right hand is faint, no more than the whisper of a glow it normally gives off. "Chance we'll find something increases the closer we get to where Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed fell, but even that's not a guarantee. They might have grown wary after the work Tomoe-san and Kyouko did last week. We might be in for a slog tonight, if we find anything at all."
As it turns out, finding one is easy once you cross the river east and find yourselves in the heart of Downtown Mitakihara. Even if you still believed the Incubator's lies about how witches are born, there's so much lingering despair to be drunk in this withering city centre that it's practically a beacon for familiars. Your team might have done their due diligence in cleansing this city of witches long ago, but the corruption from Walpurgisnacht's fallen Grief Seed still runs deep, even after the Seed's removal. For spending as long as it did poisoning the city, it's no surprise.
You and Archer find your prey, a shapeless thing of black sludge wrapped in a shimmering aura, hunched over a body. Dead, or merely unconscious, you can't say from this angle, but your arrival startles the familiar, and it turns towards you, locking on you with a gaze devoid of sight. Its aura-ensconced body bubbles, and the familiar quickly takes on a new shape. Where once a formless thing stood, now it wears your own form, like a black doll shaped in your image. Its black face splits open, revealing a grinning mouth that shines with the same flickering aura which surrounds its body.
"All right," Archer asks you [ ] "What's the plan?"
Since both the anime and manga show Walpurgisnacht's familiars taking on the shapes of magical girls (fictional ones in the anime, while in the manga they're shaped like Sayaka, Mami, and Kyouko) I thought doing the same would be appropriate here. I was this close to throwing a Drekavac at us and whipping up some BS excuse about how Sidonia had Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed under her influence for so long that the familiars were taking on the shapes she created for them out of instinct, but that felt like too much to throw out for the very first fight. Not to mention having to explain Sidonia, the Drekavac, and just what the hell happened in the sequel to any potential first-timers right off the bat. I'll save opening that can of worms for when it's a bit more appropriate. So instead we get to fight ourselves.
As for the recap, I was trying not to burn myself out by going overboard and frontloading a massive infodump of everything right off the bat, so we've got the basics down here, and I'll elaborate more as more things become relevant, especially with regards to the big two Confringentur-exclusive items of Kirika being our sister and us being a witch. Those definitely deserve more time to themselves than I gave them here. I also included Archer, even though nobody asked for him to be here, because I thought it improved the flow if Homura had someone to bounce off of while she was recapping to herself, even if he doesn't have much to say or do at the moment.
In hindsight, however, Archer's inclusion might have been a poor choice, because now that's two people I'll have to manage in this fight. See, I'm going to be trying something new with the way combat is done, and at the moment I'm not sure how it will play out, so this fight is very much going to be a test run. I thought it might be a simple, but fun, challenge to see how well we can fight ourself. It'll be a good test run to see how the new attempt at combat mechanics play out, and since it's just us there's nothing I can pull out of my hat to complicate things while we're all still getting used to the new combat mechanics. @PlaguePaladin, if you have the time and want to go over with the class some of the combat-oriented aspects of the system you developed, I would greatly appreciate that since I probably won't be around for most of the day.
To go along with the new combat mechanics, I've updated the character page (we have a character page now) to include Homura's combat information, though do keep in mind that, since I'm writing this at what for me is a fairly late hour, anything I've included is subject to change pending my having more time to clean it up and polish it. But I won't be doing that until after this fight is over, so there's no worry that I'll suddenly change what we can do in the middle of a fight. Speaking of fights, you can probably expect less of them than the sequel had. That's not to say there won't be any whatsoever, but massive fight scenes aren't going to be the point of the 3quel.
On that note, however, you'll notice that Homura has her shield back. Permanent timestop is still out of the question, but we've got a nice hammerspace pocket, and if we felt like playing around a bit...
Sorry about that. That game was my first encounter with writing plans in my head so I still sometimes default to it's into music to psych myself up for writing plans especially if the story/quest I'm reading has inflamed my imagination in the way Consringentur has.