- Location
- Around here
Maybe we can't, but if we're willing to pull her off her beat I know someone who can.
Confringentur, Mk.2; a Madoka Magica / Fate/Stay Night crossover
- Thread starter SVS
- Start date
- Crossover
[X] NMS
- Location
- Around here
Since we never did get that later edit @Enetious promised, and since I wasn't able to squeeze out a full post on its own just from the vote @NMS gave us, what I've gone and done was stapled what I wrote to the end of 40-20. In other words, go check out 40-20 again to see the new update, and come back to vote on what we're doing after Miyuki gets done with the witch.
To be fair, it's only been a couple of hours since then.
[x] Clean up everyone's Soul Gems
-[x] Then call it a night and go rescue Archer from
-[x] Try not to dwell on the feeling of uselessness that seeing that Witch reignited within you.
--[x] Fail
---[x] Cry yourself to sleep.
- Location
- United States
To be fair, I didn't promise to edit in anything, that was me suggesting to NMS that they edit in something along the lines of what I suggested.
[X] Clean up everyone's Soul Gems
-[X] Continue to be there for Kirika while the operation is ongoing
[X] Send in Assassin and Berserker (if he's fine with it) alongside Miyuki and Saber to take out this Witch; you'll be looking through Assassin's eyes so you'll be prepared to time-stop in case anything goes awry
-[X] Assassin will go into Presence Concealment before entry, where she will then scout things out, relay information to you, which you will then pass onto Miyuki
-[X] Berserker and Saber will double up as the two frontliners, while Miyuki stays in the back; it helps that either one of them could go on the attack while the other protects Miyuki
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- Location
- Around here
I dunno man, guy works pretty fast when he wants to.
But apparently he didn't want to, so the whole point's moot.
Any reason why we're going with the short version and not doing it a bit more NMS-like?
Yuri Vampire
Kirameku Hōseki! Cure Coral!
- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Enetious
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
I'm not sure how Assassin can scout things out when it seems only the Magi are affected, but sure.
I know Masters can see through servants, but can that work the other way round?
[] Clean up everyone's Soul Gems
[] Send in Assassin and Berserker (if he's fine with it) alongside Miyuki and Saber to take out this Witch; you'll be looking through Assassin's eyes so you'll be prepared to time-stop in case anything goes awry
-[] Assassin will go into Presence Concealment before entry, where she will then scout things out, relay information to you, which you will then pass onto Miyuki
-[] Berserker and Saber will double up as the two frontliners, while Miyuki stays in the back; it helps that either one of them could go on the attack while the other protects Miyuki
Why not both (again)?
TBH, this is just a placeholder until Enetious comes around and does his stuff. I wonder what to do with Kirika, though? Is she just gonna... be there? I don't know what to do with her.
[x] enetious
I know Masters can see through servants, but can that work the other way round?
[] Send in Assassin and Berserker (if he's fine with it) alongside Miyuki and Saber to take out this Witch; you'll be looking through Assassin's eyes so you'll be prepared to time-stop in case anything goes awry
-[] Assassin will go into Presence Concealment before entry, where she will then scout things out, relay information to you, which you will then pass onto Miyuki
-[] Berserker and Saber will double up as the two frontliners, while Miyuki stays in the back; it helps that either one of them could go on the attack while the other protects Miyuki
Why not both (again)?
TBH, this is just a placeholder until Enetious comes around and does his stuff. I wonder what to do with Kirika, though? Is she just gonna... be there? I don't know what to do with her.
[x] enetious
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- Location
- Around here
Ask yourself why it is that only Homura and Kirika could see anything, while Assassin and Berserker could not.
I think so, and if I'm not mistaken I believe we've done that once or twice before, in the distant past. But it's best to wait for Enetious or Silvan to come around to say "That's not how it works" before I give a definitive.
Enetious already did his stuff. As for Kirika, what do you think we should do with her? She's not in a very good place right now, so unless we can think of a way to calm her down without dragging Oriko off her beat, then yeah, she's likely to just gonna... be there.
- Location
- United States
@WanderingTwix Edited vote.
@SVS Eh, it's never really been addressed, Servants looking through the eyes of their Masters. Personally, I'd say no since Servants are technically familiars whereas Masters (barring some exceptions, such as when a Servant is a Master) are not.
@SVS Eh, it's never really been addressed, Servants looking through the eyes of their Masters. Personally, I'd say no since Servants are technically familiars whereas Masters (barring some exceptions, such as when a Servant is a Master) are not.
Day 40 Chapter 21
- Location
- Around here
[X] Enetious
"Before you go in," you say to Nagatsuki Miyuki as she prepares to take care of the witch. "You should clean yourself up. Never know what's waiting for you inside, and it always pays to be prepared."
Nagatsuki Miyuki re-holsters her pistol after taking a look at her Soul Gem, and she says "Yeah, I guess you're right." Fortunately, she has a Grief Seed of her own, and thanks to the earlier work of Archer and Lancer it's clean of Grief and ready to accept more. "There we are," she says, returning the Grief Seed to her pocket as she finishes cleaning her Soul Gem. "You can make sure that gets cleaned before we break for the night, right?"
"That shouldn't be a problem." You don't know how true that actually is, or how easily Kure Minako will let you pry Archer away from her in order to do his job. With Nagatsuki Miyuki taken care of, you move to clean yourself and Kirika up; Kirika in particular needs it. When you and your step-sister are cleaned up, you turn your attention to the servants you both brought with you, and say "Assassin, you'll go on ahead. Go in scouting, heavy on the Presence Concealment. Relay to me what you find, if anything's changed, so I can update Nagatsuki Miyuki before sending her in."
Silently, Assassin nods her head, vanishing before your eyes so completely that for the faint tug of your mana in her direction she would be untraceable. "If you're willing to take directions from someone else," you say to Berserker, hoping that he will with his master currently mentally unfit to give him commands. "Would you be willing to go in alongside Saber to provide backup for Nagatsuki Miyuki?"
"A knight can serve but one lord," Berserker says; so much for that idea. "However, with my master unable to command me, I would be remiss in my duties as a heroic spirit to stand by and let this monster roam free." So much for so much-ing that idea. "Make no mistake, master of Archer- I do not take commands from you, but I am willing to serve alongside Saber in the service of the greater good."
"That's all I need."
"Master, there has been no change to the witch's labyrinth. It is as it was when we fled earlier."
"Good." You turn to Nagatsuki Miyuki and say "Assassin's given the all-clear. You're good to go."
"Right." Nagatsuki Miyuki acknowledges your go-ahead, and nods her head in Saber's direction, saying "Alright Saber, Berserker, let's get this over with as quick as possible." Saber nods enthusiastically, drawing two swords as she readies up beside her master. Berserker moves with much less jubilation, but readies his own sword to join them all the same.
You never see it. Literally, you never see the fight at all.
Using your master's vision you watch from Assassin's eyes as Nagatsuki Miyuki leads her party into the witch's labyrinth. From your perspective, the three of them have again walked into the same empty room that was there before you tripped the witch's illusions and your senses were flooded by visions of Walpurgisnacht; but she must be seeing something else entirely. In a flash, she opens with a barrage of fire and lightning from her pistol. You see the briefest glimpse of the witch, a misshapen translucent green thing shaped vaguely like a squid, with the all-seeing eye adorning its head, before Nagatsuki Miyuki cuts through the witch and its illusions with a flurry of blows from her sword.
Saber and Berserker never have to do anything. Nagatsuki Miyuki finishes the fight entirely on her own, claiming the Grief Seed dropped by the witch as her payment for battling in our stead. "I don't mean to sound like I'm putting you down," she says, stepping out of the labyrinth as it vanishes into nonexistence. "But that witch was a pushover. It must have had some crazy powerful illusions if you weren't able to put it down."
You nod your head. "Walpurgisnacht is... A point of special contention for me," you say, internally cursing your weakness and your inability to handle the witch and its illusions by yourself. "Kirika got it considerably worse than I did."
"I can see that. That witch must have been completely reliant on using illusions to break its prey, because I can't figure out how something that weak was even supposed to win a fight otherwise." Nagatsuki Miyuki pockets her prize, and Kyouko kicks her feet absentmindedly as she joins up with her partner for the night. "So, that's two witches down tonight, hopefully three by the time Tomoe and Mikuni are done; so what do we do now?"
You imagine, at some point before the night is over, that you'll have to pry your father away from Kure Minako in order to get him to do his part in cleansing everyone's Grief Seeds, but how you'll accomplish that is anyone's guess; and aside from that?
[ ] Wat do?
NEW
Minor character unlocked!
"Before you go in," you say to Nagatsuki Miyuki as she prepares to take care of the witch. "You should clean yourself up. Never know what's waiting for you inside, and it always pays to be prepared."
Nagatsuki Miyuki re-holsters her pistol after taking a look at her Soul Gem, and she says "Yeah, I guess you're right." Fortunately, she has a Grief Seed of her own, and thanks to the earlier work of Archer and Lancer it's clean of Grief and ready to accept more. "There we are," she says, returning the Grief Seed to her pocket as she finishes cleaning her Soul Gem. "You can make sure that gets cleaned before we break for the night, right?"
"That shouldn't be a problem." You don't know how true that actually is, or how easily Kure Minako will let you pry Archer away from her in order to do his job. With Nagatsuki Miyuki taken care of, you move to clean yourself and Kirika up; Kirika in particular needs it. When you and your step-sister are cleaned up, you turn your attention to the servants you both brought with you, and say "Assassin, you'll go on ahead. Go in scouting, heavy on the Presence Concealment. Relay to me what you find, if anything's changed, so I can update Nagatsuki Miyuki before sending her in."
Silently, Assassin nods her head, vanishing before your eyes so completely that for the faint tug of your mana in her direction she would be untraceable. "If you're willing to take directions from someone else," you say to Berserker, hoping that he will with his master currently mentally unfit to give him commands. "Would you be willing to go in alongside Saber to provide backup for Nagatsuki Miyuki?"
"A knight can serve but one lord," Berserker says; so much for that idea. "However, with my master unable to command me, I would be remiss in my duties as a heroic spirit to stand by and let this monster roam free." So much for so much-ing that idea. "Make no mistake, master of Archer- I do not take commands from you, but I am willing to serve alongside Saber in the service of the greater good."
"That's all I need."
"Master, there has been no change to the witch's labyrinth. It is as it was when we fled earlier."
"Good." You turn to Nagatsuki Miyuki and say "Assassin's given the all-clear. You're good to go."
"Right." Nagatsuki Miyuki acknowledges your go-ahead, and nods her head in Saber's direction, saying "Alright Saber, Berserker, let's get this over with as quick as possible." Saber nods enthusiastically, drawing two swords as she readies up beside her master. Berserker moves with much less jubilation, but readies his own sword to join them all the same.
You never see it. Literally, you never see the fight at all.
Using your master's vision you watch from Assassin's eyes as Nagatsuki Miyuki leads her party into the witch's labyrinth. From your perspective, the three of them have again walked into the same empty room that was there before you tripped the witch's illusions and your senses were flooded by visions of Walpurgisnacht; but she must be seeing something else entirely. In a flash, she opens with a barrage of fire and lightning from her pistol. You see the briefest glimpse of the witch, a misshapen translucent green thing shaped vaguely like a squid, with the all-seeing eye adorning its head, before Nagatsuki Miyuki cuts through the witch and its illusions with a flurry of blows from her sword.
Saber and Berserker never have to do anything. Nagatsuki Miyuki finishes the fight entirely on her own, claiming the Grief Seed dropped by the witch as her payment for battling in our stead. "I don't mean to sound like I'm putting you down," she says, stepping out of the labyrinth as it vanishes into nonexistence. "But that witch was a pushover. It must have had some crazy powerful illusions if you weren't able to put it down."
You nod your head. "Walpurgisnacht is... A point of special contention for me," you say, internally cursing your weakness and your inability to handle the witch and its illusions by yourself. "Kirika got it considerably worse than I did."
"I can see that. That witch must have been completely reliant on using illusions to break its prey, because I can't figure out how something that weak was even supposed to win a fight otherwise." Nagatsuki Miyuki pockets her prize, and Kyouko kicks her feet absentmindedly as she joins up with her partner for the night. "So, that's two witches down tonight, hopefully three by the time Tomoe and Mikuni are done; so what do we do now?"
You imagine, at some point before the night is over, that you'll have to pry your father away from Kure Minako in order to get him to do his part in cleansing everyone's Grief Seeds, but how you'll accomplish that is anyone's guess; and aside from that?
[ ] Wat do?
NEW
Minor character unlocked!
The witch of fortune tellers. Her nature is disclosure. A witch who single-mindedly attempts to uncover the truth within the various destinies that are consolidated in her barrier. Able to gaze across past, present and future, she feels joy at the fact that all destinies are hers alone to know, and ceaselessly turns over the tarot cards atop her table. If a visitor were to arrive, she would believe them to be someone who'd recognize her power, and would gladly unveil the truths enclosed within them. But the truths that become visible aren't always happy– and on top of that, accepting them as truth will prompt the witch to turn you into her apprentice, rendering escape impossible. If you were to oppose her, it's said that she would show you every suffering imaginable.
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WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
So much for that.
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Get Big Sis A Liter Of Ice Cream, Stat!
-[X] While the others are still out Witch hunting, make a quick stop to get some ice cream with Miyuki and Kirika
--[X] Thank Miyuki for her assistance once more; despite what she may think, a Witch like that is one of the most dangerous foes for Puella Magi considering how reliant they are on managing their Grief levels
--[X] Try to calm Big Sis down (without being too pushy) with assurances and ice cream while you telepathically inform Oriko of what's occurred (though you'll hold off on that if it seems like she's in the middle of something)
-[X] After everyone's done with Witch hunting for the night, gather someplace convenient and call Archer to do the Grief draining thing with Lancer
--[X] While they're waiting on Archer, debrief debrief debrief
Can't wait until the stray familiars hatch into proper Witches; maybe with this AU you can add minor alternate mutations/differences/adaptations to Witches that hatch from familiars? Just to keep us on our toes? 🤔
-[X] While the others are still out Witch hunting, make a quick stop to get some ice cream with Miyuki and Kirika
--[X] Thank Miyuki for her assistance once more; despite what she may think, a Witch like that is one of the most dangerous foes for Puella Magi considering how reliant they are on managing their Grief levels
--[X] Try to calm Big Sis down (without being too pushy) with assurances and ice cream while you telepathically inform Oriko of what's occurred (though you'll hold off on that if it seems like she's in the middle of something)
-[X] After everyone's done with Witch hunting for the night, gather someplace convenient and call Archer to do the Grief draining thing with Lancer
--[X] While they're waiting on Archer, debrief debrief debrief
Can't wait until the stray familiars hatch into proper Witches; maybe with this AU you can add minor alternate mutations/differences/adaptations to Witches that hatch from familiars? Just to keep us on our toes? 🤔
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
[x] enetious
- Location
- Around here
The witch was easy because it relies entirely on illusions to cow its prey into submission and has no real offense or defense to speak of outside of that. If we didn't have Miyuki on our team, this fight would have gone something along the lines of Asuka's fight with Arael in episode 22 of Evangelion; and for how close we are to Walpol we can't afford to have anyone on our team, least of all us, mindraped into a comatose state.
If you want to be kept on your toes, wait one week+ for the sequel. Things are going to be... Well, I'll leave it to all of you to decide how hard you should be sweating.
Day 40 Chapter 22
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan Get Big Sis A Liter Of Ice Cream, Stat!
"Again, I really want to thank you for your assistance back there."
After Nagatsuki Miyuki took all of ten seconds to dismantle the witch, you suggested that the four of you go get some ice cream. "I know you must have thought it was easy, but for a normal puella magi, one that can't see through illusions, a witch like that is one of the most dangerous things we could face, considering how reliant we are on managing our Grief levels to survive."
"It's fine, really," Nagatsuki MIyuki says. She sounds like she's trying to play off her contributions as being no big deal. "Really, I'm just amazed that there was something that I could beat that you couldn't."
"Maybe I could have fought my way through it," you say, rubbing the back of the girl sitting next to you. "But seeing as Kirika was in no shape to keep going, I didn't want to take the chance that I couldn't." She's barely touched her ice cream, an extra-large chocolate cone with as many sugary toppings as you thought she might enjoy; but at least she's managed to find her legs again, even if it looks like she's only walking on autopilot. "How are you holding up?" you ask her, hoping for a response.
Kirika mumbles something in response under her breath that you can't quite catch, before going in for another lick of her cone; not fast enough, though, as before her tongue touches the chocolate cone, Kyouko asks "So, uh, if yer not gunna finish that, can I have it?" Neither you nor Nagatsuki Miyuki have pleasant expressions to spare for Kyouko, and even from across the city you can feel Tomoe-san looking on the redhead with displeasure as well.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," you think to Mikuni Oriko. "But if you're free, Kirika could really use your presence right about now."
You grow concerned when you get no return response, but after a minute or so of waiting you hear "My apologies for making you wait, Akemi-san, but Tomoe-san and I were in the middle of a particularly difficult fight. What did you need from me?"
"It's Kirika, actually. The witch we ran into hit her with a particularly nasty illusion, and now she's become convinced that you and she have broken up."
"What? Oh, no; where are you now?"
"We're walking back to your mansion right now. Kyouko and Nagatsuki Miyuki are with us."
"Just give us a minute or two and we'll- Ah! Kirika, watch out!"
Immediately your body tenses to full alert; but despite Mikuni Oriko's warning, you don't see any cause for alarm. It's just a normal traffic crossing; and Kirika's walk cycle is still on autopilot. The light to cross is red, but she's still walking, completely shut off to the world around her as a white van comes barrelling towards her, its driver completely blind to the world around them.
It takes only a second to bring out your shield to stop time, but that's a second you don't have. Instead, you have to make the lunge as you are, and it's only by the grace of God that you're able to reach Kirika in time to pull her out of the path of the oncoming van. Her ice cream was lost in the scuffle, with half of the chocolate now staining her white shirt and pink tie, while the other half lays on the ground, looking sad with the cone craned towards the night sky. "What were you thinking?" you yell. "Didn't you see that the light was red? Didn't you see that van?"
"Why'd you bother to save me?"
"Why did I bother..." You shake your head, and say to Kirika "What do you mean, 'Why did I bother to save you'? I saved you because you're my ally! My friend! My sister!" You crouch down and wrap your arms around Kirika; you don't care that you're getting ice cream and sprinkles stuck to the front of your own shirt. "There are a lot of people, myself, your mother, and Mikuni Oriko included, who would be very upset if something had happened to you just now."
"Oriko left me... I don't have any reason to live anymore... I'd be better off dead."
"That's not true!" You hug your step-sister tighter, as tight as you've ever hugged anyone else that wasn't Madoka. "Mikuni Oriko didn't leave you! She loves you; and she's on her way to see you right now!" You shake your head, and with a sigh you help Kirika to her feet. "You're supposed to be the older sister, so how come I'm the one that's always got to do the hard stuff?"
The four of you continue on the walk back to the Mikuni mansion in silence, you never once taking your eyes off Kirika lest she try something as stupid as that again, but you run into an obvious problem as you reach the front gate of the mansion. While you're sure Kirika has a key to get in, coaxing her into doing so in her current state would be near to impossible. Fortunately, you don't have to wait long for the last two members of the cavalry to arrive.
"Dearest, are you alright?"
Hearing the voice of Mikuni Oriko calling her by her pet name shakes something inside Kirika's mind, and she turns, just in time to be greeted by an aggressive and warm embrace from her lover. Without hesitation, Mikuni Oriko plants her lips against Kirika's own, and the two of them stay like that while the rest of you try desperately not to watch on, with one exception.
Kyouko wolf-whistles to the pair of lovers, to which Tomoe-san slaps her redheaded pupil upside the head in the most ladylike manner you think you've ever seen someone slap someone else. "Don't be rude, Sakura-san." As Kyouko licks her wounds, Tomoe-san turns to you and, with a cough into her closed hand as she tries to ignore the scene in front of her, asks you "So, Akemi-san, how did things go? Mikuni-san told me you had some troubles, is that correct?"
"Unfortunately," you respond. "The witch had very strong illusion magic. I needed Nagatsuki Miyuki to bail us out."
"That's quite unlike you, Akemi-san, getting tripped up by something like that." If Tomoe-san had been there, you're sure she would have tripped up too. And you know from experience how disastriously fatal that can be, for everyone around her. You shudder to imagine what the witch might have compelled Tomoe-san to believe. "I don't think I've seen you trip up once since before you started using your bow to combat witches."
Kirika's sobbing interrupts your attempted debriefing, and Mikuni Oriko croons to her "Shh, it's okay dearest, let it all out. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." At least they've stopped kissing.
For now.
While their lips are unlocked, Mikuni Oriko takes the opportunity to unlock the front gate of the mansion. Lancer goes first to ready snacks on the unheard order of her master, and everyone else files in after her. Shoes comes off at the foyer, and the six of you gather in the living room for a debriefing while you wait on snacks from Lancer. With Kirika too busy snuggling up against her lover after their empassioned reunion, you decide to be the one to speak.
"Kirika and I ran into a witch that employed illusions," you say. "The labyrinth was bare, save for a table with a deck of Tarot cards scattered over it. We were foolish enough to draw cards, and using the cards that we drew, the witch tailored its illusions to be what it thought was most likely to break us. I saw Walpurgisnacht, while Kirika saw Mikuni Oriko breaking up with her." There's a shifting sound coming from the loveseat; it's Kirika, adjusting her position at Mikuni Oriko's side. "Fortunately, Nagatsuki Miyuki was willing to come and give us a hand in dealing with it."
You don't want to imagine a situation where you would have ended up as broken as Kirika from what the witch showed you.
Nagatsuki Miyuki nods, and stands to take the floor from you now that you've acknowledged her. "Sakura and I ran into..." She scratches her head, and says "Uh, it kind of looked like a skinny old lady with a giant cat skull for an upper half of its body. It was really weird."
"Rider and I fought it, back when he first showed up," Kyouko chimes in. "Not surprised ta see it back now, since I never bothered ta check if it had any familiars wandering around afterwards. Anyway, the stupid thing could, like, grow parts of its body from other parts of its body, and it had this big tongue that it liked ta lick us with while Four Eyes and I were fighting in. It didn't hurt or nuthing, it just felt really weird, like a dozen train molesters all groping me at once."
Nagatsuki Miyuki shudders at Kyouko's description, but hesitantly nods her head in agreement. "Though Sakura and Rider did lend some assistance - thank you for that, again - Saber and I were the ones who did most of the fighting. It was very durable, and required a lot from all four of us to be put down."
Tomoe-san clicks her tongue, turning to Kyouko to say "I hope you remembered to deal with the familiars this time, Sakura-san. For a witch to be able to give you a challenge, I'd hope there aren't more of them waiting to sprout soon." Kyouko rolls her eyes and gives Tomoe-san a noncommittal response. You hope that means she took care of the familiars this time. Tomoe-san looks to Mikuni Oriko, who despite paying attention to what the others have been saying is clearly more focused on comforting her girlfriend than on providing a report. "Then I suppose it's my turn now."
"There isn't much I have to say about the witch Mikuni-san and I fought. It looked like... Well, perhaps a very jagged doll, might be a good description of the witch. It was fast, durable, and threw strong attacks us with what I can only describe as 'hard light'-based projectiles. But it wasn't fast or strong enough to get past Mikuni-san's defensive barriers, nor was it durable enough to stand up to a barrage from she and I once we shifted from defense to offense."
"But it was good practice for me," Mikuni Oriko says, breaking away from her pampering of the lovestruck kitten at her side to contribute. "I need more practice using Parafulmine in combat situations."
[ ] Wat do?
"Again, I really want to thank you for your assistance back there."
After Nagatsuki Miyuki took all of ten seconds to dismantle the witch, you suggested that the four of you go get some ice cream. "I know you must have thought it was easy, but for a normal puella magi, one that can't see through illusions, a witch like that is one of the most dangerous things we could face, considering how reliant we are on managing our Grief levels to survive."
"It's fine, really," Nagatsuki MIyuki says. She sounds like she's trying to play off her contributions as being no big deal. "Really, I'm just amazed that there was something that I could beat that you couldn't."
"Maybe I could have fought my way through it," you say, rubbing the back of the girl sitting next to you. "But seeing as Kirika was in no shape to keep going, I didn't want to take the chance that I couldn't." She's barely touched her ice cream, an extra-large chocolate cone with as many sugary toppings as you thought she might enjoy; but at least she's managed to find her legs again, even if it looks like she's only walking on autopilot. "How are you holding up?" you ask her, hoping for a response.
Kirika mumbles something in response under her breath that you can't quite catch, before going in for another lick of her cone; not fast enough, though, as before her tongue touches the chocolate cone, Kyouko asks "So, uh, if yer not gunna finish that, can I have it?" Neither you nor Nagatsuki Miyuki have pleasant expressions to spare for Kyouko, and even from across the city you can feel Tomoe-san looking on the redhead with displeasure as well.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," you think to Mikuni Oriko. "But if you're free, Kirika could really use your presence right about now."
You grow concerned when you get no return response, but after a minute or so of waiting you hear "My apologies for making you wait, Akemi-san, but Tomoe-san and I were in the middle of a particularly difficult fight. What did you need from me?"
"It's Kirika, actually. The witch we ran into hit her with a particularly nasty illusion, and now she's become convinced that you and she have broken up."
"What? Oh, no; where are you now?"
"We're walking back to your mansion right now. Kyouko and Nagatsuki Miyuki are with us."
"Just give us a minute or two and we'll- Ah! Kirika, watch out!"
Immediately your body tenses to full alert; but despite Mikuni Oriko's warning, you don't see any cause for alarm. It's just a normal traffic crossing; and Kirika's walk cycle is still on autopilot. The light to cross is red, but she's still walking, completely shut off to the world around her as a white van comes barrelling towards her, its driver completely blind to the world around them.
It takes only a second to bring out your shield to stop time, but that's a second you don't have. Instead, you have to make the lunge as you are, and it's only by the grace of God that you're able to reach Kirika in time to pull her out of the path of the oncoming van. Her ice cream was lost in the scuffle, with half of the chocolate now staining her white shirt and pink tie, while the other half lays on the ground, looking sad with the cone craned towards the night sky. "What were you thinking?" you yell. "Didn't you see that the light was red? Didn't you see that van?"
"Why'd you bother to save me?"
"Why did I bother..." You shake your head, and say to Kirika "What do you mean, 'Why did I bother to save you'? I saved you because you're my ally! My friend! My sister!" You crouch down and wrap your arms around Kirika; you don't care that you're getting ice cream and sprinkles stuck to the front of your own shirt. "There are a lot of people, myself, your mother, and Mikuni Oriko included, who would be very upset if something had happened to you just now."
"Oriko left me... I don't have any reason to live anymore... I'd be better off dead."
"That's not true!" You hug your step-sister tighter, as tight as you've ever hugged anyone else that wasn't Madoka. "Mikuni Oriko didn't leave you! She loves you; and she's on her way to see you right now!" You shake your head, and with a sigh you help Kirika to her feet. "You're supposed to be the older sister, so how come I'm the one that's always got to do the hard stuff?"
The four of you continue on the walk back to the Mikuni mansion in silence, you never once taking your eyes off Kirika lest she try something as stupid as that again, but you run into an obvious problem as you reach the front gate of the mansion. While you're sure Kirika has a key to get in, coaxing her into doing so in her current state would be near to impossible. Fortunately, you don't have to wait long for the last two members of the cavalry to arrive.
"Dearest, are you alright?"
Hearing the voice of Mikuni Oriko calling her by her pet name shakes something inside Kirika's mind, and she turns, just in time to be greeted by an aggressive and warm embrace from her lover. Without hesitation, Mikuni Oriko plants her lips against Kirika's own, and the two of them stay like that while the rest of you try desperately not to watch on, with one exception.
Kyouko wolf-whistles to the pair of lovers, to which Tomoe-san slaps her redheaded pupil upside the head in the most ladylike manner you think you've ever seen someone slap someone else. "Don't be rude, Sakura-san." As Kyouko licks her wounds, Tomoe-san turns to you and, with a cough into her closed hand as she tries to ignore the scene in front of her, asks you "So, Akemi-san, how did things go? Mikuni-san told me you had some troubles, is that correct?"
"Unfortunately," you respond. "The witch had very strong illusion magic. I needed Nagatsuki Miyuki to bail us out."
"That's quite unlike you, Akemi-san, getting tripped up by something like that." If Tomoe-san had been there, you're sure she would have tripped up too. And you know from experience how disastriously fatal that can be, for everyone around her. You shudder to imagine what the witch might have compelled Tomoe-san to believe. "I don't think I've seen you trip up once since before you started using your bow to combat witches."
Kirika's sobbing interrupts your attempted debriefing, and Mikuni Oriko croons to her "Shh, it's okay dearest, let it all out. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." At least they've stopped kissing.
For now.
While their lips are unlocked, Mikuni Oriko takes the opportunity to unlock the front gate of the mansion. Lancer goes first to ready snacks on the unheard order of her master, and everyone else files in after her. Shoes comes off at the foyer, and the six of you gather in the living room for a debriefing while you wait on snacks from Lancer. With Kirika too busy snuggling up against her lover after their empassioned reunion, you decide to be the one to speak.
"Kirika and I ran into a witch that employed illusions," you say. "The labyrinth was bare, save for a table with a deck of Tarot cards scattered over it. We were foolish enough to draw cards, and using the cards that we drew, the witch tailored its illusions to be what it thought was most likely to break us. I saw Walpurgisnacht, while Kirika saw Mikuni Oriko breaking up with her." There's a shifting sound coming from the loveseat; it's Kirika, adjusting her position at Mikuni Oriko's side. "Fortunately, Nagatsuki Miyuki was willing to come and give us a hand in dealing with it."
You don't want to imagine a situation where you would have ended up as broken as Kirika from what the witch showed you.
Nagatsuki Miyuki nods, and stands to take the floor from you now that you've acknowledged her. "Sakura and I ran into..." She scratches her head, and says "Uh, it kind of looked like a skinny old lady with a giant cat skull for an upper half of its body. It was really weird."
"Rider and I fought it, back when he first showed up," Kyouko chimes in. "Not surprised ta see it back now, since I never bothered ta check if it had any familiars wandering around afterwards. Anyway, the stupid thing could, like, grow parts of its body from other parts of its body, and it had this big tongue that it liked ta lick us with while Four Eyes and I were fighting in. It didn't hurt or nuthing, it just felt really weird, like a dozen train molesters all groping me at once."
Nagatsuki Miyuki shudders at Kyouko's description, but hesitantly nods her head in agreement. "Though Sakura and Rider did lend some assistance - thank you for that, again - Saber and I were the ones who did most of the fighting. It was very durable, and required a lot from all four of us to be put down."
Tomoe-san clicks her tongue, turning to Kyouko to say "I hope you remembered to deal with the familiars this time, Sakura-san. For a witch to be able to give you a challenge, I'd hope there aren't more of them waiting to sprout soon." Kyouko rolls her eyes and gives Tomoe-san a noncommittal response. You hope that means she took care of the familiars this time. Tomoe-san looks to Mikuni Oriko, who despite paying attention to what the others have been saying is clearly more focused on comforting her girlfriend than on providing a report. "Then I suppose it's my turn now."
"There isn't much I have to say about the witch Mikuni-san and I fought. It looked like... Well, perhaps a very jagged doll, might be a good description of the witch. It was fast, durable, and threw strong attacks us with what I can only describe as 'hard light'-based projectiles. But it wasn't fast or strong enough to get past Mikuni-san's defensive barriers, nor was it durable enough to stand up to a barrage from she and I once we shifted from defense to offense."
"But it was good practice for me," Mikuni Oriko says, breaking away from her pampering of the lovestruck kitten at her side to contribute. "I need more practice using Parafulmine in combat situations."
[ ] Wat do?
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
Paraful sounds like a food
[X] NMS
[X] NMS
Yuri Vampire
Kirameku Hōseki! Cure Coral!
- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] NMS
Day 40 Chapter 23
- Location
- Around here
[X] NMS
"But it was good practice for me," Mikuni Oriko says, breaking away from her pampering of the lovestruck kitten at her side to contribute to Tomoe-san's description of the witch. "I need more practice using Parafulmine in combat situations." When the stares of several non-Italian speakers corner Mikuni Oriko, she adds "That's the name I've given to my railgun."
"Archer, how are things looking on your end?"
"I finally managed to get Minako to agree to go home. She has work tomorrow, and we don't really have the space for her to spend the night, so I thought it would be best if she just went home. I should be there shortly."
"How soon is 'shortly'?"
"Oh, I don't know." That didn't come from inside your head. "How about now?" Archer appears at your side, to the surprise of all but Mikuni Oriko, who you're sure gave instructions to Lancer to allow him in the instant she saw he was coming. "Heard you could all use some cleaning."
Everyone who needs to clean their Soul Gems does so, and Archer and Lancer make their rounds to collect the spend Grief Seeds and empty them for re-use. "I can't believe how handy this is," Mikuni Oriko says as her turn to have her spend Seeds comes up. "I wish I had known we could do this much earlier, but it's such an integral part of the puella magi cycle that I didn't even think to check if there could be another way."
"It is quite impressive how our biggest burden suddenly carries no real weight to it," Tomoe-san adds. "Thanks to this, I think we might even be able to branch out to using our magic to help others in ways other than hunting witches."
"Like what?" Kyouko asks. "Ya mean, like magical firemen, or sumthing?"
"Perhaps. I suppose we would need adequate detection, but I could see us branching out in first response and rescue operations if everyone were in agreement."
You'll save that conversation for another night; "It's getting late," you say, as the last members of your team have their Grief Seeds cleaned. "We've all got school tomorrow, and we should all be getting home sooner rather than later if there's nothing else we need to discuss." Mikuni Oriko will probably end up hosting the team again all, or most, of next week, and you'd like to give her and Kirika a chance to unwind and get reacquainted with one another after tonight. "Nagatsuki Miyuki, if you'd like I can walk you home."
"Uh, sure," Nagatsuki Miyuki says. "I mean, you don't have to, but I won't say no to the company if you're offering." That proves a good enough invitation for you to join her as any, and as Archer performs his part of the cleanup operation, Nagatsuki Miyuki motions for her servant, who has been quietly snacking and talking to Berserker in another part of the living room, to join her. "Come on Saber," she says. "You can flirt with Berserker another night. We're heading out."
Quickly, Saber stuffs the last remaining handful of cookies into her mouth. "Hey, what's that for?" she asks, once she's chewed and swallowed her payload of snacks. "I wasn't trying to flirt with him, honest!"
"You totally were! Don't lie, I can see it all over your face!"
Saber huffs, adamant to the end that she hadn't been flirting with Berserker even as Nagatsuki Miyuki drags her out of the Mikuni mansion. "It was nice getting to spend the day with everyone," she says, as you and she put your shoes on at the door. "Uh... Listen, Mikuni- I'm sorry we keep having to come back here every night on account of me. I know how tiresome it must get having to host every night. I'll try to be more comfortable leaving Shirome after dark; and maybe if I'm able to leave early enough we can try having our meetings at other peoples' places, like we did earlier today."
"It's no problem at all, Nagatsuki-san. While I must admit, it is tiresome hosting everyone night after night, I understand the situation and I don't hold it against you."
"Right; uh, thanks again."
With that, you and Nagatsuki Miyuki take your leave of the Mikuni mansion and make for her house. You imagine Tomoe-san and Kyouko will be leaving shortly as well, but for now it's just you and- "I'm flattered, really," Archer says to Saber. "But I'm already taken."
Saber pouts as her attempts to flirt with Archer fall short. "Phooey," she says. "Just my luck the hottest guy around would be taken."
Nagatsuki Miyuki rolls her eyes at her servant's antics, leaning over to say to you "I really don't get her at all. Give her the chance and she hits on all the male servants on our team, but then as soon as it's just her and me she can't stop talking about how pretty you are. It's... Actually kind of weird; and like, why you, anyway? I'm single, and she spends more time with me than she does with anyone else." Nagatsuki Miyuki's face turns the same shade of red as her eyes, and she stammers before finally spitting out "But it's not like I want my servant to find me attractive or anything! At least, not her specifically, you know? I'd be happy if anyone out there found me attractive." The redness refuses to subside, and Nagatsuki Miyuki forces herself to spit out one additional caveat. "They have to be a boy, though; and preferably a cute one!"
You don't mean to laugh or to make Nagatsuki Miyuki feel bad by laughing at her, but you can't help but let a slight chuckle escape seeing how flustered she is over the whole thing. "Don't worry," you say to her. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be found attractive by other people; we're girls, after all. We have a right to take pride in our appearance and to want others to notice us. If it's a boy that finds you attractive, and you find him attractive in return, then good for you. If it's a girl?" You shrug, and say "Then so what? If you find them attractive back, then go for it. If not, then there's nothing more to say."
"But what if I don't want to find girls attractive?"
"What we want isn't always what ends up happening in reality. If you're lucky enough to get what you want, then all the more power to you." Take yourself, for example- You want Madoka to find you attractive. Does she? You think she does; but on top of her you've also got Saber finding you attractive. Why you, anyway? Just because Saber has pink hair, that doesn't mean you'll find her attractive in return. The only thing you can think of is that it must be due to the time period Saber is from. A girl like you, with your long, silky black locks and your reserved attitude, would have been the ideal back in Saber's time.
"Right..." Nagatsuki Miyuki stops in front of her house. The lights are off, fortunately for her, and she says "Well, this is my stop. Uh... Thanks for walking back with me. It'd have been kind of lonely without someone to talk to."
"You've got me, don't you master?"
Nagatsuki Miyuki crosses her arms, returning fire by saying "It's so hard to have a real conversation with you, though. All you ever want to talk about is food, fighting, and..." She stops herself, scratching the back of her head as her face turns beet-red. "... Uh, you know. The 'other' thing." Saber laughs to herself, while you try to banish the unwelcome thoughts intruding into your mind. Nagatsuki Miyuki returns her attention to you, saying "So, like I said, thanks for walking home with me. I, uh, I"ll see you tomorrow? Probably."
"Right," you say, waving Nagatsuki Miyuki off as she climbs the nearby tree to sneak in through her bedroom window. "I'll see you tomorrow."
[ ] Wat do?
"But it was good practice for me," Mikuni Oriko says, breaking away from her pampering of the lovestruck kitten at her side to contribute to Tomoe-san's description of the witch. "I need more practice using Parafulmine in combat situations." When the stares of several non-Italian speakers corner Mikuni Oriko, she adds "That's the name I've given to my railgun."
"Archer, how are things looking on your end?"
"I finally managed to get Minako to agree to go home. She has work tomorrow, and we don't really have the space for her to spend the night, so I thought it would be best if she just went home. I should be there shortly."
"How soon is 'shortly'?"
"Oh, I don't know." That didn't come from inside your head. "How about now?" Archer appears at your side, to the surprise of all but Mikuni Oriko, who you're sure gave instructions to Lancer to allow him in the instant she saw he was coming. "Heard you could all use some cleaning."
Everyone who needs to clean their Soul Gems does so, and Archer and Lancer make their rounds to collect the spend Grief Seeds and empty them for re-use. "I can't believe how handy this is," Mikuni Oriko says as her turn to have her spend Seeds comes up. "I wish I had known we could do this much earlier, but it's such an integral part of the puella magi cycle that I didn't even think to check if there could be another way."
"It is quite impressive how our biggest burden suddenly carries no real weight to it," Tomoe-san adds. "Thanks to this, I think we might even be able to branch out to using our magic to help others in ways other than hunting witches."
"Like what?" Kyouko asks. "Ya mean, like magical firemen, or sumthing?"
"Perhaps. I suppose we would need adequate detection, but I could see us branching out in first response and rescue operations if everyone were in agreement."
You'll save that conversation for another night; "It's getting late," you say, as the last members of your team have their Grief Seeds cleaned. "We've all got school tomorrow, and we should all be getting home sooner rather than later if there's nothing else we need to discuss." Mikuni Oriko will probably end up hosting the team again all, or most, of next week, and you'd like to give her and Kirika a chance to unwind and get reacquainted with one another after tonight. "Nagatsuki Miyuki, if you'd like I can walk you home."
"Uh, sure," Nagatsuki Miyuki says. "I mean, you don't have to, but I won't say no to the company if you're offering." That proves a good enough invitation for you to join her as any, and as Archer performs his part of the cleanup operation, Nagatsuki Miyuki motions for her servant, who has been quietly snacking and talking to Berserker in another part of the living room, to join her. "Come on Saber," she says. "You can flirt with Berserker another night. We're heading out."
Quickly, Saber stuffs the last remaining handful of cookies into her mouth. "Hey, what's that for?" she asks, once she's chewed and swallowed her payload of snacks. "I wasn't trying to flirt with him, honest!"
"You totally were! Don't lie, I can see it all over your face!"
Saber huffs, adamant to the end that she hadn't been flirting with Berserker even as Nagatsuki Miyuki drags her out of the Mikuni mansion. "It was nice getting to spend the day with everyone," she says, as you and she put your shoes on at the door. "Uh... Listen, Mikuni- I'm sorry we keep having to come back here every night on account of me. I know how tiresome it must get having to host every night. I'll try to be more comfortable leaving Shirome after dark; and maybe if I'm able to leave early enough we can try having our meetings at other peoples' places, like we did earlier today."
"It's no problem at all, Nagatsuki-san. While I must admit, it is tiresome hosting everyone night after night, I understand the situation and I don't hold it against you."
"Right; uh, thanks again."
With that, you and Nagatsuki Miyuki take your leave of the Mikuni mansion and make for her house. You imagine Tomoe-san and Kyouko will be leaving shortly as well, but for now it's just you and- "I'm flattered, really," Archer says to Saber. "But I'm already taken."
Saber pouts as her attempts to flirt with Archer fall short. "Phooey," she says. "Just my luck the hottest guy around would be taken."
Nagatsuki Miyuki rolls her eyes at her servant's antics, leaning over to say to you "I really don't get her at all. Give her the chance and she hits on all the male servants on our team, but then as soon as it's just her and me she can't stop talking about how pretty you are. It's... Actually kind of weird; and like, why you, anyway? I'm single, and she spends more time with me than she does with anyone else." Nagatsuki Miyuki's face turns the same shade of red as her eyes, and she stammers before finally spitting out "But it's not like I want my servant to find me attractive or anything! At least, not her specifically, you know? I'd be happy if anyone out there found me attractive." The redness refuses to subside, and Nagatsuki Miyuki forces herself to spit out one additional caveat. "They have to be a boy, though; and preferably a cute one!"
You don't mean to laugh or to make Nagatsuki Miyuki feel bad by laughing at her, but you can't help but let a slight chuckle escape seeing how flustered she is over the whole thing. "Don't worry," you say to her. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be found attractive by other people; we're girls, after all. We have a right to take pride in our appearance and to want others to notice us. If it's a boy that finds you attractive, and you find him attractive in return, then good for you. If it's a girl?" You shrug, and say "Then so what? If you find them attractive back, then go for it. If not, then there's nothing more to say."
"But what if I don't want to find girls attractive?"
"What we want isn't always what ends up happening in reality. If you're lucky enough to get what you want, then all the more power to you." Take yourself, for example- You want Madoka to find you attractive. Does she? You think she does; but on top of her you've also got Saber finding you attractive. Why you, anyway? Just because Saber has pink hair, that doesn't mean you'll find her attractive in return. The only thing you can think of is that it must be due to the time period Saber is from. A girl like you, with your long, silky black locks and your reserved attitude, would have been the ideal back in Saber's time.
"Right..." Nagatsuki Miyuki stops in front of her house. The lights are off, fortunately for her, and she says "Well, this is my stop. Uh... Thanks for walking back with me. It'd have been kind of lonely without someone to talk to."
"You've got me, don't you master?"
Nagatsuki Miyuki crosses her arms, returning fire by saying "It's so hard to have a real conversation with you, though. All you ever want to talk about is food, fighting, and..." She stops herself, scratching the back of her head as her face turns beet-red. "... Uh, you know. The 'other' thing." Saber laughs to herself, while you try to banish the unwelcome thoughts intruding into your mind. Nagatsuki Miyuki returns her attention to you, saying "So, like I said, thanks for walking home with me. I, uh, I"ll see you tomorrow? Probably."
"Right," you say, waving Nagatsuki Miyuki off as she climbs the nearby tree to sneak in through her bedroom window. "I'll see you tomorrow."
[ ] Wat do?
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