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Confringentur, Mk.2; a Madoka Magica / Fate/Stay Night crossover

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Day 20 Chapter 15
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Split up into teams of two and try to hunt a Witch per hunting Puella Magi
    -[X] Mami and Kyoko
    -[X] Homura and Oriko
    [X] Where do you go to hunt?
    -[X] Northern Mitakihara
    ​

    In the end, it was decided that splitting up into two groups of two would be best. While they may have emotionally reconnected, Tomoe-san and Kyouko need the opportunity to relearn how to fight alongside one another, so the two of them will be together as they patrol the west bank and Kazamino. That leaves you with Mikuni Oriko. Perhaps you would have preferred to partner with Tomoe-san or Kyouko, but this ultimately seemed like the best combination. You can guess that Kyouko would not work well with Mikuni Oriko; and while Tomoe-san might have, you aren't sure that Mikuni Oriko could ground Tomoe-san as well as Kyouko could if something were to happen.

    Nor, for that matter, could anyone else but Tomoe-san reign Kyouko in if something were to happen to her.

    Admittedly, you are curious to see how Mikuni Oriko performs in combat when her goals are different and her partner actually knows what combat entails. Even if it turns out that you two do not work well in combat together, this will be a valuable learning experience for you both.

    "If Oriko comes back with so much as a scratch on her, there won't be enough left of you to cremate."

    The scowling face of Kure Kirika, the heat of her breath so close to your face, and the feel of her hands tightly gripping the collar of your uniform, are still fresh in your mind even now, twenty minutes into your patrol through northern Mitakihara's dense forest of skyscrapers. It shows on your face, you realize, staring at your reflection in a darkened glass window as you pass by.

    "Akemi-san, please allow me to apologize for the disrespect shown to you by Kirika. She's always so worried about me when I go out to hunt witches, but that in no way gives her the right to speak so rudely to an ally. I promise you, I'll deal with her attitude as soon as I get home and make sure it doesn't happen again."

    It's strange how you never notice certain things until they're staring you right in the face. In every other timeline, you never noticed because you always stood across from Mikuni Oriko. But now that she's standing beside you, you realize that she's taller than you had thought. She's taller than you by about five centimeters, putting her roughly equal in height with Hitomi. "It's fine. I'm not keeping her as an ally because I care what she says about me."

    You neglect to mention that she would die before she could carry out her threat. You don't think you need to remind Mikuni Oriko of the terms of your alliance.

    "Still, I... I wish you would show some anger towards us, any, for what we have done. We have done so much wrong, in so short a span of time. And yet, you've given us a chance we don't deserve in the slightest, without ever so much as raising your voice at either of us for the things we have done. I don't understand you at all, Akemi-san."

    You stare at Mikuni Oriko, for far longer than is comfortable for her, and she turns away from your gaze. "What would you have me say? You lost. You surrendered. You have been trying to improve yourself. And most importantly, Madoka is alive and unharmed. Compared to that, nothing else that you've done matters to me."

    The guilt in Mikuni Oriko's eyes is palpable, and she asks "You really love her that much, don't you?"

    "I love her with all of my heart." No, that isn't quite accurate.

    Madoka is your heart.

    With that, Mikuni Oriko falls to her knees, weeping. "I'm sorry!" she cries out, grabbing the hem of your skirt as she buries her head in your waist. "I'm so, so sorry! I never- I never wanted to kill her; but I couldn't see any other way! I was so scared, and weak, and stupid! I'm a horrible person! I'm a coward, and a murderer; I don't deserve to be accepted for the things I've done! Please... Yell at me; hit me, hurt me, break me; say that you hate me and that I deserve to die! Anything!" She continues like this for the next several minutes, her already-broken composure and coherency slipping further and further away with every word she speaks. Finally, as her tears dry and only a pained, heaving sobbing remains, she says "I hate myself. Every day, the guilt eats away at me more and more; it's unbearable, having to live with the weight of all the death I've caused. I... I want to be forgiven for what I've done, but I know I don't deserve to be absolved of my sins. I..."

    "... I want to die, Akemi-san. The world would be a better place without me in it."

    Do you
    [ ] Comply with her wishes
    [ ] Check her Soul Gem
    [ ] Comfort her
    -[ ] How?
    [ ] Ignore her freakout and get back to work
    [ ] Forgive her
    [ ] Other (write-in)
    ?​
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Grab her and stop time. Explain the multiple timelines and just how many times you've failed to save Madoka. You're not angry with her because you have no more anger left to give.
     
    [X] Plan Comfort
    -[X] Comfort her
    --[X] Slowly kneel down and awkwardly pat her on the back. Wait a few moments before telling her that she shouldn't be thinking that way. Explain that if she were to perish now or fall into despair, her only significant impact in life was the deaths of others, however if she chooses to live on, she can save and improve the lives of many more.
    --[X] Tell her that she will likely never be forgiven for the acts she's done as that would trivialize the many deaths of all of those innocent people, however that doesn't mean she can't live a better life. Ask her to not look upon the past and let it dominate her, but to reference it and use it as a tool much like your advice for her precognition, and considering how much it's affecting her to let it serve as a motivating factor to improve lives rather than taking them. Tell her that even many of the great heroes of legend had to endure such catastrophes, at many times inadvertently caused by themselves, in attempting to do good in the world.
    --[X] Press that despite her foolhardy use of her power which drove her to do such things, that she shouldn't forget the being who granted it to her, who offered up no aid in how to properly use such a power, and that it's just as much Kyuubey's fault if not more so for preying on an emotionally compromised teenage girl than it is her's.
    --[X] Finally tell her that regardless of what she chooses to do in the future that she shouldn't let her goals completely dominate her life as she's done in the past, that she should try and live her life to its fullest and to make friends and take comfort in being with her girlfriend. Explain that before befriending people like Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, and Hitomi, that despite doing your best to achieve your goals against Witches and Kyuubey for the longest time your life ultimately felt hollow and depressive, and that befriending them really helped improve your life for the better.
    -[X] Check her Soul Gem
    --[X] Use one of your own Grief Seeds on her Soul Gem if you have to if she doesn't take one out to do so herself in a timely manner.

    Well, I certainly didn't expect for Oriko to be this repentant. Really goes to show how much Oriko ended up falling into her precognition and her wish of "I wish for a reason for me to live."

    Oh, and @SVS, can you clarify what Homura gained from upgrading Isa's Freeze ability to 2? Does it just strengthen her preexisting Isa Arrows, allow any more effective applications of the ability (like frost creeping from the arrow over an enemy that was hit, or ice exploding out over a small area where an Isa Arrow hit, etc.), other than the beginning ability to draw in the air?
     
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    NMS said:
    [x] Grab her and stop time. Explain the multiple timelines and just how many times you've failed to save Madoka. You're not angry with her because you have no more anger left to give.
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    I'm pretty sure that would be the equivalent of a death blow. After all, Homura just told her how much Madoka means to her, and then to reveal that she already watched Oriko kill her love in another timeline? It would shatter what little remains of Oriko's will to live.

    [X] Enetious

    Not quite happy with absolving Oriko of that much guilt, it seems OOC, but it's better than what I had planned to write.
     
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    Enetious said:
    Oh, and @SVS, can you clarify what Homura gained from upgrading Isa's Freeze ability to 2? Does it just strengthen her preexisting Isa Arrows, allow any more effective applications of the ability (like frost creeping from the arrow over an enemy that was hit, or ice exploding out over a small area where an Isa Arrow hit, etc.), other than the beginning ability to draw in the air?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Freeze 1 only allows her arrows to freeze small patches of a target. Freeze 2 strengthens the freeze effect and widens the affected area to much larger patches/whole small targets, as well as granting minor atmospheric freezing- Which, among other applications, is what we need to be able to draw runes, which if we keep practicing is something we'll have before we hit Freeze 3.

    Freeze 3 is where we start to get bonkers with the things we can freeze, and by the time we max it out at Freeze 5... Well, I'll leave that as a surprise. But you guys will like it.
     
    I almost feel like we're being too, uhh, what's a good word to use... kind??? It almost approaches turning the other cheek, which is more like a Madoka thing then Homura. I feel it could be toned down a bit because, as nacht said, it feels a bit OOC. @Enetious

    [X] Plan Comfort
     
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    @Nachtigall @WanderingTwix
    I intend to have Homura say what will best stabilize Oriko's psyche and put her on a better path rather than what Homura would usually say. I meant for it to come across as Homura being rather reluctant while doing this, and as a note for Homura, she wouldn't be doing this out of the goodness of her heart, but rather to manipulate Oriko into becoming a better person by giving examples and reiterating the advice she gave to Oriko about her precog, and also trying to point Oriko towards becoming an active enemy of Kyuubey, all without losing ties to what would ground her and subsequently cause her to be more tame in her actions. Regardless, feel free to edit the vote and post it, as it can always be changed and I'm not sure how to correctly word it in the way you want me to without it becoming convoluted and spelling out Homura's every action and intention.
    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
     
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    Day 20 Chapter 16
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Comfort
    ​

    "... I want to die, Akemi-san. The world would be a better place without me in it."

    Why does this keep happening to you? Sayaka; Tomoe-san; Kyouko; and now Mikuni Oriko. Why does everybody keep falling apart when you're the only one around to help them?

    How long has she been holding in her guilt and self-hatred?

    Why did she feel she couldn't talk to Kure Kirika about this?

    Reluctantly, after what felt like an eternity of Mikuni Oriko sobbing into your skirt, you crouch down and, reaching out your hand, pat her on the back a few times in an awkward facsimile of the way you remember your mother doing for you when you were young. You don't know if what you're doing is actually helping. You wait for a sign that your actions are helpful, or harmful, and when no sign of either comes, you stop, saying "You shouldn't be thinking like that."

    "Why not? If I'm dead, I can't kill anyone else ever again!"

    "And if you die now, the only thing you will be remembered for is killing." You don't know if your words can reach her, but you can feel her grip on your skirt loosen, just a little. "But if you keep on living, you will have the chance to save many, many more lives than you have taken."

    "In all likelihood, no matter what you do or how many lives you save from now on, you will never find forgiveness for the lives that have been lost because of you. I know you and Tomoe-san are slowly becoming friends, but even she is still bothered by the things you have done, and I think she is right to be. For someone who could kill another so easily, to be so quickly forgiven; it not only cheapens the meaning of that forgiveness, but it does a disservice to the lives you are responsible for." Mikuni Oriko bites her tongue, whimpering softly as she buries her head deeper into you. "But that doesn't mean that you have to let your guilt overwhelm you."

    "I'm a monster! I don't deserve to be happy, not after what I've done!"

    "And I disagree. A monster wouldn't feel the weight of their sins as heavily as you are. It's good that you feel guilty for your actions- It shows that you are still human, and as a motivating force to do better there are few things more potent than guilt. You are not the first person to feel guilty over their past actions, and you are not the first person to make a mistake while trying to do good in the world. But it isn't good to let that guilt consume you until it makes you wish for death."

    An image of white flashes in your head, accentuated by a glossy cherry and a swaying, bushy tail. "Of course, if you want to accept guilt for your actions, then the Incubator is just as much to blame for anything that you've done as you are." Mikuni Oriko looks up, staring at you with eyes ringed in bright red. "Who was it that gave you the precognition you used to see the world's doom? Who was it that gave you no help in figuring out how to use your power responsibly? Who was it that preyed on you when you were at your most vulnerable?"

    "Th-The Incubator," Mikuni Oriko manages to choke out. "That first day was... Agonizing... If Kirika hadn't been there to calm me down..." Her face flushes bright scarlet "I would already be dead without her... She deserves someone better; someone who won't corrupt her and force her to taint her soul the way I have."

    "Love isn't about what should be. For better or worse, Kure Kirika chose you, and I'm sure she would be devastated if anything were to happen to you. Likely, she would insist on following you, even to the grave. And, if I'm right, losing her would be equally devastating to her mother, as well. Despite what you may think, your death would still result in two more lives being lost."

    "Then, what should I do? I can't live with my guilt, but Kirika doesn't deserve to suffer because of my death either..."

    "You try to live, better than you have done in the past. It's okay to let your guilt motivate you to be better, but you shouldn't let it control you, just like you shouldn't let your ambition or your goals control you either."

    How hypocritical of you.

    Where would you be without your goal of saving Madoka keeping you going?

    You'd be just as dead as Mikuni Oriko wants to be.

    "I... I tried to live like you are, once. I thought that, as long as I had my mission, I didn't need anyone else. It was only after I met the people who are now my friends, that I realized how wrong I had been. My life was hollow before I met them, but now that I have such good people in my life I don't think I could stand going back to the way things were."

    "But I... I'm not like you... I don't have any friends; I never have..."

    "That's a lie," you say. "Maybe the worst one I've heard in my entire life. Tomoe-san seems perfectly willing to be your friend, and even if you reject her, you still have your girlfriend."

    "Kirika deserves better than someone like me."

    "With that attitude, I think I'm inclined to agree." Nothing you're saying seems to be able to reach Mikuni Oriko with any degree of effectiveness, and even invoking Kure Kirika barely elicits a positive response from your partner.

    You've seen this before, haven't you?

    "Give me your Soul Gem," you say. Mikuni Oriko is surprised, and she pulls away from you. "Give it to me, now." Reluctantly, Mikuni Oriko agrees, handing the gem to you; it's completely pitch-black, save for the shifting facets of colours that don't exist. "You're lucky you caught this when you did. Another hour... Minute, even, and... No wonder she wanted to die so badly." "Grief Seed. Now."

    "What's the point?" Mikuni Oriko asks. "If I turn into a witch now, you'll just kill me, won't you? That's what you went out tonight to do, isn't it?"

    Swallowing your anger, you are forced to use a Grief Seed from your own stores to siphon off the corruption in Mikuni Oriko's soul. Despite using a fresh Seed - and you know for a fact that it was fresh - you still manage to only siphon off about a half of the corruption. Against your better judgement, and seeing that Mikuni Oriko is in no shape to be doing anything herself, you reluctantly feed the corruption in her Soul Gem to another Seed, before you finally manage to cleanse the jewel completely of corruption.

    When your task is done, Mikuni Oriko looks much better for your efforts, and there's even something of a smile on her face. "Akemi-san, I... Thank you, Akemi-san. I wasn't myself; I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble."

    "You owe me two Grief Seeds," you say, handing the emerald jewel back to its owner.

    Do you​
    [ ] Ask Mikuni Oriko
    -[ ] How her Soul Gem got so corrupted without her noticing
    -[ ] Why she let her Soul Gem get so corrupted in the first place
    -[ ] Why it took two Grief Seeds to cleanse the corruption
    -[ ] Other (write-in)
    [ ] Don't ask Mikuni Oriko anything
    -[ ] At the moment; you'll ask her later when she's feeling better
    -[ ] At all; you don't need to bring this up to her again

    [ ] Call it a night; your partner is in no shape to go witch hunting
    [ ] Stay here and comfort her awhile longer, then get back to work
    [ ] Get back to work immediately, without further comforting
    [ ] Other (write-in)
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Don't ask Mikuni Oriko anything
    -[X] At the moment; you'll ask her later when she's feeling better
    [X] Stay here and comfort her awhile longer, then get back to work
    -[X] Pull out a stove-top and kettle from your shield and brew some tea

    If there's one thing I learned from Puella Magi Homura Tamura it's that Homura always has a stove-stop and things to cook on it in her shield.
     
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    [X] Grab her and stop time. "If you want my forgiveness, help me do something I have never been able to do. No matter how many times I've tried. And tried again. And again. Help me save Madoka." As a tear runs down your face, "Please."
    [X] Don't ask Mikuni Oriko anything
    -[X] At the moment; you'll ask her later when she's feeling better
    [X] Stay here and comfort her awhile longer, then get back to work
    -[X] Pull out a stove-top and kettle from your shield and brew some tea

    An edit to NMS's earlier vote that is an attempt to incentivise Oriko to help us, give her another purpose, and also smooth out the end of the comfort vote to a slightly less OOC level of kindHomura
     
    [X] Grab her and stop time. "If you want my forgiveness, help me do something I have never been able to do. No matter how many times I've tried. And tried again. And again. Help me save Madoka." As a tear runs down your face, "Please."
    [X] Don't ask Mikuni Oriko anything
    -[X] At the moment; you'll ask her later when she's feeling better
    [X] Stay here and comfort her awhile longer, then get back to work
    -[X] Pull out a stove-top and kettle from your shield and brew some tea
     
    Akumura said:
    [] Grab her and stop time. "If you want my forgiveness, help me do something I have never been able to do. No matter how many times I've tried. And tried again. And again. Help me save Madoka." As a tear runs down your face, "Please."


    An edit to NMS's earlier vote that is an attempt to incentivise Oriko to help us, give her another purpose, and also smooth out the end of the comfort vote to a slightly less OOC level of kindHomura
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Eh, that part alludes too much towards Homura's time travelling capability, and there's little reason to stop time unless you were intending for Homura to reveal that tidbit. Maybe use something more like this if you want to add it in:
    [] "If you want my forgiveness then help me protect the one I love, the one you, in the past, have tried to kill. Help me safeguard Madoka." As a tear runs down your cheek. "Please."

    Also this whole talk of OOCness with Homura is kinda a moot point as Homura is already OOC to begin with in comparison to her original character from the anime due to the events of this quest. She's becoming less and less ruthless and cold-hearted in this quest due to her interactions with the group, befriending them and getting together with Madoka (which usually never occurs in either case in the mid to late loops), and there's also Archer's influence on her to consider. And with all of the greater threats going on, and Oriko's whole suicidal breakdown and willingness to listen and follow Homura's lead, it's easier to see Homura being more lenient with this iteration of Oriko in comparison to the past ones she's encountered and killed.
     
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    Day 20 Chapter 17
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Don't ask Mikuni Oriko anything
    -[X] At the moment; you'll ask her later when she's feeling better
    [X] Stay here and comfort her awhile longer, then get back to work
    -[X] Pull out a stove-top and kettle from your shield and brew some tea
    ​

    "You owe me two Grief Seeds," you say, handing the emerald jewel back to its owner. Mikuni Oriko nods, taking back her Soul Gem and handing over two of her own Seeds as compensation. You stare at them, turning them over in your hand a few times as you wonder whether these are Seeds that were earned by Mikuni Oriko, or whether these are Seeds taken from one of her victims.

    "Akemi-san, is there something wrong with them?"

    In the end, it doesn't matter to you where they came from. "It's nothing," you say as you pocket the Seeds. You ready yourself to depart and get back to work, but one look at your partner stops you. Sighing, you sit back down, and pull from your shield a few things you'll need to make tea for two in the field.

    Mikuni Oriko looks at you as you work, and asks "Shouldn't we be getting back to work?"

    "You've just come back from the brink. You're in no condition to be going anywhere at the moment."

    "..." Mikuni Oriko opens her mouth as she tries to protest, but nothing comes out. Defeated, she takes a seat beside you. "Akemi-san, I- I want to apologize to you, for my choice of targets. I know that nothing I say to you can ever make up for what I tried to do..."

    You shrug her words off, saying "You've already apologized."

    "Yes, but I... I didn't know how much of my previous apology was genuine, and how much of it was just a part of the grief spiral. I wanted to apologize to you properly, now that I'm in a position to approach the matter with a clear head."

    [ ] "I'm not the one you tried to kill. You can apologize to Madoka and Sayaka if you really mean it."
    [ ] "Then, I'll accept your apology."
    -[ ] "But I also want to hear Kure Kirika apologize for her part in this."
    [ ] You'll say nothing more on the matter to Mikuni Oriko.

    Mikuni Oriko gives you a sad smile, silently accepting your response.

    It's another few minutes before the tea is ready; but once it's done, you pour out enough for yourself and your partner, with enough left over for each of you to have a second serving, should your break last that long. You sip yours slowly, and allow your thoughts to collect in your head as you watch your partner.

    The relationship between Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika is one that you can't seem to wrap your head around, no matter how you try to approach it. They are clearly in love with one another; but it's the nature of that love, and how each of them interacts with it, that has you confused. Kure Kirika is completely dependent on Mikuni Oriko; her presence, her acceptance, and her approval all seem to be things which Kure Kirika cannot function without. And on the other side of that love, there is Mikuni Oriko. Outside of the words she said to you during her grief spiral, she at least seems to have a more level head when it comes to their relationship, treating it more as an actual loving relationship, and less as the master-servant relationship that Kure Kirika treats it as.

    But, why is their relationship like this, and how did it get to this point?

    [ ] Ask her about it
    -[ ] Later
    [ ] Don't ask her about it

    You hear a content sigh leave Mikuni Oriko's mouth. Her smile is much more genuine now as she hands her empty cup back to you. "Thank you for the tea, Akemi-san. That was just what I needed."

    "I take it you're feeling better now?" you ask, taking the empty cup and packing in your things.

    "... Thank you, Akemi-san. You've been so kind to me, even though I don't deserve such kindness from you."

    "I'm not particularly trying to be kind to you, specifically. I'm just-"

    "Then be a good person! Be the person Madoka believes you to be! Because this isn't what Madoka would want you to do!"

    "-Trying to be the person Madoka would want me to be. That's all." Once you've packed everything away into your shield, you stand. Mikuni Oriko follows suit. "Well, we can talk about this later. Now that you're feeling refreshed, let's get back to work."

    "Right. Lead the way, Akemi-san."
    ​

    Once the two of you are up and at it again, finding the entrance to a labyrinth is easy enough. "I think I see something," Mikuni Oriko says, accompanying her words with an outstretched finger, pointing in the direction of a-

    Well, it's definitely a thing; a blue and teal tapir with multiple eyes, balancing precariously atop a round object, which it uses to ambulate rather than its legs. "I see it too. Definitely a familiar." You can't say that this is one which you recognize. That's probably not a good sign.

    If that weren't bad enough, it appears that the familiar has spotted you. With an alarmed shriek, it throws something in your direction, before racing off in the other direction. You barely have time to bring your shield up to defend yourself, but once you do, the thing shatters upon impact and falls to the ground.

    "Is that glass?" Mikuni Oriko asks, staring at the broken shards at your feet. You lean down, carefully picking up one of the shards.

    "No," you say, turning the broken shard over in your hand a few times. "It's... Part of a mirror."

    You aren't alone. Hovering in the air, just above your heads, are a number of shiny brass telescopes, with round bottoms decorated in smokestacks. Three of them stare at you with their single lens-eye. The entrance to the labyrinth lies dead ahead. "It looks like they want us to join them."

    [ ] Wat do?
    ​

    NEW
    Minor characters unlocked!
    ​
    ​
    Minions of the witch of mirrors (II). Their role is to monitor. They're security devices for the mirror mansion, but the mansion welcomes intruders and hooligans with open arms. No class distinctions exist amongst guests. These minions apparently reinforced their telescopic lenses in order to take more detailed pictures of guests who are far away. Thanks to that, they can launch greeting kisses at far-off guests too.​
    ​
    Minions of the witch of mirrors (IV). Their role is to send DMs. They patrol outside the barrier, and hand out invitations to the mirror mansion, "Mirrors." Though they throw potentially-lethal invitations at any puella magi they see, they genuinely do want to invite guests to the mansion. However, it's suspected that they think of dead guests as more convenient, since they're easier to carry.​
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] "I'm not the one you tried to kill. You can apologize to Madoka and Sayaka if you really mean it."
    [X] Ask her about it
    [X] Take this Witch encounter as a chance to field test you work on Isa by projecting your bow and experimenting with various freezing effects on this Labyrinth's familiars such as a creeping freeze effect over time or exploding out in one quick burst, or even creating emplacements of ice. Stay nearby Oriko for safety as both of you aren't the most durable Puella Magi and ask if Oriko wants to experiment in using Othala by carving it into the ground while they make their way through the Labyrinth. Use time-stop if necessary, either to avoid any particularly dangerous attacks the familiars may have or when you find the Witch (in which case you will just kill it in time-stop with your Isa arrows to make up for lost time).

    @SVS did we ever find out if Archer made any progress at all on using Tiwaz?
     
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    [ ] "I'm not the one you tried to kill. You can apologize to Madoka and Sayaka if you really mean it."

    I can only imagine Oriko apologizing to Sayaka going poorly:

    Sayaka: "Sorry!? You tried to fucking kill me! And you say your sorry!?" *slap*
    Kiriko: "REEEEEEEEE!!"

    Or some variation of the above.

    [x] "Then, I'll accept your apology."
    [x] Don't ask her about it
    [x] Take this Witch encounter as a chance to field test you work on Isa by projecting your bow and experimenting with various freezing effects on this Labyrinth's familiars such as a creeping freeze effect over time or exploding out in one quick burst, or even creating emplacements of ice. Stay nearby Oriko for safety as both of you aren't the most durable Puella Magi and ask if Oriko wants to experiment in using Othala by carving it into the ground while they make their way through the Labyrinth. Use time-stop if necessary, either to avoid any particularly dangerous attacks the familiars may have or when you find the Witch (in which case you will just kill it in time-stop with your Isa arrows to make up for lost time).
     
    Nachtigall said:
    Did Homura never, in all of the loops, hear the wording of Kirika's wish? Because if she did, there'd be no need to ask...
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    No, she has not.
    NMS said:
    I can only imagine Oriko apologizing to Sayaka going poorly:

    Sayaka: "Sorry!? You tried to fucking kill me! And you say you're sorry!?" *slap*
    Kirika: "REEEEEEEEE!!"

    Or some variation of the above.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Maybe a good slapping is exactly what both of them need?
     
    [x] "Then, I'll accept your apology."
    [x] Don't ask her about it
    [x] Take this Witch encounter as a chance to field test you work on Isa by projecting your bow and experimenting with various freezing effects on this Labyrinth's familiars such as a creeping freeze effect over time or exploding out in one quick burst, or even creating emplacements of ice. Stay nearby Oriko for safety as both of you aren't the most durable Puella Magi and ask if Oriko wants to experiment in using Othala by carving it into the ground while they make their way through the Labyrinth. Use time-stop if necessary, either to avoid any particularly dangerous attacks the familiars may have or when you find the Witch (in which case you will just kill it in time-stop with your Isa arrows to make up for lost time).
     
    Day 20 Chapter 18
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] NMS
    ​

    The entrance to the labyrinth lies dead ahead. "It looks like they want us to join them," you say, holding out your hand as you Project your bow.

    Taking aim at the nearest of the telescope familiars, you let your Isa-charged arrow fly. A thin trail of frost lingers behind as the arrow flies towards the target, erupting in a cloud of ice as the arrow makes contact. The familiar, something that is maybe three lengths of your head, is frozen solid in an instant."How useful," you say, turning your attention to the next familiar.

    Its lens flexes, focusing on you as it flashes from blue to purple. "Akemi-san, duck!" You barely have enough time to do as Mikuni Oriko says when a thin purple beam erupts from the familiar's lens. The place where it impacts is charred black, and the air around you smells burnt and chemical-y. Quickly, you retaliate, loosing your arrow at the familiar before it has a chance to fire again.

    You'll have the third familiar dealt with before it even has the chance to move. Time freezes, and you loose your third arrow, allowing time to resume just before the arrow reaches its target. The familiar never knew what hit it. That's three of three telescope familiars down, with the fourth - the tapir-looking familiar - having fled back into the labyrinth after shooting the mirror at you.

    "Neither of us is particularly durable," you say to Mikuni Oriko as you Project another arrow and position it at a low ready. "We should stick together once we're inside. Put up barriers at regular intervals so that we can attack and advance under the cover of a fortified position."

    "Right."

    Once you're inside, things take a turn for the different, in comparison to what you might have been expecting from the labyrinth of a witch. As you enter, the two of you are greeted by a third familiar, this one a living painting on an easel, with arms, legs, and - despite not appearing to have one - a mouth, as it tries to kiss you as you enter. You ignore it and press onwards, and while Mikuni Oriko suffers no dissimilar fate, her reaction to the familiar's affront is much more severe than yours.

    "What a repulsive thing," she says, tearing the unfortunate familiar to shreds with the blasts from several of her drones. "You aren't Kirika. How dare you try to kiss me like her."

    Free from any obtrusive elements attempting to assault you, you now have the luxury of taking stock of your surroundings. You appear to have entered the foyer of a mansion, where every surface is made of a reflective material of some sort. You can see yourself reflected in the hundreds of minute facets of every object you pass by. Strange, jelly-like things in the vague shape of people pass you by in the halls every so often as you and your partner delve deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of mirrors; and as they do not react with violence no matter what you do, eventually you take to experimenting on them with your ice arrows, seeing how quickly and how large of an area can be frozen at once.

    The results so far are promising, but you are unsure whether that reflects on your own abilities, or solely on their material composition.

    The journey through the labyrinth in long and tedious, with the reflective mansion sprawling out in ways no real building could possibly achieve. Doors and stairways lead to nothing, while hallways that shrink down in size open into expansive rooms. At times it even seems as though doorways open in on themselves, spitting you out into the very room you had just left. It is fortunate that your partner has the magic that she does, or else you are certain you would have easily become lost in this place.

    Eventually, you and your partner come upon a large set of doors, and upon opening them, are treated to a banquet hall. "Be careful, Akemi-san," Mikuni Oriko says to you. "The witch is inside this room, somewhere."

    You nod, saying "Yes, I can feel her too."

    Save for the strangely-coloured drink and alien foodstuffs lain out before you, everything in the hall is made of the same reflective material as is everything else in the mansion. Several iron maidens sit off to the side, steam rising from their central yellow "eye". One of them opens with a hiss, and a jelly-person is ejected out, shambling awkwardly towards the table, where it takes a seat among several other jelly-persons already seated and dining. Several of the tapir familiars from earlier scurry about, carrying on their backs food and drink, bringing out new food and taking away what has expired or been eaten. Discarded in the corner are a number of dead bodies, each with various parts missing and all looking to be in a rather ghastly condition.

    Oh, and somehow you and Mikuni Oriko are already seated at the head of the table. You and she are dining and conversing, making no distinction in conversation partner between yourselves, passing familiars, or the jelly-people seated at your sides. Even though the both of you are still standing in the doorway.

    [ ] Wat do?
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    NEW
    Minor characters unlocked!
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    Minions of the witch of mirrors (I). Their role is to monitor. They're security devices for the mirror mansion, but the mansion welcomes intruders and hooligans with open arms. They'll let guests through without any weapons checks or disease screening, so they're not used for surveillance so much as they're used to gather information to create replicas of guests. When they see a guest, they entreat them with a greeting kiss.​
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    Minions of the witch of mirrors (III). Their role is to make replicas. One of the many housekeepers within the mirror mansion. In addition to entreating guests with jelly humans that they produce within their exterior casing, they can also create high-quality replicas of guests. However, well-crafted replica guests take much more time to produce than jelly humans.​
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    The Mirror Witch whose nature is "seclusion". Because of its nature, the barrier consists of multiple overlapping layers. It is a cowardly witch who wants to quietly hide without collecting magical power from the murder of humans and magical girls, instead slightly absorbing the magical powers of the magical girls that enter its barrier. I will form a layer to protect myself. As the number of intruders increases, the structure of the barrier also becomes more complicated.​
     
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    • [jk] Immediately attack the clones. :)
     
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