[x] Spend time during the day with Lutecia.
- [x] Ask her about dimensional travel.
- [x] Ask her what she did yesterday and last night.
You start to stretch, then realize you'd probably tear the blankets and start worming your way out from under the bed. After another knock and query, the door opens and Homura walks in. You're almost halfway out by now, and you glower at her as she stares down at you, confusion on her face. She tilts her head to one side and opens her mouth, only to close it again.
"... There's some food downstairs if you want to join us," she finally says, and you start unraveling your cocoon.
"Yes, I heard you," you reply. "I'll be down in a minute." After a slow nod, Homura retreats, and after you replace the sheets and blanket, you follow her. Homura and Lutecia are in the dining room when you come down, already eating, and you step into the kitchen. Some tea is already waiting, and you smile at Agito as she looks up from putting her own plate together. "For me?"
"Yeah, since it was all you wanted yesterday, I figured you'd probably want some." She looks at the food again, then shrugs. "Anyway, take whatever you want, I guess." She nods at you before picking up her plate and flying out of the room. You pour a cup and pour a small bit of blood into it, stirring it with you finger for a moment. You look at what food is available - eggs, soup, a couple of the Japanese dishes you refused to learn the names of, some vegetables - and take one of the smaller plates. Interestingly, you don't find any chopsticks in the kitchen. When you return to the dining room, you pause for a moment as you take in the sight of Agito being human-sized instead of palm-sized, then shake your head and sit down in one of the chairs that's out of direct sunlight.
Breakfast is quite quiet, and it seems that Agito is the only one who wants to talk, since she keeps looking up at Lutecia, or at the doorway, and is generally fidgety. Homura, however, is the first to speak, after Lutecia returns from putting her plate back in the kitchen.
"Do you normally sleep under the bed?" Lutecia and Agito both stop and look at you as well, and you shake your head. After a moment spent waiting for any further elaboration on your part, Homura nods and starts to lean forward, then shakes her head and looks down at where her right arm used to be.
"... Is it alright if I use the library while we are here?" Homura frowns at Lutecia's question, and the younger magician shakes her head. "For magical work. If there is a problem, I can find another location." Homura shrugs.
"Nothing destructive," she says, and Lutecia nods. You sip your tea.
You followed Lutecia into the library after breakfast, curious about what she wanted to do. Unfortunately, it seems like she wasn't doing anything ... or at least, that whatever she was trying wasn't working. She would mutter to herself, the purple triangle would spring into being at her feet, and then - nothing. The triangle would fade after a few seconds, and she would start again. She tried that for a few hours, but now she's just standing there, and you frown.
"Hey, Lutecia?" She starts, then turns to look up at you. You push the ladder along its rail before continuing. "How do you travel between places where you come from? With magic, I mean." She takes a deep breath and sits down at the desk.
"... To travel between worlds requires the ability to translate between the world you're on and the dimension sea. The simplest way of actually travelling is to use a ship, although a mage can simply teleport from one world to another ... if he knows the coordinates of the world he's on, and the one he's trying to reach. That ... that is what I was trying to do. Retrieve coordinates, or at least locations, of the nearest world ... but ...." She lapses into silence and lowers her head.
"And you don't recognize any places nearby, huh?" You stretch, but Lutecia shakes her head.
"I can't find any other worlds," she says quietly, and you freeze, watching her. Her hands are clenched, and you see her trembling. You sigh to yourself, then drop silently next to her - she doesn't even realize you're there until you pull her into a hug, your head on her shoulder.
"Okay, so let's take a step back. Is the ... dimension sea, you said? Is that still there?" She shrugs helplessly.
"I can't tell. It ... it should be, but ...." She tries to lean forward, against the desk, but you let yourself sag a little, pulling her closer and rubbing your head against her cheek.
"Shhh. Can you tell if it's there without doing something that would take you there?" She shakes her head. "Hmm. 'Kay, how about something called 'imaginary space,' how would you get there?" She shakes her head.
"Imaginary space ... there's nothing there. Anything that falls into it is lost." You sigh.
"I don't know, we're not lost." You let her go when she tries to break free, and she stares at you incredulously. You shrug. "That grey space we fell through? I've been through it before, when I first left this world and went to yours, and everyone said there was some kind of 'imaginary space overlay' in the area I came out in. So, maybe that grey space is imaginary space. And since the portals from the library are there ...." You trail off as Lutecia begins nodding in understanding. Then she slumps again.
"Deliberately opening a rift to imaginary space from a real world instead of the dimension sea ... might be possible, but it would take a lot of power. More than I have. Maybe if I had ...." She closes her eyes, and you hug her again, sighing to yourself.
"So make something to store extra magic until you need it. Or find something with enough power that you can use it to help you break through." She nods. "But that can wait! I'm bored, and magic's boring, so let's play a game!" You pick her up and jump up to the second floor, then fly through the house to the main room, where you find the other two residents. You swing Lutecia to her feet as they stare at you, then make a declaration. "We are going to play hide-and-seek!"
Over the next forty-five minutes, you find out a terrible fact about your housemates: They are all terrible at hide-and-seek. Even Agito, and she's so tiny it shouldn't be fair. But she still can't hide properly. She says it's because she used to serve a knight, and knights don't hide; you think she's just trying to come up with a reasonable-sounding excuse, because knights certainly know how to ambush, and you have to hide to ambush. Still, Lutecia seems to be in a better mood - at least, she's not being depressed anymore.
You turn your head to look at her; she's back to studying the pictures on the wall in Homura's main room. Homura herself vanished into her room once you released her from your game, and Agito is cleaning up from the light meal she made.
"So what did you do yesterday?" Lutecia looks back at you and shrugs.
"I was trying to learn what these were about, but I can't read them. Homura spent some time teaching us some of the languages that she understands, but she decided it was simpler to just tell us what the texts are saying. She's spent a lot of time trying to learn about this 'Walpurgisnacht,' and these documents relate to her research." You glance at the pictures, but can't be bothered to try and read the words. Oh, but you and Lutecia can teach each other languages! That could be fun ... well, probably not, but it's something you could do.
"Huh. Was that all during the day?" She nods.
"Yeah, and after you guys left we talked with that white thing." Agito floats through the open door with a couple of apples that she offers to the two of you. You both accept. "Well, kind of talked. It only talks with telepathy, and it seems like it couldn't talk with me or you. It was pretty curious about us, but we spent most of the time trying to figure out that weird 'magical girl' system. It's ... pretty weird." She shivers, and you spin around so you're on your back with your head hanging off the couch, looking at them as you eat.
"Do you want to become a 'magical girl'?" Lutecia frowns.
"I ... may not. It said I do have the potential to be very powerful, but ... I would rather wait until I have no other options open." You nod, then look over at Agito.
"So what's 'pretty weird' about the system?" She grimaces and looks over at Lutecia before sighing.
"Okay, so the whole 'make a wish, become a magical girl, eventually turn into a monster' thing? That's the system working as intended, and they deliberately target kids, and the end goal of the scheme is to prevent the heat death of the universe." You stare at her, and she waves her hands excitedly. "Look, that's what it said. I think the whole idea's nuts, but ...." You hold the apple in your mouth and pull out Kyouko's Soul Gem and one of the Grief Seeds. "Yeah, apparently the transformation into a Witch releases a lot of energy, and the thing's kind harvest that energy. Basically getting free energy. ... And they're perfectly willing to tell you all this if you ask, which is the most insane part of it! They just make no sense ...." You put away the Soul Gem and Grief Seed and go back to eating your apple. After a few moments, you shrug. It's not something of consequence to you, after all.
"And then what?" Agito stares at you, and you shake your head. "No, I mean after you finished talking to the Kyubey thing, what did you do?" Agito keeps staring at you, then throws her hands up and turns around. Lutecia pats her shoulder.
"Then we went to sleep. Homura already told us about your night." You nod, then look at your apple core. Maybe you could reach a trash can from here ....
What do you do tonight?
[ ] Stay home.
- [ ] Come up with games that everyone won't be terrible at.
- [ ] Try to make a bomb-type spell card.
- [ ] Try to modify a spell card for Lutecia.
- [ ] Other?
[ ] Go out.
- [ ] Hunt for Witches.
- - Solitary or with someone?
- [ ] Poke Kazamino.
- [ ] Go wreck a neighborhood (outside Mitakihara and Kazamino).
- [ ] Explore/Wander.
- [ ] Other?
