In the Name of Love and Hatred! [PMMM / LoR]
- Thread starter Naron
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- Earth
I can understand that. Unfortunately, there was never really a point to really bring them up so far. I did want to make Ai compare Yuma and Courage at one point, but conversation went into a different direction and it did not happen.
Not to mention, if I had given Ai one or two of the other Abnormality MGs, she would have had a power block that can simply waltz over any problem (read, Mami) through beating it into the ground. Not to mention that due to the particulars of why all of these events happened in the first place, bringing over another one would have been... weird.
I mean it's a wonder that Ai's so coherent in this. She was always the best of them, but she was never all there. The other girls are decidedly less there. In point of fact I'd place them more like antagonists than aids. I mean Greed's comatose unless she's playing pacman, Despair likes being a living pincushion, and Wrath's screaming 'Die!' all the time.
An arch to not so much snag, but try to help one of them wouldn't be amiss I'd think? I'd like to see it at least.
So, now that the vote is done, I think it's a good time to point out that I find the phrasing is suspect and I think there is a chance of spontaneous wish granting happening, maybe with Madoka becoming our brand of magical girl?
I have to admit, I was also hoping for the other magical girls to appear at some point. Well, they can still appear once we reach the library, maybe?
- Location
- Earth
Back before I started this Quest, I was talking to a friend about Ruina. We realised that several Abnormalities seemed to gain actual character development during the Floor Realisations. The MG quartet especially was among those. This spawned the premise for this Quest to begin with; of an Abnormality breaking out of their character's mold. Hence why Love, now Ai, was more coherent than she might otherwise be. From there she clawed herself to actual change.
Unfortunately, at the same time I can not just dedicate an arc to doing the same with another of the MGs. That feels somewhat dishonest to them. Such growth for a being that is not supposed to change requires more than that. I would like to see it too, but I feel I ought to dedicate a proper Quest to any of the others. Whether I can invest myself in another one after this one however, I do not know. Neither do I have any idea where to put it, even if I do want to.
Well, maybe someone else has one and gives one of the girls her time in the spotlight? Would be nice.
The moment Witches came into the equation, there was no Madokami. If she existed, Ai would have had this adventure fighting Demons.
If the current Madoka made a wish similar in nature to the one she makes in canon, Madokami could come to exist. But as it is, chances are she never will make a contract with Kyubey. Maybe if Homura is forced to loop again?
Last edited:
I can't actually see Madoka wishing for the Witches no existence here even if she force to do a wish
Because here she can see how they can be peaceful and have their own minds
Because here she can see how they can be peaceful and have their own minds
While I would like to see it too, most of my personal ideas for things I'd like to run are about playing as
Also, I really don't think I have the skills to write a quest.
Too many ideas, for one, just currently, I have ideas about:
-A PMMM Witch Quest where witch kiss are an automatic thing, meaning you don't have a choice about killing people, it just happens around you, and the PC has actual non-human psychology.
-A variation of the previous where you are in Worm because you fled from Madokami to a place she can't reach.
-A Claymore awakened quest, where, you guessed it, there is no such thing as *eating Yumas* or *going on a diet*, you have to kill people and eat them, you see them as food, and the only reason you aren't eating everyone is because you might get the other Abyssals on your ass, oh, yeah, you would also be an Abyssal level awakened, though not one officially, kinda like the lazy one at the end of Claymore and your character would really not want to use all her power so as to not paint a target on herself (and probably because it's too tiring), or because you don't have enough staying power, tweaking would be needed.
-A Worm Quest where you are a Trump/Tinker that gains temporary *spells* via *rituals*, where the rituals' results are decided by things like: How funny I find them. How crazy, awesome or crazy awesome they are. And their thematic, including plays on words and allegories (Yes, you can scry the future in a Operations game entrails, why not?). Also, you are a young girl (around 10) that don't understand the world completely and is the daughter of Mannequin that survived in suspended animation for some time before being released in BB years later (meaning people don't know who you are) and you got adopted *completely randomly* by a couple that is incredibly fearful about the Simurgh, leading to the trigger due to stressful environment for a long period of time (Tinker), and the cause being Parahman adjacent: What if they discovered who your father is? What if they're right and every person who got too close to the Simurgh is a monster, including you? Ect, ect (leading to Trump), with your first *tutorial* ritual being about a way to remove the Simurgh influence (and the MC being an armed Simurgh Bomb if it fails, though I would help to reduce the chances of it happening).
-Said Idea about a ALEPH Abno ending up in another universe, probably RWBY or Worm, maybe as Louise's familiar in Familiar of Zero.
-A Worm/*Sorta Bloodborne* *Crossover* where you are an original great one that decide to adopt someone in BB, with the first update written in such a way as to make it seems like you're helping Taylor (Talking about a trio that sort of map to Taylor's Trio, references to the child being trapped in a *cage* when you intervene, making sure to point out said child is an adolescent girl...), then the second update begins with the words "Dinah Alcott was not having a good day"
(This one is a personal ode to my hate for the trend of making every fucking fics about Taylor even if they have to make her so much of a TINO they would've been better off with an OC, though the previous tinker idea was also partially due to the existence of the fic *Not just a Doll* and the fact that it has this problem, that's why the MC is Mannequin's daughter.)
Last edited:
- Location
- Germany
Yeah, that's fair. At some point I had an idea for an alternate way the abnormality and soul gem/magical girl interaction could be handeled that harkens back to the monster management aspects of the franchise, but at this point there's probably enough PM/PMMM crossovers to last us for a while. It's not as easy as plopping any of them down into another magical girl setting either. Ideally you'd have more thematic linking than that. (At least I assume the setting is what you're reffering to?)
Huh. Actually, now I'm thinking about the King of Greed in Soul Eater. I haven't thought about that series in a while, much less reread it to see if it holds up, but I can see it work. The eating souls part is a match, there's already a theme of struggling with madness and soul resonance could be used as somewhat of an analogue to E.G.O. and synchronisation.
Although, it's not like there's a paticulary high chance of me coming around to running that quest anyway.
I mean another interesting idea would be a Abnormality on Persona
Because how well they fit on there
With Shadows, God's and Personas
Because how well they fit on there
With Shadows, God's and Personas
- Location
- Earth
You summarised it pretty well. And yes, I mainly meant the other side of the cross. Another issue lies in finding a conflict or plot to properly interlink with whichever of the MGs goes there.
I think Persona's too complicated for most authors, especially if you begin to take into account it's ties with shin megami tensei, which is in the same multiverse. It has similarities between Persona's and Abnomalities, but the differences might break a crossover.
Put Wrath in Worm, instant reaction to the level of injustice, put Despair as a familiar in Familiar of Zero, *Must Protect Master* is in full effect, put King of greed in a casino... Wait, no, wrong one, put King of greed in actually I don't really know what would work for her, as someone said, she don't really tend to move unless it's to play pacman... Wait, I know, put her in fate/zero, in front of Gilgamesh, instant *MINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINE* for the gates of babylons.
- Location
- Germany
Funnily enough, my first reaction was "Oh yeah, the magical girls have an arcana theme going on, don't they? So that series would actually be a pretty good match." For the sake of a Quest, the closest thing to an Abnormality would probably be something like Teddie, a shadow that has the potential to develop their own ego/Persona, just like how Ai turned the Queen of Hatred into her stand. It all fits. Also, at this point, I'm pretty sure the larger SMT universe can be ignored when working within Persona's setting.
On the one hand, the friendship theme could give the Servant of Wrath something to work with. On the other hand, if we want to go for the full set, the Jester of Nihil does partially represent the Fool Arcana, so that would neatly fit with modern Persona.
To step outside of the anime sphere a bit, I can actually see some parallels between the Knight of Despair and a Windrunner from the Stormlight Archives, specifically one struggling with the fourth ideal. Just, struggling very badly. Although, that setting is too rigid to just drop a foreign element in there.
41. Breaking the Cycle
- Location
- Earth
Accept her wish
In the end, any reason to say no is outweighed. Ai does not quite know how to convey her agreement when Madoka is still bowing so deep, though. If they were not seated, the pinkette may very well be on the floor.
In the end, she decides to do it simple: "Okay."
A twitch goes through Madoka and she looks up, beaming. "Really?!"
"Really really." Ai smirks, popping a fry into her mouth. "Now eat up. The rest can wait until later."
The girls finish their meal in companionable silence. Madoka's thoughtful expression never quite wavers, though she holds back her musings until they are done. "I think I need to tell my family about this, all this, too," is the first sentence out of her mouth. Seeing Ai's curiousity, she elaborates: "I never really brought it up, but Mama and Papa deserve to know. Especially if I go to another world to study, you know? And what I will do about school, or university."
The more she speaks, the less certain Madoka becomes. She scratches her neck with an embarassed giggle. "I guess I need to put some more thought into all of this. But before I do that, I want to tell them. Probably tonight, once Mama comes home."
"If your parents are at all like Reiji and Saki, they may need some convincing." Ai still remembers how wary they were before she threw caution to the wind. Never once has she had less regrets about anything. "I can come with and provide some, er, examples. If you want?"
"Oh, you would? Thank you so much!"
When the others hear about Madoka's plan to let her family in on the masquerade, there is no real opposition. Hitomi notes that she will inform her parents not to wait for Ai, Sayaka jokes that she ought to do the same with her family. Mami, Kyoko, Homura, and Yuma all keep their silence on the matter. Ai promptly hugs every single one of them; the other girls follow her example.
She soon proceeds to walk Madoka home, to be introduced to her father. Tomohisa Kaname is a mild-mannered and gentle man, greeting Ai with a smile. He is bemused when Madoka insists she has something to tell both her parents and that she wants Ai around for that. The magical girl has a guess what his knowing smile means, though. "No, I'm not dating Madoka."
"Bwuh?"
The pinkette keeps making confused noises while her father chuckles. "That obvious, was I?"
"Kind of? Reiji and Saki do the same thing to Hitomi recently." Ai shrugs faintly. "I guess parents like teasing their daughters about these things? Then again, it is kind of funny." She nods to Madoka, whose face now resembles a tomato. Tomohisa chuckles again. The little toddler stabbing his food with great enthusiasm giggles along, too.
"Come on, stop it!"
Ai blows her friend a raspberry, then busies herself with dinner. It is much different from what she got used to; the Shizukis prefer 'traditional' dishes, or so Tomohisa explained earlier. He himself likes to make all kinds from around the world. They are wonderful!
By the time she devoured her third helping, Ai is confronted by two concerned Kanames. Neither of them says anything when she throws them a beaming smile and thanks for the food. Tomohisa shakes his head good-naturedly. "Well, that is certainly a compliment. Neither Madoka nor Junko are heavy eaters. At least not normally," he adds with a glance to little Tatsuya.
Once he is done tucking in the toddler, the three of them sit together in the living room to wait for Junko Kaname. Madoka produced a pack of playing cards, which they make use of to pass time.
"I admit I am still curious," Tomohisa admits after a few rounds and some banter. "Madoka only started talking about you a few weeks ago. A friend Hitomi introduced. And suddenly you have some sort of big news, but apparently not that you are a couple. It is a little odd, no?"
"Kind of," Ai agrees readily while discarding a card. She folds them together to place in her lap, eyeing Tomohisa. "It's not that she needs me here for what she wants to talk about, but it's pretty crazy. You probably wouldn't believe it without me around for proof."
As if on cue, the front door opens. Madoka perks up and darts away; her hand of cards flutters to the ground. Tomohisa glances to the clock with an arched eyebrow. "Talk about luck," he murmurs. "She's home early today." But when he makes to pick up Madoka's cards, Ai bids him to leave them be.
Moments later, Madoka returns. She chatters exctiedly at an amused woman following in her wake. Ai has a moment to study Junko Kaname, who is about even in height with herself. She dresses smartly in a dark jacket and miniskirt. Where Madoka's hair is bright, bubblegum pink, Junko's is closer to lavender. Same as her eyes, who home in on Ai about as soon as she enters the room. "Oh my," she interrupts her daughter with a familiar sort of delight. "Just a few weeks ago you wanted a love letter, now you bring home a girl? That's my daughter!"
"Mama!"
She shakes off her jacket, laughing all the while. Tomohisa takes it and her bag to take them away. "They say it's not that," he informs his wife in passing. Junko's brow arches in response.
"Hm. Odd. Come to think of it, I thought we said no sleepovers during the week?"
"Not that, either. I can drive Ai home if it gets too late."
Ai huffs at that. Madoka giggles as well, reversing the earlier situation. "Don't worry, Ai is perfectly safe."
Junko shakes her head before either of them can elaborate. "I know you feel invincible at your age, but you really shouldn't risk these things. Especially with the recent murders and disappearances, I won't risk anyone being out late at night."
Ai does not feel particularly happy to hear that. Mainly for the reminder. The Kanames relocate into the kitchen so Junko can have a belated dinner. Ai follows after gathering the playing cards with an absent flick of her wrist. She sits down opposite Madoka's parents. Next to her friend, who is just as skittish now.
"Um, about that," the pinkette starts. "What I wanted to tell you is... kind of related? There is really no easy way to say it. But." She leaves a pause for Junko to finish chewing. "Magic is real. Ai is a Magical Girl. And if I wanted to, I could become one, too."
The fork pauses halfway to her mother's mouth. Junko and Tomohisa both study first her daughter, then Ai. She helpfully levitates the salt to Junko. Then she makes the water pitcher dance around without losing a single drop. And to finish it off, she levitates herself and the chair she sits on upside-down. Junko slowly lowers the fork and turns to her husband, who is staring owlishly. "No, we didn't set up anything in here," he answers the unspoken question. Ai wordlessly floats upward until the chair's legs click against the ceiling. Her hair flutters this way and that.
"I did say you would have a hard time believing this without me here. Do you want me to come down again?"
"Yes, please." Junko frowns at the salt shaker as if it offended her lineage. Then she shakes her head. "Okay, magic. Is that why you feel safe going out alone?"
"Technically, I teleport around to save time." Ai barely manages to bite down on the fact she is the one who murdered all these people. As much as she feels the need to admit her guilt, that is not a good subject to broach here. She shrugs when both elder Kanames look at her again. "I can do a lot of things."
Leaving it at that, Ai glances to Madoka. Her friend takes over from there and recounts the events of the past few weeks. At least from her perspective; meeting Homura for the first time, being caught by a Witch in the mall. Meeting Mami and being scouted, Kyubey. The outing with Ai at the hospital and the fight with Sayaka. Hitomi's short-lived split with her friends, the confrontation with Mami and Sayaka. Ai holds back from filling in the blanks; the details are not relevant right now. Madoka already talks too much about them either way. In the end, she brings up the important bits: that local Magical Girls will turn into the Witches they fight and that Madoka can thus not contract. She keeps quiet about Homura's time travel and the events on that fateful Sunday. Ai being from another world, she does go into. E.G.O. and Abnormalities, as well as her desire to obtain her own. To truly learn magic on her own merit. She develops real passion by that point.
When the diminutive girl finally falls silent, Ai passes her a glass of water. She gulps it down gratefully while her mother sighs. "What am I supposed to say here?" Junko grouses playfully. "I already hate the idea of you studying abroad, this is even worse. But this is also the most motivated I have ever seen you."
"I agree," Tomohisa adds softly. "You definitely put a lot of thought into this. I am still not sure what to think of this Kyubey making what amounts to child soldiers. Magical Girl stories may be inspired by the real deal, but still."
Seeing that Madoka can not answer that, Ai takes over: "From what Kyubey told me, teenage girls have the highest emotional power. On average, they were insistent on that. But they aren't picky; anyone with enough emotional power and the potential is offered a contract. Like, if you look at your history and all the powerful heroes and such? Chances are most of them were contractees of theirs."
"Still doesn't excuse this," Junko retorts. She shakes her head. "Children do not deserve something like this."
Knowing a losing battle when she sees one, Ai relents. Junko is not even wrong.
"Anyway," Tomohisa chimes into the silence that follows. "From how you told it, you don't know yet if Ai can even go back to her world, yes?" He still looks befuddled to even say these words, but carries on regardless: "So things will go on as normal for now?"
"Yep. After Walpurgis, at least. And no, I am not leaving my friends to fight her alone."
Junko laughs at that. "I wasn't even thinking of it," she assures her daughter. The food is long since gone, too. Now she nurses a glass of alcohol, much like her husband. He brought it out a few minutes into the tale. Now Junko strokes her chin in thought. "But magic. With actual magic, the whole world may turn on its head. I wonder what I could make of that. Say, my dear daughter: would you teach me some, too?"
"Of course!" Madoka giggles and leans forward with a conspiratorial whisper. "And then we can take over the world."
"Please do not become tyrants," Ai quips. "I would be morally obligated to fight you. Or at least constantly nag you about not being bad people."
The entire Kaname family laughs at that. It is an odd sort of tranquility in the night, but not one Ai dislikes. After answering some more questions and accepting a drink from Junko upon learning Ai is effectly ageless and thus an adult, she teleports away. Both to save time and as a final demonstration. Neither Junko nor Tomohisa will go to bed entirely sober.
Tuesday goes by swiftly after that, as does Wednesday. Time runs through her fingers like sand while everyone prepares. Tension rises constantly. The feeling of alienation grows stronger, too; Ai just knows something will happen soon. On Thursday, finally, it all grows palpable when Reiji calls her into the living room. He wordlessly points at the emergency news broadcast, talking about the spontaneous forming of a supercell.
Walpurgis will hit Mitakihara on Thursday. Not even twenty-four hours of warning. Two days early.
Ai stares in shock and befuddlement. This makes no sense. Homura never so much as mentioned a change. Walpurgis always arrives at the thirtieth. Ai immediately messages those of her friends who have phones, then teleports to Kazamino to let Kyoko and Yuma know. Their emergency meeting at the Shizuki residence turns up nothing, though; Homura is deeply confused and worried, just like everyone else.
In the end, Saki shoos them all to bed. "Nothing you can do about it now," she reasons with the group. "Just get a good night's sleep and ready yourselves."
She has a point. Much to everyones' surprise, they do sleep well enough. Only to wake up to a splintered sky.
"Oh what now!" Kyoko shouts once Mami informs everyone of what she found when looking out the window. They stare at the fine, purple lines running across the sky like cobwebs. "Where did that come from?!"
"Maybe it is related to Walpurgis' being early?" Hitomi reasons. "We should investigate while there is still time. Having to contend with whatever this is in addition can not end well."
Everyone else agrees, but Ai remains quiet. She stares at the lines running across Mitakihara. People can see them everywhere. They are stumped, as are their specialists. Even Kyubey can not help beyond pointing them in a specific direction: toward the center of town, near the channel. Right where that same anomaly is located. So they run out there to investigate, undisturbed for the most part. Evacuation is more on peoples' minds than strange phenomena.
Once outside, Ai feels something draw her in the direction Kyubey already gave. The other magical girls feel a similar draw. Her anxiety grows rapidly as they near the epicenter. Once they find the spot, Ai can barely breathe. An artificial glade overlooking the channel. Freshly trimmed, but dull under the overcast sky.
"This is where I woke up," she whispers. "Right there. Did, did I do that?"
"Of course not," Madoka says.
Only when everyone turns her way, the pinkette is confused. She slowly shakes her head, almost dislodging Kyubey on her shoulder. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't say that."
"But it sounded just like you," Sayaka argues. Kyoko nods along, as does Ai. Madoka is more than a little confused.
At least until a familiar giggle sounds. Everyone tenses. Madoka jumps in surprise when her shadow rises. It elongates into a dark, neatly dressed figure. The Jester's cap jiggles softly as he... she? Beholds the group. "At last," they say in Madoka's voice.
"Jester?" Ai can not help but ask. She is so confused right now. "I thought you were a boy! Or, I mean, you never said anything!"
She tilts her head at Ai, rotating it halfway until her smile seems like a frown. "I am but a jester," she explains sagely. "What did it matter in the past? Now we stand at the precipice. It is time this cycle comes to an end. I waited so, so long for it. Everything has fallen into place."
"How do you mean?" Ai inquires. Somehow, she took center stage. The other girls formed up behind her, but nobody acts just yet. "What cycle?"
Jester giggles again. Everyones' shadows grow longer with the sound. "Did you know that dear Homura can only travel back in time once the sand in her hourglass runs through?" The time traveler stiffens, clutching her buckler on reflex. Jester's smile grows a fraction as she explains: "Right now, she can merely stop it, not reverse. This endless and cruel repetition will end today."
Everyone tenses with the clear implication. Jester studies them, foregoing any attempt to strike first. She does not even emit her weakening aura. After everything and seeing this, Ai does not want to fight. She could not bear attacking another she slowly came to see as... if not a friend, then someone nice. "But why?" she demands. "This cycle is about to end anyway! And why... wait. Are you Walpurgis? Or something? Did you call her?" Her non-sequitur causes some confusion, but Jester's chuckle disperses it.
"Not at all. The one you call Walpurgis is simply the stage-constructing Witch. She comes to hold a play for the ages and goes with the curtain call. All are but puppets upon her stage, the schedule her own. Except today, she comes to behold the conclusion of a tale eons in the making. Of course she comes." Jester giggles again and leans forward, her face directly in front of Ai's. Pink embers gleam in her empty eye sockets. "Don't you want to know what brought you here?"
"Oh come on, stop it with the all-knowing spiel!" Kyoko heckles. "If you start like this, it was you!"
"Dead wrong!" Jester cheers. Her long arm reaches over Ai to pat Kyoko's head, but blue currents spark from her headband. Jester's hand retracts, though her mirth does not abate in the slightest. "And completely right!" she finishes with a theatrical bow. A single hand rises up to perform a viscerally loud snap.
The lattice of tears in reality pulses and a voice echoes from it. Once again a familiar voice: "I wish there was someone strong enough to save Mitakihara! If they exist out there somewhere, bring them here!"
Madoka stands in abject confusion as her own wish reverberates around her. "I did that?" she asks, dumbfounded. "Me?"
"Indeed! And now to break the cycle once and for all!"
Jester rears back, but this time Yuma stops her. "But this is dumb!" she shouts at the primal being, who hesitates. "Why do you tell us? What stupid cycle is this?! Why can't we just get along like before?"
Her outburst leaves a moment of silence while Jester studies her. Then she answers: "I tell you because you deserve to know your beginning. I tell you because I want you to submit, not fight." Her presence begins to assert itself with these words. Ai feels faint, limbs heavier and heavier. The girls around her cry out in distress, unable to lift their arms or legs.
"That aside... all is cycles, my dear Magical Girl. Cycles upon cycles within cycles over cycles under cycles." Jester giggles hysterically, unaware or uncaring of their plight. "I half remember being destroyed long ago. Wandering endlessly along the cosmos, no longer able to feel anything. Until I found you." She points at Ai, who stills in surprise. "You and yours, and this awful, awful city. I found Lobotomy Corporation, Ayin, Angela, Carmen. And yet, it was once again cycles. Endless, futile repetition. Only it was not. The cycle was broken in the end. Ten thousand years of pain, a million for poor Angela who clawed her way to sapience along the way. They taught me that a cycle can be broken. Then came Roland and he reminded me what it is like to feel. Anguish, hatred, grief, despair, and so many more.
"So here I stand today. At the beginning and the end of my own cycle. At the end of yours. That is still what I am, the nothing that precedes the beginning and follows the end. A Jester, eternally laughing at the misery that is existence. I could not want anything anymore, could not believe in anything anymore. Thanks to your efforts, I can finally follow my final desire. To remember me."
As she speaks, Jester takes off the ground. She flutters up into the sky, an almost physical pink light coating her. Her eyes are now blazing suns. Strands of light connect her to the sky.
"Yes. Yes. Heed my word, Magical Girl of Love! Ai! I am, once and forever, Kriemhild Gretchen! The Witch of Salvation! Let my volition be truth and paradise come forth by my hand!"
The sky ruptures on her final word. Endless black covers Mitakihara and the world shifts. A barrier establishes itself; a singular, giant stage of light under a purple sky. Parades of familiars march past, led by green elephants. Above them materialises a gear with a mannequin stuck to its center, upside down. Walpurgis greets them with laughter, only to be drowned in living shadow. An even larger Witch pours from the rift behind, extinguishing the stage-constructing Witch. Her power is palpable. Ai can feel every beat of her eldritch heart pulsing through the barrier like a physical force.
Jester's head turns away. Instead of the group of girls at her mercy, she now looks straight at you. "Tell her to submit," she requests kindly. "I do not want to hurt them any more. Let me give them peace."
Down below, Kyoko falls to her knees and begins to pray.
"What are you doing?!" Sayaka shouts, even though she is barely on her feet. When she tries to pull Kyoko up, the redhead pushes her back with wild eyes.
"What does it look like, huh?! How do we fight that?!" She waves for the manifesting form of Kriemhild Gretchen. The Witch of Salvation studies them cautiously. She followed Homura to this reality, now she waits for the group to cease their struggles. Kyoko sniffles, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm doing the only thing I've got left!"
And with these desperate words, she returns to her prayer. No one interrupts her again. No one has the strength to do so. Mami weakly raises a single musket. Homura is deathly pale. Hitomi stands in front of Madoka, futile as the gesture may be.
Ai looks around fearfully. This is not a battle against the odds. It is straight-up impossible. Unless Madoka makes her wish and dooms them anyway, they will fall here. Kriemhild will destroy all human life on Earth and Homura with it. No more time travel. No second chance. It's over.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4
Jester gained a trait!
The Eye Embracing the Past, Building the Future
[] Surrender
weight: x1.5
[] Call for help
weight: x1
[] Fight, no matter what!
-[] write-in a plan?
weight: x0.75
No write-ins outside of battle plans.
We have a 12-hour Moratorium
Awakened Jester, Kriemhild Gretchen
Threat Rating: ALEPH
Threat Assessment: But what is a queen before a goddess? You can not win.
In the end, any reason to say no is outweighed. Ai does not quite know how to convey her agreement when Madoka is still bowing so deep, though. If they were not seated, the pinkette may very well be on the floor.
In the end, she decides to do it simple: "Okay."
A twitch goes through Madoka and she looks up, beaming. "Really?!"
"Really really." Ai smirks, popping a fry into her mouth. "Now eat up. The rest can wait until later."
The girls finish their meal in companionable silence. Madoka's thoughtful expression never quite wavers, though she holds back her musings until they are done. "I think I need to tell my family about this, all this, too," is the first sentence out of her mouth. Seeing Ai's curiousity, she elaborates: "I never really brought it up, but Mama and Papa deserve to know. Especially if I go to another world to study, you know? And what I will do about school, or university."
The more she speaks, the less certain Madoka becomes. She scratches her neck with an embarassed giggle. "I guess I need to put some more thought into all of this. But before I do that, I want to tell them. Probably tonight, once Mama comes home."
"If your parents are at all like Reiji and Saki, they may need some convincing." Ai still remembers how wary they were before she threw caution to the wind. Never once has she had less regrets about anything. "I can come with and provide some, er, examples. If you want?"
"Oh, you would? Thank you so much!"
When the others hear about Madoka's plan to let her family in on the masquerade, there is no real opposition. Hitomi notes that she will inform her parents not to wait for Ai, Sayaka jokes that she ought to do the same with her family. Mami, Kyoko, Homura, and Yuma all keep their silence on the matter. Ai promptly hugs every single one of them; the other girls follow her example.
She soon proceeds to walk Madoka home, to be introduced to her father. Tomohisa Kaname is a mild-mannered and gentle man, greeting Ai with a smile. He is bemused when Madoka insists she has something to tell both her parents and that she wants Ai around for that. The magical girl has a guess what his knowing smile means, though. "No, I'm not dating Madoka."
"Bwuh?"
The pinkette keeps making confused noises while her father chuckles. "That obvious, was I?"
"Kind of? Reiji and Saki do the same thing to Hitomi recently." Ai shrugs faintly. "I guess parents like teasing their daughters about these things? Then again, it is kind of funny." She nods to Madoka, whose face now resembles a tomato. Tomohisa chuckles again. The little toddler stabbing his food with great enthusiasm giggles along, too.
"Come on, stop it!"
Ai blows her friend a raspberry, then busies herself with dinner. It is much different from what she got used to; the Shizukis prefer 'traditional' dishes, or so Tomohisa explained earlier. He himself likes to make all kinds from around the world. They are wonderful!
By the time she devoured her third helping, Ai is confronted by two concerned Kanames. Neither of them says anything when she throws them a beaming smile and thanks for the food. Tomohisa shakes his head good-naturedly. "Well, that is certainly a compliment. Neither Madoka nor Junko are heavy eaters. At least not normally," he adds with a glance to little Tatsuya.
Once he is done tucking in the toddler, the three of them sit together in the living room to wait for Junko Kaname. Madoka produced a pack of playing cards, which they make use of to pass time.
"I admit I am still curious," Tomohisa admits after a few rounds and some banter. "Madoka only started talking about you a few weeks ago. A friend Hitomi introduced. And suddenly you have some sort of big news, but apparently not that you are a couple. It is a little odd, no?"
"Kind of," Ai agrees readily while discarding a card. She folds them together to place in her lap, eyeing Tomohisa. "It's not that she needs me here for what she wants to talk about, but it's pretty crazy. You probably wouldn't believe it without me around for proof."
As if on cue, the front door opens. Madoka perks up and darts away; her hand of cards flutters to the ground. Tomohisa glances to the clock with an arched eyebrow. "Talk about luck," he murmurs. "She's home early today." But when he makes to pick up Madoka's cards, Ai bids him to leave them be.
Moments later, Madoka returns. She chatters exctiedly at an amused woman following in her wake. Ai has a moment to study Junko Kaname, who is about even in height with herself. She dresses smartly in a dark jacket and miniskirt. Where Madoka's hair is bright, bubblegum pink, Junko's is closer to lavender. Same as her eyes, who home in on Ai about as soon as she enters the room. "Oh my," she interrupts her daughter with a familiar sort of delight. "Just a few weeks ago you wanted a love letter, now you bring home a girl? That's my daughter!"
"Mama!"
She shakes off her jacket, laughing all the while. Tomohisa takes it and her bag to take them away. "They say it's not that," he informs his wife in passing. Junko's brow arches in response.
"Hm. Odd. Come to think of it, I thought we said no sleepovers during the week?"
"Not that, either. I can drive Ai home if it gets too late."
Ai huffs at that. Madoka giggles as well, reversing the earlier situation. "Don't worry, Ai is perfectly safe."
Junko shakes her head before either of them can elaborate. "I know you feel invincible at your age, but you really shouldn't risk these things. Especially with the recent murders and disappearances, I won't risk anyone being out late at night."
Ai does not feel particularly happy to hear that. Mainly for the reminder. The Kanames relocate into the kitchen so Junko can have a belated dinner. Ai follows after gathering the playing cards with an absent flick of her wrist. She sits down opposite Madoka's parents. Next to her friend, who is just as skittish now.
"Um, about that," the pinkette starts. "What I wanted to tell you is... kind of related? There is really no easy way to say it. But." She leaves a pause for Junko to finish chewing. "Magic is real. Ai is a Magical Girl. And if I wanted to, I could become one, too."
The fork pauses halfway to her mother's mouth. Junko and Tomohisa both study first her daughter, then Ai. She helpfully levitates the salt to Junko. Then she makes the water pitcher dance around without losing a single drop. And to finish it off, she levitates herself and the chair she sits on upside-down. Junko slowly lowers the fork and turns to her husband, who is staring owlishly. "No, we didn't set up anything in here," he answers the unspoken question. Ai wordlessly floats upward until the chair's legs click against the ceiling. Her hair flutters this way and that.
"I did say you would have a hard time believing this without me here. Do you want me to come down again?"
"Yes, please." Junko frowns at the salt shaker as if it offended her lineage. Then she shakes her head. "Okay, magic. Is that why you feel safe going out alone?"
"Technically, I teleport around to save time." Ai barely manages to bite down on the fact she is the one who murdered all these people. As much as she feels the need to admit her guilt, that is not a good subject to broach here. She shrugs when both elder Kanames look at her again. "I can do a lot of things."
Leaving it at that, Ai glances to Madoka. Her friend takes over from there and recounts the events of the past few weeks. At least from her perspective; meeting Homura for the first time, being caught by a Witch in the mall. Meeting Mami and being scouted, Kyubey. The outing with Ai at the hospital and the fight with Sayaka. Hitomi's short-lived split with her friends, the confrontation with Mami and Sayaka. Ai holds back from filling in the blanks; the details are not relevant right now. Madoka already talks too much about them either way. In the end, she brings up the important bits: that local Magical Girls will turn into the Witches they fight and that Madoka can thus not contract. She keeps quiet about Homura's time travel and the events on that fateful Sunday. Ai being from another world, she does go into. E.G.O. and Abnormalities, as well as her desire to obtain her own. To truly learn magic on her own merit. She develops real passion by that point.
When the diminutive girl finally falls silent, Ai passes her a glass of water. She gulps it down gratefully while her mother sighs. "What am I supposed to say here?" Junko grouses playfully. "I already hate the idea of you studying abroad, this is even worse. But this is also the most motivated I have ever seen you."
"I agree," Tomohisa adds softly. "You definitely put a lot of thought into this. I am still not sure what to think of this Kyubey making what amounts to child soldiers. Magical Girl stories may be inspired by the real deal, but still."
Seeing that Madoka can not answer that, Ai takes over: "From what Kyubey told me, teenage girls have the highest emotional power. On average, they were insistent on that. But they aren't picky; anyone with enough emotional power and the potential is offered a contract. Like, if you look at your history and all the powerful heroes and such? Chances are most of them were contractees of theirs."
"Still doesn't excuse this," Junko retorts. She shakes her head. "Children do not deserve something like this."
Knowing a losing battle when she sees one, Ai relents. Junko is not even wrong.
"Anyway," Tomohisa chimes into the silence that follows. "From how you told it, you don't know yet if Ai can even go back to her world, yes?" He still looks befuddled to even say these words, but carries on regardless: "So things will go on as normal for now?"
"Yep. After Walpurgis, at least. And no, I am not leaving my friends to fight her alone."
Junko laughs at that. "I wasn't even thinking of it," she assures her daughter. The food is long since gone, too. Now she nurses a glass of alcohol, much like her husband. He brought it out a few minutes into the tale. Now Junko strokes her chin in thought. "But magic. With actual magic, the whole world may turn on its head. I wonder what I could make of that. Say, my dear daughter: would you teach me some, too?"
"Of course!" Madoka giggles and leans forward with a conspiratorial whisper. "And then we can take over the world."
"Please do not become tyrants," Ai quips. "I would be morally obligated to fight you. Or at least constantly nag you about not being bad people."
The entire Kaname family laughs at that. It is an odd sort of tranquility in the night, but not one Ai dislikes. After answering some more questions and accepting a drink from Junko upon learning Ai is effectly ageless and thus an adult, she teleports away. Both to save time and as a final demonstration. Neither Junko nor Tomohisa will go to bed entirely sober.
Tuesday goes by swiftly after that, as does Wednesday. Time runs through her fingers like sand while everyone prepares. Tension rises constantly. The feeling of alienation grows stronger, too; Ai just knows something will happen soon. On Thursday, finally, it all grows palpable when Reiji calls her into the living room. He wordlessly points at the emergency news broadcast, talking about the spontaneous forming of a supercell.
Walpurgis will hit Mitakihara on Thursday. Not even twenty-four hours of warning. Two days early.
Ai stares in shock and befuddlement. This makes no sense. Homura never so much as mentioned a change. Walpurgis always arrives at the thirtieth. Ai immediately messages those of her friends who have phones, then teleports to Kazamino to let Kyoko and Yuma know. Their emergency meeting at the Shizuki residence turns up nothing, though; Homura is deeply confused and worried, just like everyone else.
In the end, Saki shoos them all to bed. "Nothing you can do about it now," she reasons with the group. "Just get a good night's sleep and ready yourselves."
She has a point. Much to everyones' surprise, they do sleep well enough. Only to wake up to a splintered sky.
"Oh what now!" Kyoko shouts once Mami informs everyone of what she found when looking out the window. They stare at the fine, purple lines running across the sky like cobwebs. "Where did that come from?!"
"Maybe it is related to Walpurgis' being early?" Hitomi reasons. "We should investigate while there is still time. Having to contend with whatever this is in addition can not end well."
Everyone else agrees, but Ai remains quiet. She stares at the lines running across Mitakihara. People can see them everywhere. They are stumped, as are their specialists. Even Kyubey can not help beyond pointing them in a specific direction: toward the center of town, near the channel. Right where that same anomaly is located. So they run out there to investigate, undisturbed for the most part. Evacuation is more on peoples' minds than strange phenomena.
Once outside, Ai feels something draw her in the direction Kyubey already gave. The other magical girls feel a similar draw. Her anxiety grows rapidly as they near the epicenter. Once they find the spot, Ai can barely breathe. An artificial glade overlooking the channel. Freshly trimmed, but dull under the overcast sky.
"This is where I woke up," she whispers. "Right there. Did, did I do that?"
"Of course not," Madoka says.
Only when everyone turns her way, the pinkette is confused. She slowly shakes her head, almost dislodging Kyubey on her shoulder. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't say that."
"But it sounded just like you," Sayaka argues. Kyoko nods along, as does Ai. Madoka is more than a little confused.
At least until a familiar giggle sounds. Everyone tenses. Madoka jumps in surprise when her shadow rises. It elongates into a dark, neatly dressed figure. The Jester's cap jiggles softly as he... she? Beholds the group. "At last," they say in Madoka's voice.
"Jester?" Ai can not help but ask. She is so confused right now. "I thought you were a boy! Or, I mean, you never said anything!"
She tilts her head at Ai, rotating it halfway until her smile seems like a frown. "I am but a jester," she explains sagely. "What did it matter in the past? Now we stand at the precipice. It is time this cycle comes to an end. I waited so, so long for it. Everything has fallen into place."
"How do you mean?" Ai inquires. Somehow, she took center stage. The other girls formed up behind her, but nobody acts just yet. "What cycle?"
Jester giggles again. Everyones' shadows grow longer with the sound. "Did you know that dear Homura can only travel back in time once the sand in her hourglass runs through?" The time traveler stiffens, clutching her buckler on reflex. Jester's smile grows a fraction as she explains: "Right now, she can merely stop it, not reverse. This endless and cruel repetition will end today."
Everyone tenses with the clear implication. Jester studies them, foregoing any attempt to strike first. She does not even emit her weakening aura. After everything and seeing this, Ai does not want to fight. She could not bear attacking another she slowly came to see as... if not a friend, then someone nice. "But why?" she demands. "This cycle is about to end anyway! And why... wait. Are you Walpurgis? Or something? Did you call her?" Her non-sequitur causes some confusion, but Jester's chuckle disperses it.
"Not at all. The one you call Walpurgis is simply the stage-constructing Witch. She comes to hold a play for the ages and goes with the curtain call. All are but puppets upon her stage, the schedule her own. Except today, she comes to behold the conclusion of a tale eons in the making. Of course she comes." Jester giggles again and leans forward, her face directly in front of Ai's. Pink embers gleam in her empty eye sockets. "Don't you want to know what brought you here?"
"Oh come on, stop it with the all-knowing spiel!" Kyoko heckles. "If you start like this, it was you!"
"Dead wrong!" Jester cheers. Her long arm reaches over Ai to pat Kyoko's head, but blue currents spark from her headband. Jester's hand retracts, though her mirth does not abate in the slightest. "And completely right!" she finishes with a theatrical bow. A single hand rises up to perform a viscerally loud snap.
The lattice of tears in reality pulses and a voice echoes from it. Once again a familiar voice: "I wish there was someone strong enough to save Mitakihara! If they exist out there somewhere, bring them here!"
Madoka stands in abject confusion as her own wish reverberates around her. "I did that?" she asks, dumbfounded. "Me?"
"Indeed! And now to break the cycle once and for all!"
Jester rears back, but this time Yuma stops her. "But this is dumb!" she shouts at the primal being, who hesitates. "Why do you tell us? What stupid cycle is this?! Why can't we just get along like before?"
Her outburst leaves a moment of silence while Jester studies her. Then she answers: "I tell you because you deserve to know your beginning. I tell you because I want you to submit, not fight." Her presence begins to assert itself with these words. Ai feels faint, limbs heavier and heavier. The girls around her cry out in distress, unable to lift their arms or legs.
"That aside... all is cycles, my dear Magical Girl. Cycles upon cycles within cycles over cycles under cycles." Jester giggles hysterically, unaware or uncaring of their plight. "I half remember being destroyed long ago. Wandering endlessly along the cosmos, no longer able to feel anything. Until I found you." She points at Ai, who stills in surprise. "You and yours, and this awful, awful city. I found Lobotomy Corporation, Ayin, Angela, Carmen. And yet, it was once again cycles. Endless, futile repetition. Only it was not. The cycle was broken in the end. Ten thousand years of pain, a million for poor Angela who clawed her way to sapience along the way. They taught me that a cycle can be broken. Then came Roland and he reminded me what it is like to feel. Anguish, hatred, grief, despair, and so many more.
"So here I stand today. At the beginning and the end of my own cycle. At the end of yours. That is still what I am, the nothing that precedes the beginning and follows the end. A Jester, eternally laughing at the misery that is existence. I could not want anything anymore, could not believe in anything anymore. Thanks to your efforts, I can finally follow my final desire. To remember me."
As she speaks, Jester takes off the ground. She flutters up into the sky, an almost physical pink light coating her. Her eyes are now blazing suns. Strands of light connect her to the sky.
"Yes. Yes. Heed my word, Magical Girl of Love! Ai! I am, once and forever, Kriemhild Gretchen! The Witch of Salvation! Let my volition be truth and paradise come forth by my hand!"
The sky ruptures on her final word. Endless black covers Mitakihara and the world shifts. A barrier establishes itself; a singular, giant stage of light under a purple sky. Parades of familiars march past, led by green elephants. Above them materialises a gear with a mannequin stuck to its center, upside down. Walpurgis greets them with laughter, only to be drowned in living shadow. An even larger Witch pours from the rift behind, extinguishing the stage-constructing Witch. Her power is palpable. Ai can feel every beat of her eldritch heart pulsing through the barrier like a physical force.
Jester's head turns away. Instead of the group of girls at her mercy, she now looks straight at you. "Tell her to submit," she requests kindly. "I do not want to hurt them any more. Let me give them peace."
Down below, Kyoko falls to her knees and begins to pray.
"What are you doing?!" Sayaka shouts, even though she is barely on her feet. When she tries to pull Kyoko up, the redhead pushes her back with wild eyes.
"What does it look like, huh?! How do we fight that?!" She waves for the manifesting form of Kriemhild Gretchen. The Witch of Salvation studies them cautiously. She followed Homura to this reality, now she waits for the group to cease their struggles. Kyoko sniffles, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm doing the only thing I've got left!"
And with these desperate words, she returns to her prayer. No one interrupts her again. No one has the strength to do so. Mami weakly raises a single musket. Homura is deathly pale. Hitomi stands in front of Madoka, futile as the gesture may be.
Ai looks around fearfully. This is not a battle against the odds. It is straight-up impossible. Unless Madoka makes her wish and dooms them anyway, they will fall here. Kriemhild will destroy all human life on Earth and Homura with it. No more time travel. No second chance. It's over.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4
Jester gained a trait!
My memories have returned, and I at last understand my purpose.
[] Surrender
weight: x1.5
[] Call for help
weight: x1
[] Fight, no matter what!
-[] write-in a plan?
weight: x0.75
No write-ins outside of battle plans.
We have a 12-hour Moratorium
Awakened Jester, Kriemhild Gretchen
Threat Rating: ALEPH
Threat Assessment: But what is a queen before a goddess? You can not win.
- Location
- Earth
Now that the other guy is gone, God could finally come out of heaven
Ahhh
Shit
Salvation and Oblivion/Nilhil
Shit
Salvation and Oblivion/Nilhil
Last edited:
- Location
- Earth
Kyubey is currently having an existential crisis. Please call back later
Huh
So if I get it right Jester was always Kriemhild Gretchen
So if I get it right Jester was always Kriemhild Gretchen
