Magical Girl Quest - The Fire That Burns

CONTINUE: Y
But... You look at the spot the girl had been in, the air twitching slightly as the sense of dread grows stronger. Something flickers in the corner of your vision, gone when you glance over. You are going to kill her aren't you?

Mother lets her silence speak for her.

I don't think... You bite your lip, pushing past your reluctance to speak out, feeling a little dizzy. I don't think you should kill her. A small screen flickers before your eyes, large portions of it missing, the edges cutting through reality in a way that makes your eyes ache.

Mother is silent, long enough for a horrible feeling to start creeping down your back. I didn't do as I was told. A strange feeling of excitement and fear hang in your chest, the little screen finally solidifying enough that you can read the fragmented words on it. New Quest Objective: Save The Princess. You smile slightly. Isn't that what Knights do? Your barrier rumbles and the screen shatters into pieces, but you nod to yourself. Mother. You wait for some sign that she's listening, even though you know she always is.

Your eyebrows crease when she ignores you. Mother. Nothing. Mother. You shift in your seat, the knowledge that Mother wasn't there both unsettling and comforting. [Gaia] You feel her attention shift to you abruptly and something twinges, but you ignore it. I've made my choice. You sit up. [Gaia, I want to know why you are going to kill her. I don't think she deserves to die]. A breeze from the window makes you shiver slightly. You ignore it.

She finally responds, voice flat. [I told you to forget her.] Your fingers twitch and you feel the urge to hide your head against Daiyu. Was I always this much of a coward? You clench your hands to control their movements. I won't just do as you say, I want to know why.

Your magic twinges again, moving uncomfortably in your skin, your barrier thankfully stretching over your body and pressing it down. Thank you. [Warmth]

Mother's body appears before you suddenly, slowly kneeling down to look you in the eye. [Are you disobeying me?] You narrow your eyes, the possessive tone scratching against your ears.

"Yes."

Gaia lets out a long breath, looking at you with pursed lips. [Why.] She sounds confused and hurt at the same time, the unfamiliar feelings agitating your magic more.

"Because I don't agree with what you are doing." The more you speak, the less wrong it feels to disagree.

She sits back on her legs, looking slightly miffed and... proud of you at the same time. [Is this what all Mothers feel when their children grow up?] You stay silent, letting her speak at herself. [I don't like the feeling.] She rubs her face, a small smile pulling at her lips, your magic calming as she stands up. The breath you had been holding escapes you slowly, body deflating like a balloon. [Alright.] A tiny part of the screen glitches back into your vision, a small box gaining a tick. "I was going to torture her until I learned what I wanted to know. But if you are so opposed, then I won't." She nods, sitting back in her seat as the girl suddenly appears on the floor of the room, gasping for air and crying.

You resist the urge to help her just long enough to hear her whimpering, the sight of her curled up in a ball and sobbing quietly... You pat Una on the head as you stand up, gently gathering the girl into your arms as you kneel next to her. "Shh, it's alright." She latches on to you as tightly as she can, experience with your sister bringing you to hug her back, brushing her hair as you whisper meaningless words into her ears. Daiyu helpfully nudges the armchair closer, enough that you can lean against it, the girl curled up against you. She was only gone for barely a minute... You breath slowly, doing your best to let your calm settle over her as well. She is so fragile, just like...

Your sister crawls up next to you, joining in on the hug as she worms her way around the girl. If Mother wanted to she could... You bite your lip hard enough to draw blood, forcefully pushing the image out of your mind. Una is here. She's fine. But... The girl in your lap looked nothing like your sister, but she was young enough that she hadn't hit her growth spurt yet, she fits into your lap just as well as Una does.

The two of you sit there, quietly calming her down until you hear someone coming down the stairs. You look over when they reach the bottom, Cuifen wearing her workout clothes and frozen in the middle of drying her hair with a towel, trailing a small bit of water behind her. She looks at the pile of people in the middle of the room, then at the awkward forms of Daiyu and Sabina, finally looking at Gaia, who was busy scratching her chin and staring into space.

She stands there quietly as the girl slowly calms down, a lightbulb seeming to form over her head as she hears her ragged breathing and she turns to the kitchen. You don't know what she is doing until you see her open the cupboard, opening your pot of hot chocolate powder. You subtly help her along, bringing the water to boil in the kettle as quietly as you can and keeping the drink at the right temperature as she brings it over. When she kneels next to you, you gently nudge the girl until she looks up, puffy face shiny in the fireplace's light. "Here, drink this." Una takes the drink from Cuifen since both of yours are occupied pushing the girl off of you and sitting her up.

It takes her a moment, but she eventually gets it and nods, reaching out with shaky hands to hold the drink, a quick motion from your sister stopping her from dropping it. Cuifen moves over to the sofa, quietly shuffling the rest of the room outside as the girl's hands stop shaking enough to grip her drink, taking a long sip. You almost panic when she starts crying again, but she takes another sip, hugging the mug to her chest in-between.

After her third, she sniffles loudly, the nasty sound of snot being pulled back into her throat before she speaks. "It's terrible." She takes another sip. "She forgot to put any sugar in." She takes a longer sip, licking the liquid from off of her lips and hugging the mug to herself again. "It's perfect." Her breathing slowly evens out as she gets further through the drink, your sister taking the opportunity to hug her like a limpet as she finishes every drop, looking nostalgic.

When the cup is empty, she rubs her nose with her sleeve, smearing snot and coco over it before looking up to you. "I'm sorry, it just... My mother made me one just like this before..." You lean forwards slightly, knowing that Gaia is paying rapt attention. Come on... "Before I got taken." You make comforting noises as you continue stroking her hair, letting her speak at her own pace. Just a little more. A tear makes its way down her cheek and you brush it off as tenderly as you can. "It's not like I wanted to go!" She curls up around herself again, but your sister worms her way into her grip. "They just... I was home and then I wasn't and they said I was going to do stuff or I'd never get back."

You nod, making an encouraging noise. "I don't even know what they wanted me to do! They just gave me this thing," she glares at the air, swiping her hand through nothing. "and they told me to go save the world. They didn't tell me where I was going or how or why or anything!" You gently slide the mug out of her grip before she breaks it, a quick touch of reinforcement making sure she doesn't crack the floor when she punches it. "And I just..." She turns to look at you with bloodshot eyes. "I got dropped in after you melted that entire base of people, this stupid game thing giving me a quest to 'Resolve hostilities'. They shot at me." She rubs her side, hand brushing over perfect skin.

She drops her head forwards, playing with the end of her shirt. "'An I did what it wanted me to, used the game thingy to make them not hate me, followed the markers where it told me to go and I was so close." She looks back up at you, breathing harshly. "I was never supposed to survive, was I? Just supposed to be there so they can make Gaia know what I know and what I know isn't even fucking right." She points at something in the air, a tiny flicker of that screen appearing to you, then jabs her finger at you. "See! You shouldn't exist but you do. The war shouldn't have started already but it has and there is this fucking barrier thing and mages already exist?" She looks like she wants to cry again, but quickly rubs her eyes with her hand. "Nothing fits 'an I don't know anything anymore." She looks down. "I just want to go home."

You press your lips together tightly, hands twitching in your instinctive desire to hug her and squeeze her and say everything will be ok, but you resist. She could be lying. Your chest aches as she starts crying again, your sister being the only thing stopping her from curling into a ball again. Fuck, she's only a kid. Your hand twitches again. She can't be older than twelve. Your sister's eyes plead with you over her shoulder, hugging the other girl as tightly as she can.

Fuck. You rub your face, looking at the girl just barely holding herself together on the floor. You try to imagine her living on the streets like you had, just without any of the knowledge you had. The first 'friendly' gang to offer her a roof over her head to get out of the rain... "Alright, she can stay." Your sister lets out a delighted squeal, throwing herself at her new guest. "She can't stay in here, the place is already full." Una makes an angry noise, but you raise a hand. "Gaia had that village for a reason, she can stay there." It takes a moment, but she gets what you mean, pouting a little but nodding.

You sigh, closing your eyes. Why did I do that, I should have just... put her back on the street. Let Gaia put her somewhere. The eavesdroppers creep back into the room, Daiyu looking immensely pleased as she leans over the back of the sofa, hugging the back of your head. "I am proud of you, you did the right thing" She doesn't say anything else, just letting you rest your head against her chest. You let out a long breath, listening to the sound of your sister poking your guest. You try to fault yourself for your weakness, but... It feels good.

A little while later, you hear the sounds of cutlery being moved and peek an eye open. Sabina is somewhat clumsily moving through the kitchen, preparing a meal of some kind while Cuifen watches on from the table with a smile. Can she even cook? Watching her stare at the apron like it is a live viper is amusing, but it doesn't ease your worries over her inexperience. I should probably... Daiyu begins gently brushing your hair, making your one open eye droop shut. Or, I could not.

You ignore her for a while longer, the harsh ting of glass being smacked against something prompting you to open your eyes. Cuifen was holding a bowl of something, a cheese grater having fallen to the ground, Sabina blushing awkwardly as she ties the apron up. Pff. Daiyu nods and whispers. "She looks adorable, but that is much too big for her." Considering the apron nearly reaches her feet, you would have to agree, the thing was really Daiyu-sized.
Mmm, apron Daiyu.

A throat clears some time later, Mothe-Gaia, Gaia looking over at you from her seat at the kitchen table. "It will be done soon, take your places." You reluctantly stand up and take your seat and wait for everyone else, until the only person who isn't sitting down is... Umm. The new girl. I need to ask her name. She looks incredibly awkward standing there, seeing as there aren't enough seats for her. You glance at Gaia, expecting her to magic a new chair from wherever she gets them, but she is busy nibbling on her pancake, rather intently ignoring her. Oh for- You pick up your plate and stand up, guiding the girl to your seat with your other hand. "You can sit here for now."

She looks even more awkward in your seat, the frame barely smaller than she is, but Sabina pushes the plate of pancakes towards her, the girl flinching before hesitantly accepting them. Oh. You remember Sabina's little display earlier, and the girls reaction to it. Ah, yeah, need to sit them down and talk about that... Later though, for now, you enjoy your pancakes, leaning against one of the counters in the kitchen.

The Girl finishes last, hesitantly eating as she is and does her best to both hide in her seat and look at everyone with a sense of wonder at the same time. Ok, I really need to know what her name is. You slide your plate into the bowl, amused at Sabina's annoyed grumblings, sounding awfully like an angry cat as she gets through the plates at an impressive pace. Now. You cross your arms, looking at the girl. You see a flicker of something and she turns to look at you, a worried look forming on her face.

Write In...
[] Questions to ask

+15xp Saved A Princess
+15xp Adopted a stray
 
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Your eyebrows crease when she ignores you. Mother. Nothing. Mother. You shift in your seat, the knowledge that Mother wasn't there both unsettling and comforting. Gaia. You feel her attention shift to you abruptly and something twinges, but you ignore it. I've made my choice. You sit up. Gaia, I want to know why you are going to kill her. I don't think she deserves to die. A breeze from the window makes you shiver slightly. You ignore it.
ofc Cerys calling her Gaia and not Mother makes her pay attention.
that was after all the first thing Gaia did to Cerys after we accepted her offer.
 
Really?
I thought that very clearly answered several questions. It did leave the "who" and "how" questions untouched, though.
Also: We should ask her her name, first.
Also also: Not calling Gaia Mother any more is saddening.
 
Notice how Gaia left out the little tidbit about Shiva-Sil, now maybe she'll tell us later but I doubt it unless we ask her first when we actually find out about it or she's forced due to circumstances.

I'm glad we objected to Gaia and it seems that everyone is too, well mostly everyone.
You glance at Gaia, expecting her to magic a new chair from wherever she gets them, but she is busy nibbling on her pancake, rather intently ignoring her. Oh for- You pick up your plate and stand up, guiding the girl to your seat with your other hand. "You can sit here for now.
Despite what could've happened, a planet being petty like this is kinda funny.

Your sister crawls up next to you, joining in on the hug as she worms her way around the girl. If Mother wanted to she could... You bite your lip hard enough to draw blood, forcefully pushing the image out of your mind. Una is here. She's fine. But... The girl in your lap looked nothing like your sister, but she was young enough that she hadn't hit her growth spurt yet, she fits into your lap just as well as Una does.
Once again showing that Una is the most important thing to Cerys, considering every possible danger. But it also shows that Cerys will probably never fully trust anyone with Una, like there will always be that what if in the back of her mind.

Also also: Not calling Gaia Mother any more is saddening.
Honestly to me that just added to the creepiness that is Gaia. I mean to immediately call something so not human your mother raised flags for me and was just part of it.

Well besides simply asking her name we should get in our introductions as well, ask who "they" are the ones who told her what she was going to do right before ending up at the base. See if she can go into detail about her abilities, though she doesn't have a good idea on them we might offer her an area to test them later? Maybe ask about her time with the clocktower/ counter force even though it was pretty brief and might bring up bad memories.

[X] LightLan
 
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Kinda curious about what that bolded text at the beginning with cerys' thoughts was all about, and then with the bolded text with Gaia speaking, anybody have any ideas?
 
Kinda curious about what that bolded text at the beginning with cerys' thoughts was all about, and then with the bolded text with Gaia speaking, anybody have any ideas?
Bold text in dialogue is usually used for emphasis, however if it is an entire sentence, then it indicates that Conceptual Languages are being used.
 
New Quest Objective: Save The Princess. You smile slightly. Isn't that what Knights do? Your barrier rumbles and the screen shatters into pieces, but you nod to yourself. Mother. You wait for some sign that she's listening, even though you know she always is.
Your magic twinges again, moving uncomfortably in your skin, your barrier thankfully stretching over your body and pressing it down. Thank you. [Warmth]
Infinite Engine sure does not like other beings magic affecting Cerys.
Also Mother seems to have more control of our magic than other MGs, likely because she made Cerys.


Also: @Rukia did Cerys notice Gaia suddenly tensing when gamer girl thought of Shiva-Sil?
I really wish that chapter was from her view.
 
Bold text in dialogue is usually used for emphasis, however if it is an entire sentence, then it indicates that Conceptual Languages are being used.

So when cerys was talking here she was using the conceptual language?
Your eyebrows crease when she ignores you. Mother. Nothing. Mother. You shift in your seat, the knowledge that Mother wasn't there both unsettling and comforting. Gaia. You feel her attention shift to you abruptly and something twinges, but you ignore it. I've made my choice. You sit up. Gaia, I want to know why you are going to kill her. I don't think she deserves to die. A breeze from the window makes you shiver slightly. You ignore it.

As was Gaia when she was talking here?
She sits back on her legs, looking slightly miffed and... proud of you at the same time. "Is this what all Mothers feel when their children grow up?" You stay silent, letting her speak at herself. "I don't like the feeling." She rubs her face, a small smile pulling at her lips, your magic calming as she stands up. The breath you had been holding escapes you slowly, body deflating like a balloon. "Alright." A tiny part of the screen glitches back into your vision, a small box gaining a tick. "I was going to torture her until I learned what I wanted to know. But if you are so opposed, then I won't." She nods, sitting back in her seat as the girl suddenly appears on the floor of the room, gasping for air and crying.

Also have a couple ideas about this but was this Gaia messing with our magic or something else?
Your magic twinges again, moving uncomfortably in your skin, your barrier thankfully stretching over your body and pressing it down. Thank you. [Warmth]
 

Alright glad to have that cleared up, also are you willing to at least drop hint about what was up with this
A small screen flickers before your eyes, large portions of it missing, the edges cutting through reality in a way that makes your eyes ache
this
New Quest Objective: Save The Princess. You smile slightly. Isn't that what Knights do? Your barrier rumbles and the screen shatters into pieces, but you nod to yourself. Mother. You wait for some sign that she's listening, even though you know she always is.
this
A tiny part of the screen glitches back into your vision, a small box gaining a tick.
and this?
She points at something in the air, a tiny flicker of that screen appearing to you, then jabs her finger at you.
 
Huh, I thought it was pretty clear.
Read the last chapter then this one, it should be abundantly clear.
Of course it was, it had do with the girls weird gamer like ability she has, I was wondering why we can see it, why it was painful to look at, and why we were given a quest from it?
 
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Of course it was, it had do with the girls weird gamer like ability she has, I was wondering why we can see it, why it was painful to look at, and why we were given a quest from it?
She's clearly the random thought up by Rukia's replacement for our teams lack of a thinker for our mage team, who may or may not be considering to kill us all.
:p
Aka an additional reason IC for us to make choices while limiting the possible write-ins. :whistle:
 
That went well, I'm... I'm very glad. Gaia was much more reasonable about it than I feared she might be, even if she was about as reasonable as I thought she should be.

New ally get. And it's another cute one too~
 
Bravo, she did what is right.
I feel she grown a bit.
At least Gaia accept her action.

I think Una found herself a new friend or more to play with assuming the girl is her age I think with her shortness.
 
That went well, I'm... I'm very glad. Gaia was much more reasonable about it than I feared she might be, even if she was about as reasonable as I thought she should be.

New ally get. And it's another cute one too~
Bravo, she did what is right.
I feel she grown a bit.
At least Gaia accept her action.

I think Una found herself a new friend or more to play with assuming the girl is her age I think with her shortness.
to me it looks more like Gaia is still in a "Wait and see"-phase.
How well she takes it, will likely depend to a degree how we handle things from here.

She will be more happy, if she gets her answers.
 
We should do a Kakashi introduction and slip in the Gaia want questions.

[] Please give me your name
-[] likes, who send you here, dislikes
--[] dreams, how you got here and hobbies
---[] Everybody else introduce yourselves

Bonus we get Daiyu, Cuifen and Sabina profile in detail and Una's stuff we did not know.
 
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@Rukia, I'd like to verify - it's "specific collection of questions with the most votes gets answered", not "all questions asked even if only one voter asks"?

[X] Questions to ask (Compilation)
-[X] "What's your name, Princess?" OOC: Yes, I'm gonna try and make this a nickname for the girl if it isn't part of her possible magical girl name already - blame her quest box.
-[X] "Who took you away from home and sent you here?"
--[X] "You said you know the future, but what you know isn't how it's actually is here. Were the ones who took you important in the story, and why were they important?"
--[X] "Do you think they intended to mess with humanity and M- Gaia, and why?"
--[X] "And for that matter, how important is Gaia to the story? Please be elaborate."
-[X] "Okay, Gaia mentioned Unified Light and Unified Darkness. It's likely they aren't the same as you know - but you can probably tell us the general things, right?"
--[X] "And for that matter, how powerful are they? I mean, I can already cause quakes - but how powerful can the members of the Light and the Darkness be?"
-[X] "Moving on to things closer to home, I take it the history of Earth is different. Can you tell us... the backstory, I guess?"
--[X] "Also, how powerful are the humans in the future? What's their best tricks, strongest combatants. Why are they strongest? How do they compare to the Light and the Darkness?"
--[X] "And since we're on the topic, what can you do?"
-[X] "What else do you think is important for us to know? What do you know that Gaia might need? How do magical girls work? How does magic work? Who is going to be important if they appear? Anything would do. I wouldn't even object to hearing the ultimate question about life, universe and everything!" *smile gently to show the last one is a joke*

Okay, I guess this will suffice for the first round of questioning. If you have no questions to add, please use the proxy vote for this. If you do, I'll try and add them. Maybe, if time permits.
 
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Before we ask her questions, we might want to set the atmosphere.
Introduce ourselves, maybe offer some common knowledge about our world, but keep necessary secrets.
e.g. it is common knowledge that the barrier is failing. the time frame very much is not.
The girl is innocent, in both meanings of the word. She has done nothing really wrong and she knows little to nothing about why she has been taken out of her world and sent to this one. Yet someone is still advancing their agenda through her.
So we should still be a little careful. I doubt Mother is the only divine being which gets knowledge from people under her purview.

She seemed to try to get the war to stop, which if you do not know what Mother knows, is a reasonable thing to try.
Together with the knowledge that the barrier is failing and that at least one demon already made it through it paints a different picture.
It makes the war a sad necessity. It's after all why Mother sent us against both CT and CF - to give them ample motivations to develop weapons to deal with us.
Might also have a few words about following orders blindly. Cerys herself has got bad experience with that due to Karen.

Edit:
We also might want to ask questions about the philosophy of the UD vs the UL.
Why are they fighting?
Many of us know that from mainquest, but Cerys does not.
 
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