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Magical Girl Quest - The Fire That Burns

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Naron said:
You are... kind of contradicting yourself. It is not a vacation if Cerys spends all of it gettind educated. Which she would have to to actually get even the basics down in three days.
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Well, yes and no. TL: DR version is it's not an activity I would have done on vacation, but it fits entirely too well into what some people might consider a vacation, Cerys possibly among them.

It's a vacation from going around on Gaia's orders messing up both Clocktower and Counter Force. It's a change of venue, and a non-violent pastime.
I certainly know some people who view weekly going off to tend to their small gardens/vegetable patches as a relaxing activity, despite it involving some rather tedious and grueling work growing those homegrown vegetables. IIRC my IRL direct superior is one of those people.

Contrast with me, who is perfectly happy to laze about all day on weekends. :p
 
Faraway-R said:
Well, yes and no. TL: DR version is it's not an activity I would have done on vacation, but it fits entirely too well into what some people might consider a vacation, Cerys possibly among them.
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Cerys didn't even want to go to the Shrine and had to be prodded.

There is literally no given plain [] Accept vote

It is literally "I'll decline" or "I'll think about it over lunch"

Does a person who heavily prodded to go to a place, and whose vote options doesn't give an immediate accept option, sound like a person who finds this type of thing fun, and would consider it a vacation activity?
Rukia said:
A sign nearby helpfully points out a few places. Lake, Shrine -shut up Gaia-, groceries, visitor centre, shrine- The mental nudging grows to the point that you have a light headache. Really Gaia? It doesn't stop. Fine, whatever. You glance at Sabina and turn, making quick time for the Shrine. Honestly...
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Rukia said:
"I was... prodded to come here. Gaia refused to stop bothering me until I did."
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I'm not saying don't vote for the think about it option, but don't fool yourself into thinking that Cerys would do it because she thinks it is a fun idea.

Doing this means less time with her sister, less time with Willow, and less time with her girlfriend on vacation.

Outside of these next three days Cerys has to worry about the uncertain future, with driving the world to be strong enough to repel any possible invaders from the LDC, any possible magical girl shenanigans now that, as evidenced by Sabina, and then by the Sunken Trio, natural magical girls are spawning, trying to deal with Sabina's Swordness, training and other stuff.

For Cerys to even be able to conceivably get anywhere on being a miko, she is probably either going to, as Naron stated, have to work really hard over the next three days to possibly get the basics down… and there is no guarrentee that would be long enough for even that…

Or Gaia is going to leave us in Japan to gain more knowledge, because she has to go, but we don't, then getting us when she needs us (I assume that the barrier around Japan only stops teleports in, not teleports out, though if not, Cerys would just have to fly far enough from Japan to pass the barrier at that point anyway.). Or just teaches us herself after the vacation, which then begs the question of why she didn't just do so in the first place, though I suspect I have at least a few answers to that:

1. This method will probably require Cerys put on Miko robes instead of Gaia just asking for that and Cery ignoring :V
2. Traditional Japanese aesthetics and shrine should obviously be the starting point of such training :V
3. Knowing how the Japanese would perceive us as a Spirit, she brought us here to have someone start giving faith to us, to give Cerys the incentive to make the decision on her own once she finds out about it, rather than force her to take the option.
4. Have us not rely on her for everything.

I'd take a guess, and say that Gaia getting us to come here is because she wants us to take this offer, but I disagree with it.

[X] Decline her offer.

I'd like this vacation to stay a vacation.
 
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[X] Decline her offer.

And I was initially looking forward to this....
Adhoc vote count started by MilitaryAaa on May 24, 2018 at 2:03 PM, finished with 9454 posts and 21 votes.
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Sinarblood said:
Cerys didn't even want to go to the Shrine and had to be prodded.

There is literally no given plain [] Accept vote

It is literally "I'll decline" or "I'll think about it over lunch"

Does a person who heavily prodded to go to a place, and whose vote options doesn't give an immediate accept option, sound like a person who finds this type of thing fun, and would consider it a vacation activity?




I'm not saying don't vote for the think about it option, but don't fool yourself into thinking that Cerys would do it because she thinks it is a fun idea.

Doing this means less time with her sister, less time with Willow, and less time with her girlfriend on vacation.

Outside of these next three days Cerys has to worry about the uncertain future, with driving the world to be strong enough to repel any possible invaders from the LDC, any possible magical girl shenanigans now that, as evidenced by Sabina, and then by the Sunken Trio, natural magical girls are spawning, trying to deal with Sabina's Swordness, training and other stuff.

For Cerys to even be able to conceivably get anywhere on being a miko, she is probably either going to, as Naron stated, have to work really hard over the next three days to possibly get the basics down… and there is no guarrentee that would be long enough for even that…

Or Gaia is going to leave us in Japan to gain more knowledge, because she has to go, but we don't, then getting us when she needs us (I assume that the barrier around Japan only stops teleports in, not teleports out, though if not, Cerys would just have to fly far enough from Japan to pass the barrier at that point anyway.). Or just teaches us herself after the vacation, which then begs the question of why she didn't just do so in the first place, though I suspect I have at least a few answers to that:

1. This method will probably require Cerys put on Miko robes instead of Gaia just asking for that and Cery ignoring :V
2. Traditional Japanese aesthetics and shrine should obviously be the starting point of such training :V
3. Knowing how the Japanese would perceive us as a Spirit, she brought us here to have someone start giving faith to us, to give Cerys the incentive to make the decision on her own once she finds out about it, rather than force her to take the option.
4. Have us not rely on her for everything.

I'd take a guess, and say that Gaia getting us to come here is because she wants us to take this offer, but I disagree with it.

[X] Decline her offer.

I'd like this vacation to stay a vacation.
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You always put so much thought into these voters whenever you vote.

[X] Decline her offer.
 
[X] Lunch is soon, go home and think about it.

Not sure this is the way I want to go about doing it, though leaning towards not, but I don't want Cerys to decline out of hand.
 
Since it's such a contested vote you get another ten minutes, if it's locked after that the first person who votes locks it.
 
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LUNCH
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    • Of course I do... You resist the urge to roll your eyes, slightly offended by her blatant scheming. Can you not even have the decency to be subtle about it? "While that is an interesting offer." You glance at Sabina and she nods. "We need to be back for lunch soon." The Miko nods gracefully at your deflection. "I hope you won't be offended if I say that I need a while to think about this, it's a big commitment to make." She smiles, standing as you rise.

    "Not at all, it is best for everyone if you do not feel pressured or rushed when making this choice." Bad at subtly or not, your face is made out of fucking granite. If not for your past experience with people trying to trick you into a deal, you probably never would have noticed. The three of you walk back through the Shrine, the Dragon spirit quietly watching you pass from it's perch on the roof. The Miko gives you a bow and you part, quickly making your way back home.

    "Well." Sabina breaks your silence, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at the slowly shrinking building. "She was nice." You snort and she looks at you, confusion clear on her face. Oh so naive.

    "She wants something from me, her offer is genuine, but it's probably a way for her to get me under her thumb." You cross the street, ignoring the judging stares of people waiting at the crossing. No cars, but they are still waiting for the light. Weirdos. "You shouldn't be so trusting of a pretty face." She flushes red.

    "I wasn't, I just thought she was being nice." You let her simmer for a minute, waiting for her to say the question you can see on her face. When you turn the corner to your house, she stops, frowning at you. "Is... everyone like this?" She waves a hand. "Always plotting and planning, even if they look like a nice person?" She looks a little lost, and you resist the urge to pat her head- Oh fuck it. She squeaks when you shift closer, ruffling her hair before she teleports a few steps away, cheeks puffed as she looks at you. "Hey!"

    You smile at her. She really does look like an angry cat. "It's good that you still believe that, even if you're wrong." You sigh, resting back on one leg as she frowns. "I mean, not everyone is out to get you, but it's in your best interest to just assume that they want something from you. It's better to be pleasantly surprised when you are wrong, than stabbed in the back without seeing it coming." She doesn't respond to your explanation and you shrug, finishing the rest of the walk to the house. She'll learn.

    A noisy kitchen greets you as you push the door open, your sister distantly visible in the garden, kneeling by Willow's side. You can't tell from here, but she looks fine. "Hey." Cuifen's voice draws your eye as you move into the kitchen. "Food is nearly done, can you move a table over outside?" You raise an eyebrow, glancing at the glass table sitting on the patio. "Willow still isn't feeling very well, so I'd thought we'd just eat over there." You nod, conscripting Sabina into carrying it over.

    Your sister looks up at the thud the legs make on the patio, wearing her best attempt at a brave face. You pat her on the head and kneel down, biting your lip at Willows sleeping form and whispering to Una. "How long has she been asleep?"

    "Not long after you left." Your sister is fidgeting a lot, but she makes sure to keep her hand on the side of the lounger. Seeing her so worried for her friend has a warm feeling welling up in your chest. She's such a good girl. You wrap an arm around her shoulder and plant a quick kiss on her head.

    "Don't worry so much, she'll be fine in a day or two, you'll see." Your words have their intended calming effect, her fidgeting stopping as she nods.

    "Yeah, you're right, it's just a cold or something." You smile down at her, glancing over as the chefs approach, balancing two plates per arm. Giving her a quick poke, you point at them.

    "Let her sleep for now, I'll warm it up for her later." She reluctantly moves to the table, Gaia swooping in from somewhere and taking her place opposite you. Oh yes, you. You cut her off before she can speak. "What was that earlier?" You pick up your fork, resisting the urge to use it as a pointer. "I don't appreciate you forcing me like that." Your eyes track her as you take a bite, smiling at your partner. "Thank you for lunch, it's very good." You poke your sister, who is slowly nibbling at her food and she gives her own thanks.

    "Well." Gaia waits a few minutes, until you've finished your plate. "I felt like it would be good for you two to meet?" You don't bother replying, staring at her over your glass as you slowly drink it. "I wanted to see you in a Miko outfit?" That sounds more like you.

    "And you couldn't have tried this any other time- Actually, what the hell was the 'spirit' thing? What does this have to do with gods?" She sighs as you finish, quickly finishing the last of her food.

    "I guess you've rather firmly decided on not accepting her offer then?" Why do you even bother asking, you know I'm thinking about it. "Because that's no good." You are impossible. She smiles and you sigh.

    "And you wont just tell me what she would have?" You fully expect her to shake her head and make up some excuse, but she just nods.

    "Sure." Huh, why? "Because you asked." You think confused thoughts at her. "You never just ask me about things, always trying to figure it out yourself when you know that I know." I do? "Yup, it's a good habit, but you really should ask me more often. Working things out yourself is fine, but it's a waste of time when you can just ask someone who already knows."

    "Huh." You nod. "Alright then, tell me about this god thing." You lean forwards slightly, the rest of the table also listening in interest.

    "Putting it as simply as possible, people believe in something or someone, and that thing gains some measure of power from that."

    "Like you?" She hums at your question.

    "Kind of, not many people worship me, but I do gain some small measure of power from that." Your sister interjects, nearly leaning over the table in her fervour.

    "Does that mean that gods are real!?!" You frown at her loud voice, a quick glance at Willow showing her sleeping peacefully.

    "Yes, but none of the ones that people know about. None of them were actual gods, at most they were powerful spirits." Gaia looks at little put out at the mention of other divine beings, turning to you at the thought. "That's because as a rule, they are almost all assholes." She grumbles something quietly before speaking up. "Before the barrier came into existence, I'd been fending them off for... well, ever."

    You stay silent, having gotten used to Gaia constantly throwing you curveballs and pulling the floor out from under what you thought you knew. Your sister on the other hand, is practically vibrating. "How does the belief thing work? What powers do you get? Do the believed have any power over their believers? What are the other gods like? Do they have cool powers? Where do they come from?" Gaia patiently waits for your sister to breath before answering.

    "No clue, I have no idea how it's decided, sometimes, assholes, yes, mostly other dimensions." Your sister opens her mouth to spew forth more questions when you feel a gentle touch, Gaia speaking silently to you. [Willow won't last long.] You blink at her, not understanding. [She has served her intended purpose, now she's dying.] You move to up straight, but a twitch of your magic pushes you back into your seat. [Be calm, think clearly.] You take a deep breath, forcing yourself to relax in your seat. Explain.

    She answers another glut of questions from your sister, but you don't hear the words. [I mentioned Shiva-Sil? They are the reason that she is here, and they are called 'The Twin Goddesses of Destruction'. Nothing good comes from them meddling, Willow is just another pawn in a long line.] Why is she dying, can't you fix her? [When a goddess of Destruction wants something destroyed, it is destroyed. Her soul is breaking apart.] You breath a harsh breath, looking over to the peacefully sleeping girl. [I chose this vacation so that she can spend the last of her days as she wants. She has a week at most, though I would suggest that you euthanise her within two or three days.]

    Does she know? [No, only the two of us.]     You rub your face, a butterfly flittering across your field of view, mocking you with it's butterflyness. A quick flash of heat later and you look back to Gaia, who was answering Una's questions as if she had said nothing. [I suggest that you wake her and tear up the town.]

    [] [Willow] Let the others know what Gaia told you
    -[] Tell Willow, she deserves to know
    [] [Willow] Keep it to yourself

    [] [Activity] Go down into the City
    -[] [Activity] Write In...
    -[] [Activity] Write In...
    -[] [Activity] Write In...
    [] [Activity] Write In...

    All write-ins are subject to veto.
     
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    • [X] [Willow] Keep it to yourself
    Mother knew best after all~.

    ...What to do where to go...
    Amusement park to laugh at Cery's wonky social bearings?
    Historical visit? Try and find more spirits and learn more of being a miko on the side?
    Tourist trap? Probably best option for FUN!


    [X] [Activity] Go down into the City
    -[X] [Activity] let Willow lead the way
     
    Best idea I would have for Willow at the moment would be to use our affinity of end and beginning to try something like reincarnation with Gaia's help, since I don't think we would succeed at directly countering Shiva-Sil's influence.
     
    [X] [Willow] Let the others know what Gaia told you
    -[X] Tell Willow, she deserves to know

    Trust is a precious commodity that we can't squander, I don't think I need to specify that the others includes literally everyone in our group so I'm going to leave it as this. You don't break your trust with your Girlfriend, weird slasher life partner, your GF's Sister or worst of all your Sister over someone who you've admittadly known for all of like 2-3 days.

    That however doesn't preclude us going out with a metaphorical (and please for the love of god lets stay MOSTLY metaphorical here) BANG.

    What really sucks about this is that I would bet that unless we single mindedly devote ourselves to getting revenge over someone like that we won't even have a remote chance of killing Shiva-Sil so guess what our nice fancypants twin gods of destruction get off with free intel and we get the nice emotional damage from arguably doing the right thing anyways. I fucking hate admitting maybe Gaia had a point but yeah maybe Gaia did have a point
     
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    OriginalName said:
    [X] [Activity] Go down into the City
    -[X] [Activity] Get fucking shitfaced.
    -[X] [Activity] Cause some (JUST A LITTLE BIT) of property damage
    -[X] [Activity] Don't get caught.
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    While I agree with you on telling everyone:

    Does those activities sound like fun for Willow?


    Like we don't know her exact age, but the fact that she is closer friends with Una rather than us, her general side, and the fact that her ability gives us the best big sister title, means she is probably closer to Una's age.

    OriginalName said:
    What really sucks about this is that I would bet that unless we single mindedly devote ourselves to getting revenge over someone like that we won't even have a remote chance of killing Shiva-Sil so guess what our nice fancypants twin gods of destruction get off with free intel and we get the nice emotional damage from arguably doing the right thing anyways. I fucking hate admitting maybe Gaia had a point but yeah maybe Gaia did have a point.
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    I strongly disagree. Not on the chances of killing Shiva-Sil :V, but, based on solely what you've said, Gaia having a point.

    We've got the same amount of information that Gaia would have gotten from the interrogation and a young girl doesn't have to die alone and in terror, but surrounded by people who care about her.

    Also, Cerys letting Gaia kill her would have caused her to take a very heavy hit on her mental health.

    Also could have caused a greater rift between Gaia and Cerys, rather than how this directs Cerys hatred towards Shiva-Sil instead.

    Assuming that Shiva-Sil had seen and heard everything Willow has, what intel have we given? The turtle island as a living thing moves, so it probably hasn't got its location compromised, our existence and general powers was already known to the Clocktower and Counter Force, which she was with at the time we kidnapped her, and they probably gave greater info on our abilities than we showed Willow.

    Not being able to teleport into Japan, and Cardcaptor Sakura being cancelled being able to used to coerce Gaia are probably the only two big things there, and the Cardcaptor Sakura thing would never work as a lever if it was anything important, and Gaia not being able to teleport into Japan probably means Shiva can't get anyone who can either, so they're just as disadvantaged there, except for the fact that if they get a pawn to teleport outside of range like Gaia did, Gaia would instantly know, because they're now on Earth, whereas Shiva-Sil wouldn't know if Gaia did the same.
     
    [X] [Willow] Let the others know what Gaia told you
    -[X] Tell Willow, she deserves to know

    [X] [Activity] Go down into the City
    -[X] [Activity] Let Willow lead the way This vacation is her going away celebration, so she gets to call the shots.
     
    LostDeviljho said:
    It wouldn't work on soul damage anyway, which is the problem.
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    I don't think there is a rule that prevent soul damage from being healed. End and Beginning does fit with restoring something from its destruction. Without Gaia's help I wouldn't say we would be able to do it in any timely way, but with her it may be possible.
    Honestly I don't think it's a good plan, but it's better than what we currently have in my opinion.

    Sinarblood said:
    We've got the same amount of information that Gaia would have gotten from the interrogation and a young girl doesn't have to die alone and in terror, but surrounded by people who care about her.
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    Gaia has a lot more knowledge about who Shiva-Sil is and how they act normally, so saying Gaia can't have known more than we did is very questionable. Gaia simply had more knowledge in general to put what she knew into context. For example Gaia would likely have known that Shiva-Sil would kill Willow anyway in a painful way if she spared her.
     
    [X] [Willow] Let the others know what Gaia told you
    -[X] Tell Willow, she deserves to know

    [X] [Activity] Go down into the City
    -[X] [Activity] Let Willow lead the way This vacation is her going away celebration, so she gets to call the shots.
     
    SilverRune said:
    Gaia has a lot more knowledge about who Shiva-Sil is and how they act normally, so saying Gaia can't have known more than we did is very questionable. Gaia simply had more knowledge in general to put what she knew into context. For example Gaia would likely have known that Shiva-Sil would kill Willow anyway in a painful way if she spared her.
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    What? I did not say Gaia can't have known more than we did at all. I said that the information got from our question session was the same amount as would have been gotten from the interrogation that Gaia was going to give her. b

    Which is true:

    Rukia said:
    You hum non-committally, stroking her hair as she leans against you. Got everything you wanted to know Gaia?

    [For now.]
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    Our questions did give everything she wanted to know for that moment, else she both wouldn't have said it did (albiet a bit dramatically), and she would have told us new questions to ask.

    Us having Willow alive for longer meant that if Gaia thought of new questions she could have asked them whereas, she couldn't have if she killed her as she originally intended to for obvious reasons.

    Her killing Willow would have limited her ability to ask her later if she thought of something new, it doesn't make sense to say that killing her would have been better for information gathering.

    This soul destruction thing would have happened whether Gaia killed Willow or not and Gaia very much didn't care about Willow at all the moment she found out she was a pawn of Shiva Sil.

    Knowing that soul destruction would have happened either way, doesn't in anyway mean that I'd ever agree with a young child dying in terror rather than surrounded by people who care about them.

    Her wanting Willow dead wasn't for mercy, it wasn't to somehow gather more information, it was because she had been brought here by Shiva-Sil.

    Hence, based on the points they raised, I disagreed on the premise of Gaia having a point in killing Willow in the beginning.
     
    SilverRune said:
    I don't think there is a rule that prevent soul damage from being healed. End and Beginning does fit with restoring something from its destruction. Without Gaia's help I wouldn't say we would be able to do it in any timely way, but with her it may be possible.
    Honestly I don't think it's a good plan, but it's better than what we currently have in my opinion.
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    I'm not aware of any way to heal soul damage, off the top of my head, but that's not the point. The point was that Riencarnation is the completely wrong thing to fix the issue.
     
    justinkal said:
    Yeah, reincarnation requires that a soul still exists. Damage to the soul sounds more like the soul stopping existing.
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    It's comparable to trying to solve the problem of your water evaporating by replacing the bucket. The vessel is fine, it's the contents being destroyed. Finding a new vessel will do no good.
     
    LostDeviljho said:
    I'm not aware of any way to heal soul damage, off the top of my head, but that's not the point. The point was that Riencarnation is the completely wrong thing to fix the issue.
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    That's why I stopped refering to it as reincarnation in my last post, since I meant more to restore her soul from destruction with our end & beginning affinity and reincarnation was the wrong way to refer to it.

    Edit: Though killing Willow might make Shiva-Sil stop destroying her soul and then we would just need to put her in a new body without having to bother with further soul damage.
     
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