Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice (A Tokusatsu/Magical Girl Quest)
- Thread starter Kermie
- Start date
- Original Superhero
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wish you luck. Hope things improve.
Sorry to hear that. Take all the time you need.
- Location
- Indonesia
I'm sorry things are that way. It's unfortunate that it all happened because of a misunderstanding.
Hex
A Lingering Curse
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- He/They
...shit. Considering what happened with my sibling when they started showing signs of both psychosis and full on delusional schizophrenia...well, you have my sympathy.
Just, take the time you need, and remember you have support from people. Don't be afraid to explain what's going on to others.
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Good luck out there, man. Take care.
Vote closed
Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Alright, update on my status. I'm planning on continuing both quests (and maybe rewriting Space Oddity's clunkier chapters). I'll do that once I'm done finishing my rewatch of Gurren Laggan and finishing up my RG Unicorn Gundam. The friend group situation's cooling down, enough to where I can be putting that out of internet view.
However, I will likely be continuing SO and PLoMJ after a bit, since I want to work on world building and character writing skills so that I can get them up to the standards of something like Human Resources or Project Prometheus. (Both of which are banger quests, go read them!) I'll still be writing occasional side stories in those universes though. You'll actually be getting a preview of a side story for this quest at the very bottom as well.
Once I'm well and truly back, I'll change out of my depressing ahh signature and pfp and have a cool picture of the Unicorn Gundam instead.
(Also, this will be crossposted to the other Quest so if you see two notifs that's just me again.)
With that in mind…
Next Time On Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice…
You are Kira. You ditched your last name long ago.
"What kind of tragedy has happened this time, to call up four Archmages into one place?"
"We have to work together on this—"
"You know the risks, Sora!"
"Has anyone seen No. 1?" you ask.
Everyone else bites there lips or looks away. Fucking nerds… (not like you'd be any different, though.)
"Don't you remember what he asked us?"
You remember it as vividly as your first time flying, your first time casting a spell. Of course you remember. It's engraved into your bones.
"A tool to discover the unknown."
"A force that can mend worlds."
"A weapon for the worthy."
However, I will likely be continuing SO and PLoMJ after a bit, since I want to work on world building and character writing skills so that I can get them up to the standards of something like Human Resources or Project Prometheus. (Both of which are banger quests, go read them!) I'll still be writing occasional side stories in those universes though. You'll actually be getting a preview of a side story for this quest at the very bottom as well.
Once I'm well and truly back, I'll change out of my depressing ahh signature and pfp and have a cool picture of the Unicorn Gundam instead.
With that in mind…
Next Time On Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice…
You are Kira. You ditched your last name long ago.
"What kind of tragedy has happened this time, to call up four Archmages into one place?"
"We have to work together on this—"
"You know the risks, Sora!"
"Has anyone seen No. 1?" you ask.
Everyone else bites there lips or looks away. Fucking nerds… (
"Don't you remember what he asked us?"
You remember it as vividly as your first time flying, your first time casting a spell. Of course you remember. It's engraved into your bones.
"What is Magic to you?"
"A way of life."
"A tool to discover the unknown."
"A force that can mend worlds."
"A weapon for the worthy."
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Glad to hear that you're starting to feel better.
- Location
- Indonesia
I hope the misunderstanding has been cleared up...
Extra Story 1.3: Archmage(s)
Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Wednesday, February 22. 1:00 PM
Tokyo, An Undisclosed Location
You are Kira. You ditched your last name long ago. And right now, you are flying through the air, only about twenty feet above the crowds of Tokyo.
Normally, you'd have plenty of people gawking and pointing at you. And that's not even taking into account that most flying cars/bikes/other various flying objects like you aren't even allowed to fly this high unless you're taking a Glyph Train or SkyWay. Somethingsomethingyaddayadda "people don't want skies where you can only see metal".
But you're an Archmage, and you need to get somewhere fast. Besides, what the law doesn't know won't hurt them, and you sincerely doubt the privacy suite on you right now would let in even the most discerning of cameras. A sphere of Wind whips around your body and vehicle, preventing anybody from noticing your presence. Green Glyphs light up your limbs, as you soar through the sky with your magic. You twist and turn, going up and around subway stations, ducking underneath overpasses, and almost touch the ground with a few loop de loops.
There was once a painter that you learned to admire, on the days when your legs wouldn't let you out of bed and your parents coddled and pitied you. What was it that she said again? Oh right.
"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"
Whenever being called to so many meetings, so many conferences, and so many secret briefings tires you out… soaring through the sky without a care in the world always makes you remember why you became a thaumaturge.
"What is Magic to you?"
"A way of life."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO. 4
"Kuro" Kira, Free-Flying Autumn Breeze
Specialties: Wind Magic, Custom Spell Making, Magical Disability Aids
Well, you've got one thing to care about. Two, actually. You feel a familiar ache in your bones and sweat drops beginning to form on your forehead, as your prana starts to drop a bit. Time to land.
You soar below another underpass and land on the roof of the building you've been called to. As your feet hit the ground (ow) you pull a small cylinder-shaped stick out of your pocket, which quickly glows green before magically extending into a respectable wooden cane. Thanks, Akasuki. With it, you brace your weight on the ground and rotate your right wrist a bit. Time for the boring part.
The building which you haven't even bothered to memorize the name of is dark and gloomy, with most of the noise coming from below. There, you hear salarymen run around and slowly waste away, making cold calls to old people who are gullible about anything magic related. Must be government property, then.
A few minutes of walking through creepy halls later, you make it to your destination. A door, with room 84A on it. Quite unimpressive. You would have tried for 66, or at the very least 77 or 13. But whatever. A quick eye and fingerprint scan from the authenticator door gets you in quickly, and you enter the room filled with some of the most important people in the nation. Not really the most exciting Wednesday for you.
There are three people you see inside the room. Three. (Never four, because the one man that brought you all together wasn't the type to stick around.)
The first person that comes to your attention is a woman sitting off to the left side of the room. Dressed in a blue and white kimono, her smooth face and visage is the very vision of beauty, at least by Japanese standards.
However, to you what really stands out is her prana. In place of any normal levels of the human substance/life energy that powers your spells, you sense what can only be described as a pure overflow of mana, the natural force found in Glyphs. If you were looking only with your magic, you'd easily have confused her for a Water or Ice Glyph.
She snaps her fan shut, and looks up at you the second you enter the room. "Hm. What kind of tragedy has happened this time, to call up four Archmages into one place?"
"What is Magic to you?"
"A weapon for the worthy."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO. 2
"Yuki", A Yokai, Deadly Winter Blizzard
Specialties: Ice Magic, Trickery, Magical Combat
Yuki. No last name, just like you. The government and that man chose a new batch of Archmages after the Great War ten years back. However, they had only a few standards; namely, they were looking for the greatest thaumaturges in Japan, human or not, and they were looking to find anybody, human or not, that could fill their four slots within four years. Just off of sensing her magical presence, you can tell that Yuki lands decidedly on the "not" side. You think she's a Yuki-Onna, a spirit that died as a human and then lived in the mountains. Of course, you also think that she might be a compulsive gambler and that she might be a boomer.
You don't know that much about Yuki, to be honest. Well, except for the fact that she can completely kick your ass in a magical duel. The frostbite took ages to get off, ouch…
"Nothing that bad's happened yet, Yuki, don't worry about it. Sora, Akasuki, did you guys get the files yet?"
The two people sitting in the back of the room on their screens immediately look up. One of them is a HumaGear artificial robot, with orange and red hair. Meanwhile, the other one is a man in his early forties, with meticulously combed jet black hair and a suit and tie.
"What is Magic to you?"
"A tool to discover the unknown."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO. 3
Kisei Sora, Humagear, Shining Summer Searcher
Specialties: Fire/Light Magic, Astronomy, Calculations
"What is Magic to you?"
"A force that can mend worlds."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO 4/5
(You and him swap places. Depends on the time of day.)
Bashira Akasuki, Mending Spring Healer
Specialties: Plant Magic, Healing, Alchemy, All That Boring Charity And Publicity Bullshit
"Um…" Akasuki seems to dig in his suit pockets for a second, before looking at Sora. "Uh, Sora, did you get the files that Kira sent?"
Sora just shrugs, beforehe (nope, get it right Kira!) they roll their chair over to the center table. "Don't worry man, I literally did that thirty minutes ago. Took only about a millisecond of processing power as well. Kira, you've got the floor."
Kisei Sora and Bashira Akasuki make up arguably the most boring half of the Archmages— doing charity and making presentations for the governments all over the world. Honestly, you've never cared about that, but if you get paid to look pretty, stay anonymous, and work on some interesting spells, you'll gladly take over for them on their sick days.
Sora hits a button on their headphones, and a holographic screen projects itself onto the walls. You walk over to the wall, as the slides (yay… PowerPoint…) that you prepared earlier start to load in.
"Alright, Sora, Akasuki, what have you guys done on your off time?"
While Archmages like you are obviously contacted and paid handsomely by the government for your help on experiments and publicity, the government also leaves the experts in a brand new dangerous field of study that anyone can access well alone. This leaves you time to make fancy experimental spells for people like Rei, and it leaves time for Yuki to go and participate in the occasional blackjack game.
It also leaves Sora and Akasuki time to be Kamen Riders.
Sora shakes their head, moving around the projection on the wall a bit. "Both me and Aka haven't seen anything on our spare patrols with the WRL. I flew up to check out the Shibuya area, but my optics aren't calibrated for anything like that…"
Akasuki shrugs as well. "Nobody interesting came by the Alchemy shop. I tried to check out both the criminal underworld with my old contacts, and read the roots below all of Tokyo, but I couldn't detect any magic out of the ordinary."
"Akasuki, how far did you search?"
"600 square miles. Nothing."
…Tokyo is currently 905 square miles large, if you measure the perimeter and don't count any underwater or sky settlements. About two thirds of Tokyo wasn't enough. Shit.
"Well, that's bad, but I really need you to look harder. Because…"
You tap the holographic screen, and it flashes too a picture of three buildings. The next picture is the exact same, except for one thing: the building in the middle is gone. It's almost as if it was Photoshopped out of the picture, with the other two buildings on the outside next to each other as if it was nothing.
And the worst part? Any government officials and citizens in the area didn't know anything about the building.
"The Vanishing Building Phenomenon I discussed last meeting is accelerating. We've lost any leads in both your and Yuki's respective organizations. We've lost five miles of Tokyo. I've had to call in at least 500,000 yen worth of favors to cover this up. If this expands to outside of red-light districts, we're all screwed!"
Akasuki and Sora both get out of their chairs, and begin to pat you on the back. Oh. You must have been beginning to spiral there. "C'mon, calm down Kira. It's gonna be fine. I'm working on making some searching spells right now. It'll take me a month or two, but it'll be ok." Sora reassures you.
From her side of the room, Yuki flips her fan. "You shouldn't be focusing on that too much, child. Stress is bad for the blood. Just look at my ex-husband!"
"Which one?" Akasuki asks.
"Number five, but that's unimportant. Isn't there another thing that you wanted to talk about with us, Kira?"
You start to breath, before walking back over to the wall, and shooing Sora away to go back to projecting the images.
"Ok, back on topic, thanks Yuki... I do have two leads of my own. The Shonai Peninsula Settlement has some things going on with their water breathing Glyphs. Nothing bad for those underwater natives, but it's concerning. And we've got the girl I've been talking about with you. One of the doctors assigned to me for the magical medical services told me about this woman."
The red eyes and brownish hair of Rei Maruki appear to you on the slide. So does a stealthy picture you took of the strange Glyph she has. "We've also got reports like hers, of this Glyph which I've tentatively decided to call Void. I haven't let anybody cast things with those, but they started appearing just around when the buildings started to disappear. Anybody up for tracking those people?"
Sora bites their lip. "If the government realizes that we're using our powers for something like that, we might get our positions stripped away. That means no more meetings and no more money. I'm not opposed— it goes against my programmed morality, but my morality wasn't programmed for a situation like this."
Saving that for the drawing board, than. "So, any ideas for what to do next, anybody? Remember, Tokyo's still at risk of getting deleted…"
Akasuki seems perturbed, but steels his expression quickly. He slams his hands down on the table. "Well, ok then, we should keep on looking for the perpetrators, whoever they are. We have to work together on this—"
"You know the risks, Akasuki," Sora responds, "By my calculations, multiple of us working together increases the risk of us being targeted by an attack exponentially."
That sends the group into silence. Even one of you dying would be horrendous both politically and personally. You don't remember who Thaumaturge No. 6 in Japan is, but you do remember that Akasuki is at least ten times better than they are. Not good.
"We could get rid of the Sky Seal. That would cause a lot of things to move around. The resulting friction would definitely cause whoever's in charge to give something away. Who knows, we might even get the buildings back in the aftermath!" Yuki suggests.
Akasuki and Sora sigh, and you shake your head. "Listen Yuki, I appreciate the help with lessening my workload. But I don't feel like creating any natural disasters today."
You sigh. Shit, doesn't look like anything's working…
"Has anyone seen No. 1?" you ask.
Everyone else bites their lips or looks away. Freaking idiots… (not like you'd be any different, though.) It's been five years, and not a single one of you has gotten a single lead on the mysterious No. 1 Archmage. The man who recruited you to this position to begin with.
Yuki tuts her lip, before looking directly into your eyes. Her presence chills your soul. For just a second, it feels like your muscles lock up, but that's only temporary. "Me or Sora can deal with Shonai, but you're the best for the other two things. You're already plugged into the Void Glyph case, and you're the only one who's anonymous enough to check out the buildings."
Your eyes widen. This— no. It's not something that you can do.
(Something in your head whispers back, however. It has to be something someone of your caliber can do. That's what your family's name means. That's what being an Archmage means.)
"Don't make me do this. Any one of you guys would be better… I'm only No. 4 here."
Yuki shakes her head. "Child. No. You are better than what you think you are. You've beaten out 2 million other mages to get this position. Don't doubt yourself. Besides, don't you remember what he asked you?"
You remember it as vividly as your first time flying, your first time casting a spell. Of course you remember. It's engraved into your bones.
"What is Magic to you?"
"Sir, I already answered your question…"
"Well honestly, I should rephrase that. What do you wish to find in learning Magic?"
"...something that can cure me."
"Then I'll give you the same advice as before. If you want to truly be cured, and find the secret of your condition go out, find, and observe any Magic. Study it like your life depends on it. Because Magic may be the lifeblood of this world…"
"But humans are the reason that blood can create miracles. Find those miracles, young Kira, and I'll meet you again at the end of the road."
You snap out of your flashback, and look up to the rest of the Archmages. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll keep track of Rei and the buildings. Don't worry about me; I'll be ok."
Akasuki nods in response, his expression changing to a rare grin. "Please, of course you will. You're our Sky Girl— you're already better than me. Get out there and kick their ass."
Author's Note:
Every single one of the people in the room that you just saw could kill Rei easily, in one turn.
Rei in Kamen Rider form.
Yes, including Akasuki and Kira. Just wanted to let you know that.
But I really hoped that you liked this insight into the top-tiers of this universe! It was really interesting to write this chapter and set up some things that won't come into fruition for a few arcs. I'll be back tommorow or Thursday, with a Space Oddity side story, and then we'll be back to our regular schedule.
Tokyo, An Undisclosed Location
You are Kira. You ditched your last name long ago. And right now, you are flying through the air, only about twenty feet above the crowds of Tokyo.
Normally, you'd have plenty of people gawking and pointing at you. And that's not even taking into account that most flying cars/bikes/other various flying objects like you aren't even allowed to fly this high unless you're taking a Glyph Train or SkyWay. Somethingsomethingyaddayadda "people don't want skies where you can only see metal".
But you're an Archmage, and you need to get somewhere fast. Besides, what the law doesn't know won't hurt them, and you sincerely doubt the privacy suite on you right now would let in even the most discerning of cameras. A sphere of Wind whips around your body and vehicle, preventing anybody from noticing your presence. Green Glyphs light up your limbs, as you soar through the sky with your magic. You twist and turn, going up and around subway stations, ducking underneath overpasses, and almost touch the ground with a few loop de loops.
There was once a painter that you learned to admire, on the days when your legs wouldn't let you out of bed and your parents coddled and pitied you. What was it that she said again? Oh right.
"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"
Whenever being called to so many meetings, so many conferences, and so many secret briefings tires you out… soaring through the sky without a care in the world always makes you remember why you became a thaumaturge.
"What is Magic to you?"
"A way of life."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO. 4
"Kuro" Kira, Free-Flying Autumn Breeze
Specialties: Wind Magic, Custom Spell Making, Magical Disability Aids
Well, you've got one thing to care about. Two, actually. You feel a familiar ache in your bones and sweat drops beginning to form on your forehead, as your prana starts to drop a bit. Time to land.
You soar below another underpass and land on the roof of the building you've been called to. As your feet hit the ground (ow) you pull a small cylinder-shaped stick out of your pocket, which quickly glows green before magically extending into a respectable wooden cane. Thanks, Akasuki. With it, you brace your weight on the ground and rotate your right wrist a bit. Time for the boring part.
The building which you haven't even bothered to memorize the name of is dark and gloomy, with most of the noise coming from below. There, you hear salarymen run around and slowly waste away, making cold calls to old people who are gullible about anything magic related. Must be government property, then.
A few minutes of walking through creepy halls later, you make it to your destination. A door, with room 84A on it. Quite unimpressive. You would have tried for 66, or at the very least 77 or 13. But whatever. A quick eye and fingerprint scan from the authenticator door gets you in quickly, and you enter the room filled with some of the most important people in the nation. Not really the most exciting Wednesday for you.
There are three people you see inside the room. Three. (Never four, because the one man that brought you all together wasn't the type to stick around.)
The first person that comes to your attention is a woman sitting off to the left side of the room. Dressed in a blue and white kimono, her smooth face and visage is the very vision of beauty, at least by Japanese standards.
However, to you what really stands out is her prana. In place of any normal levels of the human substance/life energy that powers your spells, you sense what can only be described as a pure overflow of mana, the natural force found in Glyphs. If you were looking only with your magic, you'd easily have confused her for a Water or Ice Glyph.
She snaps her fan shut, and looks up at you the second you enter the room. "Hm. What kind of tragedy has happened this time, to call up four Archmages into one place?"
"What is Magic to you?"
"A weapon for the worthy."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO. 2
"Yuki", A Yokai, Deadly Winter Blizzard
Specialties: Ice Magic, Trickery, Magical Combat
Yuki. No last name, just like you. The government and that man chose a new batch of Archmages after the Great War ten years back. However, they had only a few standards; namely, they were looking for the greatest thaumaturges in Japan, human or not, and they were looking to find anybody, human or not, that could fill their four slots within four years. Just off of sensing her magical presence, you can tell that Yuki lands decidedly on the "not" side. You think she's a Yuki-Onna, a spirit that died as a human and then lived in the mountains. Of course, you also think that she might be a compulsive gambler and that she might be a boomer.
You don't know that much about Yuki, to be honest. Well, except for the fact that she can completely kick your ass in a magical duel. The frostbite took ages to get off, ouch…
"Nothing that bad's happened yet, Yuki, don't worry about it. Sora, Akasuki, did you guys get the files yet?"
The two people sitting in the back of the room on their screens immediately look up. One of them is a HumaGear artificial robot, with orange and red hair. Meanwhile, the other one is a man in his early forties, with meticulously combed jet black hair and a suit and tie.
"What is Magic to you?"
"A tool to discover the unknown."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO. 3
Kisei Sora, Humagear, Shining Summer Searcher
Specialties: Fire/Light Magic, Astronomy, Calculations
"What is Magic to you?"
"A force that can mend worlds."
ARCHMAGE OF JAPAN, NO 4/5
(You and him swap places. Depends on the time of day.)
Bashira Akasuki, Mending Spring Healer
Specialties: Plant Magic, Healing, Alchemy, All That Boring Charity And Publicity Bullshit
"Um…" Akasuki seems to dig in his suit pockets for a second, before looking at Sora. "Uh, Sora, did you get the files that Kira sent?"
Sora just shrugs, before
Kisei Sora and Bashira Akasuki make up arguably the most boring half of the Archmages— doing charity and making presentations for the governments all over the world. Honestly, you've never cared about that, but if you get paid to look pretty, stay anonymous, and work on some interesting spells, you'll gladly take over for them on their sick days.
Sora hits a button on their headphones, and a holographic screen projects itself onto the walls. You walk over to the wall, as the slides (yay… PowerPoint…) that you prepared earlier start to load in.
"Alright, Sora, Akasuki, what have you guys done on your off time?"
While Archmages like you are obviously contacted and paid handsomely by the government for your help on experiments and publicity, the government also leaves the experts in a brand new dangerous field of study that anyone can access well alone. This leaves you time to make fancy experimental spells for people like Rei, and it leaves time for Yuki to go and participate in the occasional blackjack game.
It also leaves Sora and Akasuki time to be Kamen Riders.
Sora shakes their head, moving around the projection on the wall a bit. "Both me and Aka haven't seen anything on our spare patrols with the WRL. I flew up to check out the Shibuya area, but my optics aren't calibrated for anything like that…"
Akasuki shrugs as well. "Nobody interesting came by the Alchemy shop. I tried to check out both the criminal underworld with my old contacts, and read the roots below all of Tokyo, but I couldn't detect any magic out of the ordinary."
"Akasuki, how far did you search?"
"600 square miles. Nothing."
…Tokyo is currently 905 square miles large, if you measure the perimeter and don't count any underwater or sky settlements. About two thirds of Tokyo wasn't enough. Shit.
"Well, that's bad, but I really need you to look harder. Because…"
You tap the holographic screen, and it flashes too a picture of three buildings. The next picture is the exact same, except for one thing: the building in the middle is gone. It's almost as if it was Photoshopped out of the picture, with the other two buildings on the outside next to each other as if it was nothing.
And the worst part? Any government officials and citizens in the area didn't know anything about the building.
"The Vanishing Building Phenomenon I discussed last meeting is accelerating. We've lost any leads in both your and Yuki's respective organizations. We've lost five miles of Tokyo. I've had to call in at least 500,000 yen worth of favors to cover this up. If this expands to outside of red-light districts, we're all screwed!"
Akasuki and Sora both get out of their chairs, and begin to pat you on the back. Oh. You must have been beginning to spiral there. "C'mon, calm down Kira. It's gonna be fine. I'm working on making some searching spells right now. It'll take me a month or two, but it'll be ok." Sora reassures you.
From her side of the room, Yuki flips her fan. "You shouldn't be focusing on that too much, child. Stress is bad for the blood. Just look at my ex-husband!"
"Which one?" Akasuki asks.
"Number five, but that's unimportant. Isn't there another thing that you wanted to talk about with us, Kira?"
You start to breath, before walking back over to the wall, and shooing Sora away to go back to projecting the images.
"Ok, back on topic, thanks Yuki... I do have two leads of my own. The Shonai Peninsula Settlement has some things going on with their water breathing Glyphs. Nothing bad for those underwater natives, but it's concerning. And we've got the girl I've been talking about with you. One of the doctors assigned to me for the magical medical services told me about this woman."
The red eyes and brownish hair of Rei Maruki appear to you on the slide. So does a stealthy picture you took of the strange Glyph she has. "We've also got reports like hers, of this Glyph which I've tentatively decided to call Void. I haven't let anybody cast things with those, but they started appearing just around when the buildings started to disappear. Anybody up for tracking those people?"
Sora bites their lip. "If the government realizes that we're using our powers for something like that, we might get our positions stripped away. That means no more meetings and no more money. I'm not opposed— it goes against my programmed morality, but my morality wasn't programmed for a situation like this."
Saving that for the drawing board, than. "So, any ideas for what to do next, anybody? Remember, Tokyo's still at risk of getting deleted…"
Akasuki seems perturbed, but steels his expression quickly. He slams his hands down on the table. "Well, ok then, we should keep on looking for the perpetrators, whoever they are. We have to work together on this—"
"You know the risks, Akasuki," Sora responds, "By my calculations, multiple of us working together increases the risk of us being targeted by an attack exponentially."
That sends the group into silence. Even one of you dying would be horrendous both politically and personally. You don't remember who Thaumaturge No. 6 in Japan is, but you do remember that Akasuki is at least ten times better than they are. Not good.
"We could get rid of the Sky Seal. That would cause a lot of things to move around. The resulting friction would definitely cause whoever's in charge to give something away. Who knows, we might even get the buildings back in the aftermath!" Yuki suggests.
Akasuki and Sora sigh, and you shake your head. "Listen Yuki, I appreciate the help with lessening my workload. But I don't feel like creating any natural disasters today."
You sigh. Shit, doesn't look like anything's working…
"Has anyone seen No. 1?" you ask.
Everyone else bites their lips or looks away. Freaking idiots… (
Yuki tuts her lip, before looking directly into your eyes. Her presence chills your soul. For just a second, it feels like your muscles lock up, but that's only temporary. "Me or Sora can deal with Shonai, but you're the best for the other two things. You're already plugged into the Void Glyph case, and you're the only one who's anonymous enough to check out the buildings."
Your eyes widen. This— no. It's not something that you can do.
(Something in your head whispers back, however. It has to be something someone of your caliber can do. That's what your family's name means. That's what being an Archmage means.)
"Don't make me do this. Any one of you guys would be better… I'm only No. 4 here."
Yuki shakes her head. "Child. No. You are better than what you think you are. You've beaten out 2 million other mages to get this position. Don't doubt yourself. Besides, don't you remember what he asked you?"
You remember it as vividly as your first time flying, your first time casting a spell. Of course you remember. It's engraved into your bones.
"What is Magic to you?"
"Sir, I already answered your question…"
"Well honestly, I should rephrase that. What do you wish to find in learning Magic?"
"...something that can cure me."
"Then I'll give you the same advice as before. If you want to truly be cured, and find the secret of your condition go out, find, and observe any Magic. Study it like your life depends on it. Because Magic may be the lifeblood of this world…"
"But humans are the reason that blood can create miracles. Find those miracles, young Kira, and I'll meet you again at the end of the road."
You snap out of your flashback, and look up to the rest of the Archmages. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll keep track of Rei and the buildings. Don't worry about me; I'll be ok."
Akasuki nods in response, his expression changing to a rare grin. "Please, of course you will. You're our Sky Girl— you're already better than me. Get out there and kick their ass."
Author's Note:
Every single one of the people in the room that you just saw could kill Rei easily, in one turn.
Rei in Kamen Rider form.
Yes, including Akasuki and Kira. Just wanted to let you know that.
But I really hoped that you liked this insight into the top-tiers of this universe! It was really interesting to write this chapter and set up some things that won't come into fruition for a few arcs. I'll be back tommorow or Thursday, with a Space Oddity side story, and then we'll be back to our regular schedule.
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Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
This chapter was inspired by Bitterman's tendency to reveal absolutely insane things in his side stories. Hope you enjoy the fact that Tokyo used to be 910 square miles, and for all that the Archmages know, it could have been larger before!
SolarGemX
The Crystalized Sun
- Location
- Somewhere in the Cosmos
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Good to see you back in this Mr.Kermie! Also.... well shit thats not good. Did Dialga and Palkia start fighting again? (I kid)
Well, thats probably an interesting endgame, something is erasing entire section of Japan AND have some memory altering power that almost anyone but the top brass has yet to notice... Is this related to our arcs gameover scenario? Because I can see how beimg erased alomgside an entire city, would count as: Our characters are almost definitly gonna die if you fail.
So... whoever is doimg this is probably erasing shit for some porpose... going by my game induced logic they are either.
A. Erasing the world just for shits and giggles.
B. Erasing the world in order to make a new one (aka the Krishna scenario from SMT 4A)
C. Something in the void is hungry and its being fed.
D. Same as C, but whoever is doing it, probably thinks they are helping by feeding it. A delay the inetible scenario.
Well, thats probably an interesting endgame, something is erasing entire section of Japan AND have some memory altering power that almost anyone but the top brass has yet to notice... Is this related to our arcs gameover scenario? Because I can see how beimg erased alomgside an entire city, would count as: Our characters are almost definitly gonna die if you fail.
So... whoever is doimg this is probably erasing shit for some porpose... going by my game induced logic they are either.
A. Erasing the world just for shits and giggles.
B. Erasing the world in order to make a new one (aka the Krishna scenario from SMT 4A)
C. Something in the void is hungry and its being fed.
D. Same as C, but whoever is doing it, probably thinks they are helping by feeding it. A delay the inetible scenario.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Both Akasuki and Kira have rank 5, I think one of them should be 4?
Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
I'm gonna flat out tell you, since I'm already planning on revealing it in 1.16: no. The Disappearing is too slow at the moment to cause any complete uproar. The actual objective is to not get your house found and be jumped to death on Awakening Day. The Disappearing is a more long term threat.
Agh, I knew I forgot something when copy-pasting from google docs!
(Kira and Akasuki tend to be very competitive for No. 4: usually she has it, but whenever any big disaster happens or Alchemy, which is even newer than Magic, makes a leap forward, he gets it for a few months. They're both still way ahead of No. 6, however.)
SolarGemX
The Crystalized Sun
- Location
- Somewhere in the Cosmos
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well... Le shit.. that would do it. Yeah having an evil org knowing where you live and sending who knows how many enemies/comanders/ oh god its the BBEG! Would count as fail scenario.... We need to get buff, we need to make our friends buff, we need to make the voices in our head not kill each other... maybe not in that exact order. All I know its gonna be interesting as all hell.
Next time on Is it for Love or is for Justice!:
A chaotic Labrynth Clash!
Team Rei vs. Labrynth Archfiend!
Written by: A Gundam Unicorn
Played by:
A chaotic Labrynth Clash!
Team Rei vs. Labrynth Archfiend!
Written by: A Gundam Unicorn
Played by:
- A Girl with too many voices in her head (Rei)
- A Disgruntled E-girl (Hiwari),
- The one thats never here and needs a tracker implanted in her (Akemi)
- A not cat/ not Purrly (Purrson)
- A disgruntled Aunt with a Mech (Atry/Gargoyle)
- And a bunch of gremlins whose brains have
- melted thanks to the horrors of the internet (Malice)
- Location
- Indonesia
That... is horrifying. Along with these typos.
anything
disappear
looking
idiots
Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Well, that one's embarrassing! All of those have been fixed now.
Zenless Zone Zero prequel moment lol
Kermie
Surprisingly Not A Frog
- Location
- Somewhere On The Planet
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Alright people, it's rolling time! I'll be doing the combat and damage rolls off screen, but I'll be calling on you guys for the occasional Mental/Social/Physical checks. Oh, and also to get Purrson and Akemi back upstairs.
First off is initiative for Rei and Akemi. (Thanks to the earlier Nat 100, Himari has Initiative set at 20.)
First off is initiative for Rei and Akemi. (Thanks to the earlier Nat 100, Himari has Initiative set at 20.)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Here I go!