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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema - Story only

Damn it.

You can't have failed. It can't be Megane. She couldn't possibly have Witched out this fast.

And you can't ignore this. Whoever it is. Not that that was ever a realistic proposition.

At your side, Mami hums lightly as she inhales the gentle fragrance of her tea, eyes closing.

"Do we still need to meet in person?" you snap mentally, holding your own teacup still.

"Yes," Oriko says, voice strained. "It's- this shouldn't have happened."

"Right," you say, mind whirling through plans, shuffling through them rapidly. "Oriko. The Witch I asked about yesterday, or the day before?"

"The day before," the seer says. "That's the problem."

Elsa Maria, then. Ahead of Orikos' predicted schedule of tomorrow, or so it seems. Which is... admittedly strange. You huff out a slow breath and take a sip of the tea. "Can you tell us where Sayaka is? Or rather - will be?"

"She's in the old industrial district already," Oriko replies.

"Why?" Homura interjects, her voice glacier cold.

"That's the problem. I don't know," Oriko hisses. "She has no reason to be caught up in this."

"Homura?" you ask sharply. "Where did you see her last?"

"She was heading home," Homura replies.

You suppress a grimace. "Damn. Hold on a moment."

"Sabrina? Is something w-wrong?" Mami looks over at you, lowering her teacup. Worry lines her face, her golden eyes anxious as she turns a beseeching gaze on you.

A sigh. "Yeah. Sayaka might be in danger," you say.

Mami's eyes widen. "What? How do you know?"

"Oriko," you say, holding up a hand to forestall her next sentence. "I know, I know, she might be lying, but this is a... rather pointless lie, if it is one." You switch mental channels, reaching out for Sayaka. "Sayaka? Are you there?"

Mami swallows, and nods hesitantly. She puts her teacup down. "W-where are we going?"

Your lips flatten out for a moment as you consider that. You briefly consider leaving Mami behind - you can do this by timestop, but on the other hand, no. It'd do more harm than good. "We need to go and see Oriko," you say. "And... we need to go by timestop. Are you OK with that, Mami?" You reach out with your free hand, taking Mami's hand in yours.

Mami seems to sag for a moment. She leans forward, setting her teacup down before looking at you again, trying to look resolute. "Yes," she says, nodding slowly. She's clearly steeling herself for it, with an air of tension in her shoulders. Her fingers clasp tightly against yours, a slight tremble belying the strength of her grip.

You smile at her. "Thank you, Mami," you say, squeezing her hand back. Still no response from Sayaka, though, so... you'll try again. "Sayaka?"

Still nothing.

"Sayaka's not responding," you murmur, feeling a worried frown crease your brow. Mami looks even more worried, now. You grope for your phone, and dial Sayaka's number. You're already rising to your feet, one hand holding the phone to your ear and the other clasping Mami's. You pull her to her feet with what you hope is a reassuring smile.

The call rings through to voicemail, and your lips press together.

That's not good.

One last check that the stove is off, a small effort of will to cleanse your Gem, and then... "Homura?" This time, you include Mami, too.

"Yes?" the time traveller responds.

"Can you come and get Mami and I by timestop?" you ask.

"On my way," she says.

You nod to your-

-self. Violet eyes framed by long, black hair meet yours. Homura's expression is flat and nearly unreadable, the slightest hint of a frown on her face. The oppressive silence and grey hues of the timestop press in all around you, lifeless and uncomfortable. Mami, like you, glances around, her grip tightening on your hand, and you suppress an unhappy grimace, instead focusing on Homura.

"Hey, Homura," you say. "Thanks for coming."

Homura's eyes soften slightly, the frown easing, and she nods.

"OK," you say. "So... Oriko said that she wants us to meet her."

"Yes," the time traveller says, voice toneless.

"Shall we?" you say. "And, um, Mami, could you..."

Mami nods, her hair brushing limply against her shoulders. Golden ribbon spools out from her hand, as if drawn from some unseen reel, and it wraps around your waist, and then Homura's. The time traveller nods her thanks at Mami, stepping back from you before heading over to the door, hanging slightly ajar.

"Mami," you say softly, still holding her hand as you head out. "It'll be OK. We'll do this together."

She gives you a small, wavering smile in response as the three of you head out, hopping over the roofs. The swish of air and your breaths accompany the three of you. An occasional sharp crack here and there is concrete breaking underfoot.

Some unspoken urgency impels all three of you, and by silent agreement, you push hard, speeding across Mitakihara in record time. You reach Oriko's mansion quickly, finding Kirika frozen in the act of sliding the glass door open.

The three of you file pass Kirika, frozen mid bounce and mid grin, to find Oriko waiting in the living room. You'd caught her mid blink, apparently, eyelids drooping out of phase with each other and you fight off an extraordinarily inappropriate giggle.

"Mami?" you say. "Could you do the honours?"

"Of course," she says, reaching out one hand. A quiet click comes from Homura's direction, and you look over just in time to see her withdraw a pistol from her shield.

At the touch of Mami's ribbon, colour suffuses Oriko's form. She blinks, shivering slightly as she looks around. "Hello," she greets all of you, blinking quickly.

"Hello, Oriko," you say.

She blows out a hard breath. "This shouldn't have happened," she says without further preamble. A pained frown creases her forehead, and she rubs at it as she speaks. "The Witch you asked about shouldn't have reached Mitakihara so soon."

"Go on?" you say. Mami shuffles up beside you, and takes your hand in hers. Her fingers are cold against yours.

"It shouldn't have happened," she says, a strained note in her voice. "It can't have happened. Miki Sayaka should be at home right now."

You frown at her, perplexed.

[] Write-in

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Bah. Life.
 
Mami and Homura are both looking to you, waiting for you to make a move, though Homura admittedly looks more impatient than anything, fingers flexing slowly, tension strung taut in her jaw. Mami... is anxious, and worried, her grip almost crushing on your fingers. Probably literally crushing but for the fact that you're a puella magi.

Oriko too is staring at you, her breaths shallow and fast. There's obvious strain on her face, and a pained wince squeezing her eyes nearly shut.

Your frown deepens. You don't get what's happening here. Did the present... change, when you made that Barrier? But it's the second time you made it. Nothing happened the first time. And there's the Feather. You're not sure when you'd mentally assigned it a capital letter, but there it is.

It's too much of a coincidence.

You take a deep breath and blow it out, trying to center yourself. "OK, OK," you say, holding up your hands. "First things first, Soul Gem cleanses, everyone. We have... time to spare." You gesture around at the timestop.

Mami gives you a wan smile before tilting her head towards you, presenting her flower shaped Soul Gem, glinting a warm gold. The same colour as her eyes. Homura's expression doesn't shift, but she lifts her hand towards you, the amethyst of her Soul Gem a brilliant echo of her faded lilac eyes.

"My Soul Gem is with Kirika," Oriko observes.

... wait.

Your hand, rising in a habitual gesture to cleanse Mami's and Homura's Soul Gems, pauses midair. You squint around at the grey hues of the timestop, and more importantly, at Kirika, just visible down the corridor. Frozen. You look back at Oriko, who simply frowns at you.

"Go on, then," you mutter, frowning at the seer. You can see Homura's jaw tighten for a moment, the muscles jumping. Her fingers whiten on the grip of her pistol.

Oriko nods, giving Homura a wary look before heading off to get Kirika.

"Hey, Oriko!" you hear Kirika calling a moment later. "Oh, this again. Hi, Sabrina!" She bounces into the living room, dragging Oriko by their joined hands. Homura's gaze locks on to the black haired girl, gun hand twitching.

"Hi, Kirika," you say. "Soul Gems, if you please?"

"Gotcha!" she chirps, producing her and Oriko's Soul Gems, clinking together. It takes only a sliver of attention for you to tug free the corruption bubbling in all the Soul Gems. It wisps into the air and flows out of the room, slinking along to join the main mass of Grief you'd left outside.

Oriko sighs, shaking her head. "This shouldn't have happened," she repeats herself.

"Oriko," you say. "OK, maybe your predictions were wrong. But you warned us, so... we can still intervene. We'll figure out why things changed, but Sayaka's safety comes first."

Oriko shakes herself, a shudder running through her body. Kirika gives her a concerned look, slinging an arm around her waist and hugging her close. "You don't understand," she says. "It's... it's wrong. You-" she jabs a finger at you. "Things change when you act. This. The future is truncated and..." she waves her hand in the air, trying to find the word. "Spliced."

"Is it like the future you were trying to prevent?" you ask, darting a look at Homura. The time traveller's frown is deepening slowly as she watches Oriko.

Oriko hisses out a breath, her eyes twitching sideways in a lightning fast glance at Mami. "Yes. No. Yes, if you mean it bears similarities in action but not in form," she says.

"In action but not in form?" you ask slowly. "So... similar manner of occurrence?" Were there feathers?

Oriko nods slightly. "Yes."

You frown again. "So is that all? Was there anything you couldn't you tell me over telepathy?"

The seer grimaces. "I don't want the Incubator to know more than he should."

Homura's eyes snap to the seer, staring at Oriko. Sea green eyes meet faded purple ones and hold each other's gaze.

"Sabrina?" Mami asks, looking at you. "What... what are you talking about?"

[] Write-in

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Whoops?
 
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You rub at your forehead, feeling an impending headache. Probably time and past for you to join the migraine club with Homura and Oriko, anyway.

Your purse your lips for a moment. "I think this might be related to the threat," you say, half to yourself, half to Mami. "The one Oriko saw." You tip your head in the general direction of the seer. Truth be told, you're still not absolutely certain, but... it seems a relatively safe guess.

You blink, shaking your head to clear the thoughts buzzing about your head, and focus on Mami. She looks more confused than anything, touched with that ever present edge of fear.

"Mami, you remember what I told you about there being something bigger than Walpurgisnacht coming?" you say. At Mami's hesitant nod, you continue. "I think... well, this might be the first we've seen of it. There's times when Oriko's visions are blocked by feathers. And I think that they're related."

"The only evidence of that is her," Homura cuts in, still staring at Oriko, her knuckles still white around her the blocky handle of her pistol.

"Not... quite, Homura," you say. It's just as well you'd meant to bring this up. "There was a feather earlier... and the time matches up with when Oriko said things changed." You jerk your head over at the seer, who nods.

Homura's frown deepens, but she doesn't say anything more.

"A feather, Sabrina?" Mami asks.

You bite your lip, slightly reluctant to bring up certain recent events.

Mami seems to make the connection on her on, glancing down. "Oh," she says, voice terribly small.

You squeeze Mami's hand, and step closer to her, hugging her close to your side. A flash of motion catches your eye - Kirika, giving you a measured nod, uncustomarily serious look on her face, before the expression fades and she grins brightly at you.

"And... 'Incubator' is another name for Kyuubey," you say, trying to push past the moment. "I'm... sorry I didn't tell you all of this before, Mami, I forgot to."

She nods slightly. "It's alright," she whispers.

"Hey," you say softly to her, reaching out and gently tipping her head up to look at you. "Whatever it is, we can stop it together, just by knowing what it is." You turn your gaze on Homura, too, and she glances at you briefly before blowing out a breath and returning her glare to Oriko and Kirika.

"Alright," Mami says again, leaning her head against you.

"We all want to keep everyone safe," you say, looking around the room. "And we can do this, together."

Oriko's the only one to really answer, giving you a measured, stately nod, while Homura just flashes you another annoyed look. Mami remains leaning against you, while Kirika is leaning on her oujo with an arm comfortably slung around her waist.

You hum softly to yourself, thinking hard. "Oriko, what do you mean by 'truncate' and 'splice', anyway?" you ask.

The seer shakes her head, looking irritated. "It's a figure of speech," she says. "The futures that I see, the threads, scenarios, they-" she breaks off, a flash of pain crossing her face. Kirika slips around Oriko, and begins massaging her shoulders with a concerned look on her face. "Aaahhh, thank you, dear- they, change, abruptly. I see Miki Sayaka at home, and then... at the warehouse. Any futures where she's at home are gone. Similarly, the Witch."

Kirika tugs Oriko over to the sofa, and sits her down sideways before curling behind her and continuing to knead her back.

"I see," you murmur, considering that. You've all the time in the world for more questions, you suppose, but... You glance at Homura, who seems on edge and well past ready to go.

[] Write-in

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Bah, another short update.
 
You nod sharply, glancing over at Homura. She's a tight wound spring, muscles tense, and hands clenched over the grip of her pistol. Her finger, thankfully, isn't sitting on the trigger yet, merely lying flat along the guard. You briefly wonder where she learned trigger safety, but...

That's not exactly relevant right now. You glance at Oriko, questions poised on your lips, before they die unspoken. You grimace, glancing at Homura again. She seems to sense your gaze and looks at you with hard amethyst eyes, mouth set in an unhappy line. Tension hums in her body, and she holds your gaze for a moment before flicking her attention back to Oriko and Kirika, watching them warily.

Your grimace twists, and you swallow the questions. Instead...

"OK," you say, nodding at Oriko. "I think we know all we can figure out at this point. All that's left is really to go and save Sayaka."

"You should find her near... district 189," Oriko notes quietly. She gives you another of those slow, measured nods, managing to look perfectly dignified despite Kirika continuing to work at her shoulders with... considerably more enthusiasm than skill.

Homura... Homura doesn't quite relax. But something indefinable eases out of her posture, and she glances at you again, expression inscrutable.

"Alright, Sabrina," Mami says. "I-I think..." she bites her lip for a moment before shaking her head. "Later."

You give her a curious look, before glancing at Oriko and Kirika. "Alright. Thanks for the warning, Oriko, and... see you later, I guess," you say.

"Bye, Sabrina!" Kirika says brightly, still concentrating mostly on giving Oriko a massage.

"Bye," you say. "Mami, could you?"

She nods, twisting her hands. The ribbon unwraps from Oriko, grey hues of the timestop claiming her and Kirika.

Homura lets out a quiet breath, glancing at you.

Mami looks at the pair on the sofa moment, before looking up at you and squeezing your hand. "S-Sabrina? Can I say something?"

"Sure," you say, looking at her curiously.

"I..." she licks her lips. "I'm n-not sure that Mikuni is... correct. I-I'm sure you haven't m-misjudged her! But she could be wrong..."

You tilt your head. There's more going unsaid here than is actually being said, you feel, but in this instance, you have an answer. "I agree," you say, smiling at Mami, then at Homura. "Which is why I think we should check Sayaka's home first."

Mami blinks in surprise. "A-ah, yes," she says. "T-that sounds right."

"I agree," Homura nods. She glances away with a sigh, and slips her pistol back into her shield.

"Alright. Let's go, then," you say with a smile, turning and heading for the exit. You push out past the rose bushes, Mami giving the excavated one an odd look as you file past it. A few minutes later, the three of you are roofhopping across Mitakihara, crossing it at speed. A dense cloud of Grief spheres trails after you, dozens of basketball sized spheres drifting through the air.

You let Homura lead, this time, and the three of you find yourself headed to a surprisingly -or perhaps unsurprisingly- upscale part of the city. Not quite the same absurdity of rolling greenery as the Kaname residence or Mikuni mansion, but... it's a nicely appointed apartment block in what you recognize as one of the high class districts.

You suppose you can guess a bit at Sayaka's wories, comparing to her old apartment.

The three of you land on the roof, and make your way down the stairs to Sayaka's apartment. Homura touches a hand to the doorknob, and concentrates for a moment. There's a flash of purple, and the lock clicks open, Homura pushing her way into the apartment proper.

The entire apartment feels new. The furniture definitely is, from the looks of it, and the massive television on the wall, and the light fixtures, and the fluffy rugs, and... how bloody rich are the Shizukis?

... you can see the source of Sayaka's fretting, really.

What you don't see is a certain bleunette. You find her parents sleeping in the master bed room, which is just as luxuriously appointed, and you find what you're reasonably certain is her room, but you don't find Sayaka herself. No sign of struggle, either.

"Damn," you mutter under your breath.

Mami nods, looking worried. "Should we go to the industrial district?"

"Yeah," you mutter. "I hope Sayaka's OK."

Homura's already heading to the door, the ribbon tied in the middle of her back drifting after her in the still air in two long tails to match her hair.

... when was the last time you saw Homura do a hair flip, anyway?

The three of you head out to the industrial district, Homura again in the lead.

The industrial district is frozen, and difficult terrain for roofhopping, what with the proliferation of odd, metallic structures and towers in odd protrusions, interspersed by low slung buildings and factories. You make your way towards the place Oriko had indicated, and you find yourselves in a looming forest of girders, deep shadows cast by the evening sun.

"There," Homura murmurs, spotting Sayaka first.

You follow the time traveller's pointing finger to see Sayaka. She seems... off-kilter, leaning drunkenly to the side, mid-step. Her head hangs forward, fringe shading her eyes, and...

There's a sigil on her neck, stark black on white and radiating tapered spikes. You can feel it in your Grief senses, glowing with muted, malevolent intent. Something you've seen before. A Witch's kiss.

You can feel the Barrier, not terribly far from her.

[] Write-in

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Do you hear that?
 
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You approach Sayaka cautiously, scanning around the area for possible traps. If someone, or perhaps something, knew about Homura's timestop, then a simple tripwire wired to an explosive would be deadly effective. You push your Grief senses, trying to pick up everything that might be dangerous in the area.

Homura and Mami, ahead of you and close beside you, respectively. Sayaka, just there, with the malignant tumour of the Witch Kiss on her neck, and the Witch Barrier. A bit further away, and... you squint. It looks like it's set on the end of a half finished and abandoned building, resting near the tip of an exposed girder.

Mami follows the direction of your gaze and spots the Barrier, nodding at you. She frowns around the area, expression businesslike as she looks around the scene, eyes flicking across the area as she, too, scans for threats. She still sticks close to you, though.

Hmmm.

Homura stalks across the dusty road, reaching Sayaka first. She stops short, heels clicking on the pavement as she inspects the girl.

You join her, the three of you simply staring at Sayaka, trying to divine how this had happened - or at least, that's what you're trying to do. You probe the Witch Kiss with your senses, but... it seems to be more or less the same as the last Witch Kisses you'd looked at. Something that's practically a Familiar, something winding ephemeral tendrils of Grief into Sayaka.

Homura makes an annoyed sound in the back of her throat, and glances at you. "We should just kill the Witch. That will end the Kiss," she states.

"I think I can get rid of the Witch Kiss, actually," you say with a shake of your head.

The time traveller frowns dubiously, her mouth twisting into a grimace, but doesn't say anything more.

A thought strikes you, and you cock your head. "Hmm, actually..." you say, a frown flickering across your face. "Have you heard of potentials-" you tilt your head to indicate Sayaka, "-being Witch Kissed before?"

Homura blinks at you, expression unchanged. "Yes."

"Um," Mami says, looking at you. "Yes, girls with potential are n-normal people. Until they m-make their c-contract with..." She breaks off the sentence, swallowing and eyes dipping towards the floor.

"Ah," you say. "That makes sense. Thanks, Homura, Mami." You smile at them, and capture Mami's hand, giving it a quick squeeze of reassurance and silent thanks. She looks up at you, giving you a wavering smile.

You nod at Mami. "Alright, then," you say. "I think I can do this, so..." You let go of Mami's hand. You crack your knuckles, using the pause to mentally prepare for this. It shouldn't be any different from melting a Familiar, but you want to be focused for this, after all. Centered, and focused, you reach out a hand towards Sayaka.

Mami interrupts you. "Sabrina, w-wait," she says. "A-are you..."

She trails off, looking down at the floor.

You lower your hand, looking over at Mami. "What is it, Mami?" Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Homura frowning at Mami, then at you.

"N-no," she says. "Never mind."

"Mami..." you say, reaching out to take her hand gently. "What is it?"

Her eyes follow your arm up to your face, her golden eyes huge and worried. "I-I. I'm sure y-you can do it, Sabrina, but..." Mami swallows hard. "A-are you... sure? That it's s-safe?"

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Oh.
 
You lower your hand, thinking furiously. Mami's staring up at you, half in hope and half in fear, and... she has a point. You don't know for sure that it's safe. Should you be testing it with Sayaka as your guinea pig?

You swallow. "It's probably safe," you say, grimacing. And you don't... Mami's exposure to the results of your experiments has been fraught, to say the least. You don't want to push her even more on this. "But... no. You're right, Mami, I can't say for sure."

"T-then..." Mami says, trailing off.

"We'll kill the Witch," you say, nodding. "Take it out, and Sayaka should be fine, right?" You give Mami and Homura an inquiring look. Mami nods in agreement, her worried expression fades a little. She gives you a wavering smile. You return it, trying to give her some reassurance. Her smile strengthens a little, still a touch sickly.

Homura nods sharply, turning to look up at the Barrier, far above on the exposed girder.

You pull Mami into a quick hug as Homura stalks off towards the hulk of the half finished building. "Though, um. Mami?" you say. "Could you make sure Sayaka doesn't hurt herself?"

She nods. "Of course."

Mami walks towards Sayaka, holding her hand out towards the bleunette. A ribbon lashes out, as if spooling from some invisible reel, and snaps around Sayaka's waist.

Vibrant colour blossoms across Sayaka, leeching back into her in waves, and she sways, almost slipping from the ribbon. She struggles weakly, fists swinging blindly before golden ribbons loop around her wrists, yanking them to her sides and binding her securely in a cocoon.

Mami smoothly steps forward, catching Sayaka and easing her to the ground by the side of the building as the girl wiggles fruitlessly against the bindings. "It'll be alright, Sayaka," Mami says softly, twisting her hand and breaking the ribbon. She looks up at you, eyes worried.

"It will, Mami," you agree, holding out your hand to her. She takes it, and you pull her to her feet.

"This way." You look up to see Homura standing at the doorway of the building, watching the two of you silently. You nod, and walk over, following Homura as you step into the building.

The three of you make your way up the stairs, footsteps thudding dully against the bare concrete. The noise is sucked away, swallowed by the yawning silence of the timestop as you travel up the building, finally reaching the unfinished portion. Without hesitation, Homura steps out onto the exposed girder, balancing surely on the I-beam that's no thicker than a few handspans. Homura pauses in front of the Barrier, glowing faintly even in the colour drained hues of the timestop, glancing back at you before stepping into the Barrier.

You follow, plunging through the glowing opening.

The familiar miasma of a Witch's Barrier hammers in on your senses, and you take a moment to center yourself.

You, Mami, and Homura are three splashes of colour, dull in the spidery shadows of the starkly monochrome landscape you'd expected. Homura's timestop leached what little bright white there was to a dead grey, lending the already eerie Barrier an entirely unsettling ambiance.

Faint shatterlines web across the dead, leaden sky, and abyssal black paints a wide stripe beneath your feet - a long, straightforward path to a distant, spiked monstrance of brilliant crimson, faded to a muted vermilion. A faint whispering seems to resonate from the ground, distant and nearly inaudible.
Who are you?
Homura frowns at the ground for a moment before withdrawing an assault rifle, blocky and matte black with a shrouded barrel, from her shield. The clicks draw your attention, and Mami nods sharply, removing her hat from her head and pulling out a musket. She inhales, closing her eyes, and when she lets the breath out, her hands are steady on the weapon.

You draw a hammer over your shoulder, silvery motes of light coalescing into the familiar, comforting weight. Grief spheres melt and run, flashing into gleaming blades of deep purple that are nearly invisible against the stark black of the Barrier. They swing out in a virtual sandstorm of razor sharp blades, hunting through the twilight shadows of the Barrier.

Homura glances back at you, amethyst eyes scanning you and Mami both before looking ahead. She prowls forward, assault rifle held at a low guard. Abruptly, she snaps it up, and fires a single shot. The bullet tears away into the Barrier, trail of vapour streaking through the air before freezing in front of a spindly, snake-ish thing that rises above your head level. A Familiar. More shots roar out, Homura's aim shifting a hair as she shifts to a fast trot.

Mami only takes a moment to consider the frozen, nightmare tangles of Familiars, dozens of Medusa heads captured mid writhe by Homura's timestop. Just a quick moment, as she speeds after Homura. A deft flick tosses her musket into the air, spinning, and she spreads her hands out, an array of muskets spinning out of ribbons. They fire as one, the balls slashing through the air in a fan of smoky trails to join the chattering shots of Homura's assault rifle.

She darts forward, catching the first rifle as it plummets from the sky, and flourishes it boldly before discharging it into another Familiar.

Shots hammer through the air like demented hornets, intricate geometrical patterns sketched of straight lines unfurling and fanning out through the leaden air in delicately beautiful, deadly arcs.

You trail along behind the two, trying to stay out of the way of the storm.

"This is... an odd way of fighting," Mami says, almost conversationally even as she kicks another musket from the ground and into her waiting hands with a deft flick of her foot.

Homura grunts in response, deftly replacing the magazine in her rifle with a fresh one pulled from her shield. The motions are brisk and almost instinctual, born of long practice. "It's safer," she allows, voice flat.

"It is," Mami agrees.

Your progress up the path is... methodical. A single bullet apiece for each Familiar, calm and businesslike, with none of the usual frenetic storm of battle. The pace picks up, the three of you moving at a brisk jog. Nothing even comes close to you -nothing can- come close to you, and you content yourself with dissolving the few of the Familiars that are out of the immediate line of fire.

It's almost boring.

You force yourself to keep alert, even as your blades whicker through the air in lazy orbits. Just in case, you keep enough Grief nearby to instantly throw up a defensive Barrier if need be. Your senses scan deeply, watching for any possible tricks Elsa Maria might have.

You have no idea where that Feather came from, and that worries you. Might things have changed?

You don't know. And that terrifies you.

Looming overhead is the faded vermilion starburst of the monstrance, drawing ever closer. Your footsteps pound on the only blackness of the Barrier, hard on the heels of Mami and Homura. Behind you, a lethal flowerburst has blossomed, each and every Familiar marked for death.

And ahead of you, just a little further, is the hunched figure of Elsa Maria. A small humanoid thing, barely larger than an adult, bent over in prayer, with its back to you. You know very well that given half the chance, it'd sprout a massive, writhing forest of tendrils, spearlike and razor sharp, to tear into unwary intruders.

But here and now...

"Homura?" Mami calls, piouretting as she slams home a last few shots. "Is it safe to attack the Witch?"

"Yes," Homura says. A dark ovoid drops into her hand, and with a practice motion, Homura pulls the pin from the grenade. She hefts it in her hand for a few seconds before tossing it, arcing it high over Elsa Maria before it freezes midair.

Mami blinks at the tumbling explosive, before bracing herself and spreading her hands. A mass of ribbons explodes out and winds into her signature cannon. "TIRO! FINALE!" she calls out, and the cannon booms out its shot, the huge ball stopping just short of the Witch.

The cannon blast is sucked up by the empty silence of the timestop, and any echoes swallowed up by the gaping void. Mami's hands drop limply to her side, the cannon dissolving, and she eyes the frozen cannonball oddly.

[] Write-in

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Timestop curbstomp~
 
You turn around, looking back down the path. Ethereal, gleaming trails of vapour arc out, forming interlocking fans of lethal firepower captured in the frozen grasp of the timestop. Behind you, a gentle shower of grenades on the cusp of detonation, as well as Mami's Tiro Finale shot stand poised to slam into Elsa Maria.

"Maybe we should back up a little? Just in case?" you murmur. "It couldn't hurt to have a little more time to react to things."

"Good idea," Mami agrees, starting to back away from the kneeling figure of Elsa Maria.

Homura doesn't respond verbally, simply walking away from the Witch, apparently unconcerned.

The stygian darkness of the ground continues to moan under your feet, unintelligible almost-words in a low, constant mutter as the three of you gain some distance from the Witch. You pick your way around the smoky grey lines sketched through the air by the passage of the fanning arcs of firepower.

"By the way, um," you say. "Did anyone hear... a voice when you came into the Barrier?"

Mami blinks. "Umm. Do you mean the..." she indicates the ground.

"No, I do mean a voice-voice," you say, frowning. What was it? You have the distinct impression someone asked you who you were, but you're not entirely sure what that was...

Then again, you're not even sure you're able to answer that question, in all honesty.

Mami shakes her head. "No, I didn't," she says.

"Hmm. Homura?" You glance over at the time traveller.

She shakes her head, a frown that mirrors your own crossing her face. "Nothing beyond the Barrier."

"Is something wrong, Sabrina?" Mami asks.

You grimace. "No, I must've imagined it. Probably just the Barrier," you say, tapping a foot against the ground.

Mami doesn't look entirely convinced, giving you a concerned look. You smile at her, shaking your head. She gives you a weak smile in response.

"OK, Homura," you say. "Go for it, I think?" Elsa Maria's still within your range, and you focus, reaching out with metaphorical fingers and ready to rip into the body of the Witch.

Mami tenses, drawing one more musket from her chest, and holds it tightly to herself in readiness. Homura nods, and reaches for her shield. She cranks it across with a sharp jerk and a humming of gears.

Hundreds of bullets and musket balls slam home simultaneously. The roar of noise runs together, a cacaphonous sledgehammer of sound smashed against your ears. Familiars explode, torn and shredded by the rivers of precisely placed firepower. A staccato series of dull whumps are Homura's grenades.

Mami's Tiro Finale crashes into Elsa Maria, the impact more felt than heard. The Witch is smashed to the ground, seemingly rooted on the spot but pounded into the floor by the enormous impact and shredded by shrapnel.

You reach out with your powers for the nightmare figure of the Witch, tearing at the Grief. You pull, and the figure shivers, deforming and melting away in wispy, guttering flickers. Grief pours into the air, the figure practically sublimating, and Elsa Maria shrieks, thrashing weakly.

Elsa Maria dies.

The monstrance, once more a vivid crimson, shatters with a sharp crack. The ground shudders beneath your feet, and the Barrier starts to waver. The monochrome landscape shimmers like a mirage, stark blacks and whites bleeding away.

You let the Grief of Elsa Maria go. It drains away, swirling down to a single point as the Barrier fades. There's a quiet ping, just audible over the dying echoes of noise, and the Grief Seed drops to the floor.

Falling. You find yourself falling again as the abyssal ground fades away to nothing. Mami and Homura are falling beside you, an-

A ribbon snaps around your waist.

Your fall shifts into a smooth swing, and that building's coming up awfully fast and you grab the ribbon and twist midair. You slam feetfirst into the wall, as if you're doing a particularly energetic bout of abseiling. A quick glance about shows that Mami's just a little bit above you, looking down at you in concern, and Homura's somehow managed to land safely on a girder.

"I'm OK," you call to Mami with a smile.

She nods shakily, and begins letting herself down. You feel your ribbon extending too, and you let yourself slip down the wall slowly. A quick scan of the area, just to be sure... there's nothing in the area. Or nothing new, anyway. You can sense Sayaka in the distance, the bindings around her glowing with magic.

Homura's waiting for you when you get to the ground, Grief Seed in hand.

"Hey," you say, smiling at her. "Good hunt."

She nods slightly.

Mami nods. "It was, though it was a little... odd," she says.

A flicker of something, too fast to see, crosses Homura's face, and she nods again at Mami.

"Anyway, cleansing, everyone?" you ask, already raising a hand. "And um, may I take the Seed?"

"Take it," Homura says, holding out her hand, presenting both her Soul Gem and the Grief Seed to you. Mami just smiles, and tilts her head towards you.

You take the Seed from Homura with a quick smile, and you flex your will slightly to pull the Grief free from Mami and Homura's Soul Gems. You cleanse your own as an afterthought, crushing all the Grief down to your usual marbles and tucking them away into your bag, and you smile around at them.

"Ah... we should probably check on Sayaka," Mami says. "She's probably awake, by now."

"Yeah, let's go," you agree, turning to head in that direction.

Homura follows, frowning. "It's strange that Miki Sayaka was the only one Kissed by the Witch," she notes quietly.

"Hmm?" you say, glancing back at her.

"That's... true," Mami says, looking thoughtful. "Witches usually Kiss their victims in groups."

"Hey! Is someone there? Mami? Sabrina?" Sayaka's voice bounces off the derelict buildings, cutting off any response you might have made.

You break out into a jog, Mami and Homura just a hair behind, and you round the corner to find Sayaka very much awake, and struggling hard against the ribbon bindings. She's still in the lee of the wall, and she's lying face up - she can't see you yet.

"We're here!" you call.

"Sabrina?" Sayaka relaxes slightly, her struggles stilling. "W-what's going on?"

Mami flicks her fingers at Sayaka, and the ribbons fall away from her. Sayaka immediately twists free, and struggles to a sitting position before you reach her. "W-what's going on? Where am I?" She looks around frantically, before her eyes settle on you.

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Well, then.
 
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You extend your hand towards Sayaka. "Hey. It's OK, Sayaka," you say. Absently, you check her for any residual Grief. Better safe than sorry and all, you suppose, and really, it can't hurt to be absolutely sure, for something like this. To your immense relief, she seems clear, to the best of your ability to tell.

Sayaka stares at your hand, eyebrows bunching. "W-what happened?" Hesitantly, she takes your hand, and she struggles to her feet with a little help.

Mami crowds in, looking at Sayaka. "Are you hurt, Sayaka?"

"N-no. Sore, but I-" Sayaka says, looking more confused by the moment. She rolls her shoulder, a wince flickering across her face. "I- why was I tied up?"

"You were influenced by a Witch," Mami says, biting her lip. "I'm sorry about the bindings, but we had to keep you safe."

"Influenced by a Witch?" Sayaka asks. Panic crosses her face, her eyes darting about, taking in the desolate industrial area. "I-it's-"

"Sayaka." You cut her off firmly. "It's OK. We got a warning, and we killed the Witch, so it's fine, now. Everything's fine, Sayaka."

"Nnngh-" Sayaka shudders, rubbing her forearms with her hands as if cold. "D-did I do anything?"

"No," you say gently, grabbing her gently by the shoulders and forcing her to look at you and meet your eyes. "You didn't do anything, and it's fine, Sayaka, we've got you. The Witch is dead, and you're fine."

"I-" Sayaka shakes herself, seeming to calm down a little. "Y-yeah... B-but what happened?"

"You were Kissed by a Witch," Mami says. "They can do that, and... draw people to them. It's part of how they hunt."

You release Sayaka and step back to let Sayaka talk to Mami. She'd probably do a better job at this, you figure. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Homura step out of line of sight from Sayaka and Mami, and she flickers slightly, snapping to the side.

"A Kiss?" Sayaka echoes. "I... I don't remember that."

Mami nods, smiling reassuringly. "It's to be expected that you might be a little confused, but you'll be alright after a while."

"Y-yeah," Sayaka says. "Yeah, OK. Are... when did this happen?"

"We don't know," Mami says with a quick shake of her head. She glances at you.

You shrug. "Hmm... what do you remember, Sayaka?"

Sayaka opens her mouth, and then closes it, frowning. "I was at home, about to ea-" Her eyes widen, and she sucks in a sharp breath. "My parents! Did the Witc-"

"No!" you say, almost in stereo with Mami. You glance at her, and she tilts her head towards you. "No, they're fine, Sayaka, we checked in on them!"

"I- you're sure?" It's Sayaka's turn to grab you by the shoulders, her eyes wide and panicked.

"Yeah, I am, Sayaka," you say. "They're fine. You're fine. Though we uh... kinda had to break into your home while looking for you. We locked up after leaving!" you reassure her hurriedly.

Sayaka seems to realize what she's doing and releases you, lurching back a step. Her shoulders slump, mouth twisted into a grimace. "Oh. Yeah, OK."

"They were sleeping when we looked in," you say. "Um. Is it normal for them to turn in this early?"

A frown flickers across her face. "N-no. They were sleeping? It's... what, six?"

You shrug. "About."

"N-no," she says, expression worried and... frightened again. "It's not." Her hands open and close jerkily, her fingers flexing. "I... think I want to go h-home," she mutters.

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Ouch. You OK there, Sayaka?
 
"Yeah," you say quietly, glancing at Mami. Mami nods at you in silent agreement, while Homura looks as remote as always, expression utterly neutral. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's get you home."

At your will, Grief sweeps around you in a short lived whirlpool, draining away from dissolving spheres and building into a pane of Grief hovering above the ground. "C'mon," you say, sitting down. Mami sits beside you, reaching out to claim one of your arms and hug it close, leaning against your shoulder.

Sayaka drops onto the carpet on your other side, while Homura steps daintily around to sit behind you. Another effort of will lifts the carpet into the air, taking off at as high a speed as you're willing to push it with Sayaka on board. Then onrushing wind whips your hair about - don't really want to raise a windshield, not with Mami in the state she's in.

You're vaguely glad Homura's sitting behind you, rather than in front. Though... wouldn't the wind mess her hair up?

"Sayaka," you say to the girl - telepathy, rather than speech, since you don't feel like shouting over the wind. "Your parents should be just fine. We're going there to check right now, and make absolutely sure, OK?"

"Yeah," Sayaka says. She sounds nervy, anxious. Her eyes, like yours, are squinted against the wind, but they remain fixed on your destination, her apartment. "Thanks, Sabrina."

"Not a problem," you say. "What're friends for?"

"Yeah, yeah," she says, flashing you a quick smirk, but her heart isn't in it, her gaze snapping forward again.

You nod. That's about as good as you'll get for now, you think. You turn your attention to Homura, just behind you. "Homura?" you pulse telepathically.

"Yes?" she replies. You can feel her gaze on your back.

You hesitate for a moment. "Did you check on Madoka? Is she OK?" You're all but absolutely certain she used her timestop for a jaunt, judging from that flicker earlier and the Grief suddenly present in her Soul Gem, and you're pretty sure that she wouldn't be here if there were anything wrong with Madoka, but it's nice to be sure.

Homura pauses for a moment before responding. "Yes, I did. She's safe."

You nod slightly to yourself, careful not to disturb Mami. "Good," you say emphatically. "Do you want a cleanse?"

"Yes, I would," she says.

You don't really need to look at her to do anything. A sliver of attention drains the Grief from her Soul Gem, and you meld the effluence into the material of the carpet with barely more effort.

"There!" Sayaka says, pointing. A little needlessly, but then again...

You begin to slow to a stop, dropping smoothly onto the roof of the building. The carpet dissolves underneath you to leave the four of you on the rooftop, and Sayaka takes off as soon as her feet touch down. She heads for the fire escape, with the three of you following.

You stay close to Mami, giving her a quick smile as you head down the stairs.

Sayaka's fumbling in her pockets long before she actually reaches her door, before stopping short and patting herself down with increasing degrees of franticness.

"Is there something wrong, Sayaka?" Mami asks.

"I don't have my key," the bluenette says.

Homura sighs almost inaudibly, and brushes past you. She reaches for the door, touching a hand to the lock and concentrating for a moment. There's a small burst of purple light, and the lock clicks open. She steps aside, flicking her hair out in the same, smoothly elegant motion. The midnight black strands flow through her fingers like a-

You tear your eyes away from Homura's perfect coiffure, giving yourself a quick shake, and you step forward, catching the door just before it bangs shut. Sayaka's already rushed into the apartment, calling out. "Mama? Papa?"

Silence.

"Mama? Papa!" Sayaka calls out again, hysteria edging in her voice.

You're already sprinting for the master bedroom, Mami right beside you, when-

"Hmrfssssayaka?" A sleepy voice responds. You recognize the voice - Kenji, Sayaka's father.

"Papa! Mama!" You slow to a stop before entering the bedroom. There's a loud oof and the distinctive sound of a bed being jumped on - bedsheets and springs.

"Something wrong, dear?" A woman's voice, Miho.

You back away a step from the open door, exchanging a look with Mami. She shakes her head slightly, tilting her head towards the door, and over her shoulder, you can see that Homura's already headed back out.

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Oh. All that paranoia was for nothing, was it?
 
Homura pauses at the door, looking back towards you. You respond with a quick nod, before glancing at Mami and tipping your head at the door. She flashes you a quick smile and starts heading out.

You give the Miki apartment one last once over, visually and with your Grief senses, making sure that there's nothing obviously out of place. You make sure to keep an extra sharp eye out for any feathers, which, other than a rather garish painting of a... you think that's a Bird of Paradise of some kind... you don't see any, nor do you sense anything unusual.

"Hey, Sayaka," you say telepathically as you start to head out. "I don't sense anything wrong, so... We're headed out, OK?"

"Hm? Damn it, I don't - yeah, OK," Sayaka replies, mental voice distracted.

"Alright, see you," you say, joining Homura and Mami outside the door.

Homura pushes the door shut and locks it with another purple flare of magic, before turning to leave.

"Hey, Homura, wait a moment?" you say.

She stops, pivoting to face you.

Giving her and Mami both a quick smile, one returned in more force by Mami, you reach out telepathically, including both of your friends. "Oriko?"

Homura's expression flattens out, and her eyes harden.

"Miki Sayaka is not going to be attacked by a Witch," the seer replies immediately.

You frown. "That's oddly specific."

"I... dislike absolutely statements. For example, she might be run over by a bus tomorrow, though that is exceedingly unlikely," Oriko says tartly.

You roll your eyes at Mami, but she just makes a confused expression at you, and shuffles two steps closer to your side. You smile at her, and continue talking to Oriko. "And Sayaka's family?"

"Similarly," Oriko says. "Relative safety, that is, not the bus."

"Good enough," you say. "Mami, Homura?" you prompt out loud, looking at both of them.

They shake their heads.

"Alright. Oriko, anything else?" you ask.

The seer hesitates for a moment. "No, that's it."

"Alright. Thank you for the warning, and... Bye, then," you say, with a nod.

"Good bye," Oriko murmurs.

You cut the connection, and look at your friends again, smiling. "Hey. I think we did well today. You especially, Homura," you say, giving her an extra broad smile. "Thank you. Things could have gone much worse without your help."

Homura nods slowly. Her jaw works silently as if she's working up the nerve to say something, her eyes flickering back to the closed door. After a moment, she glances at Mami and turns away.

"Hey," you say softly, exchanging a mystified look with Mami. You slip an arm around Mami's waist, pulling her into a quick, sideways hug, and hesitate for a moment, before reaching out and touching Homura lightly on the shoulder. "Is there something wrong, Homura?"

Another long pause.

"Yes," Homura says, still facing away. "That shouldn't have happened." She glances back over her shoulder at you, tilting her head to do so.

Mami frowns unhappily. "It's... strange. Especially if Miss Mikuni is telling the truth."

Homura's eyes narrow.

Mami catches the expression. "I don't trust her either, but... she gave us good information. Um, Sabrina?" She looks up from your shoulder.

You shake your head. What do you think of her? Some part of you instinctively wants to trust her, but... you do have a bit of an issue with wanting to trust everyone. And sometimes, you still wonder if she's really on the same side as you are.

Still. Mami's giving you an expectant look, and Homura's turned to face you fully, amethyst eyes wary and tired. There's a hint of expectation in her eyes, too.

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[x] Ask Mami if Homura could join us for dinner tonight.
-[x] Don't push for it if Homura and/or Mami decline though.
[x] Go home. Clean up the mess you made earlier and help prepare dinner.
-[x] Also tea.
 
You glance from Homura, to Mami, and then back again. Thoughts cascade through your mind, and you're fairly sure that Mami, at least, picks it up from the way she cuddles into your side. You press your lips together, flip-flopping for a moment, trying to decide how much, and how to tell Homura...

You blow out a hard sigh. "Mami, Homura, could we speak more privately?" You hold Homura's eyes for a moment, and then deliberately let your eyes drift down to the shield on her arm.

The time traveller nods imperceptibly, glancing at Mami, who in turn glances at you. You nod too, and Mami holds one hand out, golden ribbon spooling out from her palm to curl around Homura. You keep your arm around Mami in that half hug, giving her a quick, grateful smile.

Homura waits for the ribbon to secure itself before cranking her shield sharply with a whir of clockwork.

The smartly modern buildings of the apartment blocks around you shade to ashen monotone. Sullen hues of grey wash across the world, sound and colour leached away by Homuras power. Your breaths are suddenly terribly loud in your ears, and you can hear every rustle of cloth that accompanies your motions.

It's nothing novel to you, not now, but it's still... off-putting. A little unsettling.

You close your eyes, and exhale slowly again. "OK. Yes," you say, nodding slowly. You fumble for the right words, the right thing to say to placate Homura and Mami. "Things are... definitely not right. I agree, it shouldn't have happened - but at least Sayaka's OK."

Homura's face twists into what would be a scowl on a lesser person. "This entire situation can't have happened."

With your eyes fixed on Homura, you feel, more than you see, Mami nod, her hair brushing against your shoulder. "I... agree," she says. "This is very unusual."

You wave your free hand in irritation. "I know, I know - the Witch shouldn't have just targeted Sayaka like that. And yes, Oriko gave us good information, but it's also clear that she has no real idea what caused the attack."

With your attention mostly fixed on Homura, you see the flash of irritation wash across her face before she wipes it back to a disapproving mask, her weight settling on her back foot.

"I..." you sigh again, reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind your ear. "Homura, Mami, the three of us, this team, need to figure this out. It seems to me that Sayaka was specifically targeted by the Witch, and... even ignoring Oriko, something unknown to us might have directed this attack."

Homura twitches, her hands clenching into white-knuckled fists. "Kyuubey," she hisses.

Mami flinches. You hug her, giving her an encouraging smile. She returns a wan, trembling smile.

"He... it could have done it," you allow. "But there's something else."

You know which sphere of Grief the feather's in, and you summon it over with a moment's attention, catching it in your free hand. You bring it smoothly froward, presenting it to Homura and Mami. A line splits the featureless, midnight purple surface, and it parts to reveal the Feather, long pinioned and matte black.

Both Mami and Homura look at the Feather uncomprehendingly. A frown etches itself onto Homura's face.

"I made a Barrier, maybe an hour or so ago," you say, hugging Mami in silent apology. "When I dissolved it... this appeared. And maybe half an hour later, Oriko called me about the Witch. The timing matches up."

Mami frowns. "You think that this... had s-something to do with the Witch?"

"I don't know," you say. "I honestly have no idea. The only things I have to go on are that the timing matches, and that, well. Um. Oriko mentioned feathers blocking her visions before."

"Do your powers have anything to do with this?" Homura asks, voice quiet. Her weight shifts again, balanced, hands hanging loosely at her side. She's not exactly tense, but... something about the set of her shoulders suggests worry.

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[X] Homura... I've given some thought to what we talked about yesterday.
-[X] I know I'm not the most sensible person when it comes to being trusting. So I'm relying on you - both of you - to watch out for me or reign me in. Like you tried to do yesterday. So, thank you for that, and I'm sorry I made you worry.
-[X] Oriko gave us useful information today, but you're right that I shouldn't rely on her information to always be good. I know I like to think the best of everyone, but Oriko has been mistaken, can withhold information, or influence me towards plans she doesn't disclose.
-[X] I mean, there's a difference between thinking, and trusting, that she won't do anything dangerous again. It's going to take a lot of solid proof to make up that difference. I hope we get that, but I understand your skepticism.
-[X] I guess what I'm saying is, treat her as only one potential source. Doublecheck any information she gives us, while staying alert for omissions or hidden agendas.
[X] If what we said seems ok, then:
-[X] Apologize for not having the sense to just say that yesterday. Reiterate that despite all the things we take on, we'll always be her friend and ally first. Hug Mami closer so she understands she's included in that statement.
 
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You choke back your instinctive apology, swallowing hard.

"It can't be," Mami blurts out. "It isn't. Right, Sabrina?" She turns a pleading look on you.

Homura's gaze remains fixed on you, amethyst eyes fixed steadily on you. Her breaths come slow and measured, and her stance is carefully neutral.

You shake your head slowly. "It doesn't feel like my powers," you say, holding the feather up for them to see.

Mami reaches a hand out, stretching across you, and hesitates a moment. "S-Sabrina? May I?"

"Sure," you say, handing it over to Mami.

She takes the feather and raises it to her eye level, the slightest tremor betraying her discomfort. After a moment of intense scrutiny, she speaks again, voice soft. "It... seems normal to me." She holds the feather out to Homura with a small, hopeful smile.

The time traveller's eyes flick down to the feather for a moment, before returning to regarding you in stony silence. She shakes her head, and Mami's smile fades, the hand holding the feather dropping back to her side.

You force yourself to straighten and meet Homura's eyes, clear blue against faded, tired lilac. Splashes of colour in a drained world. "I don't think it's my powers or I, Homura. It... Remember I mentioned at lunch, that I made a Barrier? I made the same Barrier, and in the same way, earlier this morning, and I didn't encounter anything unexpected."

A flicker of a frown, chased by realisation washes across Mami's face, and she nods encouragingly at you.

You continue. "But... Homura, Mami, I... In any case, no more Barriers. Not until I find out what all these feathers are about."

"M-maybe..." Mami starts to say something, before trailing off with a sharp shake of her head.

"Mami?" you ask, giving her a quick hug and an encouraging smile.

She takes a deep breath, looking up at you. "Maybe it's something like a lightning rod? When y-you make a Barrier, some... Witch powers are, are, drawn in, s-somehow? L-like calls to like?"

Homura's attention shifts to Mami. Neutral, silent, barely moving. Almost a statue, for all the emotion she's displaying, and nearly as still as everything in the frozen world of the timestop.

Mami notices, frowning at Homura. "I... don't you think so, Homura? S-Sabrina?"

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An interesting suggestion, but a short update.
 
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You watch Homura for a moment, waiting to see if she says anything. The cold silence of the timestop seems to press in, the oppressive deadness making you feel queasy. Your stomach's a worried ball of disquiet, your shoulders a tense mass of knots.

Are you responsible for all this?

Homura shifts a hair, her head swivelling just far enough to return her intense scrutiny to you. Her hands still hang loosely at her sides, and she makes no further moves, simply watching you.

You force yourself to meet her eyes, searching her expression for any clue of what she might be thinking. The cold ball of fear sitting in your gut whispers that she's starting to doubt you. That she's starting to close herself off again. And some traitorous part of your mind wonders if she'd be wrong to.

"Sabrina?" Mami asks again, voice trembling.

You sigh, looking away from Homura with a grimace. "It's plausible," you allow. "But it's not something I can really test. If you're right..." Your mind eagerly supplies you with all the attendant implications, not a single one of them reassuring.

"I..." You swipe at your face tiredly, closing your eyes and pressing your fingers against your eyelids for a long moment. Mami cuddles into your side, giving you a hug, and you force yourself to think.

"OK," you say, eyes still closed. "OK. If you're right, that's... more than a little concerning. And it's difficult to prove without making the Barrier and risking it all over again."

Mami nods against your side, still hugging you closely. You open your eyes, looking at Homura, but she doesn't seem to have reacted much to that, either. Violet eyes remain fixed on you, and you find it hard to meet that stare.

Your eyes drop away from Homura's again, slipping to the spidery shadows scrawled across the ground by the gloom of the timestop. "I... OK," you say reluctantly. In case you're right, Mami, then... I simply won't make any more Barriers. No Barrier, no lightning rod, and no feathers. No Witches where they shouldn't be." You press your lips together, swallowing. You're not sure whether this will work, and whether you might've given up something crucial.

Homura nods. The motion's barely perceptible, the barest dip of her head by a minuscule sliver of a centimetre, but... it's something.

And you know what's important.

Don't you?

You press your lips together, and nod decisively. "Yeah. Until we know more, that's the best way to protect our friends," you say. "I'm not going to let this be my fault. I'm not. I'm going to keep my friends safe no matter what." You blow out a hard breath. "And if it's something else... well, I'll find it, and stop it."

"I'll help," Mami says immediately, hugging you tightly. "I-I will."

"Thanks, Mami," you say softly. You suppress a shiver, and raise your free hand to your Soul Gem. Touching a finger to the silvery-white Gem, you draw away a thick streamer of Grief, letting it pour away to form a sphere. "I... Mami? Homura? Do you need cleanses?"

Mami shakes her head. "Not really," she demurs. For a wonder, her Soul Gem's fairly clean, so you let that pass.

Homura watches you for a long moment, violet eyes remote, before her shoulders slump. Her gaze drops from yours, and she raises her right hand towards you to present the amethyst Soul Gem afixed there to you.

You cleanse her Soul Gem with a thought and a small gesture, drawing away the frothing cloud of darkness. "Homura?" you ask. "I... what do you think?"

She raises eyes to meet yours again, but not for long - her gaze slides off yours to rest somewhere on your nose. She looks uncertain, her jaw clenching and unclenching silently as she lowers her hand.

She exhales slowly.

"I..." she starts, before trailing off into silence, her eyes sliding away from your face. She looks around herself, one hand rising, and hesitating over the ribbon at her waist. "I don't know." Her eyes widen as the words pass her lips, almost surprised, and she flinches backwards.

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Huh. How odd.
 
You want to give her a hug.

You want to hug her, and tell her it'll all work out.

You're half a heartbeat away from stepping forward to catch Homura in a hug before you catch yourself. Not the time.

Instead, you straighten, facing Homura squarely. Homura's gaze remains dipped to the floor, her head slumped forward and her hand wrapping tightly around the ribbon binding you and Mami to the timestop.

"And that's all right," you say, taking a step forward. Seeming to read your motions, Mami follows you without prompting. "It's alright, Homura. This whole situation is... definitely strange. Strange, and there could be something unknown out there messing with us."

Homura senses your motion, her gaze snapping up to you. Her eyes harden, a small, worried frown making its way across her face.

"But that's fine," you say, with gentle emphasis. You meet Homura's eyes fully, confidently. "It's fine to be a little scared and a little uncertain. All this... isn't really something anyone can deal with alone. It's just too much." You shrug, smile fading a little.

It's sort of funny.

You can be certain about being uncertain. It makes a weird sort of sense to you, really.

Homura grimaces faintly, but you continue smiling at her, trying to project an air of confidence. "It's a good thing we aren't alone, isn't it? We have each other, and we'll beat whatever this is, together, just like we'll beat Walpurgisnacht and anything else that comes our way." You give Mami a quick half hug, including her, too.

If you're honest, though, you are somewhat uncertain. A little worried that things are beyond you. Despite your words, there's still that unpleasant little worm of uncertainty gnawing at your gut. And some part of you still wonders about your Barrier. So much might come of that, and there's so much you don't know. So much to find out, so many ways forward.

Some of that doubt probably shows on your face.

Homura sighs, still watching you. "This is different," she says.

"No," you say. You close the last step, reaching out to put your hand on Homura's shoulder and smile at her. "It isn't. We'll beat whatever this is together, just like we have everything else so far. And no matter what happens, we'll protect the people we care about, right?"

She flinches slightly at the touch of your hand, but she doesn't pull away entirely. "It isn't so easy," she says, eyes dipping away from yours once again. The spidery shadows of the timestop cast her face in shade, making it hard to see her expression. "It isn't."

"It won't be," you say. "But we'll face it together."

Mami nods. "Sabrina's right. We'll do this together, Homura."

Violet eyes regard you for a long moment, and she sighs quietly. "Alright," she says. Her mouth twists into a bitter smile for a moment before she looks up at you again. "Alright."

You... want to pull Homura into a hug, but much as it galls you, you don't really think she wants one. Not now. You smile at her instead. "That's the spirit," you say. "We'll do it together. Cheesy as that sounds... we will."

"Together," Mami echoes.

"Anyway..." you say, stepping back, still smiling at Homura. "Anything else?"

Mami shakes her head. "Nothing... Homura?"

The time traveller hesitates for a moment before shaking her head.

"Then I guess we're done here?" you say, inflecting it as a question.

Homura's already reaching for the shield, and she cranks it sharply across. Vibrant colour, fiery oranges and reds of evening, floods across the world. The busy sounds of Mitakihara in the evening wash across your ears, chasing away the oppressive silence of the timestop. You can't help but notice that Homura seems to tense up a little as the sound pours over you, looking around the alleyway carefully.

You send a telepathic message to Mami. "Do you think we could invite Homura to dinner today?"

"Of course," Mami agrees.

You look at Homura, smiling again. "Say, Homura," you ask, catching her attention. "Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?"

She blinks at you, taking a moment to consider this. "Yes," she says finally. "That would be... nice."

[] Write-in

=====​

The next update should see you through dinner, unless you want to talk to Homura or Mami specifically.

As always, dinner conversational topics are nice.
 
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Mami beams at Homura, then you. "We'll be glad to have you over, Homura," she says.

The time traveller gives another of those barely-there, slight nods. The smallest dip and rise of her head, her amethyst gaze returning to regard you.

You suppose you can understand some of that, you muse as the three of you head up to the rooftops above. You're the one who's brought all this change to Homura's usual routine - if you could call it 'usual', anyway. And... you suppose she's putting her hopes in you. It's a little scary.

A measure of thought forms a Grief carpet from the drifting planetarium of Grief spheres, with plenty to spare. You're still carrying enough Grief to make a Barrier, after all, though you'd promised not to make one any more.

You wave Homura onto the carpet with a smile, and she settles herself crosslegged on it. You sit just in front of her - you do need to see to be able to steer, after all. Mami takes up her usual position at your side, smiling at you.

"Alright, Meguca Airlines Flight SA-003, taking off for Mami's apartment..." you mutter, smirking to yourself.

"Wasn't it Sabrina Airlines?" Mami asks.

You shrug, a twist of your will lifting the carpet into the air, planetoids of Grief drifting after you as you begin climbing gently. "Probably," you admit. "I have a terrible memory, sometimes." You hear faint swish of movement coming from behind you, and turn to see Homura massaging at her forehead, a pained look on her face.

"Say, Homura," you say. "You never did tell me what your favourite food was."

She sighs, the sound all but snatched away by the onrushing wind. "Cream stew."

"Ah, gotcha!" you say, smiling encouragingly at Homura. She sighs again, violet eyes sliding away from yours to stare off into the distance. before exchanging a look with Mami. She nods slightly at you, golden eyes dancing, and you don't need telepathy to know that you're both thinking the same thing. Mami beams up at you, before tucking her head against your shoulder with a contented noise. You smile fondly, hugging her with one arm.

... cream stew, though. Something niggles at your memory - you're pretty sure you've heard that before somewhere, though you can't quite place it right now.

You head home, landing in the alleyway and emerging a minute later into the evening crowds, just three normal girls. Mostly normal, anyway. You still draw some attention thanks to your distinct features. You leave the bulk of your Grief on the rooftop.

"So Mami, Homura," you say as you thread through the crowds of people and into the lobby of Mami's apartment. "Meguca's things."

The two of them stare at you.

"... what do you mean?" Mami asks, sounding confused.

"... you know, you have your teacup thing, and Homura has her hair, that kind of thing?" you explain, thumbing the elevator button.

"Oh. Um," Mami says, sounding confused. "Do you mean this?" She looks around quickly for any bystanders, before reaching behind her back and pulling a cup out, still full of gently steaming tea.

"Yes, that! Exactly!" You wave your hands excitedly. "It... look, it seems like every magical girl has their thing, right? Some fun little trick or something. Well that, or they're new and haven't figured it out yet." The elevator door opens with a chime, and you step inside.

"Um..." Mami says, a faint frown knitting her brow as she returns the cup behind her back. "Alright...?"

"So I've been thinking about figuring one out, too," you say.

"This floor," Homura mutters. You get the impression that she'd be rolling her eyes right about now were she anyone else.

"Hmm? Right," you say, following Homura out. "But what do you think, Homura?"

Homura gives you an eloquent look, packing in exasperation, slight amusement, and... well, mostly exasperation.

"Hmph, fine," you mutter as Mami unlocks the door of her apartment. "Mami? What do you think?"

"Umm..." she temporizes as she heads in, immediately walking towards the kitchen. "I don't think that's really the case?"

You follow her in, depositing yor sling bag in its usual location. Homura closes and locks the main door, before trailing you into the kitchen. "Sure it is! Though maybe this is the kind of thing that can't be forced?"

"Well... Oh!" Mami says, stopping just a step inside the kitchen. You can see why, looking over her shoulder - tea leaves, and spilled water all over the floor.

"Oh. That's my bad," you say, starting forward. "I... couldn't see what I was doing, earlier. Lemme clean up."

"I'll help!" Mami says.

It doesn't take too long - it isn't too much of a mess, really. Homura pitches in, too, silently wiping down the countertop with a wet rag before returning to stand sentry near the door.

Mami's in the midst of pulling open the refrigerator before noticing Homura hovering near the door. "Oh, um, Homura, make yourself at home? And Sabrina, I think your powers are your 'thing'?"

Homura shakes her head a fraction, opting to remain at the kitchen door.

You absently reach for the flour and a saucepan as Mami starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge. "Nah, nah, it doesn't work like that. It has to be some trick that's more for fun, you know?"

"Your music?" Mami suggests. "Do you have the flou- ah, yes, there we go. Um, bigger saucepan, Sabrina, we can make some more to keep?"

"Roux?" you confirm, considering the pan for exchanging it for the larger one. "Music... well, maybe it counts. Doesn't feel right, though?"

Mami shrugs, smiling as she hands you the butter.

"Though speaking of which," you say. "Any requests for music?" In the living room, marbles drift free of your sling bag, already melting and reshaping themselves into your musical instruments while you busy yourself at the stove.

Mami shakes her head, dropping some meat -pork- into a bowl of warm water to defrost it quickly. "Homura?" she asks, glancing at the girl still hovering near the door.

Homura looks uncertain, before shaking her head.

"Well then, something new," you say with a smile, focusing a touch. You know what you want to play, and the opening cymbals begin to sound. You grin. In context, perhaps not the best song, but certainly it's cheery and energetic.

You bob along to the beat as you step lightly past Mami, smiling at Homura. "Homura, you don't have to just stand there, you know."

Mami nods in affirmation. "You could just watch the television while you wait," she offers.

"I've probably seen it before," Homura murmurs, eyes still fixed on you as if trying to unravel your secrets. Then again, she probably is.

"Mmmm," you hum, returning to the pot with a whisk and lowering the heat. "Well, OK then."

"This is nice, Sabrina," Mami says, beaming at you.

"Thank you!" you say, starting to sift flour into the butter. You watch Homura out of the corner of your eye - she seems content to simply stand there and watch, though you notice her take a deep sniff as the savoury scent of butter starts to permeate the kitchen.

Eventually, after some dickering over the cooking, with Mami taking over from you, dinner's ready. A nice, thick cream stew, with chunks of vegetable and meat bobbing inside it. Homura's attention has shifted now to hungry looks, directed at the pot on the table.

"Say, Homura?" you say as you ladle out the stew.

"Yes?" she glances at you.

"Um... how did things go at the hospital?" you ask, sliding her a bowl of stew.

"Madoka is safe," she replies. "Kamijou was slightly disappointed, Miki Sayaka more so."

"Ah, right," Mami says, looking downcast as you pass her a bowl, too. "We should visit tomorrow, and finish the healing. Um... speaking of which, though, weren't we going to visit Miss Ono today?"

"Yeah," you sigh, claiming a bowl for yourself and sitting down. "I told her that we couldn't make it. But well... let's eat up, first."

Homura moves with alacrity, practically snatching a spoon up and scooping up the stew. You find yourself eating rather quickly - you're quite hungry, but Homura practically hoovers her way through the bowl, finishing well before you or Mami are even halfway through your own. She glances at the pot, and you chuckle. "Help yourself, Homura," you say, looking at Mami for confirmation. She nods, with a smile.

"So anyway, returning to our earlier topic," you say, the edge taken off your hunger. "Miss Ono... Well, I was going to contact her later today about meeting up for a Witch hunt. It's... not right to put her off again, I feel. And... I'm concerned about how quickly her Soul Gem is darkening."

Homura exhales a slow breath into her stew. "Her magic," she offers. "She has it running constantly."

"Oh, did you check on her?" Mami asks with a frown. "That's not a smart thing to do. Her magic, I mean."

Homura shrugs fractionally, lapsing back into silence, spoon darting between the bowl and her mouth.

"I think we need to talk to Miss Ono," Mami says, biting her lip and looking down at her bowl. "It's... not wise."

"Yeah," you agree. "Sooner rather than later."

Mami nods, looking concerned. "It's still early tonight, so... maybe?"

"Maybe," you agree. "Let's finish dinner first."

She nods again, looking thoughtful.

Dinner finishes in silence, Homura finally leaning back contentedly in her chair, having demolished nearly half of the pot of stew all by herself. There's a faint, satisfied smile on her face.

"Alright!" Mami says brightly, getting up. "We should clear up, now."

"Yeah," you say, pushin-

-g yourself up. You stumble backwards, but a viselike grip -Homura- on your shoulder keeps you standing. Mami's back is to you, and she's frozen into the grey hues of the timestop.

"I'm going to restock my weapons now," Homura say. "Are you still coming?"

[] Write-in

=====​

Thanks @Cannongerbil for the upload of the music!

Also, here ends Book 2, Chapter 3: Our Benefactor. The next chapter begins with the next update!

Regarding timeskips: They're coming, don't worry. But there is stuff that needs to go down first.
 
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It's time.

Shopping time! With Homura! Time to go and acquire metric tons of firepower and other miscellaneous equipment!

You try to smother the grin rising to your face, you really do. You try to keep a dignified facade up, to match the gravity of the situaton. You might be robbing unsuspecting JSDF soldiers who would get unfairly court martialed... or you might be robbing reprehensible scum of the earth. Like yakuza!

... you don't exactly succeed, and settle for hiding the face-splitting grin with a hand. "Yes!" you squeak, voice slightly muffled.

Homura looks at you, expression faintly nonplussed, before nodding.

"Where're we going?" you ask eagerly, lowering your hand to grin at Homura.

"There's a Yamiguchi-gumi base downtown," Homura answers.

Yes. Them you can rob happily. It's not like they're anything like their romanticised anime counterparts, anyway. True enough that the yakuza tend to disdain petty crime, but the big things... drugs, humans, and guns. And stock market manipulation and gambling, of course. Reason enough that you won't feel guilty about relieving them of some of their equipment.

"Sabrina?" Homura asks, peering at you.

"Hm? Oh, sorry," you say, turning a fraction of your attention to reclaiming your Grief from the instruments. "Let's go!"

Homura nods, withdrawing a fat reel of cord from her shield and offering it to you. It's a little tricky for you to get it tied around your waist without breaking contact with her, but you manage. Homura inspects her handiwork, testing the cord around her waist before walking over to the window and brushing aside the curtains.

She hops out, leaping for the far roof, and you follow close behind her, the cord not letting you stray too far. Absently, you pull on the Grief you'd left on the rooftops - you don't have your sling bag with you this time. The planetoids of Grief drift silently through the air as you leap through the air, the cord tugging at your waist.

"Hey, Homura!" you call. You hardly have to raise your voice to be heard. Without the traffic, the sirens, the rumble of people on the streets... without the pulse of Mitakihara City, your voice carries easily.

Still, the dead silence of the timestop's hardly enough to dampen the grin still fixed on your face.

Homura stops on the roof as you land behind her, the cord slapping down a moment later. She gives you an inquiring look.

"I think I'll fly us there?" you suggest. "The string makes things a little tricky." You tug on the cord in question demonstratively.

She shrugs.

You take that as permission, and a thought weaves Grief into a carpet before you. One long step, and you plonk yourself comfortably down on it, crossing your legs. Homura seats herself more sedately beside you, tucking your feet in, and you smile.

"Alright!" you say happily. "Here we go, then. You'll have to give me directions, Homura." A small effort of will lifts the carpet into the air, skimming slowly over the rooftops. You glance back, confirming with your eyes what you already know - your Grief spheres are following you, a dark cloud of small spheres massing behind.

"West," Homura murmurs, pointing.

You adjust your course with a thought, swinging in that direction, and the flight continues in relative silence. You're hardly able to repress your grin, though.

You quickly reach your destination, directed by Homura, a rather respectable-looking building in a slightly more run down area. It looks well maintained by comparison, clean paint and windows that are, if not sparkling, then significantly less grimy than those of the building's neighbours. Unsurprising, you suppose. There's a few tatooed men, lean and rather scruffy looking, leaning against the wall beside the door. Smoke from their cigarettes form little plumes, trapped in the timestop.

Homura hops off the carpet as you coast to a halt right in front of the building and marches boldly up to the door, a purple burst of magic unlocking it with a click. She glances back at you, her expression... curious, and worried, and questioning.

You beam at her, trying to put reassurance into the smile. Homura regards you for a long moment in silence, before she shakes her head, pushing the door open and heading inside. You follow, the carpet unravelling back into loose Grief as you head in.

The door opens right up into a reception area of sorts. A fish tank sits right in front of the door, a few plush leather couches arranged around a small glass table. A wooden desk, occupied by a lean, harsh looking man, sits by the far wall.

Homura ignores all this, heading down a flight of stairs into the basement and unlocking another door. You follow her in, and find something that looks more like a gym locker room, lit from above by bare fluorescent tubes. Rows of benches run down the middle of the room, a few more yakuza lounging in this room, each one lean and vicious looking. Your attention, however, is drawn to the heavy steel cages lining the walls, holding rack upon rack of guns.

Pistols, mainly. Some Desert Eagles, foreign import because of the fanciness in all likelihood. Berettas - 92FS, by the look of it. A few shotguns, a few assault rifles, no doubt smuggled in from outside the country. One machine gun, sitting in a place of honour in a cage all of its own, and a few cabinets presumably holding ammo for all the guns.

Your grin threatens to split your face in half.

"How do you do it?"

That draws you up short. You glance at Homura. "Hmm?"

"You know nearly everything," Homura says, violet eyes looking very tired.

"Yeah," you agree.

"How do you... stay so happy?" Homura asks, voice soft.

[] Write-in

=====​

Here begins Book 2: Chapter 4: Residue Processing.
 
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You blink at Homura, grin fading, and earlier delight chased away by a faint flush of dismay. Homura definitely knows how to ask the hard questions. You're not even entirely sure of things yourself, really.

You purse your lips for a moment, thoughts sleeting through your mind. She needs an answer, you think, and you feel that you owe it to her to give her something concrete. You give quick consideration to giving her an encouraging speech, and... it's not a bad idea. You kind of like the idea, but you're not entirely sure whether it'd really give the right impression.

Well...

"I... think it's at least partly an outsider's perspective," you say thoughtfully, mouth twisting as you consider your words. "I know a lot. I don't know. I didn't live through it, so I can just take the lessons and put them towards making this time better."

You pause in consideration, watching Homura. She, in turn, watches you, seeming to wait for you to go on.

"It's kind of unfair, really," you muse, looking away. "In a way... You and Mami and the rest of the girls have done most of the work already." You smile at Homura sheepishly, shrugging a little. "I stand on the shoulders of giants and all, I guess."

Homura shakes her head a little. Disappointment, maybe.

"Hey," you say softly, walking over to Homura. You're careful to keep the cord from tangling on anything, especially the frozen yakuza lounging around in the room. "Homura. It's... well, that's not all." You stop right in front of her, smiling.

She's so small. A touch taller than Madoka, true, but you're nearly half a head taller than she is. You hardly ever notice. She's always moving with purpose, tightly restrained, directed energy. Weary and battered, but always moving forward.

Now... she just looks at you, tilting her head back a little to meet your eyes. You can see the fine worry lines etched around her eyes, on her forehead. History that never was, written on her face in delicate traceries of slowly deepening lines.

You take a deep breath, smiling. "I take happiness in the little things," you say softly. It's not like you need to speak loudly to be heard.

You spread your hands. "Meeting and getting to know people. I mean..." you tap a finger to the side of your head. "I knew Mami, Madoka, Sayaka, Hitomi... But I didn't know them." You tap yourself over the chest and meet her eyes. "Trite as it seems, I didn't know Akemi Homura until I met you. And I'm pleased to meet you."

"And all the other little things," you continue with a smile. "Exploring the city, finding new places... I found this old warehouse in the old industrial area that I've sort of adopted for experimenting. And that's another thing, just... messing around. Finding out things I didn't know."

You huff a sigh out. "The little things. It's... Yeah. The little things, and the people that I've come to care about," you say, smiling at Homura. Including Homura in the statement. "Cheesy as it sounds, but yeah. You guys all matter to me. And I can be happy that I'm helping."

Homura sighs, and nods. "I see," she says. "I don't..." Her lips compress together, gaze shifting around the room instead.

"Hey," you say. "It's... admittedly I have it a lot easier, since everything is new. I get up everyday with people to see and something different to do. And... the same's true for you, isn't it? People to see, and something different to do."

A faint glimmer of... something appears in Homura's eyes, her expression shifting. "Yes," she says, raising her chin a bit. You want to call it pride, but no. Rather call it strength, patient and just about as immovable as the mountains. Not indestructible. But the next best thing to it. You know what -or who- she fights for.

"That's the spirit," you say.

She nods. "Shall we continue?" she asks, gesturing around the room.

[] Write-in

=====​

Mmmm.
 
"Of course," you say, smiling at Homura. You bite back a touch of disappointment, a sensation that you hadn't done nearly enough. But would an inspiring, hot-blooded speech have had much of an effect on Homura? You're really not completely sure, but you doubt it, a little. She's not really the type.

Homura considers you for a long moment, before dipping her head towards you. She pivots sharply on one heel towards the racks of guns, her long black hair swirling behind her in the still air before settling into the familiar, improbable split tails. You ponder her hair briefly before discarding the thought, for that way madness lies.

She reaches the first rack - pistols by the dozen. Mostly Berettas, sleek, dark L-shapes sitting quietly in row after row, with a few oddities here and there, like the two Desert Eagles. Seems like even here in Japan, there's always someone going for the loud, flashy weapon in complete disregard for cost. None of them are particularly golden, or even gold-ish, you note. You're not sure why that's important, but indeed none of them are.

You watch as Homura simply unlocks the rack with another purple flare of magic -she probably gets quite a lot of use out of that one trick, really- and slides the locking bolts back. She raises her shield bearing over the rack, and passes the shield over the pistols. It's like watching a magic trick, which, technically it is - one moment, they're hanging innocuously on the rack, then they're blocked from sight by the shield, and then... there's an empty spot there.

And another empty spot next to it, and another, and another...

It's over in less than ten seconds, as much time as it takes for Homura to make one pass. The entire rack is denuded of weapons.

You blink, feeling a grin begin to return to your face. You lock your hands behind your back with a rustle of your leather coatsleeves - look, don't touch, just watch the pro at work and everything.

Homura pauses in her tracks and glances back at you curiously, head tilted a hair to the side.

You raise an eyebrow at her.

She blinks slowly, deliberately at you.

A second eyebrow joins the first.

She shrugs, and returns to her weapons gathering - this time unlocking a rack of assault rifles. It does vaguely occur to you to wonder how on earth they get assault rifles in Japan... but then again, organized crime. This time, she needs to pick them up one by one to slide into her shield.

"So um," you say, a thought occurring to you. You glance around at the racks - the yakuza are sensible enough to store the guns unloaded. "Do you need to load these manually, or something?"

"Yes," Homura says, tone mild. "Those cabinets in the back have all the ammunition."

Some part of you cringes at the thought - live ammunition kept in filing cabinets, but you nod. "I suppose that takes a while?"

Homura shrugs minutely, glancing wordlessly around the frozen greys of the timestopped world. Well, to be fair, is the world frozen, or are you going arbitrarily fast? You take a moment to contemplate that as Homura passes over two of the rifles, particularly worn looking specimens. Well, pragmatically speaking it's more or less the same thing, you suppose, except that's not really true. In principle, someone with an antimagic field would be able to move if the wolrd truly were frozen... on the other hand, magic. Like getting electricity despite the timestop.

Magic is such bullshit.

"Those rifles jam," Homura murmurs, indicating those two rifles she'd passed over.

"Ah, gotcha," you say. "May I?"

She shrugs, already moving on to the next rack, picking around a yakuza lounging on a bench. The thug's been caught in a particularly unflattering expression, droopy eyes and droopy mouth. The whole freezeframe issue, really.

You pick up the rifle - it's an AR-15, you recognize. Plastic stock, of course, barely modified. You... sort of wonder how it wound up here. If you had to hesitate a guess, they probably diverted a few for their own use from larger shipments? You've no real idea.

You inspect it, turning it over in your hands before racking the charging handle and checking clear the chamber. Click the safety up, and pop the takedown pin... the lower receiver, butt, trigger, grip and all swing away. You rack the handle again, catching the bolt as it slams backwards out of the way.

A glance up -you can feel eyes on you- and you catch Homura watching you curiously. "The buffer spring's worn," she notes. "No point to it."

"Oh," you say, shrugging, and reassemble the rifle before replacing it. "Umm... do you need a cleanse, Homura?"

Her eyes flick over to you. "Not yet," she says. She hesitates for a moment, before she makes a halting addition. "Thank you."

You smile. "No problem."

She goes through the racks, and you just watch her. Does she ever use those shotguns, you wonder? Probably, you decide - excellent for Familiars, if nothing else, at a bet.

Finally, she pauses at the end of now considerably emptier room, pulling open the cabinets to reveal... rows and rows of neatly filled magazines and clips, as well as boxes of ammunition. You walk up beside Homura, eyeing the considerable quantity of ammo.

"So, um, you need to load... all the guns?" you ask.

"Yes," she says, sweeping her arm over the neatly stacked rows and hoovering them up by the dozen. She lowers herself to the floor, crosslegged, and holds her shield out. With a clatter, dozens of pistols drop to the floor, along with clips. She gives you a look, before picking up a pistol and a clip out of the pile.

You take that as an invitation, and seat yourself comfortably opposite her from the pile as she loads the Beretta and racks the slide, cocking it and flipping on the safety before slipping it into her shield. You squint at the pile for a moment, before a twist of will has spheres of Grief sweeping in. "Here, let me, Homura," you say, smiling.

You reach out with your mind and with your Grief in a dozen grasping tendrils, snatching up pistols and clips from the pile. With a dozen simultaneous clicks, you slam each and every single clip home at once, the sound echoing like, well, a gunshot. Another twist of will, and you cock and safe them all at once.

You grin proudly at Homura, holding out the now loaded pistols to her, grip first.

She blinks at you for a moment before claiming the loaded and readied pistols. Another pass of her shield over the ground, and she dumps a larger pile of guns on the ground. Considerably larger. A few pistols mixed in with assault rifles. She stares at you.

"Oh fine, be that way," you say with a grin. You reach out again, snaking tendrils of Grief snapping out to sieze guns and load them with a metronomic rhythm. Homura accepts the loaded ones, replacing the rapidly depleting pile of firearms with fresh, empty ones.

You work in a companionable silence, Homura shoving the guns into her shield as fast as you pass them to her, and replenishing the pile when she has a moment. "Hey, Homura," you say, raising your voice a little to be heard over the clatter of loading guns.

Violet eyes cut over to you, an inquisitve expression on Homura's face.

"Do you think I could pick up something for myself?" you ask. "I kind of want something to cover my lack of options outside a hundred meters."

Homura shrugs with one shoulder, reversing a rifle -an AR-15- to you before pausing. "How will you keep it?"

[] Write-in

=====​

Did you know that Japan ranks 6th in the total value of things smuggled through? Well, by some rankings, anyway.

Also, this is an armoury; if you want cash, you'll have to make a side trip.
 
You purse your lips in consideration. "That is an excellent question," you say brightly, your Grief manipulations still for the moment, since Homura isn't clearing away the loaded guns. You wonder for a moment about making a gun out of Grief and just using real ammunition - it's not like that's much of an issue, really, and certainly that would be the most concealable.

Homura shakes her head slowly, an expression flickering across her face. You might be wrong, but... you're pretty sure you saw the barest sliver of a fraction of a trace of an exasperated, amused smile there for a moment.

"OK... I'll keep it in my Grief cloud," you say thoughtfully, making a decision and pulling a few spheres of Grief over. Homura passes the rifle over to you, and you take it with a smile, checking the safety. You lay it on your lap, looking at the Grief spheres - you'll encase the AR-15 in an ellipsoid, you think.

You suit action to thought, Grief reaching out and sealing the rifle away. "Thank you, Homura," you say, smiling at her and squinting at the enormous ovoid of Grief containing the rifle.

She shrugs slightly in response.

Locking it away does rather beg the question of what happens if you're anti-magicked. Not that you really think best buddy would do that to you, but then again. You're reasonably sure that Oriko's on your side, but not absolutely sure. And-

You left the Feather with Mami.

Panic lances through you for a moment, but-

You're in Homura's timestop. You're... pretty sure you're safe her. You take a deep, slow breath, calming yourself down.

"Is something wrong?" There's a hint of concern in Homura's voice, her head tilted fractionally to the side.

"No... well..." You frown. "I left the Feather with Mami."

Homura frowns, too. "It's just a feather."

"I know," you murmur, speaking more to yourself than anything. "Just a feather. Nothing magical or Witch-y about it. Just a feather." You sigh. "Just something that showed up to ratchet up my paranoia."

The two of you sit in silence for a moment, before you shake yourself, trying to divest yourself of the rather disquieting thoughts.

"Anyway... I'm just wondering, do you have anything smaller than the AR-15, Homura?" you say. You are quite sure of things, but it doesn't hurt to be safe. "Something concealable, in case of, well, anti-magic or something like that?"

Faded lilac eyes meet yours for a long, long moment. You can practically see the wheels turning in her head, Homura looking right at you before she nods, breaking eye contact. Her right hand hesitates over her shield for a moment before she dips into it, withdrawing...

Withdrawing...

what

"What."

Homura raises her eyebrows at you, holding the pistol by its barrel and presenting it to you. It's a... distinctive weapon, from the exposed trigger group transiting into what you know is a five round magazine, to the top-exposed bolt action slide, gliding onwards to a matte, blackened barrel. A shortened barrel.

You stare at the equally sawn down birch stock of the sawn down Mosin-Nagant rifle. A bolt action rifle converted to a pistol that fires 7.62mm rounds.

"It's an obrez," Homura notes quietly. She pronounces it correctly, too. She begins to reach into her shield again. "Do you want something smalle-"

"N-no!" you squeak, taking -well, snatching, really- the pistol from her and turning it over in your hands. An obrez. It's on the larger end of concealable, but it's something you can fit into your bag if you remove some of the marbles. It's not like you'd expect to carry anything but a pocket pistol or something in your, well, pocket. "Where did you even get this?"

Homura shrugs with one shoulder. "There's a magical girl who shows up infrequently."

"Ah," you say. Answer enough, you guess. "Well... thank you, Homura."

She nods.

You heft the pistol in your hands for a moment, before consigning it to the care of another blob of Grief, arriving obediently at your side like a well trained butler. You smile at Homura again, and look around the silent, grey room, with its denuded racks and frozen yakuza. "Say, Homura? Did you ever check if there's any repercussions of this theft?"

Homura shrugs neutrally, the simple, motion eloquently elucidating upon her extraordinary disinclination to care about any repercussions from this theft, which would suggest that nothing signifcant would happen to Madoka as a result. Not exactly the same thing as nothing significant happening period, but still. It's something.

"Well, OK then," you say. "I was thinking... maybe we could do more than just take their guns. Destroy all their stuff to hinder their operations?"

Homura looks at you. "There's no poin-" she cuts herself off, closing her mouth, and regards you contemplatively. "I... I am not opposed," she says carefully. "You can cleanse me afterwards, right?"

A grin breaks out on your face. "Yeah. Of course," you say. "Shall we finish the rest of the loading, then get to it?" You present the latest set of loaded weapons to her.

Homura nods, claiming them and refreshing the pile. It only takes you a few more minutes, filled with the loud clattering of metal on metal.

You roll your neck, as the stream of weaponry comes to an end, absently riffling through that awareness at the back of your head of your inventory of Grief, checking that everything's where it should be. Grief spheres by the dozen, lurking in the corridor outside, ready at your beck and call, check. One particularly large blob of Grief, with a rifle shaped cavity inside, and a normal sized sphere with a notebook shaped hollow for Homura's notebook, another for your obrez... check and check and check. And lastly, the ring still sitting on your finger, which is, in turn, pleasantly and distinctly un-dissolved and uncorroded.

Homura stands, unfolding gracefully from her crosslegged seating position while you heave yourself up with considerably less poise. She glances at you, quirking an eyebrow microscopically.

You smile at her. "Shall we go, Homura?"

She nods, tilting her head towards the door and starting out. You glance back at the rifle you'd handled, still sitting on its rack. It has your fingerprints now, doesn't it? At a thought, Grief swings in, wickedly sharp blades forming and hammering into it with whickering chimes of steel as you slice it into so much metallic confetti.

Homura glances back at you with another raised eyebrow as the two of you head down the corridor.

"Fingerprints," you explain with a shrug.

Homura considers that, and nods. "This way," she says, turning down another corner. "They keep their money in the upper floors," she notes.

You turn into a large room. At the far end, you can see a wall knocked out, and replaced with a steel shutter, presumably leading to an underground loading bay. Stacked against the walls are long tables, sealed lockboxes arrayed in neat rows.

"Drug cache," Homura says, gesturing around the room.

"Hmm... I can work with this," you say, reaching out with your mind and sweeping tendrils of Grief. Deep purple filaments spear through the lockbox lids, revealing crystals and powders, all enclosed in neat, tidy little bags. "Homura, I'm going to do something, OK?" you warn.

Shredding isn't enough. At Homura's nod, you focus for a moment - and Grief ignites, dozens of magnesium-white flares blazing to life, burning with vicious hunger.

You hum, grinning in the stark white light of narcotics going up in... well, not even smoke. There's no smoke, not if you don't want there to be, just perfectly clean burning will-driven, Grief-fuelled magical fires that renders everything down to nothing but carbon dioxide, water vapour and various other oxides.

A thought strikes you as the sensation of Witch sings against your senses - well, more than one thought, really, like Yakuza time-ninjas attacking you. Or, like, necrons. What if you'd wished to summon Warhammer figurines? Then again, why stop at Warhammer figurines?

Surreptitiously, you look around just to be sure that there aren't in fact any time-Yakuza ninja or necrons around. Or was it Yakuza time-ninja? Is there a difference? Well, yes, there is, but is there a relevant difference? How wou-

You shake your head. Focus!

"Hrm. Sasa Yuuki," you mutter out loud. Relief sings through your veins that you didn't blurt out anything about waaaaghs or the Emperor or the Greater Good or glories of Chaos or something.

Homura turns her attention from the dancing flames to look at you, silence inviting her to continue.

"Do you know her?" you ask, eyeing the fire. "Sometimes magical girl, blue eyes, brown hair cut into a kind of hime cut? Also, I think we can head upstairs now?" You eye the scorched puddles of metal, all that remains of the lockboxes.

She frowns, turning to head out of the room. "Yes. She doesn't show up very frequently."

"Yeah," you agree, following. "Still... Her powers would fit the odd Witch behaviour, don't you think? Controlling Witches and all, right?"

"Why would she go after Sayaka?" Homura asks, glancing back at you as she reaches a set of stairs.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too," you say, taking the stairs two at a time. "That much doesn't make sense. But... I'm going to see whether I can find her. If she became a magical girl... well, I'll figure that out then. Burn that bridge when I get to it, as it wer- no wait cross that bridge, cross that bridge, not burn it."

"Noted," Homura says. "Would you like me to come along?"

[] Write-in

=====​

Wheeeeee, long-ish post.
 
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That's not even a question for you, affirmation already rising to your lips. "Yeah," you say. A smile breaks out on your face. "Yeah, of course, Homura, but only if you're really alright with coming along."

Homura nods. "Yes, I am," she says, glancing back at you as she paces up the stairs. Neither of you are even really panting from the exertion.

"Great!" you say, smile broadening into a grin. "And... Homura, thank you. I really appreciate your help with all this."

She stops abruptly, one leg poised on the next step and head slightly bowed.

"Homura?" you ask, catching yourself just before you collide with her.

She exhales softly. "Thank you," she says in her even, quiet tone, without looking back at you.

You hop up to the same step as she's on, waiting patiently for her to meet you in the eyes. "Hey. Your indulging me on all this is plenty, Homura. So thank you."

She nods, breaking eye contact and starting up the stairs again. Your smile lingers, satisfied as you follow her. That's progress, you think. Slow, but... you're making progress, you think. Day by day. And hopefully you don't backslide more than you advance.

"Hm. Homura?" you say as you follow her up the stairs. "So I've dropped by to talk to Kyouko a few times, the past few days. It... well, I guess she seems to tolerate me?"

She picks up the implicit question, obviously thinking about it for a moment. She doesn't break stride, continuing up the stairs. "Dealing with Kyouko is... simple," Homura says with a shrug. "Don't lie to her. Or to yourself. Food helps, too."

"Yeah," you murmur, digesting that slowly. "Yeah, I can see that. And yes, I've been treating her to food."

Homura abruptly peels off from the staircase, heading out to the lobby. "This way."

Cool air, laden with faint traces of cigarette smoke, hits you in the face as step out of the stair lobby. The corridor Homura has led you out on is nicely carpeted, a few potted plants lining the sides, polished wooden doors in neat rows. It's virtually indistinguishable from a nice office, of which there is probably some witty social testimony to be made, but really. It's a nice office corridor, more or less.

Homura heads to the end of the corridor, and hesitates before unlock the door on her left. She pushes it open. She peers inside, before shaking her head. "Other door," she says, closing the door and heading over to the other.

Unlocking the door with another small flare of magic, she pushes it open and stepping inside. You look over her shoulder to see a burly man absolutely covered in coiling tattoos, visible thanks to the lack of shirt. He's kneeling on the floor,off to the side in front of a sword rack, apparently having just set down the gleaming... well, that is a katana.

Homura steps lightly around the yakuza, obviously headed for the enormous safe at the back of the room. The safe is a massive, freestanding affair that comes up to your shoulder, blocky and heavy steel bolted firmly to the ground and secured with two keyholes and a complex, three-layered dial.

Homura unlocks it with a touch and a faint purple shimmer of magic, pulling the safe door open to reveal... Piles of money. Literal piles of money in neatly stacked bundles. Every shelf but the lowermost one is filled with tightly bound stacks of ten thousand yen notes, one hundred to a stack, at a guess. And the lower shelf is filled with gold bars. Solid gold bars, about the size of your index and middle finger put together. More money than you've ever seen in your life, though admittedly that's not a high standard to clear.

"Well um," you say, blinking. "That's a lot of money."

A shrug somehow eloquently conveys the notion of 'well, what did you expect?'

"Well," you repeat yourself,staring blankly at the piles of yen notes. "Um. If it's alright, can I swipe some of this? You can take the rest, of course."

"Take as much as you want," Homura says with another shrug.

You summon another butler-blob of Grief to you. Moving carefully to avoid getting fingerprints anywhere, you scoop up a few stacks of notes and deposit them into the cavity shaped out of Grief. You hesitate, and grab a few of the gold bars too. If nothing else, you can use them as ammunition for your hypothetical Grief cannon.

You start talking again as you work. "So um, going back to the earlier topic, about Kyouko... I want to reconcile her and Mami. Do you have any advice for that?"

A faint frown appears on Homura's face. "That won't be easy," she says, mouth twisting into a grimace.

"I know," you grumble. You've been debating with yourself about that, whether to offer to bring Kyouko to the picinic this weekend or not. Which... well, why not outsource the decision? You purse your lips. "You know that picnic this weekend? I'm thinking about inviting Kyouko and Yuma, but that could potentially end... badly."

"It..." Homura considers this. "It will, most likely."

Your shoulders slump. "Yeah. Thought so," you say. One more bundle of allowance from Mom -you mean one more stack of loot- fills up the sphere nicely, so you seal it off. "I don't suppose you have any better advice for figuring out a way to reconcile them?"

Homura frowns, looking around the room. Her eyes settle on the katana, resting in its rack. "Why are you asking me?" she asks, eyes distant and pained.

[] Write-in

=====​

Apologies. Had, have a crisis of sorts on my hands in meatspace.

Additionally, the next vote will probably bring you back to Mami's apartment so vote accordingly.
 
You sigh, letting your eyes drift, too. Inevitably, they find themselves drawn on the gleaming steel of the katana. "I'm... so very far from perfect. And most definitely not some kind of a miracle worker," you say softly, quirking a sour smile. Miracles do exist, don't they? How many might flow from your hand?

"I've made mistakes. A lot of them," you say. A glance over at Homura. You find lavender eyes, shadowed and pained, meeting yours, and you think you see a glimmer of understanding for that regret. "I'm only doing well because of the knowledge I have, and I haven't seen every one of the loops."

Homura sighs. "You've done better so much better than me," she whispers. "I..." She trails off with a sigh. "May I have a cleanse?" She lifts her left hand towards you, the motion listless, lacking her usual sharp, precise energy.

"Of course," you say. It only takes a moment of thought to draw the Grief from Homura's Soul Gem, and she straightens, watching as the frothing corruption seeps into the air in churning eddies. You draw the Grief into a little sphere, something about the size of your fist, before you send it zipping away to join the rest of your Grief.

"Thank you," Homura murmurs quietly, the tension in her body unwinding a touch. "I'm..." she trails of for a moment, before continuing more strongly. "I'm not sure if I can offer any more insight."

"Homura," you say gently. "I ask because I value your opinion, and this is rather important. Even what you just said? 'Don't lie to her. Or to yourself.' That helps, Homura. It's... an insight I didn't really have before. You might not think much of it, but it really does help. And..." You pause, and wait for her to look at you before smiling. "You're the only person that I can both trust and talk to about all of this, you know?"

She exhales slowly, her eyes closing for a moment. "They don't hate each other. Not really," she murmurs.

You swipe at your face. "Mmm. Yeah," you say, walking over to her. "And... you know, Homura, you're a better judge of character than you might think. You have the most experience of... well, anyone, really. amd I do want to know what you think of things. I admit, we may not always agree." You meet her eyes, and smile at her. "But I do value your opinions, and hey. We're partners in this, right? Getting all our friends through this."

Homura nods slowly, looking preoccupied with a thought. You take a step back, giving her space to thing. A moment later, she speaks again, hesitantly and slowly. "There's one way."

"Oh?" you ask, perking up. Maybe there's something you could learn here?

"Shared grief," Homura says, looking away from you. "Miki Sayaka, usually."

"I-" you blink at her. "Oh. You mean..." Sayaka died?

She nods.

"Ah. Yeah. Let's... not let that happen," you say, reaching up to tuck your hair behind your ear. "Um. I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories and making you uncomfortable. I... didn't mean to upset you."

Homura sighs. "It's alright."

In the silence that follows, you look back at the safe, and the little butler-blob of Grief you've packed full of cash and a few gold bars. You've got plenty here, honestly, and you're really not terribly sure what you're going to do with those gold bars - maybe literally throw one at Kyouko to see what happens. That being the case...

"I think I've got enough here," you say, sealing up the sphere of money and sending it away. "Homura? Do you need any? If not, I'm going to destroy the rest, too."

"No, I have plenty," she says with a shake of her head that sets her hair swishing behind her.

Concentration, a bare touch of it, has Grief swinging in, already blazing as luridly bright flame. You debate for a moment with yourself between the pros and cons of simply slagging the entire safe. All things considered, it isn't a bigger stunt than melting all their drugs. Or...

Your eyes sliiiiiide across to the katana, gleaming steel bright in defiance of the colour draining timestop. That is a nice katana...

You turn away from the safe, Grief fire set free from merely burning the contents of the safe and starting to spread hungrily across the entire monolithic slab of metal behind you.

"Oh, Homura~?" you lilt, stopping in front of the rack. You can feel the grin splitting your face. You glance at the yakuza thug -well, he's probably the local boss or something, but still a thug- before dismissing him. "Do you still have that mop?"

"The mop?" Homura asks, blinking at you before following your eyes to the katana. "The mop."

"The mop," you grin.

Homura shakes her head slowly, before reaching into her shield to produce said cleaning implement. You grin, taking it from her, and then snatching the katana from the rack and dropping the mop in its place. No, wait, you can do better than that - and you do need to remove fingerprints and stuff, anyway. You grab the mop again - this time, with Grief.

Grief whips across the surface of the mop, incredibly fine blades sandblasting across it in a blurring storm. To your eyes, it looks like a churning haze of deep purple surrounding the mop handle. But you can feel every single blade in your Grief senses, dancing and slicing and polishing at your direction.

The mop drops back to the rack, handle now gleaming, marred by the ratty head of string. Can't exatly do anything about that, though.

You take a step back, inspecting your handiwork and swishing the katana idly through the air.

A glance aside at Homura, who's looking... well, more than a little perplexed.

You thrust both arms out at the rack, and the frozen tableau of the yakuza, still solemnly kneeling in front of the mop. The katana barely misses scraping against the ceiling. "Eh? Eh?" you grin.

Homura stares, before shaking her head slowly. Her lips are quirked in a tiny, tiny smile of amusement, and you cheer silently at getting amusement out of Homura. Your own grin only broadens, and you laugh, twirling on the spot with your arms outstretched.

A hand catches your wrist, arresting your turn. "Watch the katana," Homura says, the smile still on her face.

"Heh," you chuckle. "Thanks."

She nods. "Are you going to keep that?" she asks.

You look at it. "I suppose so," you say, grinning. Moving slowly, you sheathe it at your hip - you're almsot certainly making a horrible mess of the proper forms, but oh well. Another sphere of Grief arrives, shaping itself into a long tube as a makeshift scabbard.

... Sakura's weapon is a katana, doesn't she?

You discard that thought, smiling at Homura. "So, anything left?"

She shakes her head. "That's all, I think."

"Then... shall we go?" you suggest.

"Yes," Homura agrees, starting for the door.

"Hey, Homura?" you say, a thought occuring to you as you step out of the room, reclaiming the Grief that melted the safe into so much glowing slag on the floor. "I meant to ask this earlier, but I forgot to - do you know where t find Sasa? For tomorrow, you know."

"No, I don't," she says. "I know roughly where she might be, but not where she lives."

"Ah. That works, too," you say.

A few minutes later, you're headed back home via Grief carpet. Your loot follows behind you, hidden away in the planetarium of Grief, and Homura's sitting beside you. She lets her legs dangle off the edge of the carpet, swinging idly in the air. "... Hey. Homura."

"Yes?" she says, glancing at you.

You smile at her. "Thanks for letting me come along. It was... really quite nice, spending time with you."

She glances at you, her expression more unguarded than you've seen with her awake. "Thank you for coming," she murmurs softly.

"Yeah. And... I'll be happy to tag along anytime you want, OK?" you add.

She nods again.

You let the conversation lapse for a while as you, speeding through the chill air of the timestop and watching the shrouded city roll by beneath you. It's always kind of cold in the timestop, you notice. Probably just an artifact of the magic, really.

"Say, Homura?" you say, breaking the silence again. "Was there anything odd about Elsa Maria's Barrier? That last Witch, I mean."

She frowns at you. "You asked me earlier."

"Yeah, I know, just..." You purse your lips. "There was... something odd. It almost seemed like someone was asking me who I was."

Homura's frown deepens, her earlier good mood fading. "That's not..."

"I know," you say with a grimace, leaning back on your hands, propped out behind you. "It's weird. And very worrying."

"Can you talk to Witches?" Homura asks. "If not, could it be the 'feather'?"

"I don't know," you say. "Talking to Witches... the last time I really tried anything close to that, the Witch metaphorically stabbed me in the brain with Grief. That was Hildegarde." You pull the clear Grief Seed from your pocket by way of demonstration.

"I see," Homura says, eyeing the Grief Seed in your hand. She shakes her head. "I didn't notice anything unusual about the Witch."

[] Write-in

=====​

Sayaka is a merguca. Or, you know, will be. Whatever. Also I googled this and to my immense surprise, there are no results.
 
You frown, not terribly sure what to say to that. You're... quite sure you heard something, yes, though 'heard' might not be the best word. And yet, no one else even seems to have noticed. Homura did look askance at the ground in Elsa Maria's Barrier, but... apparently she considered that nothing out of the ordinary. Was that normal, then? But then what was that voice?

"Sabrina?" Homura's looking at you, faint worry in her eyes.

"No... I'm just thinking," you say. You sigh. Probably best not to continue asking - you've already asked twice, after all. "I'm kind of worried about the voice." You rub wearily at your forehead with a knuckle. "I suppose I'll let you know if it happens again? I mean, I'll be the first to admit that there's not much to go on here, but it does kind of worry me."

Homura bobs her head quickly in agreement. "Noted. This..." She thinks for a moment, her amethyst eyes distant and worried. "Do you..." She trails off, looking out over the city and grimacing.

"Hmm, Homura?" you ask, sitting up and peering at Homura.

"If... your information is good," she says, grimacing unhappily, eyes still looking out over the frozen cityscape rolling by beneath you. "Then... do you think this might be the 'feather'?"

A blink. That's the second time Homura asked you. You sigh. "I... I think maybe I'm being paranoid. I hope I'm just being paranoid. But... it could be. It could be."

She doesn't respond for a long, long moment, staring off into the distance before she finally refocuses on you. "Alright," she says simply.

You raise your eyebrows slowly. That's it?

She holds your gaze for a heartbeat longer before nodding, just a hair. That's it.

The rest of your journey back home is spent in a comfortable silence, neither of you really feeling the need to say much more. She sits beside you, relaxed, her legs dangling over the edge of the carpet and midnight black hair streaming out behind her in the rushing wind.

"By the way, Homura," you say as you coast in for a landing in front of Mami's apartment. "I'm going to let Mami know that I went on this little errand with you, is that OK? It's only polite, I guess."

"Yes, that's fine," Homura says.

"Alright, then," you nod, before snickering slightly . "Also... I owe you a mop."

There's a quiet, familiar humming of gears, and you turn to see Homura producing a familiar looking mop.

... just about exactly the same as the one you'd left behind, before you polished it.

You blink at the mop, then at Homura.

"... why?" you ask plaintively.

Homura shrugs microscopically. "I... might need more than one mop? Or a new one?"

"... right," you say. "Right."

Boiling water and instant ramen and mops and probably that golf club club and probably a fresh pizza and rope and all manner of dakka and explosives and goodness knows what else. Probably first aid kits and... huh. That shield of hers is essentially Doraemon's pouch, isn't it?

... you decide not to mention that to her, instead heading back up to Mami's apartment, Homura in tow. Your loot, still safely ensconced in protective layers of Grief, you stash on the roof of the building, alongside the rest of the Grief.

You stop outside the door, turning to Homura. "So, um," you say. "Homura? Can I give you a hug?"

She blinks slowly at you, before nodding.

You smile, stepping forward and wrapping your arms around her gently. Moving slowly, uncertainly, she hugs you back, her movements stiff and awkward. "Hey. Thanks again for letting me come along," you say.

"It was no problem," she murmurs, softening into the hug a bit. She's so thin. It's not the first time you've noticed, but... Homura's really a tiny slip of a girl. Far too thin, far too fragile. She leans against you for a moment, a bit of tension ebbing from her tightly wound shoulders.

You hold the hug for a moment longer before breaking it, stepping back and smiling at Homura. "OK. Cleanse?" you ask.

Her eyes flick down to her Soul Gem, gleaming on her hand. Wordlessly, she presents it to you, and you take a quick moment to cleanse her Soul Gem, along with you own. The Grief wicks away, flowing through down the corridor to the window at the end where it lofts upwards to join the bulk of your Grief on the roof.

You're already pushing through the door, stepping back into Mami's apartment and returning to where you'd been before Homura pulled you into the timestop. You detransform before shooting her one last smile and undoing the cord around your wai-

-st.

Colour, bright and vivid after the muted, deathly greys of the time stop assault your eyes. Mami's back is still turned towards you as she heads towards the kitchen. "Sabrina, could you help with the rest of the dishes?" she calls.

A smile crosses your face, and you begin to pile up the rest of the dishes as instructed, joining Mami in the kitchen. Homura meanders in after you a moment later, looking around and face returned to her neutral, expressionless poker face.

"Mami?" you say telepathically to Mami as you start soaping up the dishes with brisk, practiced motions.

"Yes, Sabrina?" she asks, flashing you a bright smile as she waits for the soaped dishes.

"Ah, Homura pulled me off for that errand I mentioned earlier," you tell her.

"Oh, I see," Mami says, her smile faltering for a moment. She takes half a step closer to you, closing the distance to lean against your side. "It... I hope it went well? No big problems?"

"Yeah, it did," you say, smiling down at her.

"That's good," she says. "Um... may I ask what you did?"

[] Write-in

=====​

Muuumi.
 
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"Weeeeellll," you say, putting down a soaped plate and stepping away from the sink. Mami's gaze follows you, looking curious.

You throw one hand wide, gesturing in Homura's vague direction. "The unapproachable beauty, talk of Mitakihara, Akemi Homura teamed up with-" your other arm swings in front of you, dipping down slightly as your twist your body away from Mami, "-the mysteriously appearing foreigner Sabrina!"

You sweep both arms around you, curling your middle and ring fingers in on each hand before crossing them over your chest. "Together! They used their secret identities and superpowers to fight crime and correct injustice!" You grin proudly at Mami as soap suds slide down your hand, soaking into your blouse.

Mami stares at you, mouth open. You can hear a faint groan behind you.

"Sabrina, did you j-jus- pfff-" Mami doesn't make it to the sentence, dissolving into quivering giggles that grows into clear peals full bodied laughter. She wobbles half a step forward, collapsing against you for support.

Her laughter's contagious, and you join in, delighted, as you support her. You can see Homura out of the corner of your eye, rubbing at her forehead in exasperation.

Mami laughs until she runs out of breath, wheezing helplessly in your arms, gasping fits of giggles bubbling from her. "S-so-" Mami chokes out between giggles, "-did you punish anyone in the name of the moon?'

"Sure," you say with a grin. "I helped Homura, ah, chastise some Yakuza by, shall we say, restocking her weapons. I, uh, kind of got some souvenirs, too."

Mami peeks up at your face, trying to see if you're serious this time, her mirth fading a little. "You... robbed the Yakuza?"

"Well... yes," you say sheepishly. "I was careful! And Homura's done it before! We made sure not to leave any fingerprints or anything, and she was using her power the whole time!"

"Ah... so it's safe?" Mami asks.

Homura answers for you, to your surprise. "I've done it many times," she says, tone utterly bland.

You shoot her a smile and a nod of thanks.

Mami nods, smile returning. A thought seems to occur to her, and she giggles again. "S-Sabrina- does that make Homura Tuxedo Mask? Or is that you?"

"... you know I have no idea?" you say, considering that for a moment. "I vote Homura, she has the hair and the dark bishie look for it. And she's more than mysterious enough."

"True, but... who would be Usagi, then?" Mami asks, glancing back at the sink.

"Not Homura," you say immediately. You gently nudge Mami towards the sink, and the both of you move over. "Maybe Madoka? What do you think, Homura?" you ask, looking back over your shoulder.

She shrugs. "Madoka is... Madoka."

"Yeah, not really that good a fit, I guess," you concede.

You and Mami demolish the stack of dishes in short order, and retire back to the living room, where you flop on the couch, Mami cuddled into your side. To your faint surprise, Mami doesn't really seem to be concerned about the raid on the Yakuza at all, apart from wanting to cling to you.

But then, what else is new?

You glance at the clock. It's only eight... well, approaching eight. Still relatively early, though the day feels like it's been dragging on forever. Still, things to attend to. "Mami, Homura?" you say.

"Mmm?" Mami lifts her head to peer up at you, drill hair rustling slightly. Homura simply looks over at you silently.

"I'm thinking we should go and see Miss Ono?" you suggest. "And um, Homura, if you'd like to come along, you're welcome too."

"Ah... yes, we do need to," Mami says, looking down. "I was hoping we could do it tomorrow, though... I was hop- I have homework to do tonight." She looks hopefully up at you, though there's a bit of dismay in her expression.

[] Write-in

=====​

Hmm? What's wrong, Mumi?
 
You bite your lip, looking at Mami's hopeful expression.

"If it wasn't so important..." You look away. "I'm sorry, Mami. I... Miss Ono can't continue on as she is. It's dangerous."

Mami's shoulders sag. "I- I know," she says, voice catching. "S-sorry. I'm being selfish."

"No," you say firmly. "No, you're not. Is something wrong, Mami?"

"Just... I was hoping for a quiet night in, after... all this today," Mami says softly.

"Oh," you respond. "Well... it might be a bit late, but I can still help with your homework tonight. Is that OK, Mami?"

She gives you a wan smile. "That would be nice."

You smile at her. "When's the makeup test, anyway?"

"Ah... It's this Friday," Mami says.

Hmm. Wednesday today, so two days to go. But that's for later, and for now... You step forward, holding your arms open. Mami accepts the hug, clinging to you, and you just hold her. She doesn't seem upset, just a little disappointed.

"I could go myself," Homura offers quietly.

[] Write-in

=====​

Apologies for a very short update. But things came up in real life - and Homura wanted to offer, anyway.

As an advance heads up, I'm not sure I'll be around tomorrow, again, my apologies.
 
You blink at Homura over Mami's shoulder, faintly startled that Homura even offered. And you're tempted to take her up on that offer. It'd hopefully sort things out, letting Mami have her quiet night, while Homura sorts out Ono... Well that last bit's a problem, isn't it.

That's what you tell yourself, anyway.

Nevertheless, a huge smile breaks out on your face as you separate from Mami, still keeping her close to you.

"I... thanks, Homura," you say. "Thank you so much for offering. It's... really nice of you, and... I really appreciate it, I do. But I'm sorry, Homura, and sorry, Mami." You glance between Mami's disappointed look, and then Homura's neutral expression. "We've made Miss Ono wait quite a lot already, and I really should start making good on my word to her, so I really do have to do this personally."

You're not going full Gilgamesh again, you're not. Homura has known problems with social skills. And you did promise Megane.

... you are going to have to insist on talking to Megane in the flesh tonight, though, even if you have to be invisible to do it.

"I'd be happy to have you with us when we go, though?" you suggest. "If you want to, anyway."

Homura nods fractionally. "Yes."

"Alright, then," you say, smiling at her in thanks. "Mami... I'm very sorry, but we do need to do this."

"I know," she says, giving you a smile that's only slightly forced. "You wouldn't be you, otherwise."

"I guess not," you murmur. Sometimes you're not entirely sure that you are really all you're cracked up to be, but... close enough.

You huff out a sigh. "By the way, Mami, before we head out... do you still have that feather? The one that came out of my Barrier?"

"Um... yes, I think so," Mami replies. "It should be in my bag?" You follow her over to her bag, where she pokes around a bit before before eventually producing the Feather. It looks a little rumpled, worse for the wear for being stuffed into a pocket.

... really, it just looks normal. Rather larger than you'd expect of a feather, but really. It looks like a feather. It doesn't seem to be magical or Witch-y or Grief-y in nature.

Just to be sure, a thought summons a sphere of Grief, dropping down from the rooftops and scooting in through the window with a rustle of curtains. You take the feather from Mami and seal it in Grief, locking it away into another innocuous sphere to join the others. Absently, you check your pocket - you've still got Hildegarde's Grief Seed, sitting quietly there.

"Alright," you say. "I suppose we should prepare to head out?"

Mami nods, giving you a quick hug. "Let me go to the bathroom first?" she asks.

"Of course," you reply with a smile. As you wait for her, you collect your sling bag of Grief marbles and drop into the couch, kicking your legs out. Absently, you summon the Grief sphere containing the obrez to you and slip the cut down rifle into your sling bag, concealing it underneath the marbles. No point having it 'in case of emergency' if it isn't to hand, after all.

You shoot Homura a quick smile, which she replies to with an eyebrow raised a fraction of a centimetre. You smile broadens into a grin.

You hear the bathroom door click open, and you glance over to see Mami stepping out, plumping her hair drills. It looks like she washed her face too, at a guess.

"I'm ready," she says.

"Alright," you say, patting the couch beside you and raising your eyebrows. "Let's just check in with Miss Ono, then." With a thought, you reach out mentally for the girl who might be the Glass Witch - but not if you have anything to say about it. You let Homura and Mami listen in, too, the latter now cuddling into your side again. "Miss Ono?"

... Heh. Quantum Ono; simultaneous superposition of Witch and meguca until observed.

It takes a moment before she responds. "Hello, Miss Sabrina," Megane replies.

A touch of relief suffuses you. "Hello," you say. "I'm very sorry for the delay, a lot of things came up today. But we're ready to meet you now; would you happen to be free?"

"I'm terribly sorry, I currently have matters that need my attention," she says, voice frosty. She doesn't sound sorry at all.

[] Write-in

=====​

Testy, testy.
 
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