Puella Magi Adfligo Systema - Story only

[Firnagzen]

Your lips tighten in a flash of irritation. Is she blowing you off? Judging from the frown growing on Mami's face, you're not quite alone in those thoughts, either. You exchange a look with Mami, and she shakes her head microscopically, her hair brushing against you.

Megane has no idea of what she's doing. Really no idea.

Either she's just this bitchy, or it's her pride, or it's her Wish... Really, you don't believe that there is something happening.

So for once... you think you're perfectly justified to insist.

"I see," you say, fighting to keep your mental voice even. "Nothing dangerous, I should hope?"

"Of course not," she retorts sharply.

'Of course not?' You raise your eyebrows at Mami, then Homura. A faintly sour expression flicks across the time traveller's face as she drops onto the sofa, crossing her arms patiently.

Or maybe that's impatient. You're getting better at reading her, but still.

"That's good," you reply cautiously.

"If there's nothing else, I have matters to attend to," Megane replies, voice hovering somewhere south of arctic. "As I'm sure you have, with your busy schedule."

... Definitely trying to blow you off, with a side order of 'being bitchy as hell'.

You frown, exchanging another glance with Mami. Her frown deepens, and she slowly pulls herself upright on the sofa.

"I think she feels insulted," Mami offers. "That we didn't honour our initial promise to see her."

"Feh," you grunt. "Do you think I should apologise?"

"It should help," Mami says. "But... she's being difficult on purpose."

"Yeah, I agree," you mutter. Steeling yourself, you speak telepathiclly to Megane again. "Miss Ono, I am truly sorry that I couldn't meet you after school like I said I would, and you have my deepest apologies for that. I hadn't meant to just blow you off like that."

"So noted," the girl replies, and falls silent again.

"... for goodness' sake," you mutter under your breath, rubbing at your forehead in frustration. "I take it you're not interested in going hunting for a Witch right now?"

"Why would I do that?" she counters.

You glance at Homura, who's looking increasingly annoyed. Even Mami looks displeased, an unhappy frown tugging at her lips. You blow out a breath, reaching up to tuck a wisp of hair behind your ear.

"Fine," you say. "But it's vitally important to keep your Soul Gem clean, for your own well-being. May I make up for not meeting you earlier by dropping by and cleaning off your Soul Gem and Grief Seed?"

Silence, for a moment. "No, you may not. As I said, I'm busy."

You grind your teeth. "It'd be barely a minute, and we can be there very quickly, if you want."

"I think that's all we have to talk about, Miss Sabrina," Megane replies. "We can meet tomorrow." With a distinct air of finality, she ends the call.

"Damn that girl," you hiss, your hands tightening into fists. Why the hell is Ono so damned petty? "She doesn't bloody know what she's doing."

Mami nods. "She does seem rather... dismissive."

"Homura," you glance at the black haired girl. "Do you know where to find her?"

"Maybe," she says. "I think I know roughly where she lives."

"Right. We're going," you say, pushing yourself to your feet and offering Mami a hand. "Mami, I'm really sorry, but... this is important, I think." You wish you could leave her alone for the snubbing, but you can't. Not really.

She takes your hand, letting you pull her to her feet. "No... I understand, Sabrina," she saves, giving you a wan smile and hugging you tightly. "You have to."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so," you say. "Homura?" You turn to find her already headed for the door with a swish of hair.

A few minutes later, you're sitting on a Grief carpet, gaining height rapidly over Mitakihara. You find your mind wandering a little as you watch the city hum through its paces far below, blinking rivers of light flowing across the city. You could use Homura's timestop to get there a little faster, and Madoka and Kirika would probably make a diabetes-inducingly sweet couple but that probably woul-

You shake your head, dislodging that thought, hugging Mami into your side. You glance back at Homura, who's sitting on the carpet. She gives you a slight frown, raven black hair streaming in the wind behind her.

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Whoa, bitchy much?

 

[Firnagzen]

You catch Homura's frown, and reach out telepathically. "Homura? Is something wrong?"

Faded amethyst eyes hold yours for a moment. "She's just like..." She trails off, lips flattening together.

"Ah." You can fill in the rest, you think. "Are you OK?"

Homura sighs, the sound inaudible over the rushing wind. "It's too familiar," she murmurs.

"... ah. I see," you reply. The same story, repeated over and over, even with different actors to dance out the play. "Are you alright, Homura?"

Her eyes meet yours again for a moment. She inclines her head very slighty towards the side - neither a yes, nor a no.

You nod, considering Megane. More than a touch bitchy... but she's very much a kid. Granted, you're not that much older than her yourself, but you feel like you're much older. Or at the very least a lot more conscious of the dangers and necessities.

Speaking, or thinking of which... you abruptly slow the Grief carpet down, coasting into a gentle holding pattern. Mami looks askance at you, confusion in her golden eyes.

"One last try," you tell her and Homura.

"It's not worth it," Homura says.

"Yeah. It probably isn't going to work, but I feel like I should at least try," you respond, resigned. With a thought, you reach out to the girl that's become your newest headache.

... this is probably how Oriko feels all the time, huh?

"Miss Ono?" you say.

She responds with an annoyed, telepathic sigh. Which doesn't really make sense, since sighs are literally exhalations of breath, but... magic is as magic does. Or magitech is or magite- focus! "Yes, Miss Sabrina?" she says, voice cold.

You roll your eyes, deciding that you might as well try to get it out of your system before you actually meet her face to face. "Miss Ono, there is something that I absolutely have to talk to you about in person. This really can't wait, and is a matter of life and death to magical girls."

"Miss Sabrina, I am certain that you feel that whatever you have is very important," Megane replies.

Your teeth grind together. Mami lays a gentle hand on yours, squeezing lightly in support, and you force yourself to relax. You hug her, instead. "Miss Ono, I do apologise that I couldn't meet you earlier. One of my friends was..." you glance at Mami, trying to give her a silent apology before continuing, "... suffering from personal problems and needed my immediate help and support. And then after that, another of my friends was attacked by a Witch."

There's a pause as Megane absorbs this. In the meantime, you hug Mami more fully, whispering a quiet "Sorry," to her.

"My, what a busy life you lead, Miss Sabrina," Megane says at last. "I'm sure you have more things to attend to."

You try again. "I'm so very sorr-"

"I'm not interested, Miss Sabrina," Megane says, voice dripping with frost.

One last try, one last bombshell to drop. You raise your mental voice, just a hair. "I didn't want to intrude, but it has to be tonight. It could save your life, Miss Ono."

She doesn't respond, apparently opting to ignore you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Homura slant you a look -a slightly raised eyebrow, head tilted slightly to the side- that screams 'I told you so'.

By contrast, Mami's staring straight ahead into the night, a sharp frown warring with dismay on her face. Apparently Megane's starting to both annoy and worry her, too.

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Ono for President Bitchy 2015!

 

[Firnagzen]

"Well then," you whisper to yourself. You've just about had it with her, and... truth be told, some part of you would dearly like to let her die, or Witchout, if that's what's happening. It'd... solve a lot of problems, and you can come back and quietly clean up later.

But no.

You don't do things like that.

And besides... Someone, somewhere, is fighting for you, and all that. Maybe she doesn't know it, but... you're on her side. You want her to live.

You become aware of Mami gently stroking your hand, teasing your tightly clenched fist open and holding your hand between both of hers. You squeeze her hand lightly, giving her a smile.

"Mami, Homura?" you say. You don't have to raise your voice too much, with your carpet cruising in a slow circle. "She won't accept my help, or my apology... but I can't just leave her alone." You press your lips together. "Much as I'd like to. But we can't. It'd literally kill her."

Homura shakes her head, expression flat. There's a hint of apology in her posture, her shoulders slightly hunched.

Mami clasps your hand between both of hers. "I think..." she swallows, looking up at you. "I think she's just, just lashing out. She was angry that we didn't make it to our appointment, and just... lashing out. We have to be firm with her. Just show up. I-I don't think she will like it, but it may be the only way."

"Do you think so?" you sigh, rubbing at your forehead. You really don't know whether this is for the better. It's in line with what you've been thinking, and it's nice to have confirmation, but... you're not entirely sure you trust your own judgement.

She nods tentatively. She doesn't look very sure herself, more torn than anything.

"OK, then," you say, eyeing Homura. The girl's expression is set, her violet eyes staring out into the darkened horizon. The thick clouds shrouding the sky have finally started moving, scudding across the sky in sluggish spurts. The moon, waxing towards its first quarter, occasionally peeks out from above.

"I was thinking of using Homura's power to head in quickly, find her, and see what her situation's like?" you say.

"I don't think she's really busy," Mami offers, grimacing.

"Neither do I," you murmur. "But she might be in distress." You tap your own Soul Gem meaningfully.

"I don't have any objections," Homura notes quietly, resting her fingers lightly on the rim of her shield.

Mami nods, spreading her fingers to show golden ribbons starting to web between them.

You take a deep breath, and exhale slowly. "Alright. Let's do it, then," you say.

Homura twists her shield with a hum of clockwork, gears singing. Grey hues explode across the night, swallowing up the bright glows of traffic suddenly paralyzed in the streets below. You feel motion at your waist - Mami's ribbon, twisting sinuously around to bind you to Mami and Homura.

You smile at your friends. "Thanks for indulging me," you whisper.

"Of course, Sabrina," Mami says, giving you an answering smile.

Homura just gives you a nod.

You sigh. "Somewhere in that direction, right?" you confirm, gesturing in the general direction of Yokosuka Academy and glancing at Homura.

She nods again, this time in affirmation, and you will the carpet forward, zooming towards the school. It only takes a few minutes' flight before you arrive at the enormous glass edifice that you're increasingly sure was built purely for the express purpose of one-upping Mitakihara. It even has those crennelations topping it, except wrought of gleaming steel and glass into swooping spires and arches.

"Somewhere in that direction," Homura murmurs, pointing to the west. You nod, and redirect the carpet.

"By the way, Mami," you ask. "Does Yokosuka have a rivalry with Mitakihara Middle School or something?"

"Yes, we do," Mami confirms with a shrug. "I never really bothered much with it, though..."

"Ah. That would explain it," you say.

Mami glances back at the building. "... it is a bit ostentatious," she agrees.

"Ostentatious," you snort. The grin fades back into seriousness, though, and you look at Homura again. "Any idea where better?"

She shakes her head. "Somewhere here," she says.

"Hmm..." you say, reaching out with your senses. You can feel the crackling glows that are your friends, sitting beside you. Beside you, and beneath you, are the tenuous, sepulchral presence of Grief ghosting through the air. A faint shadow of Grief, somewhere below, but... no. No other magical girls, and no Witch.

"Hm. Nothing that I can sense," you say with a frown. The carpet dips lower towards the ground, swooping between the canyons formed by the buildings, and you speed along the streets.

You spend fifteen minutes zigzagging along the streets before... "There," you murmur. "Found her, I think. Or I've found a magical girl."

A slightly poorer area, you think. A little shabby, and the facade perhaps a little more dirty than you usually see. Glowing on the ninth floor, in your sight beyond sight... A presence. Grief and magic, the distinctive twinned signature of a magical girl.

You head in.

Your impressions are confirmed as you head in. Not the best maintained place, indeed. Nothing bad. Just a bare shade less opulent than might be expected, or perhaps if you compared it to Oriko or Madoka's places. Or even Mami's apartment block.

Without prompting, Homura unlocks the door with a flash of purple light and steps into the apartment.

You're confronted with a frozen tableau. An older woman, bearing more than a passing similiarity to Megane, is slumped on the sofa, a can of what's obviously beer in her hand. A few empty cans lie abandoned on the ground, and the television's on.

Beyond that, a door that's rather pointedly closed, and presumably, locked. You can feel Megane just beyond that, and a little help from Homura sees you through.

You find Megane sitting on her bed, legs drawn up to her chest. Crumpled in her hand are some papers, ones you can't make out. Her Soul Gem, gleaming on her finger, is perhaps a quarter full... and you can't sense that Grief Seed you'd given her anywhere.

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Will you take on the world's problems?

 

[Firnagzen]

You growl under your breath. "The Grief Seed's gone," you say, looking at Mami and Homura as you step into the room. "That would explain why she didn't even want to consider going hunting with us, I think. Ashamed to admit it." You pause, grimacing. "Hopefully she didn't mean to go hunting alone in order to show up with a Grief Seed tomorrow."

Mami nods, looking at the girl sitting on the bed, before taking a step closer to you. You give her a quick, one armed hug to reassure her as you scan around the room.

It's cosy. Megane's room reminds you somewhat of Madoka's room, if less spacious and filled with considerably fewer chairs. Floral patterned wallpaper lines the walls, visibly worn with a scuff mark here and there. A ceiling fan-and-lamp combination hangs from the ceiling, the light off - Megane's sitting here in the darkness. A small study table sits off to the side, with some stationery and papers scattered about.

They're not poor, you don't think.

But they're not rich, either.

Homura glances around the room, and without a word, drifts over to the table, leafing through the papers.

You'll take that as... well, pretty much the same idea as you had, then.

"We should take a look around," you say, already starting for the papers. Mami follows you, glancing anxiously around the lifeless, colour-bleached world of the time-stop.

You fold your arms behind your back and lean over the bed, peering at the papers.

... school results, it looks like. A generous splash of reds, shaded grey by the timestop.

"Che," you grunt, straightening. "School results."

Mami sighs. "I think..."

"She's not very good," Homura says drily, carefully replacing the papers on the table. And now that you're looking, you can see rough scrawls of ink, probably scratched into the papers by frustration.

You sigh, too. "We need to talk to her."

Homura's eyes flick towards you, and then away. Not it.

"I..." Mami starts, trailing off.

"She can't go on like this, but... I'm not sure what to say," you admit. "She doesn't like me much, and... I'm afraid she's just going to clam up." You glance at Mami. "Mami, you're... better at talking to people than we are, and Megane seems more annoyed with me right now."

Mami looks torn. "I don't think she likes me, either," she says. "Do you remember... she mentioned the school rivalry?" Mami bites her lip, glancing away. "I could try," she says, giving you a wan smile.

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So I just kinda amlagamated the votes a bit.

 

[Firnagzen]

You huff out a sigh, tucking stray hair behind your ear. You're torn, to say the least.

"Sabrina?" Mami asks.

"Let me think," you say, rubbing at your forehead. You pace around the room, what little of it there is that isn't occupied by bed or desk or Mami or Homura, anyway. You spare a baleful glance at Megane - frankly, she's a pain, but...

Looking around her house, guessing from how she presents herself and what she might have wished for? You've got a pretty good idea of what drives her. Acting on it is a different thing -you're floundering for ideas- but you can make some guesses at her person. And it would go some way to explaining why she was so bitchy towards you.

... the thought of turning her into cheese kind of occurs to you before you ruthlessly tamp that down. It's completely unproductive.

"I'm going to bring her into the timestop," you decide at last, waving around at the colour-leached world.

"Are you sure, Sabrina?" Mami asks, wringing her hands.

"No," you answer truthfully. "I really don't know how best to deal with Miss Ono. I'm going to try. But I'm not sure." If you're being honest with yourself, some sort of you thinks that it's all going to shit as soon as you open your mouth. Hell, you think she might actually attack you. It's not terribly likely, you don't think, but it's a possibility.

"Homura?" you ask, glancing over at the time traveller. "Is that OK?"

She glances at you, then at Megane. She stares at the other black haired girl for a long moment, eyes evaluating, before looking back to you. "It's fine."

"Thanks, Homura," you say, shooting her a quick smile.

Mami's already stepping forward, ribbon spooling from her hand, before you stop her with a hand on her elbow.

"Let me try ot something, Mami?" you ask.

She nods and steps back, the ribbon vanishing in drifting motes of golden light.

"And um, maybe we could all give her a bit of room?" you say, suiting action to word. You move in front of Megane, Mami and Homura arranging themselves a little further back.

You're... suddenly very aware of your hands, hanging loosely at your side. That won't do; too casual. You tuck them in your coat pockets for a moment, touching your Grief Seeds for a moment. Hildegarde, and Andrea. But no, that's even more casual. You clasp your hands behind your back - no, too formal.

You start to fold your arms across your chest before abandoning that.

... No, no Gilgameshing.

A gentle hand touches your shoulder. You glance over to see Mami, giving you a smile, and she guides your hands to a more neutral position - back at your sides. "It's OK," she says.

"Thanks, Mami," you say. You close your eyes and inhale slowly, willing a marble of Grief out of your ever present bag. Really, that bag might as well be a part of your costume by now. The marble flits forward, stopping just in front of Megane.

You exhale, opening your eyes, and the marble snaps forward, lashing around the girl's finger. In tandem, colour floods into her.

Megane inhales sharply. Her eyes widen, and they dart around the room, glancing from you, to Mami, to Homura, to the frozen world, and then back to you.

She flinches, scrabbling back across the bed - still somehow moving with perfect poise.

"This might be a delayed answer-" you say, drawing the Grief out of her Soul Gem with a crook of your finger "-but I do rather think your life is very important." The Grief billows from her Soul Gem, tenebrous and swirling in a malevolent cloud in front of her for a moment before you collapse it down into marbles.

"Get out," she hisses. "Get out. Get out!" Megane's eyes are wide, almost frightened as she stares at you, her back digging into the wall. Her hands clench into white knuckled fists, the muscles standing out.

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Hmmm.

 

[Firnagzen]

You shake your head. "I can't, Megane," you say. "I can't. You're dying, an-"

"Get out," Megane snaps again. "Get out!" Her shoulder blades are practically digging into the wall, her hands groping wildly about. One hand encounters her bedside table and seizes her clock.

You're already moving a moment before the clock shatters against the wall behind you with a sharp crack. Pieces of plastic and tiny gears bounce all over the room before freezing in mid air, claimed by the timestop.

Your hand snaps out, blocking a ballistic powder compact. Powder explodes in a white cloud, staining everything white.

"Get out!" Megane scrambles over the foot of the bed, landing smoothly on her feet and drawing herself up. "Why are you bothering me?" In her hands, she's already hefting her table lamp, ready to throw. Serene rage masks her face, icily arrogant fury trying to intimidate you into leaving.

"S-Sabrina-" Mami says, stepping forward. "Miss Ono-"

Megane transforms. A blaze of light pours out from her form, the evening gown of her costume wrapping itself around her form. In her hands, an ornate, glassy staff forms, shimmering in the dim twilight of the timestop, and she levels it at you. "Get out!"

Glittering sparks gather at the tip of her staff.

A blur of cream and gold crosses your vision - Mami, stepping in front of you. She gestures sharply, and a tangling mass of ribbons explodes from her hand. The twisting yellow mass lashes across the room.

Bursts of light erupt from Megane's staff. The girl barely has time to dodge before before Mami's ribbons swamp the girl. They tear the staff from her hand and cocoon her. Mami gestures sharply, and ribbons snap out - to the bed, to the table leg, to the ground as if pinned there.

Megane struggles fruitlessly, trying to break out of the restraints. "Release me," she snaps, glaring at Mami. "Release me! Leave, and stop telling me what to do!"

Mami shakes her head. "Miss Ono, we only mean the best for you. We mean to help."

"I want you to go away," Megane enunciates every word clearly and sharply. "I want you to leave me be."

You glance at Homura. She's standing stock still, body tense and a pistol held in her hand.

Mami takes a breath, glancing quickly at you before facing Megane again. "Miss Ono, please hear us out."

"You broke into my house." Megane twists at her bonds, trying to work her way free. "Why should I listen to the foreign meddler and her cronies?"

Mami's eyes narrow. "Sabrina is my friend."

Megane doesn't say anything, her scornful, dismissive gaze answer enough.

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Oh dear.

 

[Firnagzen]

You bite back a flash of rage, an impulse to rip into Megane for that barb. Mami and Homura are hardly your 'cronies' - they're your friends. Your lip curls a little as you eye Megane, who seems intent of recklessly throwing her life away.

She almost reminds you of Akiko with her obstinate refusal to see sense - except that at least Akiko had the excuse, if you could call it that, of a Wish twisting her mind. Megane doesn't even have that sop of an excuse, or at least not that you know about.

She's just being a bitchy teenager who doesn't know the stakes.

You exhale slowly, discreetly catching Homura's eyes and shaking your head, no. She frowns sharply at you, easing her finger off the pistol's trigger - but she keeps a hold of it. As good as you'll get, you suppose. You step forward and touch Mami gently on her elbow, smiling at her when she glances back at you.

Another step forward, and you face Megane again. She's still struggling in the cocoon of ribbons, bound securely to the floor. She glares at you imperiously when she sees you looking. "Release me!" she demands again.

You take a deep breath, schooling your face to calme neutrality, and you meet Megane's eyes squarely. She, on the other hand, doesn't meet yours, pointedly moving her gaze to a point a handspan above your head.

"Miss Ono," you say, trying not to let your annoyance bleed into your tone. "I'm sorry I had to break into your home." You pause, eyeing the girl and waiting to see if she responds.

She doesn't say anything, eyes still fixed at that same point above your head.

You sigh. "I understand that you feel slighted that I cancelled our appointment without warning, earlier," you say.

That gets a response. "I'm sure you are," Megane says, eyes refocusing on you. "That's why you simply dropped me, right?"

"Yes, I am," you respond bluntly. "I am sorry. I had to handle matters that were literally life and death, twice in a row."

"Life and death," Megane repeats, imitating your voice. "Such a busy life you lead."

"Yes," you say, folding your arms. "Life and death. Just like what I need to tell you now."

Mami steps up beside you. "It's true, Miss Ono," she says. "I was... not doing well earlier, and one of our friends was trapped by a Witch."

Megane sniffs doubtfully, tossing her perfectly coiffed hair so that the black ringlets tumble almost artfully against the brilliant gold of the binding cocoon.

You sigh again, pinching your nose and closing your eyes for a moment. You open your eyes again after a moment, taking in her modest bedroom, with its equally modest furnishings, all trapped in the fossilized grey of Homura's timestop.

You continue when it becomes obvious that Megane's not going to say anything more. "I apologise that I needed to bother you about the meeting today," you say, pausing to see if that elicits any response. You continue after a moment of silence. "I needed to talk to you today because you don't know what you need to know to survive as a magical girl."

"You've already told me," Megane says, starting to stuggle at her bonds again. "Now leave me alone and stop telling me what to do."

You shake your head slowly. "Maybe I did. And I apologise for intruding against your will because if I don't, you would die. You Soul Gem would fill, break, and you would be gone."

"You've already told me," the girl repeats. "Now go away."

"I'm not going to leave until I'm satisfied you're taking me seriously, Miss Ono," you say. You're quite proud of yourself. You haven't shouted at her once, so far.

"Like Sendai, I'm sure," she cuts you off. "I'm sure you didn't leave until everybody toed the line."

... well then.

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... well then.

 

[Firnagzen]

You exhale slowly - you can't exactly say you're surprised. The little white rat has been entirely too quiet, recently, and... she got rid of that Grief Seed, didn't she? She must have talked to Kyuubey. Might this be the first signs of Kyuubey turning hostile towards you? Or just it poking at you?

You and I remember Sendai very differently. For example, I don't remember you being there at all.

You... kind of want to say it. Or something witty and sarcastic and biting, just one moment to maybe turn the tables on Megane.

What you say instead is a neutral, "Sendai... was a mess, yes. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. It wasn't what I wanted to happen or why I went there."

Ugh. As well all yourself a watch wearing dildo. Or maybe not. That appellation doesn't suit you at all. You take a long, long moment of thought to formulate what you want to say.

"I'm sure you would have preferred that everyone immediately fell in line with your orders," Megane says, refocusing on you.

... well, she's not wrong...

"I went to stop a war that'd have killed a dozen magical girls and even more civilians," you say instead, keeping your voice steady.

Mami touches you lightly on the elbow. Her face crinkles into a gentle, reassuring smile, golden eyes warm and fond. Silent support. You return it, before refocusing on Megane.

The girl's frowning at the two of you.

You sigh. "Alright. First of all. Cleansing," you say, waving a finger in a small circle. Grief trickles into the air from all your Soul Gems, swirling together into a malevolent mass that you crush down into marbles and send outside to join the main bulk of Grief. Mami gives you a quick smile, while Homura nods an acknowledgement to you.

"Second of all..." you frown at Megane. "Well, I can guess at what you know, and who told you. I'm going to tell you my side of the story."

"I don't need to hear your justifications," she says. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Mami frowning.

"Justifications... well, I think saving people is a pretty good one," you say, faux thoughtfully. "The first thing I knew about it were earthquakes. I'm sure you saw those on the news. When I went to investigate, I found... a fight. A big on, in Ishinomaki."

"Of course you went to investigate," Megane says scornfully.

"How many Magical Girls do you think would have died if I hadn't gotten involved?" you challenge, arms still folded. "I went to Ishinomaki to rescue one Hamasaki Akiko and half her group. Then we found out that the other half of her group, back in Sendai, was being attacked, and I followed up on that."

You pause, watching Megane. She doesn't really seem to be listening to you, eyes focused above your head once more.

... you'll give it another shot.

"Akiko, it turns out, had been beating the University girls -by which I mean the group of girls based at Sendai University- down and starving them to death. Literally to death, Miss Ono, while the Sendai group got fat on their tax," you say, emphasizing the words with disdain.

Megane frowns slightly at that, her eyes flicking down to you and away again.

"So yes, I intervened," you say, raising your eyebrows at the girl. "And yes, we did a lot of damage to stop her and her allies - considering that she pulled in magical girls from across the prefecture. And yes, she went catatonic after she lost - I didn't do that deliberately."

You grimace at the memory before continuing. "The rest of the Sendai girls gave up and agreed to leave the others alone, if you want to call that toeing the line. I can introduce you to the girls directly involved, if you want to talk to them directly."

You could get them here in a few moments, even, if you enlisted a certain foul mouthed teleporter's help.

... Well, actually, no, since you don't have telepathy in timestop. But still.

You wait for a response from the girl, watching her with your arms folded.

"I'm sure you had your reasons," the girl says, glaring at you. "What will it take for you to release me, and let me see the least amount of you?"

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Unfriendly, much?

 

[Firnagzen]

Well.

That's a concession.

You think.

A grudging concession, to be sure, one won by... Well, bothering her until she wants to not be bothered by you any more.

It's a win, sort of.

"I can ask Mami to release you right now if you promise to stop being violent and pay full attention to what I have to say," you say, raising an eyebrow and giving her a neutral look.

"Go ahead," Megane says.

You narrow your eyes in suspicion. "Will you pay attention to what I have to say?"

She glares at that point somewhere above your head. Do you have a sign there or something? Did Kirika somehow stick a sign there without you noticing? Or an angel halo or something? You wouldn't exactly put it past her...

Probably just Megane being ornery. Heh. Onory.

"Are you going to pay attention, Miss Ono?" you ask again.

"Fine," she bites out, glaring at you.

You purse your lips, regarding Megane, before exchanging a look with Mami. She smiles slightly, tilting her head slightly towards you. You smile back, tilting your head at Megane. Mami nods, and the ribbon coccoon dissolves.

The girl rolls her shoulders primly, smoothing her dress down and fussing with her hair for a moment, before returning her glare to you. "What do you want to say?" she asks.

"You're burning magic way too fast," you say. "Let me put it in perspective. The average magical girl will go about a week before they need a Grief Seed." You hold up one finger to demonstrate, before levelling it at her. "You're going through something like one Grief Seed a day? And that's not even counting Witches. That's... irregular, to say the least, and not at all sustainable."

"And what, Miss Sabrina, is so atypical about me?" Megane bites out, folding her arms.

"Your magic," you say simply. You can sense it, now that you're looking - the slow, incandescent fire of magic, winding up through her mind and body in confirmation of what Homura had told you. "You're running it constantly, even now. And that's... at least part of the problem. I believe I've already told you, but you don't seem to be getting the point - if your Soul Gem goes black, you're dead. I can't save you at that point."

You don't think you can, anyway. Not yet, maybe?

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" Megane challenges.

"I'm getting there," you say, rolling your eyes. "But to the point - I wanted to ask you about it. Can you shut it off?"

Megane' recoils at the suggestion. Just a touch, her head pulling back by a hair. "No," she says, rather too quickly.

Mami catches your eye. She raises her eyebrows fractionally at you, and you shrug. She shakes her head, keeping the motion subtle, and you nod.

'What do you think?'

'No idea.'

'She's lying.'

'Mmm.'

You turn back to Megane, who's frowning at the two of you.

You frown right back. "Hmm," you say noncommittally. "Why are you so dismissive of Witches, Miss Ono?"

She blinks, a faint touch of surprise on her face. "Witches," she says disdainfully. "They're big, dumb beasts with magic powers. Fighting is... barbaric." She rolls her wrist dismissively.

"Hrm," you say. Disdain. Disdain for fighting. You briefly entertain the thought of letting her die or Witch out, but... you're trying to keep her alive. And you'd have to replace her, for Mami's sake. Like replacing a goldfish. "Don't underestimate them. How many have you fought, anyway?"

"One," she says, surprise fading back into politely veiled hostility.

"Well. Witches aren't all easy. And maybe it's 'barbaric', as you say, but underestimating them can and will cost you your life," you say. "And that goes for all of us in this room."

Even yourself, really. You're not sure about Walpurgisnacht, yourself... it should be a pushover, but 'should's are slippery. And Charlotte for Mami, though that's behind you now.

You can feel Homura's gaze boring into the back of your head at that not terribly veiled hint.

"I've seen girls on the wrong end of a Witch fight, Miss Ono," you continue. "Some injuries were extensive enough that they weren't able to rejoin society, and Mitakihara has no healing specialists." There's Yuma over in Kasamino, and you don't exactly want Sayaka to contract, so... you shake your head, wrenching your mind back on track.

Megane opens her mouth, about to say something, but you cut her off. "When we found you, you were about to fight a very dangerous Witch with half your Soul Gem already corrupted, no Grief Seeds to fall back on, and yourself in no emotional state to be fighting Witches in the first place."

Her expression closes off as you speak, smoothing out into smooth, disdainful superiority. "I understand," she says, frost creeping in to replace the heat in her voice. "Of course, I didn't know I had a 'guardian angel' waiting to swoop in and rescue me from the poverty of not having Grief Seeds."

... she has a point, you suppose.

You sigh. "Which is why, as I said, it's dangerous to be a lone magical girl. Among other things? High corruption affects your mental state. You become more prone to negative thoughts and feelings; fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, depression. Fighting Witches like that is a recipe for disaster."

"Should I not fight Witches, then?" she challenges, all but sneering at you.

[] Write-in

=====​

Eeeesh.

 

[Firnagzen]

You exhale slowly, closing your eyes and unfolding one hand to press against your eyelids. It's a start. She's listening, at least, even if she's being obnoxiously teenager-ish, and you'll count that as progress. Slow progress.

A breath.

"That..." You open your eyes and gaze steadily at Megane. "That depends. Do you want to fight Witches?" You raise a finger to cut off the protest you can see forming on her lips. "Because either way, you're going to need to get Grief Seeds or cleanses-" you gesture at yourself "-to stay alive. That's... A fact of life, for us."

Megane's expression shifts from icy disdain to a displeased frown. "I would prefer hunt by myself," she says with a grimace.

"Perhaps so," you say, reaching up to tuck your hair behind your ear. "But it's not that simple."

"Of course it isn't," she retorts.

"Dying is a very real possibility, Miss Ono," you reply. It's familiar ground, after all. "And really, I'm quite interested in you not dying."

"Why?" she snaps, delivering a fresh glare towards you. You'd rate it... maybe zero point four Homuras. Not a bad glare at all, somewhat edging out Oriko. Sakura has them beat for sheer quantity of glare, though you're not entirely sure if quantity counts, per se.

Tsk.

"Call it my flaw," you say with a whimsical smile. You've admitted it to yourself often enough. Emiya syndrome. "I save people." Oh, you'll admit, to yourself if nobody else, that some part of you is tempted to leave her to go out in her blaze of arrogance, but... Here you are.

Megane visibly restrains herself from rolling her eyes, but doesn't comment further.

Sometimes, that metaphorical shoulder-Homu who likes to suggest that you just let her be is really loud. Hell, the real Homura told you as much, once.

A light touch at your elbow is Mami, giving you a warm, fond look.

... and probably a chibi-Mami on top of your head, always hugging you. Hwee ahr noht a ghy-ant spi-dah and all. And while you're at it, an entire panoply of tiny meguca...

You glance at Homura, who's drifted over to the wall, her back against it. She meets your gaze squarely, mouth twisted to the side in what might be a grimace or a smile or something in between before her expression smooths out again. She jerks her head a fraction of a centimetre at Megane.

You flash her a quick smile and infinitesimal nod, and turn back to the other black haired girl. "If you want to completely get rid of me and do things your own way, then the best way is for you to let me teach you. The faster you learn, the faster I'll be out of your hair."

The frown remains. "And what do you feel you need to teach me?" she asks contemptuously.

You have a ready answer for that. "How to fight, maybe how to use less magic. You'll need to hunt Witches after that, barbaric or not." You smirk. Barbaric. Heh. A touch of it, perhaps. Fighting isn't something a 'proper' lady does and all that rot. The way you fight... Gross overpowering of your opponents. That's barbaric too, you suppose. "But afterwards, you won't need to see as much of me as... well, other options."

Megane looks even more displeased, like she's sucking on a lemon that turned out to somehow have a worm in it, for all that she somehow contrives to look haughty at the same time.

You sigh. "The other option is that I loan you Grief Seeds. But then, I'll have to drop by every time to refresh them. If that's what you want, that's alright, too. The Sendai girls are under the same agreement."

Megane frowns, watching you.

... It's like talking to a hypothetical offspring of Homura and Sayaka and Akiko. Barely more expressions than the default oujo-glare, all the lemming-like enthusiasm and more, and the same obstinate refusal to just listen to sense.

Deep breaths. You're making progress, and she's kind of sort of not really warming up to you. She'd warm up faster if you lit her on fire, or stuck her in a microwave. What was that saying again? Build a man a fire, and he's warm for a day, set a man on fire and he's warm for a lifetime?

Deep breaths. As empathic as shoulder-Homu's glare is, this isn't helpful. You had something more to say, didn't you?

"If you choose to fight Witches, Miss Ono, there's one last thing." You raise a demonstrative finger. "You don't, and shouldn't, fight alone. Fine, you don't like me. There are other local girls whom I could put you in touch with. Gaikotsu Masami and Wakahisa Hiroko, they live together out west."

"Do you expect me to move over there?" Megane asks with an imperiously raised eyebrow.

Deep.

Breaths.

"No," you say. Think about tiny chibi-Mumi hugging you. She wouldn't like you to scream at Megane. Neither would real Mami, come to that. "If you choose to fight, then I expect to put you in touch with them, and you to work with them to hunt Witches." You pause for effect. "Miss Ono, you have options, but the one thing you can't be is a lone magical girl who doesn't fight Witches."

You match her glare for glare, sky blue gaze against a shade not terribly different from your own. "Because that, Miss Ono, will kill you under a week. Less, if you can't turn your power off."

She looks... thoughtful. Which you're not sure is a good thing.

"You mentioned other magical girls," she says, eventually. "You can put me in contact with them, and they can teach me to fight."

[] Write-in

=====​

Any port in a storm, eh?

 

[Firnagzen]

"You... yes, I can put you in touch with them," you allow, before raising a warning finger. "I can't guarantee that they'll agree to train you."

Megane nods, her jaw set. She hasn't relaxed out of her tightly wound anger, arms still folded across her chest and her posture stiff.

A thought strikes you. "And... if it's a matter of training you, I'd add Kyouko Sakura to your list of options," you say, cocking your head. "She's an... expert fighter who oversees Kasamino, and I can guarantee she'll whip you into shape." You can't help but enjoy the mental image a bit. "Just a matter of convincing her, and if you can take it."

... though with Yuma around, Kyouko might actually have gone soft. And then again, Megane's not Yuma.

An arm slips around yours. Mami.

You give her a curious look, but she just shakes her head and cuddles into your side. Her presence is a gentle warmth, a stark contrast against the muted cold of the timestop.

... Oh. Right, Kyouko.

You hug Mami back with one arm, trying to put a wordless apology into the motion, while refocusing on Megane. The girl looks annoyed, her jaw clenched tighter than it was before.

You sigh. "Anyway. Miss Ono, you have options. But the easiest one is, well, to just let me, us, train you. We're able and willing. But as has been pointed out-" repeatedly, by a certain magical girl that you happen to be talking to right at this moment, "-things do tend to get busy sometimes. Everyone else I know... is probably a bit too far out of the way. Mami, Homura?"

Mami shakes her head, her hair brushing against your arm, feather light touches you can feel through the sleeve of your coat. Homura glances at you for a moment before shaking her head, too.

"Put me in touch with Miss Gaikotsu," Megane says, apparently arriving at a decision.

"Alright. We'll see about doing that tomorrow," you say, and hesitate a moment before continuing. "Look, Miss Ono, I can't promise an exact time. I pretty much spend my days running from crisis to crisis. But I'll try to get to you when I can."

Megane sniffs disdainfully. "I don't believe I have a choice, do I?" she says.

You shrug. "Moving on, there was something else..." you say, frowning in thought. "Right, Grief Seeds. I would very much appreciate if you didn't give your used grief seeds to Kyubey unless you absolutely have to. They're a precious resource, as you should well know."

"Kyuubey said that that one was going to hatch," Megane counters.

"I'm well aware, but hold that thought," you say, having already anticipated that. "That takes something like a day." You glance at Mami for confirmation, and she nods again. "If it's important, though, I'll prioritise getting to you to refresh the Grief Seeds. And if you get more than one, then you can use them in rotation to extend the time limit."

Megane nods curtly.

"I'm working on alternatives," you add. "They're not quite ready yet, but I'm hoping to bring them out some time in the not too distant future." You shrug. "If they work out, then they'll make life a lot easier, and you won't have to fight Witches on a regular basis."

The girl blinks slowly, actually looking interested for a moment before the shutters slam shut again and the frown reasserts itself, apparently out of sheer contrariness.

You sigh, hugging Mami close with one arm around your waist in silent apology. "One last thing, Miss Ono," you murmur, again meeting Megane glare for glare. "Regarding the bunnycat. Kyuubey isn't trustworthy. He has a bad habit of lying... lying by omission and manipulating magical girls into fighting each other. Also there's the whole dying part he neglected to mention. He does that."

Mami's hug around you tightens for a moment, and you squeeze back slightly.

Megane's jaw tightens. "Of course you would say that."

"I'm not saying to take me at my word," you say. "But look. Just as an example, I have a... different account of Sendai than Kyuubey gave. And his version..." You shrug. "In the end, just be careful. That's all I'm asking. Don't take his words at face value - think about things a bit."

She snorts. "Not including what you tell me, of course."

"No," you disagree. "Do think about what I tell you."

Her expression schools itself back into smooth neutrality. "Do you have anything more to say?"

"Yeah, one last thing," you say, straightening. "You do need to find ways to stop using your power. No team will tolerate you spending that much magic in a day. If you need to compromise somewhere, then compromise. Whatever it is, your life is more important."

Megane's expression slams shut. "So noted," she says evenly.

You sigh. "Look, Miss Ono, I know this was a rocky start, and I know you disagree with me on a lot of things. But I am worried about you. I do want you to succeed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Megane replies.

With a twist of will, you dissolve the ring of Grief you'd attached around her finger, deep purple Grief seeping into the air and pulling away from her. The muted greys of the timestop claim her midblink, eyebrows drooping unevenly.

You sag, letting your eyes fall shut. You can feel Mami turn to hug you fully, pulling you close to her. A small hand touches you tentatively on your shoulder - Homura.

"That was... tiring," you murmur to no one in particular.

"You did well, Sabrina," Mami offers.

"Yeah, she's just so... teenager," you mutter.

"Well, she is," Mami says, a fond note in her voice. "We all are."

"Heh, well..." you say, opening your eyes. You find Mami smiling up at you, and Homura hovering just off to the side. "She just feels so, so..."

Mami shrugs.

You straighten without breaking the hug, sighing again.

"Anyway... I suppose we're done here," you murmur. An idle twist of will, and Grief trickles through the room in grasping little bubbles, scooping up the pieces of shattered plastic and gears frozen mid bounce. You snatch up each and every piece, checking Megane's Soul Gem one last time. Nice and clean, just a small sheen of Grief tarnishing it.

"Shall we go home?" Mami asks, looking up at you.

You smile. "Yeah. Let's go home. Homura, would you like to come along?"

She shrugs microscopically, moving over to the door in a swirl of hair. There's a thoughtful look on her face.

You take that as a yes, and follow her out, Mami clinging to you. On your way out, you pause by her desk and put down a few hundred yen notes - enough to cover the clock, and drop Andrea's Grief Seed on top of it. Idly, you check Hildegarde, still sitting quietly in your other pocket. Maybe it's a little warmer than cold crystal and metal should be, but then again, maybe not.

A few minutes later, you're soaring over Mitakihara on a carpet of Grief, Mami at your side and Homura behind you. Eventually, the time traveller breaks the silence. "... bunnycat?" she asks.

You blink.

"Oh. Right," you say. You did use that word. "Kyuubey. It's... like a cat, but it has these-" you flap your hands at your own ears, "-ear things. Like a bunny. So... bunnycat."

Homura blinks slowly at you.

"Oh, Sabrina," is Mami's contribution to the conversation as she nestles her head against your shoulder.

You chuckle. "Well. Yeah."

[] Write-in

=====​

Next vote will probably take you to bed. Vote accordingly.

And apologies, everyone, for the massive cutback in my update rate. I've had... significant amounts of trouble with life in general, lately.

 

[Firnagzen]

A moment passes in a comfortable silence, cool wind ruffling your hair. Mitakihara unrolls beneath your carpet, a winding mural of subdued lights and soft-edged shadows. Skyscrapers loom monolithically over the city, bulwarks against the frozen rivers of light that are the roads.

You smile at Mami and Homura. "Hey. Mami, Homura?"

"Mm?" Mami smiles up at you, expression content.

Homura just glances silently at you.

"Thank you," you say. "Thank you both for putting up with all of that. I know it wasn't... pleasant."

"Of course, Sabrina," Mami replies, nestling her head back on your shoulder.

"You're welcome," Homura says.

You shake your head, smiling. "Even so... thank you both, so very much. Thank you for being there. It helps." You slip an arm around Mami's shoulders, hugging her close to you. She makes a contented little noise and nestles into your side.

Homura seems content to simply go along for now, staring off into the distance over the frozen cityscape. You track her gaze towards the south... in the direction of the Kaname residence. If you tilt the carpet a little bit this way and squint just a little and apply a little bit of imagination... you can just about see Madoka's house.

She glances back at you. You smile at her, tilting your head in the general direction she'd been looking in and raising an eyebrow. Homura nods, and returns to gazing at the distant house.

A few minutes later, you're walking back into Mami's apartment. Homura reaches for her shield, and with a hum of clockwork, restores the three of you back to the flow of time. Colour and noise, joyously violent, chases away the oppressive silence and deadened hues of the timestop. The clock on the shelf resumes its ticking - eight o'clock, just about.

The golden ribbon around your waist falls away. You turn to see a blaze of golden light - Mami transforming out of her puella magi costume. She takes a moment to just stand in the middle of the living room, looking around with a smile. "Ah, Homura," she says, turning to the time traveller. "You'll stay a while, right?"

The black haired girl hesitates before nodding.

Mami's smile broadens. "I'll make some tea!" she says, heading towards the kitchen.

You laugh. "I was just thinking that," you say, following Mami. "Do we have any cake left?"

A frown mars Mami's smile. "No, I don't think so... we should find some time to bake something," she says, reaching for the kettle to fill with water.

"Yeah, that sounds good," you say, hunting for the tea in a cabinet.

"Hmm... we have some biscuits, though," Mami says.

You smile at her. "That works."

The three of you are soon relaxing on the sofa, enjoying the tea and some sweet lemon biscuits. The relative silence has a different texture than that of the timestop, you reflect. You can hear the hum of Mitakihara city - the hum of traffic on the roads, the distant alarms sounding, the creaking pipes of the building. The clink of the teacups, the quiet crunches and sips as you enjoy your snack...

Once more, you're the first to broach the comfortable silence. "Mami, Homura?" you set aside your mostly empty teacup.

"Sabrina?" Mami asks, looking at you.

"You need to study, right? How about you, Homura?" you ask.

Mami nods. "I do," she says.

Homura shrugs. "I... have some homework to do," she says.

"Well... we could study together?" you suggest.

"That sounds good," Mami says. Homura, on the other hand, just shrugs. She raises her left hand, shield appearing in a flash of purple light. She reaches behind the shield, producing a stapled worksheet from it.

... why is she even carrying her homework in her shield?

... on the other hand, why not?

... on the other other hand, that might not even be this loop's homework.

You shake your head, and smile at her. Mami giggles, watching your expression fondly, before rising to collect her homework and textbook from her schoolbag.

You take a breath, smiling as Homura and Mami move over to the little coffee table, clearing a space for them to work. Meanwhile, you can and probably should contact Sayaka and Madoka, you think. They're long overdue for you to talk with, anyway. "Sayaka?"

"Oh! Sabrina?" The bleunette sounds startled.

"How are you doing?" you ask, pursing your lips slightly. You wave a finger in the air, a cascade of Grief marbles leaping forth from the slingbag at your command, alright melding into your instruments. Just a moment to decide what to play, and... there we go.

Mami looks up from her homework to smile at you, and you move to peek over her shoulder.

"I'm fine," Sayaka replies. She sounds somewhat evasive, but then... you think you get it.

"Good to hear," you say, reading Mami's textbook over her shoulder. A chapter on globalisation, apparently. "I know you've had a rough night, so... you know we're here if you need help, right?"

Sayaka pauses for a while before replying. "Yeah," she says, a slight catch in her voice. "Yeah, I know."

"Good," you say firmly, watching as Mami highlights a section of her text. You shuffle on your knees over to Homura. "Talk to you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah," she says. "See you."

You peer over Homura's shoulder as you end the connection to Sayaka and reach out for Madoka instead. "Madoka?"

"Ah! Hello, Sabrina!" the pinkette replies.

"Hi, Madoka. How are you?" you ask, watching as Homura marks out her answers in a neat, even script. Science homework, from the looks of it, and flawlessly, unerringly done. More than anything, that attests to how long she's been doing this, you suppose...

"Ah, I'm doing OK," Madoka says. "I'm doing my homework! It's hard, though..."

"Hang in there," you tell her. "I'm sure you'll get it right."

"Thank you!" she says. "Um... was there a reason you called me?"

"Nah, I'm just checking in," you say.

"Oh," Madoka says. "Thank you!"

"Hey, you're my friend too," you say. "Anyway... see you tomorrow?"

"Yes!" she declares. "See you, Sabrina!"

"Alright. See you," you say, and end the call.

Time passes quickly, and in relative silence. You help Mami with her revision, bouncing a few ideas and questions off her as she studies for the re-test, while Homura demolishes her worksheet in short order. Eventually, you're all done for the night.

Homura stands, tucking her homework away, and obviously preparing to leave.

[] Write-in

=====​

OK, so I meant to send Sabrina to sleep, but this seemed like a natural place to end the post. This next vote'll take you through wakeup and the early morning, so vote accordingly.

 

[Firnagzen]

"Homura?" you call, reaching out towars her. She flinches, and almost pulls away, before stopping at the last moment. "Wait a moment?"

She nods, giving you a curious look.

"Mami, could Homura stay the night, maybe?" you ask.

Mami smiles, golden eyes warm. "That should be fine," she says. "We would be glad to have you stay over, Homura."

The time traveller looks away for a second, and then back at you. "Thank you for the offer," she says quietly, the harsh lines easing out of her face as her expression softens.

"Well. Maybe another time?" you suggest, taking the implict 'no' for what it is. "And... would you like a cleansing before you go?"

"That would be nice," she says quietly, raising her hand towards you in response. A crook of your finger, and Grief drifts free of the shining silvery ring, streaming through the air to form a little halo around your finger. Not too much of it, and a thought sends it pouring out of the window and up to the roof to join the primary mass.

You smile at Homura, rising and joining her at the door. Mami follows you, just a step behind. "Good night, Homura. We'll see you tomorrow?"

She nods again. "Good night."

"Good night, Homura," Mami adds, smiling.

Homura turns and heads out of the door, her oddly bifurcated mane of black hair swishing through the air behind her. You close and lock the door before turning just in time for Mami to engulf you in a hug.

You hug her back just as tightly, resting your cheek against her hair.

Seconds tick by and run into minutes. The tension, already ebbing from your form, drains away entirely. Another day has passed, and nothing awful has happened. Yet, some traitorously pessimistic part of your mind whispers, but you ruthless squash that down.

Mami stirs, and you release her from the hug. She smiles up at you, expression content.

You return the smile. "We should probably get ready for bed," you say.

"We should..." Mami agrees, making no move towards actually doing so.

You laugh, and nudge her lightly towards the bedroom. She laughs, too, and walks in the indicated direction while you seat yourself on the sofa, wearily closing your eyes. It's been a long day, Mumi-hugs notwithstanding.

Footsteps. You open your eyes to see Mami carrying a change of clothing, paused at the bathroom door and watching you. Still not quite over that, then. You give her a smile, and wave at the couch.

She smiles back, and shuts the bathroom door behind her.

Eventually, you and Mami head off to bed, with only a little hesitance as she lies down next to you. "Good night, Sabrina," she whispers, dappled moonlight casting a gentle glow on her.

"Good night, Mami," you say, closing your eyes.

You're asleep almost immediately.

=====​

You wake up, sweaty and uneasy. A lingering feeling of... oddness... settles in on you, and you can't shake the feeling that you've forgotten something.

You stare at the ceiling. Mami's form is still tucked into your side, her breathing slow and even in peaceful sleep, arm draped around you.

Well, things to do, a new day to face.

Moving slowly and carefully, you ease Mami's arm off you. Her sleeping face scrunches up a little, groping for you, and you regretfully replace yourself with a pillow before heading off to the bathroom.

When you step out of the bathroom a few minutes later, you find Mami sitting up on the bed, golden hair a ruffled, curly mess. She's awake enough to give you a sleepy smile, blearily rubbing at her eyes.

"Good morning, Mami," you say, smiling back at her.

"Good morning, Sabrina," she replies, standing and stretching wearily. She walks over to you, stopping before you and looking up at you hopefully.

"I'll be in the kitchen, OK?" you say, obliging her silent request and wrapping her in a hug.

"OK," she says, clinging to you for a moment before separating and heading for the bathroom.

A few minutes later finds you humming to yourself in the kitchen as you start the rice boiling. "One day, one step, three steps in thre- hi, Mami," you say, noticing Mami stepping in, her hair redone in her familiar curls.

"Hi, Sabrina," she says, beaming at you. "What are you making?"

"I was thinking omelettes on rice?" you suggest, indicating the eggs sitting on the table while busying yourself with chopping up vegetables for lunch.

"Ah, that sounds good," Mami says, locating a bowl and cracking the eggs into them.

Breakfast and lunch fill the small apartment with savoury, mouthwatering scents and vapours amidst good-natured contention for kitchen space. When you're done, you sit down with Mami at the table, tea and meaty omelettes on rice arrayed out before you. Bowls of miso soup rounds out the meal.

You flash a smile across the table to Mami as you start to dig in. "Goooood morning, Mitakihara!" you call cheerfully, reaching out to your friends. Mami, of course, and Homura, and Madoka, and Sayaka, and Hitomi.

You're greeted by a flurry of 'good mornings'. Hitomi's the last to respond.

"Good morning," Hitomi replies slowly. "Do you do this every morning, Sabrina?"

"Yes, I do!" you say as you lop off a piece of omelette with your fork. "I like checking in on my friends, and 's a good wakeup call for sleepyheads like Sayaka. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sayaka grumbles, sounding unusually subdued. There's no energy to the complaint. "Laugh it up."

Before you can respond, Madoka does, piping up anxiously. "Sayaka? Are you OK?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm OK," the bleunette replies.

... she doesn't sound it. You raise an eyebrow at Mami, who looks just as baffled as you are.

The telepathic conversation stalls out for a bit.

"Ah! Sayaka, Homura, don't forget, we need to bring the newspaper print outs today," Madoka says.

"Yes," Homura agrees.

"Ah. Yeah, got them," Sayaka says.

"Shall I be seeing you on the way to school today?" Hitomi asks.

"Yeah," you say. "That's a granted."

"Very well," Hitomi says. "I need to prepare for school, so see you soon, then."

"See you!" you say. This is taken as a cue for everyone to leave the conversation, busying themselves with their own preparations for school.

"Sayaka seems worried about something," Mami notes, looking down at her half finished breakfast.

"Yeah," you agree. "She was a bit last night too, wasn't she?"

Mami shakes her head, unsure.

You sigh. "Well, we'll talk to her later." A thought strikes you, and you reach out for Homura again as you return to eating. "Hey, Homura?"

"Yes?" the time traveller replies immediately.

"About what we talked about yesterday, when do you think we should start our search?" you ask. You hope that she'll take the hunt - you don't really want to mention Sasa Yuuki over telepathy where unwelcome bunnycats might be listening in.

Homura doesn't respond immediately, presumably taking a moment to recall what you mean. "After lunch, or after school?" she suggests, at length.

"Alright, that works," you say, sipping at your miso soup. "We'll figure it out a little closer in?"

"Agreed," Homura says.

"Alright. Um... I need to check in on Oriko today, too. I want to know if she's figured out anything about the clear seeds, and... I've got some questions for her, too," you say.

There's another long pause before Homura replies. "I see."

"Yeah," you say lamely, and the conversation peters out again while you busy yourself eating. "So, um. Is that OK?"

"... yes, it's fine," Homura replies.

"OK. See you soon, then," you say.

"See you," Homura replies.

By this time, Mami's finishing her breakfast, and you hurry to catch up. After doing the dishes, Mami disappears back into the bedroom to prepare for school, and you wait for her. You're soon leaving the apartment, your slingbag slung over your shoulder, Grief and lunchbox and obrez safely hidden inside.

The two of you start towards school, enjoying the early morning air. Mami's a warm presence walking close at your side, brushing against you every so often.

Two... well, four more people to check in on. "Masami, Hiroko?"

"Hmmmfzzlrm?" Masami replies.

... well. It's not like they keep regular hours. They don't go to school, after all.

Masami seems to wake up a little more. "... Sabrina?"

"Good morning," you say.

"What kind of hour do you call this?" she complains, mental voice fuzzy and still evidently half asleep.

"... um. Sorry. Didn't occur to me," you say, feeling sheepish.

"Too early to yell at you. What do you want?" she demands grumpily.

"... well um, could I drop in on you later? Just want to talk to you about something that came up," you say, thinking of Megane. Talking them into this is going to be a right pain, you suspect. "If, or when it's convenient."

"... whatever, so long as it's after ten," Masami grumps back at you. "Good night." She slams the connection shut.

...

Prooooobably a good idea not to bother Kyouko. She'll be asleep, too.

You halt midstep, a presence impinging on the edges of your senses. Mami stops too, glancing at you. The sparse crowds part and flow around the two of you on the pavement, a few dirty looks coming your way for stopping in the middle of the pavement.

"Magical girl," you murmur. The presence is standing still, on the same path that you'll be taking to school. "On the way to school?"

Mami seems to sharpen, her posture straightening subtly. "Hostile?"

"I don't know. She's just waiting, it looks like?" you say.

Mami nods slowly. "What do you think we should do?"

[] Write-in

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Two down.

 

[Firnagzen]

You've no idea who it could be - Sasa Yuuki, the Soujos, someone else from Asunaro... There's no friendly meguca you know who wouldn't call ahead by telepathy. Except... A deep seated worm of apprehension takes root in your gut as you start to consider a very possibility, one your reluctant to even consider.

"Sabrina?" Mami asks.

"I'm... not very sure," you admit. "I'll follow your lead, Mami."

She nods, expression firming. "Alright. We'll go and talk to her, then... This is a public place, so if she's hostile, she probably won't start anything here," Mami says. She hesitates for a moment before adding, "It's... fairly normal, for magical girls from out of town to meet somewhere public."

"OK," you say, gesturing forward. "Shall w- actually, I'll let Homura know, too, yeah?"

"That's a good idea," Mami says, giving you a distracted smile, before returning to frowning down the road as if she could see through the intervening distance and people and buildings and trees. She ignores the flow of people parting around the two of you, distracted. "I've made it clear that any magical girls passing through Mitakihara should let me know first... Maybe she's new?"

"Homura, there's a magical girl ahead of us, on the way to school," you send telepathically. "I don't know who it is. It looks like she might be waiting for us."

"Understood," Homura replies nearly instantly. "I'll check on Madoka." There's a pause, a few heartbeats, and then - "Madoka's fine. I'll stay with her."

"Right," you murmur. Turning your attention to Mami, you nod. "OK. I've told Homura - she's keeping an eye on Madoka to make sure."

"Alright," Mami nods again, straightening her posture resolutely. "Let's go."

You smile, squaring your shoulders, and fall into step beside Mami. It's really just a short walk, to the end of the street and around the corner and then you'll see who the mystery magical girl is. Just a little further.

Grief. In your bag, marbles by the hundreds immediately to hand. The bigger mass of Grief is seconds away, hovering unseen at the rooftop level, and all of it there and present in your mind's eye and ready to respond in an instant. You briefly wonder if you've sparked off any UFO stories yet? It's entirel- focus.

Assault rifle hiding with the main mass of Grief, gold bars and cash, too. If nothing else, you could possibly distract a hostile meguca with a literal rain of money for a moment. Obrez in your bag, within easy grasp. You roll your shoulders and flex your fingers slightly, limbering up just in case.

Just in case.

You try to quell the roiling mix of speculation and worry and lizards that's congealing in your stomach. Specifically bearded dragons. With raspberries balanced on their heads.

... Well, that last one's fine. Then mental image is kind of cute. And begs the question of why, but-

Almost at the corner. You take a deep breath, bracing yourself before you step around the corner at Mami's side, and-

It's her.

Moderately toned figure, brilliant blue eyes, messy mop of blue hair... tentative smile slipping off her face.

Beside you, Mami halts dead. Someone nearly runs into her from behind, but she barely notices. "Sabrina, is she...?"

Sayaka waves weakly at you. The morning sun glints off the new silver ring on her finger.

Mami's expression falls. "Oh. Oh, Sayaka," she whispers, quiet anguish in her voice. She starts forward, confident stride of before melting away.

Sayaka's expression crumples when on seeing Mami's expression. "I..."

"I..." Mami seems lost for words, too, stopping in front of Sayaka and wringing her hands. She can't seem to meet the younger girl's eyes.

"I," Sayaka swallows. "I didn't want to be helpless. I wanted to help." Desperation underlies her voice, her gaze darting between you and Mami.

[] Write-in

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Oh. Well then.

 

[Firnagzen]

Oh, no no no.

Damn it.

Sayaka. Sayaka made a contract. She made a Wish, and it's your fault. You weren't there for her - you should have seen the signs, her feeling ever more useless, ever more indebted. The tipping point was probably when you saved her from Elsa Maria, wasn't it?

You swallow hard, trying to squash the bubbling panic and terror and self recrimination. This is... not good, but it's not a disaster. Not yet. Sayaka's a magical girl, yes, but that doesn't mean that she's doomed to die. Even if she has, previously, but no, not with you around. You can keep her alive, no problem.

It's... not like you could have stopped her from making her choices. You can't, not if you want to still let her be her own person. And she made her choice, indeed.

She felt useless, because she had to be saved. From the fire, from homelessness, from a Witch. And in a very real way, she was powerless. So she reached out for power.

Breathe in.

At least she made her choice knowing some, if not all, of the... problems.

Though speaking of knowing... You might need to have words with Oriko. Maybe she didn't see this, but...

... You know, her precog seems pretty underwhelming, recently. She did point you at Elsa Maria and Megane, but she didn't see Sayaka nearly getting eaten until the last moment and if she saw Sayaka making a Wish, she certainly didn't mention it.

And out.

You reach out to Homura telepathically. "Homura? It's Sayaka."

"It's OK, Sayaka," you say. You're quite proud of yourself; your voice doesn't waver. "You don't have to explain. I get it."

Sayaka swallows. "T-thanks."

Homura's response is a curt, "Understood."

"Sayaka, you... your..." Mami makes a helpless little gesture at Sayaka's hand, and the Soul Gem glinting upon it.

"Y-yeah," Sayaka says. She gives a weak, wobbly smile. "I... didn't want to be a burden. I-it's... I was thinking about it a lot, and I kinda..." Sayaka trails off, looking away. "But this way I can help, right?"

You exhale sharply. "Yeah. We'll..." you trail off, try to smile encouragingly at her. You're not sure to what degree you succeed. "We'll all do our best. Make sure you-" live "-do well, too."

"Thanks," Sayaka says, a flash of a genuine smile showing for a moment. "Mami? Are you OK?"

Mami gives her a wan smile. "I'm alright." She bumps her shoulder against your side, and you oblige her unspoken request with a one armed hug, trying to inject reassurance into the gesture.

The three of you stand in a little bubble of silence admist the chattering students drifting towards the school. Sayaka's fiddling with the ring on her hand, twisting it around and around her finger, while Mami clings to your side.

"I'm sorry, Sayaka," you say at length, trying to purge your mind of thoughts of having an evil twin. Clones would be terribly nice, and let you do more things at once, bu- focus. "I didn't want you to get dragged into this, but I'm glad to have you with us. I know you'll be a great puella magi. Welcome to the team!"

"Heh. Thanks," Sayaka says, chuckling weakly. "Puerla magi? Is that like magical girl?"

"Yeah, kind of," you shrug. "It's latin. Say, um, Sayaka? Could you tell me what you Wished for? I know it might be personal, but it's important for your magic."

Sayaka looks away, lips pressing together. "I wished I could do something," she says in a low voice. "I... yeah."

That's... a terribly open ended Wish. You open your mouth, about to ask her more, but you're interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Good morning!" Madoka calls as she walks up, Homura trailing at her side.

The time traveller's violet gaze shifts to Sayaka, then to you. Homura's posture is tightly controlled, her steps deliberately even and measured. Even so, you can see the tension in her jaw and shoulders as she returns to staring at the newly minted magical girl.

"O-oh, hi, Madoka," Sayaka says, waving at her friend with her right hand - the hand without the ring. "H-hi, Homura."

"Hi, Sayaka!" Madoka says, returning the wave. The smile droops a moment later, though. "I-is something wrong?"

[] Write-in

( ＾◡＾)ノ" *headpats*

=====​

Oh. Well then.

 

[Firnagzen]

You cock your head, glancing from Sayaka to Madoka, and then back again. "Sayaka... you aren't trying to hide it from Madoka, are you?" You include Mami and Homura, too.

"I... I dunno," Sayaka admits. "Sort of... having second thoughts, a bit, and... I don't know if Madoka would be happy?"

"You shouldn't hide things from your friend," Mami says.

"Mami's right," you say. "She'll figure it out, and it's best to just come clean on this. Hitomi, too."

You look at Madoka and smile. "Good morning, Madoka," you say.

"Good morning, Sabrina," she says, looking from Sayaka to you, a hopeful smile on her face. "Is t-there something wrong?"

You glance sidelong at Sayaka.

The blue haired girl sighs, apparently taking that as a prompt. "I..." In lieu of saying anything more, she raises her left hand, displaying the silver ring and the blue crescent mark gleaming on her fingernail.

"S-Sayaka... is that...?" Madoka trails off.

"I was... I couldn't do anything," Sayaka says, swallowing hard. "And... I've already been helped. I-I had to be helped. Three times in the past few days."

You find Homura's eyes on you, amethyst gaze intent. You can read a little worry in her frown, and dismay in the set of her jaw, and her shoulders are perhaps slumped a little more than might be usual.

You reach out telepathically to Homura. "I'm sorry, Homura. I should have prevented this."

Madoka wrings her hands together. "You weren't... Mami and Sabrina and Hitomi..."

Sayaka shakes her head. "I was, Madoka... I owe them. I owe you, Mami, Sabrina. Homura, too" Mid-sentence, Sayaka turns, and bows. "I'll try my best to help, and pay you back."

Mami shakes her head. "There's nothing to 'pay us back' for, Sayaka," she disagrees. "And..." Mami swallows. "This... your S-soul, Sayaka."

Homura responds to you, finally, with a telepathic sigh. "It's fine," she murmurs. "Miki Sayaka is... fated to contract. I've never succeeded in convincing her otherwise."

Sayaka sags, running her hand -her right hand- through her hair. "I know. I-it's worth it," she says, setting her jaw as she glances from Mami to you, then Madoka. "It is."

You maintain eye contact with Homura, deep blue eyes meeting amethyst violet ones. She looks tired, the beginning of eyebags starting to form, and... resigned, from the set of her shoulders and the microscopic downturn of her mouth. "Homura... Don't worry too much, please? Or, well, try not to? I can work with this."

A pause, as you consider your words. "I understand where she's coming from, and I definitely won't let her die. And Madoka won't have to lose a friend if I have anything to say about it."

Sayaka's speaking to you. "It's worth it, right?" she asks - pleads, really. "I'm a, a, puerla magi now. I can fight with you, I can help."

You shake your head. "I can't tell you whether it's worth it. You have to decide that for yourself," you say. "But Sayaka, for what it's worth, I'm, we're going to make you a great magical girl. Though, um, I'd ask that you don't go and hunt any Witches alone, OK? There's a lot of us for any one of us to be risking our lives alone."

... If you're being fair, you should probably admit that you go on Witch hunts alone, but you are also bullshit levels of absurdly powerful and don't count. But that's not exactly helping your case, so you don't say it.

Sayaka grimaces. "Y-yeah. I get it," she says. "But-"

"Sayaka, we'll fight as a team," you say firmly, cutting her off. "And we'll train you - this evening, I think. But I'll see you at lunch as usual, and we'll train you after school, alright?"

Mami nods in agreement. "Yes, we will, Sayaka," she confirms, assaying a smile. "I... We'll all do our best. Though, ah, speaking of school, we need to go..."

"Ah, right," you murmur, flapping your hands in the general direction of the school. "Let's go, then, we can walk and talk." As you turn to start off towards the school, you reach out telepathically to Madoka. "By the way, Madoka? I need to talk to you later, after school. It's important."

"Yeah..." Sayaka agrees, starting down the road. The rest of you follow.

Madoka responds to you as she walks, pink eyes worried. "A-ah. Of course, Sabrina. I hope it's nothing bad?"

The reveal of Sayaka now being a puella magi seems to have cast a pall on the morning, and all of you walk in silence, lost in your own thoughts. The early morning sunlight shines through the lush foliage to cast dappled patterns on the ground, and you idly try to step on just the sun-lit spots.

You muse on Oriko as you walk. Maybe she saw all this and let it happen, and maybe she didn't. Either way, you need to have words with her. You kind of hope that it's the latter, or if it's the former, then that she had a good reason.

You're sort of starting to like her, really. Her and bestbuddy. You don't want to treat her as an enemy. Of course, some thoroughly paranoid part of you whispers that maybe that was her plan all along.

Sayaka breaks the silence. "Um... Homura? You're OK with... this?"

"Not really bad, but it is important," you reply at last to Madoka.

The time traveller rests violet eyes on Sayaka for a moment before delivering her judgement. "You made a mistake," she says bluntly.

You wince. Oh, Homura. Some things just don't change.

Sayaka bristles. "Hey. I know that this has its... drawbacks, but I don't think it was a mistake," she says. There's hardly any heat to her words, though, and what little ire there is is sapped away by her nervous twisting of the Soul Gem ring on her finger with her other hand.

"Homura, you should respect her decision," Mami says. "I think..." She trails off, biting her lip. "Never mind."

"M-mami?" Madoka asks.

"It's nothing," Mami says, a smile flowing on to her face. If you didn't know her better, you'd say it was absolutely natural. "Just thinking of ideas to train Sayaka with later."

"Ah!" Madoka says, smiling tentatively and giving Mami a hopeful look. "Um... Can I come along? Just to see?"

"I don't see why not," Mami says. "Homura, Sabrina?"

Homura shrugs. You think you see a trade of a frown flit across her face, but she doesn't say anything more.

[] Write-in

=====​

Next vote will likely cover the girls going to school and the start of your next activity, so vote accordingly!

 

[Firnagzen]

You shrug. "Yeah, I'm fine with that," you answer easily. You feel a little trepidation about letting Madoka go with you for the training, but... shutting her out isn't viable in the slightest. Not only is that an awful thing to do to a friend... it'd only excacerbate her feelings of hopelessness. This is the least bad option, you think.

Madoka brightens a little. "Yay!" she says, smiling at everyone.

You glance from Madoka to Sayaka, out of the corner of your eyes. Similar, and yet different flavours of uselessness, huh? Kind of funny, if you think about it. And yet not really funny at all.

A shadow of Sayaka's usual grin returns. "You'll get to see how awesome I am, Madoka!" she says.

"Speaking of bad segues," you interject. "Can we all step off the main path for a moment? I think we could all use a cleansing."

"... That doesn't make sense, Sabrina," Mami says. She diverts her course off for one of the side paths, though.

"I said it was a bad segue," you point out with a little smirk. Simultaneously, you pulse a telepathic message to the bleunette. "You're a magical girl now, Sayaka. No regrets, no worrying about the past, okay? Move forward and make a better future."

Sayaka glances at you out of the corner of her eye. "Heh. I guess," she agrees. "Just... yeah. I'm a magical girl now, and my S-soul is a rock. It's... something."

"Mm," you agree. "I know you're worried. Don't be. You'll do just fine."

As the five of you draw into the leafy, pleasantly cool shade of the side path, you stop in a corner, and your friends stop in a loose ring around you. You glance around at them - Mami, giving you a warm smile. Homura, looking as remote as ever, but a hint of tense worry in her posture. Sayaka, at once eager and nervous, and... Madoka, looking a little more cheerful despite a bit of nervousness.

"Alright," you murmur, and raise your hand. Grief seeps into the air from the gathered Soul Gems - yours, and Mami's, and Homura's, and Sayaka's. A deep purple haze swirls into the air, faintly malevolent feeling pressing against that other sense that came with your contract.

Sayaka shivers slightly. "Wow, that feels weird," she says.

You chuckle. "I guess it would." You glance at the cloud that you can see and everyone else can only sense, with its eye-twisting, unnerving fractal patterns that delve deeper and deeper into the fabric of Grief, deeper than the formless mass has any right to be-

"Is that it? I can... feel it, but I can't see it," Sayaka asks, squinting cross eyed at the approximate spot the Grief is hanging in.

Mami nods. "That's right, Sayaka," she says. "This is the corruption that builds up in your..." she bites her lip for a moment before continuing. "In your Soul Gem when you use magic, or feel... negative emotions." She glances at you, and you nod in confirmation. "Normally, we'd use Grief Seeds to cleanse, but with Sabrina here, that's not necessary." Mami gives you a quick smile.

"Right," you say, returning Mami's smile. You clench your raised hand into a fist, and the cloud implodes, Grief marbles nucleating out of firmament.

"Oh, hey, I can see that now," Sayaka says. "And it doesn't feel as... bad."

"Yeah, it seems to be a density thing," you offer with a shrug. "I don't really know why, but that's how it seems to work."

Madoka's looking around. "I don't feel anything..."

You shrug again, eyeing Homura. She's standing still, her hands hanging loosely at her side, and gaze fixed on Madoka.

Telepathy, then. "Homura? I know all this this-ness changes things. Would you like to talk about it after lunch?"

Her gaze shifts to you. "Yes."

"OK. After lunch, then," you confirm. "And... Homura?" You pause to make sure she's paying attention to you. "We'll be alright. We will."

Her only response is a telepathic sigh.

"Hey, uh, we should get going," Sayaka says, glancing around the circle.

"We should!" Madoka agrees, hefting her schoolbag a little. With that, you all start heading off to school.

When you arrive, you find Hitomi standing alone, looking around. A demure smile appears on her face when she catches sight of the five of you. "Oh, good morning, everyone," she greets as you approach her. "I was wondering where you were."

"Oh, uh, well," Sayaka says, rubbing at the back of her head as you all exchange greetings. "I, well..." she presents her left hand to Hitomi, with its gleaming silver ring.

Hitomi gives the ring a once over. "That's a nice ring," she says. "Um... but what does that have to do with anything?"

Sayaka blinks.

... hunh. Hitomi wouldn't know to associate the ring with being a magical girl, would she?

"I became a magical girl, Hitomi," Sayaka hisses.

"Oh," Hitomi says, tilting her head in surprise. "Ohhh, I see. And that ring is your transformation trinket?" She looks around at the rest of you.

Obligingly, you show her your ring, as does Mami.

"Ohhhh," Hitomi says, nodding in understanding. A smile appears on her face. "I'm happy for you, Sayaka."

"Yeah," Sayaka says. "Yeah, it's... yeah. I'm a magical girl now."

"I see," the verdette says with a nod. "That explains it, then. Shall we talk about this later? It's almost time for school."

"Yeah," you agree. "See you all at lunch, OK?"

"Bye!" Madoka says brightly. You exchange goodbyes, and Mami's the last, giving you a smile.

"See you, Sabrina," Mami says, standing in front of you.

You chuckle, and pull her into a tight hug. "See you, Mami," you whisper into her ear before releasing her. She steps back, smiling slightly, before turning to follow the others into the school building.

She disappears into the doors, peeking back out for one last look at you. You huff out a sigh, thoughts returning to the idea of Madoka making a contract as you meander off along the perimeter of the building. It's something that worries you hugely, and you're not really very sure how best to avert it. You... really need to have that talk with her.

"Madoka?" you say telepathically.

"Ah! Sabrina?" Madoka sounds surprised to hear from you.

"Hey... Sayaka's in good hands. Try not to worry too much, OK?" you tell her as you turn down a corner, eyeing the massive steel and glass edifice of Mitakihara Middle School. You can see the students thronging through the building, bound for their first classes.

"I know," Madoka says. "I-I'll try."

"That's all I can ask for," you say, pushing your senses to their limits. Grief and magic alike - neither of them are particularly welcome in the school your friends go to. "I'll talk to you later, OK? Have a good day at school."

"OK!" Madoka says, some of her cheer returning.

You nod, and continue walking around the building. You draw a few odd looks from passersby, but no one seems to be willing to comment, and you continue on unimpeded.

The Mitakihara Middle School building would be postmodernist architecture, you think? All glass and steel and swooping, diagonal lines. Maybe with a touch of pseudo Gothic or something of the sort in there, what with the castle on the roof, and- that signature would be Mami, you think, noting her presence in one of the upper floor classrooms. Nothing you haven't expected so far.

"Mami?" you say telepathically as you continue to circle the school building carefully. Freaking nearly-all-glass construction. You can sense... Sayaka and Homura, judging from the fact that they're in the same class room.

"Sabrina?" she replies, sounding curious.

"Ah, I didn't want to bring this up in front of everyone, but... how are you holding up?" you ask as you continue to pace along the pavements, navigating the thick, early morning crowds.

"I'm... alright," Mami says. "I... I think that Sayaka shouldn't have made her contract like this. It..."

You wait for Mami to continue, and prompt her when she doesn't. "Go on, Mami?"

"Kyuubey," Mami says simply. "He took advantage of Sayaka, didn't he?"

"Yeah. Yeah, he did," you sigh.

Mami's silent for a moment, before she sighs, too. "I... I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yeah. Of course, Mami. I promise," you say. "But, um, one more thing I forgot to mention earlier? I talked to the Sendai and University groups earlier, and I wanted to hammer out a time to begin the cleansing arrangement? They said sometime over the weekend."

"Ah... I'll come with you, Sabrina?" Mami asks.

"Of course," you agree readily. "But I wanted to know if you had any particular preferences?"

"Well, um, we do have that picnic," Mami points out. "I- ah, one minute, the teacher's here... Maybe after the picnic?"

"Yeah. So, Sunday, maybe?" you say.

"Sounds good," Mami replies.

"OK. I'll get in touch with them later today, I guess," you say.

You can almost feel Mami's warm smile. "Alright, then. I'll... see you at lunch, Sabrina."

"See you soon, Mami," you agree. You're approaching the end of your circuit around the school, and there doesn't seem to be anything out of place, so you turn down a convenient alleyway.

An absent glance over your shoulder to make sure that you're properly out of sight from the roads, and you transform with a thought, the familiar, comforting weight of your mantled coat settling around your shoulders.

Marbles dissolve from your bag, pouring into the wings of corruption billowing out from your shoulders. They grow rapidly to fill the confined space of the alley as Grief swirls around you like living smoke. You crouch, and leap skywards, the downdraft from your wings scattering rubbish across the alley.

The thunder of your wings accompanies you as you spiral upwards, banking away from Mitakihara Middle School. It's odd. For all that the Grief carpet and the Grief Mobile Opression Fortress have more utility, the wings feel more comfortable, somehow.

You sigh as you soar through the air, heading towards Oriko's.

[] Write-in

=====​

Wheeeee.

 

[Firnagzen]

The wind whistles through your hair, whipping it into an untidy mop as you soar over Mitakihara. With your massive wingspan, each deceptively lazy seeming downstroke slams through the air like distant thunder, the wingtips swishing with blistering speed.

You sort of wonder if you've started any urban legends yet. Seems like the kind of thing that might happen, what with your wings and the masses of Grief following you around.

... Then again, what with what you'd done in Sendai... Would Kyuubey have mindwiped them? Probably, you have to concede, but still.

You bank into a spiral on a thermal rising from slowly heating concrete and asphalt below, letting your mind drift. People. It's always about the people, isn't it?

Though speaking of memory wipes and people, Hitomi's reaction seemed a little odd. Muted. You're pretty sure Kyuubey agreed not to mindwipe her, and the fuzzy little bunnycat probably keeps its word, but still. Maybe she just doesn't care, or maybe she's just putting on a good face, but maybe it's something to look into later.

Oriko's mansion sits on top of a little hill: a big, white, and vaguely modern building. Dense rosebushes wind their way through a sizable backyard, just starting to bloom. From up here, you can see the gap in the greenery where you'd uprooted that rose bush a few days ago.

You huff out a sigh. Things seemed simpler back then.

They weren't, really, if you're being honest with yourself. It's always been about people. Mami and Homura and Sayaka and Madoka. Kirika and Oriko. Masami and Hiroko. Now... you have to worry about Sayaka being a puella magi, and the Feathers, and maybe Oriko hasn't been honest with you.

You want her to have been honest, or her powers to fail, or something. You... don't want to have to do anything drastic to Oriko or Kirika. You really don't. Especially not bestbuddy.

You sigh again, and fold your wings behind you.

The wind snatches at your hair and coat as you plummet head down towards the sliver of green below. You kind of wonder if anyone's still taking care of the roses? She doesn't have a household maid or anything, that much is obvious, but maybe a gardener? Then again, said gardener would have had an aneurysm at the uprooted bush. And Oriko doesn't like roses, anyway.

Your wings flare wide, an immense downstroke catching you before you hit the ground, flattening the grass and scattering leaves and pebbles. The movement flips you upright, and you land smoothly on your feet.

And...

You frown up at the house. You can feel that. You can feel that. The nauseating, greasy sensation of Kirika's anti-magic at work, rapid, staccato pulses. No real range to it, but... nearly constant, a sphere of emptiness shivering against your senses.

The fractal purple fabric of your wings implodes into marbles, dissolving behind you as you walk towards the house. The glass door isn't locked, and you kick your shoes off before sliding the door aside before heading in. You can feel the quivering sphere of anti magic upstairs, so you take the stairs. As you walk, you draw a warhammer from thin air, hefting it lightly in your left hand. Your right hand is free to snatch the obrez from your bag if you need it.

The Mikuni mansion is richly furnished. Rugs and marble floors, and what you're fairly sure are polished oaken bannisters for the stairs. A thin layer of dust lies over everything.

Not like Oriko nor Kirika would be dusting.

You arrive at a wooden door, and just beyond it, you can feel the shiver of anti-magic.

A deep breath, and you push the door open.

"Hey, Sabrina."

Haggard.

That's your first impression of Kirika. There's bags under her eyes, and you sort of doubt she'd slept. Her blouse looks rumpled and sweat stained, hair lank and unkempt. She's sitting in a chair beside the enormous, opulent bed taking up the centre of the room - well, slumped over in the chair. The usual cheer is completely absent from her face, and she looks up at you with misery in her gaze.

"Hey, Kirika," you say, stopping short of the rapidly pulsing antimagic field. You take in her anguished, exhausted expression and bite your lip, fumbling for words. "Um..."

"No, she's not OK," Kirika says, the words tumbling over each other as they spill out from the black haired girl, gesturing at the bed's sole occupant. "Oriko told me not to call you, but you're here now so I can tell you."

Oriko looks bad. The seer's skin is usually pale, but now... it's almost ashen. All the translucent pallor of a corpse - you can see the veins under her skin as she lies, nearly motionless on the bed. Only the slow rise and fall of her chest indicates that she's still alive. Her hand is clutched in Kirika's and at a guess, she's gripping back with just as much force as Kirika is.

That, and her Soul Gem, gleaming on the bedside table. The clear Seed balances on its point next to it, and the vibrant orange of Kirika's Soul Gem sandwiches it in.

You blink. You came here expecting to maybe chastise Oriko, maybe have to do something drastic, but...

"I'm alive," an utterly alien voice croaks. It takes you a moment to realise that it's Oriko, speaking from between lips that are all but grey with a voice that's half slurred. The seer cracks one eye open, sea-green gaze fixing on you. "Hello, Sabrina. Would you believe me if I said none of this was in my plans?"

"... Quite possibly," you concede, taking in her state. "What..."

"Is going on?" Oriko smiles weakly. It's not really a happy expression. "I don't know. Kirika, dear, could you get us all a drink? Instructions for brewing tea are on the refrigerator."

"But-" Kirika says, jolting up from her half-doze.

"Dear, you know it doesn't help," Oriko says gently, squeezing Kirika's hand.

"I-I-" Kirika stutters. "I wished to help you. I can help you."

Oriko doesn't say anything, simply opening her other eye to look up at Kirika.

The black haired girl wilts, the shivering field of antimagic juddering and fading out. "OK," she whispers. She hesitates for a moment before leaving over the bed to give Oriko a quick kiss on the forehead, before standing. She looks at you. "Take care of her," she says. "I'll be back soon."

Without waiting for a response, she leaves the room at a run, brushing past you.

Oriko sags back into the pillows, her eyes sliding closed. Her one hand fists against the sheets. "I lied," she notes, wincing. "But I wanted her to relax a little."

She exhales. "How am I? Not at all well. What's wrong? I don't know. I... My powers give me headaches," her voice is low, pained. "I've never had one this bad. Ask your questions."

The sudden change in topic almost catches you by surprise.

[] Write-in

Spoiler: Vote in abeyance

[X] Ask her about the clear seed. Any current or future problems with them? You were thinking about handing them out to certain people and needed to know if there would be any issues or if they were safe.
[X] Does she know what happened to Sayaka? You had... really screwed up the other day and now Sayaka is a magical girl and is fully involved in this mess.
[X] Even though this was all on you, you still need to know something. You had asked her to look into the future to see if Sayaka and her family would be safe. And yet, if she saw Sayaka as a magical girl, wearing the ring, or making a wish, she certainly didn't tell you about it. What exactly happened there?
-[X] Did she know?

=====​

Do you remember what happens in Residue Processing?

 

[Firnagzen]

You sigh, eyeing Oriko's form, collapsed in the bed with her eyes squeezed shut and hand fisted in the sheets. You're...

Suspicions rise to the forefront of your mind. She could conceivably be faking it, and she could have orchestrated everything to date. You choke back your suspicions, for now. They're... there, but you also think that those suspicions are kind of reaching, to put it mildly. Well. You'll keep them in mind, you suppose.

Oriko cracks an eye open to peer up at you again, seemingly waiting for you to say something.

"No," you decide, looking at her. In the back of your mind, you can feel Kirika rummaging around in the kitchen, her actions sharp and hurried. "Not with you like this." She's changing the subject, but you'll let her.

You move over to the bed, claiming Kirika's chair for now. Raising a hand, you summon the silver glow of your magic to your hand.

"That doesn't help," Oriko murmurs before you can apply.it to her forehead. "Kirika tried that."

"... Ah. Well," you say. "Do you know how to turn off pain?"

Oriko squeezes her eyes shut. "No, I don't."

"Alright," you say, sitting back in the chair. You eye Oriko - she's not faking the pain, you don't think. A thin sheen of sweat beads her forehead, and her tightly clenched lips are very nearly grey. Ashen. "I hope this helps, but... Oriko, you know that we are our Soul Gems, right?"

"Yes," she manages.

"Alright, so, concentrate on that link," you say. "There's a, a way of detaching yourself from your body. It dulls pain and sensation. You should be able to do it, just... Focus."

"Yes," Oriko murmurs, her lips barely moving. Her eyes screw shut tightly, and her single hand twists the sheets.

A long moment later, she delivers her verdict. "It doesn't work. But I appreciate the thought."

"Tsk," you say. "Fine. Another thing, then." A marble rises out of your sling bag and drops into your hand.

Pelting footsteps sound at the door, and you look up just in time to see Kirika returning with a tray bearing teapot and cups. Some of the tea slops out of the pot as she sets it down none too gently on the bedside table.

Guessing at her intentions, you rise from the chair just as she rounds the bed to Oriko's side. Kirika gives you a quick, weary grin as she passes you, before dropping into the chair and reaching out to take the seer's hand. "I'm here, Oriko," she says.

"I know," Oriko says, opening her eyes to smile at the black haired girl.

You busy yourself with the tray of tea, pouring it out carefully before taking a tentative sip. To your surprise, it's brewed fairly well. No traces of the unpleasant bitterness you'd expect from overheated tea.

"Anyway," you say, still tactfully looking away. "I'm going to try something that will maybe help? It'll feel Witchy, though."

"You can look," Oriko observes, a trace of dry humour in her voice despite the edge of pain. "We're not doing anything."

"Yeah, yeah," you say, setting down the teacup and holding out the hand with your Grief marble. "Kirika, please don't antimagic, I have no idea how that will interact with this. Now, let me see..." You focus on the marble, and it thins, a hole developing in the center before it forms into a doughnut shape that then warps into a ring. Block the pain of your wearer. You push mentally, bearing down with your will, and-

It gives way abruptly, developing a golden sheen. Runes burn for a moment around the edges before fading away. The ring sings in your senses, Witch, Witch, Witch.

"Alright," you say, turning back to Oriko and Kirika. The black haired girl gives you a hopeful grin, her fang peeking out for a moment. "... actually, while I'm pretty sure this should work, I should probably test it first."

"What's that?" Kirika asks.

"Pain blocking ring for Oriko, I hope," you say, fitting the ring to your right hand. It mirrors the regular Grief ring on your left hand, glinting gold in the light.

Kirika sits up. "I should test it," she says. "What if it doesn't react the same way to other people?"

You blink at her. "It should, but... here." You slip the ring off, and toss it to Kirika.

She catches the ring deftly and slides it onto her own finger. "So how does this work?"

You shrug. "It blocks pain. So, uh, pinch yourself?"

Kirika nods, and pinches her inner arm. Then she pinches harder, and twists the little fold of flesh.

Oriko cracks her eyes open to peer at Kirika. "Dear, I think it works," she whispers, voice thready from pain.

"Ah, yeah, OK," Kirika says, releasing the pinched skin. She removes the ring, and then grasps the seer's hand, holding the ring to Oriko's ring finger. The black haired girl promptly begins blushing furiously.

Oriko stares up at Kirika for a moment, before a mirroring blush starts to suffuse her too-pale face.

You bury your face in your palm. "Oh my god," you mutter into your hand. You can't decide whether to laugh or squee or just yell at them. You decide to do neither, instead reflecting that they really have... well Kirika's Wish did affect her mind, but really they have a healthier relationship than you do with Mami.

... you owe it to her to change that, though you're not terribly sure how.

After a full minute of staring and blushing at each other, Kirika finally slides the ring onto Oriko's finger. Her blush fades a little, expression sobering as she gives the seer a concerned, questioning look.

Oriko's grip on her pillow eases. The blush doesn't entirely fade from her face, a healthier colour taking hold to replace the former pallor. Sea green eyes open, the seer looking surprised. "It... works," she says.

"Excell-" you're cut off by a ballistic, enthusiastically hugging girl, tackling you around the waist.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Kirika squeaks, wrapping her arms tightly around you.

"Y-yeah," you wheeze, patting her on the head. She is strong.

"Sorry!" Kirika says, popping off you and practically flying back to Oriko's side. She grabs the silver haired girl's hand and intertwines their fingers, grinning broadly.

Oriko smiles up at her, before turning and nodding to you. "Thank you."

You exhale slowly, smiling in response. "No problem, Oriko. Mind if I take a look at your Soul Gems?"

"Go ahead," Oriko says.

You walk over to the bedside table, grabbing a cup of tea and sipping it. You squint down at the Soul Gems and the clear Seed. They... look normal, as far as you can tell. They feel normal, too. The clear Seed is...

It's a little fuller than it used to be, which is unsurprising, since it's being used. It's also a little... noisier than it used to be, a kind of pushing sensation bubbling against your senses. It's not exactly the active hunger of a full Grief Seed, but it is different.

You purse your lips, considering the clear Seed, balanced on its point. Mentally, you compare it to Hildegarde's Grief Seed, which is inert.

[] Write-in

Spoiler: Vote in abeyance

-[x] Make sure a window is open for excess grief. Cleanse all soul gems and the clear seed as applicable.
[x] Ask Oriko when the headache started getting 'really' bad.
[x] Is Kirika feeling any pain?
[x] Why didn't you call me?

=====​

OK, so I'll say it for the record, since while I like arguments, there's a limit to it. Oriko's not faking.

 

[Firnagzen]

You exhale, mind spinning with speculation. That worked, and you're glad, but you need to figure out a more permanent solution. It's not like your pain blocking ring will persist without you there, and it's not like you can bring Oriko and Kirika to lunch. But here and now...

"Alright, so... I'm going to go ahead and cleanse your Soul Gems, OK?" you say, glancing over at the window. It's a pleasantly cool day so far, so their window's already open. That's fine.

"Yeah!" Kirika says brightly, good cheer restored.

"Go ahead, Sabrina," Oriko says. She still doesn't look entirely healthy, per se - still, tired, and her skin is still kind of sallow. You can see the veins under her skin, greenish blue and prominent. But then again, a night of crippling pain will do that to you, you suppose.

"Mmm," you say, pinching lightly at the air and pulling. Grief flows out of the Soul Gems, a wispy banner of deep purple haze twisting and writhing through the air. It streams out of the window in ropy tendrils to join the bulk of your Grief lurking in the rose garden below as you cleanse both Soul Gems and the clear Seed, restoring it to its empty state.

To your surprise, the clear Seed doesn't quite go into hibernation. There's still a bubbling sensation, pushing weakly on your senses. You pick up the Grief Seed, frowning at it briefly before putting it down again. You'll... come back to that in a moment. "Hmm. Oriko, do you mind if I ask some questions?"

"No," Oriko says, looking up at you. "Go ahead."

"Alright, so..." You take a moment to marshal your thoughts, debating how much to ask and how much not to. "OK. When did the headaches start, and how did they start? I mean, was it a slow build up, or all at once?"

Oriko closes her eyes, leaning back against the pillow. "I already had a migraine when... whatever happened with Miki Sayaka and the Witch happened. It got worse shortly after."

"About nine?" Kirika offers with a shrug.

"Hmm," you say, considering that. That would... roughly match up with the time Sayaka making her Wish, you think. Which does lend credence to that one theory bouncing around the back of your head about her Wish or power somehow attacking Oriko? You're not sure whether her power, whatever it might be, works that way, though.

You'll find out.

"Any idea what the cause might be?" you ask hopefully. It's unlikely she knows, but there's no harm in asking.

Oriko shakes her head, silver hair brushing against her shoulders. She suppresses a slight wince of pain.

"Hmm. Didn't expect an answer that way," you say with a shrug. "Alright, then... Compare this to, ah, previous, similar situations. How is it different?"

"Those were..." Oriko pauses, searching for the words. "Like a sledgehammer to the head." She gives you a meaningful look. "Or simple cessation, in the case of the feathers. This is... everything squeezing."

That sounds interesting. "Squeezing?" you ask curiously, snagging teacups and offering them to Oriko and Kirika. Still warm, so good enough. No need to refill, or indeed, microwave them.

Kirika accepts the tea and drains it in one long pull, holding it back out to you with a bright grin, fang poking out of her mouth. Oriko sips hers slowly for a moment before she answers. "It feels like... reality is closing in."

You frown, turning that statement over and over as you refill Kirika's tea and hand it back to her, claiming the last cup for yourself. Before you can ask anything more, Oriko speaks again.

"It's like being in a glass room," Oriko murmurs, eyes distant and staring at the ceiling above. "I can see. Sometimes, someone breaks a pane of glass-" another look at you, "-but that gets replaced. Sometimes, a blizzard of black feathers blocks sight out and then rearranges the scenery. Now... the walls are closing in." She sighs, refocusing on you. "Describing powers is hard, and metaphor is imprecise."

"Mine's like a switch!" Kirika volunteers. "I press it, and blaaat. Then there's these knobby things to change the shape and stuff." She mimes playing with a control panel, making beeping and clicking noises, while Oriko gives her a fond smile.

"... that's fair," you say. "I'm not sure how I'd describe my powers, either." You pause, marshalling your thoughts. What she said was interesting, certainly, but you'll get to the end of your list, first. "Alright... how well was Kirika's anti-magic working before we arrived?"

"Not very well," Oriko says, frowning at you. A telepathic message hits your mind. "I was trying to convince Kirika to rest."

Oh. Right, she said as much.

Kirika's smile dims. Oriko squeezes her hand, smiling up at the girl before releasing her hand, only to reach up and slide her hand around Kirika's head and pull her down so that they're forehead to forehead. "It's alright, dear," she mumurs quietly.

"O-OK," Kirika whispers, closing her eyes.

You busy yourself with your teacup for a moment, feeling like an intruder.

A moment later, Oriko glances at you. "Next question, Sabrina?"

"One for Kirika, actually," you say, looking at the black haired girl. She grins back at you. "Are you having any problems?"

"Nah," Kirika says. "I'm A-OK. Sleepy, but thaaa-" she interrupts herself with a yawn "-thaaaat's fine."

"Hm," you say.

"What, you think it might be your funny Grief Seed?" Kirika asks.

You shrug. "I thought it might be."

"Guessing it's not," Kirika says, with a satisfied air of having solved a great puzzle as she sits back, arms crossed smugly over her chest. "No headaches here."

"Right, right," you say absently, considering what you've learned. You hold your hand out, summoning a blob of Grief, and it coasts to a halt in your hand. "OK, so, two things I want to try is... well, a magic scanner, and the other is trying to block off outside influences."

Oriko gives a measured nod.

"Mm," you say, focusing your attention on the Grief. A scanner. You press your hands together, the Grief flowing like putty and congealing into a rigid shape as you withdraw your hands.

Witch.

You get... a screen. One of those vaguely cartoony ones in dark green, concentric circles marked out in a lighter green ones, and two handles on either side of the screen. On the screen, you can see a fuzzy image of what's on the other side.

"It looks like a toy," Kirika notes, nodding solemnly.

"Yep," you agree, pointing it at her. You see the outline of her body and a pseudo-nervous system limned in green fire, delicate traceries spinning across the room to her Soul Gem. It's... more or less the same thing as you see with your Wish-borne senses, disappointingly.

But...

You take a closer look at Oriko's Soul Gem, with both the sensor and your senses.

There's... something strange. It's almost like her Soul Gem's turning in on itself slowly, rotating through odd geometries you can sort of feel. Now that you're looking, it's something like a Klein bottle, burning magic twisting in on itself.

[] Write-in
[]

Spoiler: Vote in abeyance

--[x] If nothing has been found thus far ask if you can see if using a quarantine bubble and taking off the painkiller ring works to stop the effects. Give her the ring back at once if it doesn't work. If it does, can Oriko use her precog in a quarantine bubble?
[x] Examine all the seeds on hand, cleansing as needed to 'standard' cleansed state - that is NO making more clear seeds.
[x] Explain situation to Mami and Homura over telepathy.
[x] Ask why Oriko and company did not call earlier.

=====​

Klein bottle.

 

[Firnagzen]

You tilt your head to the side. That's different. That's also not right. You twitch the scanner to the side, looking at Kirika's Soul Gem both on screen and through your Grief senses.

Kirika's Soul Gem is like every other one you've seen. Delicate, fiery traceries of magic blaze within it, webbing to and from a single point of abyssal darkness that slowly bleeds outwards. Gossamer streamers burn across the aether, invisible lattices spinning towards Kirika's body.
Philotes
That looks normal. And it's one more data point, but you're starting to come to a thoroughly unpleasant solution.

You turn your attention to your own Soul Gem. It's... yes, it's the same. The familiar ghostly strands of magic blazing invisibly in the air. That same quiet sepulchral pres-
Dedolere
-sence lurking in the depths of your Soul.

You suppress a shudder from the sensation of icy fingers running down your spine.

"Is something wrong?" Oriko asks, glancing at you.

"Someone walking on my grave," you mutter in response, shaking your head. "But here. Look at this."

You tilt the screen towards them - shadowy outlines of furniture, eclipsed by the incandescent blazes of light that are the Soul Gems. "That's Kirika's Soul Gem," you say, pointing out the obvious. "And that's yours, Oriko."

Oriko frowns. "What am I looking at?"

"Magic!" Kirika chirps. Her bright grin quickly slides off her face, though. "Yours doesn't look right."

"Yeah, it doesn't," you agree, detaching your own Soul Gem from the lapel of your coat and holding it up to the scanner. "Here's mine for comparison."

"I see," Oriko murmurs, though you can still see confusion in the way her head's tilted slightly to the side and her eyes don't leave the screen as if she might divine meaning by staring at the distinctly and definitionally non-Euclidean geometry of her Soul.

Kirika chews on her lip, staring on the screen. "Oriko, I thin-"

You cut her off. "Kirika, wait."

She falls silent, cocking her head to the side, citrine eyes on you.

"OK. I'm going to try one more thing, first," you say. You don't know whether Kyuubey's actively working against you. He contracted Sayaka, but... that might have been just Coobie being Coobie. For now, you'll still operate on higher security.

"Yeah?" Kirika says, sounding confused.

"Mm," you say, raising a hand. Grief sweeps in through the window, a tide of deep purple flooding in as a torrent. It pours around you, all three of you, wrapping under the bed and over your heads and blotting out the light.

You hear an alarmed squeak before you will the interior of the sphere to glow. As a gentle illumination begins to suffuse the interior of your not-really-a-sphere, another effort of will -shield us from outside influence- turns it into an interdiction still-not-really-a-sphere.

When you turn back to Kirika, you find her clinging to Oriko's side in an awkward, hunched over posture, and the seer's arm is wrapped around her waist. You raise an eyebrow.

"She doesn't like darkness," Oriko notes.

"Orikooooooooo," Kirika whines, lifting her head from Oriko's shoulder. "You didn't have to tell heeeeerrrr."

"But I did, dear," Oriko says, smiling at her.

Kirika pouts and flops over on the bed next to Oriko, reaching up to play with Oriko's silvery mane of hair.

... It occurs to you that this is probably at least part of the reason Megane was so annoyed with you, yesterday. Then again, you're really not going to interrupt what really is the healthiest relationship you've seen.

You suppress your own thoughts and emotions as much as Mami does, if not even more. It... isn't healthy at all. For either of you. You do it for the sake of everyone else, but still.

You... maybe you owe it to her to let things change.

Oriko turns back to you, finalky. "I suppose the barrier you made is for privacy?"

"Yeah," you say. "It shields us from all outside interaction, or at least it's supposed to. Including a certain Incubator's prying eyes." You press your lips together. "So. Kirika, you were going to say something?"

"Yeaaaah but I kiiiiiinda forgot what it was," Kirika says, sticking her tongue out at you. "You scared my train of thought away!"

"Heh. Sorry?" you say. "Though now that we've blocked off everything from the outside..." You lift the scanner again, pointing it at Oriko's Soul Gem.

No change.

"Tsk," you mutter, showing the screen to the pair on the bed. "Oriko? Would you mind taking off the ring? Just for confirmation? You can put it back on immediately if things haven't changed."

Oriko frowns. "I would prefer not to," she says, glancing at the screen. "It doesn't look like anything has changed."

"It's just confirmation," you offer.

She shakes her head. "I would prefer not to," she repeats.

You sigh. "Alright then, I thin-"

"Oh! Now I remember!" Kirika says. "I... I think Oriko's magic is turning on itself somehow? You can fix that, right?" She turns a bright, hopeful smile on you.

You purse your lips. "That's... pretty much what I was thinking, Kirika - about Oriko's magic, I mean. I can't promise anything, though. Let me think about this?"

Kirika's smile dims, but she nods eagerly.

"Hmm..." you say, idly claiming Kirika's chair, since she's not using it, and drag it over to your spot by the bedside table. You plonk yourself on the chair, eyeing Aurora's Grief Seed.

Out of curiosity, you hold Hildegarde's Seed beside it for comparison, inspecting both with the scanner and your Grief senses. Neither reports much difference from what you'd expected. Hildegarde is silent as the grave, a plutonic spot of darkness still stuck in the quiet limbo of hibernation.

Aurora... Aurora grumbles, is the best way you can put it. It's the same tiny speck of darkness, but one that pushes against you, somehow. Weakly, and yet... it's present.

"Sabrina? Anything interesting there?" Kirika prompts, fanning herself with her hand. It is a little stuffy in here.

"Not... really relevant, I just wanted to look while I had my scanner out. Still thinking about it," you say, waving said scanner at Kirika. "But here's a thought, Oriko."

The seer looks at you, sea-green eyes almost luminous in the gentle glow from the inside of your sphere. "Yes?"

"Don't you find it strange that you can't shut off your powers?" you say slowly, dredging up the memories and words from somewhere. "You once told me Wishes do what you want them to. Have you found your answer yet?" You meet her eyes squarely. "What do you think your life's purpose is?"

"To save the world," Oriko answers without hesitation.

"Are you sure, Oriko?" you ask softly, without emphasis. You remember that elsewhere, and elsewhen, she would have realised that her life's purpose wasn't to save the world. It was to protect Kirika.

It's always about the people.

[] Write-in

=====​

Isn't it?

 

[Firnagzen]

Oriko seems thoughtful, brow creased in thought. You're pretty sure she knows you're driving at something in particular, and she's trying to figure out what you might be driving at.

Good. At least you're on the same page.

You consider just telling her, outright. That another Oriko, elsewhere and elsewhen, realised that Kirika was the meaning of her life, as sappy as it is.

Then again.

Saving the world, saving one broken little girl. What's the difference, eh? It's always about the people...

"The world's a big place," you say meditatively. "Does it really matter to you that much? Do people you've never met, people who hate you really mean as much to you as people you know and care about?"

"That, coming from you?" Oriko asks.

"I'm not saying be selfish," you murmur, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward to rest your elbows on your thighs. "I'm saying that you can want to save the world, but you can have a reason for wanting to do that."

"Saving the world sounds preeeetty good to me," Kirika offers, waving a hand at the ceiling.

"Sure," you agree. "But it's a goal, not a reason."

"Oooh. Ooooh, I geddit," Kirika says, nodding sagely. She promptly turns over and cuddles against Oriko.

Come on, Oriko, you're a smart girl, if a bit addicted to convoluted, Byzantine scheming and there's a great big hint attached to your side right now.

... Sweet merciful Madokami above but you want to say it.

"Sabriiiinaaaa? You OK?" Kirika asks curiously, lifting her head to peek at you. "'skinda stuffy in here, isn't it?"

You probably didn't keep all of that last thought off your face, did you. "It is," you agree. Kirika nods, looking satisfied.

You return your attention to Oriko, watching as the seer stares up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Tsk. Missing the forest for the trees, probably, because she's wrapped up in trying to figure out what vast conspiracy there is working the skeins of reality threaded through her skull or some such.

You sort of wonder if you've missed anything important. In general, anyway. Here and now, you're pretty sure on this particular little problem with Oriko.

"What did your magic show you when you first made your Wish?" you ask quietly. You press your lips together, considering for a moment, before adding, "I'm not asking just out of curiosity. I think... I think we might need to do some things differently."

Oriko frowns at you. "I saw... you. Akemi Homura, Kaname Madoka. The Incubator's machinations. Kirika. But what do you mean?"

You purse your lips for a long moment, turning the thought over in your mind. "I think what's wrong with your magic has to do with your wish- if you don't know your purpose yet, if you can't achieve it trapped like this... I don't know. Just think about it, okay?"

Oriko nods slowly. "Will you let me go free, then?"

You shake your head. "I don't think I can. Not yet, maybe. Homura, you know? But..." you chew on your lip for a moment. Another hint, since she still hasn't figured it out? "A thought, Oriko. When we fought, saving the world was what you were willing to die for," you say slowly.

Kirika rolls over, wrapping Oriko in a protective hug.

"But what were you willing to live for?" you ask, letting your eyes flick to the oblivious form of Kirika, and then back to Oriko.

You sigh, swirling the teacup in your hand around and watching the little bits of tealeaf drift along in the current before.

Oriko regards the girl wrapped around her with a thoughtful air. Eventually, she shakes her head slowly. "I... have an inkling of what you're trying to tell me, Sabrina," she says. "But I don't think I understand."

You purse your lips and exhale slowly. "We'll find a way to fix this. Really."

The seer nods cautiously, not saying anything more.

"Feh," you grunt, and reach out to replace the teacup on the tray. With your other hand, you pull your phone out of your pocket and check the time.

... you know, it's sort of interesting that stuff in your civilian clothes remains when you transform? They even redistribute themselves in the pockets of your longcoat, which is nice.

It's only nine or so - you didn't spend that much time travelling here or talking to Oriko. A thought strikes you, and you glance back at the seer.

"Hey, Oriko?" you ask. "One more thing. Why did you try and hide it from me? I could have helped earlier if I'd known."

Oriko sighs. "It was only pain," she murmurs. "I had hoped I could deal with it myself."

You purse your lips. "Oriko... I want to help."

"And sometimes, I want to be able to do things by myself," she counters calmly.

You sigh, closing your eyes. "Point taken. Anyway. I'm going to drop the interdiction barrier now, unless there's anything else?" you say.

Oriko shakes her head, while Kirika doesn't say anything else, apparently content to wind her fingers through Oriko's mass of silvery hair.

Without getting up from the chair, you wave idly at the sphere, and it collapses like a bubble popping. Fresh, cool air floods in, a welcome relief after the stuffy interdiction sphere, and you take a deep, grateful breath. A thought sweeps the Grief aside, pouring back out of the window from whence it came.

"Ooh, fresh air!" Kirika exclaims, bouncing off the bed and spinning in a circle, arms outstretched. Far too much energy, that girl. You briefly consider giving her wings at some point - she wants to fly, doesn't she?

Heh. 'Red Bull gives you wings'.

You take a moment to imagine Kirika on Red Bull, or any other energy drink, and shudder.

Kirika finishes her piourette and drops back onto the bed, flopping lengthwise across Oriko before curling up against the seer.

"Anyway, I'm going to talk to Mami and Homura, OK?" you say. You reach out telepathically for your friends. "Mami, Homura?"

"What is it?" Homura responds almost immediately, followed a hair behind by Mami's cheerful, "Hi, Sabrina!"

"Hi Mami, Homura," you say. "Hey, um, there's a bit of a problem with Oriko."

"Do you need me there?" Homura replies sharply.

"No... not that kind of problem," you say. "Oriko's... powers seem to be acting up. And I can verify it; her Soul Gem does not look right. She's in crippling pain, and she kind of has to stay within a hundred meter range of me."

Homura's glower is so loud you can practically smell it from over here.

"Sabrina, you should be careful," Mami says. "She was our enemy, once."

"I know, I know," you say. "But she's in pain. I... I was thinking maybe Oriko and Kirika could follow me for a while today, at least until lunc-"

"No." Homura's voice is glacially remote.

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Oh. Mom Homura put her foot down.

 

[Firnagzen]

You groan to yourself, rubbing at your forehead and drawing a curious look from Kirika. You should have expected this. Homura... hates Oriko and Kirika. Mostly the former. You can kind of understand it, you guess, even if you don't agree with it.

Elsewhere, and elsewhen, Homura will once have made friends with Madoka and Sayaka and Mami. And Mami and her fought side by side, and things were going well. They'd gone well up until those last five minutes, and she stumbled upon Madoka's corpse, impaled on a near 'miss' from Oriko.

Defeat, snatched from the jaws of victory and handed to her.

But that was then, and this is now.

"Homura, hear me out, please?" you ask quietly. "If I can't convince you and Mami, then that's that, but can I talk?" You're not absolutely sure you will leave it.

Do you have it in you to go against Homura? Against your friend?

You can't honestly answer the question. Not yet, perhaps.

Mami speaks a few moments later. "Homura?" she prompts, voice tentative.

"Fine," Homura bites out, mental voice impatient.

That's a first step, at least.

You take a deep breath to marshal the thoughts cascading through your mind. Half a dozen ways to present your case, arguments and counterarguments and how Homura might react.

You huff out an annoyed breath, garnering a regal, sympathetic nod from Oriko. She can probably guess what's troubling you. Kirika, on the other hand, seems to be halfway through the process of collapsing into a cuddle on Oriko's lap, apparently content with that.

"Oriko isn't... simply in pain," you say quietly, leaning back in your chair and hooking your arms over the back. "She's really hurting. She looked like a corpse when I got here, and she can't possibly fake... Her Soul Gem, her Soul, it's wrong. It's not something she can fake."

You're pretty sure, anyway. You glance over at Oriko - she still looks kind of drawn, but at least her colour's somewhat healthier, and she doesn't look like she's in pain for now. Her eyes are distant, staring out of the window at what she can see of Mitakihara with a melancholic twist to her mouth. She's got her arm wrapped around Kirika, slowly stroking the other girl's back.

"It's not even something most magical girls can see. It's destroying her from the inside. If I leave... I have no idea what will happen," you tell Homura.

The time traveller doesn't respond, maintaining her stony silence.

You suppress a frustrated groan, rubbing at your forehead. "I understand they're dangerous, Homura," you say. "I get that. I really do."

You take a breath, even if you don't really need to - you're speaking telepathically, after all. "But so am I. I can take them. I won't be taking my eyes off them for a second; I'm prepared for treachery; Oriko's wearing a magical ring with properties of my choosing, which I can change on a whim; I can hold onto their soul gems as a condition of their temporary outing."

How much of that is an empty threat? You grimace to yourself, glancing from Oriko to Kirika, now curled up on top of Oriko like a cat. She seems to sense your eyes on her, and cracks one orange eye open and grins at you, fang poking out.

"They're not going to be anywhere near our friends, Homura. They can't leave my range and most importantly, they're accounted for."

"And..." One last reassurance, maybe. "If they try to backstab me... they won't succeed."

"No." Homura's refusal is short and sharp.

"Homura... from what Sabrina says, it sounds like Miss Mikuni might really be having troubles," Mami says, loyally backing you up. "I understand your concerns, but couldn't you trust Sabrina?"

Homura's silent for a moment. "I trust Sabrina," she admits. "I don't trust them."

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Well. Shit.

 

[Firnagzen]

That's... actually quite humbling. Homura, of all people, trusts you.

You swallow. Despite that, despite your promise... one last try. Just one last try, you promise yourself.

"Homura... thank you," you say softly. "What I'm asking is for you to trust me with handling them. I understand we can't trust them, but leaving her like this? It's just cruel, Homura, and she might die, or worse. I... something's definitely wrong and I don't want to just leave it like this."

You look at Oriko and Kirika. Sensing your eyes on her, the seer looks up from Kirika, meeting your gaze steadily. Sea green against clear blue. She arches one elegant brow at you. You shrug, grimacing, and she nods slowly.

Homura sighs, the sound transmitting telepathically. "Why do you care?"

"Because they're in my care," you say. "She's helped us. Like yesterday; we wouldn't even have known if Oriko didn't warn us. Sayaka could have been eaten by a Witch."

Homura's silent, but you can sense her displeasure and faint dismay even over telepathy.

"Homura, I... look. If it's just my safety you're concerned about, I won't mess around. I promise. Oriko's still my prisoner. If she steps out of line, or goes for an opportunity, I'll go for the gem," you glance at the seer again. She's now playing idly with Kirika's hair. Would you? Do you really have the heart to?

"No. It's not just that," Homura says. She doesn't say anything more, but... you think you know. Or you can guess. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory must have been... must be a bitter taste to stomach.

A long moment of telepathic silence later, you continue with a sigh. "I need to fix this, Homura," you say wearily. "Out there or inside here, I'm going to try and fix things. I have an idea of what's happening, and I think my best shot is if I can get them out of this house, but... Homura, I said that if I couldn't convince you, I wouldn't bring her out. I meant it."

You pause. "That's what I've got, Homura. Is it too much to ask?"

There's a long pause before Homura responds. "Yes. Mikuni is too dangerous, and Kure isn't much less, she says. And then softly, so softly you nearly miss it even with her speaking directly into your mind, she adds something. "I'm sorry."

You exhale.

That's... it, then.

"OK," you say, disappointment leaking into your voice. "Thanks for humouring me, Homura, Mami."

"Sabrina... be careful, OK?" Mami says.

"Yeah. I will," you say. "I promise. I'll see you both at lunch, OK?"

"A-alright," Mami agrees softly.

"See you," Homura says quietly, before disconnecting.

Mami... doesn't. "Are you OK, Sabrina?" she asks.

You glance at the duo, still on the bed. "Sorry, Oriko, Kirika. Homura, uh, disapproves. I'll still be sticking around to see how I can help, at least for a while, I think. If you don't mind?" To Mami, you sigh. "I don't know. I really do want to help them, and... I think I get some of why Homura's so worried, but still."

"You're helping me," Oriko notes. "I'm hardly going to say that I mind."

"Yeah," Kirika agrees, blinking orange eyes open to peek at you. "Do your best!"

"Ugh," you say. "I wish I could just get you some asprin and be done with it. I mean... you know. We magical girls seem to still run on our bodies somewhat, so asprin should work somewhat, but... magic, right?" The Soujo sisters seem to indicate that body swapping or something can be done, but you don't know if that's a special case.

Then again, Oriko did say that they... she... they were coming by some time, didn't she? First thing you're going to do is issue them some new pronouns, but that's then and this is now.

"Magic," Kirika agrees, nodding sagely. "Ain't gotta explain shit."

Oriko reaches out and pokes Kirika's mouth. "No." The black haired girl clamps her mouth shut, pouting at the seer.

"Sabrina? Talk to me?" Mami asks, voice quiet.

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Hmmmm?

 

[Firnagzen]

You rub a knuckle at your head. You can feel what's probably a stress migraine building up, a dull throbbing at your temples. It's... you take a quick peek at your Soul Gem, but that looks perfectly normal.

"OK. Hold on a minute, Oriko, Kirika, I need to talk to Mami," you say, holding up a hand.

Oriko nods slowly, whereas Kirika gives you a thumbs up and a bright grin.

You groan, closing your eyes and letting yourself slump in the chair. "It's just... I just wish it'd worked," you tell Mami. "I wish we could all trust each other."

"Oh, Sabrina..." Mami says, voice soft. "You're a miracle worker as it is. You don't know what Homura was like before you came. You don't know what... what things were like for me."

You do know. You don't even trust Mami with everything.

"Oriko and Kirika would be dead now if you weren't here," Mami continues, voice still soft. "And you're still trying to help them, despite... everything. You're a wonderful person, Sabrina."

You exhale slowly. A decision filters through your mind, a moment of crystal clarity coming to light.

"Thank you, Mami," you say, voice equally soft. "It... your support means a lot to me. Not just for this, I... you mean a lot to me."

"Of course, Sabrina," Mami says. "And... thank you."

The conversation lapses into silence for a minute. Eventually, though, you break it again. "Hey, um... Can I talk to you about stuff? Now, and tonight?"

"Of course, Sabrina," Mami replies. A little worry enters her tone, and you can imagine her expression - that little faint frown. "Um... is something wrong?"

"No. Well, yes. But..." you tilt your head to the side. You wish you could hug Mami right now. Not just to comfort her. You could do with a hug yourself, right about now. "It's nothing that would make me leave. There isn't anything that would. I promise."

"I... alright," Mami says. "A-alright. I... what about?" She sounds like she's trying to convince herself that it is, indeed, alright.

"I promise, Mami," you repeat. When you open your eyes again, you spot Kirika eyeing you thoughtfully, citrine eyes glinting. You raise an eyebrow at her.

She raises one right back at you, before raising the other, and then bobbing her eyebrows up and down one after another. She seems to find this incredibly amusing, breaking out in a fit of giggles she muffles in Oriko's midriff. The seer shakes her head, patting the girl's head fondly.

"What did you have in mind, Sabrina?" Mami asks.

"Well... I wanted to run some thoughts on Oriko by you," you say.

"Ah... Of course," Mami says. "Go on?"

"Well..." you say, taking a moment to organise your thoughts. You're fairly sure that at least part of the problem is Oriko's, well, lack of agency. The fact that you're holding her under house arrest. But... Start with the bare facts.

"I looked at Oriko's Soul Gem with my powers," you start. "It's... it's kind of hard to describe, since I'm not really seeing it per se, but it's like her magic is twisting in on itself. Do you know what a Klein bottle is?"

"The, ah, non-orientable surface?" Mami asks. "We covered them briefly in math last term."

... What.

No, really, what. 'God was our dropout' is supposed to be a joke, damn it.

You shake your head, clearing your thoughts. "... Um... right. Anyway, the closest thing I can call it is a Klein bottle. It's like... Oriko's Soul, Oriko's magic, is turning in on itself."

"I see," Mami says, a thoughtful note in her voice.

"Hmm?" you ask. "Any ideas?"

"No, it..." she hesitates for a moment. "Just thinking. Go on, Sabrina?"

"Right. I... I think it's related to her Wish. Oriko wished to find her purpose," you say slowly. "I think she's misunderstanding something important and that's causing her magic to work improperly, and that's what's hurting her."

Mami's silent.

You frown. That's... unusual. "Mami?"

"Um... There are stories like that," Mami says softly. "I've never encountered anything like it, but stories are that if you reject your Wish, then you might lose your magical powers. You'd still be a magical girl, but you wouldn't have your powers any more."

You wince at the unconscious irony. She has encountered it, in Kyouko. The redhead should have the ability to make clones of herself, but... doesn't, because she rejected her Wish after her father snapped. Mami has no idea.

Kirika lifts her head off Oriko's midriff catches your eye, and mouths something to you. 'Be patient. Be there for her.'

You nod back at Kirika. She probably has the wrong idea of what your conversation with Mami is about, but it's good advice, anyway. You purse your lips in consideration, thinking for a moment.

You cast your thoughts back to the first time you'd fought a Witch, with Mami and Homura at your side. Back then, when you first entered the Barrier, you'd freaked out and bled the immediate area of Grief. Had that been similar?

No, you decide. Not really. That had been more like a sensory overload, and lashing out blindly in response. Nothing like what happened, what's happening, to Oriko.

Tsk.

"Sabrina?" Mami prompts you, sounding worried again.

"Sorry. Was just thinking," you respond. "If I'm right, if you're right, then we need to help her find her purpose."

"I agree, but um, Sabrina," Mami seems to be working through a thought. "The... last time we know she was absolutely fine was when she was fighting us. What if... that's the problem?"

You bite your lip. "I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't occur to me," you admit. On the other hand, you're pretty sure you know precisely what her purpose in life is, from your knowledge. "But I don't think it's that simple. Her purpose in life can't be something so, so small."

"That's probably true..." Mami agrees.

"Any thoughts?" you ask.

"She Wished for it, so it must be doable," Mami replies slowly, thoughtfully. "Wishes come true, after all."

"I hope so," you grumble. "If I can't... then I need to figure out how to treat the symptoms. I put a pain blocking ring on her for now, but that will last only as long as I'm in range of her. But that'll disappear once Oriko is out of my range, and the pain will come back. Probably."

"I think only she can answer what her purpose in life is," Mami says. "But... often, we don't know what we have, or want, until it's too late. It's... difficult. I... I'm sorry, Sabrina. I'm not being much help."

"No, it's fine," you say. "You should hear some of the crazy ideas and things I thought of and tossed away - but I haven't come up with anything concrete, either."

"Ah... well," Mami says. She's silent for a moment. "Do you... really think you need to bring her out to help her?"

"I don't know for sure," you say. "But I think it might help?"

"I could... try and distract Homura?" Mami offers hesitantly. "I could probably put a ribbon on her just in case."

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Oho.