Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

[Firnagzen]

That draws you up short. You haven't given any consideration to where you'll be staying, so far, or even what you'll be doing beyond the nebulous impulse to 'help everyone'. But... staying with Homura? You're not sure you're entirely comfortable with the idea. You take a moment to mull over your options as Homura waits patiently.

"Thank you," you say finally. "But may I talk to the others first?"

Homura shakes her head minutely, without changing her expression. "I don't have any objections." She moves to head back to rejoin the rest of the group, but on the spur of the moment, you ask her another question.

"Homura... We've never met before... have we?"

She freezes in her tracks for a moment, and half-turns to look at you out of the corner of her eyes. "No. We have not."

The time traveller stalks off around the corner, leaving you to trail behind her. When you come into view of the main group, Madoka breaks out in a smile, as does Mami. Sayaka simply resumes her glaring at Homura with undisguised hostility from where she's casually leaning against the wall.

"Ah, Sabrina!" Mami calls cheerfully, ignoring Homura. A deliberate snubbing. For all that you'd known her for about five minutes, Mami seems to like you better than she does Homura. "Did you have a good talk?"

"Yes, we did," you reply, smiling. "Homura just asked me a few questions, though I still don't remember much... And she offered to let me stay with her for now, since I don't know if I had any prior arrangements."

Mami's smile suddenly becomes somewhat strained, but Sayaka reacts first, exploding. "Stay with her? She probably lives in a crypt, like some kind of vampire!"

Homura simply looks at Sayaka. "I'm right here, Miki Sayaka," she observes, almost in tandem with Madoka exclaiming, "Sayaka!"

"I meant what I said!"

You clear your throat, feeling obliged to defend the time traveller. "Sayaka, it's ok. Homura isn't a bad person. And I'm sure she lives in a normal house."

"I'm sure you're right, Sabrina," Mami says, humouring you with a gentle smile. "However, would you consider my house as an alternative? There's plenty of room at my apartment, some company at home would be nice."

[] Write-in

=====​

Writing this Quest has partially turned into an excuse for me to rewatch the series. Wheee.

 

[Firnagzen]

"I, ah," your eyes dart between Mami and Homura as you take a slow step forward to interpose yourself between them. Behind Mami, Madoka slowly wilts in on herself, now just clutching her hands to her chest. She's staring at you, hoping you'll be able to resolve this entire situation. Why?

Staying with either of them would let you change so much, but you just can't decide whom you'd rather stay with. You consider suggesting a timeshare, but then you realize that you'd be imposing rather heavily on the both of them.

You clear your throat, "Homura, Mami, I'm very grateful to the both of you for the offers. But, ah, I think I'll take Mami's offer, if that's ok with you, Homura?"

"Hah! Take that, transfer student!" Sayaka shouts, pointing at Homura. Mami beams at you, clearly happy with your choice, and Homura, by contrast, seems completely indifferent to your choice. Madoka's gaze just flicks to Homura, and then back to you.

"Sayaka!" you snap, feeling obliged to defend Homura. After all, she was simply trying to be helpful to you, and you're grateful even if you're not taking her offer. "Maybe you don't like Homura, but there's no call to be that rude."

"What, did you not hear what she did yesterday?" Sayaka turns to you. Madoka putting a restraining hand on her shoulder doesn't seem to do much as the bluenette bristles indignantly.

Your response is interrupted by Homura herself. "It's OK, Sabrina." She takes a step back, clearly preparing to take her leave.

You can't just let her go like that. You-

"Homura?" you reach out with an ability that you instinctively know you can use.

A slight pause. "Yes?"

"I- I'll be in touch, OK? This isn't a goodbye; there's no reason we can't work together. And I'll try to bring Mami around, OK?" you say frantically.

"You seem to know a lot about being a magical girl. Some people don't, and they don't take it well when they find out some things. I would advise you be careful," Homura replies, even as she walks away.

"Well!" Mami claps her hands together lightly. "Now that that's done, Sabrina, I was planning on bringing Madoka and Sayaka to see a hunt today. You're new, but would you like to come along? We should be able to find a little time for you to experiment with your magic first, though we'll have to skip that planned snack." She glances apologetically at the other two.

"Nah, that's OK, Mami," Sayaka declares, Madoka nodding timidly beside her. "We had a big lunch today, anyway!"

Mami only seems to notice your general dishevelledness and the discolourations on your clothes now, as she slowly winds down from the confrontation. A small frown appears, and she adds, "Or maybe we should head over to my house first? I'm sure we could do with a little freshening up."

[] Write-in

 

[Firnagzen]

You look down at yourself, feeling the slightly crusty coating against your skin and the stiff fabric. "Yeah, that sounds great," you say. Then you look up at her again, and half bow. "Thank you again, Mami. You've only known me for about five minutes, and certainly didn't have to offer to take me in."

"It's no problem, Sabrina," Mami reassures you. "And as I said, it would be very nice to have a roommate, and my apartment can get quite lonely at times. I couldn't possibly let you room with Homura, too. Now, shall we?"

"Still, thank you very much," you respond, letting her lead the way to her home, with Sayaka and Madoka trailing behind. The small band of four teenaged girls leaving an alleyway draws a few stares from passersby, but nobody comments. "And... my apologies, but I really don't think Homura is that bad a person. I mean, she offered to let me stay at her place, too, right?"

"Pssyeah," Sayaka snorts. "She probably just wanted the new magical girl where she could be watched. And then, when you're not looking? Bam!" She throws her hands up for emphasis.

"U-um, I agree with Sabrina," Madoka says, looking down. "I don't think she's a bad person, she's just... cold. I wonder why she's like that?"

You sigh. You know why, but you can't say directly. "Maybe she lost something, someone? She's... just bad with people," you observe, with what you think is a tasteful understatement.

"Excuse me," a syrupy-sweet telepathic voice injects itself into your conversation. Kyuubey. "I apologize, but I have business to attend to elsewhere." You look at it, now riding in Mami's arms.

"Ah... See you later, Kyuubey," Mami says, bending down to let the cat-like alien go. It scampers away, quickly becoming lost in the crowds.

5​

"I wonder why he's in such a rush?" Sayaka comments.

"I have no idea," Mami says, looking at where Kyuubey had run off to. "I don't see him in such a rush, usually."

"Hmm," you say noncommittally, as you and the others continue along the road.

"Aha! You speak English, right Sabrina?" Sayaka asks.

You frown for a minute, before realizing that yes, you do. "I- yes, I can. I do."

"Could you help me with my English homework?" the bluenette asks eagerly.

"Sayaka, I don't think you should do that," Mami admonishes with an indulgent smile. "Sabrina, nor should you."

"But she's foreign! I'm sure she's good at it!"

"Um, Sayaka, that's not the point..."

The conversation fades away as you take a moment to try and recall anything else of your spotty memory, but come up completely blank. Your name is Sabrina, and you're definitely not from around here. That much you're sure of.

"We're here, Sabrina," Mami says, pointing at a relatively upscale apartment block. She leads you, Madoka and Sayaka up to her apartment, and unlocks the door, letting you in. Feeling beholden to the local culture, you step in, saying, "I'm home."

"Welcome back," Mami beams at you. "The bathroom is over there, you should go and wash up. I should have some old clothes that fit you, though, ah, they might be a little loose."

You head over to the indicated door, taking the opportunity to look around. The apartment is very cosy, with soft rugs everywhere and coloured in pastel colours. A comfortable looking sofa, which Madoka and Sayaka made a beeline for, sits next to the triangular table that makes up the centerpiece of Mami's living room. As you close the bathroom door behind you, you see Mami flitting over to one of the other rooms, happy smile fixed on her face.

It takes you a while to clean up, what with the unpleasant residue that wet tissues couldn't remove adhering everywhere. After washing up, and wiping yourself dry, you take a moment to look at yourself in the mirror.

Deep blue eyes, framed by delicate eyebrows and two short bangs of hair, look curiously back at you. High cheekbones lend you a distinctly un-Asian cast. Your shoulder length hair, it turns out, is a pure white, cut to a short fringe in the front.

You sigh.

It is your face, you're sure of that. But looking at it hasn't helped you to remember anything.

"Sabrina? Are you done in there?" Mami calls, knocking politely on the door. "I have some clothes here!"

"Just a moment," you call back in reply.

A few minutes later, you're dressed in some of Mami's older clothes, which are indeed a little looser around the chest than might be considered optimal. You thank her again, nevertheless, and she simply waves it off.

"Ok!" Mami calls cheerfully, catching everyone's attention. "I was planning on bringing everyone on a Witch hunt today, but I think it might be best if Sabrina here got a little practice first before we go, and we can have a late dinner? Unless you think you're alright, Sabrina?"

[] Training first.
[] No need for training.

=====​

For the record, it's about 4:00PM, in story. Didn't seem to be a good place to put it in, IC.

Also, how much of a rush Kyuubey was in? A huge rush, apparently.

 

[Firnagzen]

"I would feel better with some time to try my powers out," you admit easily.

Mami nods, approvingly. "That's probably for the best. Madoka, Sayaka, this may last a little late, then. Will you be alright? We can have a late dinner after the hunt, if you're not expected home."

Madoka and Sayaka glance at each other, unsure. Mami, by contrast, chuckles, and adds, enticingly, "We can have some cake right now to tide us over until dinner time."

"A-ah. I'll call my dad," Madoka says, fumbling for her phone in her school bag. Sayaka nods vigorously, also hunting for her own phone. You simply raise an eyebrow at Mami, to which she responds with a demure giggle before bustling off to the kitchen.

You seat yourself on the couch, even as they slide off of it to sit on the cushions arrayed in front of the low table. "Are the cakes really that good?" you ask curiously.

Madoka flushes red. "I, ah- that is..." she ducks her head and looks embarrassed. Sayaka rolls her eyes at her friend, and replies to you. "Yeah, they really are. And we were already planning to stay a while today, anyway!" The last part is said rather defensively, in your opinion.

You nod, putting on an obviously fake smile. "Sure."

"Hey!" Sayaka protests. Her attention is diverted, however, by Mami returning bearing plates.

You jump to your feet. "Ah, I should be helping you, Mami!" Over her protests, you walk over to the little kitchen, and help her bear the rest of the plates out. Strawberry cakes, you note.

You seat yourself at the table, sitting beside Mami, who beams at everyone, before declaring, "Eat up!"

After the customary declarations, you carefully remove a piece of the cake, and pop it into your mouth. Your eyes widen as the cake virtually melts in your mouth, smooth and fragrant and delicious.

After swallowing, you put the fork down and say, simply, "Wow." Sayaka shoots you a triumphant grin which you barely notice as you attack your slice of cake again.

A while later, the cake is finished, and Mami ushers everyone out again before locking up. "We'll go to the old junkyard for training, OK? It's quite near where that Witch yesterday was, anyway. We'll be taking a bus, so... Sabrina, you don't have a bus pass... here's some money."

You accept the money gratefully, thanking Mami again. She simply laughs and brushes it off, and you're on your way with little incident. A short bus ride and a subsequent walk later, you find yourselves at the promised junkyard, near a large flyover.

"So, Sabrina, why don't you transform?" Mami says, looking at you inquisitively. Madoka and Sayaka are looking on from slightly further back, Sayaka standing slightly in front of the pinkette. "Don't worry about being seen, I used to use this place for training myself."

Hesitantly, you form the Soul Gem from its ring form, and cup it in your hand. Instinctively, you know how to reach for the wellspring that is your magic and pull.

A brilliant white flash of light blazes for an instant.

And just like that, the transformation is done, as a warm, almost familiar feeling settles on your shoulders. You-

You can sense-

You can sense-

You yourself are a slowly crackling storm of flickers of other, of magic, a network that outlines your body. Your Soul Gem is a tiny, abyssal spot of Grief that the network feeds into and derives from. Near you is a blaze of magic that outlines another human figure, and another swirling maelstrom of Grief, of a higher concentration than yours.

Standing further away are two ephemeral shades of barely-there Grief.

You look down at yourself, curious as to what you look like, and raise an eyebrow in surprise.

You're dressed in a light grey, collared shirt that's distinctly cut to flatter your self, with long pants in a darker shade of grey to match. Over it all is a long, deep blue longcoat with heavy mantles in a distinctly militaristic cut, worn open. Your Soul Gem, worn as a badge over your left breast, adds a splash of white to break up the expanse of blue.

Mami's speaking to you, one hand reaching toward you. "Are you alright, Sabrina?"

"Y-yes," you say, breathing deeply. "It's just overwhelming." An idea strikes you. "Mami, may I borrow your Soul Gem?"

"My Soul Gem?" her question's a little sharper than her usual tone. "Why?"

Your lips curl up in a lazy, almost drunk smile. "Mami, I wished to control Grief. All of it. I think I can cleanse your Soul Gem. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Mami hesitantly forms her Soul Gem in the palm of your hand. "OK, but please be careful..."

She hovers near you as you accept the Soul Gem. You can see that it's shining gold, as it should, but obscured by a thin, filmy layer of darkness. The moment you touch it, though, you realize that you can do this. A lazy curl of the fingers of the hand not holding Mami's Soul Gem, and the layer of darkness flows out into the air, condensing into a malevolent, pulsing mass floating above your left hand. There's a deeper, more present feeling in the Gem you don't dare touch.
Candeloro.
"Here you go, Mami," you say, slightly less dreamy than you were a moment ago as mild shock sets in. You've just realized: you just cleansed a Soul Gem. You think you can do it at a distance, too, and... you check your own Soul Gem. It's barely darkened, and you know that you can cleanse the Grief off of it just as well.

Mami accepts her Soul Gem back with slightly trembling hands, usually half-lidded gaze wide in shock. "You... you did it, Sabrina. You- I-"

You've startled Mami into speechlessness. You've reduced Tomoe Mami into stammering incoherence.
4
[] Write-in
- [] Talk to someone? Tone, content as per usual
- [] Training ideas?

=====​

I can't remember where I read it -might be Jim Butcher-, but it's been said that the trenchcoat is basically the modern day equivalent to wizard robes.

Additionally, there was nowhere for it to fit narratively, but Sabrina's weapon is a warhammer. The actual, medieval type, with a blunt and a spiked end, not those ludicrous brick on a stick type you find in fantasy. Why a warhammer? Why, SV, and SB before it, is known far and wide for its tactfulness and subtlety, no? Just like warhammers!

Oh, and yes, you are hideously, hideously overpowered. I've said it once, I'll say it again: I have my reasons.

 

[Firnagzen]

Things as they could have been, had you wished to have the ability to fix things.
This is also a warning.
You'd've gotten what was basically localized reality warping in a 5 meter radius, with the limitation that the more magical something is, the harder it is to affect. And had you been a little careless with your power... Well, I'd had this written up in anticipation.

Spoiler: What could have been

You reach past the glittering clouds of probability, and find the particle-waves. There is beauty in the whirling clouds on their endless dance, and it distracts you for a moment. But then you push on, bearing down with your will, and the particles waver.

Anticipation stretches your face into a feral grin, and you clench your hand.

The particles flip.

Too late, you see your mistake.

You overreached.

Millions, billions, trillions, are chump change compared to what you do. What you can do.

Antimatter blooms out of thin air, out of the fabric of the pavement, of the surroundings at your command. Nearly a kilogram, all told, none of which takes kindly to finding itself surrounded by ordinary matter. There is a brief moment of conflict at the subatomic level, to the mutual demise of both matter and antimatter.

Just over half the energy is wasted as proton and antiproton annihilation creates charged pions which evaporate harmlessly into muons and neutrinos. Mass-energy equivalence is a harsh mistress, however, and half of forty megatons of TNT equivalent is still a lot of energy. Waves of gamma rays and other, more exotic particles sleet out, more than enough to superheat the air past the temperature of the sun.

You are, briefly, at the center of a nuclear fireball that rockets up to millions of degrees Kelvin in a split second, before magically toughened flesh is stripped from bone and the bone ablates to dust. By some quirk of magic, your Soul Gem lasts a little longer before it melts to slag.

Not much longer, really.

Not even a microsecond.

The blast wave ripples out at over ten times the speed of sound, hammering buildings and unfortunate people out in the street with impunity. Glass, concrete, and steel fare poorly, and skyscrapers crumble.

There's a moment for Homura to flinch at the sudden, unbearably bright light that sears her back and ignites her hair before the blast wave hits. Her magically enhanced body is tough enough not to be immediately pulped, but her impact against the wall is enough.

Madoka happens to be unlucky enough to be looking in the direction of the old industrial district. Her eyeballs burn out in the titanic flash of light, but it's hardly a concern when the school building collapses, entombing her, Mami and Sayaka besides.

Minutes later, a small, white alien manifests a hardened body, and observes the mushroom cloud rising over the ruins of Mitakihara. Crashes and rumbles reach its auditory organs as buildings continue to crumble in the aftermath. Perched on a piece of steel barely identifiable as the warped and melted remains of an I-beam, it tilts its head in a learned behaviour and considers the situation. Insofar as it can be said to have emotions, it is surprised, or rather, one of the anomalies that had been plaguing it had decisively resolved itself, along with two others, in a way that had been considered to have a low probability of occurring.

The Incubator hops off the I-beam and vanishes. The repercussions of this event will reverberate around the world, leaving it and its ilk with plenty to do in the coming months and years.

I had more than a few meta and in story reasons to have done this... Some of them still apply, even.

 

[Firnagzen]

Mami's reaction gives you pause, and the sheer, monumental impact of what you've done begins to sink in. You have just done the impossible, and-

Oh, god.

Oh, god.

Kyuubey.

Kyuubey is going to be very, very interested in you, isn't it. And Kyuubey-

Your hands are shaking.

Deep breaths.

Deep breaths. Calm. Inhale blue, exhale red.

Less freaking out, more calm.

"I- hey, it worked! Thanks, Mami!" you say, trying for nonchalant. Off to the side, Madoka and Sayaka are looking rather worried at the dual freakout they'd just witnessed.

Mami gives a choked laugh, palming her face. "Sabrina, you don't understand what you've done, do you? Grief seeds are the most important resource a magical girl can have, since they're the only thing that can clean our Soul Gems and restore our powers. And... you've just made them obsolete."

There's more to it, you know. But you don't ask, for now.

"I- I know, Mami," you reply, mostly lost for words. "Still, it's a good thing, right?"

"It definitely is!" Mami says, smile returning. "Anyway, Sabrina, maybe you should see if you can apply your magic offensively?" She's changing the subject, but you can accept that.

You find a smile coming to your face in response. "Certainly."

Your focus returns to the little mass of Grief floating above your left hand. It's... you know that you can reshape it as you like, and it's liquid, solid, or gas, as you like. You curl your fingers, and it warps through various simple shapes: sphere, pyramid, cube. Your other hand comes up, and the Grief reshapes itself into a little statuette of Kyuubey.

Mami chuckles. "That's quite a good rendition, Sabrina. But we still need to hunt that Witch... I'll give you a little room, ok?" She wanders off, and sits down next to the other two to watch.

You dip your head, slightly abashed, and reshape the Grief into a small, thirty centimeter long blade of Grief. You're already controlling it at a distance, so... You swipe at a conveniently placed old car with the hand manipulating the Grief.

The blade flickers out, and carves clear through the rusting steel in a spray of sparks. The cut edges glow a deep purple that's almost black. The colour rapidly fades, and you swing again, twirling on the spot as you do. This time, you bisect the car lengthwise, and you instinctively finish the twirl in a half crouch before taking a long hop into the air. As you fall, your bring the Grief down again, now reshaping it into a simple plate that you smash into the car from above.

Metal shrieks as it's crushed into the ground, completely pancaking the car. Again, the parts that had been in contact with the Grief glow a deep purple that dissipates rapidly.

Clapping reaches your ears, and you glance over at your little audience. Both Sayaka and Mami are clapping enthusiastically, and Madoka is beaming at you. "That's amazing, Sabrina!" Sayaka calls.

You chuckle, and brush your hair back again. You're not sure how to deal with the praise.

You quickly return to your testing, though, and reshape the Grief into a simple sphere again. You push it away from you, snaking it among the piles of junk, trying to see what the limits of your control are.

Twenty meters.

Forty.

Sixty.

Eighty

A hundre-

You lose control of the Grief at a hundred meters away, and you can feel it try to maintain its coherence, to consolidate, before it dissipates. It simply spreads out, like a mist the vanishes in the morning sunlight.

You scratch your head. "Ah... I've lost it," you admit to the others with a depreciative chuckle. "I guess that's my range limit, then."

But you're still not done yet, and so, you look at your own Soul Gem. There's a very thin film of corruption on it, making the white look slightly grubby. Well, that's unacceptable, and so you yank the corruption out. In your right hand, you manifest your weapon- a medieval warhammer, with a blunt end and a spiked end.

You look at the Grief hovering above your left hand, and at the warhammer on your right. You'd thought maybe you could combine the two, but the newly-there puella magi instincts are silent. You... don't think there's anything to combine there, and your warhammer is just a hammer. A peculiarly light-feeling hammer that's remarkably well balanced, you note, hefting it carefully and giving it a practice swing. But just a magically enhanced hammer.

"Ah... I think I'm done? I can cleanse gems, and use the corruption as a weapon. And I have this hammer here," you address Mami tentatively. "Unless you have any suggestions for me to try?"

"Hm..." Mami rises gracefully to her feet. "Well, maybe another time? The Witch won't wait for us forever, you know."
3
[] Write-in
- [] Hunting time
- [] A few more ideas?

=====​

Y'know, Mami's a veteran puella magi in her own right. She was perfectly willing to threaten to kill Homura in Episode One. I'm not rendering a verdict, but it's... interesting, don't you think? Threats, or deeds?

 

[Firnagzen]

"Maybe another time," you agree with Mami. A thought strikes you, and you grin at Mami. So far, you've been using the relatively formal 'Mami-san'... "I'll follow your lead, Mami-senpai."

The blonde beams at you in response, looking slightly giddy. "I won't let you down! We'll have an excellent hunt today, I'm sure of it!"

Madoka and Sayaka also stand, and seem to be about to follow you on the hunt. "Say, Mami?" you begin carefully. "I'm sure you know what you're doing, but I'm new at this business... is it really safe for Madoka and Sayaka to come on the hunt with us? I'm worried that they might get hurt."

Sayaka claps a hand against her forehead. "Oh, right! I nearly forgot!" She reaches for her bag and hauls out the handle that's been sticking out, revealing a softball bat. "Ta-dah! It's not much, but I can protect myself! And Madoka!" The bluenette claps the arm not brandishing the bat around Madoka's shoulders.

Mami laughs, clear as a bell. "Ah, it'll be fine! I've been doing this for a long time, and I'm sure you'll do well, Sabrina. Now, let's go! Do you know how to sense Witches with your Soul Gem?"

You frown, slightly. "Yes, I do know how to," you say, feeling the knowledge rise to the surface as if it's always been there. But at the same time... "I... I can sense the Witch using my magic, too, I think? It's not within my range at the moment, though."

"Well, that works too," Mami says. "Now if I remember correctly, I believe the Witch was somewhere over in that direction..." The blonde leads the way through the old industrial district, holding her Soul Gem in the palm of her hand. As she walks, she hums cheerfully to herself, and there's a spring in her step you'd swear wasn't there earlier.

You sense the Witch first, and nudge Mami. "I can feel the Witch, it's over there. That building, I think?" You point out the slightly dilapidated building. Mami nods. "Let's check it out, then."

As the four of you carefully pick your way there, meandering around the run down old buildings, the wind picks up slightly. There are some vines growing along the bottom of the building, you observe, and there're stacks of carefully wrapped glass and other building materials stacked neatly nearby.

Mami suddenly hisses out a breath, and turns to the three of you. "Let's go around the back of the building." You glance at Madoka and Sayaka, slightly confused, but the three of you acquiesce easily.
There's a bloodstained patch on the ground.
You soon locate the glowing tear in reality that marks the entrance to the Witch's barrier at the top of a flight of stairs. Mami smiles reassuringly at you, and says, "Just follow my lead, OK?" before transforming in a blaze of golden light and boldly stepping into the barrier. You follow her in.

The transition disorients you for a moment, befor-

you are surrounded by Grief​

drowning but not​

distant giggling in the abyss

You instinctively tear at the disorienting, unreal landscape around you. Bright, nauseating colours bleed and shred into bilious clouds of Grief that form behind you into two tenebrous, coiling wings that shift and warp. Subconsciously, you avoid the two shades of Grief that are behind you, just as you avoid the blaze of magic that's not so far ahead. Only when you've cleared your immediate area do you stop, gasping erratically for breath, hunched over with your hands on your knees.

"-abrina! Sabrina?"

The area immediately around you has greyed out, becoming an almost normal concrete floor. Standing beside you, half supporting you with one arm around you, is Mami. Slightly further away are Madoka and Sayaka, Madoka with her mouth half open from calling your name. Sayaka's got her bat half raised between you.

"Y-yeah," you say shakily, before straightening up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't expecting... this, thisness." You glance backwards at the two arcing, roiling wings of Grief behind you that remind you of a certain time traveller's. "I... wasn't expecting that, either."

"I'm ok," you say, when Mami still seems worried, hovering near you. "Really, I am."

"Alright, Sabrina. Shall we press on?" Mami says, tentative smile returning to her face.
2
[] Write-in

=====​

A Barrier is literally made of Grief, and y'know, Sabrina can sense the Grief on a fundamental level. She'll do better the next time, this was mostly the simple shock of oh gods Grief everywhere.

 

[Firnagzen]

"Let's go, Mami," you say, trying to look resolute.

"This way, then," Mami says, stepping forward. You shudder slightly at the wrongness of the floor beneath you, but you resist the urge to tear it to shreds. "Sabrina, you should try to learn how to tell your way in a Barrier, it's easier than knocking on every door. Madoka, Sayaka, stay close to us."

You form a warhammer in your right hand, and roll your shoulders lightly. The warhammer, a one meter long mass of steel terminating in a brutal looking hammerhead and spike combination, feels peculiarly light in your hand. It's covered in slightly baroque filigree, and you know that despite its deceptive lightness to you, it will hit as hard as it should.

"Sabrina, incoming!" Mami snaps at you. You look up, and see a whole mass of Familiars charging you. The Familiars have little puffball heads balanced on silly, spindly looking bodies that connect to a pair of butterfly wings. Each one sports a magnificently waxed moustache.

Each one is also sporting an array of thorned, vined arms that terminate in vicious looking scissors snipping hungrily in your direction and wide, glaring eyes.

"You might have made them angry, Sabrina!" Mami calls cheerfully. She reaches for her chest, and draws an ornately decorated flintlock musket from it.

The musket cracks sharply as she fires it, and a single puffball head explodes in a spray of fluff. The blonde gunner chuckles, and twirls on the spot, soft golden radiance and muskets appearing in her wake. She dives for the first one, snatching it up. Her elegant dive ends in a smooth crouch with the musket shouldered and finger already tightening on the trigger.

You look at the oncoming horde, gesture sharply with your left hand, and an entire swathe of Familiars simply dissolves, collapsing into fine sprays of ash as you tear the Grief sustaining them away. Fingers hook into vicious claws, and the Grief warps into razor sharp shards. A feral grin comes unbidden to your face and you swipe sideways, tearing through the familiars. Sharp cracks accompany explosions of fluff as Mami weaves shots between your scything blades.

Mami glances back at you and grins, pure and unadulterated. She launches herself forward, and you follow, gamely sheperding Madoka and Sayaka along.

"Behin-!" Madoka yelps, but you're already spinning on spot, warhammer coming up in a long, arcing sweep that terminates in a blow to the Familiar behind you. A split second later, Mami lands from an impossibly high jump, both boots crushing down on another Familiar you hadn't seen.

"Mustn't be cocky, Sabrina!" Mami admonishes you. You roll your eyes, and dart past her, wings of Grief coiling protectively in front of you. You snap them out straight as your crash into the center of a forming mass of Familiars, cleaving through the mass. Scissors shatter and Familiars shatter into sprays of powder as you drain away their Grief. Your hammer flicks out in flashing arcs, spike and hammerhead claiming their tithe of Familiars. Mami's shots fall like thunderbolts, thinning out the herd before you close.

Together, the two of you effortlessly smash your way through the Familiars in a symphony of flickering golden shots and the deep purple shimmer of Grief, leaving not a single one standing. Madoka and Sayaka trail through the carnage, simply watching on in silent awe.

"Left, Sabrina!" Mami calls as you round a corner. You pivot on a heel, and almost run face first into a door, which promptly opens in front of you. A moment of dist-

-ortion.​

And you're standing on a balcony, looking down on an enormous, nauseating mass of green. Perversions of butterfly wings jut out from an arcing orange body that bears upon it what could be, generously, called a rosebush, if the rosebush had been born of the fever dreams of a terminal drug addict.

Gertrud.

"And that's the Witch," Mami says, coming up behind you.

"Tha- that?" Sayaka stammers.

"You're going to fight that, Mami?" Madoka flinches. "It feels... wrong," she adds, glancing sidelong at your wings of corruption, still roiling tenebrously over your shoulders.

"Don't worry, we can definitely handle it," Mami says reassuringly. "Isn't that right, Sabrina?"
1
[] Fight it together
[] Try to solo it
[] Let Mami handle it
[] Write-in

=====​

rekt.

Mami is incredibly badass. And what Sabrina lacks in experience and finesse, she makes up for in raw power.

Then again, they're just Familiars.

 

[Firnagzen]

"Yeah. Let's do this," you nod, adrenaline fading slightly. This is it. This is real. You're going to go up against a giant, eldritch horror literally born of despair and suffering.

Mami takes Sayaka's bat, and slams it against the ground hard enough to crack ersatz concrete. She catches your eye with a small smile. "I'll teach you how to do this sometime; it took me a long time to learn on my own." Finishing, she takes a long step off the balcony, and you follow.

You instinctively land on your feet behind Mami, noting that Gertrud is still ignoring you. The moment that you touch the ground, however, the Witch whirls in place to face you in an impossible action entirely too light for something its size. A low, gurgling roar fills the air, thrumming against your skin and sending Mami's hair-drills flapping.

A crash, and the enormous couch the Witch had been perching on comes flying at you. Mami dives left, while you dive right. For a moment, your wings of corruption flare wide, boosting you further than you should go.

Mami dips into a curtsy at the Witch, muskets sliding out from under her skirt. You shake your head, slightly amused at her theatricality, before you're forced to dance out of the way of black tentacles emerging from the ground.

Gertrud leaps into the air, borne aloft on furiously flapping butterfly wings. Sharp cracks fill the air as Mami opens fire with the thicket of muskets surrounding her, snatching up one after another and firing with preternatural accuracy. Chunks fly from the Witch as each shot smashes home.

A furious buzzing alerts you, and you instinctively leap backwards as a conglomeration of flying Familiars dive bomb you. Your warhammer flicks around and punts the mass into the far wall, exploding in a spray of fluff. You don't see it, though, dodging as you are the viper-quick tentacles harrying you.

One finally snakes around your leg and whips you into the air, before slamming you against the wall. Despite having shattered concrete in the impact, you're barely dazed, and a second later, your wings snap out, slicing through the tentacle. You land, wings flaring wide to soften the landing, just in time to hear Mami call out, voice ringing like a clarion, "Tiro-"

"-FINALE!"

An enormous boom, more akin to a roll of thunder than any firearm, echoes through the chamber, and the Witch simply dies without ceremony, vanishing in a blaze of light.

Mami lands daintily on her feet, before spinning delicately to catch a teacup and saucer. She sips elegantly from the cup and winks at you, before turning to smile at Madoka and Sayaka, still watching from the balcony.

You have no idea where that cup came from.

A clacking noise marks Gertrud's Grief Seed falling to the ground not far from you, and the Barrier starts to waver, like a projection on a flapping cloth.

In your senses, you can feel the entire Barrier break up and fall inwards toward the Grief Seed; an ocean going down an enormous drain. You relinquish your control over your wings of Grief, and the Grief is similarly caught up in the flow, pouring into the Grief Seed.

The Barrier vanishes without fuss as Mami walks over to the fallen Grief Seed.

Where did that cup go?

"That was amazing, Mami, Sabrina!" Madoka exclaims.

"Yeah!" Sayaka pumps her fist in agreement.

"That might have been the fastest I've ever cleared a Witch," Mami declares. "You did very well, Sabrina! Are you sure this was your first hunt?"

You can sense a somewhat familiar presence, of Grief and magic, nearby.

[] no seriously what's up with that cup explain ex-plain EX-PLAIN!
[] Good instincts, I guess?
[] Gem cleaning time!
[] Hey, Homura, I know you're there.
[] Write-in

=====​

Elsewhere.

"I want to learn the meaning of my life! This is my wish. This is my prayer. Fulfill it, Kyuubey!"

=====​

And here ends chapter one: Unforeseen Consequences.
Geddit? Unforeseen? Because the precog wasn't contracted yet. ... I'll see myself out.
Let the games... begin.

---

This thread was crowned as one of the "Elements of Sufficient Velocity" during the forum's 2023 "Sufficiently Skeletons" Spring Event! Take a look below!

​

Spoiler: Element of SV

5. The writer's block is made of rock, not bread​

 

[Firnagzen]

You stare at Mami's hand, holding the Grief Seed.

"Buh," you say eloquently, waving your left hand. "Cup? Tea? Wha-? I don't even-"

You get some odd looks from Madoka and Sayaka, and a knowing grin from Mami, who simply replies, corner of her mouth tugging up, "Yes, Sabrina?"

"But. Cup?" you stutter, brow furrowed. You raise one shaking finger. "Wh-where did the cup go? Where'd you even get it from?"

Mami winks at you, smirk blossoming into a full grin. "Maybe I'll teach you some day. I have to keep a few secrets for myself!"

Sayaka shakes her head with a laugh. "You have magic and wings and stuff, and what you're most bothered about is a teacup? You're weird, Sabrina." She punches you lightly on the shoulder.

You shake your head, trying to put the thought aside. "But magic doesn- Ahem. Yes. Magic. Anyway, Mami, cleansing?"

"Ah... I suppose so," Mami glances down at the Grief Seed she's still holding in her hand. In the now-familiar burst of light, she untransforms, and holds out her Soul Gem. It's slightly dimmer than it was earlier.

You pull on the Grief clouding her Soul Gem, and it comes free as a mist that drifts over to hang before you. After a moment's thought, you cleanse your own gem, siphoning out the Grief to join the small cloud hovering before you.

"Thank you, Sabrina," Mami says with a smile. She looks down at the Grief Seed again, before clearly coming to a decision. She pivots and tosses the little spiked ball into a shadowed corner of the building. Madoka and Sayaka's eyes follow the motion.

There's a sharp smack of someone catching it in their bare hands.

"I won't be needing this one, so you may have it," Mami calls, smiling pleasantly. Only the slight tension around her eyes betrays her thoughts.

"Homura!" you telepath urgently. "Accept it, please!"

Homura stalks out of the shadows, one hand holding up the Grief Seed.

A long, pregnant pause, as she stares at Mami, and then looks at you. Very slowly, she lowers her hand, and slips the Grief Seed into her pocket.

You let out a breath you didn't know you'd been holding.

"... thank you, Mami," Homura says, rolling the words as if they're unfamiliar to her.

"You're welcome, Akemi Homura," Mami says. Her stance eases, very slightly.

Homura turns and stalks off into the shadows, quickly disappearing from sight.

Sayaka growls softly. "Gah! Yeah, she better be grateful! That was all your hard work!"

Madoka sighs and looks down, twiddling her fingers. "If only we could get along."

"I'm not sure that's out of the question, Madoka," you say. "As you said, I don't think she's a bad person."

"I hope so," Madoka replies.

You're all quiet for a moment.

"Shall we go for dinner, then?" Mami says, finally. She turns to walk away.

"That sounds great! I'm starved," Sayaka agrees.

You nod in agreement. "Yeah. Let's." You untransform as you follow Mami, allowing the small cloud of Grief to trail along behind you like a malevolent helium balloon.

Mami leads the way unerringly out of the old industrial district, and you quickly find yourselves in a fast food restaurant, digging hungrily into a simple burger and fries.

"Sabrina?" Madoka asks as you bite into the burger again. She sounds preoccupied. "I had an idea... maybe you should check with the school whether you're enrolled with them?"

You chew and swallow the mouthful of burger. "That's... a good idea," you say, slowly. "What schools are in this area?"

"Mitakihara Middle School, where we go to, and Shirome," Mami supplies, looking thoughtful. "To start with, anyway. They're near where you were found," she adds, glancing at Madoka for confirmation and receiving a nod in response. "I can ask at Mitakihara School tomorrow for you, and maybe you could go and ask at Shirome?"

[] Write-in

=====​

Chapter two: Entanglement