Also, depending on Sayaka's mental state, it may just scare her more if we come flying down at her in grief armor and blazing black wings made of despair and anguish. At least leave the helmet off and make sure we're recognizable. :V
 

Whoops.

[x] Gadjo

Jokes aside, the Kai vote reeks of the excessive paranoia I very much dislike. Also If we're trying to calm Homu and Mami down, then coming to a scene with full active grief armor and sensors is probably going to do the exact opposite of calming anyone down.
 
Jokes aside, the Kai vote reeks of the excessive paranoia I very much dislike. Also If we're trying to calm Homu and Mami down, then coming to a scene with full active grief armor and sensors is probably going to do the exact opposite of calming anyone down.
I think we could get a pass on the armor, but sensors... yeah. Witchy grief, after what just happened with Mami?

Witchy grief hasn't proved to be nearly as useful as we hoped it'd be, has it?
 
I think we could get a pass on the armor, but sensors... yeah. Witchy grief, after what just happened with Mami?

Witchy grief hasn't proved to be nearly as useful as we hoped it'd be, has it?

It's fine when we're alone but, when we're in a group, the downsides are pretty significant. It's the downsides that need to be worked on.
 
It's fine when we're alone but, when we're in a group, the downsides are pretty significant. It's the downsides that need to be worked on.
Thing is, there's usually others things to do.

We can't use witchy grief to hide witchy grief.

The 'Sabrina feeling' to go along the 'witchy feeling' would be an unoptimal solution, and since it's purely magic-based, it could take several 'science' slots to complete, so probably no worth it; something else more useful/easier to achieve should pop up.

I don't remember any other ideas for this.

It's like, we got Witchy powers, what did we expect? Witches fight alone. (Except Margot. And Walpurgisnacht? And Sabrina. You get the point.)

Maybe we can network this one? When we go out of the city to do mass grief cleansing, we could ask if there's any meguca with concealment based magic? Ideally, somebody would be able to magically charge a pebble or something else small, so when we make a witchy objects around said magical objects, its magic would hide the witchiness. Since we cleanse gems, the magic charge could get quite high, so it would last.

We can do this while we also ask if any meguca could fake us an ID.
 
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Thing is, there's usually others things to do.

We can't use witchy grief to hide witchy grief.

The 'Sabrina feeling' to go along the 'witchy feeling' would be an unoptimal solution, and since it's purely magic-based, it could take several 'science' slots to complete, so probably no worth it; something else more useful/easier to achieve should pop up.

I don't remember any other ideas for this.

It's like, we got Witchy powers, what did we expect? Witches fight alone. (Except Margot. And Walpurgisnacht? And Sabrina. You get the point.)

Maybe we can network this one? When we go out of the city to do mass grief cleansing, we could ask if there's any meguca with concealment based magic? Ideally, somebody would be able to magically charge a pebble or something else small, so when we make a witchy objects around said magical objects, its magic would hide the witchiness. Since we cleanse gems, the magic charge could get quite high, so it would last.

We can do this while we also ask if any meguca could fake us an ID.

There's a lot we'd need to set up, but if we can get enchantment going, we can make significant headway. Both in concealing our grief and carrying it. Maybe even masking it with enchantment before applying witchy grief.
 
Our Benefactor pt. 26
You nod sharply, glancing over at Homura. She's a tight wound spring, muscles tense, and hands clenched over the grip of her pistol. Her finger, thankfully, isn't sitting on the trigger yet, merely lying flat along the guard. You briefly wonder where she learned trigger safety, but...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Homura lets out a quiet breath, glancing at you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Damn," you mutter under your breath.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"There," Homura murmurs, spotting Sayaka first.

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

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

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

[] Write-in

=====​

Do you hear that?
 
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What? Money? Feather's laughter? Homura's patience straining?

Did... Hitomi's Witch's Kiss get passed on to Sayaka due to feathers and butterflies?

Last time, we were rather sure we could deal with Witch Kisses same as we deal with familiars.
 
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Ok. Just a reminder, witch kisses are made of grief, so we should be able to dispel it, like we do with a witch barrier. This may bring the witch into timestop though? Don't think it will, but worth being wary of.

Also a reminder that we are in timestop and so there's no urgent need to act immediately without consideration.




Are we supposed to hear something?
 
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[X] Cleanse Witch Kiss, first trying grief bending, then resorting to regular magic if shadowruns are a little more correct than they usually are
[X] Listen. Something is wrong here, we just don't know what. Yet.
[X] If nothing comes up, find and kill the witch.

Behold, my perfect plan of perfection! There is no way that this could go wrong!
 
The sound is clearly distant player screaming.

Alternatively, it's @Ugolino trying to break free of the kiss. :V

But yeah, so, I'm thinking we grab Sayaka and interrogate her. Figure out what she remembers of the afternoon and evening. What did she do after school?

Hmm... Important: "Where did you meet Mami and I after school?"

Convergence of timelines means different possibilities exist. Maybe also ask what she did in class today. Do you think that the timeline merger is uniform across all persons and objects?
 
Something nice:
"I..." she licks her lips. "I'm n-not sure that Mikuni is... correct. I-I'm sure you haven't m-misjudged her! But she could be wrong..."
Mami's not feeling so badly that she couldn't speak up, though she would have been more than willing to say this in front of Oriko were she in a good state of mind.
 
[X] Cleanse Witch Kiss, first trying grief bending, then resorting to regular magic if shadowruns are a little more correct than they usually are
[X] Listen. Something is wrong here, we just don't know what. Yet.
[X] If nothing comes up, find and kill the witch.

Behold, my perfect plan of perfection! There is no way that this could go wrong!
Shouldn't we first passively analyze the Witch Kiss to the best of our ability so that we understand what it is that we're trying to dispel? Any connections leading off into the distance, mental effects, that sort of thing.
 
Something nice:

Mami's not feeling so badly that she couldn't speak up, though she would have been more than willing to say this in front of Oriko were she in a good state of mind.
This has been a nerve wracking day for them, I'm sure she still feels the tension that was around the room.
 
Poor Oriko.
Nobody's trusting her.

Messing with the witch kiss could be a bad idea, since it is directly affecting Sayaka's mental state.
We should be careful when dealing with that. No need to repeat the familair situation from before.
 
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