The best thing is that the strength of grief is so high that it probably could serve as a small ark for us and our friends while we irradiate this quadrant of the galaxy and eradicate most of the rock of our home planet. Or worse.
That'll make Kyuubey think twice about fighting us!
The best thing is that the strength of grief is so high that it probably could serve as a small ark for us and our friends while we irradiate this quadrant of the galaxy and eradicate most of the rock of our home planet. Or worse.
That'll make Kyuubey think twice about fighting us!
Homura nods faintly and stands, murmuring something about needing to go to the toilet before excusing herself from the room.
Now that you think about it, you're not sure if Homura can summon her shield without transforming. Admittedly, even if she could, it wouldn't help to hide it here - it's her shield, and not exactly the most inconspicuous thing in the world. So it makes sense that she would step out of the room to use her timest-
-op.
Ah. Well. Speak of the devil.
... unfortunate phrasing aside.
You don't think that Homura's the devil, anyway.
Homura's kneeling beside you, a hand on your shoulder sufficient to draw you into a world of endless silence and deadened colour. Madoka's clinging to Homura's sleeve, eyes wide, and of course, you have your hand stroking slowly through Mami's hair.
Mami takes a breath and sits up, drawing ribbon to loop from herself, to Homura, to Madoka. You smile at her, wrapping your arm around her waist and pulling her hip-top-hip.
"Thanks, Homura," you say, motioning for everyone to sit down. "Thanks for... well, thanks for coming, Madoka."
"It's fine," Homura murmurs. Madoka nods in agreement, fidgeting anxiously with the ribbon attached to her waist. "What's happening?"
"I want to tell Sayaka and Hitomi about my knowledge," you say. "They're my friends, and they deserve to know."
"Ah," Madoka says, and nods vigorously enough to set her twintails flying. "That's a good idea! I thought she knew already..."
Mami smiles warmly at you. "I agree," she murmurs.
And Homura rounds out the agreement with a small nod.
"Oh," you say, blinking. "Uhhh. I hadn't expected, uh, unanimous agreement."
Mami giggles, joined by Madoka. The laughter is welcome in the timestop, bright, vibrant life that's swallowed by the endless silence, but something that brightens the mood regardless.
"I think it's good to be open with everyone!" Madoka says, nodding determinedly.
"I wouldn't not support you, Sabrina," Mami says fondly. She reaches up to toy with your ear, tracing a featherlight touch along the shell.
Homura shrugs again. "Now?" she asks.
"... I suppose so?" you say, leaning against Mami's touch. You're not sure what to do when you don't have to face some kind of resistance to you wanting to Do Things. It's like bracing against the wind only for it to vanish on you. "Um, or maybe after we finish all our homework?"
"We can continue our homework later," Mami says with a nod. "No time like the present... admittedly, there is no time at the present."
You can't help the snicker, grinning sidelong at Homura. Her expression isn't quite blank: unimpressed, but ever so slightly amused at the joke, though some of that you'll attribute to Madoka's adorable giggles. You're getting better at understanding Homu-ese, you think.
"Um... I was thinking we should tell the Pleiades too, at some point in the future," you add, just as Homura starts to rise to her feet.
She frowns. "Do you trust them?" she asks.
"I trust Kazumi," Mami says.
"You don't know the others," Homura responds, but she isn't looking at you. Her gaze bores into yours, intent and sharp.
"That's true," Mami says. "But Kazumi trusts them, and that has to count for something."
You rub your nose, thinking. Homura's expecting an answer from you. "I think so," you say with a heavy sigh. "I mean, I... I guess I'm not saying we tell them now. We should get to know them better - get to know all of them. But I think they have the right attitude, you know? And they deserve to know too, considering I know about them."
"I think that's very fair," Mami agrees with a smile.
Homura nods once, sharp and jerky. "More information first."
"OK, then," you say, relieved. "It's settled. Um, now for Sayaka and Hitomi."
"I'll get them," Mami says, raising her free hand. She flicks it in a smooth motion that sends ribbons sailing in a lazy ballistic arc towards where Sayaka and Hitomi are lying. Perfect shots, of course, colour bleeding into your friends at the touch.
Hitomi sucks in a shocked breath, lurching up into a half-kneel. "What-"
"It's alright!" Madoka's there, a calming hand on Hitomi's shoulder.
"What's going on?" Sayaka asks, similarly pushing herself upright. Her eyes flick from side to side, taking in the colour-leached world of Homura's timestop.
"Ah, this is Homura's power!" Madoka says. "Um..."
"Timestop," Homura murmurs quietly. "Time is frozen, apart from what I touch." She lifts her arm, ribbon trailing from her wrist.
"I... see," Hitomi says, giving Umika's frozen body an uncomfortable look. Her gaze shifts to stare around at the frozen emptiness of her room, colours bleached to cold grey, and she plucks at the ribbon looped around her wrist. "It's... a little strange. Ah, no offense intended."
"It's one of the strongest powers in existence," you say, defensive on Homura's behalf. "It stops time. Or maybe it just makes us move infinitely fast, I'm not sure. Same difference, really. Theory of relativity and all... actually I'm not sure if that applies here."
You shake your head, clearing those thoughts aside. Homura gives you a bemused look, but you press on. "Anyway. The more important point is, we can speak privately here, even from Kyuubey, and there are things I... I feel I should tell you."
"Oh," Sayaka says. "What about?"
Like how you might actually be an angel of Madokami, you don't say. Of course, you'd swear she's dropping hints, but each and every one of them are equally explicable as simple coincidence and Sayaka being Sayaka.
"About... Well, about myself," is what you say instead, hugging Mami a little closer and drawing strength from the contact. "Yeah, I know it sounds egotistical. But... OK, look, I'm weird."
"You only just noticed?" Sayaka says, smirk flickering across her face.
"Sabrina's not weird," Mami protests. "You're not weird, Sabrina."
"I'm quirky," you say, grinning. "Really, though... There are legitimately some strange things about me. You remember how you met me, yeah?"
"You threw up on me in that alley," Sayaka says.
"I didn't throw up on you," you say. "Close thing, but I didn't actually do it. The point is, I woke up without any memory of a past. But that doesn't mean I didn't know anything when I woke up."
"Yeah," Sayaka says, frowning. "You knew about magical girls, and Kyuubey, and stuff."
"Exactly," you say, glancing at Hitomi to see how she's taking it in. You're not sure she ever heard this part of your story, really, unless perhaps Madoka and Sayaka told her. She seems to be taking it alright, however, expression careful as she absorbs the information.
You nod slowly to yourself and continue. "The thing is, that's... not the only thing I knew when I woke up," you say, and take a deep breath. "I knew about you. I knew about Mami, and Homura, and Madoka... I- I knew about you."
Sayaka rocks back on her heels, frowning.
"What do you mean?" Hitomi asks. Her expression is carefully neutral, blank enough that you can't really read her.
"I knew facts about you," you say. "The same way I knew about magical girls, when I first woke up. I didn't know you as people, as friends, I just knew you like I'd read about you somehow."
"Ah," Hitomi says, pursing her lips. She shrugs daintily after a moment of thought. "Is that all?"
"... what do you mean, 'is that all'?" you splutter.
"What am I supposed to say to that revelation?" Hitomi says with another shrug. "You're too earnest to lie to us, and you're too you to be malicious. And... Madoka, Homura, and Mami already know, I presume, and we're all still here."
Mami giggles, leaning against you.
"Ugh," Sayaka grumbles, and deflates. "Yeah, you know what? Hitomi's right. I've got nothing to say except why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"I wanted to," you say honestly. "I just... never found the right time for it. It just never felt like the right time, so I just... did it."
"There's never a perfect time to do something," Hitomi says philosophically. "There are certainly bad times, but there will never be a perfect time to do something."
Sayaka sighs, and slumps over into her pile of pillows. "Yeah, see," she says. "Someone else, I'd be angry with. Suspicious. You could have manipulated us. On the other hand, you're you."
"You're not mad at all?" you ask. You'd half expected that.
"I... I don't know," Sayaka admits. "I'm kind of... I don't know, weirded out, I guess. It's not the weirdest thing, coming from you, but it is pretty strange, you know?"
"I can understand that," you say. "Hitomi?"
"It changes nothing," Hitomi declares. "As long as you haven't been trying to manipulate us."
"If I had, I wouldn't admit it, right?" you say, shaking your head. "But... no. I suppose that's all I can say. I haven't. I want to be your friends, and I want everyone to be happy."
"Good enough," Hitomi says, nodding. "Now, can I get back to my homework? I really do need to finish it tonight."
"Technically you could just finish it all in timestop," you say, and grin at her. "It's timestop."
Hitomi wrinkles her nose. "No thank you."
"Sayaka? Are you alright?" Madoka prompts, giving her friend an anxious look.
"I suppose so," Sayaka says, blowing out a hard breath and meeting your eyes. "I don't believe you're some kind of master manipulator or anything, so... yeah. I believe you. I... kinda want to know what you knew about me, though."
"Headstrong, stubborn and sometimes too righteous for your own good," you say with a faint smile. "But also loyal, fiercely righteous, and a good person."
"So... when you say you know I'll become a great magical girl, and you send me out for training..." Sayaka ventures.
"Funnily enough, I don't know how things go when you Wish for copying powers," you admit, ignoring the way Homura twitches. "I know how it goes when you get healing powers, though!"
"Healing powers?" Sayaka asks, frowning for a second before realising. "Oh. I see."
"You are a great magical girl, anyway," you say, leaning forward a little to flick her forehead. "I mean it."
"Yeah, yeah," Sayaka says, burrowing back into her stack of pillows. "Can we go back to normal now? It's so quiet here."
"Well... one more thing?" you say. "Um, well. As I said earlier, I don't want Kyuubey learning about this, so... could you do me a favour and not bring it up outside of timestop or one of my privacy bubbles? Um, I figure I can get you and Kazumi to learn how to make them, too."
"Duh," Sayaka says. "Who'd I talk about it to, anyway?"
"Likewise," Hitomi agrees. "I can keep a secret."
"Alright, then," you say.
"Places, everybody," Mami says, smiling and lying down next to you, as she was before. "Otherwise it'll be rather strange."
"Uhh," Sayaka says, trying to arrange herself properly. "OK."
Homura sighs, looking put upon, but stands and walks over to nudge Sayaka's pose. Hitomi manages herself, and Madoka hurries back to where she'd been lying down. It only takes a few minutes, and then Mami disconnects the ribbons from Homura to return you to normal time.
The rest of the evening flies by. The Asunaro trio don't seem to have noticed your extra-temporal jaunt, and they seem perfectly happy to luxuriate in the downtime. They're practically on vacation - which in retrospect is probably exactly why they're so happy to simply relax. You chat with them as time rolls by, and you help out with homework in between cuddling Mami.
Eventually, it's about time to leave. You can't resist bringing the topic back to Hitomi's mother, though, because seriously, that's thrown you for a loop. An adult who knows about magical girls.
"You know," you say, half draped over Mami, who's lying facedown on some pillows. "Speaking of strange, I'm still weirded out by Mrs Shizuki knowing about magic."
"I need to talk to her," Hitomi agrees with a quiet chuckle. "I had no idea."
"Yeah," Sayaka muses. "I kinda wanna tell mama and papa, but..."
"It's scary?" Madoka suggests, gathering the notes she has strewn everywhere. "I'm not a magical girl, but it's still a big secret."
"Pretty much that," Sayaka agrees, and waves a sheet of paper which you'd used to scribble notes on to help explain. "By the way, Sabrina, can I keep these?"
"Uh, sure, Sayaka. Also, I kind of want to bring everyone in eventually," you say. "Mrs Shizuki, maybe... she's going to tell your dad too, Hitomi. Not yet, but..."
"Oh," Hitomi says, pursing her lips. "I see. What does she know?"
"The basics," you say. "Magic, magical girls, hunting Witches for Grief Seeds, and Soul Gems."
"Ah, I see," Hitomi says, nodding as she stands and carries her neatly stacked homework over to her desk. "Thank you."
"I'm kind of hoping to broach the topic of meguca and business somehow," you say. "Magical girl hotel and therapy!"
Sayaka snickers. "Yeah, sounds about right for you," she agrees.
"I like the idea!" Kaoru volunteers. "I dunno, I wouldn't mind having somewhere nice to stay where I can just kick back."
"Our house isn't enough?" Umika says, arching an eyebrow.
"Oh, you know what I mean," Kaoru says, poking her in the side. "You know, for vacations and stuff."
"Knowing my mother, she doubtless wants to hire magical girls, too," Hitomi muses.
"Yeah, she actually asked me about that," you admit. "Wanted to know if there were magical girls in business. We'd bring, well, unique abilities to the table."
"It does seem like a good idea when put that way," Mami says. "I wonder if anyone ever Wished for accounting powers? Umm, Sabrina, could you help me get my bag?"
"Sure," you say, smiling at her and sending Grief drifting out to collect said schoolbag.
"Ew," Kazumi says. "That's way too responsible."
"I mean, with seven -eight?- billion people on the planet, some girl, somewhere, must have Wished for it," you say.
"I'm with Kazumi," Sayaka says. "Ew."
"Accountant-guca is out there somewhere," you say, shaking your fist at the sky. "Also, considering we just spent the entire evening in a group homework session, I don't know if you have any grounds to talk about being too responsible."
Kazumi raises a finger, mouth opening, before shutting it with a click and lowering the finger. "Dammit."
"You don't even have to do this homework," Sayaka says, scowling. "That makes you even more responsible."
"Miss Responsibility, that's me!" Kazumi says, grinning and flashing a thumbs-up. Umika snorts, patting Kazumi's head.
You roll off Mami's back and stand, twisting from side to side to work the kinks out of your spine. Mami stands too, beaming at you and cuddling against your side.
"Thank you for having us over, Hitomi," Mami says.
"Yeah, thanks, Hitomi," you agree, smiling. That sets off a round of thanks as you make your way over to the exit. Mrs Shizuki hears the commotion, it seems, because she comes over to say her goodbyes, too. Sadly, Hitomi's father is apparently still busy. You can hear vaguely angry tones coming through the wall.
Mrs Shizuki notices your concerned look, it seems. "The company is having trouble with a client," she notes. "Nothing to worry about."
"Ah," you say, nodding. "Thank you for having us over, Mrs Shizuki."
"No, thank you for bringing a little wonder back into my life," Mrs Shizuki says with a hint of a smile.
Voting opens
[] Any parting words?
[] Anything to talk to your friends about as you leave?
[] Any last events to hit before turning in?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
It's 10:30PM, thereabouts. There's time for one last thing if it's short, but Madoka and Sayaka need to head home.
[Offended bristling]
"Ma'am, I'll have you know I am a Godoka Blessed World Wonder with a capital Dubya, and this is Mami. Mami! We are no mere little wonders!"
[ ] Tell Sayaka and Hitomi that you're planning to confess your love to Violin Boy soon, but since they knew him first, they can have dibs if they act fast.
I feel like there hasn't been enough drama in the last couple updates.
"Funnily enough, I don't know how things go when you Wish for copying powers," you admit, ignoring the way Homura twitches. "I know how it goes when you get healing powers, though!"
"Healing powers?" Sayaka asks, frowning for a second before realising. "Oh. I see."
"There's never a perfect time to do something," Hitomi says philosophically. "There are certainly bad times, but there will never be a perfect time to do something."
So, some of you know that there's a thing I've been looking to have Sabrina do when we get back to the apartment, something that I've had planned to vote in for months now.
[ ] Upon getting home, check your original clothes, see if maybe there was something in your pockets that you missed.
Because, you know, we never actually checked, and at the beginning of the quest, there was much more specific detail going into what we had Sabrina do... and she's never looked at those clothes again.
Idly thinking of letting Hitomi's mother know that they'll be up to their eyeballs in magical girls soon, and there's a good chance that their powers will slant towards non-combat utility stuff, but it's a bit early for that.
Also... is her father's job known? I know it's not likely to be related, but we did meddle in the Sakura Church thing.
So, some of you know that there's a thing I've been looking to have Sabrina do when we get back to the apartment, something that I've had planned to vote in for months now.
[ ] Upon getting home, check your original clothes, see if maybe there was something in your pockets that you missed.
Because, you know, we never actually checked, and at the beginning of the quest, there was much more specific detail going into what we had Sabrina do... and she's never looked at those clothes again.
[] Give Madoka and Hitomi a hug, because you haven't given either of them one yet, and that's unacceptable. Especially Momdoka.
[] Assure Sayaka that we'll get her Accountant-guca's power to copy one day. Enjoy her reaction.
[] Try to have Kazumi copy your Sabrina Airlines grief-plane.
As for meguca that would be particularly useful in business: teleporters/portal-makers, mind-readers, healers, technopaths, enchanters (things like Nadia's translation enchantment would be pretty useful), telekinetics/geokinetics, and growth-powers (like the plant-growth/control). If Oriko can get her precognition back someday, then that would be hugely useful in the business world. Homura's timestop obviously has uses, but there's no way she'd take the time to do something like that for something unrelated to her mission (unless it was really important), and she might not keep said power after Walpurgisnacht. And there are probably lots of girls with more esoteric powers that could be useful, too.
And yeah, Sabrina is totally the foil of Kirika. Granted, Sabrina is more of the "ambitious, with big plans" of the pair, while Oriko, the ojou, is that type among that pair, but that's about it.
"Hey, Homura? Remember that time you insisted that you and Madoka weren't like Kirika and Oriko? You were right, of course; Mami and I are much more like Kirika and Oriko."
(And yes, the whole "She's quirky" thing was what Oriko said in response to us saying that Kirika was messed in the head by her wish.)
