Yeah. These days that's peanuts compared to what we can use now.
Remember when this was a lot?
Puella Magi Adfligo Systema
- Thread starter Firnagzen
- Start date
-
- Tags
- puella magi adfligo systema puella magi madoka magica be gay do crimes (gay) female protagonist bad decisions dating mami tomoe (tomoe mami) diabolical laughter friendship is the best ship handholding identity crises microwaving tea gets you put in the bad place names are important the body is the fursona of the soul this is not the baked goods thread we don't talk about rionna what could possibly go wrong? who in the world is azure sanfrancisco?
The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
As if hammerspace ever stopped us from carting around a small apartment building's worth of grief.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
As if hammerspace ever stopped us from carting around a small apartment building's worth of grief.
For all intents and purposes, Sabrina has already Witched out for superpowers.
That's why Dedolere is so dangerous, cuz what happens when a Witch Witches our? Homucifer happens.
Dedolere, the Witch of Grief, her Nature is Escalation.
Loops
...
Seems so silly that anyone would think that that tiny amount of marbles was a lot, eh? How times have changed... 😅
Remember when this was a lot?
- Location
- Florida
Somewhere in a distant universe, Taylor Hebert twitched.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
*double taps her undead, Parasite-ridden corpse again*
Not today, Zombie Taylor.
AionVal
(Verified Figment)
- Location
- Beyond The Veil
I do miss the fuck you coobi factor of having a bunch of grief spheres floating around wherever we go.
- Location
- Here
We could go back to doing that, even if it's no longer a significant part of our storage, just for effect.
AionVal
(Verified Figment)
- Location
- Beyond The Veil
I'm very tempted to ask for Sabrina taunting coobi by just going to random people in the street and using magic and/or grief. Just for the sheer pleasure of giving coobi more work.
But we don't actually like the idea of having the little white rat monkeying with people's brains... *sigh*
Obviously, the trick is to use the grief as cooby treats.
"Look, it's delicious grief! Do you want it? Huh? Huh? Who's a good boy?"
SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Kind of funny, really. Taylor pretty much Witched-Out For Super Powers, and it worked. I mean, it had a horrible cost to herself, but it worked. And she managed to kill a god with it, while rapidly losing her sanity.
yeah, the more relevant division between then and now is clear seeds, since that's where we got the majority of the large quantities of grief.As if hammerspace ever stopped us from carting around a small apartment building's worth of grief.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
I'm pretty sure there are fanfics like that.
AionVal
(Verified Figment)
- Location
- Beyond The Veil
Oh, I have no doubt, it was just a
Also, dude, don't you ever sleep? 'm impressed.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
I think I do?
Full seven hours.
The next of which come in five hours, btw.
Altria_Pendragon
(Verified - SG-i13 Rhongomyniad)
- Location
- World's End Pillar
I believe the technical term for this is "Latria-ing".
Thankfully, there's (hopefully) not going to be a Latria/Sotria surprise here.
Incidentally, Elisa Celjska's Doppel, Ein Roter Drache (lit. "a red dragon"), is... a dragon. (Or it appears to be more accurately a wyvern but...)
A dragon likely would require a bit of independence (i.e. "that looks like a familiar"), which would cause... issues. Plus whatever issues the making of such a dragon would result in: what if it grew greef sid? What would be the result of said "greef sid"? Risk of Feathered Serpent? Turning said greef sid back into sool jim? The last thing that should be worried about is the possibility of a Dragon Witch resulting. (No, the purified meguca if greef sid turn to sool jim (probably) won't be a hybrid of Jeanne Alter and said Elisa. Which itself gives implications to an "Alter" of the Tart Magica Jeanne.)
And that's why there's... probably no dragon hatching. Mecha-dragons are fair game, though, obviously.
Last edited:
Office Complex pt. 26
"Now- uhhh," You choke back your instinctive, delighted response, and substitute it for something a little more reasonable, but you can't help the grin that splits your face. "Toooooonight, if you want? I'll head back and talk to Mami in-person, but our schedules are pretty clear, I think."
"Wai-" Kyouko flinches. "Tonight? But I-"
"Is that... too soon?" you venture. Dammit, you should have thought of this - of course Kyouko would need time to gather herself too. This isn't the work of a day, even if you've been chiselling away at it for wee-
"No, fuck that," Kyouko says, jaw jutting. She grabs the lollipop still dangling from her mouth and crunches it hard. "Tonight. You better not wimp out on me."
You blink, and look at Kyouko, really look at her. Because beneath that bravado, beneath that prickly shell, is fear. Fear and hope and guilt and could-have-been and regrets, a raw, festering stew of feelings that were never really resolved. Heck, if things had gone differently between them, you might not be Mami's girlfriend.
You set aside the pang at that thought.
"I'll confirm it later, then," you say, rather than voice any of your thoughts or the reassurances on the tip of your tongue. She'd spurn them at the best of times, and this... isn't the best of times. "Would you prefer we meet in your territory, or in Mitakihara? It's your choice."
"Wherever the fuck," Kyouko grunts.
"Alright. I'll let you know," you say, nodding firmly.
"Right," Kyouko says, shouldering her spear and slouching abruptly outright. "I'm gonna go find Wondergirl."
"By the way, I was meaning to ask," you say. Topic over, by decree of Kyouko, new topic located. "Is that an Evangelion reference?"
"What? No the fuck it isn't," Kyouko says. She pauses, and frowns at you. "Wait."
You snicker, and grin at her. "Is it?"
"Shut up," Kyouko says.
"Anyway, try not to rough her up too much?" you say, following as she starts picking her way past the trees. "I've got other important stuff to sit her down to talk for, and I'd rather she be awake for it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kyouko says, scowling.
You find Sayaka and Yuma still sparring past the trees, both of them making use of the close confines of the tree trunks to their advantage - Sayaka bobs and dodges behind them, Yuma a green blur bouncing off branches to strike at Sayaka. Steel chimes as Yuma darts in for another powerful, two-handed slam, and Sayaka meets it with one hand, baring her teeth. Her other hand is drawn back, clenched into a shaking fist as she's drawn into a contest of strength that looks almost comical but for the fact that Sayaka's wrist is bending inwards.
"Yuma!" Kyouko barks. "Shockwave!"
There's just enough time for Sayaka's eyes to widen in comprehension before power floods down Yuma's weapon, a cascading flare of emerald sparks that surges out with a boom. It sets your coat flapping, leaves and dirt scattering from the ground ahead of the blast.
"Wow," you observe.
Sayaka's still standing, barely. Her feet left furrows in the dirt, shoved back against some tree roots, and she looks utterly windswept - her hair looks like yours on a bad day. She lowers her sword, panting and glaring at Kyouko, evidently too breathless to form words.
Yuma dismisses her mace and bounces back to Kyouko's side, beaming happily.
"Not bad," Kyouko says grudgingly, rooting around in her pockets and producing another lollipop for Yuma. "Getting the idea."
"What was that?" Sayaka complains, finally finding her tongue. She works her shoulder, looking aggrieved.
"That was fun!" Yuma says brightly as she eagerly unwraps the sweet and sticks it in her mouth. She lets it dangle the same way Kyouko does, too.
"... you're a terrible influence," Sayaka says, eyeing Yuma, then Kyouko.
"Big sis is the best influence!" Yuma protests.
"Don't push it," Kyouko says with a snort. You're not exactly sure who she's referring to there, but you grin at Sayaka anyway.
"You looked like you were having fun," you say.
"Fun, right," Sayaka mutters. "Getting beaten up by a little girl."
"Yuma is not little," Yuma says.
"It's working, innit?" Kyouko says, shrugging. "Now c'mon, we're gonna spar. This time, you're gonna try and get your powers out."
"Right, but I'm gonna try doing the bracelet thing so that I always have access to them?" Sayaka says, pursing her lips. "I mean, sure, I might not always have access to it, but..."
"You're here to learn how to fight, aintcha?" Kyouko says, shrugging. "Like y' literally just said, you're not always gonna have the stuff on you."
"Yeah... and I suppose I might have to fight down an arm or something at some point," Sayaka mutters, wincing slightly, and nods. "Right. OK. Let's do this."
"Back over there, then," Kyouko says, pivoting on a foot and sauntering away with spear still slung over her shoulder, Yuma bouncing energetically at her side.
"D'you think she fed Yuma extra sugar or something before this just to spite me?" Sayaka mutters to you as the two of you make your way between the trees.
You consider this.
"To spite you? Nah," you say. "It's just that deep down inside, Kyouko's actually a big softy. And she loves food, I dunno if you've noticed."
"Oh, I have," Sayaka grumbles. She eyes you. "That talk of yours go OK?"
"Yeah," you say. "Thanks for leading Yuma away, by the way."
"Eh," Sayaka says with a shrug. "Polite thing to do, right?"
"Still," you say, flashing her a grin. "Thanks."
"Hope it went well?" Sayaka asks.
"Better than I expected, honestly," you say.
"Oi, slowpokes!" Kyouko yells from up ahead. "Daylight's wasting!"
"Yeah, yeah," Sayaka calls back, hurrying over.
"And don't forget... ahh..." you enter the clearing, and change your mind. "Yuma? Before I forget again, may Sayaka copy your power? With Kyouko's permission, of course."
"Oi," Sayaka grumbles, elbowing you. "I hadn't forgotten, I was just leaving it towards the end."
"Your call, Yuma," Kyouko says, leaning against her spear and glancing at Yuma.
"Um... Miss Sayaka is nice!" Yuma says. "So OK!" She walks over, holding her hand out.
"Thanks, Yuma," Sayaka says with a smile, clasping her hand and shaking gently. You feel the spark of magic flare, a portion of Sayaka's rearranging itself. "Cool."
Sayaka grins and flexes her hand, producing a power jewel, which she tucks away into her cloak - and then she stiffens, drawing a sword in the same motion to point at Kyouko.
"What?" Kyouko says, smirking.
"Nuh-uh," Sayaka says, still holding the sword at full extension, like a fencer's guard. "I don't trust you any more."
"Good," Kyouko says. "You're not guarding 'gainst Yuma, though."
"She's close enough that I won't be able to block, I'd have to dodge," Sayaka says. She does take a step away from the much shorter girl, though.
"Good, good, now-" With a crack, Kyouko's spear explodes to life, segments whirling through the air like a living thing. The head lashes straight for Sayaka, who ducks it with a yelp-
-and slams the point of her sword through the nearest chain-link and stapling it to the ground.
"I've been-" Sayaka hurls herself at Kyouko, brand new sword flashing into her hand. "-thinking about this!"
This time, Kyouko's forced into a dodge, abandoning her spear and leaping aside. Sayaka dances back, boots kicking up lumps of soft loam and hand diving under her cloak with a yell of triumph.
"Got it!" she sings out, lowering her sword.
"Not bad," Kyouko says grudgingly. She conjures another spear, flourishing it in a wheeling spin before levelling one-handed it at Sayaka. "Can you do it again?"
Sayaka grins, and drops into a ready stance. Kyouko... doesn't attack, still holding the spear out. Sayaka's hand dives under her cloak, reaching - but she's forced into a block a moment later, Kyouko's spear slashing forward at blinding speeds.
Sayaka goes on the back foot, parrying a flurry of dashing thrusts from Kyouko, the redhead grinning as she advances step by step.
"Kyouko's getting predictable," you observe to Yuma. "With the surprise attacks, I mean."
"Yuma thinks so too," Yuma says. "Big sis likes to surprise us, but is it a surprise if we're expecting the surprise?"
"Probably not," you say. "The timing of the surprise can be a surprise in and of itself, though."
"Hm!" Yuma says, not really agreeing, but not really disagreeing either.
You settle back to watch the rest of the training, producing Grief benches for you and Yuma to lounge on. Kyouko's not a bad teacher, really, yelling advice and veiled encouragement across the sound of clashing steel. Admittedly, the encouragement is quite heavily veiled, but still. Yuma produces a bag of actual popcorn from somewhere, and you snack companionably on it as you watch the sparring surge back and forth across the clearing.
"Hah!" Sayaka slashes low, forcing Kyouko to block, and follows the motion into a low, rising kick almost reminiscent of a break-dance move. Both feet slam into Kyouko's gut, and Kyouko goes flying. "Yeah! Tak-"
Her triumphant shout is cut short by a crack of Kyouko's spear - the first one, the one that Sayaka had staked to the ground. It hits her in the shins, and then the small of her back, driving her down to her hands and knees.
"Gneh," Sayaka grumbles, as Kyouko hops down from a tree.
"What have we learned?" Kyouko asks, sounding amused.
"That you're a sneaky bitch?" Sayaka groans. She rubs at her back. "Ow."
"Damn straight I am," Kyouko says.
Yuma giggles.
"And I need to keep an eye on things that might be used against me later," Sayaka grumbles, standing properly. "Rrgrh. That's like... eight to three. Sabrina, do we have to go?"
"Time to start wrapping it up, yeah," you say, checking the time. "Kyouko, you've been keeping the Grief Seeds, right?"
More of a rhetorical prompt than anything, because you can sense that yes, she has multiple half-filled Grief Seeds on her, but it's not exactly polite to start with that. Yuma has some too.
"Yep," Kyouko says. "Pain in the ass, it is."
"Great," you say, and pass the bag of popcorn back to Yuma. Not that there's much of it left now, between the two of you. "So I'll get that sorted out now?"
"Yep," Kyouko says, pulling one from her pocket and touching it to her own Soul Gem. "Here. Yuma, you cleanse up too."
She tosses the Grief Seeds at you after she's done, and you don't even bother catching them with your hands. Instead, you stop them midair, letting them hang in the air like some bizarre constellation. Yuma hands you hers with considerably more decorum, and you add them to the orrery of Grief Seeds - and then you add rings to each one as you drain the Grief from the Seeds, setting them in a lazy orbit around your head for the fun of it.
"Sayaka? I take it you want a cleanse too?" you ask.
"Ugh, please," Sayaka grumbles, plucking her Soul Gem from her belly. "I can feel it, yuck."
"Fair enough," you say. You wipe your own clean too, while you're at it, and float the Grief Seeds back to Kyouko and Yuma. "All done!"
"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko grumbles, giving each one a suspicious look. "Thanks, I guess."
"Hey, it's what we agreed on, right?" you say with a smile. "Sayaka, got all your stuff?"
"Yeah, made sure to pick up all the powers, especially after someone started whacking 'em out of my hand," Sayaka says with a glare at Kyouko.
Kyouko just laughs. "You're getting better," she says. "But you're ten years too early to beat me."
"Just you wait," Sayaka grumbles, shaking her head. "Good training, though. Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko says. "She's payin' for it. Now go."
"Aw, you'll miss us," you say, grinning. You start building your dinnerplate of doom anyway, taking a long step back. "I'll be in touch, and you better not chicken out, eh?"
Looks could hypothetically kill, given the existence of magical girls, but you're reasonably sure Kyouko hasn't developed the ability to shoot spears out of her eyes yet, or else you'd be perforated quite thoroughly right now. Still, somewhere out there, there's a magical girl who Wished for knife eye attacks.
"Hmm?" Sayaka eyes you, very obviously curious, but holds it in until you're both aboard the dinnerplate and airborne. You wave goodbye to Kyouko and Yuma as they recede into the distance, swallowed by the green of the park.
"Trying to help Kyouko and Mami reconcile," you say, rubbing at your nose. "Yeah. I'm not really gonna make that a big secret, because, well... Mami's gonna need all the support from her friends."
"Oh," Sayaka says. "Ah." She sucks in a breath, cheeks hollowing. "You think it'll be OK?"
"I know it will be," you say, nodding firmly. "And if it isn't... well, we're magical girls. It's up to us to seize fate and make of it what we will, right?"
"You can't use 'we're magical girls' as an excuse for everything," Sayaka says. "But yeah."
You grin back at her as you soar into the sky, starting to darken towards the fiery oranges and pinks of a beautiful sunset.
"So, on that note!" you say, raising the windshield a bit more so that the wind doesn't drown out speech. "Have you come to a decision over the big secret?" You raise a finger. "It's not now-or-never, but this evening is probably gonna be the last bit of free time we're not hella busy for the next few days."
"Iiii'm kinda leaning towards yes?" Sayaka ventures. She hesitates for a moment, looking deep in thought, and then nods firmly. "Yes. Tell me."
You break out into a huge grin. "Absolutely. But not here - we'll get Homura for this, if she's up for it."
"How dare you make me wait," Sayaka says, reaching forward to prod you in the side.
"Quit it," you say.
"No," Sayaka says, and pokes harder.
You swat her hand away, mock-glaring, and she grins at you. There's perhaps just a touch of nervousness in her eyes, swimming amidst the confident front, and you can't help but give her a reassuring smile.
"We'll be glad to have you on board, and you deserve to know," you say. "It's why I argued with Homura to let you know."
Sayaka huffs.
"Yeah, yeah," she says.
"Though, er... gimme a sec," you say, and switch to telepathy. "Mami? We're on our way back. How are you?"
"Ah, Sabrina!" Mami says, voice brightening. "We're at home now. I invited Homura over for dinner. I-is that OK?"
"That's perfect," you say. "You're perfect."
"A-alright," Mami says. "I'll... see you soon?"
"You will," you say firmly. "But ah... could you have Homura meet us on the roof? I want to have a quick chat with her and Sayaka."
"Alright," Mami says, voice strengthening. "Alright. I'll... send Homura up, and I'll see you soon."
"Until then, Mami," you say warmly.
"Until then," Mami says, and ends the call.
"Do you know, you get this dopey look on your face when you're brain-calling Mami?" Sayaka observes.
"You'd be the same too if you had an adorable girlfriend to call," you say.
Sayaka wrinkles her nose at you.
"I'm not a sap like you," she says. "Besides, I like Kyousuke."
"I mean, who's to say?" you say with a shrug.
"Not you, you're biased and gayer than a tree full of monkeys and nitrous oxide," Sayaka says, sticking her tongue out at you.
"That is a very specific metaphor," you note.
"I read it somewhere, I think, and you didn't deny it," Sayaka says.
"I mean... it's true," you say, shrugging ambivalently.
Sayaka snorts.
"Dork," she says accusingly.
[X] Poke Homura for timestop, and give Homura a debriefing before bringing in Sayaka. Heck, give Homura a big damn spinny-hug too, because progress!
- [] How do you break it to Homura?
- [] How do you break it to Sayaka?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
And here... we... go.
"Wai-" Kyouko flinches. "Tonight? But I-"
"Is that... too soon?" you venture. Dammit, you should have thought of this - of course Kyouko would need time to gather herself too. This isn't the work of a day, even if you've been chiselling away at it for wee-
"No, fuck that," Kyouko says, jaw jutting. She grabs the lollipop still dangling from her mouth and crunches it hard. "Tonight. You better not wimp out on me."
You blink, and look at Kyouko, really look at her. Because beneath that bravado, beneath that prickly shell, is fear. Fear and hope and guilt and could-have-been and regrets, a raw, festering stew of feelings that were never really resolved. Heck, if things had gone differently between them, you might not be Mami's girlfriend.
You set aside the pang at that thought.
"I'll confirm it later, then," you say, rather than voice any of your thoughts or the reassurances on the tip of your tongue. She'd spurn them at the best of times, and this... isn't the best of times. "Would you prefer we meet in your territory, or in Mitakihara? It's your choice."
"Wherever the fuck," Kyouko grunts.
"Alright. I'll let you know," you say, nodding firmly.
"Right," Kyouko says, shouldering her spear and slouching abruptly outright. "I'm gonna go find Wondergirl."
"By the way, I was meaning to ask," you say. Topic over, by decree of Kyouko, new topic located. "Is that an Evangelion reference?"
"What? No the fuck it isn't," Kyouko says. She pauses, and frowns at you. "Wait."
You snicker, and grin at her. "Is it?"
"Shut up," Kyouko says.
"Anyway, try not to rough her up too much?" you say, following as she starts picking her way past the trees. "I've got other important stuff to sit her down to talk for, and I'd rather she be awake for it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kyouko says, scowling.
You find Sayaka and Yuma still sparring past the trees, both of them making use of the close confines of the tree trunks to their advantage - Sayaka bobs and dodges behind them, Yuma a green blur bouncing off branches to strike at Sayaka. Steel chimes as Yuma darts in for another powerful, two-handed slam, and Sayaka meets it with one hand, baring her teeth. Her other hand is drawn back, clenched into a shaking fist as she's drawn into a contest of strength that looks almost comical but for the fact that Sayaka's wrist is bending inwards.
"Yuma!" Kyouko barks. "Shockwave!"
There's just enough time for Sayaka's eyes to widen in comprehension before power floods down Yuma's weapon, a cascading flare of emerald sparks that surges out with a boom. It sets your coat flapping, leaves and dirt scattering from the ground ahead of the blast.
"Wow," you observe.
Sayaka's still standing, barely. Her feet left furrows in the dirt, shoved back against some tree roots, and she looks utterly windswept - her hair looks like yours on a bad day. She lowers her sword, panting and glaring at Kyouko, evidently too breathless to form words.
Yuma dismisses her mace and bounces back to Kyouko's side, beaming happily.
"Not bad," Kyouko says grudgingly, rooting around in her pockets and producing another lollipop for Yuma. "Getting the idea."
"What was that?" Sayaka complains, finally finding her tongue. She works her shoulder, looking aggrieved.
"That was fun!" Yuma says brightly as she eagerly unwraps the sweet and sticks it in her mouth. She lets it dangle the same way Kyouko does, too.
"... you're a terrible influence," Sayaka says, eyeing Yuma, then Kyouko.
"Big sis is the best influence!" Yuma protests.
"Don't push it," Kyouko says with a snort. You're not exactly sure who she's referring to there, but you grin at Sayaka anyway.
"You looked like you were having fun," you say.
"Fun, right," Sayaka mutters. "Getting beaten up by a little girl."
"Yuma is not little," Yuma says.
"It's working, innit?" Kyouko says, shrugging. "Now c'mon, we're gonna spar. This time, you're gonna try and get your powers out."
"Right, but I'm gonna try doing the bracelet thing so that I always have access to them?" Sayaka says, pursing her lips. "I mean, sure, I might not always have access to it, but..."
"You're here to learn how to fight, aintcha?" Kyouko says, shrugging. "Like y' literally just said, you're not always gonna have the stuff on you."
"Yeah... and I suppose I might have to fight down an arm or something at some point," Sayaka mutters, wincing slightly, and nods. "Right. OK. Let's do this."
"Back over there, then," Kyouko says, pivoting on a foot and sauntering away with spear still slung over her shoulder, Yuma bouncing energetically at her side.
"D'you think she fed Yuma extra sugar or something before this just to spite me?" Sayaka mutters to you as the two of you make your way between the trees.
You consider this.
"To spite you? Nah," you say. "It's just that deep down inside, Kyouko's actually a big softy. And she loves food, I dunno if you've noticed."
"Oh, I have," Sayaka grumbles. She eyes you. "That talk of yours go OK?"
"Yeah," you say. "Thanks for leading Yuma away, by the way."
"Eh," Sayaka says with a shrug. "Polite thing to do, right?"
"Still," you say, flashing her a grin. "Thanks."
"Hope it went well?" Sayaka asks.
"Better than I expected, honestly," you say.
"Oi, slowpokes!" Kyouko yells from up ahead. "Daylight's wasting!"
"Yeah, yeah," Sayaka calls back, hurrying over.
"And don't forget... ahh..." you enter the clearing, and change your mind. "Yuma? Before I forget again, may Sayaka copy your power? With Kyouko's permission, of course."
"Oi," Sayaka grumbles, elbowing you. "I hadn't forgotten, I was just leaving it towards the end."
"Your call, Yuma," Kyouko says, leaning against her spear and glancing at Yuma.
"Um... Miss Sayaka is nice!" Yuma says. "So OK!" She walks over, holding her hand out.
"Thanks, Yuma," Sayaka says with a smile, clasping her hand and shaking gently. You feel the spark of magic flare, a portion of Sayaka's rearranging itself. "Cool."
Sayaka grins and flexes her hand, producing a power jewel, which she tucks away into her cloak - and then she stiffens, drawing a sword in the same motion to point at Kyouko.
"What?" Kyouko says, smirking.
"Nuh-uh," Sayaka says, still holding the sword at full extension, like a fencer's guard. "I don't trust you any more."
"Good," Kyouko says. "You're not guarding 'gainst Yuma, though."
"She's close enough that I won't be able to block, I'd have to dodge," Sayaka says. She does take a step away from the much shorter girl, though.
"Good, good, now-" With a crack, Kyouko's spear explodes to life, segments whirling through the air like a living thing. The head lashes straight for Sayaka, who ducks it with a yelp-
-and slams the point of her sword through the nearest chain-link and stapling it to the ground.
"I've been-" Sayaka hurls herself at Kyouko, brand new sword flashing into her hand. "-thinking about this!"
This time, Kyouko's forced into a dodge, abandoning her spear and leaping aside. Sayaka dances back, boots kicking up lumps of soft loam and hand diving under her cloak with a yell of triumph.
"Got it!" she sings out, lowering her sword.
"Not bad," Kyouko says grudgingly. She conjures another spear, flourishing it in a wheeling spin before levelling one-handed it at Sayaka. "Can you do it again?"
Sayaka grins, and drops into a ready stance. Kyouko... doesn't attack, still holding the spear out. Sayaka's hand dives under her cloak, reaching - but she's forced into a block a moment later, Kyouko's spear slashing forward at blinding speeds.
Sayaka goes on the back foot, parrying a flurry of dashing thrusts from Kyouko, the redhead grinning as she advances step by step.
"Kyouko's getting predictable," you observe to Yuma. "With the surprise attacks, I mean."
"Yuma thinks so too," Yuma says. "Big sis likes to surprise us, but is it a surprise if we're expecting the surprise?"
"Probably not," you say. "The timing of the surprise can be a surprise in and of itself, though."
"Hm!" Yuma says, not really agreeing, but not really disagreeing either.
You settle back to watch the rest of the training, producing Grief benches for you and Yuma to lounge on. Kyouko's not a bad teacher, really, yelling advice and veiled encouragement across the sound of clashing steel. Admittedly, the encouragement is quite heavily veiled, but still. Yuma produces a bag of actual popcorn from somewhere, and you snack companionably on it as you watch the sparring surge back and forth across the clearing.
"Hah!" Sayaka slashes low, forcing Kyouko to block, and follows the motion into a low, rising kick almost reminiscent of a break-dance move. Both feet slam into Kyouko's gut, and Kyouko goes flying. "Yeah! Tak-"
Her triumphant shout is cut short by a crack of Kyouko's spear - the first one, the one that Sayaka had staked to the ground. It hits her in the shins, and then the small of her back, driving her down to her hands and knees.
"Gneh," Sayaka grumbles, as Kyouko hops down from a tree.
"What have we learned?" Kyouko asks, sounding amused.
"That you're a sneaky bitch?" Sayaka groans. She rubs at her back. "Ow."
"Damn straight I am," Kyouko says.
Yuma giggles.
"And I need to keep an eye on things that might be used against me later," Sayaka grumbles, standing properly. "Rrgrh. That's like... eight to three. Sabrina, do we have to go?"
"Time to start wrapping it up, yeah," you say, checking the time. "Kyouko, you've been keeping the Grief Seeds, right?"
More of a rhetorical prompt than anything, because you can sense that yes, she has multiple half-filled Grief Seeds on her, but it's not exactly polite to start with that. Yuma has some too.
"Yep," Kyouko says. "Pain in the ass, it is."
"Great," you say, and pass the bag of popcorn back to Yuma. Not that there's much of it left now, between the two of you. "So I'll get that sorted out now?"
"Yep," Kyouko says, pulling one from her pocket and touching it to her own Soul Gem. "Here. Yuma, you cleanse up too."
She tosses the Grief Seeds at you after she's done, and you don't even bother catching them with your hands. Instead, you stop them midair, letting them hang in the air like some bizarre constellation. Yuma hands you hers with considerably more decorum, and you add them to the orrery of Grief Seeds - and then you add rings to each one as you drain the Grief from the Seeds, setting them in a lazy orbit around your head for the fun of it.
"Sayaka? I take it you want a cleanse too?" you ask.
"Ugh, please," Sayaka grumbles, plucking her Soul Gem from her belly. "I can feel it, yuck."
"Fair enough," you say. You wipe your own clean too, while you're at it, and float the Grief Seeds back to Kyouko and Yuma. "All done!"
"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko grumbles, giving each one a suspicious look. "Thanks, I guess."
"Hey, it's what we agreed on, right?" you say with a smile. "Sayaka, got all your stuff?"
"Yeah, made sure to pick up all the powers, especially after someone started whacking 'em out of my hand," Sayaka says with a glare at Kyouko.
Kyouko just laughs. "You're getting better," she says. "But you're ten years too early to beat me."
"Just you wait," Sayaka grumbles, shaking her head. "Good training, though. Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah," Kyouko says. "She's payin' for it. Now go."
"Aw, you'll miss us," you say, grinning. You start building your dinnerplate of doom anyway, taking a long step back. "I'll be in touch, and you better not chicken out, eh?"
Looks could hypothetically kill, given the existence of magical girls, but you're reasonably sure Kyouko hasn't developed the ability to shoot spears out of her eyes yet, or else you'd be perforated quite thoroughly right now. Still, somewhere out there, there's a magical girl who Wished for knife eye attacks.
"Hmm?" Sayaka eyes you, very obviously curious, but holds it in until you're both aboard the dinnerplate and airborne. You wave goodbye to Kyouko and Yuma as they recede into the distance, swallowed by the green of the park.
"Trying to help Kyouko and Mami reconcile," you say, rubbing at your nose. "Yeah. I'm not really gonna make that a big secret, because, well... Mami's gonna need all the support from her friends."
"Oh," Sayaka says. "Ah." She sucks in a breath, cheeks hollowing. "You think it'll be OK?"
"I know it will be," you say, nodding firmly. "And if it isn't... well, we're magical girls. It's up to us to seize fate and make of it what we will, right?"
"You can't use 'we're magical girls' as an excuse for everything," Sayaka says. "But yeah."
You grin back at her as you soar into the sky, starting to darken towards the fiery oranges and pinks of a beautiful sunset.
"So, on that note!" you say, raising the windshield a bit more so that the wind doesn't drown out speech. "Have you come to a decision over the big secret?" You raise a finger. "It's not now-or-never, but this evening is probably gonna be the last bit of free time we're not hella busy for the next few days."
"Iiii'm kinda leaning towards yes?" Sayaka ventures. She hesitates for a moment, looking deep in thought, and then nods firmly. "Yes. Tell me."
You break out into a huge grin. "Absolutely. But not here - we'll get Homura for this, if she's up for it."
"How dare you make me wait," Sayaka says, reaching forward to prod you in the side.
"Quit it," you say.
"No," Sayaka says, and pokes harder.
You swat her hand away, mock-glaring, and she grins at you. There's perhaps just a touch of nervousness in her eyes, swimming amidst the confident front, and you can't help but give her a reassuring smile.
"We'll be glad to have you on board, and you deserve to know," you say. "It's why I argued with Homura to let you know."
Sayaka huffs.
"Yeah, yeah," she says.
"Though, er... gimme a sec," you say, and switch to telepathy. "Mami? We're on our way back. How are you?"
"Ah, Sabrina!" Mami says, voice brightening. "We're at home now. I invited Homura over for dinner. I-is that OK?"
"That's perfect," you say. "You're perfect."
"A-alright," Mami says. "I'll... see you soon?"
"You will," you say firmly. "But ah... could you have Homura meet us on the roof? I want to have a quick chat with her and Sayaka."
"Alright," Mami says, voice strengthening. "Alright. I'll... send Homura up, and I'll see you soon."
"Until then, Mami," you say warmly.
"Until then," Mami says, and ends the call.
"Do you know, you get this dopey look on your face when you're brain-calling Mami?" Sayaka observes.
"You'd be the same too if you had an adorable girlfriend to call," you say.
Sayaka wrinkles her nose at you.
"I'm not a sap like you," she says. "Besides, I like Kyousuke."
"I mean, who's to say?" you say with a shrug.
"Not you, you're biased and gayer than a tree full of monkeys and nitrous oxide," Sayaka says, sticking her tongue out at you.
"That is a very specific metaphor," you note.
"I read it somewhere, I think, and you didn't deny it," Sayaka says.
"I mean... it's true," you say, shrugging ambivalently.
Sayaka snorts.
"Dork," she says accusingly.
[X] Poke Homura for timestop, and give Homura a debriefing before bringing in Sayaka. Heck, give Homura a big damn spinny-hug too, because progress!
- [] How do you break it to Homura?
- [] How do you break it to Sayaka?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
And here... we... go.
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SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Dr. McNinja was a great comic, good to see it being referenced.
The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
*looks up quote*
Oh, very nice.
This? This is a Good Omens quote. Specifically on the first impression Aziraphale leaves on people.
Ladies and gentlemen, Sayaka has just accused us of being an angel.
EDIT: And, in a stunning testament to Sabrina's skill in keeping secrets, we immediately admitted it.
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Nickballas
Pride is an interesting aspect of human nature.
- Location
- Greece
I mean Sabrina kinda is with all the ludicrous things she's capable of and the wings of Grief and Hope.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
Well, if it wasn't at first, now it certainly is. The shipping gods have decreed it so.
Sayaka losing a limb? Pfft. Like that's ever going to happen.
Wait, I was just shitposting did she actually-
Fiiiiiiiiiirn!
We can and we will.
Better than using "Madokami wills it" or "Sayaka, you sneaky goddamn angel".
[Q] "Sabaka."