Remove ads

Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

Reader mode
Ah yes, the classical "start a sarcastic clap, realize you're the only one doing it, lose motivation to keep doing it" trap of sarcasm. Indeed, whoever it is comes from the same place as us...

Also, Taco Mami. Nom.
 
Remove ads
Power Up Pt. 15
  • Threadmarks
    • "Thank you, Miss Toshimichi," you say, scanning the room once more, meeting the eyes of everyone who cares to look your way. And you smile, because you mean well, and you want them to believe that.

    You take in the auditorium at the same time. Decoration, exits, terrain, the magic woven into the very fabric of the walls... Whatever the magic worked upon the building, you're almost certain that this room is the twinned image of a lecture theatre, overlaid with the same rich cypress as the rest of the palace. Wooden pillars rise towards the ceiling, rafters bearing paper lanterns criss-crossing the roof - but then, the illumination is brighter by far than mere candles should be.

    Seating rises in tiers before you, sloping away from the dais upon which the Chiyoda group sits upon cushions and tatami mats: an odd contrast of the modern and the traditional. However the magic of this place was woven, no expense was spared for aesthetics or comfort - the chairs provided to the delegates look extremely plush and comfortable, no cheap lecture hall seats for the delegates, oh no. And speaking of delegates...

    A few nervous looks, here and there. More than a bit of skepticism, too. It was probably for the best that you dialed back your introduction -shock and awe is, after all, a military tactic- but then, the skepticism might be coming your way, but not all the nervousness is directed at you. You think back to Oriko playing overwatch, and her warning of border watches and mounting tensions.

    Miss Slow Clap, there, gets quite a few of the looks. She meets your gaze with insouciant ease and thinly veiled hostility as you look her way - she has to be one of the girls from Meiji, right? And she brought her entire group with her, it looks like, considering that most magical girl groups seem to hover around the four-five mark. Maybe they left a girl home to hold the fort.

    Well.

    Delegation sizes are up to the group, you know that much, but you can't help but feel that bringing your entire fighting force to a meeting like this might be just a little bit confrontational. And of course, you funnel that information to Madoka and Hitomi, a constant litany of descriptions in the back of your mind.

    Still, hostility and skepticism aside, you're here to present your case. Your case being that you want to give them all presents, so really, you're here to present your presents after the initial presentation. Presently. And speaking of your present presentation... well, you'd already gone over it, but you really have to reiterate that you're disappointed in having to dial it back. Are you whining? Maybe you're whining a bit, but it's only in the privacy of your internal monologue, so it's fine.

    "Members of the Tokyo Council!" you call. Projecting your voice so it reaches every part of the room isn't hard, and if you cheat just a little with Grief to touch up the acoustics, well, who's counting? "I am Vee Sabrina, from Mitakihara, and these are my friends. This is Miki Sayaka-" a quick wave at her, "-and of course, Tomoe Mami needs no introduction. This is Nakano Mika, from Ishinomaki, and these are Nanami Shinobu and Nishimura Moe, of Fukushima. And last but certainly not least, these are Kazusa Michiru, Misaki Umika, and Kanna Niko of Asunaro."

    You gesture at your friends as you introduce them. They smile, in turn scanning the audience and taking in the sight as you continue to speak.

    "You might have noticed that we don't exactly live close together," you say. "We share few territorial or border concerns - what holds us together, instead, is a common goal. We want to make the lives of all magical girls better. We dedicate our magic, resources, time and efforts to pursue new innovation and new ideas in the hope that one day, each and every one of us achieves freedom. Freedom from a system that is designed to wear us all down and eventually destroy us."

    You exhale slowly, letting your eyes close for a second, drawing the moment out. There's an air of Theatricality here, capital T, of playing the audience. You've got them so far, you think, toeing the line between grandiose promise and hinting at what you bring to the table, leavened with the memory of your last communiqué with them, the message you'd sent with Noa.

    Your smile fades as you open your eyes, sobering. You don't see too much confusion, and they've got to have that offer on their minds still - but perhaps just a bit of reminder.

    "I don't think I need to elaborate on how we're forced to live," you say, holding out a hand, palm up. "We have to fight. Not just against Witches, but against each other. We have to struggle just to get enough Seeds to get by. That's not good enough."

    You huff, clenching that outstretched hand to a fist, and then let it drop.

    "It's not good enough, and that's why we're here today. I... Let me make my point with a demonstration." You shake your head, and half turn away to face your friends. "Does anyone need a cleanse?"

    You can sense it, of course, a constant awareness of Grief simmering at the back of your mind. Not just those of your friends - but of the other magical girls in the room, forty-two more presences glowing in your mind's eye. Forty-three, if you include Toshimichi Akane.

    "I could do with one!" Kazumi says brightly, taking a half-step forward, Mami side-stepping smoothly to make way. Without hesitation, Kazumi plucks her Soul Gem from her earring, adjusting her hat with her free hand as the blood red gem shimmers into the familiar egg form.

    "Thank you, Kazumi," you say, smiling, and face forward again. "I... admit, I'm not sure you can see this from the back of the auditorium, but well..."

    You give it a moment, for those interested to lean forward, to focus. One girl near the back of the auditorium, harried and worn, actually hops to her feet and hurries down the steps for a closer look.

    You beckon towards the Soul Gem with a single finger, drawing forth a thin streamer of Grief. You can see the moment the members of the Tokyo Council sense it, girls swaying back and even one or two flinches, here and there. You crush the Grief down to marbles, just three, and set them orbiting your upraised finger as Kazumi replaces her Soul Gem with a click.

    A few quiet murmurs, perhaps less surprised than you might expect, and the silent, heavy weight of dozens of pairs of eyes on you and the Grief orbiting your finger. Seeing is believing, you suppose, your previous messages notwithstanding, and you can feel the electric tension in the air, a dozen conversations unheard but no less real.

    You have their full attention now.

    Even Miss Slow Clap's leaning forward, her hands tented on the table in front of her, her eyes focused on you.

    "Would anyone else care for a cleanse?" you say. "I promise that it's exactly the same effect as using a Grief Seed - the only difference is that I'm using my magic to do it. Heck-" You tap your own Soul Gem, drawing forth a much thinner stream of Grief and adding it to the marbles orbiting your finger. "There. That's really all there is to it."

    You grin, but- no one seems to be willing to meet your eyes, gazes skittering shy of yours as you look around. Kurenai's the only one to meet you evenly, but she shakes her head slightly, smiling apologetically.

    "I wouldn't mind."

    A rustle of cloth behind you, Aoi rising smoothly to her feet and brushing down the labcoat of her costume. She reaches for the end of her braid, detaching her Soul Gem from the ribbon in her hair.

    "What do I have to do?" she asks, pacing forward to stand beside you.

    "Just hold it out?" you say, beaming, and when she does so, you draw forth another, thicker streamer of Grief. Someone's been using her magic, but if she's using it now, it's a subtle thing.

    Aoi inspects her Soul Gem and nods.

    "As you said," she declares. "Not much different from just using a Grief Seed."

    "Yup!" you say happily, nodding gratefully at her as she returns to her place on the dais. "Of course, that's just a little bit of cleansing based on my own magic. It requires that I be right here, and, well..." You shrug. "Home is Mitakihara, not Tokyo. I wouldn't mind coming here every week or so, but-"

    You smile, and spread your hands.

    "I have an alternative," you say. "And this is my proposal today."

    You pull out a Grief Seed - your last 'spare' one, arguably. Hildegarde and Aurora are your two trial Clear Seeds, and Elsa Maria... well, she feels significant. You should probably hang on to her.

    "Here, I have an ordinary Grief Seed," you say. "And if I exert my power on it..."

    It's just a simple flex of your power, and a familiar one, at this point. Grief pours from the Seed in billowing torrents. You let it swirl and eddy around you- around your friends, a deepening miasma of nightmare darkness curling around all of you. You sense more than you see Mami's smile, as she, too, takes a half step forward, dipping her hand into the thickening cloud, utterly trusting.

    You part the Grief before her hand, of course. It adds to the show, the theatricality of the thing, Mami idly stirring the Grief about.

    "We want to help," Mami offers, her voice soft, but carrying strongly through the silence in the chamber. "That's why we're here today. You've heard our plea before, and we're here to reiterate it: please, let us help."

    She sneaks you a quick smile and reclaims her position at your side.

    "Why now?" a girl calls from the right of the auditorium. Her voice echoes a little, seemingly not quite used to public speaking, but the question prompts a wave of murmured agreement and nods. "Why haven't we heard of you before, with goals as lofty as yours?"

    "We're new," you say simply. You keep your focus on emptying the Grief Seed out, but you continue speaking, your voice steady. "And by 'new', I mean we only formally agreed to our alliance yesterday - but we've been friends and associates for longer than that. We share the same goals. I, personally, have only been a magical girl for a couple of weeks, but I've known about this whole rotten system for much longer."

    The girl nods, apparently satisfied with your explanation, and leans back in her seat. She's alone, seemingly the only delegate from her group. Sharp eyes inspect you in turn, framed with long, blonde hair, and shaded by a frilled cap with a single red ribbon tied to a bow.

    As the torrent of Grief comes to an end, you straighten, and balance the Clear Seed on your finger, the crystal glittering under the light. The Grief, in turn, orbits lazily about you, a halo of fractal darkness that you compact slowly into orbs.

    "You saw how much a single cleansing of a Soul Gem produces," you say. "And this is how much a single Clear Seed can contain. You can use them just like you can a regular Grief Seed, and... you can see, right here, just how long one would last."

    You exhale, once more, and your smile is perhaps a bit more melancholy when you speak again.

    "Eventually, I'd like to distribute Clear Seeds to everyone," you say. "One for each group represented here, maybe even one for each one of you. When it's practical, I'd love to do that. What we propose, today, is that we will establish a... secured embassy of sorts, here in Tokyo. Within it, I'll leave one Clear Seed, and it will be made available to everyone to use. That is my proposal today: I want to give you free stuff."

    "What do you want in return for that?" a girl asks, sitting a few rows up from the blonde who'd spoken before.

    "The same thing I ask of everyone I give a Clear Seed: to be kind to others," you say. "To hold to the peace. If you don't have to worry about fighting for Grief Seeds, I want you to not fight. To help those in need, and if you can't, send them on to me, or someone who can. That's all I ask."

    Another wave of murmurs and looks, glances between delegates and delegations, accompanied by the inevitably telepathic conversations. It's almost frustrating, you admit, to not know what's going on.

    "Why be so generous?" another girl asks.

    "Why not?" you counter with an easy grin. "My magic lets me do this, and I Wished for this magic so I could help. I want to help, I can help, and that's the end of the matter, honestly."

    "We're offering free stuff," Sayaka says drily, folding her arms. "And the only strings attached are 'be nice', because it's the right thing to do."

    The asker sits back, looking faintly bewildered, but doesn't question it any further.

    "So I've got a question," Miss Slow Clap drawls. "Do you know who you're working with?"

    The way her eyes flick over to Toshimichi makes it pretty clear who she's talking about, of course, as conversation in the auditorium abruptly dies.

    [] Let Chiyoda handle it
    [] Intervene
    - [] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)

    =====​

    That went well. :)
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • So this might have been brought up previously, but the thought occurred to me that the Battleship that Homura mentioned using against Walpurgisnacht might have been Iowa's? There is like... only a few battleships left in the world and most are in the USA, which I think Homura hasn't been to before when we asked her about traveling. The only other battleship I know that's floating is Mikasa and I'm guessing it's rather hard to arm since it's been close to 90 years since it has had live shells... and I'm pretty sure all of it's shells, if any remained, were destroyed during the end of WWII...

    Thoughts or am I being paranoid?

    Edit; I've been ninja'd by an update, damn!
     
    Last edited:
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top