[X] Don't be too specific, but tell the truth. Tell her you got banged up during your first Witch hunt on your own, since you didn't get to practice your magic beforehand.
-[X] If the mood turns grim, add on how helpful Nanako's lessons were. You've improved a lot!
[X] Nanako gets the first Grief Seed since she did most of the work
-[X] Nanako suggests that you both cleanse with the seed before she receives it
[X] Continue like before for the most part, but when you get to the Witch, double down on playing tank/support role.
-[X] Witches seem to focus on you because of your magic, so focus on giving Nanako openings by keeping aggro on you while dodging attacks with shields ready. Throw beam swords if you get an opening, but play it safe and prioritize dodging and shielding.
-[X] Tell Nanako your current strategy ideas and let her critique it if she has any ideas.
[X] Now that you can sense Witches normally, maybe try using your Anti-Witch magic again to boost the result.
[X] The truth, and nothing but the truth
[X] Nanako gets the first Grief Seed since she did most of the work
-[X] Nanako suggests that you both cleanse with the seed before she receives it
[X] No, continue what you've been doing
[X] Now that you can sense Witches normally, maybe try using your Anti-Witch magic again to boost the result.
...Let's get some conversation going in this thread.
One of the things brought up when discussing our wish was that Hinako might retain her sanity as a Witch if she made a Hope related wish. But, sadly, I don't think that'll work completely as hoped (heh) with the specific Hope related wish we made.
We wished to "create Hope and inspire others, and always be useful to them, no matter the situation". From what I'm able to analyze of Hinako's headspace during the wish, she was particularly harsh on herself- selfless in a bad way. That doesn't imply, to me, that Hinako wouldn't be able to focus Hope within herself- only spread it to others. Witch!Hinako might still be useful to others, in that she's "tame". But we wouldn't anything near sane, because we would lack Hope within ourselves.
...Let's get some conversation going in this thread.
One of the things brought up when discussing our wish was that Hinako might retain her sanity as a Witch if she made a Hope related wish. But, sadly, I don't think that'll work completely as hoped (heh) with the specific Hope related wish we made.
We wished to "create Hope and inspire others, and always be useful to them, no matter the situation". From what I'm able to analyze of Hinako's headspace during the wish, she was particularly harsh on herself- selfless in a bad way. That doesn't imply, to me, that Hinako wouldn't be able to focus Hope within herself- only spread it to others. Witch!Hinako might still be useful to others, in that she's "tame". But we wouldn't anything near sane, because we would lack Hope within ourselves.
I think Hinako's big folly is her insecurity, for sure. I'm not the best at the deep psychoanalysis that Witchouts and stuff need, especially since certain aspects of a Witch depend on where, when, and why they Witched, but I'd wager her Witch, generally speaking, would be something of a (much less powerful) blend of Gretchen and Homulilly.
I think Hinako is most likely to grief spiral if she accepts defeat in that she feels she truly can't help anyone else and/or that she only grows by leeching off of other people's good will. Alternatively, if/when she can stand on her own feet better, she may be faced with the idea that some people aren't even worth helping, or that people will end up taking advantage of her when she does try to help (for instance, if she saved someone's life when they were Kissed, but ended up being some freak serial killer, or if she helped a Magical Girl train and they ended up being like Purple and the unknown duo in town,) therefore looping her back around to the mindset that she's only damaging people in the long run. However, I think we'd need a closer look into her past before we can be sure on Witchout prerequisites.
By extension, her Witch's nature may be something like "repentant," "encumbrance," or even something like "martyr" depending on what she's focused on and whether she accepts that she can help others or not by that point. I'm not sure about powers, but I can imagine that at least the methods of her Witch could be something like attempting to bring humans into the barrier as a way to punish herself - letting her minions kill them as she waits there, wanting to help but chained down either physically or emotionally by the weight of her own guilt. This is assuming that Hinako would end up like every other witch, though.
However, if we do gain some kind of special exception due to our wish magic, I do think it's most likely that she'd cannibalize other Witches hoping to cleanse the raw, aching feeling that their Grief makes her feel, or fight them with the intent to kill herself and the other Witch to "repent." It's also possible that she'd just victimize herself or otherwise aim for her own doom, though, since at that point she'd only be able to feel her own Grief.
One of the things brought up when discussing our wish was that Hinako might retain her sanity as a Witch if she made a Hope related wish. But, sadly, I don't think that'll work completely as hoped (heh) with the specific Hope related wish we made.
I'm doubtful. While it's not a perfect comparison, the witch that emerged from final timeline Madoka's wish could have easily destroyed the world. It may have thought its actions were benevolent, for a given definition, if we look at what the lore has to say,
Witch of salvation. Her nature is mercy. She absorbs any life on the planet into her newly created heaven--her barrier. The only way to defeat this witch is to make the world free of misfortune. If there's no grief in this world, she will believe this world is already a heaven.
But there's no way those are the thoughts of Kaname Madoka. I don't think being hope-related will save us from losing ourselves if we witch out.
So far, the only example I know of of a witch retaining anything close to a semblance of its human personality is Latria. Maybe another magical girl who was similarly single-minded in their obsession with [thing] as Kirika was to Oriko could produce similar results, but right now we don't have anything we're that obsessed with.
I'm pretty busy so I wish I had more time for this, but I made a rough sketch of Hinako! Put it under a spoiler because its huge lol, I like my canvases beefy
It's probably not exactly consistent with what @Enetious was imagining since I get pretty liberal with how a picture characters in my head, so if you have any references or specific descriptions to give, feel free to tell me and I can correct stuff and make it more consistent to how she's supposed to look when I can get around to finishing it! I hope its okay nonetheless, though!
I'm pretty busy so I wish I had more time for this, but I made a rough sketch of Hinako! Put it under a spoiler because its huge lol, I like my canvases beefy
It's probably not exactly consistent with what @Enetious was imagining since I get pretty liberal with how a picture characters in my head, so if you have any references or specific descriptions to give, feel free to tell me and I can correct stuff and make it more consistent to how she's supposed to look when I can get around to finishing it! I hope its okay nonetheless, though!
It's seriously great, better than a lot of other fanart I've seen in other quests, yet you say this is "a rough sketch". 😅
I really like how you designed her whole outfit, actually. I personally imagined it being a bit bulkier (such as to match how you drew her hood) and without the sash, but this looks great. The Soul Gem is perfect - better than how I was imagining it - and the sunburst on her hood and the markings on the rest of her outfit came out quite nicely.
My only real criticism is the design of her weapon, really. I imagined it being more like a traditional handle - to symbolize how it's fundamentally incomplete in its base form, almost as if it's lacking in something - with intricate engravings/markings running down it's form. It's not quite long enough to be a wand though, as there's a reason that the things Hinako tends to shoot out of it are labeled as "Incomplete Formations".
Regardless, to commemorate this quest's first piece of fanart I'll be giving you the choice between a few rewards if you're willing to accept it.
A guaranteed success in something (can retroactively be applied to rolls made under the "Vote Results" posts whenever I roll, or applied to a certain action/thing in your vote or the winning vote to make sure something uncertain goes through)
Help design a magical girl of your choice. You can just PM me the overarching details of what you'd want in such a character (general personality, Wish, any backstory details you want to include, etc.) and I'll make something of it. This won't be me just shoehorning another magical girl into the story, there are many more magical girls present in Urahama than at first glance due to... certain factors.
A question of your choice answered (publicly or over PMs, your choice). I won't answer too spoily of course, but it could garner certain insights towards certain things that haven't been revealed yet
On a side note, ended up unable to write today so I'll probably try and make it up by writing up two chapters tomorrow (which shouldn't be an issue). Might as well keep the vote open until I begin writing the next chapter tomorrow.
[X] Don't be too specific, but tell the truth. Tell her you got banged up during your first Witch hunt on your own, since you didn't get to practice your magic beforehand.
-[X] If the mood turns grim, add on how helpful Nanako's lessons were. You've improved a lot!
[X] Nanako gets the first Grief Seed since she did most of the work
-[X] Nanako suggests that you both cleanse with the seed before she receives it
[X] Continue like before for the most part, but when you get to the Witch, double down on playing tank/support role.
-[X] Witches seem to focus on you because of your magic, so focus on giving Nanako openings by keeping aggro on you while dodging attacks with shields ready. Throw beam swords if you get an opening, but play it safe and prioritize dodging and shielding.
-[X] Tell Nanako your current strategy ideas and let her critique it if she has any ideas.
[X] Now that you can sense Witches normally, maybe try using your Anti-Witch magic again to boost the result.
Haha, I don't mean to put myself down like that, I just generally only post finished/polished stuff on other sites so I'm not used to just roughs. I'm glad it's satisfactory nonetheless, though!
My only real criticism is the design of her weapon, really. I imagined it being more like a traditional handle - to symbolize how it's fundamentally incomplete in its base form, almost as if it's lacking in something - with intricate engravings/markings running down it's form. It's not quite long enough to be a wand though, as there's a reason that the things Hinako tends to shoot out of it are labeled as "Incomplete Formations".
Got it! When I can get around to finishing it, I'll definitely fix that up. Thank you for letting me know! I probably should've asked for details beforehand, but I was doing it in the middle of other work that I was supposed to be doing so I missed a few spot checks.
I'd love to help design a future character if you're sure you don't mind! but we might need that auto-success roll with that Witch difficulty
It was so strong that Hinako's Magic Sense leveled up, skipping like two training sessions (I -> II). I'll be hashing out a more concrete distance each level of Magic Sense has soon enough, I think.
This mostly tells us what people have already mentioned earlier she has self worth issues and a bit of trauma from the birdcage witch not much we can to do about that right now other than spend time with Nanako, help people maybe, and beat up witches, also who wants to bet the sister and her friends are magical girls? Finally and most immediately relevant is the word I highlighted perhaps it has a link to the sensation she got when she looked for a witch? Maybe we should try to find that burny sensation again and attempt to use it to complete our formations/moves.
[X] Don't be too specific, but tell the truth. Tell her you got banged up during your first Witch hunt on your own, since you didn't get to practice your magic beforehand.
-[X] If the mood turns grim, add on how helpful Nanako's lessons were. You've improved a lot!
[X] Nanako gets the first Grief Seed since she did most of the work
-[X] Nanako suggests that you both cleanse with the seed before she receives it
[X] Continue like before for the most part, but when you get to the Witch, double down on playing tank/support role.
-[X] Witches seem to focus on you because of your magic, so focus on giving Nanako openings by keeping aggro on you while dodging attacks with shields ready. Throw beam swords if you get an opening, but play it safe and prioritize dodging and shielding.
-[X] Tell Nanako your current strategy ideas and let her critique it if she has any ideas.
[X] Now that you can sense Witches normally, maybe try using your Anti-Witch magic again to boost the result.
Sunday, January 2nd 2011
"U-u-um..."
You tap your fingers together nervously while Nanako stares at you intently.
"W-well... you see, I kind of got banged up during my first Witch hunt since I didn't get to practice magic beforehand... I-I was all on my own at the time, except for Kyubey who couldn't really help me fight."
Nanako's concerned look only grows, though she seems like she's slightly surprised at something.
"Hinako-san... how bad is 'banged up'?"
Uh-oh. You've always been really bad at lying, so you'll have to choose your words carefully if you don't want to worry Nanako unnecessarily.
"B-bad enough to be bleeding a lot, and I-I couldn't go home like that so Kyubey taught me how to heal..." Blood pools heavily around your form as you lay on the rough concrete ground, your vision growing dim.
You shake a bit as you're forced to remember the scene in question, and it seems like this breaks Nanako out of her gaze.
Nanako moves closer to you and takes one of your shaking hands into both of hers to steady it.
"It's okay, Hinako-san... it's okay."
Nanako soothingly tells you this as you try and calm yourself down, pushing down the memories of the other night and focusing on her voice and the warmth of her hands. She needs you to be okay.
You stay like this for another minute or so before your shaking fully abates and you speak up.
"Sorry, Nanako-senpai... I-I think I'm fine now."
Nanako unclasps her hands from your own, looking a bit guilty.
"N-no, it wasn't your fault Hinako-san. It was insensitive for me to ask, but... I had to know."
You can't help but flush a bit at the obvious concern that you hear layering her voice. Does she really care about you that much already...? A feeling unlike when your sister usually comforts you in your times of need stirs in your chest.
"G-Grief Seed!" you stutter out. Nanako starts a bit at your outburst, and you try and clarify what you meant.
"I-I mean, we should get the Grief Seed. I-I think this one should go to you, Nanako-senpai... You did most of the work after all!"
It helps that you can plainly see how darkened her Soul Gem is atop her head. From what you can gather, both your own and Nanako's Soul Gem appears to be around half full.
Nanako hesitates, before checking her Soul Gem by bringing her hand up to it and flashing it into it's base form - apparently you can do that even while transformed, that's neat - and taking a look at it.
She looks between your own gem embedded on your chest and back to hers contemplatively.
"... Perhaps we should both cleanse with it at least, and we could do the same with the next one as well? Are you fine with that, Hinako-san?"
Fingering at your gem with one of your hands, you nod your head in agreement. That's probably for the best, considering how dark both your gems are.
Nanako gives you a slight smile being turning around and retrieving the Grief Seed of the orchestral-themed Witch from off the ground.
As if to demonstrate what cleansing one's Soul Gem looks like from the outside, Nanako brings up her Soul Gem and the Grief Seed and taps them together. All of the Grief in her gem coalesces outside of it before being sucked into the Grief Seed, darkening it a bit.
[Orchestra Witch: 538/4000]
Nanako gives an audible sigh of relief before handing it off to you. Turning it around in your hand, you stare into the abyss for a few moments before bringing it up to the gem still embedded on you chest and feel all your burdens just wash away.
Handing it back to Nanako, you see that for some reason the Grief Seed was darkened a lot more than when Nanako used it despite both of you having nearly half-filled Soul Gems. That's odd...
[Orchestra Witch: 1351/4000]
Nanako pockets it before looking off in a direction.
"Shall we continue then, Hinako-san?"
You nod your head in agreement.
"Yes!"
Witch Difficulty Roll: 98
Making your way to the relatively small industrial district in the north-west end of the city, you decide to see if you can't use your "anti-Witch" magic to enhance your regular sensing ability.
Focusing on the familiar burning feeling of your magic, you try sense your surroundings.
...
...
...
Nope. It isn't affecting your magical senses at all, as far as you can tell. You can still feel yourself and Nanako, but nothing else immediately around you. You can tell that your magic is being used to an extent, yet nothing seems to be happening aside from that strange burny sensation-
-and you suddenly drop to your knees as your senses light up with Despair. It wasn't just you either, as you can see that Nanako froze and has broken out in a cold sweat with her eyes darting from side to side. What is this...?
You're not quite in the industrial district yet, and you were just exiting a commercial one when this occurred.
The source seems to be coming from a nearby decrepit building, and now that you're focusing on it you think you can sense the magic pattern of another Witch besides the one you and Nanako just sensed. It's far weaker than this new signature though... (Ability Trained: Magic Sense I -> Magic Sense II)
Nanako reaches out to grasp your wrist and starts pulling you away from that whole situation. To your shame, you're grateful that you're being dragged away from such an obviously dangerous Witch.
"H-Hinako-san, we can't take on that Witch. I-I don't know where it came from, but that's the most dangerous Witch I've ever sensed. It's like... it's like a-all of the happiness and joy was drained from the area when that... t-thing appeared!"
... Huh? You couldn't feel anything like that. Maybe it has something to do with how Nanako was sensing Witches?
All of a sudden the weaker Witch's magic pattern winks out, and all that's left is the newer Witch which causes Nanako to leap up atop a building with you in hand to get away from whatever that was.
You want to protest and go back to kill that Witch before anyone could get hurt, but you find you can't. Something about it chilled you to your very core, and the amount of pure [Sadness/Despair/Grief] that you felt roiling off that thing scares you.
You shake a bit in Nanako's grip, but you dutifully follow your senpai away from the danger that Witch represents.
Back near your house in the north-east side of the city, you sag in relief as you're nowhere near that monstrosity of pure and utter Despair. Nanako relaxes her grip to let go and turns around to face you.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that, Hinako-san..."
She stares into your eyes and trails off, as if unsure as to what to say.
You can't say you weren't shaken a bit when that Witch appeared, as then you'd be lying. Though now that you think back on it, it was mostly the appearance of it that shook you up as when it did it was veritably expelling Despair all around it. It calmed down somewhat after that, almost stabilizing itself.
You reassure your senpai with a slight smile.
"I-It's okay, Nanako-senpai! I know we probably couldn't have taken that Witch like we are now, so that means that we have to get stronger together... right?"
Nanako blushes a bit and looks off to the side.
"O-of course, Hinako-san. I... I can sense another Witch nearby, so we should probably hunt that one instead of the one I sensed in the industrial district. That one had probably moved by now, anyways."
... Oh, you suppose it would make sense that Witches could move, if only to find their victims. You probably just haven't seen it in action yet.
"Follow me Hinako-san, it's this way."
She heads in a slightly south-eastern direction, and you follow as she asked. You both detransform and make your way through the streets as to not appear conspicuous. It's getting a little darker now.
A minute passes, and then two, before you speak up.
"Um, Nanako-senpai? I have an idea for the next Witch... I think."
Nanako slows and turns her head to look towards you.
"That's good attitude to have Hinako-san, what's on your mind?"
Reflecting back on the Witch you and Nanako took out earlier, you came to a conclusion.
"Well, I think my magic does something to Witches. I-I mean, it makes them focus on me for some reason. I was thinking that we could use that for this next one, and I could distract the familiars and the Witch like last time."
Nanako appears to think this through, before giving you a nod.
"Yes, that would make sense. I did think it was rather odd how the Witch focused only on you. This is a great discovery, Hinako-san! If we could take advantage of this..."
She trails off before resuming.
"... well, I'm not going to prioritize this over your health. While this tactic could be beneficial in a lot of cases, I wouldn't put it past many Witches to have abilities or attacks that would make them focusing on only you a lot more dangerous than if their attention were split between the two of us."
Oh, that makes sense.
"So, we should only rely on it on a... case-by-case basis, then?"
Nanako quickly nods her head.
"Yes, that's exactly right. Just be careful in how you use it. Could... you do that for me?"
She looks a bit worried, but you assuage her worries by eagerly nodding your head in return.
"Of course, Nanako-senpai! I wouldn't want to worry you, after all."
Nanako smiles at your response and turns back towards the direction you both were walking. Taking a right, you both stop outside of a small home. The small bit of lawn outside of it is unkept, you note. Witch Difficulty Roll 2: 14
Your short magic senses tell you that there's a Witch inside that home, though it isn't very strong. In fact, this Witch feels incredibly weak, weaker than either of the two Witches you've encountered before.
You start towards the household before Nanako taps your shoulder.
"Um, Hinako-san, we might want to try and sneak in... somehow. I can't say I've ever encountered a Witch that took up residence in someone's home like this."
Y-you're going to break into their house? That'd make you criminals!
"I-isn't that against the law, senpai? I don't want to get into trouble..."
Nanako can't hide her amusement at this, and unsuccessfully tries to restrain her giggles with her hands.
Hey, you were being serious!
Nanako calms down a bit, face still a bit flushed.
"I-I'm sorry, Hinako-san. I just didn't realize that that's what got you so concerned seeing as how we fight monsters for a living."
She does seem apologetic, though you can still see the wisps of amusement on her face. You're glad that you got to see senpai enjoy herself like this - as she seemed way too closed off when you met her earlier today - but this is a serious issue!
Nanako continues, a bit more in control of herself. She sets herself up in her lecturing pose once more.
"While you're right in that it isn't okay to break the law just because we have magical powers, what you have to understand is that sometimes exceptions have to be made. It's quite likely that the residents of that home have been kissed by the Witch, so we can assume that they aren't in their right minds enough to let us in to deal with the problem. Or they could already be in the Witch's Labyrinth for all we know, so we must act quickly even if what we're doing isn't technically legal."
Oh, Mama and Papa are going to be so disappointed with you if they ever found out about this, but you find that you agree with your senpai.
"S-sorry for doubting you, senpai. You're right..."
Nanako just shakes her head.
"No, it's alright Hinako-san. As your s-senpai, it's my job to answer all your questions, r-right?"
She's still fumbling over referring herself as your senpai, for some reason. Though she certainly doesn't sound displeased by the motion.
"A-alright!" you respond, giving Nanako a bright smile. Just like every other time though, she looks away with a blush. Maybe she's just shy? It's not like you yourself aren't shy, after all.
Nanako takes your hand and leads you to the side of the home out into the backyard while holding a finger up to her lips. Letting go on in the back of the house, you both find that there's a sliding glass door with blinds that appears to be slightly cracked open.
A shattering of glass echoes from inside, and a yelp of pain could be heard.
"Hinako-san, we have to get inside! I'll knock them out so that they can't hurt each other while we deal with the Witch," Nanako whispers out to you. You give her a resolute nod in return. Whatever's happening in that house doesn't sound good.
You and Nanako transform and make your way to the sliding glass door. Nanako slides it open and both of you slip in to find yourselves in a living room. You can see the roiling of the Witch's barrier in the far corner of the room.
Two figures are apparent in the room aside from you and your senpai. One is a gruff-looking black-haired man wearing a typical office worker's attire holding the shattered end of a glass bottle. The other is a girl with short wavy blonde hair and brown eyes, who's wearing some kind of school uniform despite it being Sunday.
The girl seems to be around a couple years younger than you or Nanako, and is shaking on the floor cradling her left arm with tears in her eyes. It seems as if the man hit her arm so hard with the bottle that it shattered, leaving bits and pieces of glass both embedded in her arm and scattered all over the floor.
The man looks over at the two intruders in his home and seems pissed.
"And who the hell are you two?! Rio, what did I tell you about bringing friends ove-" the man barks out before Nanako rushes over and does something with her magic that causes the man the promptly pass out on the floor, bottle still in hand.
The girl - Rio, you think - just stares ahead at the scene with with unbelieving eyes, tears still streaming down her face.
Suddenly, Nanako turns to you with a look on her face and says something.
"Hinako-san... there's no Witch's Kiss. The Witch must not be strong enough yet to bewitch more than one person at a time."
... W-what? What does that mean? This is all the Witch's doing... right?
"Hinako-san..." she repeats herself, this time a bit more firmly while looking at the girl on the floor. You let out a little gasp as the events of what's transpired here becomes apparent to you, and you rush over to the girl's side.
Rio shys away from your approach and flinches, causing you to back off a bit. So instead you kneel down in front of her. Persuasion Roll: 91
"I-It's okay, we're here to help. Are, are you okay? Would you like me to heal you?"
You gesture to her arm, which seems to be bleeding and bruised with glass shards still littering it.
Rio's shaking lessens, but she winces as she jostles her arm. She speaks up hesitantly.
"W-what did you do to Father? What happened to Mother?"
She referring to them rather formally, you note. But wait... a "mother"? You turn towards Nanako, who seems to come to the same conclusion as you did.
I'll take care of the Witch and search for her mother, Hinako-san. This Witch seems pretty weak, so it wouldn't be much of a learning experience for you anyway. Why don't you stay and make sure Rio-san's alright? she sends to you telepathically.
Of course! Be safe, Nanako-senpai! you send back as she steps into the Witch's barrier, disappearing from view.
Rio's attention is still fully on you and you're blocking her line of sight, so she doesn't seem to notice.
"I'm sorry, my friend just knocked your dad out. She's also looking for your mom as we speak, so don't worry."
Wait a minute, why is she prioritizing them over herself? She's the one who got hurt by one of them!
"Y-you need healing, though! Please let me heal you, Rio-san, you're hurt!"
Rio just wipes the tears off her face with her good arm and gives you a shaky smile.
"I-I-I'm fine, see?"
You just stare, and her smile falls from her face and she looks off to the side.
"I-I'll be fine, I've had worse."
She tells you this while glancing over at her father laying on the ground behind you. You don't want to imagine what could've been worse than her father beating glass shards into her arm.
"... Rio-san, I'm going to heal you, okay?"
She looks almost embarrassed that you offered, but she nods with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
You bring your hands up to hover over her injured arm and start pouring in green healing energy, noting the sharp usage of your magic. Almost immediately, tiny glass shards begin popping out and her cuts begins to knit back together.
"A-a-are you magic?!"
You can see that Rio is staring at your hands with wide eyes. You idly wonder for a moment on whether or not you and Nanako looked like cosplayers when you broke into her house, but just for a moment. Rio sounds rather energetic though, so that's good.
"S-something like that."
Rio is gaping in awe at your answer, and actively starts poking at her still healing wounds with her other hand regardless of any pain she must feel from doing so. She almost seems unbothered by the fact that she has the wounds in the first place.
After a few minutes or so, the Witch's barrier shudders before seemingly uncoiling itself into non-existence, and Nanako flashes back into existence in the living room with an unconcious woman in her hands. The woman has long blonde wavy hair and she seems to be dressed rather well and adorned in jewelry.
This draws Rio's attention, and she gapes even harder as both Nanako and her mother seemingly teleport into the room.
Nanako deposits the woman on a nearby couch with a complicated expression, and patiently waits to the side thumbing a Grief Seed in her hand.
"You really are magic!" cries out Rio in glee, tears forgotten. She almost moves to get up, but you gently stop her with your other hand.
"You still have to heal, Rio-san. Please give me another minute or two..."
Your face scrunches up in concentration as you work on Rio's arm. Rio gives you a pout, before sitting back and seemingly enjoying the show you're putting on with your magic.
Rio turns to Nanako to ask her something.
"How's Mother and Father? Are they alright?"
Nanako's face gets even more complicated, before she answers.
"Your parents are fine, Rio-san. They're just unconscious."
Rio gives an audible sigh of relief, muttering a "That's good" under her breath.
When your healing's done as far as you can tell, you pull away your hands and check your Soul Gem.
[Soul Gem: 187/1750]
It wasn't anything major, mostly just cuts, a large bruise, and whatever else was going on internally that you couldn't see.
Seeing that you're finished, Rio rubs at the unblemished skin of her arm and laughs a bit at the novelty of it.
"Thanks, Onee-san! That'll save me a lot of trouble at school."
Rio quickly gets up and heads into the attached kitchen, searching for something. You're a bit taken back by her energy after what must've been a traumatic experience.
... Hinako-san, I can't say I'm comfortable leaving Rio-san with these people as they're obviously abusing her. I've never been in this kind of situation before, so do you have any thoughts on what we should do? Nanako sends telepathically to you. She sounds completely lost, and you can't really blame her... especially if your theory of her not being a people person turns out to be true.
Nanako hands you the Grief Seed that she was playing with, and you find that it's a little bit full - probably her cleanse from after she took care of the Witch.
[Easel Witch: 143/1500]
Rio comes back out holding a little hand-held broom and dustpan, eyeing the glass on the floor.
What do you do? You signed up to fight scary monsters, not this!
[ ] Spirit Rio away into the night
[ ] Call someone
-[ ] (Write-in)
[ ] Telepathically ask Kyubey for help
[ ] Give Rio your contact information and try to meet up with her another time
[ ] (Write-in)
You were planning on inviting Nanako-senpai out to have ice cream after your Witch hunts were over, do you still do this?
[ ] Yes, ice cream reigns supreme
-[ ] ... and bring Rio too?
[ ] No
[ ] (Write-in)
Is there anything else you want to do?
[ ] (Write-in)
Well then, that happened. Since the persuasion roll was so high, it'll probably carry over into any other action you take regarding this immediate situation.
I hadn't actually expected you all to run into this situation so early (or at all, really), but the extremely high initial Witch roll caused Hinako and Nanako to flee back to the residential district Hinako lives in which combined with the very low secondary Witch roll caused them to encounter this particular event. But hey, at least you beat the Coobster to something, so that's neat.
So basically you've got to determine if you want to pull a Kyoko or not, I suppose.
I will say right now that spiriting her away could definitely work considering Hinako has a good-sized empty home and the Japanese educational system is... weird when it comes to attendence or needing parental guidance to attend.
Calling something like the Japanese CPS is also an option, but with the most immediate signs of abuse healed thanks to Hinako as well as the fact that Hinako still sounds like - and is a - child, that likely wouldn't work out in the short-term.
The Kyubey option is pretty obvious in how it would end up, and the "give contact info, do nothing" option is much like the Kyubey option but without the mind wipes and potential magical girl... for now.
Here are the end of chapter Grief levels if anyone's interested.
[Soul Gem: 187/1750]
[Birdcage Witch: 1015/2000]
[Easel Witch: 143/1500]
[x] Telepathically ask Kyubey for help
[x] Yes, ice cream reigns supreme
Chances are high that Rio won't take the initiative to contact us if we give her our contact information, kidnapping her will likely do us more harm than good, and if we call the cops we might get in trouble for what probably looks like a B&E to anyone who doesn't know about magic. Asking Kyubey for help is probably the most feasible option available to us right now, even if it's not one we'd consider to be "the best" option.
On an unrelated note, where in Japan is Urahama? What region and prefecture? Part of me feels like this is important information to know before moving forward.
On an unrelated note, where in Japan is Urahama? What region and prefecture? Part of me feels like this is important information to know before moving forward.
Urahama City is located in the Niigata Prefecture of Japan, just west of Nagaoka City (which is the second largest city in the prefecture just after the capital city of Niigata). Urahama is around 700 square kilometers in size and houses around 200,000 people if not more as it's constantly growing.
Hmm. My first instinct is to spirit Rio away, Yuma style, but she's probably toxically-attached to the 'rents. That could be worked around, but said 'rents probably won't like their daughter being kidnapped. Fortunately, we're still coobie's patsy, so that can be accounted for.
[ ] Yes, ice cream reigns supreme
-[ ] ... and bring Rio too?
-[ ] Also invite Kyubey. You have some planning to do, and need his advice.
[ ] Once at the ice cream place, start talking with Rio, Nanako, and Kyubey about the situation at hand.
-[ ] Convince Rio to come stay with you for a while. You can teach her all about magic!
--[ ] And if she's afraid her parents will come after her, well...
--[ ] ...Magic has to stay a secret somehow. Kyubey probably has some sort of mind magic, or something.
--[ ] It's... ethically dubious at best, but if it gets Rio away from those horrible excuses for parents, it's worth it.
--[ ] Kyubey. can you wipe the memories of Rio's parents?
-[ ] If Rio doesn't want to leave, convince her otherwise:
--[ ] She's obviously being abused. People don't react like she did.
--[ ] Plus, we're magical girls! It's our duty to keep people safe!
-[ ] Ask Nanako and Kyubey for their advice on this plan.
Quite frankly, I don't think we should bring Kyubey into this. At least not right now. If Rio has potential, she'll probably contract, and if she doesn't, the most Coobs will do is wipe her memory of magic-related stuff and well, nothing will change. This girl needs to get away from her family ASAP. We shouldn't just take her, but we need to make sure she has a safe place and people to go to. The worst thing for someone in a toxic family is isolation; toxic family members will do their best to cut off relationships and make you think you need them and we need to make sure she won't fall into that. Establishing a connection with her is our number one priority.
We can talk to Kyubey later or via telepathy while we try to befriend Rio, but I don't want her to even have a chance at contracting yet. I'm sure Coobs will wipe her parents' memory regardless of our input anyway, and if necessary we can request he specifically doesn't mess with Rio's memory, but that's all we should involve him with right now, if anything.
I'll try to craft my own vote in a bit - I'm a little frazzled right now, but wanted to say something because I really don't think immediately involving Coobs is a good idea.
Call our big sister for advice? I think she's our best bet right now. Meanwhile take Rio-Chan out for ice cream and get to know her better like others have said. Sounds like a plan.
Calling our sister is a good idea. It does worry me that we'll fall into self-loathing with having to rely on her for advice, though. Maybe something like this?
[X] Help Rio clean up the glass - she shouldn't have to worry about cleaning up after that. Try to use your hope magic on her if you can.
[X] Take Rio and Nanako out for ice cream.
-[X] Tell Rio you'll explain what just happened when you get there.
-[X] If she seems reluctant, tell her you can show her your magic later, but you also want to treat her to make up for, y'know, breaking into her house and all.
[X] On the way over:
-[X] Ask Rio about herself while you walk. What does she like to do? What school does she attend? And anything else casual we can think of. Don't push her on her family situation unless she brings it up herself.
-[X] Let Rio take over the conversation when possible so you have some breathing room to telepathy Nanako.
-[X] Tell Nanako that you both need to try and befriend her so she has someone safe to talk to. You live alone at the moment, so you can let her stay with you if we need to. You're gonna see if your sister has any advice on what to do while you see what's up.
-[X] Text your sister on the way over asking if you can call her in a few minutes - a friend is in trouble and you need some advice.
-[X] Continue conversing with Rio.
[X] When you get there:
[X] Pay for everyone else's ice cream.
[X] If your sister says you can call, or if she doesn't respond yet, excuse yourself and call her. Tell Nanako to start explaining Magical Girls and that you'll be back in a minute and call.
-[X] Explain that you ran into someone else today while hanging out with your new friend, and you have reason to believe their father is abusing them. You want to get them out of that situation ASAP, but you don't know how, short of letting her stay with you for a couple days. Does best sister have any ideas?
-[X] If she says she can't talk, text her for advice while explaining Magical Girls and Witches to Rio. Make sure to emphasize how dangerous Witches are.
I'm hoping listening to Rio talk about herself might let our passive social sense kick in so we can get a bit more information, and we can explain our plan to Nanako on the way over. If our sister can talk we'll ask for advice, if we can't we can just focus on easing Rio into the exposition and try to get more reads on her. We call our sister for advice, but also take initiative and plan with Nanako, so hopefully it won't weigh on us too much. We can always involve Kyubey later if necessary, but once we bring him in, he'll be here, so I'd rather wait. Honestly he'll probably approach Rio regardless if she has potential, but we can at least help her make an informed decision.
Also, what time is it in-story? I kind of lost track.
Edit: added helping Rio clean up. It's just a nice thing to do.
