ANOTHER QUESTION! Does Mami know that sadness fill your Soul Gem with grief?
 
She's been at it for multiple years though, and that's the kind of thing you notice after a while.
 
I'm thoroughly convinced that she has all the pieces and simply refuses to put them together because she's afraid of the finished puzzle.

The difference here is that "sadness makes more corruption" has fewer pieces that need fitting together, and isn't something that you can stay operational long term without, unlike the lichbomb.
 
I'm thoroughly convinced that she has all the pieces and simply refuses to put them together because she's afraid of the finished puzzle.

The difference here is that "sadness makes more corruption" has fewer pieces that need fitting together, and isn't something that you can stay operational long term without, unlike the lichbomb.

Yeah, I thought that she'd at least know about the lichbomb, there's no way that she could of been a Magi for as long as she was and not taken a serious injury.
 
Yeah, I thought that she'd at least know about the lichbomb, there's no way that she could of been a Magi for as long as she was and not taken a serious injury.
Not enough. There are plenty of fantasy powersets that involve being able to survive ridiculous injuries that don't involve being undead. She'd have to leave her soul gem somewhere, which she isn't going t do, as she's organised and responsible.
 
Dinner at Mami's
You review your options. Your first instinct is stay with Madoka. You want to watch over her and keep her safe so of course staying close to her is the best option. But there are problems with that. First is her, no, your parents. While Madoka did say that she'd be able to convince them to let you stay it seems to you that involving them would just make things complicated. Plus the last time you saw them they were mindless puppets of the Devil. You're not sure how you'd react if you saw them again. Another thing you're not sure how you'd react to is the younger version of you that's at Madoka's house. On top of all that it's possible that your presence there might actually attract the sort of trouble you want to protect Madoka from. All in all, despite how much you want to stay with her there are too many reasons why that's a bad idea.

You have no reason to stay with Sayaka. You don't really have a reason not to, it's just… Why?

Staying with Mami has its positives. You'd be able to get your magical training started quicker. You'd have back up if someone attacks you during the night. And maybe, just maybe, she'd give you more of that wonderful cake. The only downside is that you wouldn't be staying with Madoka.

Of course all this is assuming that you can trust Sayaka, Mami and your parents not to stab you in the night. You're ninety percent sure that they wouldn't do that but you really don't want to take that risk. It might seem paranoid to them if they could see what you were thinking but paranoia is a hard habit to break. Which is why you wanted to sleep somewhere else in the first place. Maybe you should just do that anyway.

You look at the determined expressions on the girls' faces.

…. Yeah, that's not happening. Might as well take the best of what's available. "I'll stay with Mami." You notice a look of disappointment flash across Sayaka's face at your announcement. Odd. It lasts for less than a second before she adopts the same relieved smile that the other two girls sport.

"I'm glad you decided to stay. It's been far too long since I had a house guest." Mami says before turning to the other two girls. "I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier but I'd like to talk with the two of you again, tomorrow if possible. Our conversation about becoming Magical Girls got a bit derailed."

"Sure! We'll meet tomorrow for lunch!" Sayaka calls back over her shoulder. She's already rushing out the door. She grabs Madoka and pulls her along. "C'mon Madoka! We don't want to be late!"

"Whaaaaa! But Sayaka, we're all ready late!"

"Wait!" Mami yells after them but it's too late. She sighs and turns back to you. "I was going to ask if they wanted us to walk them home. Oh well." She smiles ruefully.

"We could still go after them."

"No. I think they'll be fine." Mami walks past you back into the depths of the house. "Please, take a seat while I get started on dinner."

You take one last look at the door before deciding that Mami's probably right. This world isn't as dangerous as yours after all. You close the door and retake your seat at the table. You hadn't finished your cake so you take another bite. It's still the best thing you've ever tasted. You begin to slowly eat the rest, enjoying every bite.

"Mister Tatsuya?" Mami's voice floats in from another room. You can hear water running and the shifting of pans. "If it's not too much to ask, I was wondering what your life was like before you…" She pauses. "Arrived in Mitakihara."

"Awful." You reply immediately.

"No, I meant…" Mami sighs. "Let's start with the basics. What did you eat?"

"What ever I could find. Usually it was plants of some sort but I was also pretty good at hunting so I'd be able to have meat sometimes, usually some small animal or other. Birds were harder because I needed a weapon to hit them with and I wanted to save my weapons for driving off other humans." You surprise yourself with how much you're opening up. She doesn't need to know this stuff it isn't relevant to anything. So why is she asking about it? Why are you answering?

"Did that happen often? People attacking you?" Mami asks. She sounds concerned and you don't know why. This all happened in the past, it's not like she's in danger now. No wait, it happened in the future. Or is it… Great, now you have a headache.

"No. Most of humanity was dead by that point so other people were rare. When I did run into others I was usually able to stay hidden anyway so fights were relatively rare."

"I see." Mami goes silent for a bit. You enjoy your cake. "What about fish? You didn't mention if you ate fish." She asks after a minute.

"What's a fish?"

"Right, definitely fish for dinner." You hear her mumble to herself before continuing to talk to you at a normal volume. "Fish are a type of animal that live underwater, in rivers and oceans."

"Most water sources are either toxic, more acid then water or on fire." You explain. Mami's silent for more than just a minute this time. Eventually she asks you how you find fresh water. The two of you continue like this, Mami asking about how you used to live and you answering and occasionally asking questions of your own.

As you talk you notice an unfamiliar feeling growing with in you. It takes you while to realize that you're enjoying this, just talking to another person. You actually stop talking for a bit out of shock, that's how foreign the idea of enjoying another person's company is to you. You recover from your shock and start talking again when Mami calls out to you in concern but your mind continues to boggle in the background at your new circumstances.

Later on there's a lull in the conversation and you decide to take your plate back to Mami. You finished you cake a bit earlier and you'd been trying to figure out what you're supposed to do with the plate. Taking it to Mami seems like a good idea. Besides, the smells coming from the room Mami's in are making your mouth water. Might as well see if you can eat yet. You stand up, grab the plate and walk into other room.

What greets you is an odd sight. Mami's got her Soul Gem in one hand and is holding other gem in the other. The other gem looks like a color inverted Soul Gem, with the actual jewel being a sickening black instead of a comforting yellow and the little bits of metal that cover it are silver instead of gold. It feels evil to you magic senses, like the labyrinth from before. Mami holds it close to her Soul Gem and some sort of black stuff flows out of from her Soul Gem and into the black jewel, leaving her Soul Gem shining brighter than before.

You step forward and Mami's head jerks up from the gems in her hands to look at you. "Oh, Mister Tatsuya, I didn't notice you. Did you need something?"

"What are you doing?" You ask.

"Right, I didn't explain Grief Seeds to you." Mami's Soul Gem disappears in a flash of gold, turning into a ring on her finger. She holds the black jewel up so you can get a better look at it. "This is a Grief Seed. Witches drop them when they're killed. Grief Seeds are vital to surviving as a Magical Girl. As a Magical Girl uses her magic her Soul Gem fills with something we call Grief. If her Soul Gem is completely filled then her magic stops working. Grief Seeds can be used remove Grief from Soul Gems, which is what makes them so important. However if a Grief Seed is filled with Grief then they can rehatch into a Witch. Luckily there's an easy way to dispose of used Grief Seeds before they get too full." She finishes her explanation by gesturing towards Kyubey. He pounces towards Mami and when he gets within arm's reach of her a slot opens up on his back. Mami drops the Grief Seed into the hole and then it closes again.

Mami turns from Kyubey back to you. "What was it that you wanted again?" You hand her your plate. "Oh, thank you. Diner should be just about done by the way. How about you sit down and I'll be right out with the food." You take her advice and return to your seat.

A few seconds later and Mami follows, her hands laden with plates stacked with food. She sets them down and goes back into the other room but quickly returns, this time with empty plates one of which she sets down in front of you along with a pair of sticks with intricate designs painted on them and a white implement the widens at one end and has a large depression in it, like it's a little bowl on the end of a stick. She places another plate down on the other side of the table along with her own implements and sits down. "Let's eat!" She says cheerfully.

You survey the food in front of you. There are two bowls of soup, one of which Mami takes so you take the other, two different bowls of vegetables, a large bowl of rice and a plate with slices of cooked meat which you assume is the "fish" Mami was talking about earlier. Mami begins to transfer food from the different dishes to her plate, using the two sticks to pick up pieces of meat and vegetables to her plate with ease and grace.

You try and replicate what she's doing with your own sticks but it turns out to be much harder than it looks. Mami quickly notices the troubles your having. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even think that you might have trouble with chopsticks. It seems obvious now. Would you like some help?"

You nod before you really thing about the question. Also you notice that your cheeks feel warmer than usual. Strange.

Mami rises from her seat and walks around the table. She sits down right next you and leans into your body. You immediately stiffen as your instincts start screaming "TOO CLOSE! KILL OR BE KILLED! KILL OR BE KILLED!". You suppress that instinct with all your might and try and relax. It doesn't really work but you do your best.

Mami takes your hand in hers. It's smaller than yours but that really isn't surprising. What is surprising is just how warm and soft it feels. Your cheeks heat up even more. You hope you aren't getting sick.

"You're holding them all wrong. Here, this goes there and…" Mami gently corrects you on how to hold your chopsticks. Next is actually picking something up with them. With Mami's guidance it doesn't take long until you can eat on your own. The rest of the meal passes in relative silence as the two of you focus on the delicious food Mami's prepared. Mami doesn't leave your side the entire meal.

After the two of you are done eating the fantastic meal and you've moved all the dirty plates to the room Mami made the meal in (which you learned is called a kitchen) Mami showed you where you'd be sleeping. "Here's the guest bedroom. I hope you find it to your liking." The room inside has a bed with red blankets, a couple of wooden structures, one with a pair of doors and the other with lots of drawers, and large windows with sheets of cloth in front of them that you presume you can pull shut to prevent people from seeing inside.

"It's good. Thank you."

Smiles her ever-present smile. "No, thank you. As I said, it's been far too long since I've had a houseguest. I had a lot of fun tonight. Have a good night."

"Good night." You repeat back at her. She walks away and you slide the door shut.

"Well, it looks like you had a fun first day back." You hear a voice say from behind you. It sounds exactly like Kyubey but the tone is completely different. Kyubey sounds innocent, excited and cheerful. This voice, while still high pitched and childlike, is filled with arrogance and amusement. You can practically hear them smirking at you.

You whirl around to face the intruder. Sitting there on the bed is something that looks like Kyubey but with a different color scheme. Its coat of fur is red instead of white, while the ring on it's back, the three dots on the things coming from it's ears, and it's eyes are all pure black. Its floating rings are still gold though.

"What are you? What are you doing here?" You demand. You shift your center of balance slightly, just enough that, if you need to, you can either dodge or attack it as necessary. The red Kyubey doesn't look dangerous but it managed to get into the room with out detection and you don't want to get taken off guard.

"What? You don't remember me? How rude?" It taunts. You can help but feel this is familiar, like you've seen this creature before. And then it hits you. "Ah, there we go. I'm the one that gave you your fancy smancy new powers. Although I don't think I ever properly introduced myself. You can call me Ryubey." It then throws its head back and starts to laugh before collapsing onto the bed and rolling around in joy. "Get it? Cause I'm a red Kyubey? A Ryubey, that's me!" It stops suddenly on its back and looks up at you, pouting. "Hey! How come you aren't laughing?"

"You said something funny?"

"No, look! See it's like this. I'm like Kyubey but I'm red. In English a ruby is called a <ruby>. So I'm Ryubey, see? It's a pun!" He looks at you expectantly. You stare back impassively. "You know what? Fuck it! You're no fun." Ryubey straightens up into a sitting position. "Anyway, that's who I am. As for what I'm doing here, well I'm sure you have a lot of questions. I have a lot of answers. So start asking!"

[]Write in.


Meet Ryubey. He's a little shit. Ask him as many questions as you want. I recommend you ask anything you can think of.

Also, as always tell me how I can improve my writing please. I do this so I can get better and I can't do that if you don't tell me why I suck.
 
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I don't know why, but I read Ryubey's lines with the voice of Magically Abridged Kyubey.

Let's do this.

[X] Why are you different from Kyubey? You speak with much more…emotion.
[X] How did you came back in time?
[X] Kyubey said there were differences with my magic, which are them and why?

I'm not so sure with the last one, but it might be worth it.
 
[X] A red Kyubey? How did that happen?
[X] Is Ryubey - and Kyubey, for that matter - a personal name or a species description? (OOC: we know the answer is "both", but Tatsuya doesn't know Kyubey is a hive mind.)
[X] What exactly was your motivation in giving me these powers?
[X] Does the present-time Kyubey know that you exist?
[X] Did you travel back in time with me, or did you somehow come back separately?
[X] Is there any significant risk of anyone or anything else travelling back in time from the future we came from? If so, what are our likely enemies?
[X] What do you know about my magical abilities? Any training suggestions?
[X] Do I need grief seeds? If not, why do Magical Girls need them? (OOC: this could lead us in a very interesting direction...)
[X] How long do we have until Doomsday? What can you remember about history leading up to it?
[X] Do you have any idea who the Devil might be, or where I can pick up his/her trail?

If I see any other interesting questions in this thread, I'll add them to my vote. So if you like my questions you're probably best voting []Apeljohn rather than copy/pasting the list.
 
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