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Puella Magi - Memento Mori (PMMM quest)

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Chapter 2 - The problems won't go away on their own 4
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    • [X] During lunch break.
    -[X] Talk with Kishi/Evelyn.
    --[X] G-G-Ghosty goos! Spook each other with made up Scary Stories!
    -[X] Telepathy Ariane
    --[X] How's it going? Ever heard of [Insert Ghost Story Here]
    -[X] Plan for the coming day.
    --[X] Visit Ariane.
    --[X] Contact Kyubey.
    ---[X] Is he okay? Why did we receive no answer last time we talked to him?

    The lessons trickle down fast with you busily taking notes until the very last minute. Going to sleep early really pays off it seems, although you are in no hurry to change your schedule to continue doing that from now on. Evenings are great for going through your books after all, even if you haven't really made much progress with those over the last few days.

    Regardless, when the bell finally rings at the beginning of the lunch break, you and Evelyn hurriedly pack away your supplies and scurry towards the cafeteria. The hall is still half-empty as expected: you have learned by now to hurry there if you want to find a peaceful spot for yourselves. This time Kishi has managed to make it there before you, and is sitting at the corner table that is quickly becoming your usual pick amongst the numerous ones in the school cafeteria.

    She is concentrating on reading one of her school books, but closes it with a smile as soon as you and Evelyn arrive to sit down around her. "Oh, y-you're finally here," she exclaims brightly.

    "Well... no teacher is going to keep us occupied forever!" you flippantly tell her back and take out the bento boxes your uncle prepared today, handing the second one to Evelyn while carefully opening your own. "B-but anyways, how are you doing? W-we didn't get to talk much during the morning…"

    The three of you start chattering about anything that pops into your mind as you eat through your lunches. While not immediately obvious, you get the feeling that Kishi is a bit more awkward with you than usually, probably because of the debacle in the morning.

    However, even Evelyn seems to be feeling more reserved when compared to her usual self. Despite talking about her feelings and experiences with you and Kishi... she must still be feeling at least somewhat uncomfortable with you and Kishi. Although, she is making a genuine effort to participate in the discussion.

    Unfortunately, this puts more pressure on you to keep the conversation going. You are not entirely sure what prompted you to bring up this particular topic, but after some time of talking (and finding no hidden surprises in your lunch), you eventually find yourself saying, "So… H-how about we make up ghost stories to tell each other? We still have a lot of time left! And who knows, it could be fun!"

    The reaction is immediate from both of your friends. Evelyn raises her eyebrows in and stares at you incredulously, obviously not having expected the suggestion. Kishi on the other hand suddenly stops eating, as she halts her chopsticks in the air and lays them on the box. She seems quite nervous, "I-I didn't know you were into h-horror stories?"

    You shrug nonchalantly and offer her a slight smile, "N-not exactly…. But it seems like something worth trying out to me! Come one, it'll be fun!"

    "I-I'm not sure it is a g-good place for such things," Kishi attempts to explain and lets out a weak laugh, "I-it's too bright, and t-there are a lot of people around us. S-so I think it's b-better to leave such t-things for another time!"

    "Oh, I agree," Evelyn suddenly exclaims, and you swear you can see hints of an insidious smirk form on her face, "The plan was to go over to Ariane's, right? I'd say her house is pretty much tailor-made for this kind of things! What with all the darkness and the antique furniture... Maybe you could contact her to make preparations for that?"

    "Hey, that's a great idea," you respond delightedly and immediately focus your thoughts toward Ariane to contact her through telepathy. Opposite to you, Kishi repeatedly turns her head back and forth between you and Evelyn. She is clearly at lack of words.

    'A-Ariane, how's it going? A-are you free at the moment?' you send the girl through telepathy and ignore everything else around you.

    'I'm fine! But busy with my homeschooling at the moment...' you hear the girl merrily answer you before continuing with a question of her own, 'Hmm…. What is it? Did you decide to come over today?'

    'Y-yeah, that's the plan! B-but we had an idea for something to do when we come over… N-namely whether you would be okay with us taking time to tell spooky ghost stories to each other?' you explain.

    It takes a few moments for Ariane to answer you. However, when the reply comes, she sounds positively delighted about the idea, 'Ooh! You mean like making a ring and taking turns to tell a story? I've heard of that! I think miss Celia might know some good ones too…. Well, after I'm finished with my homework…'

    'G-good to hear! I won't bother you in the middle of the work anymore though, so... see you later!' you say to her, receiving only a short reply of 'See you soon' in return from her.

    You turn to look at your friends with a smile and announce the good news, "Ariane was okay with the idea!"

    Evelyn pumps her fist victoriously and grins at the turn of events. Kishi on the other hand looks absolutely terrified already. Her eyes are shaking slightly and her face seems to blanch a bit as she lets out a light wheeze. She is truly phenomenal at this!
    "N-nooooooo..."
    "Huh, sounds like that's the plan then," Evelyn says matter-of-factly, and turns slightly more serious all of sudden, "But anyways, I'll be going straight home after school to alleviate some worries there. I'll be joining you at Ariane's later if it's okay? I don't know how long this might take."

    Vote in abeyance:
    --[X] Contact Kyubey.
    ---[X] Is he okay? Why did we receive no answer last time we talked to him?
    What do you do?

    [] You still have time, fit more talking subjects to the lunch break!!!

    [] Skip to the end of school.

    [] Go with the basic plan: head over to Ariane's for the afternoon with Evelyn coming in later. Figure out what to do once there.

    [] It's not fair if Evelyn has to travel alone (nor that you have no idea where she lives), go with her!

    [] Make other suggestions and changes to the plan.

    [] Write-in.

    ===

    I have no idea where that tell spooky stories came from, but I took some liberties with the contents of the vote because reasons. I didn't think the Coobs part fit into this update too well, so it is something you can just do at some point during the day, just include it in the vote when you think you have the time to do that.
     
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    • [x] Skip to the end of school.

    [x] Go with the basic plan: head over to Ariane's for the afternoon with Evelyn coming in later. Figure out what to do once there.

    [x] Along the way, telepath Mr. Kyubey and ask why he was not able to come over last time.
     
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    [x] Skip to the end of school.

    [x] It's not fair if Evelyn has to travel alone (nor that you have no idea where she lives), go with her!

    Would be good to check out where she lives, meet the parents.
     
    So, we need some impressive, scary stories. while writing this, a couple of scenes flash into my mind, but they need context.

    EDIT: Okay, I think I'm starting to develop them into a more cohesive narrative.
     
    Horror is not really my genre. This isn't easy. The setup is particularly hard. should I make it Japanese or European setting? I may need quite a bit of help with this, despite having the premise and some of the scenes nailed down.
     
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    Quester Story: Horror Story 1 (Sereg)
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    • This is a story about a girl just like us. Her family had moved from Europe, just like yours, to a town not far from this one. Her father had chosen a large, fancy, old house, gladdened by the salary increase that had come with his transfer, but she couldn't put her finger on why the pictures of the house creeped her out.

    When they arrived, her younger brother and her parents settled in quickly, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, so she dumped her bags in her room, nervously made her excuses and left for the town to explore.

    The house was surrounded by trees, so thick, it was like a forest, but she made it down the long driveway and into the town. As a small town, the people were friendly and greeted her, but whenever she mentioned where she lived, they fell silent and looked at each other nervously. When she asked what was wrong, an old man beckoned her over. "You want to move out of that house right away, young missy," he croaked.

    "Why?" she asked.

    "Every so often, a family comes to live there. Soon after they arrive, we find their bodies, hanging by hoks, with bites taken out f them and with their hands sawed off."

    "That's ridiculous!" she cried. "That could never happen!"

    "But it does," he said solemnly.

    She turned away angrily and left for the house.

    Okay. I've got the draft in my head, but I'm actually still tired. How's the setup?
     
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    • RexHeller said:
    [x] Ask Kishi out to the movies this weekend. Just the two of you.

    DO IT!
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    UbeOne said:
    Not sure why Tamiko would suddenly do that.
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    She would not, at least without very good reasoning on your part. I would have probably stepped in to veto this vote had it gained any traction.

    @Sereg
    Hmm, the story's concept is actually pretty solid, especially near the beginning. I can actually read and feel it like it was a genuine, orally repeated story shared in the illumination of flashlight. However, perhaps it is the fact that it is clearly in the beginning stages, but the ending parts of the story feel jarring. The old man could use more vague wording and gestures, warning about the danger but never really explaining it.

    "That's ridiculous!" she cried. "That could never happen!"

    "But it does," he said solemnly.
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    This part of the dialogue makes me cringe a bit. The wording and the ways of expressing the information feel somewhat flat, incomplete, almost cheesy. "But it does" is not something I'd expect a mysterious, old and wise man say...

    Still, I'll be threadmarking that :lol.
     
    Quester Story: Horror Story 2 (Sereg)
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    • DrZiztah said:
    She would not, at least without very good reasoning on your part. I would have probably stepped in to veto this vote had it gained any traction.

    @Sereg
    Hmm, the story's concept is actually pretty solid, especially near the beginning. I can actually read and feel it like it was a genuine, orally repeated story shared in the illumination of flashlight. However, perhaps it is the fact that it is clearly in the beginning stages, but the ending parts of the story feel jarring. The old man could use more vague wording and gestures, warning about the danger but never really explaining it.


    This part of the dialogue makes me cringe a bit. The wording and the ways of expressing the information feel somewhat flat, incomplete, almost cheesy. "But it does" is not something I'd expect a mysterious, old and wise man say...

    Still, I'll be threadmarking that :lol.
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    Hah! Thanks! As I said, I'm not used to writing horror. The critique is appreciated. I'm happy to make changes. Still, I was very tired today. So, I struggled to write for too long. I discovered that some things about horror actually make it easier though as the conventions mean that the audience accepts stuff it wouldn't otherwise.

    That night, the wind roared, swaying the trees, and making the branches scratch against the windows. The girl lay in bed, struggling to sleep. Suddenly, she heard scuttling below the floor. Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle. There it was again!

    She got up and listened carefully. The walls began to groan and she shrieked as she saw blood drip from the roof. "Help us!" the blood spelled out on the wall. She hustled backwards on her bed and fell off on the other side. She backed up against the window and heard a wolf howl from outside. She turned to look out the window and saw a figure standing in the shadows of the trees. Lightning struck and illuminated the figure. He was a wolf, standing upright. His front paws had been replaced with bloody, shriveled hands and he was holding a hacksaw. The wolf howled as she looked at it an she gasped, backing away from the window.

    She ran over to the door of her bedroom and opened it but when she glanced through the window again, the wolf was gone! She ran down the corridor to check the front door. Her hands shook as she tested it, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it was locked. Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle. The sound came back and was getting louder.

    "Honey? Are you okay?" she heard her mother's voice. She turned and saw her mother, looking at her, her eyebrows narrowed in concern. She breathed a sigh of relief.

    "Something weird's going on!" the girl cried. "There's something out there!" She flung her hand out to indicate the door.

    "Oh honey," the mother said. She smiled. "It's okay. It was just a nightmare. Everything's fine. Come into my arms." She held out her arms. Her arms that sprayed blood from the stumps where her hands once were.

    *Phew* Writing horror is tiring. I'll get back to the next part soon.
     
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    • Quester Story: Horror Story 3 (Sereg)
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    • The girl screamed as she backed away from her mother's smiling face. She tuned around and her hands shook as she struggled with the keys. The scurrying grew louder. Eventually, she managed to jam the key into the lock, but the key refused to turn.

    That's when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder. She looked up and saw that the hand was disembodied. She screamed and yanked the hand off of her shoulder before flinging it away. The hand got up and began to scuttle along the floor towards her. The more hands began to stream out of her parents' room. Scuttle, scuttle, scuttle they went and her mother slowly walked forward, her arms outstretched and still wearing that smile.

    The girl screamed and opened the nearest door, running into her brother's room. She slammed the door shut and panted, slowly walking backwards from the door. She had left her cellphone in her room, but grabbed her brother's phone from his desk. She dialed the police's number but when she held the phone to her ear, she didn't hear ringing. Instead she heard, "Come and join us! More meat always comes!" Followed by a squishy, sawing sound and screaming.

    She dropped the phone in panic and fell on her brother's bed. That's when she noticed the odd shape under the covers. The covers flung themselves open, held by more disembodied hands. In the center of the bed sat her brother's severed head, sitting on it's neck with an eyeball hanging loose from its eye socket.

    The girl froze in horror. Then the head grinned and began to sing. "Come join us down in the woods were the Sun doesn't shine! There's always more meat on which to dine!"

    The girl screamed and jumped up from the bed, tripping and stumbling until she hit the door to one of her brother's cupboards
    As she stepped back, the door flung open to reveal her father, wearing a brightly coloured wig, a clown's facepaint and nothing else above the waist, making it clear that chunks of his flesh had been bitten off, his hands were missing, and he was impaled on a hook. Her father's eyes flung open and he gave a big grin. "Sweetie!" he said. "Come give Daddy a big hug!" He held out the bloody stumps at the end of his arms.

    The girl shrieked again and slammed the door shut. She then covered the head up and ran to another cupboard on the opposite side of the room. She opened the door and his inside as the door to her brother's room opened.

    She stood as still as she could, hiding between her brother's shirts and trying to hold her breath. Then she felt something sharp and cold touch her wrist. She turned around and looked between the long, sharp fangs of the wolf and down into the darkness of his gullet. She leaped back, jumping out of the closet, but the wolf swung his saw, nicking her arm.

    She collapsed to the floor and began to cry and beg, "Please, please! Let me go!" But as she crawled backwards, the wolf kept slowly advancing towards her. More hands scurried along the floor as she slid her way into her brother's bathroom, desperate to stay away from the wolf.

    She managed to get up, but as she walked backwards she tripped and fell into the bath while the hands continued to swarm the floor. Ten the wolf stopped and twisted a tap at the basin. There was a cranking sound and the bath lowered away and began moving down a diagonal track the girl looked out of the bath to see skeletons, hooked on the wall, waving their handless arms at her. As the waved, they'd bash her with their bones.

    Soon, the bath stopped and she climbed out to look around. She was in a wooden hut and in front of her was a candlelit table, set with plates of raw meat. She recognised her brother's foot on one of the plates.

    She ran away from the table to the door, throwing it open to reveal that the hut was in a wood,in a dark cave. She was in a wood where the Sun never shone. She shivered and walked forward, looking for a way out. She approached a lake, wondering if she should follow the coast, when the water rose and began to glow revealing its blood red color and that hands were swimming in it. The water walked forward in a hulking humanoid shape an she ran screaming back into the hut.

    Determined to escape, she climbed the rails, ignoring the pain of the skeletons' bashing. She climbed out the hole and ignored the hands swarming the floor as she ran into her brother's room and smashed the window with his desk lamp.

    She climbed out of the window, cutting herself on the broken glass and fell into the bushes. She stumbled along in the mud as the rain poured down, trying to get away from the house but the front door opened and the wolf walked out slowly following her as she slowly squelched her way forward.

    She couldn't believe her luck when she got to the road and she ran as fast as she could to the police station. She ran inside and called, "Help! Help!"

    The police captain ran over and asked "What's wrong!?"

    The girl burst into tears. "Something's chasing me and it's killed my family and there's blood and bodyparts and please help me!"

    "It's okay," he said. "I'll protect you. Come with me."

    He took her hand and led her through the door.

    The girl looked around. "Why are we-?"

    The captain opened a cell, threw her in and locked the door. "It's okay, Dear," he said. He pulled off his face to reveal the snout of the wolf. "More meat always comes!"

    The end.

    *phew*
     
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