Puella Magi Tacitus Volverem Revolution

[Shiranui]

[X] I wish to communicate with the spirits and be their voice!

Irie's voice rang out, the wish being settled and a cerise light glowed from her chest. It was obvious that Irie was in pain, you had experienced it all before. The fact that it happened to you only yesterday. Her Soul Gem came floating down in her hands. You noticed her finger nail had been marked with a crescent moon symbol on it. After that was all said and done, before you could say anything else the bell rang, which signaled the end of lunch.

"Oh, shoot. Well, that just means that we get to hang out later then, right?" Irie declared with a smile. "I'll tag along with you after school! See ya laterrrrr~"

She dashed off faster than you could respond. "Well... that was... interesting."

"Well, there's much weirder. Irie isn't the only weirdo out there." Kyubey pointed out.

You seemed unsure of what he meant by that. Why was he getting more... casual? Superior over you? You weren't for sure of what was going on, and all honesty, you still didn't. In fact, you weren't sure of your wish even taking true effect. You hadn't seen rapid changes. You just seen instances of things happening the way that they did. Yet nothing to constitute of that your wish actually had been realized.

However, you took little to no thought of this. In fact, you had to shove lunch in just to make sure that you were fully filled before classes start up again. Considering Minami hadn't come and found you, you figured that she was planning to do so later. Whenever she had free time. You could say that Minami might never decide. All you said that you were the one who supported her and would wait for her correspondence. It's not like she has to give you an answer at all, really.

The day had pretty much passed normally. You saw no hide nor hair of Minami, and the fact bothered you that she seemed very distraught over the fact of making a serious choice. You had seen her plenty of times making serious decisions and not regretting them. You were seeing layers of Minami that certainly had to exist beyond her current persona. The same went for that Irie girl. She was crazy, yet everyone had a reason behind their madness. You could count Irie in the camp that she completely wasn't normal and that she had her own motives. Maybe you wanted to know about them. Maybe you didn't.

It was when the end of the day had arrived. As you were gathering your things - you tended to go home if the student council president or Minami hadn't contacted you in regards to that - but as you were about to leave, you ran smack dab into Irie of all people.

"What... what is it?" You said, as you were nursing your bruised nose.

Irie gave the cockiest of smiles, and held up her Soul Gem. It was glowing eerily. "Supernatural stuff is going down, Tomoko! We gotta go!"

You stared at her for a moment. "When did you learn about my name?"

"Kyubey told me! He and I have been talking lots about it!" Irie replied, bouncing up and down in place.

At this point, you didn't know whether to be mad or scared that Irie had decided to just dig up information on you. Then again, it was your fault for not introducing yourself to her. Another fault was that you didn't stop her to let her know about the whole deal with magical girls. However you were shocked at the fact that Kyubey decided to use telepathy with her and not let you in on it. You had half a mind to smack Kyubey but you would never get the chance to do that or even scold the magical messenger as you were dragged off to wherever the hell where the Soul Gem was going to lead the three of them.

Since you were dragged along, you had to give credit about how quick Irie was. The three of you found yourselves at a large, abandoned factory. It seemed that from Irie's rushed lecture through your journey here was that the Witches gather in places that weren't too crowded and secluded from the rest of society. From the indication of the Soul Gem, it seems like that was the case as well.

"...This is the place." Kyubey remarked candidly. "A Witch is hiding in there with her Labyrinth. It is a perfect location."

You felt your heart skip a beat. "We're... going to fight a Witch already? Shouldn't we have more members?"

"Two ought to be enough! After all, there's nothing the great Irie and the wonder sidekick Tomoko can do!" Irie proclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of hunting a witch for the first time.

Suddenly you heard a particular noise. It was of a man who had stood at the entrance. Wait, when did he get here? More than that, there was a more pressing matter: the fact that he evidently had something behind his back. Your heart thumped in your chest. This was just unexpected. How... no, why? It was an abandoned factory. Nothing here would matter to the every day citizen. Then there was something about his neck that threw you for a loop. It was a black marking, you didn't know the symbols were since they obscured by clothing, but you were positive that mark in particular wasn't supposed to be there.

"I... don't want to live anymore..." His words had stunned the pair of you. From behind his back, he pulled out a gun and pressed it to his temple. "I've been abandoned... Anyone could make my wife happier than I ever could..."

A Witch's Kiss
​

[] Transform and stop him. You can't let him die!
[] Charge at him and knock the gun away from his hands.
[] Try and talk him to putting the gun down. Maybe he can be persuaded.
[] Write-in.​

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Transform and stop him. You can't let him die!

There was no time to hesitate. You had to transform, otherwise he will kill himself. And you didn't want to witness to something as horrible as that, considering it surely couldn't be this man's true feelings. Especially considering he said that he had loved his wife, after all... You felt your weapon form and you grasped it with your hand. It was pretty heavy; but you would have to make due with it.

As the man was close to squeezing the trigger, your reflexes reacted first, knocking the gun out of his hands and having it slide across the ground. This made the man distraught, who had lunged forward at you. Blocking your front with the spear, you realized how odd it was that you had a spear, of all things. It wasn't the type of weapon that you were really thinking when it came to a weapon.

"Why won't you let me die?! You all want to see me suffer! Death is the sweetest embrace and you all deny it..." The man's words came out in a demonic hiss, trying to claw at you.

"Ummm, Irie...! A little help here!" You called out, having had snapped her out of her daze.

"Oh! Right! Magical girl transformation a-go-go!" Irie cried out, switching over from her normal appearance to her magical girl form.

You weren't sure whether to be shocked or just wanting to face-palm at the sight of this. She looked like a fortune-teller with golden jewelry. She looked cute, but at the thought of this was being Irie, she would just blow everything about it out of proportion. Not only that, fortune tellers and mediums did have a connection to the spirit world, so this look did make sense... You noticed also that she had a crystal ball in her hands as well. What the hell would her crystal ball even do?

"Oh, if you wanna know... my sleepy spirit friend will help! Dozing Mist!" Purplish-pink mist came straight from the crystal ball and had rushed over to the man, who was about to overpower you, had forced him to fall asleep.

This would give you some cause for concern, especially since Irie was practically happy about what she did. "...Sleepy spirit friend...? I don't want to know where you came up with that idea. Like literally. Don't tell me."

"Well, it was better than just blocking the guy. He'd totally take the gun and popped a cap on himself." Irie countered, as she was cradling her crystal ball. "If you feel so concerned, why don't you take the gun then?"

[] Take the gun. You never know. Plus it's fully loaded. Can't have the man attempt suicide again.
[] Don't take the gun. You nearly were in the same person that guy was. You shouldn't just take the gun... Just put it away where he can't get it.

After that short discussion about the gun, the pair of you found yourself no longer in the abandoned factory, although it looked like a colorful, pastel dollhouse. There were candies and the like littered all over the place. It was almost as if the person who resided here was just a child. You had pulled your hood over your head. Despite being quite cold in the Labyrinth, your long, open, dark blue long coat kept you quite insulated. Your boots had extended up to where it very much covered you up quite a bit to your navy colored skirt which matched your tank top underneath your coat as well.

It was strange that the environment was changing to the Witch's personal taste. Were all the Labyrinths just so odd like this one? Were there more of them like this? There were a lot of things that you needed to ask. You wanted to know more about this strange world.

You weren't sure of where to go next, to be honest. The Soul Gem was glowing, obviously, but it seemed there were three doors to pick from.

"Three doors..." You had mused, to make your thought vocal, as you had wondering what possible trials lied beyond those three doors in particular. Having these three doors making the Soul Gem respond had concerned you a bit... was there something about this room that made it into a puzzle, perhaps?

Kyubey had hopped onto your shoulders. "Better make sure you be careful of what you pick. We cannot afford in any imperfections. I would say left."

"And I say middle door! My choice is obviously the best!" Irie stated with a confident smirk.

Three Doors, One Option
​

[] Left door. You liked left as an option. Gives you a bit of feeling of going on the wild side.
[] Right door. You were right-handed. The door goes to the right. It's obvious.
[] Middle door. Middle of the road, the best way to go. That's what you think, though.
[] Screw the rules. You don't need to worry about this. Make your own entrance.
​

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Take the gun. You never know. Plus it's fully loaded. Can't have the man attempt suicide again.
[X] Screw the rules. You don't need to worry about this. Make your own entrance.

You had taken the gun. You knew that it was a reckless action. Although you didn't trust yourself to hide the gun somewhere that the man couldn't find it. He was mentally out of it, you couldn't take the risk. You had it on your person, too, considering that Irie seemed already foolhardy enough. Didn't want to cause anymore potential troubles. The Dozing Mist was over the top enough as it was.

Then you were wondering why you were going to make your own entrance. You had your spear readied to open up a wall that was right beside the doors. "I'll open the way."

"Tomo-chan is super cool!!" Irie squealed, as her eyes had been focused on you.

Kyubey stared. "Well go right ahead. We'll be watching."

"Alright! Go for it!!" Jumping up and down, Irie had given a bright smile and looked ready to become a cheerleader, to be honest.

Charging towards the wall, you had hurled your spear towards it, hoping that you would hit a weak spot, or at least manage to break it away good enough that it would - oh lord, you created a large hole in the wall instead. You had stared blankly at it and you had wondered how you managed to do that. Well, a way was opened up at the very least. Might as well take this unknown path and see where it went.

It was certainly something that Kyubey had to make his input known. "That worked. Let's keep going."

"Well, it's not like I trust any of those doors, either! So I'm glad you think that was a good idea." You had pointed out gingerly, as you were keeping your spear at your side.

Irie had gave a confident smirk, who clearly and obviously blocked out Kyubey's acidic quip. "Without a doubt, the Occult Club is the best club! Hence why real magical girls should apply. ...Ooh, that would be a catchy way to bring girls in... The more the merrier~"

However, as the three of you proceeded, the sound of footsteps could be heard up on ahead. You had placed your finger against your lips and signaled to use telepathy. There was no way you were all going to get busted that fast. Creeping closer to what the next room had to offer, there was a long corridor past this room and it was filled with... patchwork teddy bears. The patches were all sorts of different colors and with sewn up mouths. Some of them were different fur colors from the traditional brown, like gold, black, so on and so forth.

It was odd, considering that these bears were all sorts of sizes. And certainly they didn't belong into a dollhouse.

"We should be careful... I don't like how these bears are just here..." You told the pair telepathically.

"I don't care. The bears are stupid and in our way! Let's just smash them into pieces!" Irie snipped, huffing quietly, who clearly already ached for more action.

"It seems there's quite a few of them. However, surely you can overcome this. Attacking creatures like these are quite simple, too It's pretty simple. You already know what to do." Kyubey calmly said.

The advice Kyubey gave was quite solid in regards of the fight. Although you wish that you had an ability that could analyze these creatures. Because of that, you wouldn't be able to exactly predict what it would do, but... You couldn't just not fight against the creatures. They had to be the Familiars of the Labyrinth. Otherwise they wouldn't be roaming around so freely like this. Now all that it boils down to is how to deal with this situation... It's better to go on the offensive it seemed, rather than just taking a defensive or a stealth approach.

First Taste of Battle
​

[] Use the gun... You have six bullets. Might as well use them?
[] Use a magical skill against the familiars...? Using magic will inflict Grief.
-[] Sub-Zero Infusion.
-[] Frigid Spiral.
-[] Restriction.
-[] Convert. Can only use three per battle.
[] Get Irie out into battle first. You need a distraction. You have a plan...​

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Use a magical skill against the familiars...? Using magic will inflict Grief.
-[X] Frigid Spiral
[X] If someone survive it, let Irie deal with them
-[X] Cover her

"Time to use a bit of magic..." You said, gripping your polearm firmly. You didn't know this would play out. The familiars must have figured out by now that you were in the next room or so over. You didn't want to risk going in where there was a bunch of enemies, either. You stepped forward and you saw some of the bear's maws stretching open to reveal sharp teeth. However, since their lips were sewn much earlier, their mouths were tearing open, with their claws popping out of their furry paws.

"Yikes! They look upset...!" Irie clutched onto her crystal ball and preparing for the worst.

You took your spear deftly into your hands and began to rotate it clockwise. It started slow at first, but as you kept on swirling, vortexes of ice had come forth from the spear, beginning to freeze over the familiars. You weren't used to having magic. Seeing that you were able to fight against them had really cemented that you weren't ordinary anymore. And to be honest, it wasn't like you didn't mind.

Anything was better than what things had been previously, that was for sure.

They charged blindly, although you weren't sure, between the swirls of blue, whites and whatever else hadn't been covered with ice. You weren't even sure how many you got covered, to say the least. It wasn't like you could have clear visibility through this. You could see whatever in front of you, some of the teddy bear familiars turning into icicles and crumbling due to the intensity of the vortex.

However, you weren't physically adept to this sort of fighting yet - this was your first fight, after all - and you had stopped. Less a half of them there remaining and they were lumbering towards the three of you, eager to tear into human flesh.

"Irie! Back me up here!" You shouted, as you headed into the room, starting to fend off the approaching familiars.

Irie, who had heard your words, she had followed after you. "This is it! My moment to shine!! I can finally be of use!" She had pulled out her crystal ball and then that mist came again, this time being orange, reflecting that of a sunset. "Fire Spirits! Please assist me... Sunburst Bullets!"

The orb had flashed suddenly; bright energy flames, formed into bullets, had come forth from it, hitting some of the remaining familiars, but not all of them, as another portion of them were on the move and closing in on Irie's position. You adjusted yours accordingly, using your spear to block away another teddy bear, whose teeth had embedded into your arm.

You struggled to get it off and tossed it listlessly to the wall. It didn't burst apart, it just seemed that they wouldn't die by normal means, it seemed.

"Keep moving!" Kyubey advised, as he had found another corridor. "We can't afford to keep staying here."

"Right!" The pair of you had dashed away from the familiars, who kept on multiplying, almost out of nowhere. Where were they all coming from?! Was it from the witch, or was it... somewhere else?

As you were all running, you were heading up in a fork in the path. This one looked more decisive though. And it appeared that unlike the last room, there was no way to bust open an entrance. Not like you could, considering of your bite wound. You had to keep one hand on it, the other hand grasping your spear. Of course you had to get injured now, of all times when this sort of thing was happening. It was luck coming into play here.

"Aaaaaah! What do we do?! What do we do?!" Irie screeched, clearly panicking. "Tomo-chan's injured! This isn't good!"

"D-Don't waste your breath on screaming! If you do, you might wear yourself out and get caught by them...!" You warned, as the familiars were slowly closing in.

Race Against Time​

[] Write-in.

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Go right.
-[X] Cast Frigid Spiral behind you.

There was no choice. Given the multitude of familiars stalking you, Irie, and Kyubey, if you didn't pick a path, there would be no reason having made the wish you did. Since you didn't want to waste this chance... You took a sharp right, ignoring the left entirely. As much as you wanted to avoid making such rash decisions, the familiars would have closed in on you either way.

"Back... off...!" You growled, as you made a quick stop, having Irie and Kyubey run ahead of you. By turning right, the familiars had been thrown for a loop and had to take time to catch up. This, of course, allowed you to be able to set up once again your attack.

They were getting closer, but you needed them to be close enough that you could pull Frigid Spiral off without having any leftovers this time and still be able to run. Having them get halfway was the most ideal situation, the most optimal one, in fact.

'What are you doing, Tomo-chan?! C'mon! We can't afford fighting a whole ton of them!' You heard Irie's voice echo telepathically.

'We can't just leave them all alive still coming after us, right? Wait for me.' It had been your reply to her pleading. You knew this could end badly, but you had to try. You just had to.

'You will be fine. Just hold them off until we find an exit.' Kyubey's voice had came through on telepathy. Hearing that was comforting, to say the least.

'Alright. Just hurry, please...' You felt a chill down your spine. You touched your Soul Gem, located on your forehead. If the familiars got close enough to your Soul Gem and tried breaking it, it would be all over.

You were letting them close in even more. It really was going to be down to the wire. You could see that some of them were changing their appearance. Some of the teddy bears became rabbits, dogs... it looked almost like a stuffed animal march. However considering how grotesque some of them were, with gnashing teeth, claws, and blood... Their animalistic cries all felt like it had become a solitary noise, one voice.

Readying yourself, before they could leap forward... You had activated your magic. "Hope this will put you on ice!"

The icy vortexes that were spun had curled towards the familiars. They were freezing, slowly but surely. You couldn't move from your position. Your injury was slowly sealing itself up. This probably was due to the fact that you were focusing on the opponents in front of you.

'I found a door! It's really shiny and ornate and--' You felt the telepathy being entered with a different telepathy, and it had slowly scrambled, and a new voice entered in.

'So. You are a magical girl, are you not? Fighting against all the familiars, are you not? Let me assist you.'


Your eyes widened as a bright, vivid shots of yellow ribbons came forth, along with the sound of musket fire. From this strange magical girl's side and yours, this had eliminated the familiars. You weren't sure that you would have been able to do that on your own, to be honest.

As the smoke cleared, you had found yourself staring at a magical girl with blonde ringlets stood before you. She looked much younger than you, but seemed wise beyond her years, based on her presence alone. It made you hesitate momentarily. To see another magical girl besides yourself and Irie, it had chilled you to the bone that she was there.

"I'm Mami Tomoe, a magical girl like you. Kyubey called on me to assist you on your first venture." Mami had offered her hand towards you. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

What do you do?

Choose three options...

[] Introduce yourself and shake Mami's hand.
[] Introduce yourself, but don't take your hand. You don't trust her yet.
[] Take her to Irie and Kyubey. If you are doing introductions, you are doing it proper. Everyone all together.
[] Hug Mami.
[] You see something shining throughout the mess of familiar corpses. Investigate?
[] Investigate the next room.
[] Cleanse your Soul Gem. You have 600 Grief currently. You have twelve Grief Seeds.
[] Write-in.

 

[Shiranui]

[x] Take her to Irie and Kyubey. If you are doing introductions, you are doing it proper. Everyone all together.
[x] You see something shining throughout the mess of familiar corpses. Investigate?
[x] Investigate the next room.

"Let's go to Irie and Kyubey first, um, Tomoe-san." You had remarked with a curt voice. You didn't want to piss off your senpai. In the sense of that, you were going to make sure that everyone was all together. Considering these familiars were quite aggressive, there was no way you wanted to hang around and find out just exactly how strong they were.

As the pair of you were heading over to Irie and Kyubey, you had noticed that there was something glimmering among the familiar corpses. With your hands, you gently picked it up to see it as a necklace. There was a bird cage with a blue bird inside. That was quite... odd. Why would some familiars hold onto to a mere trinket?

Your thoughts were immediately interrupted, however, with Mami saying, "Are you coming, Ueda-san? Please don't tarry any longer than you need to."

"...I'm coming, I'm coming." You had quickly taken it into your pockets. You were going to have this checked out later, of course. You didn't have much time to play around.

Irie's eyes widened. "S-So pretty... and her... chest..." She had seemed to be focusing rather particularly on Mami's chest for some reason.

"Knock it off, Irie! We have a witch to find. You really need to keep yourself in check, seriously..." You lectured, hands on your hips. "Introduce yourself before you go talking about things like that!"

Mami chuckled. "It's... alright, I guess? It's so humorous that she latched onto that particular part. In all seriousness, you should be careful what you said." Her voice had a bit of viciousness of it. It seemed that others remarked on her chest size before, and it seemed she wasn't particularly appreciative of Irie's line of speaking.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I'm Irie Shirokage, the president of the Occult Club! Since I'm a magical girl now, I just thought it would be fun to do some hunting!"

You face-palmed at her words and lack of tact, although you couldn't say that you were any better. Considering that you were all in a Witch's Labyrinth, it seemed that Mami had the most experience. At least that was the feeling behind it. It seemed like they were getting along, yet you had a feeling that there was going to be possible issues cropping up later considering how Irie was behaving. Her eccentricities were driving you nuts. Why did Kyubey say that she had the potential? That meant that just anyone could have the potential to become a magical girl, right? Or was it just purely selective terms?

No matter the case, you were heading off the next room and they had tagged along behind you. Opening up the double doors, it looked like a fluffy, pink bedroom and accented with all sorts of toys and the like. You stared appalled at the sight. What... what was a barrier, even? You thought it was going to be grotesque. Then again, it seemed that this particular barrier had the witch attached to quite material things.

And there was a single door there. There were strange markings in front of the door that you couldn't even read. And it appeared to have a lock on it. There was another door in the room that led to lord knows where.

The room was decorated beautifully though, you had to admit. With a large queen-sized canopy bed with white and pink blankets that looked fluffy and soft enough to sleep on and stuffed animals littered throughout the room. There were a few dolls here and there was well, dolls that blonde hair, brunette hair, red hair...

You had nearly forgotten that Irie was there, who had flopped around the bed, rolling around in it. "Ooooooh! So cuteeeeeee!! Can't we stay here and take a rest here?! I need to clean up my Soul Gem...!"

"It seems that the witch is ahead," Mami mentioned with a sigh, ignoring Irie's outburst entirely, as she stood near the locked door. "And it appears that this structure is quite solid. We are better finding off the key in the next room..."

"I agree." Kyubey had interjected, as he had joined on Mami's shoulder instead of yours. Did it make you jealous? ...Maybe.

Irie pouted. "Totally wrong! I bet the key is in the room. Isn't that right, Tomo-chan?! I can't be wrong..."

A Sweet and Fluffy Bedroom?
​

[] Agree with Mami. There was no way this witch would hide a key here, right...? Go through the unlocked door and see what lies ahead.
[] Agree with Irie. Well, even if Mami has a point, the room seems really suspicious and you want to check before familiars come.
[] Make your own judgment call and insist that you go back to the left path. Maybe there's a different route...
[] This room seems safe. Cleanse your Soul Gem? 600 Grief, 12 Grief Seeds left.
[] Write-in.​

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Agree with Irie. Well, even if Mami has a point, the room seems really suspicious and you want to check before familiars come.

"Wait, Irie has a point, too. We can't just exactly leave this place without taking a look around." You said, as you held up your hand.

"Finally! Point for me! Mami has zero points!" Irie declared, spinning around in place.

Mami gave a gentle smile. "Alright, alright... even though I'm not sure the point of investigating this room any further. We have to make sure to get to the witch and be able to stop it before it causes anymore damage..."

"I'm aware. But this room isn't normal compared to the others." You mentioned tersely, as you began your search.

"Ooooh... does that mean we're gonna get treasure?!" Irie jumped up and down, more like a kid at a candy store rather than a magical girl hunting for a witch.

"That's if you are lucky, Irie." Kyubey stated, as he too, joined in the search.

It took a bit in order to focus on the task, considering that Irie was being quite loud and demanding attention, despite her being the one who requested to check out the room. Was this girl's mind always so flip-flopping between one side and the other? To be honest, you wondered if there was some method to her madness. Or if she could possess a way to actually listen to instructions and be able to perform. It was good that Mami had decided to help, seeing that you alone couldn't complete this task in a timely fashion, which ultimately made sense. Going through the room with just one person was quite time consuming.

Mami sighed. "There's nothing here... we looked through the room up and down, and I don't see what we wasted our time for..."

"The room has to have a trick. Maybe that's why Irie picked to stay and check the place out?" You tried arguing for Irie. You knew that she didn't make much sense and really, there was no point in arguing, but like hell you wanted to believe you wasted time.

"You shouldn't be so quick to say that this room has a trick. Usually set ups for witches rarely involve such tricks." Mami countered.

Irie, who had been staring at a set up rabbits, tilted her head. "Guys? I think I found a puzzle?" Although her words were unable to be heard out, considering that you and Mami were focused on arguing rather than paying attention. "Well fine! I am gonna solve it!"

Without a moment's hesitation, she began to arrange the stuffed rabbits by color and preference to days.

"Wait, what? Irie, don't--"

However it was already too late. Irie had solved the puzzle. Irie poked at the bunnies and looked around for her prize.

"...I didn't win anything?! Lame!" Irie whined, pouting at the sight of the rabbits. "Stupid rabbits! I solved your puzzle! Lemme winnnnnn..."

Almost as if answering Irie's wish, the ground underneath the four of you opened up and you sank into the darkness, screaming.

Landing with a painful thud, you found yourself the cushion for both Irie and Mami. Kyubey had avoided this somehow by landing on his feet, almost like a real cat.

"What was that for?! You could have gotten us seriously hurt!" You snapped out of irritation.

"That was quite reckless, Irie." Mami chided.

Irie pointed to the surroundings and shown off her Soul Gem. "But it shines the brightest here. So I found the witch's hiding spot. Another point for me."

It was an odd garden, something like from Alice in Wonderland. There were all sorts of flowers and sweet aromas coming from the center. However it seemed this garden had an upper extension with stairs and all. It truly was a fairy tale princess's dream. And in the middle at the large table was the witch -- the eldritch abomination of the labyrinth.

It looked twisted. Physically so. It had tendrils that extended all around, picking up and grabbing whatever it pleases. And all the while, it had a doll's face. It must have looked like a cross between a doll and some type of tentacle beast. However it was two legged. There were eight arms in total, six doing most of the work and two folded across its chest.

You heard scrabbling in the distance, as well as Irie, Kyubey, and Mami.

'We have to do something, Tomoko. You have an idea?' Mami told you telepathically.

'There is an extreme disadvantage no matter what happens.' Kyubey had informed you.

'Tomoko knows best!' Irie chimed in whimsically.

Although, for the record, you were positive Irie was still as chaotic as ever and that in the end, even if you argue your position of decision maker... You had to admit it gave you a feeling of power...

The Witch Hunt Begins
​

[] There's familiars behind you, Mami, and Irie... Who do you get to take care of them and how? Warning: this will alert the witch of your presence.
-[] Write-in.

[] The Witch is front of you. Who do you get to go attack the witch and how?
-[] Write-in.

[] Find cover and observe the witch and familiars?

[] Get to higher ground and launch an aerial attack. Maybe you can take the witch and the familiars by surprise!

[] Write-in.​

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Get to higher ground and launch an aerial attack. Maybe you can take the witch and the familiars by surprise!

Out of all the things that you had figured would be best to do, you decided that if you all got onto higher grounds, you could potentially catch them off guard. You felt impatient. You wanted to be done with this witch and move on already. You were sure that Irie would feel the same. And to be honest, the only person you weren't sure of was wanting the same was Mami.

Rushing forward, you lead yourself and the others towards the upper floors. You weren't going to be ambushed from both sides and you certainly weren't going to let this witch have her way. It should just be a quick kill, considering that the witch and its familiars were distracted with going to the witch. Normally you would have paid attention to what they were doing, but... you had bigger priorities.

You had your spear on hand at the very least. So you started to create multiples of them. About seven more should do to make out an even eight. One on hand, and the other for tossing purposes. And you weren't sure of Irie's capabilities when it came to aerial attacks. It seemed that she appeared to be more of a support type.

"Let me join you in fighting. Your spears will help." Mami said, as you saw her pulled out what appeared to be muskets and took position near the banister. "Let's hope this works... Take cover, Irie."

"Oooh, I like a woman with big--" You clapped your hand over Irie's mouth, feeling a sense of rage fueling Mami's stare.

"...Thank you, Ueda-san. At least you have some sense to you. You need to keep your teammate from getting in the way all the time."

You wouldn't blame her for getting upset. It wasn't the first time Irie was doing stuff like this, and it wasn't the last. So as she was aiming, you had felt uneasy. You know. It was too easy. How could have the witch not notice something like this? If anything, this should be raising alarm bells. You thought that a higher ground would be safer... easier to control and not have to worry about the familiars overtaking you guys. Letting go of Irie, you had grabbed two of your spears. You had to adjust your body properly to be able to throw them without hurting yourself.

As Mami loaded her shot, she had taken aim already and fired. The shot rang out through the room, and it appeared she had targeted the witch. Made sense, considering that the familiars were nothing more than small fry and that you all were trying to actually kill a witch today. You twirled your spears and tossed one of them. While one of them just hit square into the ground, the other had struck the witch's foot.

"That's... amazing..." Irie breathed out. "Mami-san is so cuteeee... Tomo-chan is precious... ughhh, why can't I take you both home with me...?"

"...Are you sure that you are friends, Ueda-san? She sounds like a perverted child." Mami stated, a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"We just met today. It's... a long story. Let's just not worry about it and fight..." You tried to brush the situation under the rug. There was no time for arguing.

With a sigh, Mami had tossed the used musket aside and created another one, and locked it into place, and gave another shot, this time, however it was a scattering shot. This scattering shot had hit a few of the familiars, although considering they were in current chaos of an unknown aerial attack, they were panicking more than not. It was a good thing that Mami had joined the group.

You took another pair of spears. It was time to set up a more aerial style fighting, in case they did spot you at some point. It took some calculation, but you tossed these two spears into two of the pillars, west and east . This would give you and Mami a place to stand on in case the witch decided to fire any attacks over in this general direction. However, you weren't sure what this witch was up to. It seemed like it was just relaxing and enjoying a tea party.

That's when you heard a scream from behind you.

The walls had suddenly came to life and were grabbing at Irie, who was struggling to release herself. So, apparently this witch was able to manipulate the environment with her barrier in order to do something like this...!

"Mami, Tomoko! We have to get Irie and move!" Kyubey advised. "I'll go ahead and try to scout for a suitable area."

Before you could say anything, Kyubey had rushed on ahead. It appeared that he was heading downstairs.

You winced. This was certainly going to be an unpredictable fight. It seemed like this was a newborn witch, but at the same time, it might have been around a little more than a few days. To gain this much power... It was something that the three of you didn't expect. A wall coming to life? It really is sort of a fairy-tale like thing for ordinary objects to become such monsters. There was the fact to consider that it could mean that the three of you were in for a rough fight.

Then again, witches truly were unpredictable.

"T-Thanks for saving me..." Irie whimpered, as you had carried her away from the scene. "I thought I was a goner."

"We should have been more careful of the surroundings. I apologize, Shirokage-san." Mami said, gritting her teeth. "This is an odd witch. We should be careful."

Certainly you felt guilty of pushing Irie to the side that time to do an aerial attack. What were you thinking? Since you were on an upper floor, you could have had Irie to your side. Even though it would have disgruntled Mami, it would have kept her from getting traumatized by a sentient wall. However now was no time to worry about this. The bigger elephant in the room was the witch, and it wasn't happy. As the tea was spilled everywhere, you watched as a thin layer coated the ground. Uninvited guests to this witch's tea party must be killed is probably what the actions indicate, even though you knew it couldn't possibly be human. It was a monster that needed to be taken out of this world.

There shall be no more hesitation. You weren't alone anymore.

VS Alice, The Witch of Puppetry Part 1​

Allies: Mami and Irie are both able to fight.
Mami: ???/5000 Grief
Irie: ???/4500 Grief


[] Familiars are multiplying in number (20 for now) and the witch is charging. Form a strategy and attack them? Label this as a plan in your vote. Ex: Plan Blaze of Glory
-[] Write-in battle strategy.

[] There are the spears that you set up earlier on the pillars... set up one for Irie and observe from above?

[] Get Kyubey to distract the witch and the familiars while you set up traps for the witch and do a grief check with Mami and Irie.

[] Write-in.

 

[Shiranui]

[X] Get Kyubey to distract the witch and the familiars while you set up traps for the witch and do a grief check with Mami and Irie.

'Please distract the witch and familiars for us. We need to check the grief in our Soul Gems.' You had requested of Kyubey.

'Got it. Don't take too long, Tomoko.' Kyubey had cut off the communication, logically, since he was about to go and do a much, much harder job. Which was running around and distracting the witch and familiars. They would surely attack anything that was moving within their range.

In retrospect, you felt guilty about it. But it wasn't like you had a choice... "Say, Mami. Irie. What's the status on your grief for your Soul Gems? I need to know so that way we can come up with a plan..."

Mami: 250/5000 Grief
Irie: 650/4500 Grief

"...And that's all she wrote." Irie said, as she had given a confident smile.

"How did you get that much Grief in such a short span of time...?" Mami questioned, worried about this factor.

"Mmm..." Irie bit her lip. "Dunno? Magic?"

"We need to keep a watch on how much grief our Soul Gems take on." You were focused more on the scenery that laid out before you rather than Mami's words.

Kyubey was doing his best to keep the witch and the familiars, although they were multiplying faster than he could handle them. At this rate he was going to be overwhelmed by the creatures and once that happened, they would go after you, Mami, and Irie next. It was quite odd how the witch was behaving, treating this as if it were a tea party and it was entertaining the guests. The somewhat organic movements were causing you some concern. However, it wasn't like the multiplying familiars weren't as concerning. If you all didn't do something, the room would be filled with countless familiars to protect the witch from harm...

And that wouldn't be very ideal to have.

Although you couldn't say rushing into a battle would be the most ideal thing that all of you would have wanted. Not to mention the fact that this witch had quite... strange abilities. You couldn't really read what it was exactly doing. It's swaying and laughing was driving you a bit up the wall though.

"Guys. We can't argue. If we don't figure out something, Kyubey's gonna be devoured by a famiiliar or even the witch sooner or later." You argued, getting in between the two of them, since they were starting to get heated, with Irie about hug the stuffing out of her. "Let's talk about this after the barrier!"

"Oh, fine, fine. I'll give my death squeezing hug later then..." Irie pouted childishly, stamping her feet. "Oh so great and mighty leader..."

Mami looked towards you. "It sounds like you have something in mind. Why don't you take the reins in this battle? I'd like to see your prowess."

VS Alice, The Witch of Puppetry Part 2
​

Current Grief: 600
Current Grief Seed Count: 12​

​

[] Time to fight. Play time is over... And you are really sick and tired of this laughing witch... Using magic will cost you Grief.

You decide to use...
-[] Convert.
-[] Restriction.
-[] Frigid Spiral.
-[] Sub-Zero Infusion.
-[] Skill write-in. Should have brief descriptor of said skill and Grief amount.
-[] Write-in action.

Irie decide to use...
-[] Dozing Spirits
-[] Fire Spirits
-[] Skill write-in. Should have brief descriptor of said skill and Grief amount.
-[] Write-in action.

Mami decide to use...
-[] Ribbon Creation, and how much? Depending on the number, it piles on more Grief.
-[] Chain Creation, and how much?
-[] Magical Enhancer. Could enhance your gun...
-[] Tiro Finale.
-[] Write-in action.

[] Use your gun to lure it away from Kyubey and draw it to you. You trust Mami and Irie to help you.

[] Perhaps now is the time to hop up onto the spears and make a proper aerial attack...?
-[] Write-in battle strategy.

[] Write-in.

-

Irie Shirokage's Current Skill Set:

Dozing Spirits (Causes Sleep Status effect.)
Cost: 250 Grief

Fire Spirits (Summon and can cause Burn status.)
Cost: 400 Grief

Mami Tomoe's Current Skill Set:

Ribbon Creation (Can create ribbons and morph them as she sees fit, i.e. making bridges, muskets, etc.)
Cost: 50 Grief
Note: This depends on how large in scale they are. The more she makes, the higher amount of Grief is added.

Chain Creation (Can create chains for restraints.)
Cost: 50 Grief
Note: This depends on how large in scale they are. The more she makes, the higher amount of Grief is added.

Magical Enhancer (Can enhance ordinary items with magic.)
Cost: 300 Grief

Healing (Can heal others with this power. However, depending on injury, will take time to fully heal.)
Cost: 450 Grief

Tiro Finale (Iconic move that Mami herself coined. Creates a huge gun. One bullet per Tiro Finale. Use with extreme caution.)
Cost: 2500 Grief
​

 

[Shiranui]

[X] You decide to use...
-[X] Frigid Spiral.
-[X] Sub-Zero Infusion.
--[X] Don't go into melee, and just throw those Icy Spears like a Javelin.

[X] Irie decide to use...
-[X] Dozing Spirits

Mami decide to use...
-[X] Chain Creation, and how much?
--[X] Twice
-[X] Tiro Finale.

-

It was time to roast that witch on a pike and be over with this. It was a risk to go into melee, you decided, and you were going to set up Frigid Spiral and Sub-Zero Infusion. It was best. It would take time for the Sub-Zero Infusion to kick in, but at least that you were going to get to pop a few familiars along the way with your attack. It wasn't like the witch could actually stop you.

"Take... this...!" You had felt the power of the Frigid Spiral freezing your opponents quite a bit, although it didn't mean that they were out of the woods yet. That was simply only the easier part. "Irie! Do your thing!"

"You got it, Tomo-chan!! Let's do this!! Dozing Spirits!" Irie exclaimed, as the spirits flew out of the orb, causing the familiars to fall asleep. It was a critical hit, making most, if not all the familiars fall asleep so easily. Then there was the fact that the witch wasn't sleeping at all. This would be bad, if you didn't have Mami in the ring along with the rest of you.

"It's time for your senpai to show you how it's really done!" Mami had summoned two chains, the chains wrapping around the base of the witch's base. Using her magic, she had created a large gun. "Time for the current call to your labyrinth... Tiro... Finale...!!"

If you hadn't been covering long-range below, Mami definitely would have been hit. Well, having Irie's sleeping magic did help as well. It prevented from the familiars doing anything really. And it seemed like the witch had no clue what to do with the three of you. The shot rang through, clearly piercing the witch's chest. It screamed and writhed out in pain, as the witch's barrier began to melt into normal scenery. And was stuck in the cement ground remaining was a Grief Seed. Walking over to the Grief Seed, you gingerly looked at it. It seemed that the emblem of the Grief Seed was a teddy bear marking. You sighed and looked over at Mami and Irie, who Irie was hugging Mami once again. ...You swore that Mami was going to legitimately end her.

"...Ah. You're wondering how I beat the witch, Irie?" You could hear Mami's voice as she had a light chuckle. "It's because I'm strong. The stronger you become, the more you will be able to help others. So always be a good girl and help out others, alright?"

Irie drooled, her eyes sparkling. "Yes madam... I'll do whatever you ask, Mami-san..."

"Irie. Stop drooling over her body. You're sounding more and more like a pervert." You scolded, causing Irie to whimper.

Mami laughed. "It seems to be within Irie's nature to just be physical with others... Don't worry. If I have to, I will and can end her at any point." Her smile alarmed you slightly. So this was what it was like to be a senior magical girl. Able to say that with a smile. "Anyways, since we had a successful mission... would you like to come over to my place for cake? I'll treat you to an extra big slice, Tomoko-chan. ...And Irie-chan? You'll only get cake if you behave from now on..."

"Aye, aye, madam!" Irie said, with a salute.

Kyubey had hopped onto Mami's shoulder, almost looking like a squirrel. "Cake again? Isn't there something else you'd rather eat, Mami?"

What do you do now. . .?

[] Take the Grief Seed.
[] Don't take the Grief Seed.
[] Give it Mami. She looks like she could use it...

[] Go to Mami's place with Irie for a tea party. You deserve cake. Reputation bonus. Status bonus. Grief replenished.
[] Hang out with Irie. You want to be able to bond with her. Reputation bonus. Status bonus.
[] Go home. You're tired. You really want to get a shower in and hit the hay. Grief replenished. No bonuses.
[] Write-in.