Strangers on Magical Sands (PMMM)

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Northern Sudan, 24th April 1892

A dark, murky ribbon of color snaked through the desert. The...

mothematics

How wide is the concept of "you"?
Location
the bottom of a coffee cup
Pronouns
She/Her
Northern Sudan, 24th April 1892

A dark, murky ribbon of color snaked through the desert. The grasses hissed, their tassels bent in the wind. Although the sun beat down its incessant rays through a clear blue sky, life went on, as it was wont to, in the river, on her banks, and, most importantly, on the small dirt road alongside. A lone figure jogged at a vigorous pace down it, footsteps crunching indifferently over dry, yellowing grass. Clad in a buttoned white shirt missing its sleeves and dirty linen pants, she pressed onwards through the stillness of the afternoon.

"Ach. I can't see them over all this bloody haze, and it's nearing dusk," the girl muttered between breaths. "Da isn't going to be very pleased with me… but Khartoum can't be that far away. I might even see it on the horizon if it wasn't so bloody hot!"

Slowing her pace down to a walk, the girl raised her arms over her head, scanning the horizon ahead. She idly fingered her short, choppy brown hair, and turned to look over the river. If she cared to be specific, the Nile River.That was her father's business, though. She was along for the journey, not the work.

"JOSEPHINE, DEAR! COME BACK TO THE WAGONS!" A great roar came from behind.

Well. Only one person on God's green earth who could bellow at such a volume.

Josephine turned with a sigh. "Alright, alright. I'll be there in a minute. Let me cool down on the way, I'm only now finished running!" she yelled as loudly as she could, setting a relaxed pace back the way she came.

If the wagons were to hurry, they might even be able to make it to the city before nightfall! Josephine smiled broadly. All she had to do now was wait.

The smile turned dour. "Soon, but not soon enough." she grumbled.

=====
Having wound down her pace into a walk, Josephine approached the wagons vacantly, muttering to herself with head inclined.

"JOSEPHINE, DEAR! I trust you enjoyed your run!"

Looking up, she heard the sounds of grumbling men as a bald, bespectacled mustachioed head peeked around a wagon.

She spoke dryly."Yes, Da, that I did. There isn't much else to do on the road." She hopped up onto the side of the wagon, leaning back onto her elbows.

Josephine sighed. "Will we push for Khartoum tonight?" She looked up to meet her father's playful eyes.

Dr. Layton strokes his mustache. "Hmm. That is a FINE question. So is the question of why you waited until now to return from your run... Hmm." Blithely ignoring the glare from his daughter, he continued to speak. "Well, I suppose we could try to hurry along to the city. The sooner we get there, the sooner everyone can get to work surveying."

Josephine tapped her thigh impatiently. "Well? Are we? I don't want to push you, but I really do think-"

"Josephine, get in the wagon and cover up."

She sighed. "I'm sorry if I'm being too forceful here, but I really would like to finally get on with-"

"Josephine." Dr. Layton's voice was uncharacteristically grim.

"Oi! Da, please let me finish talking? All I was saying was -"

"NOW, JOSEPHINE!" her father roared, stepping onto the wagon's edge and cupping his hands around his mouth as he called along to the other wagons. "SANDSTORM FROM THE SOUTH! EVERYONE COVER UP THE OXEN AND SECURE THE TOOLS! NOW!"

What the bloody hell was he talking about? The sky was clear on every horizon....

Oh. What in God's name was that?

Where there was once clear sky, there was now a great, enormous wall of sand hurtling directly towards them from near a kilometer away. The top of the mass of shifting sands obscured the sun, it was so high. Josephine couldn't tell where it ended. The howling noise of the wind grew in intensity with every second. Curiously enough, though, it almost sounded like a...

A scream. It sounded like a young girl screaming in rage, but warped and gravely and simply wrong.

There was something off about this. More than the obvious, 'sandstorm from bloody nowhere' part. There was… there was something else.. But what was it? What was so perplexing about this? Why couldn't she look away from-

"DAMNATION, LASS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? GET IN THE BLOODY WAGON!"

The cry brought her back to reality. Josephine looked around her. She had been in the middle of the road, walking towards the storm wall. The storm wall, which was-

Which was about to crash upon her. Oh, bollocks.

She sprinted for the nearest wagon, away from the road and onto the more tightly packed soil of the river bank. She dived for the wagon-

And then all was blackness.

=====
Cool, numb blackness. The dark is good. In the dark, you don't feel pain. It would be so easy to leave the light in the distance, for it is there that you find pain.

But pain is for the living. Pain lets you know that you can keep going. It tells you that you are alive.

And so it was through the searing brightness and scorching pain that Josephine knew she was not dead, even if she wished she was.

Josephine moved to sit up, but found that there was a weight upon her, keeping her pressed into the sand. She opened her eyes.

All around her was dust, and sand. What was once just barren plain was now its own sand dune, and peeking through its top she could see things. Cloven hooves showing limply through the sand, shattered ends of wood poking out like twigs, canvas fluttering through the air.

Most important of all, was the man lying over her with his shirt torn open. His back bloodied and abraded like it had been whipped. His breathing was shallow. Nearly imperceptible, yet steady.

...Oh.

Oh.

"You bloody idiot." Josephine growled in a watery voice. "For once, let me make my own mistakes! DAMN YOU!" Her voice cracked.

A sickeningly cute voice tore through her head suddenly. "Josephine! He isn't dead yet! You can save him if you help me!"

Perched upon a wooden beam that breached the sand, was a small, catlike white creature.

Her head jerked up. If this wasn't a dream, then...

Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "What do I need to do?"

The creature blinked.

"Make a contract with me, and become a magical girl!"

[] Wish away.

=====
Hello, SV. This idea came from an idle conversation I had over IRC at about two in the morning a little over a week ago.

We know from everyone's (least) favorite bunnycat that some of the most famous women in PMMM history have been Puella Magi. Joan of Arc, Cleopatra. They were all great women, and were most likely great Puella Magi as well. Great, and famous.

But what about the many girls who lived throughout history? What are their stories, and why has no one written about them? Let's see if we can't change that.

Josephine Layton is her own girl with her own personality and history before you take control of her decisions. I'll be fleshing things out as I update in this regard, and hopefully I can make it satisfying for everyone. You (the voter) however, will get to decide how her story unfolds from here, and develop her as a person.

But for now?

Make a wish.

/人◕ ‿‿ ◕人\

(Shoutout to @Firnagzen and @Crasian01 , and a whole bunch of other awesome people. Without them, this would never have happened. You guys are great.)
 
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Index

Arc one

1 2 3
 
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HEY LOOK I HAVE FANART

Courtesy of @Krekian:

Josephine and Reynold Layton (Daughter and Father):
 
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[]"I wish my mistakes'd affect me and me alone."
[]"I wish to get us both to safety."
[]"I wish to know the path to safety."
[]"I want us both to get out of here, and to see the world."
 
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Also, just as a sidenote, I reserve the right to veto anything like PtV, or anything that isn't something Josephine IC could come up with.
 


I get so much mileage out of this image.

[x] I wish to get us both out of here, to safety
 
[x] I wish to get us both out of here, to safety
 
Woohoo, is finally up *opens bottle of Champagne*

[x] I wish to get us out of here, for us to be somewhere I can get him healed.
[x] Intent- Getting out of the situation is secondary as opposed healing and keeping dad alive.

EDIT: Changing vote to wish Sightedjt
 
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[x] I wish to get us out of here, for us to be somewhere I can get him healed.
[x] Intent- Getting out of the situation is secondary as opposed healing and keeping dad alive.
 
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[X] I wish I knew how to fix this.

Taking from the perspective of a girl who has no idea what the contract involves or what it can do.
 
[]"I wish for muscles. I mean, I'm ripped already, I just mean more muscles."
[]"I wish I could fly. Also to have enough lifting force to convey my dearest father to safety of a nearby institute of health."
[]"I wish this never happened. That we were still back in England."
[]"I wish my father wasn't such a chivalrous idiot. That he was a whimpering weak, muscle-less nerd."
[]"I wish that I was a bird."
[]"I wish for a pony."
[]"I wish the sky was red instead of blue. What? It'd be cool."
[]"I wish I was strong enough to carry my father to safety."
[]"I want to time-travel to 2011 japan for some inexplicable reason."
[]"I want to be moe. Make me moe."
[]"I wish pokemon were real."
[]"I wish I had a smoke. I really need a smoke right now."
[x]I wish to get us both out of here, to safety.

Blatant GM railroading is what this is.
 
[x] I wish to get us both out of here, to safety

Ohh, what a vague wish to phrase it. Hope it doesn't have any horrible implications.
 
Well, there's a bit of interpretation left to "intent" at this point. Ideally, votes should include both Wording and Intent in order to maximize player control over the wish and its effect.
 
Remember the wish also comes out of the girls' magic power. If you make a wish that's too big, you won't be long before witching. Hope and despair equals out to zero, an excess of hope will be met by an excess of despair.
 
Went for it as dad is in a bad way, and I didn't think the current vote is addressing it. Just thinking that Josephine would be wanting to save him, and so putting it into wish
 
[X]"I wish my mistakes'd affect me and me alone."
 
I'll be calling the vote in about five hours.
 
Dem Votes, yo:
##### 3.18
[x]I wish to get us both out of here, to safety.
No. of votes: 5
Ugolino, Dirtnap, Choo Choo, Krekian, False Xteeler

[x] I wish to be able to fix this.
No. of votes: 1
Cannongerbil

[x] I wish to get us out of here, for us to be somewhere I can get him healed.
No. of votes: 2
EtchedSteel, Sightedjt

[x] Intent- Getting out of the situation is secondary as opposed healing and keeping dad alive.
No. of votes: 2
EtchedSteel, Sightedjt

[X] I wish I knew how to fix this.
No. of votes: 3
veekie, wingstrike96, Deus-Vult

[X]I wish my mistakes'd affect me and me alone.
No. of votes: 1
Jiven
 
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