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May watches the speech with annoyance and confusion, "It all has a price, so any time we do anything with these things we have to pay for it?" clearly unkind to the idea of having 'powers' force on her then being punished when using them.
When Sora looks to her she speaks up again. "I saw a guy that seemed to be in the same place as us with the raven, he seemed pretty upset over being a guy instead of a girl so I guess you got wings he got gender swapped."
Her voice unsure but she still answers. "Honestly I don't know what I am anymore but I'm pretty sure the train coming to get us was me so maybe?"
Sakura moves through the hospital headed towards the cafeteria as she'd forgotten to eat at the rich girl's house. With her stomach growlign she determinedly gets in line and moves through it gathering food before coming to the cash register and pulling a little bag with her money out.
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Even with pieces coming together, Kiyomi is completely fixated on the shocking scene before her; her mouth sits open again, drawn agape by the sight of her mother rattled. This must be a major disaster for her to lose her posture.
With the conversation moving back to the specifics of last night's encounter, Kiyomi makes another attempt at speaking up. "Tiresias and Sakura... erm, Book and Twins as Sora says, were here earlier. Tiresias puzzled out how to dispel the transformation and was going around telling everyone." She thinks for a moment before continuing, "I remember she had this ta- terribly interesting book that allowed her to track the movements of all the people in our group. We should be able to gather everyone easily with her assistance."
Chrysanth is quickly lost between Alex's commanding tone, Paresh's attempt to order her retreat, and Junpei's stab at diplomacy. She wasn't quite sure what to do in the Mexican stand off, and simply responds to the Hatter, 「H-Hurt? N-No! I d-don't want a-anyone b-being hurt! And I d-don't want to h-hurt anyone myself either!」 She takes a moment to assess the situation herself as she speaks, glancing to the crutch holding raven, the tanuki girl that had once been her dear classmate, and the stone dog mounted American.
「W-What would giving the c-crutch back d-do? Wh-What happens when you m-make a t-trinket?」 She asks frantically, wanting to know more before she made a decision she would ultimately regret. If the situation breaks out into hostility again, however, she would protect Paresh and Junpei the best she can, her mounting panic and concern slowly building and manifesting as thin wisps of darkness orbiting her person.
In any case, you have your lunch, and have been able to keep all of your allowance, even if all that means is you don’t have to ask your father for more. He usually just gives you 3,000 yen (~$27) each week, but if you ask, he’ll forget he’s already given it to you. He says the money is yours by right, but you don’t know what he means by that. When you asked he started talking about the government, so you lost interest.
You feel another tug and spot another pink ribbon, quickly fading. The other magical girl is leaving soon.
The driver swipes the card, chooses an item and offers it to you, repeating the process until he’s convinced you to take a drink and a snack. After a few more swipes of his card he has an armful of junk food. “Ah, vending machines, the one thing they do better than America.” It doesn’t seem like he’s addressing the comment to you as he bites into a flash-heated burrito. The two of you head out to the car, and the driver even manages to open the door for you.
It takes one hundred years for me to earn the magic you take by making one trinket. I hardly have anything left after Scorpio. If you had made one more trinket, I might not even be able to talk. After his retort, Ayatori ducks and looks sheepishly to Alex. He waited and watched me for weeks looking for me to let my guard down. I can’t go that long without some Joss... I still wouldn’t have agreed! I don’t care how intoxicated I was.
“This form is tough, but if you ever want to see that suave dude from last night again, we need that crutch back. Letting that thing take it is a bad call, dude. When you guys realize what Shirakawa’s about, you’ll need my help. It’s not my place to tell you, even if you could believe me, but there’s a reason her lackies didn’t show up last night, and I bet one of those girls found out the truth.”
Ayatori flaps furiously and begins to lift up the crutch. It looks like the thing is too heavy for him to just take off with it.
「Hey! No! You stay put!」Paresh waggles her scroll in the air a bit, but the violet plasma no longer dances along the page. I looks like he’s just trying to scare the bird. 「It’s so hard to get a form to come out male, yare yare, this is embarrassing!」You're not sure how long Paresh's respectful restraint will hold out in the face of what seems to be full blown hissy fit.
Sakura thinks for a moment before taking all the easily carried items, and putting it in the backpack she'd taken to the mall and following the ribbon to the other girl.
Tiresias: As the two of you reach the car, you catch sight of little Sakura, just as nonplussed as when she entered the hospital. She somehow found her way back to the car and looks intent on tagging along.
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"You have no idea." the sailor mutters.
For Paresh-tanuki, it's an embarrassing inconvenience.
For Alex, it's all wrong, but the magic is needed and he can feel the tides swelling in him despite his best wishes NOT to go that road.
They are unbalanced, and they keep feeding off of each other, not realizing that it's sort of like the pull of the moon on the water.
OH FOR F' SAKE SHUT UP!
Why those particular thoughts bubbled to his consciousness is unclear, but he grimaces and closes his eyes and whispers "Cresting Tide Naiad" even as he braces for the swell and wash of the magic.
Provided that's successful, Naiad jumps down and then tries to draw the two (Paresh and Ayatori) in closer.
"See the ocean, be the waves..."
What Naiad will attempt to do is draw upon the water~energy~soul that all beings have, or failing that, the spiritual surges that a given spirit might have, and with the visualization of two equal-strength waves crashing against each other, merging and becoming one tranquil body of water, then separating...
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Everything going on around Junpei just stresses to him how valuable that crutch is. And given the way that Paresh is ignoring him, more focused on Tengoon and the crutch, it occurs to Junpei that perhaps he may not have much luck trying to convince him to let it go. A hundred years...that's a lot of magic. Magic that Tengoon probably really needed, from the sounds of it. Even if he was powerful relative to himself, in his current state he probably needed the surprise attack against Paresh...
Junpei's thought processes are interrupted as Tropical transforms behind him. Even with the costs, it would be nice to be able to take a new form as they do. Why they seemed so uncomfortable with their feminine forms was currently beyond him. As the magical girl tries to bring the warring pair in closer, Junpei notices and starts helping, taking the chance to whisper to the raven as best he can while he works.
「Hey. I think you know I'd rather not have a fight. Is there any way I can convince you to relinquish the crutch? I can try and get him to leave you alone at the very least. Maybe you'd like a drink as well? Name it, and I'll do my best. At the very least, I'd like to talk to you later, if that's alright with you. Would you think about it?」
Junpei listens to the response, and watches carefully again to see if fighting will start, prepared to act if necessary. Hopefully, Tropical knew what sh-HE was doing.
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「T-Trading souls for w-wishes?」 Chrysanth repeats before turning to the raven. 「W-What wishes? Y-You said we h-had to ch-change or that th-thing would h-hurt everyone. What do these p-pacts do to our s-souls?」 Her fear grows anew as the worst case scenarios race through her head, reminded of one or two shows she'd read about on the internet. Along with the fear came something new. Anger. She'd never really been angry at anything before, never felt like there was anything to blame beyond the cruelty of nature and her own psychoses.
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「I haven't really thought magic didn't follow rules... in fact, I figured it was pretty zero-sum. If I do something now, I might not be able to do something more important later. And... I don't even know how things will turn out. Like with the Horcruxes. I just... knew she was incomplete.」 she adds, looking towards the mirror, 「And I couldn't imagine being stuck that way forever.」 she then shakes herself out of the melancholy, with far too much ease. If she were correct about Shirakawa, the woman would see right through it.
She makes a few notes to herself. Her magic would be more effective on dreamers and when shaping dreams. But how to use pastels... chalk circles like salt circles? It definitely wouldn't work on the fly...
「What about synergy? Combining magic to greater effect? The reason a girl group works better than a solo career... at least at first, before people begin to clash. And is it possible to outright share magic?」
Tiresias accepted the food graciously and smiled at the figure of the large man carrying a armful of his own food. Good or not, there was something endearing about him. She slowly followed him towards the car and entered it when prompted to do so.
She sat back and bit into her own meal, her mind was racing creating and disproving all possible scenarios that could happen back in the Shirakawa beach mansion. She was pondering the odds of finding an ambush in the house orchestrated by the Shirakawa when she saw Sakura approach. She almost dropped her food as her stomach sunk to her feet.
What is she doing here? Where are her parents? I have to get out of here before the driver sees her!
We should probably leave now before we are even later, wouldn't you agree?
She said trying desperately to imprint as much authority to her voice as possible to force the driver into action faster.
Sakura: You enter the row of cars just as the engine revs to life. Tiresias and the driver are clearly in the car. You can feel the tension of the pink ribbon, and can sense, through that connection, the connection it imposes between Tiresias and the driver. It's not a natural connection, and has more in common with your mother's black ribbon than it does with the pink ribbon. From what you have seen, the pink ribbon is a common and natural relationship between young girls and older men. The ribbon reminds you of a princess' favor to her noble knight. This new string Tiresias had on the driver felt like a blindfold. It looks like Tiresias is trying to leave without you in order to save you.
"A basic control of your life isn't too much to ask for." She mutters as she hands over her translation book, the start of all of this for her.
May, Sora, Kiyomi: The lady Shirakawa steps away from the offered book. 「Oh, darling, I haven't any use for that myself. Do not ever hand that away to anyone else. If you have some moral objection to using magic, just say so, and get out of our way.」
Sakura reaches out slightly and waves as the car pulls away. After a bit Sakura begins to make her way home.
Suzu performs the minor miracle of service that is leaving and re-entering the room without notice, and notifies the lady of the house of another arrival. The lady Shirakawa nods without looking the servant’s direction. 「Excellant. If none of you will transpose us, at least the hired help will do its job.」 The lady shoulders her bag, tucks her hairpin into her bun, and runway walks in the direction of the garage. She’s distracted and more than a little peeved, but it does not seem as though she requires your participation. Any of you who follow her will find a frumpily-dressed Tiresias being let out of a car by a very nervous-looking driver.
The driver parks in the mansion’s spacious garage and exits to open the door for you. He seems especially nervous as a refined lady enters the garage.
Magic gathers around her as they concentrate, and the air between Paresh and Ayatori bends like a slowly calming sea, the tension easing out of both of them.
The raven turns to Junpei with a coquettish gleam in his eye. Yokai have very selective tastes, Capricorn. When I said drunk, it was because the Watchers I was talking to didn’t have a better word for intoxication by Joss paper. It looks like you would understand better if I said I was high. I think they knew that word, but it means something different to them.
Just when it seems like the spell is complete, the disputed crutch turns black and shifts into a simple black cane with silver fittings. As you all watch, the color drains slowly out of the cane, like ink from a quill, leaving it an ashen grey.
Ayatori shakes as if he’s been splashed with cold water and hops off the cane. His voice comes in an awed gasp. My magic has returned.
「The crutch is still a cane- it still exists. I’ve only ever seen a trinket destroyed to return magic. What did you do?」 The tiny tanuki takes a few tentative skips over to the cane and taps it with her toe. When it doesn’t explode or turn to ash, she kicks it up into her hand, looking at it as one might look at a knife recently retrieved from one’s ribs.
Chrysanth speaks, and everyone turns to her. The ally is much less divided now, the various entities arranged in a rough circle. Like low tide, the tension has simply left, and the two antagonists, Paresh and Ayatori stand almost side by side, both simply confused.
Ayatori is the first to respond. That is propaganda! He looks back at Paresh and ducks somewhat. At least, it is an over-simplification compared to what I understand. Your souls are not damaged in any way by the Pact, you’ve just stored a small part of it in an anchor.
Paresh’s face scrunches like she’s considering her words and having trouble. 「The part that is cut away is a part of who you are that you cannot... feel any longer. I have not been truly angry since I made my pact, and it has caused some unexpected problems. I have seen others who have made second and third pacts, and they do not seem human any more.」
Naiad peers at the two who were just moments before about to tear each other apart, and possibly the area around them with the commotion. Their heart pounds as they realize the magnitude of what they've done, based on the reactions of both individuals as they have reached a new rapport with one another.
Their index fingers press against each other nervously, as they've been humbled by how effective the magic was.
"I... well... you needed to be in each other's shoes, to see what you were coming from and fighting over magic things sort of like a tug-of-war and if what's going on around here is true, then we kind of, well, need to work together on this and even if we don't want to be doing this we're kind of obligated to make it work and only when we're done can we stand properly relieved?"
"Please forgive my rudeness, it's better now, though, right? You are both healed some?"
They then give a glance up to the stone dog, to see if it has any sort of words for the situation, or if it has gone back to stoic overwatch.
Junpei gets a wary glance. "Mister, I suggest you run now and don't look back. It's not going to get any easier for us any time soon, I don't think?" There's a bit of a pause... "But if you do stay, you need to understand it's going to be hard work and you're probably going to die doing it. I did, I think?"
Ayatori and Chrysanth get a bit of a squint. "Is it safe to go back to normal now, or are we about to be attacked?"
Chrysanth's anger slowly subsides as the two opposing parties calm down and explain exactly what the pacts do to an individuals soul. She glances down to the can of mace in her hand, giving it a squeeze as its soothing influence reassures her. Before long, she was back to a more calm, if characteristically jumpy state. 「Is th-there anyway of kn-knowing what p-part of the soul is h-held in the trinket?」 She asks Paresh, giving the raven a glance as well, in hopes the two of them could piece together a good answer. 「You c-can't get angry... What c-can't I do?」
「You d-died?」 She suddenly blurts, turning to look at Naiad.
On its way to your neighborhood, the bus stops on the home side of the bridge and a boy from your school gets on. You’re not sure if you can remember his name. His backpack is for girls. You don’t know why he carries that thing. He looks down the crowded bus, frowning until he spots you. He smiles, catches himself, and looks down at a drink in his hand. The drink looks good, whatever it is. You think the flavor might be blue.
You have a few strings on this boy, but they are a tangled mess. They twitch and pull, but the tangle is too tight for any one of them to tug on him. You recognise the pink ribbon, and what looks like a kite string, as well as a few others that haven’t taken shape yet. They look like friendly strings, though.
Sakura waves at him as the bus begins to move again. Sakura looks away from him.
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「H-hello Mikusan.」 The boy takes a heavy gulp of blue soda before continuing in a whisper. 「I met a magical girl and Hashimoto Sora today! What did you do today?」
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Tiresias sits back in her seat as the car drives away from the hospital, she sighs and smiles feeling somewhat proud of herself. The little girl was out of harm's way, at least for now. She would have to find a way to convince the other people to keep her out. She took a bite from her meal and considered the thought that maybe she was being cruel, shutting the girl out like that.
No, I'm not shutting her out. I'm keeping her safe. I'm sure she can visit Kiyomi at any moment in time. She just shouldn't be involved in fighting. Gosh she is just a child of course she shouldn't be involved in any of this!
She took another bite feeling confident in her decision and with a sense of accomplishment that only the self-righteous achieve.
The rest of the trip passed without much of a problem and quickly she was in the Shirakawa estate. As the lady of the house approached she prepared for the appropriate pleasantries but it seemed like something else was required of her instead. Tiresias answered the woman slightly flustered by how straightforward she was.
Of course, p-please lead the way.
There would be time for conversations later.
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Kiyomi follows her mother to greet Tiresias, and then wishes she hadn't. Somehow, it did not occur to her that her mother would go through a similar un-aging process that the other magical girls did; seeing the powerful and intimidating mistress of the house being reduced to something that can be reasonably described as "tiny and cute" leaves Kiyomi mentally blue screened.
She stands there, staring at her mother with her mouth open once again, repeatedly whispering 「are?」 to herself.
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Junpei simply blinks at the reply he gets, somewhat stunned. 「Yokai can get high? Seriously? Who'dve thought? There are enough tales involving alcohol, but this is new...gah, that's not important! I'll still get you some Joss paper if there's the remote chance I can get it, given I have no idea if the stuff you use is the same as what I know. I'm not exactly rich, but I'm not unaccustomed to spending a fair amount.」 He gestures toward his outfit with a surge of pride. The amount of time and money that had gone into it had been well worth it, and it was clearly visible to all that saw it. He wishes he was able to work on everyone else's outfits too, but fifty-thousand yen uniforms for everyone was a bit much, let alone the time investment. Maybe for ten-thousand each, given some time? No, he still needed measurements.
Thankfully for his co-workers, the spell and it's resulting effects pulled his attention away as he noted the situation defusing. Joy and relief flooded through him. Frankly, he could kiss Tropical right about now, but that would be harassment regardless of form or preference.
The subsequent exchanges manage to bring him down from his own high, but he's still in a significantly better mood than before, even in spite of what has been said. As he is addressed, he looks Alex straight in the eye. He wouldn't back down now. 「If I was so concerned about dying, I would have left earlier. Besides, you seem to have come out of it fine. If there's stuff like this happening in the world, I want to be able to help, despite the costs. It appears I can do something, and I wouldn't feel right if I just left it here.」
He starts speaking to everyone now. 「I have questions. I could ask about wishes, soul separation - Miyako really deserves an answer, by the way - the whole zodiac affair, and more besides. But given the fact that we aren't about to kill each other anymore, I think introductions are in order! I'm Junpei. I work at the cafe right there. And I want to help keep things peaceful. Glad to meet you all, circumstances aside.」 Junpei bows once more, with a flourish of his hat.
Make some friends. Learn how to get magic from them. Become an awesome magical girl. Be able to do something next time this happens.
Sakura gulps slightly. Magical girl? And who is, Hashimoto Sora? She asks, her mind having been taken up for quite awhile with her mother.
Sakura: 「Yeah!」 The boy shuffles his backpack off and pulls out a plastic figure of some girl you've never seen. The same girl is on the front of the backpack, along with a few other girls with brightly-colored hair. It looks like someone scribbled on the base of the figure with a marker. 「Sora is the best part of BB-pop! She signed my figurine.」 He lowers the figure. 「The magical girl didn’t say what her name was, but she’s here to fight darkness ‘n stuff. The adults were arguing about her when Sora came by.」
The figure looks vaguely familiar to her but barely having seen the other's forms and not really knowing them she doesn't make the connection. T-that was n-nice.
Sakura:「Yeah.」 The boy turns the figure to look at it, smiling, then takes another big gulp of blue soda. 「Oh, here's my stop. Bye Mikusan, see you at school!」 He stuffs the figure back into his backpack, and gets ready to leave.
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Sora narrowed her eyes as the woman was... well... herself. She waits until the woman has left the room before speaking with May, "I think she had intended for you to try to take us to the place where this 'Ayatori' is. Are you sure you couldn't just... summon the train again..?" she asks, matter-of-factly, as she looks around the room, casually imagining a train roaring through the nearest window and stopping at their feet. No complaints from Sora.
"Maybe you can use your book to transfer from one portion of town to the other... a translation book is the medium that spans between two cultures, after all."
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May held back a sigh of frustration as the woman completely ignored her point and continued to act superior. "I have a moral problem with forcing something on someone, punishing them for using it and then asking them to use it."
May is more than happy to stay behind with Sora until she repeats what the woman says. "She just said using powers makes us suffer and If I had any idea how it worked maybe I could try but no one has explained anything about using any of this." She starts to sound more and more defeated as her points are continuously ignored.
"I don't really understand it either. For me, when I was in the dream... I just did what felt right, and it worked. There wasn't any amount of forcing, and even if there was, dreams are... mutable. They change at any given moment, so what was happening felt normal to me. Maybe all of us get that. Like... putting a stone in the middle of a stream. We can't stop the flow, but we can divert it. I don't know how you would... but maybe just believe you can? Maybe just want it? I'm not sure. Sorry that everything's so... confusing. What was it that you did last night to bring the train?"
B-bye Sakura says in a quiet voice as she continues riding towards home.
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If there were any signs that Aratani was shaken, they’ve been shed during the transformation. This new, poised, compact girl steps quite daintily into the limo and the driver scrambles to get into the driver’s seat.
Before he gets in, the driver looks back at Tiresias and Kiyomi. “Erhm, last call?”
Suzu herself still stands near the servant’s door, waiting with her hands folded on her wrinkled apron. When the two of you are done with your hushed exchange she pipes up.「That bird is okay. -if you were worried. I would have told the Mistress, except she didn’t ask.」 She laughs as if that had been a joke. 「I wouldn’t go down there with her, though. That many magi in one place could draw some unwanted attention. This place is well warded, but out in public, you might as well wear a sign that says: I’m not overly attached to my head. Your instinct is good, Miss. You’re better off not letting her boss you around too much. She is right about that trinket though. Now that it’s been made, you’re better off keeping that thing safe. Let it get stolen or destroyed and there really is no turning back. Not that you could put the genie back in the bottle.」 Again, she stops to stifle a laugh. 「At least, no one I know knows how. Can’t imagine why the bound spirit trinkets are different. I can have those pastels unbound for you, but personally, you’re better off just keeping them hidden from the Mistress and her pet. Don’t ask me how I know things, I couldn’t tell you one way or the other.」
You could probably avoid the house altogether, and walk the rest of the way home. Your home has locks. It’s just... you don’t see any threads coming from the young man or the black shape. Even the weird talking bird came with strings attached.
The raven bobs his head. I could, quite easily, answer both of your questions with a proper explanation of the Heart Pact. If, of course, you don’t mind, Aries. He eyes the girl apologetically.
The tiny tanuki cuffs her snout and sniffs. “Yeah, sure whatever. I’ve warned them. It’s on them if they want to go through with it anyway.”
The raven gives a practiced bow. You make the Heart Pact with three components. The first is an anchor of yours. Any item that holds emotional significance to you acts as an anchor between your soul and this world. For anyone who has not made a Pact, an anchor will keep them from getting lost in a Nightmare. The second component is one of seven essences. The raven looks to Naiad. Aqu- N- … Alex? You, like many others, have a trinket tempered with blood. Your body will recover from injuries at an accelerated rate while the trinket feels your pain. Leo. The raven turns to Chrysanth. Tempered in sweat, your trinket lends you indefatigable strength as it shoulders your burdens. Areis has opted to temper his trinket, wherever that may be, in bile. He is granted paranatural focus and serenity while it absorbs his frustrations.
「I must say, that is not at all how it feels. I am glad to be rid of that damn bag, though.」 Paresh glances around at the rest of you, suddenly aware you are there. 「I... have a medical condition.」 She says this as if it explains everything, and kicks the ground as if she would rather not elaborate.
The raven makes a guttural sound and ruffles his feathers. When Paresh continues to look at the pavement quietly, he continues. The third and final element is the pact itself. I don’t think the words are as important as consent, and if you are in mortal danger, someone else can speak your pact, and your will to live will save you, but the words are meant to be:
A part apart; a fate undone;
By blood and rote, I seal this heart;
Bind this spirit; turn the lock,
and rise again to keep the watch.
Sakura looks into the yard. A-are you okay?
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Kiyomi snaps her jaw closed once more, straightening her posture. Her mother dodged the issue of looking like a child so well that the reason for Kiyomi's shock is retroactively altered to lack of confidence in herself, and Kiyomi begins scrambling to deny it.
"N-no, mother, I want to come. I can help." Usually when her mother needs to do something she's just gone, sometimes for months at a time, sometimes without even saying goodbye, leaving a servant to inform Kiyomi whenever they choose to do so. Kiyomi was not going to let this chance go to waste. She gets in the limo, determination in here eyes.
On the one hand, he knew how to make a trinket. He didn't even have to ask. On the other hand, he'd been ignored again. He understood, there were more important matters, but still! It wasn't hard to introduce yourself, was it? For the time being, all he could do was stand there, looking quite considerably miffed.
As anchors were brought up, he pulled out his iPod both to see if there was anything different about it that might mark it as an anchor, and to change the track. This thing had got him through some rough times in those years he'd had it, and he was quite attached to it generally. If anything would make a good candidate, it was this.
Listening to the explanation of essences, he made notes mentally. Each one had different benefits. If he couldn't get introductions, then he could make use of the willingness to answer questions. 「What are the other four essences, and their associated benefits? It seems I can get more information than anyone else here had. May as well make use of it.」 He pauses a moment to think. "It appears what is stored in the trinket is selected by the essence you use. Alex, was it? Have you felt pain of any kind since making your trinket? Or I suppose, NOT felt pain? And Miyako - have you felt tired at all in any way? Or NOT felt tired in any way? They're my best guesses as it stands, though I don't know how accurate they are.」
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The sailor-girl glances over at the hatter-ish fellow.
"I went to stop someone from falling and they cut my throat open. It's all kind of a blur after that, as I was trying to keep from bleeding out." This is not so much a warning as a quiet statement of fact. "I had a headache after our situation last night, and when I tried to 'push' it away I apparently blacked out and murdered a spirit that was helping the Sage-book person. No. I don't know why. I feel 'okay' now, but the body is all wrong." They give Paresh a bit of a glance to see if they understand what they are saying.
"Junpei, then? I'm Alex Brooke, United States Navy, I'm on leave for the next twenty-nine days. This form... is Cresting Tide Naiad. The majestic stone dog I'm sure has a name, but I haven't been able to figure it out yet, as he likes to speak with the deliberation of stone and with single words. Ayatori is the raven-back-in-balance, but I'm really drawing a blank on most of the rest of us here. We shouldn't stay here long, too much energy in one spot has been causing things to happen weird."
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Sora seems to notice Suzu for the first time, all over again. She kept appearing and disappearing, never quite being where she was expected to be. "Can't tell because of an NDA, or can't tell because you don't know?" Sora asks her, staying where she is, for now. "I hadn't had any intentions of giving up my 'key to the kingdom'. I'd... more thought about trying to make a deal with the bird I took the magic from to help make it less one-sided, though. If that makes sense." she responds, before adding candidly, "I was never the problem with the harmonies. Kazue was always a little off on volume. Why share all of this, anyway? And what happened to the maid who seemed mentally ready to fall apart at any moment?"
The stone dog grinds onto his haunches and pronounces himself Imp then looks confused. He shakes his head and looks down. The next word comes slowly, like it's being sounded out. Shvib-zeek?
There isn't a gate or anything. You can try to figure out if the guy is okay, check out one of those cans, or look for that dark shape that just scurried into the back yard.
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Tiresias takes a moment to recover from her initial baffled state, quickly she moves towards the car and takes a seat inside.
She looks around for a moment and opens her book on her bookmark to bring out the map with the locations of all the magical girls in Obusa.
If it isn't too much trouble can I ask where exactly are we going and what do you plan on having us do?
With the book open she could quickly see if any of the other magical girls were nearby and available to help in a dire situation.
There is one other gilded zodiac symbol, the sign of Cancer, and it is tearing across the pages in the direction of the clustered symbols.
Kaguya’s eyes lock on the book, and she shouts to the driver to get moving. A glint of avarice touches the small girl’s eyes.「You will be a most valuable addition to our team, darling.」
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Maria thinks for a moment before looking at her doll. She thinks back to the hospital and puts her down and whispers. Wake up. I have a job for you.]