Dealing with people like Elvira grated on Christine's patience. As a Reporter, a higher up within The Penrose Independent, and The Boss's protege, patience had been something The Boss had spent a deal of time instilling in her. When it came to finding the news, it paid to be steady, never to rush, but also never to waver. Undue excitement had been the downfall of many successful journalists throughout the years, but the most successful of them all took their time to research, and understand every facet of their quarry, and story, before pouncing on it. To be stalwart, and cunning, and patient - they were three of the key tenants to a successful career in journalism.

Yet even with that, those virtues were tested the more she interacted with Vi-chan. Ellie sat below her, reading eat word with bated breath, chewing on her nails for anxiety support following each message and reply. Her constant fear, Christine could feel, was mingled with a thinly veiled excitement. It was probably the girl's first proper experience and interaction with Elvira outside of Glimmr streams and the like. How a person could like someone as obviously abrasive and inconsiderate confused her.

But more than that, Elvira was terrible at getting to the point. Every other word was inane and pointless to the overall conversation, and the fact she assumed The Boss had entered into the negotiations believing that attacking Beacon was their only, or true, goal spoke volumes about her as a person. She was bad at lying, bad at negotiating in general - half of Christine's mind wanted nothing more than to take control of planning the party entirely. Ellie and Mary could likely create a convincing virtual replica of Elvira's personality to keep the hype flowing, while the minds behind the party would be at least a dozen times smarter than the one currently in charge. Things would go exponentially smoother if that were the reality she lived in, Christine imagined.

C: Sure.
C: Time, place, whatever you're into.
C: It'll be my Boss attending, not me, but did you have anywhere in mind already?
C: Just so you're aware, this chat will be wiped and unrecoverable after I close it, so if you need time to think, feel free.
C: We're kinda running on a deadline though, so maybe not too free.

The Boss stood atop a roof, watching the Penrose skyline from above. The edges of her boots crested the edge of the building, her eyes trained on the street below, past the toes of her shoes, and through her windswept, purple-red hair. Amongst the various areas and districts of Penrose City, The Boss had chosen one of the highest buildings around to call her perch. Especially at its height, a frigid breeze lashed at her exposed face and neck, and worked its way down her clothes, beneath the coat, to chill her from the inside out.

But in spite of the weather, the view the building afforded The Boss was something more than to be grateful for. A vast, open picture of the city, once bustling with hundreds of thousands of people, blissful, and ignorant, and solemnly unaware. Now, though, it had run quiet. Though plans had been set to reopen The Nerine Vista, the evacuation of the city had left it untenable; those who had remained, weren't going out to eat. Few were leaving their homes at all. Sascha had been left free to fulfil other duties within The Penrose Independent, but still the absence of her restaurant operating for business interred a slight and deep seated sorrow.

"Ey, Boss," a voice called out behind her, accompanied with the subtle closing of the access door to the roof. Miriam Aconnel stepped out into the cool, sealed within her human disguise. Within moments of the chill reaching through her jacket, she fished into the depth of her pockets, and retrieved a packet of cigarettes, and a metal lighter. "Swear the whole 'brooding Super Villain watching the city from the top of a big ol' building' shtick's been done to death. You consider branching out at all? - I hear standing in bus stops while it rains and watching people and brooding is a pretty untapped market, 's all I'm saying here."

As she finished speaking, Miriam lifted the cigarette to he lips, and flicked the lighter open. Her thumb pulled back across the flint, once, twice, each time the sparks blown out from their metal container and into the wind. The third strike left her brow creased. Her frustration burgeoned on anger with the fourth, and then fifth, but Miriam's harsh, irate expression softened as her Boss approached. Her gaze flitted between the shorter girl, and her hand as it reached into her pocket, and produced a box of matches.

"Am I not allowed to just enjoy the view?" the first strike yielded nothing, but with the second strike, the match lit up in flame. Miriam half leant forward into the warmth, grasping the cigarette with one hand while the other pocketed the lighter, and allowed the fire to ignite the tip before she breathed deeply in the smoke. "I got bored so I came up here. It's a bit fucking cold, but it's nice. What are you doing up her, hmm? Last time I checked, you were supposed to be working with Rebecca. Or did you just decide to swing buy and kiss your Boss's ass?"

"Whaaat? I wouldn't dream of it~! Not ever," Miriam retorted. With her words, a dense cloud of white smoke poured from her lips, mingling with the visible mist from her own breath. She sighed, taking a moment to centre herself once more, and with a number of steps, past The Boss, took her own place at the edge of the roof. A sudden, painful, but ethereally quiet shriek resonated from where Miriam stood, the sound echoing across the stone roof, quiet enough to barely be heard, but soul piercingly loud simultaneously. Her human disguise fell away in the blink of an eye. Behind her, the cat tail she called her pride, black along its length until it tapered into a white tip, stretched as though contained tightly for a dozen hours, as she herself reached into the air, accompanied with the audible clicks of her bones and joints stretching and loosing out. "Since things have been quiet, Sascha had my team take over some of the priority surveillance. Just had a fight conclude a little ago - sounded like some locals and Ascendancy chumps got into it with some more Liches. Wasn't much interesting about it, except Kenny said... I'm not really sure, she said there was some kind of, magic disrupting field? - knocked out Mary's tether to SB-02, and all the magic shit on it got shorted for a while. Backup footage was mostly intact, but the audio's kinda messed up, and she lost the photo-arcane recordings for when it was in the radius."

A grave expression crossed The Boss's face. Her eyes trained the tile work of the rooftop, drawing her gaze along the lines with her furrowed brow, while Miriam stood in silence, watching, and smoking. Some kind of Nullification Magic was the worst news yet. She hadn't been able to personally observe it - they wouldn't have any relevant data on its sheer capability, but she had to assume the worst, at least until she could get an accurate read on it. Worst case scenario, she assumed, would be nullifying her tether. If it were merely limited to spells she could cope, but The Boss had never come across an individual with the power to mitigate others, and what she could do was fundamentally different; she consumed magic, but it still occurred. The way Miriam had described it - if it really could break Mary's connection to the drones - then it was abject cancellation.

"Have Kennedy send me the recordings - magical and mundane," she finally replied. Miriam dragged upon her cigarette once more, exhaling the stream of white through pursed lips, and watched the trail travel and vanish but a few feet away into the wind. When her head tilted down again, she nodded, tossed the cigarette over the edge of the rooftop, and walked away, back to the access door, and down into the building proper. The moment she disappeared, The Boss produced a touch screen cellphone from an inside right pocket. The wind bit deep into her bare fingers, unprotected by the fingerless gloves she had made a trademark, numbing them slightly, as she navigated to her contacts, and opened up the messaging app - to an individual she had never texted before.

Hi there, Penny. My name is Eden, head of The Penrose Independent - I received your number from Olympia after your last meeting. I'd like to meet, sometime soon, if possible, and discuss that favour of yours.

"Course' yeh' heard me right! Ahm' offerin' teh' meal for yeh' and Amaryllis ere' and even those others! Ya' all are welcome teh' join in fer a meal, my treat! So don't worry, eh? Its a reward fer' helpin' kill this nasty bugger and is' lot!" Sophia responded, turning her head a little to get an eye on Hilaria, giving a proud smile back to the girl as she spoke in a jovial and friendly tone. Though as Mariette turned her offer down, Sophia quickly looked over with an initial slight shock...before her features softened some after hearing the Horror girl's words, "Eh?! Well...eh, truth enough ah' suppose. But make sure yeh' stay safe out err', an' if ya need ah' meal-"

And the Horror girl and person with her were gone. Drat. Not like the pirate felt she could retort to Mariette's words anyhow, what with the reasons she seemed to state. But what was this 'Ascendancy' and all? Some new group that popped in while they were gone for Dutchman knows how long? So much was going on and it was dizzying enough as the small party of magical girls approached them.

Taking note of Amaryllis' words, however, Sophia let her body and stance relax at least...to avoid showing any sort of hostility. Truth was in those words of hers, at least so the pirate felt. Better to not try to make enemies at least, though being accustomed to near-death and a hell of an adjustment to everything was not exactly a disarming situation. At least she wouldn't act unless she was threatened, which seemed to be the bloody case, though all it elicited from Sophia was a long and exasperated sigh.

"Whadda' ya' Cardinal want with tha' knight-lookin' lass?" Sophia asked, using her boarding axe to lightly scratch her head in a rather genuine but mild confusion, looking at the Ascendancy girls directly, "And why yeh' so intent ahn' purifyin' an' all? An' why is livin' round' this world fer' so long like the armored lass is ah' strange thin'? Mah patron's ah' bloody ghost ship, forced teh' sail fer all eternity.

Hell, this is all confusin' enough as it is..."

This was all so very strange. But she'd follow Amaryllis' lead for now, at least, as she had said she'd do. Though if these girls tried to hijack someone here against their will, well she'd just fought alongside Hilaria and felt more trust in this new dark magical girl than in this new zealot-like group. Really, though, Amaryllis was the person she most trusted out of all of these in general. Not like the pirate even now had a big circle of friends anywho...

@Majoras End@Rune

When the Spark had stopped warning Penny she knew that she had made a mistake, but by then it was too late to back out. Her body was no longer in her control, and try as she might she was locked into fulfilling her original intention. For the Machine within her had taken over and would not be denied.

_{01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101100 01101111 01101111 01101011 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01111001}

If she could have screamed she would have, she would have screamed her throat raw at the fizzing static that bleeds under her outer casing. Screamed until she ran out of air td the feeling of her soul twisting in inhuman ways, she would have screamed long into the night at the realization that she was becoming corrupted once more. For unlike many others, this was her first experience with the sensation.

Her first hours of being remade had been lost to her; her first transformation from human to monster gone. So it would be this instant that would forever sear into her memory of what it was to become corrupted. Of what it meant to lose part of one’s self to the darkness.

_{01000001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01111001 01100101 01110100 00111111}

Once she was done and had control over herself once more she simply sat there for a moment in silent horror at what she had just experienced. One thought seemed to echo over and over within her mind ‘What have I done?’ the chill that seemed to seep from that thought was for more than just the fact that she had quite literally cannibalized someone like herself. She found herself reevaluating everything she had done in her magical life, and with each remembrance the chill intensified and she wondered yet again ‘What have I done?’

Penny could have very easily been lost to her own memories and the growing sense of dread that pooled within her. For even as much as the new corruption had frightened her a portion of her felt contented at once again being whole. Even Valerie would have been ignored in light of this forceful self-reexamination. But when the text flashed up in her HUD Penny grabbed onto it like a life line.

She didn’t push away her uncover truths, she didn’t try to bury them, she just chose to ignore them. For she couldn’t handle them on her own, and she had a feeling that trying to deny them would have a much worse outcome.

_{01000100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01001001 01100111 01101110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100001}

“Joy” She would say standing grimacing at the leftover taste in her mouth “I was more asking cause a friend wanted to meet up, but seems like there isn’t a whole lot going on at the moment.” Penny would explain as she seemed to be in thought.

She would look off to the side suddenly before she let out a sigh “Spoke too soon” she would mutter before sending off a quick reply

Eden. You caught me at a good time. I’m free right now. Where would you like to meet up?

“Never get to rest it seems” Penny would grumble to herself “Got someone calling in a favor, your welcome to tag along if you want… I think” she would say as she quickly wrote up and sent off another text.

Hey C̸̀͞h͜lo̶̴e̸҉͟, it’s going to be a bit longer before I can come home. The PI is calling in the favor I own them.
Also learned that I was right in my worry, Beacon can track me by my̢ ̷͢Ś̵͢p͘͟a҉r̶͟͜k̛͘͠. If I had stuck around any longer back at the warehouse would have like brought them all down on top of us.
I’ll let you know where I’m going to be when I find out in case you want to swing by.
Ĺ̸͡͏͈̖̭̼̼̬̥̰̣̗̯̣̳̼̳̯̲͡ͅó̧̲͉̹̘̖̭̦͔̙̤̲͖̺̗̮̩̹̬́̕͠v̶̴̥͕̱͔͚̟̘̪̺̻̭̘̼͙͚́ͅe̡͎̲̠̣̺͉̬̜̬̹̜̣̕͟͜ ҉̴̢̛̬̥̜́y҉̸̧̜̳̫͍̤̠ơ̙͙̱̮̲̪̘͔͉̼̼͓̱̠̟̯̥̕̕u̶̴̧͔̯͕̬̟̳̣̠̩̖͓̪̤͞͠ͅ ̴̨̛̮̤͍̰͇̹͍͎̪̬̱̗͍̻̯̖̥͚̀͘

Though out all of this Penny would seem relaxed, if a bit annoyed, but inside she was shaking. She felt Ill, and uncertain of herself, those few moment’s looking in the mirror had shown an image that Penny wasn’t sure how she felt about partially because she was now aware that she didn’t really feel as much as she thought she had been.

_{01000110 01101001 01101110 01100101 00101100 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100100 01101100 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100110 01100110 01100101 01110010 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01111001}
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@Flamelord

@FamishedPants@BrokenPromise

---

"M-Mika!?" The cat girl suddenly thrust part of the Nimbus into her hands, causing her to instinctively grab it. It wasn't difficult to take the reigns, though. She quickly pulled on them, bringing the flying cloud up to speed again. She cast a somewhat worried glance down as the feline magical girl plummeted towards the ground, but focused once more on steering this...cloud. She shook her head at the slightly absurd thought. Mika could handle herself, she just needed to focus on steering this thing.

"See it!" Rina was barely able to see Lily's arrow speeding towards them. Her first instinct was to avoid it, but trusting Lily knew what she was doing she braced for impact - causing the time magic to speed up the cloud vehicle. After a bumpy start, Rina managed to keep the cloud mostly level, focused on reaching the gates to the Overcity. Thankfully with Lily's help they were able to reach it mostly unhindered. Soon as they began approaching the gate, she started guiding the Nimbus lower, hopefully having lost whatever Ascendancy goons had been following them.


@Vocab

---

Ugh, she really didn't like this. Bad vibes everywhere. She ground her teeth together as she watched their reply pop up on the screen. What an idiot. Their boss was attending? Did they have a death wish? She'd be better off staying nice and safe inside of whatever hole she called home. Well, whatever. If she wanted to put herself out like that, she didn't care. Easier to deal with her anyways. Putting a face to a name always made dealing with people easier.

V: Hmm, lets see...the day after tomorrow sounds good.
V: There's a little warehouse in the poorer areas. Mostly abandoned.
V: You wanna party? Head there. There's a basement you'll get to by moving a few large old machinery. That's where you can find me.

Who the hell was pinging her on Glimmr now?! Vi took a quick look at the social media site and frowned. Some fan tagged her by accident it seemed. Ah, such were the responsibilities of an Idol to respond to her fans.

@Trx N Traps @TheRealBlairWitch
Whaaa? Is someone bullying my fans? Only I'm allowed to do that.
But a dress code? Ahaha, you're funny! Come as you are and just be prepared to party!~

Switching back to the PI, she finished her response to them.

V:Too bad It'll be deleted.
V:Shame if someone already made backups, heh!~
V:Then I guess we're done here. I'm a busy girl, so I'll be leaving first.
V:Byyyyye, and good luck little fans~

And with that she closed the connection and window. Nothing else to be said about it for now. Had she made backups? She'd have liked too, but she didn't waste time. In the grand scheme of things it didn't matter too much. She leaned back in her chair. Why was her heart beating that fast from that little interaction? Ah, she needed to go bully some losers on some forums or something...no, for now she'd just sit here.

Sit here and really wish she could just cut herself away from all of this.


@Shifter_master

---

"Eh..."

Chloe frowned as she read the text from Penny. Well that was...annoying. She narrowed her eyes at her phone. A favor from the PI? How...crude. The fact that Beacon could track her as well was annoying. Well, they'd just have to find away to remove it, if possible. She might be able to help with that if Penny was willing, but...ah, there was still so much she couldn't tell Penny as long as she was with Beacon in any capacity.

It irritated her.

"Eeeh? But I miss you~
Tsk, alright. Try not to be too late, okay? I...actually need to talk to you about something myself when we get a moment to ourselves again. Love you, miss you, stay safe! I'll come running if anything happens to you <3

PS - Are you alright? The text you sent was a little...erm, odd."

There, that should be a good reply...still. She looked at Penny's text again. Something was definitely off. Hmm, perhaps she should pay a visit to Penny instead...she couldn't have her things in anything less than top condition.

Alicia breathed a small sigh of relief as Rachel voiced her approval of the choice of punishment. It wasn't a matter of trying to impress her, it was about keeping the situation from escalating further. This managed to do just that, so there was no reason to not be satisfied with the results.

Turning to Aurelio, she nodded. "Alright. Go with her, make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble," she agreed as Elora laid out the area for Serenity to work in. She didn't expect any trouble, but it was better to be safe than sorry in times like this. besides, his reasoning of providing a mindset closer to the one she was expected to uphold made sense too.

Nodding to Tsuki, she was about to speak when she received a text. A glance indicated that it was from Penny, and she refrained from slight annoyance as well as amusement at the timing. "Speak of the Devil and he shall appear," she muttered with a small grin.

Then she read the text.

Eyes widened and her grip tightened around the phone. "Something's wrong. Penny's in trouble." She didn't know what it was, but the fact that Penny had texted her in binary said volumes by itself. With a quick nod to the others she departed the room, practically sprinting to the teleporters. It was the fastest way there. She just hoped that she would be in time.

@Card Captor

It was hard to believe that just a few days ago beach time warp non-withstanding that Lily perceived Tetrad as a threat to her relationship with Alexander. Now she couldn’t take enough pictures of the three of them together. Though Tetrad realized in her current state she wasn’t a romantic threat to anyone. Or even a normal threat for that matter. But she suspected that wasn’t the full story. She had grown.

”If I can smile, he certainly can.” Tetrad was about to pull Alexander’s cheeks into a smile, but the boy swiftly turned his head. Shortly afterwards she witnessed Mika’s hare brain strategy play out, to which the gambler could only grimace. Mika was both a person of interest and a good kid. She would have healed Mika if Alexander wasn’t more capable at the moment.

Not that either of them would get the chance.

Lily floored her motorcycle once Mika was on board. Tetrad needed to use all of her strength just to hold on. Her jowls shook in the wind, like a cartoon character riding on a roller coaster.

”You forgot Alexanderrrrr_{rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!}”



@FamishedPants@Rune_Alchemist

Despite her attempts to chase after Mika, Lily and Alexander managed to beat her to the punch. It was good that they recovered Mika, though Lily’s choice to accelerate the much faster Nimbus and leave her to fend for herself was not appreciated. Su’s blood was already boiling. She didn’t want to run from Beacon, she didn’t want Mika to get hurt, and she didn’t want to be abandoned by her friends. If Su’s feelings could be summed up in one word, it would be “sullen.”

“That fuckin’ hussie!”

Fortunately, Su had not been entirely forsaken. An unlikely ally managed to leave behind a trail for her to follow. She had her reservations about the type of character “Silly” was, but knew that there was no reason to distrust her now. With a growl, she flew through the hoops. Su’s already impressive flying speed was magnified by the time distortions “Silly” left behind. She didn’t feel like she was moving faster, but the world slowed down every time she flew through a distortion. Before long, Su caught up with the nimbus and landed on it. With a deep sigh, she folded her legs together and placed her hands in her lap.

“Thank you.” She said with a nod. “Having competent allies isn’t something one should take for granted. And speaking of…” She turned to look at Rina. “You’re handling the Nimbus like its original owner. Impressive.” Su smiled, but the corner of her lip was twitching.

It was a shame they were in the Overcity, because Su would have liked to contact Helga. But it wasn’t likely the friendship stones would work here. Nothing worked in the overcity, right?

---

“Seems you’ve made it to the overcity.” Both of Veronica’s agents could hear her voice as they neared the gates. “There is a store in the magical district called Winged Monarch Artificing. It’s run by a magical girl called Aria Rizzo. She is not affiliated with the Cradle, but she will let you access a special portal back into this world. She’s not particularly fond of Beacon, so make sure they aren’t following you or you won’t even get past the front door. If you need a distraction, Agent Blair should be in the area. Though I only advise calling upon her as a last resort.”

@Majoras End

Sortly afterwards, a witch magical girl would feel one of her ribbons vibrate, and she would hear a voice in her mind.

“Eliza winter, how much longer do you plan on waiting before contacting me?”

---

Mika was delirious after being smashed by the troll. There was an ever present smile on her face, but her eyes had difficulty focusing, and the pain made her weak. By the time the world came back into focus, she was in the overcity.

“Did we all die?”

”Not yet.” Tetrad ran her hand over Mika’s head before looking back to Lily. ”The heck is wrong with you, girl? Alexander, myself, and even Mika all possess healing magic.” She shook her head. ”Whatever, looks like she’s going to live.” She placed her hands on her knees. ”Anyway, there’s a place we need to go in the magical district. I know a girl. She can get us out of here and possibly restore me to full fighting power. Though we should probably wait for the others.”

Mika attempted to sit up, but the pain was too great and she ended up laying back down again. “I wish I had some ice cream. Do you think they have anything like that around here?”



Maybe she kicked Mika a bit too hard. Well, she was young, she'd heal.

---

---

@Phonic@Ariamis@Majoras End


‘Pahahaha! Sure! Come along! We're building an adventuring party just walking along! We've got a swordsman, a knight and a magician already! I like it!’ Ronin laughed and happily accepted Amanda's request to join. So, absolutely!

The place was super colourful and decently awesome. Also, actual speed-pads!? ‘I swear, this place is like directly out of a game! I've got to invite-’ "Eli here one day", Deni was about to say, then realized she shouldn't mention Eli's name yet. Whelp. ‘... Well, rescue mission first! And even before that, delivery mission!’ Ronin said, as they eventually reached the Magical Services district. This, too, looked like one awesome place to remember existed. Got to get here with money one day.

Oh, yeah. Asengav never spared Mariette or Deni/Eli with even a bronze, but now that she had no backer at all... Well, guess she could take mercenary missions!

‘And here we are! Jill's Instant Deliveries!’ Ronin read out loud with a great smile as she spun towards the place, because she's that type of person. Yupp, this looked like a cool enough place. She sure knew where she'd like to "instantly delivered", hahaha. Wonder if she'd be able to get back after? Hm. Eh, she could make friends with someone with Overcity Shift. It's not that rare!

So, heh, whoever owned this place was sure a fan of the cute yet elegant. In any case, here she is-

……………

Deni stood like frozen a couple seconds, big grin plastered on her face because honestly what other expression could she possibly make at a time like this, her mind going in a thousand different directions. Like, what? Huh? How? What? Coincidence? What happened? How many died? And most importantly… WHAT!!??

‘W-we… We have a delivery for a Jill’s Delivery Service! I take it that’s you!?’ Ronin asked, a little too loudly, her mind a mixture of utterly amazed and more than a little terrified, wearing her automatic grin. ‘It came from a girl in a shawl speaking some foreign accent! We happen to be looking for a way to Penrose, and when I told this girl she handed me this thing with directions to you!’

… Better, uh, pretend… like nothing. After all… Ronin was a stranger, even if this girl was who she resembled, and this did appear to be a legitimate business. Just passing through. Can’t hurt. She can’t have been resurrected to just go and die this quickly. One does not simply walk in on the final boss right after forming the party. This is probably just a case of mistaken identity, Deni’s memory was probably foggy during all that time being, ya know, dead. Regardless, she couldn’t do anything here, mid-Overcity. Right?

---

‘…’

Right, then. A battlefield of some kind did appear to be in the making.

Question was, what role would Mariette play on it?

Decisions, decisions.

@Ariamis @Majoras End @Asuras

The moment that those magic words were spoken both Violet and Sakura were focused solely on Fanfan to the exclusion of all else.
“Mine” “Mine” They would call out at the same time before glaring at each other.

“I called it first!” Sakura would declare with more force than one would expect of her due to her quiet demeanor.

‘Doesn’t matter you got the last one!’ Violet would reply mentally.

‘But that was months ago!’

“So? I’ve not had one in even longer!”

“But-“

‘There is still a chance that they will ask for another wish.’

"That doesn't matter!" 'This one is mine and you know it!'

‘Wha-‘

“Do I need to bring up-“

‘Gah!’ “Fine” Violet would throw her hands up as she took a step away from Fanfan ‘Too nice for my own good sometimes’

“Yes!” Sakura would call out in joy before stepping closer to Fanfan her eyes flashing a deep white “As you wish!” her voice would echo with power as the space in front of her would warp and twist suddenly from some unseen force. Magic would arc wildly as with the point of twisted space the silhouette of a box would start to form. Then with a sound akin to fracturing glass there would be a bright flare of light. Once it faded Sakura would still be standing there now surrounded by a corona of magic as she held a plain white box in her hands which she offered up to Fanfan “I shall grant” her voice once again echoed outward.

The moment Fanfan would take the box from Sakura the pink haired girl would collapse to the ground with a loud contented sigh. “Show off” Violet would comment from where she stood. Not that she was all that surprised. Their magic didn’t like being held back, and if it weren’t for it being the fact that it had been their patron who had grounded them they would have likely been in a worse state.

Within the box was a cake, but not just any cake but a fantastic cake. It was a decadent blueberry ice cream cake layered with strawberry jam. The top was ringed with fluffy whipped cream and there were a dozen tiny marzipan tea cups spread about. Small lines of icing were dotted across the cake in the shapes of flowers or stars.

"I think that is a pretty good demonstration of how our helps works no?" Violet would ask, once again smiling at the group.

Before she could talk any more with the ghost twins, Eliza suddenly flinched when the red rogue called her. Literally, telepathy-wise. Seems with everything that was going on, the witch had forgotten to contact Veronica.

"U-Uh, I'll be right back!" She told the others, then stepped away to answer her communicator bow. "My apologizes, Veronica. I didn't want to bother you if you were busy."

“It’s been weeks, Eliza.” Even if she couldn’t see Veronica’s face, it wasn’t hard to picture her disinterested eyes gazing down at her. “Regardless, I did not call to lecture you. Are you aware of what’s happened between the Mint and I?”

"Not exactly. You've separated from the group, right?" Eliza asked.

“That is the short version, yes. I did not trust the Mint, and they saw fit to cut me lose and my life short. I may have stolen some of their assets, but that’s part of the long version of the story. The version you don't have time to hear.” A pause. “The fact that they haven’t told you anything isn’t good Eliza. If they want to kill me, they probably want to kill you too.” She could hear the sound of papers being shuffled around. “Are you in a safe place? Is Maura Natalie present?”

"I'm at the Golden Trove Hotel. I managed to bypass any detection from the Ascendancy with my illusion magic." Eliza explained, walking to her room. Before she could mention Maura, both her and Veronica could hear the renegade's voice in their heads. Don't worry, I'm always connected to my witches, same as you. the witch could catch a glimpse of her patron hidden in a shadow. If something happens, I'll be a step nearby.

“So she’s always connected. Hmmmm.” Veronica hummed. “Eliza, you are currently standing before a crossroad. One way leads to Mint, another to Maura, and another to me. You must choose who you are going to serve and quickly. Depending on how you respond depends on how my agents and I will regard you moving forward.”

"Three way, huh...?" Eliza though for a moment. She didn't want to serve the Ebon Mint any longer, that's for sure. But then, that left Maura and Veronica. The witch was reminded of what she told Penny before, that she wasn't ready to leave her first patron 'till her curse was lifted.

With that in mind...

Veronica, I'll allow Eliza to serve under you instead. On one condition though. Let me help you and your girls from time to time. Maura spoke up.

"Are you sure?" The witch looked back to the renegade.

I trust her with you. Besides, I've taught you all you needed to know. her patron smiled to her.

There was nothing on Veronica’s end for a moment, but Eliza could sense she was content. “Of course, lady of the Styx. I understand you need to be protected, and I will see to it that you are offered protection from any available agents. So long as Eliza and you both recognize me as your leader.” There was a chuckle before she continued. “I must stress this isn’t something you can just change your mind about later.” A contract appeared in front of both Eliza and Maura. “Make sure you’re ready to accept the terms.”

Understood.

"Right!"

Maura stepped out of her shadow next to Eliza, and formed a quill pen in both their hands. "Ready?"

Eliza nodded. "Let's do this." With that, they both signed.

“Hmm?” Veronica’s tone was inquisitive. “Oh, I suppose you’re unfamiliar with contracts of this nature.” She cleared her throat. “They don’t really work if you sign them with ink. You need to, well, perhaps I should just show you.”

Eliza could feel something pull her backwards before digging its teeth into Eliza’s shoulder. It was Veronica. It was unclear how she had appeared so suddenly, but her bite was hard enough to stain her lips and teeth with Eliza's blood. Before Maura could even react, Veronica turned into a black fog and leaped in front of the patron. She prompty manifested, with one of her fingers stroking the woman’s cheek. She wiped the blood off of her mouth with Eliza’s contract. “They need to be signed with blood.” Veronica’s retractable sword extended just enough to cut into Maura’s cheek. A single droplet of blood rolled down to her chin, which the red rouge caught with the tip of her tongue before tracing it across Maura’s contract. “Ahhhhhh...” She chuckled before pulling both of the girls into a hug. “I forgive you.” She rested her head on top of Eliza’s hat. “Eliza, welcome back. Maura, welcome to the cradle.”

"Huh...blood contract. Nice touch." Maura wiped off the remaining blood from the cut on her cheek. Eliza shrugged off the bite, hugging Veronica back a bit shyly. "T-Thanks."

There was a part of Amaryllis, perhaps the part most influenced by her Sword, that didn’t very much like the Ascendancy’s implication there, that they couldn’t have finished off Billy before more magical girls arrived if they hadn’t had Mariette’s help. It made her want to do something horrendous, something vicious, but she clamped down on those impulses, pushing aside the desire to split these wenches apart from throat to groin. The Knight settled for a grimace instead, keeping her hands folded over each other.

“Hilaria was once a warrior of Beacon,” she said, leaning sideways towards Sophia, “And on top of that, she has been a magical girl for untold centuries. Her corruption has caused her excommunication from that cabal of monster slayers, but nevertheless, I’m certain the length of her indenture means that the girls she once fought alongside will have become individuals of influence over the years.”

She shifted away again, violet eyes catching the bespectacled fencer as the muscles in her body tensed. Still not enough strength recouped for a proper fight, sadly. May as well delay a little longer. Sucking in a breath and imagining herself as having much more energy than she actually did, Amaryllis said, a provocative grin on her face, “Make that a guarantee of good food, sisters. If this truly is a ‘request’ rather than another kidnapping, how about you all come along with us for a pleasant post-lich-slaying meal, let Hilaria eat her fill, and then foot our bill? Though corrupted as she is, I’m sure our Black Knight here will be more receptive to your own wants once she has sated her own.”

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. If Lily saw her now, would her traumas be triggered once more?

“Or has the situation become so dire that Beacon cannot even afford to treat their guests as actual guests?”

Lily looked back, and her eyes widened in shock upon realizing what she had done in her panic attack: leaving Alex behind as she rushed forward with treating Mika in the Overcity, having nearly done the same to Su.
”Ah! Alex!” She shouted, struggling to wave to him while carrying Mika. She saw how he had taken more bestial features with his magic, and then facepalmed; she felt like crying right then and there from how idiotic she felt.
”I’m sorry, Alex! I thought you were running out of mana after the big fight so I panicked and didn’t think things through and you had to use more mana just to catch up and-Oh, here! Please help her!” She went into an anxiety-induced rambling, only to stop by offering Mika to Alex, allowing him to work his Reinforcement spells.

Fortunately, Alex still had enough mana to mend Mika's injuries, though thanks to Lily’s blunder he was now running low. Lily was fully aware of this, and was quiet as Tetrad and Silhouette guided the group towards the magical district, looking miserable. The group did not see any Ascendancy agents on their way, though they did eyes on them, watching from the crowds and alleys. Eventually, they found the Winged Monarch Artificing, a shop specialized in selling magical products. Just as Veronica promised the two Cradle agents, the owner held up on her word and allowed them to use the portal hidden beyond the back room, granting them passage back to Penrose.

”So, I guess this is where we’ll part ways” Lily spoke, though it came out more as a half-hearted mumble more than actual words. She looked at Mika.
”Sorry for not letting Alex heal you right away, Mika. I assumed things in a rush, and now I feel really bad for messing up. I’ll buy you ice cream once things have calmed down, I promise.”
She addressed Su and Tetrad next.
”And I was so caught up in trying to help, I caused more trouble for you as well. I’m sorry, Su.” She took Tetrad’s wrinkly hand.
”Grandma Tetrad, I should have listened to you. But I was, how do you say it, ‘ok boomer’ about it, and ignored you. I’m sorry for it.”

Finally, she turned to Alex, looking embarrassed.
”Alex, If I’m ever gonna do something stupid like this, please stop me.”
She averted her eyes, her face having turned a beet red.
”Sometimes, I act before thinking, and it causes more problems than it solves.”

---

Violet ignored Sophia’s initial hostility, having only given her a dismissive glance, perhaps because she didn’t expect the pirate girl to attack based on the calmness of her comrades. However, she did make a heavy sigh as Hilaria initially refused their gracious offer.
”Is that so?” She asked with an evil smile, her arms crossed and nose upturned. But then, when she requested something to eat, she lifted her eyebrow, looking mildly surprised.
”Uhh...Sure? I promise you will have something to eat.” When met with Amaryllis’ response, the rest of the squad seemed surprised, and whispered among each other, only to be stopped by Violet signalling with her hand. She rolled her eyes and added: ”Ok, good food it is then. Maybe FanFan has stashed cookies or something for her tea party.”

She let Hilaria consider her offer as she addressed Sophia.
”First of all, you need to work on your linguistics skills, buccaneer; I can hardly understand a word you say because of that accent. Secondly, this request was only given for the Eternal. If anybody is to be catered to, it is only her.” She stepped closer to Amaryllis with her fists resting on her hips, to the point she was now looking up at the taller, more shapely girl; their appearances were as contrasting as the sun from the moon. Even so, the petite girl exuded complete confidence and assertiveness, without a hint of embarrassment.
”The rest of you are irrelevant.”

Hilaria was surprised to see that Amaryllis made such an interesting (and tempting) offer. But these girls weren’t exactly the accommodating type. She was probably lucky they even bothered to agree to a small demand like her own. “Ah, don’t you worry yourselves about Hilaria~! Things will be okay~” She assured Amaryllis and Sophia. “Hilaria would love to eat with you once she’s done with these guys if you’ll have her~”

Delphi spoke up. “To answer your questions, this world is impure and tainted with darkness. If left to grow, it would consume this world in chaos and destruction. You also carry this corruption within you. Therefore, you must be purified if you are to be free of your curse.”
”As for the Cardinal’s intentions, that is for her and only her to know. But know this: it is a great honor for her to invite a remnant like you.” She looked at Hilaria.
”Do you accept these terms?”

Hilaria recalled many times when people were persecuted for ‘just’ causes because they happened to be different from others. That difference was always ‘evil’ or in some way bad, so people would then claim it was okay that they did what they did. The Ascendancy was a mirror reflection of the Beacon that Hilaria knew back then. They were willing to harass and abuse a DMG on sight. Only back then, there was no ‘cure’, so that left only one option for them.

“Cookies~?” Hilaria seemed ecstatic. “Mmm, as long as there’s lots, then Hilaria will go to meet your mom, or whoever~!”

”Hmph.”
With a lift of her hand, Violet ordered the Ascendancy squad to lower their weapons.
”Delphi, call an extraction. And send a message to FanFan to prepare her tea party ASAP.”
The other girl nodded, but then asked: “What about the other corrupted one?”

”The Cardinal’s order takes priority. Once that is resolved, we shall resume our mission to purify Penrose.” She then gestured for the squad to surround Hilaria, as a Beckoner appeared above them, saluted, and disappeared.
”If you make even a single threatening move, we won’t hesitate to strike you down. Now then, let us leave.” And with that, they were gone in a flash of light, leaving Sophia and Amaryllis to watch as sparkles of light faded away.

---

In a flash, Hilaria felt herself moving through space as the teleportation magic took effect, and she found herself in a clean facility-like environment. Specifically, she was now in the containment area of the Penrose Beacon HQ. She was then led through a door into what looked like a meeting room; there was a round wooden table with a white tablecloth covering it and chairs set around it. On the other side of the table, someone was sitting, her hands clasped together in prayer; Isthar.
”Cardinal Isthar, we have brought the Eternal,” Violet reported with a sharp salute. Isthar, slowly lifted her head up, and opened her shining eyes; as their gaze met, Hilaria felt something buried long ago clawing its way up.

”...Seraph Violet, leave us.“ Violet’s eyes widened.
”But Cardinal, she is-”

”The discussion we shall have is to be private. Understood?” From such a gentle-looking magical girl, her voice carried great resolve, to the point Violet lowered her head in respect.

”Understood. We shall post guards outside the room then.” After the guards left the room, closing the door behind them, only silence pervaded the room; Hilaria could tell the room had been enchanted to be sound-proof. After a moment of looking at Hilaria, Isthar spoke:

”Helewisa...You are still alive, after all these years. Do you remember me?” She asked, her voice sorrowful.

The girl immediately shook her head. "Has Hilaria met you before~?" she asked innocently. "Hilaria has seen lots of people~ So many that she doesn't remember them all~" she then explained. She tried about as hard as she could, but there was only fuzz when she did.

Isthar’s eyes turned wet, resembling setting suns in the horizon.
”You...You don’t remember me? It’s me, Isabella...” Tears formed in her eyes, and slowly drifted down her cheeks, staining the tablecloth.
”I guess...A thousand years would be enough...To forget anyone...Even...Your sister.”

"Isabella~? Sister~? Hilaria doesn't know..."

The onset of a sudden but terrible headache messed with her train of thought briefly. Something was familiar about that name. Well, she doesn't remember them specifically, but she knows that a fair amount of people over the years had used that name. But this feeling wasn't the same.

"Hilaria... doesn't have a sister, does she~?" she seemed a bit unsure of it herself. That made sense given her only clear memories of her life before being a magical girl were essentially when she became one.

Isthar put her hands to her face, covering it as she softly wept.
”No...You’ve forgotten...” For a long time, she cried, her tears streaming like the Nile in the morning sun.
”All those years ago, we were separated. I thought you had perished. But to think...You’ve become like this...”
By the time it was over, she had taken a handkerchief, and blew her nose on it.
”Helewisa...You died that day, didn’t you? And now you’re...not Helewisa. Not anymore.”

"...No, Helewisa isn--"

The headache only seemed to be getting more severe, and thus it was harder to speak how she wanted to. She just called herself by the wrong name! ...It was wrong, wasn't it?

Hilaria wasn't crying like Isabella was, but by now she was certainly not happy. She grimaced as she rubbed her temple, not exactly in the state to feign a happy demeanor. "Hele..." she caught herself again. "...I'm not dead. I've never died, I don't know... what you're talking about...!"

At that point, the sound of a door buzzer could be heard, followed by FanFan’s voice: “Um, Cardinal Isthar? I’m going to hold a tea party now, with some very delicious cake. Violet mentioned that you and the corrupted girl wanted to join in.”

Isthar closed her eyes, and clasped her hands back in prayer.

”...You may come in.”

FanFan stepped in with a couple of slices of cake; she set a plate for each of them.
”...Uhh...Bon Appetit~”
Then, she left them alone again. Hilaria would notice that Isthar did not touch her plate at all, simply praying in silence.

Hilaria glanced at her plate but surprisingly didn't set upon it. For once, food could wait. She looked at the praying Isabella and took a deep breath. "I grow weary of this jest. Audacious are thy claims. Surely you know of this?" she wasn't going to waste her breath with a guise anymore, she was too confused and in too much pain to bother. "A millennia I have walked this Earth, ever alone. And of this thou has made it known you are aware, yet still you speak with such temerity and familiarity. I shall retire the notion that thy intention be to deceive me, but of thyself? Thy actions beget a single question, and naught more: What is it that imbues one with confidence that myself is who thou are searching for?"

The praying girl looked at Hilaria with grieving eyes.
”...What do you mean?” She took a shallow breath.
”You are...were...Helewisa. Of that there is no doubt. Or was I mistaken?”

She shrugged. She wasn't sure what the case was either.

"While I cannot claim my own memory is without fail, I do find it doubtful I could forget such an important detail relating to my very own life." she explained. "So much so, that thy claims appear as delusions, nothing more. Yet, I do not desire to deem thee as such until it is made sure there is no other explanation. Therefore, I have bidden thee to reveal what it is that causes one to suspect myself as being thy sibling."

She paused. Perhaps it was difficult to provide 'proof' of such a thing. She could easily just say 'because you look like her' or something of that nature, which would get them nowhere. "If preferred, I shall allow an alternative. Namely, I would have thee recount the tale of my supposed 'death'."

Isthar looked shocked, unable to answer at first. But then, after a deep breath, she answered:

”It’s because...I’ve seen you in my dream. I saw you turn and...and...”
She repeated the word to herself as she looked down at the table.

”...I...I can’t remember. But why? Has it been so long, I have forgotten?”

Hilaria narrowed her eyes. "You," she said. "Have you truly lived as long as I? The experience should be natural by this point." she unconsciously picked up her piece of cake and ate it in one bite. It was good, she thought, but now wasn’t the time to think of that.

Clearing her throat, however, she continued. "Does this mean that Isabella, too, has perished? No longer the woman she once claimed to be?"

Isthar’s expression turned blank, as if she had realized something.
”...Isabella...” She repeated the name. But it was in vain.

”She is...” Tears now landed on her cake, subtly softening the spongy sweet sachertorte.

”I can’t remember!” She wailed.
”She had dreams, but they are now stars in the night sky. She had feelings, but they were swept away like the eventide. There is nothing left. She is gone.”

Hilaria didn't seem impressed by the display. "Nay," she said. "A sibling would not elect to persecute they and their own. You couldn't be." she eyed the cardinal with contempt. "A crocodile's tears mean nothing to me."

Isthar gasped.
”Sibling?” At that point, something seemed to glint in her eyes. She froze, and then blinked.
”Now I remember....At the gates of Constantinople...You were tainted that day. And it was because of me. You tried to protect me, but then, you changed.”

Isthar now looked down at the table, struggling to remember as she gripped her knees.
”Back then, we believed you sold your soul to the devil, that you...forsook your oath. But now I know...It was an accident. Magic is like fire; without moderation, it can consume one’s being, twist them into something cruel and evil. And I let it happen to you, to my own sister. I let everything happen!”

She violently shoved the plate of cake aside, causing it to fall to the ground with a crack. The slice of cake spread on the marble stone; Hilaria saw glints from spots where her tears had fallen.

"Pah!" Hilaria threw up an arm. She now remembered clearly. What had transpired, and what she felt. The sense of betrayal, despair, sorrow, and rage all at once, and they renewed inside of her. "The only evil and cruel ones are they who would allow not even a second to run its course before turning on me. Beacon. My 'friends'. And you."

Isthar closed her eyes, her shaky hands clasped in prayer.
”It is true. I had sinned against you. I let you suffer for untold ages. I cannot ask for forgiveness, for I do not deserve any.” She lowered her head.

”...The only thing I can do...Is give you peace.” She stood up from her seat, and walked up to Hilaria.

She gently took hold of her Vulcan.

”...Hele...wisa....”

She lifted the barrel of the gun and pointed it to her heart.

...

”...To atone for my sins...You may take my life.”

Hilaria did not pull the trigger, she merely sat there in silence. A few seconds passed, her expression souring more and more. Eventually, she erupted.

"Such brazen ignorance!" Hilaria pulled her weapon away, causing Ishtar to reel back with a gasp. "I am not wont to entertain such foolish requests. Atonement? Enough with the hollow words. Thy true wish does not escape myself-- Thou seeks only to abandon responsibility!" She got rid of Vulcan entirely by this point. "It is trite and unsightly. Your demise does me no good," she crossed her arms. “I suspect the opposite would be true. Thy peons would set upon me after the fact.”

With the memories she regained, she couldn’t deny she shared blood with this woman. But would she call her ‘sister’? For now, she wasn’t going to bother thinking about it. She found her fury slowly dissipating. "For we who have known an eternity, fleeting emotions such as anger should not and shall not dictate our path -- they are beneath us.” she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down even more. Getting excited like this was strange to her. “This be the wisdom I would impart to thou, as an equal in this regard.” Stranger still, she almost felt like she was scolding a child.

Ishtar leaned against the wall, a hand pressed against it as she averted her eyes. When Hilaria pointed out that she would also die if she were to take her offer, she closed her eyes, and did not answer.

”...”

When Hilaria ended her speech, the praying girl lifted herself off the wall, and turned to Hilaria.

”...They are beneath us.”

Now she approached Hilaria, and clasped her hands with hers.

”It has been a long time since I have been scolded like this. It makes me feel...Young again.” A bittersweet smile subtly formed on her lips, and she sighed.

”...In that case, would you accept a purification? Beacon has learned to remove corruption out of a magical girl, and return them back to how they used to be. I know it won’t remove the pain, but...It’s the least I can do.”

"Had I only been presented such an opportunity in centuries past," Hilaria mused. "Verily, I fail to perceive the benefits of thy offer. Long since I have grown accustomed to what I have become. And faded has my desire become to return, until it decayed to nothing."

Isthar nodded, looking sad. ”I expected that answer. I won’t force you, not only because you are my sister, but because I believe that true change is achieved not by the sword, but by the heart. When you are willing to free yourself of the curse, I will be there.” She turned away.
”...But I want to ask you: what will you do now, Helewisa? Will you continue to wander the earth? Is that where your happiness is found?”

"Helewisa..." she muttered under her breath. The name sounded familiar, yet foreign, making it hard to decide on how she felt about it. Learning about your name after nearly a millennium was a unique experience.

Hi-Hel-... well, the armored girl, at least, questioned Isabella's statement. "They who follow thee fail to share the same sentiment," she spoke. "They'd sooner brandish their weapons than pen and parchment, had they their way." The girl recalled Violet's attitude in particular, her arrogance and general demeanor made it clear she'd have preferred to fight. Not exactly the best way to have a 'heart to heart'.

Isabella's next question brought to attention a rather tense subject. "Nay," she sighed. "I could be only envious of thy fortitude. I find no true happiness traveling the Earth, nor anything, save the satisfaction of a delectable meal and scrumptious sweets. These are the only forms of happiness afforded to me."

The other girl nodded; a genuine, if faint, smile appeared.
”You always were one to enjoy the simpler pleasures in life.” She closed her eyes, and slowly nodded.
”Very well. I will let you return back to the world. But, promise me that you will never forget what you’re fighting for, and to never give up on finding joy in what the future may offer.”

If it weren't for food, she would have to disappoint Isabella. As of the present, she had no hope for the future beyond a good bite to eat. But she seemed pleased, so leaving it at that was the ideal choice. "The cruel irony is that humans constantly progress towards the future, yet they've not changed at all," she said. "Wars waged for the smallest of slights. Vengeance enacted, only to beget more vengeance. Discrimination, desperation, ignorance. Ad infinitum. The tools of war are the only things that see change."

Isabella could hear the remnant of pain lacing her words as she spoke of them. "But," this seemed much lighter in tone. "Delicacies never stagnate. Though many dishes draw from another, they are improved countless times over. Each more delicious than the last." She cast a longing look at the wasted cake. "There be nothing more I presently enjoy than to experience such evolution in recipe." she looked back to Isabella. "This be the reason I roam the lands, serve those that would employ, and continue onwards. Thou needst not remind me to recall mine own purpose, fret not."

Ishtar moved up to Hilaria, and smiled.
”Thank you, Helewisa. I can’t stop the Ascendancy from coming after you from now on, but I will continue working towards a future without war, where nobody needs to go through what you have.” She gave her a small hug, and then looked into her eyes. Hilaria then felt drowzy, as she was drawn in by Ishtar’s golden gaze, and fell asleep.

”Goodbye...Helewisa...”

Later, Hilaria found herself waking in an empty apartment in her human form, not far from the spot where Billy fell. And soon enough, she would go on, as she has done for the past ten centuries.

---

Leena nodded, and took Celia’s hand for a friendly handshake, ignoring the argument the Djinn twins spontaneously had. “Alright, that’s settled then. Thanks for cooperating peacefully with us; it doesn’t happen too often, so we appreciate it.” She then rolled her eyes as FanFan expressed her desire for sweets.
“It’s not like actually wishing for it will cause one to just pop out of nowh-”

At that moment, the Djinn twins carried out with granting the wish with their magic, and Leena’s words froze with awe. FanFan herself gasped as she took a look inside the box, an unusual reaction from a hardened combat veteran, as the fantastic cake appeared before her eyes. Her eyes positively sparkled as she gazed upon the pastry, and she found herself licking her lips.

“Wow...I can’t believe this. It’s the cake of my dreams! You really can grant wishes! ” She made a curtsy with a wide smile.
“Thank you so much~”

Leena took a look at the cake, and then at the twins. “Well I’ll be hexed! I’ve never seen this kind of magic before. We could use that kind of magic, you know.” The Beckoner returned and made an OK sign, to which Leena gave a salute before addressing the twins.
“Would you be willing to work exclusively with Beacon? I’ll need to check in with headquarters first, but given the greenlight we could arrange for future cooperation with some capable magical girls...Even if they look a bit outlandish, heh.” She winked, and handed out a card to the twins. “Here’s the contact info for our public relations. Let’s keep in touch, ok?” She signalled to Dawn. “Teleport ready, rookie. Get in position.”

---

The girl who had come to receive the group blinked with a surprised expression at Ronin’s flustered reaction, though she quickly adjusted to a polite smile.
”That’s correct. I’m Jill of Jill’s Instant Deliveries~” She answered with a smile; it came off as a bit more creepy than friendly due to exposing her elongated canines. She graciously accepted the box offered to her, and nodded as she set it aside on top of a pile of packages.
”Indeed, we were expecting this package from Madam Kauppa. Thank you for delivering it; it will be delivered to its intended recipient.”
She then listened to the rest of Ronin’s story, and her eyes widened at the mention of Penrose.
”Excuse me, but did you mention Penrose?” Ronin felt like Jill’s eyes were examining her.
”...That can be arranged. And to compensate for your assistance, your group may be delivered for free.” She then opened her mouth as if to ask something, but then a strange sound happened in the room to the side. The door opened, and a
The dignified-looking girl appeared. She stepped over to the side counter where the packages were stacked, and upon noticing the group made a curtsy. Jill gestured over to her.
”May I introduce you to Stacy? She is the deliverywoman of Jill’s Instant Deliveries. These customers have requested themselves to be delivered to Penrose,” she then added, emphasizing the word of the city. Stacy’s eyes also widened.
“Oh, is that so? Very well then. Please follow me to the delivery chamber,” she spoke, gesturing to the group to follow her like a disciplined maid. Jill followed after them.
“Um, Mistress-”
”I will be accompanying you, to...personally see that you are delivered safely,” she added, causing Stacy to be silenced, only nodding in response. Ronin could tell it was a thinly-veiled excuse.
“Now then, please hold your hands together in a circle,” Stacy advised, before she took Jill’s and Valkyrie’s hands. She then closed her eyes, and in an instant Ronin and Amanda felt themselves moving through space.

The very next moment, the two girls opened their eyes, and found themselves standing at the snow-covered rooftop of a train station. They saw Penrose in the wintery night, and how desolate it has become since their last visit. They saw how the few civilians still lingering in the nearly-dead city moved briskly through the streets, looking over their shoulders. In the distance, the sound of a siren could be heard, only to be covered by the howling cold winds.

Jill was shocked, as was Stacy, the both of them silent as they gazed across the landscape.
”By Father’s blood...” Jill whispered.
”What happened here?”
“It looks like it has been struck by ferocious monster attacks,” Stacy answered.
Jill’s hands balled into fists, her teeth showing in an expression of anger.
”This is Lily’s home. Did something happen to her? Who-”

She then blinked, as if having realized something.

”Wait...There is one person in Penrose who could have done this.”
Stacy lifted a hand to her mouth in shock. “Do you mean-” Jill stopped her with a lift of her finger to her lips. She glanced towards a distant camera. Stacy nodded, and with a simple spell shifted the camera’s location just enough that the group was no longer in view without causing a noticeable difference in the camera feed.

Jill nodded.
”I’m sure of it. Only she would have the power and resources to accomplish destruction this widespread. The presence of cameras is proof she is still operating in the area; she is the paranoid type...And for good reason.” Her eyes slowly drifted to one person in the group: Ronin.

”You...You’re no longer under her employ, correct? You no longer carry the filthy form your former mistress fancied.” Her eyes glowed red in the dark night, and her lips curved into a sinister smile.

Whether Ronin wanted it or not…

”You will help me find her...Mariette Pedersen...The Reflective Witch.”

The final boss has joined Ronin’s party.

---

The ghost twins giggled at the Casper reference, and circled Eliza.
“I think Casper is Richie Rich’ ghost!” Jillian joked. “And he was killed to pay for her parent’s debts after wasting all their money!”

Helga held the stone for a long time up to her ear as Eliza went to discuss private matters in the hotel’s restaurant, hoping the Friendship Stone’s magic would reach Su. But in the end, her hopes were dashed. The stone slipped from her hands, and hit the carpeted floor of the hotel with a softened thud. “What a piece of crap...” She muttered. “And I paid real coins for it!” She kicked the stone, and 0.001 ms later regretted her decision, hopping up and down holding her foot.
“Ow ow ow ow!”
After she calmed down, she looked over to Emily, a faint smile managing to form in her wincing expression. “One...Bronze coin...please...ow.” After the money was exchanged, she handed the key to Emily.
“Have a pleasant stay at the Golden Trove!” She stated in a polite, friendly tone...And then sighed; she couldn’t suppress her worries over Su’s wellbeing.

---

Brittany had returned back to the shop, looking absolutely devastated. She sighed as she flipped the sign back to “OPEN”, and dragged herself back to behind the counter, her elbows resting on it as she pondered about the events at the Pit Stop.

‘Poor Sammy...I’ll need help in rescuing her. But I can’t post on Glimmr. Hmm...I’ll need to think about a strategy. And while I’m at it, might as well continue running the shop. Who knows, maybe someone comes in who could lend a hand.‘ With higher spirits than when she arrived, she managed a smile.
‘Hang in there, Sammy...I’ll come save you, if it’s the last thing I’ll do!‘

Alexander had been prepared to yell at Lily for being stupid and dragging away an injured person away from someone who could heal...but one look at her panicking made that impossible "Ugh, yeah. I'll just..." He fumbled with his words, without the frustration that fueled his unspoken rant gone, he suddenly had no idea whtta to say. Dismissing his Beast magic, he walked up to Mika and started healing her. As luck would have it, he found that he still had enough gas left in the tank for that "Well that's a relief" he sighed as he finished "Alright, you should be good now." he declared

With that done, Alexander began taking stock of his remaining mana. While his connection with Sol would replenish him fast, for awhile he was stuck with barely enough to sustain a few barriers 'I really don't like this; it makes me feel exposed' He sighed as he shook his head 'I might need to come up with something to help deal with low mana levels. Maybe I can make a mana battery with runic enchantments?' But he was broken out of his planning by the sound of his name

”Alex, If I’m ever gonna do something stupid like this, please stop me.” Lily looked away from him before she continued ”Sometimes, I act before thinking, and it causes more problems than it solves.”

In an instant, hundreds of snarky reply's entered his mind, but for once, he ignored them all. The sight of hurting Lily gave him a very different idea 'I really hope I'm not about to fuck up' Alexander then took a few steps to her, and using one hand, pulled her into a hug, while the other slowly stroked her head "Um...there there?"

@Phonic@Ariamis@Majoras End


IT GOT WORSE!

“Delivery Service”, indeed! Bet that’s a piece of cake with someone like THAT under her employ! “Stacy”, hah! What a generic-sounding name!

Ronin kept still, smiling widely and forcefully as the box was accepted and this new yet familiar girl showed up. Ronin also grinned widely when it was arranged to be for free.

‘Thank you, ma’am! Just what we wanted!’ Ronin said, and followed after “Stacy”, somewhat nervous in her steps, but also smiling widely. Because, facing adversary with a big smile got to make it better!

Yeah, she did not miss how “Penrose” was emphasized. Yeah, no, what was a suspicion of a passing resemblance stopped being a passing resemblance and turned into absolute surety. There was no mistaking it. Good lord, what had happened back then?

And Jill’s coming too? HOW LOVELY!!

‘Why, I’m honoured! Thank you for tagging along!’ Ronin called to Jill happily, because, well, what else could she do? She felt like she’d have a nervous breakdown if she kept quiet, she had to distract herself by saying something!

Holding hands it was! Ronin took Stacy’s hand… woah, this felt unreal… and then Amanda’s in her right to complete the circle, assuming Amanda came along. Then, finally, after a teleportation of some strange kind, they found themselves on top of Penrose train station. Ronin breathed out a sigh of relief. How nice to be back… but woah, this place looked bad… and even Jill looked surprised! Ronin looked at her in surprise. She’d totally have thought Jill was the one behind it, but apparently not?

Camera? Ronin looked a bit surprised, looking over in the direction, but… it occurred to her that… eh. Someone was looking at her. With a little bit too much focus. Jill was looking at her. “No longer under her employ”? Haha, whatever do you mean, I have no idea what you’re talking about were words that Ronin wasn’t able to spit out, because they’d been blatantly untrue and an obvious lie of equal measure…

And then the one who she’d be tracking was name-dropped.

‘Ah… ahahahaha! Well, I…’ Ronin scratched the back of her head a bit, still grinning. Now, it was true that Ronin wanted to get a bunch of help with this task… but, um, seeking help from the one who’s little sister killed her wasn’t entirely part of the plan…!

‘… Sure! I’m going to need all the help I can get! …’ Ronin smirked at her, meeting Jill’s eyes, and suddenly felt a bit of confidence. She no longer had to hide who she was from Jill, so, a bit of the fear of being noticed promptly vanished. Instead, there was a feeling of wait, this might actually be really good. Ronin met Jill’s eyes, and suddenly gave a bold little grin. ‘… I’m here to save my other one. So don’t you touch her, and we’ll be good. Alright. Here’s to a good partnership!’ Ronin happily called, reaching forward a hand to Jill to shake…

Jill joined the party!

Yes, this was truly the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Speaking of friendships.

‘Hey, Amanda? Valkyrie?’ Ronin looked over to her other two companions, grinning happily.

‘Know any place I can meet a bunch of people? Because I’m gonna need all the friends~!’

Aaaah, this was just lovely. A wonderful adventure with a bunch of twists and turns. Deni was so excited to see where this would go, now~!

@Rune_Alchemist@FamishedPants@Card Captor

As soon as they left the overcity, the group found themselves on a street corner just a few blocks away from the Golden Trove. It was an odd place to show up, and Su wasn’t sure how she felt about having an overcity entrance near her establishment. Considering how well guarded it was, Beacon likely wouldn’t make use of it. Though she did have to wonder if it existed out of more than just coincidence.

Mika was getting very excited about Lily’s promise. threw her hands up into the air. “Ice cream sounds good Lily! Cookie dough is one of my favorites!”

Su examined Mika closely. Her eyes drifted over the girl’s carefree smile, before dropping to the floor. “Do you feel better, Mika?”

“Yea! Thanks to Alex, I feel Great!”

Su gave a single nod. Then, with little warning, she brought the back of her hand across Mika’s face. Mika only had time to yelp before Su grabbed her by the cheeks and forced Mika to look her in the eyes.

“Mika?” Her voice cracked. “It was pure luck that the troll chose to kick you. If they chose to stomp on you, you’d be dead right now.” She breathed in sharply. “Don’t you ever do something like that again. Not without consulting someone else first.”

Mika just stared back at Su with eyes as wide as the horizon. “Okay Su.”

Su released Mika’s head and stood upright, She corrected her posture and tugged at the corners of her dress. This was no way for a hostess to look in front of possible clients, but Mika needed to understand why what she did was wrong. With the pain fading from her hand, she turned to the boy in the group. “Alexander.” Su placed her right hand over her left, and gave him a courteous bow. “It could not have been easy to heal so much damage with such little mana. Thank you for being here for us.” When she stood up again, she turned to Rina. Su made the same hand gesture, but only bowed her head. “You should consider flying with us again in the future. I think Mika would have been impressed with your piloting skills.” Su stood up again to bow to Silhouette, though she hesitated for a moment. “You have your mysteries ‘Silly,’ but all the same I’m glad you were there today.” When it was Tetrad’s turn to receive praise, Su only nodded her head, not even bothering to make the hand gesture. “I’m not sure taking everyone to the over city was in everyone’s interest in that situation. But given that I was unable to do anything at that time, I am fortunate that you were able to take all of us to momentary safety.” Su lifted her head to look at Lily. After staring at her for a full two seconds, she turned on her heel and grabbed Mika’s hand. “It’s dangerous to travel at night, and there’s a chance your homes have been destroyed. I’ll let you spend the night at my hotel for free, with the option to stay an entire week in a basic room for a single bronze coin. The luxury suites are extra.” Su walked towards the golden trove. “Not to sound like a commercial, but I’ve always prided us on the ability to deliver the 4 star experience at a 2 star price. We can deliver a 5 star experience as well, but that’s extra.” Su chuckled before moving out of earshot.

Once she was alone with Mika, she tapped the friendship stone in her hair. “Sorry I’m late Helga, had to take a detour through the over city. How does stir fry sound for dinner?”



Tetrad waited for Su’s speech to play out in its entirety before turning to Lily. ”Eh, it’s fine.” Wait, now that she was an old woman, this was a great time to give some sagely advice! ”Though we will always make mistakes, you need to make sure you spread positiveness to others instead of negativity. Don’t say you are sorry, say thank you instead. Don’t apologize to Su, thank Silhouette for keeping an eye on her. Don’t apologize to Mika, thank Alex for doing a great job as your boyfriend. Nobody likes excuses, but everyone likes to be praised!” Nailed it!

”I think I’m going to take Su up on her offer.” While Tetrad had an interdimensional apartment, it was more like a work office than a place to sleep. She had done a lot of crazy things to mint agents in there and it was no longer an ideal place to rest. ”Anybody want to give an old woman a lift?”



And with that, her mission was over.

It was pretty wild to think that in just 3 months, Beacon's "elite" would arrive in Penrose. Monster attacks had been so rare that Mac had wondered if they even happened anymore. The main draw was always some bullshit pulled by one horror worshiping girl or another.

While Penrose was never a great place, it was kind of sad to see her old home turned into, well, this. There were hardly any people left to watch, as most fled or were in hiding. Mac might need to get a new hobby if this kept up

Arriving at the location that had been programmed into the teleporter, Alicia was struck by an immediate problem. Specifically, Penny was not there. "That's weird. She should have been right here." she grumbled as she looked around. With the coordinates she'd put in, she should have been right on top of her friend. Metaphorically speaking.

"Maybe if I look around...." For lack of better options, she began walking around the block. She looked high and low, yet there was no sign of the person that she had come here to find. Which was odd. Was she hiding or something?

Little did Alicia realize, but events had transpired which had thrown off her coordinates. Meaning she was looking in the wrong place entirely.

After several minutes of searching and thinking it over, Alicia activated the recall for the teleporter. "Fine, we'll do it the hard way," she grumbled as she vanished. She had a scrying artifact back at the base. She just needed to get it from wherever the Ascendancy had stored her things, and then there would be no way Penny could avoid her again.

She was not about to let her change her mind without a conversation after the text that she received, that was for sure. This obstacle had only delayed the inevitable.

---

Penny was once again out and about in Downtown Penrose. She had finished up her meeting with Eden and had gone her separate way from Valerie and now found herself sitting on the edge of her favored perch overlooking the city. The destitute nature of the city mixed with winter lended itself to a magnificent view of the stars above with the few still twinkling lights of the city below acting as a partial mirror.

It was just a shame that Penny didn’t really see it.

She was once again trapped inside her own mind. Her history was once again on display within her mind as each action was dissected leaving all the logic and emotions painstakingly clear for Penny to see. And what she was seeing wasn’t good.

_{01000100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01111001 01100101 01110100 00101100 00100000 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101011 01100101 01100101 01110000 00100000 01110010 01100101 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101001 01110100}

In this detached state Penny was mostly unaware of what she was doing. This was good seeing as she wasn’t in any real danger, but bad for what it was she had been doing.

Every minute for the past while she had sent out a pair of texts unconsciously. One to Chloe and one to Alicia





But otherwise she was unmoving trying to not fall apart.

Upon receiving the text, Chloe didn't waste any time. Penny was not fine. She knew her little Penny, and that was not what she was. What had happened? Ugh, she shouldn't have let her things out of her sight for even a second! Not missing a single second, Chloe replied swiftly with a text, running out of her own apartment without even a word to Viva.

“Stay where you are. I'm coming, Penny. I love you.”

Taking to the skies, Chloe observed the surrounding area, her third eye quickly scanning the skyline for traces of Penny and recalling a few of her spirits to her. Having sentries placed around the city in cases like this proved to be fruitful. Damn it. She grit her teeth. She wasn't sure why her chest was hurting, but she ignored it as she set off for where Penny was.

The next text that Alicia received from Penny earned a rapid response. She had been on edge ever since her failure to locate her friend last time, and getting it again merely affirmed it. There was no thought, only action. She would not rest while her friend needed her.

Moving through Beacon HQ, she repeated what she had done the last time. But this time she was better prepared, hooking her Scrying artifact up to the teleporter to provide as exact a location as possible. ”Take me to Penny,” she said aloud before activating the device.

In a blaze of light she vanished, shifted across town. Even if she didn’t arrive exactly where Penny was, she would end up close enough that finding her would be easy to manage. ”I’m coming Penny.”

Chloe would get a response almost instantly, yet it was filled with nothing but distorted ones and zero’s.

Regardless of who found Penny first the scene would be the same. She would be leaning back on her hands seemingly just enjoying the view of the city. Physically there would be nothing wrong, no obvious injuries or deformations it even looked like she was smiling lightly. Her eyes would tell a different story however as they seemed to be off, burnt black lens blind to the world.

Every now and again a hiss of static eminent as a small pulse of electricity would roll off of her lending a charged atmosphere to the otherwise peaceful location, as magically Penny seemed wound as tightly as one could possibly be. Had she more potent magical ability this area would have been hazardous to be at.

Thankfully, it didn't take her long to find Penny. It was easy enough to track the magical discharge. Just what in the world had happened? The unpleasant feeling in her chest was suppressed further as she finally laid eyes on her 'girlfriend'. A momentary bit of relief seeing her in one piece. She lowered herself to where Penny was, relief quickly turning to both worry and confusion as she realized that something was very, very, very wrong.

“Penny!” Without even waiting for a response, Chloe landed next to her, kneeling on the ground and gently laying a hand on her shoulder. “Penny...what the hell happened to you? What's wrong, love? Can you hear me?” She scanned the other magical girl with her third eye, hoping to try and pinpoint some sort of magical wrongness that she could fix with this, going so far as to even observe Penny's soul itself. She was wary of the charged atmosphere, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to let something of hers be in this state.

Slowly Penny would turn to face Chloe and light would once again spark within the cyborg’s eyes. “͟Ch҉l͏o͞e?”̡ She would ask softly fear slowly starting to seep through the passive mask she wore. “̕I͞ me̷s͝se͜d ̛up ̡I-” Lightning would suddenly flare from under Chloe's hand and Penny would flinch as if struck.

_{01010011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101101 01100001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01110011 01100101 00100001 00100000 01001011 01100101 01100101 01110000 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01111001 00100001}

Nothing was wrong with Penny at a magical level, at least not inherently, but for some reason it looked like her magic was attacking itself. On a soul level things would be worse. The recent corruption of her soul would be painfully apparent in it’s newness, but that’s not what would catch Chloe’s attention. It would be that Penny’s soul was splintered and battered, looking like it had suffered from these wounds quite some time ago as most of the damage was old. To make things even more bizarre was the fact that her soul wasn’t truly whole it was nearly fractured in half and half of Penny’s soul seemed to switch between trying to wrench itself free or force the other half into submission.

Penny would be muttering quietly to herself “I’m̸ ͜fìn͘ę,̸ ̢I’̷m͞ ͝fin̸e̢” even as she started shaking.

“...oh.” Chloe could only mildly grimace at what she saw, recoiling slightly from the shock. She had to momentarily shut off her third eye, thinking she had finally went completely off the deep end. That was not what it should look like! She knew her souls. She played with them regularly, after all. She could twist, bend, break, meld, fuse...but this? What even was this?! “...what in the seven hells happened to you, Penny?” Chloe ground her teeth together glaring intently at the other magical girl, merely staring at Penny, going through things in her own head.

Damn it! Penny was of no use to her like this! What was a tool if it was broken beyond repair?! It seemed like every time she tried to plan something, someone else fucked it up! Standard fare, really, but she had never expected Penny herself to be the source of this.

Useless! That's what Penny was right now, right when she was about to have need of her!

Anger began boiling under her skin. Should she leave her here? She was broken, possibly beyond repair. If she did try she might have to delay her own plans even more. And after she had just staged the perfect little party, too! Urgh! Yet, Penny was still hers. A broken tool was something that still had use, and well, personal favoritism played a part too, of course.

For once, Chloe wasn't sure what she should do. Had it been anyone else but Penny? She'd have probably just snatched their soul and experimented with it, and made sure things went smoothly. But Penny? Well, she was probably the only one of two people that'd make her question herself like this. Ugh damn it. She reactivated her third eye, making certain to carefully observe Penny again for any changes.

“Penny. Listen to me, if you can. You are most certainly not fine and I'm not going to sugar coat it.” She glanced to the ground, a small hint of uncertainty evident in her voice. “...and to be honest, I don't know if I can help.”
Or wanted too, but there was no need to say that.

“I̶ ҉w̕as at͘ta̶cked” Penny’s answer was automatic and her voice was just a bit flat making it seem like Penny herself wasn’t aware she was answering. “͏I ̴ĺeft ͜t͜h͞e͟ ҉wa̕reh̴ou̢s̕e ͟t͢o͝ ͠t̸ry ͢an͢d̡ heļp ͢with́ ̧the ̢m͟o͢n̷stȩr a͜t͡t͝a̡c͡ks, but̵ ͢r̡an͡ ̷i͠nto a̷ ͟pa̸ck ̡on mons̵t̨e͡rs,͘ we̵a̶kl̕i̵ngs̷ ҉n̢o͢ ̡hard classif̢i̸ca̸tio͘ns.͝ I w̨as ̧fine̢-̴f̧ine-f͠in͝e-́f̡i̵” she would flich again as the color of her eyes would shift to a crystal blue and her shaking would stop.

“Sh̨e҉ w͜a̶s ̛g̷óing͞ ͠t̴o save͝ ͠it̨s͠ heárt ͝fo̧r̸ y̡o̷u! Li͞ke̶ s̛o͞m̢e ̴ki͜n͏d ǫf ̷t̡w̢i̶śted t̕rop̕hy!͜” She would bark out suddenly as the violent half of her soul seemed to smother the calm half almost as if Penny had undergone a metamorphosis “Do yo͞u ̡s̛ee̛ ͟w̡h̀at I me̛a̴n͝ ̧nów!? ̴This ̵is̶ wh͡a͢t͡ s̕he’s ̴don̴é ͡t͜o u̕s!̷ She̷’s҉ ͞a-̸” Another flinch as her soul returned to trying to tear itself apart as her eyes return to their dull red.

_{01010011 01110100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01000001 01110111 01100001 01111001 00100000 01100110 01110010 01101111 01101101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100001}

“I k̀i͟llȩd͝ ̨her̀, the͞ ͞ǫne H͡e use҉d̸ ̸to repla͢će̕ ḿe҉ an̷d a͠ssi͟m̕il̀at͘ed h͠er̡ re͏m͡a̵in̸s͠” Penny would once again be speaking softly as she shook. The seemingly calm part of her soul once again in control “S̸o͠ḿet̵ḩi̵ng̀ w͏ȩn͞t w͘rong a͞n͝d ͢I d͏on’t k͘now̧ ̕why͏ b̨u͘t ͠įt̴ w̸o̧n̛’t̨ go͏ ͘b̨àc̕k ̸to sl̛e̵e͘p a͠n̛d͡ ̛i͜t w̸o̧ņt͞ S̶̴̢͖̟̪̲̹̠̹͓̲͉̘̭̭̗̼͟͞H̷̛͉̞̹̳̯̹̩̰̞̕͘U̧̨͚̺̻̳͟T̨̢̡̝̙͓̪͡ ̸̨̢͎͕͔̭͔͖̝̜͓̰̣͔̕͢Ų̶̵̺͚̺̰̟̣̤͇͓̳͓̗̜̩̀͘P҉͜҉̘̺͍̤̟͚̱!̨̰̟͕̲”

_{01000010 01100101 01100011 01100001 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100110 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01001100 01001001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01001110 00100001 00100000 01010011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01100101 01110011 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01100010 01101111 01110101 01110100 00101101}

Penny would suddenly be up and pacing “Lies.͢ Lie̛s͘! ̧I’m fi͝ne, ́I͢’m͘ ͝f͟in҉e”͝ the fear was evident in her voice as she repeated those lines like a mantra.

Chloe's gaze shifted from mild uncertainty and concern, to a cool glare as Penny...no, that thing responded.

“...oh, I see.” Chloe replied coolly. This was starting to make more sense. “I see, that makes sense now. Penny, my favorite little lost puppy, you should really not eat things you find on the ground, even if you were going to bring me a present.” Whatever happened had caused Penny's already fractured soul to crack like an egg. Somehow it seemed to have caused a split in her psyche, or perhaps it was already there, and this event simply allowed it to take over. The two halves were now trying to tear themselves apart in a bid for control, and one of them didn't seem very fond of her.

A curious endeavor she'd have loved to watch to its inevitable destruction, had it been on anyone else.

“I don't know who you are, but you seem to be telling some rather nasty lies to my Penny. I don't care. My Penny wouldn't fall for such things.” She wasn't talking to Penny now, rather than whatever else this was inside of her. “I'd ask to let's resolve this with as little stress to my Penny as possible, but you don't seem too fond of me even if I could offer a solution to this problem we seem to have.” It might not be a long term one, but she needed to buy some time to figure out what exactly was wrong in the first place, and who knows, maybe it would work.

The frantic pacing came to a dead stop as Penny turned to look at Chloe. The look on her face rapidly shifting through emotions as the two souls seemed to be conversing. After a moment the cool blue drifted back into Penny’s eyes as the other started speaking It’s gaze wasn’t quite hostile but obvious untrusting “Y̴ou'll̸ ͏f̢o͏rgiv͢ȩ m͘e͢ fo͘r ͠t̵he ͞fa̛c͘t that́ ̧Į do͢n'̕t̶ be̡lieve̛ tha͡t̕ ͏y̴o̴u ha͏v̧è ḿy ͏be̡s͘t in͟tere͠st͘s̴ ͠at͠ hea̷rt͢. ͟That͟ ̢said ̸yo͢u ar̴ę curr̡ent͘ly th͞e͏ only ̕S͞pir͢it͜ ͠ma̡g̷e ͘in̛ ̛t̛ḩe̕ ́c͢i̸t҉y̛ I ̸kn̕ow ͢of̀ s҉o͏ ͜I̡'m͞ ̢w͜i̸l̀l҉ing ͞t̡o̶ lis̶t̡en̕ ̧t̡o̢ w͜h҉a̛t ̕yo͝ų h̵av̶é to͡ ̴óff̵er.͟” As it spoke the magic within Penny surged for a moment before calming down rather notably.

_{01010011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00101100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100001}

“That's a good girl.” The spirit mage replied with a small frown. Good, this thing was at least willing to listen to reason and talk. Ugh, why couldn't this have been something she could have just beat to death? She didn't like feeling this...uncertain and out of control. “...however, before I say anything, I need to know what exactly it is you want.” Chloe said with a light huff. “I'm not a miracle worker. I'm not going to waste time if what you want is completely absurd. Nor am I going to do anything that would hurt Penny. Understand?”
She definitely felt like she understood the situation, but...a subtle pang of uncertainty was still present in her chest. How far was this going to set her back? Would Penny still be able to do what she wanted?

”̧A̸t ̶least̴ ̴y̕ou̧ ҉ar̨e͝ w͟ill͠ìng̀ to ̴pret́e͘n̴d to̧ ça͘re ͠fo͠r ̕t̢hat wh͜ic̀h̸ yo̧u͏ ҉cl͞aim͞” it would exclaim shaking its head.

_{01001001 00100000 01110100 01101111 01101100 01100100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101101 01100101}

They would make a motion as if they were brushing away something before continuing on “͝W̨h͞a̵t̵ ̡I͢ w̵ant̀ is͡ f͘or he͘r ̀t̶o l͞is͟t̸e̕n ̴tǫ ̸r̸ea̸s̨ơn,̨ but ͢th͡a͝t͜’s not g̴o͏įng̀ ̷to͜ happen͝,҉ ̸e҉sp͡e͝c̸iall̢y̧ ͟sińc͞e ̕yòu ͘sho̴w͘eḑ ̛u͝p fi̢rst.”͠ They turned to scan the surrounding sky for a moment as they continued to speak “I ẁo͢ul̢d a̷cqu̸ie̡s̸ce to͢ b͘e̷i̢ng̶ g̕i̷ve̵n҉ t̷im͝e ͠tò pr̢o̕ve my p̡oiņt b̕ut ͘I ͠k͞n͜o̕w ýou ̡wo̶u̧ĺdn’t҉ ̵aļĺo͠w̵ t̕h̵at҉ ̡Chl͜oe͞ so͠ ̛I͞ g͞uęs͡s ͞w͏ha̵t͏ ͏I̷ ͏wa͜nt is ͜oưt͡.”̕

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It was at that moment that Alicia arrived. She burst out from below, wings carrying her upwards in her haste. There had been some difficulties with the teleporter, and she had not realized how high up Penny was until just now.

”I’m here Penny,” she called as she landed in a crouch. ”I came as soon as I got your message. What is-”

Then she saw Chloe. Her face darkened, the makings of a scowl present as she walked towards the duo. Bad enough what had happened during the vacation. But for her to be here, now? This was starting to look less like chance and more like conspiracy. ”You. What did you do.” She glared at Chloe. If something was wrong, it was likely her fault after all.

”Aļicia͠, gla̷ḑ y͞ou͡ ̨c͡ơúld͏ ̢ma̷ke̛ ͟it” The other would speak visibly relaxing for the first time. Before flinching “-o͏t ̵her ̶fa͏u̵l͜t! ̕I̡t wa̕s ̧m̢i͠n̨e! ̴Sh̴e͝’s t̢r̷yi̴n͘g to ͡h̶el͏p!”̛

_{01000010 01100101 00100000 01110001 01110101 01101001 01100101 01110100 00100001 00100000 01000001 01101100 01101001 01100011 01101001 01100001 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01110010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01110100 01101000 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101110 00100000 01000011 01101000 01101100 01101111 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100101 01101110}

“N͏O! ̨Th̡àt̡ is̡ n̵ot͞ ̷tr̷u͟e͏!” Penny would scream, once again in control, though obviously not in a good state. She was shaking badly and held her head in both hands “Y͡o̴u. Yoư'͡re̵ ͜t̶ry͠íng̡ to̵ g̵e͏t r̕i͞d̕ ͠of ̕he͢r!̧” and the calm within Penny passed with both halves once again started fighting viciously for control.

“Tch, and I had them calm...!” Things had been going so well, too well, of course. Another annoyance showed up. Chloe shifted her attention to the beacon girl, visibly irritated herself.

“I was wondering if you'd be joining us here. Of course, you’d blame me for this.I’m a naughty girl, but not everything is my fault.” Chloe replied glaring at Alicia with nothing but contempt. This was the floozy that was trying to take her Penny away from her. As far as she was concerned, this whole thing was just the culmination of Beacons meddling...but pointing fingers for now, would solve nothing.

“...which further cements my thoughts on the matter.” Chloe sighed, glancing back over to Penny with a frown. “But before we both go pointing fingers to who is at fault for Penny's condition, know that I had nothing to do with it, and have no desire whatsoever to see her in this state.”

It took all the effort that Alicia had to not roll her eyes. It seemed she wasn’t lying about not being the cause, but that didn’t mean anything. She could have pushed it to happen indirectly, and there was no doubt that Chloe would try to take advantage of it regardless. She would have to keep on her guard.

”Yeah, I’m sure,” she grumbled before turning to face Penny. Eyes widened at the back and forth conversation. She could only understand half of it, but what she heard was not making her feel any better. What had happened, how had things gotten this bad? It had only been a day since they had seen each other, where had it gone wrong?

After a moment she offered a hand to her friend. ”Come on, let’s go back to HQ. Me and Sylvia worked things out with the Ascendancy. We can work through this together. That’s what Beacon is about, never having to be alone. Right?”

Penny was broken out of her episode by Alicia stepping forward, but the look on her face was one the light user had never seen before, one of fear and of being hopelessly lost. The dim red glow within the girls eyes was frantic and confused.

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”Ch͜lo̕e!.͜.̴.̵ ̷Ch̷l͡o͘e ͜yóu͞ ͢s͞a̧i҉d̨ yo̴ư ha͢d a͡n ҉id̨e҉a ŕi̧g̀ht̨? Ơn how̢ t҉o f͝i̵x͏ ͢t̢h͡įs? W͢h̷at..͠.͏ ̢W͝h̀at w͟as̴ ̶it?̶” Penny would ask her gaze flickering back and forth between the two girls in front of her, looking torn between staying and running.

_{01010111 01100101 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01100011 01101000 00100001}

“I know you like meddling in peoples love affairs, but try not to agitate her will you.” Chloe replied with a sigh to Alicia. “She's not in a good state and her soul is currently trying to destroy itself. Any agitation is only going to make it worse.” The dark magical girl shifted her gaze from Alicia to Penny, still wearing a somewhat troubled frown. “Like I said when I first got here...I don't know if I actually can, but I'm certainly going to try, so if miss beacon butt over here will let me explain for a second so we're all on the same page. Her being here may be able to help, as loathe as I am to admit.”

Chloe allowed herself to relax slightly as she spoke.

“Penny's soul seems to currently be trying to kill itself.” She began simply. “I'm not going to point fingers here, but it's likely because of the repeated corruption and cleansing of her soul. Her soul seems to have already been quite...stressed.” She cast a glance over to the mechanical girl with a frown. “There are quite a few old scars on it that I can only guess came from that old patron of hers.” The spirit mage slowly shifted her gaze back over to Alicia, a cool glare forming on her features, but said nothing. It was easy to tell who she'd blame for this, if she had the luxury.

“It seems similar to what happens when someone first becomes a magical girl and then their soul gets split. The only difference is that they both get a body, and are both either corrupted or 'pure'” Chloe summoned her orb, sighing lightly as it slowly hovered behind her. “In Penny's case, neither seems to be true. I'm completely guessing here...but one half of the soul is what beacon would call corrupt, the other half likely has that wretched spark of yours – the two can't seem to reconcile something, so they are fighting each other.” Chloe's expression didn't change once as she spoke, the orb simply floating behind her and rotating slowly. “Which is why going to beacon is not a good idea. They'd likely simply exacerbate the problem by flooding her with that 'purity' of yours to remove whatever the corruption is. Trying to forcibly get rid of one or the other might be short sighted and harm things in the long run. I think, if you can get your pretty face out of your cute ass for a second and believe that I'm not out to get anyone at the moment, the optimal solution here would be to give both their own separate bodies, but the only problem is well...where to find an empty vessel suitable. Alternatively, find a way for the two halves to reconcile, but I wouldn’t know where to begin with that since the one with the spark seems to hate me.” There were...a few other problems that might present itself if she were to do a certain thing, but she could explain that in a moment.

Holding her tongue for a moment, Alicia still wore a scowl as her fingers tapped a drumbeat on her upper forearm. She might not like Chloe, but when it came down to it she was not the one who had resorted to personal insults first. That was at least a small point in her favor. ’Right, how dare I assume that a Dark Magical Girl has an agenda. It’s not like you haven’t already run off with other Beacon members as your back and call,” she snapped back. It might have been months in the real world, but she had not forgotten about Divina and her association with Chloe.

But she returned to Penny again, arms still folded over her chest as she tried to draw her friend’s attention back to her. “Okay, even if she’s right about the cause, Beacon is a global organization. With the resources that we have, I’m sure we can find a way to help you without making the situation worse. Just like all the upgrades, or getting away from Laat. You just have to give us the opportunity to help, Penny.

“̨Tḩat̨’͟s̢-” “Wha͟t͞ I wàş ҉tr͠y͢įng ͝t̀o̧ do͏.̛ I͢t̢’s͟ why̷ I ̴se̡nt yo̡u͜ tha͜t͞ te͘xt ̕ear͞lie͞r.” The transition between the two halves was much smoother for the moment, the core issue was far from being solved but Chloe had offered them at least a rallying point to work together for the time being. They both despised Laat, and if this was his fault then, they were willing to work together simply to spite him.

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“̴I͢ ͟w͏ant̛ ҉to go to B̀e̷a͠c͏on̵ ̢f̀ór ̀the r̛ȩc̷o̶rd. ̨A̴l͢i̡cįa yo͢u͞ ̸h͡a͟ve̕ mo͢r̨e҉ ̸t҉ha̡n ͞d͏one̸ ̨en͞ou͡gh͜ ̸t͠o̵ ea͘rn o̢u͏r t̴r̛us̢t ͠an͞d̕ ̕l҉ǫya͞ļty.”̷ The blue eyed and visibly agitated half would say firmly “̨B͡u̕t͢ I͢ ͢w̴a̴nt ͝to g͏o̴ w̡i̕th͘ ͠Ch͏l͜o̸e̸,҉ Y̶o̴u’ve͟ ́al͘w͜ay̛ś be͜ęn̶ t͢h͞e͢ŕe ̛f̢or m̡e e̢v͏e͘n ͝a̢t ͢my̢ da҉r̡kest ̷mo͡m͝e̷nts, I ̢k̵now ̵yo̸u͘’̕ll̕ ̴d̢o ͢w̧h́a͡t͠ y̶ou ̨c̛an̛ tǫ ḩe̕lp ̢once̕ ̨m̢or͘e” The red eyed one would say affectionately even as it still trembled.

“Àn͜d” “tha̸t̀” “see͠m̧s” “tơ” “b̶e͟” “t̵he” “corȩ” “dis̸agr͞e͡em̶e̶nt͠” they would say together with varying levels of annoyance.

“I̷ wo͏uld͏n̶’t ̴min̶d gettiņg śome ̀t̴im̶e ͠awa̶y ̨fr̷om̕ them҉” Red would say crossing her arms over her chest with a pout “An̸d́ too͝ ͡that̀ ̵en̷d a ͘n̶ew ̵ves͡s҉el̛ f̴o͠r̷ ḿę w̧ou͜ldn’̸t ̧be͏ ás͏ compl̨i͝c̡ated͞ as͞ ̷y͝ou ҉th̢in͟k͠” Blue would reply with a sigh as she glanced around the rooftop obviously looking for something.
The fact that at least, she could get both of the Penny's to listen to her on some level instead of this beacon bitch was a relief.
“See? That's a good girl, listening to-” Chloe coughed, placing a hand over her mouth. “Right, right. So...you, whoever you are. If you're willing to cooperate in that regard, then I suppose I can too...but I'm not going to be letting you out of my sight until I'm certain this is sufficiently dealt with.”
“What about you, then?” Chloe placed her hands on her hips, frowning at Alicia. She almost wanted her to disagree and try and start something just so she could have an excuse to relieve some stress.

Watching Penny and doing her best to parse between the two individuals inside of her, Alicia quickly picked up on what her intended solution was as Penny looked around the rooftop. ”Well, I guess there isn’t much choice if that’s the only way you can see to solve your current issue,” she conceded. ”It should be pretty easy for them.”

Personally she hoped that the wish could be used to simply fix this issue, but that seemed unlikely at this point. Oh well.

As if she needed to be reminded, Chloe spoke up again. And while Alicia was willing to accept Penny in this division plan, or whatever, there was no way in hell she was trusting Chloe as far as she could throw her. ”There is no way I’m letting you walk away from this like nothing happened. Even if you’re not responsible, you’ve still done a lot that you need to be held accountable for,” she shot back as her fists clenched. ”Give me one good reason why I should let her go with you rather than putting you down now and probably saving a lot more people by doing it.”

“Because doing so would upset Penny more, and neither of us wants that?” Chloe said with a harrumph. “It's almost like you want to distress her more than she already is.” The dark magical girl giggled with a dismissive, nonchalant shrug. “But I suppose such selfishness fits you. Such a shame it's wasted on a beacon cutie like you.” With a glance towards Penny, Chloe frowned again.

She hoped this was going to be worth the headache.

“...but if you need a reason, perhaps I can make a deal. There's a certain...party going on soon, and I may know where it’s being held at. You let me go I can tell you where it is.”

While Alicia and Chloe… discussed the situation Penny wandered off to a different part of the roof for a moment. When she came back, she was carrying one of the roof mounted AC units. Which she quickly started to strip down into base components. Her eyes and mannerisms kept flickering back and forth between the two different ones and every now and the occasional growl could be heard coming from the girl as she worked.

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Alicia would get a text shortly after Penny started on her work.

Holding back an annoyed huff of her own as Chloe countered her words, Alicia did not back down. ”She’d also be more distressed if you started murdering innocent people. And your body count isn’t exactly small up to this point.” To say that she was skeptical of Chloe’s ability to change was a monumental understatement. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of remorse there.

For a moment she was distracted as Penny returned with an AC unit and began to disassemble it. Was she...making a second body? How was that even going to work? Well, who was she to argue with the tech magic.

Though the text was received, Alicia merely glanced at it. She had other things vying for her attention right now. And to be honest, it just made no sense in the first place.

Instead, she returned to Chloe and the offer that had been made. ”I know you don’t care enough to see a difference, but I’m not the Ascendancy. One piece of short term information for something that….however long this is going to end up being a thing, it’s not good enough. Now if you happened to know, say, where Vi-chan was hiding out, or where Cindy’s been keeping herself hidden, that I’d be more open to.”

“Unlike you, Penny understands my situation. My patron isn't exactly nice, and if left to their own devices, Penrose would have burned by now.” Chloe replied with a huff, running over the counter offer in her head. “But fine. I might know where both of them are, but why would I tell you? What would you do with them if I told you?” Chloe asked. “I may not like Cindy a whole lot, and Vi-Chan is a fun distraction every now and then, but I'd rather not have potentially useful people die on me. If it wasn’t for Vi-Chan girls like me wouldn’t have the slightest bit of...shall we say, hope, since the Ascendancy moved in. If you can assure me you’re not going to kill or imprison them, I may feel inclined to tell you where Vi is.”

“Th̛e ̵ḑra҉gon s҉oug̡ht ͜o̸u͘t Laat͝” Penny would say as, true to Alicia’s assumption, she started to fashion the AC unit into a rough approximation of a body “That is is if you want to take the bastards word for it” She said her disdain for her Ex-patron dripping off every word and her voice crystal clear. They both hated Laat. “S̀t̨il̴l̴ ͘He ̵ćl͘aim̡ed ͘th҉ey̢ we̕r҉e ͟w̷orķing͢ ̴to͘w͢ards̵ ͠a̡ co͏m͟mon go͡al,enơu͜gh͢ ͢r̷e͏ason̵ ̕to͡ be wa͜ry ͞of͝ ̴h͏im”

Neither halves wanted to bring up that they knew where Cindy was, for distinctly opposite reasons, so they chose to remain silent on that topic.

A glance flickered over to Penny as she mentioned that Cindy had sought out Laat, before returning to Chloe. She was obstinate, but that was good. It meant that Alicia was on the right track to at least disrupting some scheme or other. That would be a worthwhile trade, if she was to go along with this.

”You’d tell me so it doesn’t end up being you in a few minutes,” she answered, doing her best to keep a straight face. ”Unlike the Ascendancy I don’t care that much about the party, so just offering that doesn’t mean much. But if you’re so determined, I’m willing to be flexible. Say, if you knew anything useful about Mariette.”

“Who now?” Chloe replied to Alicia's next question. “Just because I'm a dark magical girl, doesn't mean I am automatically involved with all of beacons troubles or enemies.” She replied with a huff. This was getting them nowhere, and she was tired of it. There was at least one more thing she could offer.

“But maybe I can do you one better. Veronica, know of her? I happen to be somewhat close with her, heh.” She said with a light giggle, remembering their particularly close encounter at the beach. “I don't know what Beacon thinks of her, but I doubt you two will get along forever. I might be able to give you info on her.”

Chloe’s confusion earned a shrug. ”Never hurts to ask,” Alicia conceded. Oh well, she would just have to focus on something else. But information on Mariette would have been useful.

As it stood, it seemed that Chloe did have something after all. She had heard the name mentioned back in the vacation dimension. Something about splitting off from the Mint and a non-hostility pact. Ostensibly they were at levels of ‘not getting in each others way’, but that was before they came back to the Ascendancy. Who knew if it would hold.

”I’m interested,” she conceded after a few moments. In lieu of the other things, it would be good enough.

“Oh good.” Chloe replied with a sigh. “Looks like you can be reasonable.” Small victories, but this did present a new problem. She wasn't quite sure how difficult Veronica was going to be to get info on. Well, no need to think about it too much. She'd deal with it in the future.

“...I'm surprised you’re willing to trust me, considering how much you seem to hate me.” Chloe mused, a small smirk forming on her lips. “I'll chalk it up to my cuteness finally getting to you, fufufu. I'll bring you something eventually. The Mint at least, taught me to see my work through to the end if nothing else.”

This time Alicia did allow herself the luxury of smirking as Chloe made a comment about her method in relation to this madness. ”Oh, I don’t. But I have a few reasons that I think you’re being sincere,” she confirmed with a shrug.

A finger rose. ”One, considering Penny is currently making a small version of herself right now I think she plans on splitting herself, or something. Carving your soul in half probably isn’t a convenient thing, so if she ever wants to put herself back together you’ll have to come find her and me.” And in that case, Chloe would have to come in punching range if she lied.

A second finger rose. ”Even if you don’t, the Penny who doesn’t like you would probably be more than willing to help us track you down if we have to.”

And finally, a third. ”And if it comes down to it I can always tell Veronica that you were willing to sell her out. I wouldn’t be lying, and as a former Mint Broker I’m sure she has plenty of painful ways to get even with those who get on her bad side.”

After a moment she extended that same hand. ”Shake on it?”

“A͟l͏i͟c͠ia͝” Penny would call out “Wh̀e͢n ̴you h͢a͟v̨e͝ a̕ m̧òm͘ent ͏I̧ ̴ńee͞d you͘ ͢t͠o ̕pu̴rif̵y̸ t͠h̢i̧s” She would say tapping on the basic robot skeleton she had constructed. The following step was going to be painful enough as is, hopefully a quick purification would make the transition smoother.

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“Fuuu, quite the shrewd one, aren't you?” Aaaah, she really wanted to just gut this beacon girl here and feed her to Lucy, but patience, patience. Chloe reached forward with a hand, swiftly grabbing Alicia's and giving it a firm, hard, shake. “Then we have a deal. Hopefully It doesn't come back to bite you, fufufu. Or maybe I will anyways, just for fun.”

”I have my moments,” Alicia replied. Without answering the following comment, she stepped forward and met Chloe’s handshake with her own firm grip. She was an Archer after all, so her hands did not lack for muscle strength. That, in turn, may have caused the contact to linger a bit longer than it needed to as they felt each other out.

Turning, she walked over to the new body. ”Alright,” she said after examining the object. Extending a hand and touching the cool metal, she began to channel her light magic. ”This may take a couple minutes.”

“Take ýo͢uŗ tim͞e, I a͘m ͏t͏r͟yįn͘g t̵o͡ ̧le͢ss̨e̶n ̢the͢ like̴li͞h̢ood ̨o҉f th̢e Spar̀k͡ r̶eje̕c̶ting ̀it͘ ̡whén̢ ͘I ̷get m̕ǫv̡e̸d̨ ̴over̕” She would say before moving off to the side to let Alicia focus on her work.

This move would have her sitting near move to sit near Chloe and for a moment she was content to let the silence between them but “Y͘o͟u̷ s͜ùre that̀ ̵y͢ou ̡can ͜pul͝l u̕s͞ ̧a̸p̡ar̶t̨?” She would ask plainly, blue eyes still watching the shell that would house her for sometime “Ánd͘ is th̢er͘e͟ ̕an̡yth̀i͞n͟g we can̢ ̴dǫ t͢o̡ ͠help̢?͝” she was absently picking at the roof as she sat, it was easy to tell she was nervous now if one looked for it.

“Of course I can.” Chloe replied with a huff. She wasn't still sure how to feel. Penny was a valuable asset, and she'd need to see exactly how she'd change after this split. “Though, ideally I'd just delete you so you wouldn't bother us again, but I'm willing to make compromises if it means less harm to Penny.” Chloe glanced over towards Alicia as she went about purifying that makeshift body. She almost wanted to do something to it.

“The only thing you need to do is make it easy on me. I can rip and tear easily, but this is going to require a more surgical precision to make sure I don't leave half of you in one body and half in the other. So I need as little fighting as possible, got it? If anything goes wrong, I will be saving Penny, and Penny only, so don't do anything stupid.”

Operating on a still living and breathing human would be...probably the most difficult thing she had done, but perhaps this would be good practice for future endeavors.

Blue would scoff quietly, but nod in understanding regardless. They would sit there quietly as they waited for Alicia to finish her work, yet they weren't simply doing nothing as there would be the occasional pulse of magic coming from them.

Coins were being spent to empower them. In the hope that the magic inherent in the Coins would increase the malleability of their soul while also reinforcing it so limit the chance of things going wrong.

After several minutes Alicia stepped back, gesturing to the newly constructed form as a glow faded away. ”Alright.. It’s as pure as it’s going to be on short notice. Do whatever it is you plan to do.” She still wasn’t entirely content, but if it was what Penny wanted then so be it.

“This is going to hurt. A lot, probably.” Chloe stated. “Lay next to the other body. The shorter distance I have to work the better. And I don't want any distractions, Alicia.” As soon as everyone was in position, Chloe began her work. Activating her third eye, she reached for Penny's soul. Such a fragile, beautiful thing. Suppressing a desire to play with it, Chloe pulled it gently towards her, reaching towards it and gently wrapping her hands around it.

A small 'cut' here another there. Cutting apart the weakest spots at first was easy. Considering Penny's already weakened state, this was an easy task. What she was trying to avoid, was any further potential scarring to it. Smooth out some of them, heal it over. This would continue for a few minutes.

Finally, with one final snip the two halve split apart. Chloe quickly took the 'spark' and shove it in the mechanical body. With a few quick hand motions, she tied the newly fractured soul to its new home. A final check to make sure Penny was safe, and it was done.

With a final flare of light it would be done. Where before Penny had been one, now she stood as two. On the surface they looked like identical twins but It was easy to tell them apart. After all one of them was composed entirely out of metal and mechanical parts, while the other was flesh and blood.

”That… hurt” The human Penny would say between gulps of air. “But... you’re finally out of my head” She would say as she sat up.

“Agreed” The robotic Penny would say as she staggered to her feet “Maybe now I’ll be able to actually deal with some of the baggage we’ve built up”

“I was handling it just fine”

“Bullshit and we both know it” Rather than continue sniping at her downed half the machine Penny would carefully walk over to Alicia. “I’m ready to leave when you are. We have a lot to talk about.”

The Human Penny would force herself to a stand before walking over to hug Chloe. “Come on Love, let's go home I think we’re done here”

At last it was over. Alicia let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding in as the two confirmed that they were seemingly in one piece. It looked like Chloe was good to her word.

There was a slight wince at the human Penny calling Chloe ‘love’, but after a moment she turned to the one who had approached her instead. ”Yeah, let’s get going before I change my mind. That last part was grumbled, and she offered her companion a steadying arm if she wanted it before departing the rooftop.

“Haa, that was fun.” Chloe sighed as Penny waltzed over and hugged her. “Feeling alright? I need to do some...attunements. I can't leave your soul completely scarred like that, and well, we have things to talk about.” She watched Alicia and the other Penny leave. Rude, didn't even thank her.

“But we can save that until after we get home and you rest a bit.” Chloe scooped up Penny in her arms and left the rooftop.

This is mostly a catch-up post.

A hop, skip, and rainbow road away and they were finally at the Magical Services district. Amanda was able to let her guard down a bit as soon as the trio managed to find their destination, a quaint little building contrasting the rest. The dream magician waited on the side as Ronin, slightly terrified of Jill for some reason, handed the package over. She walked up besides her joining the rest of the group to return to Penrose.

Once they arrived at the train station, Amanda frowned in sympathy at their reactions to what had happened to the town. Though it was for a moment, since the mage was hit with an information breakthrough. Well, overload. Who was Father? Didn't Eliza mention Lily before? This Mariette, "The Reflective Witch", was behind the mass monster attacks?? Amanda had to let the others know as soon as possible.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Ronin asked if they knew anyone that could help. "Well, I can call my group for some assistance. I was going to let them all know that there is a possible culprit now, anyways." Amanda looked over to Jill with a smile. "Thanks for the intel. Maybe there is a chance this stupid war can end." If they were still confused, the magician was more than willing to explain what was going on

^{Onomnomnomnomnom}

Well, KFC was open and nearby, and Amaryllis really couldn’t care for anything high-class, not if it meant actually waiting for a good twenty minutes for the food to come. Sitting at a table in the corner of the relatively empty fast food joint, she sipped at ice water and waited for her order to come up. Hilaria, thankfully, had finally texted them back, and would be arriving soon; hopefully the food will be up by then as well.

In her untransformed state, the bespectacled woman kept to herself, scrolling absentmindedly through her phone as the minutes ticked by. Still had a lot to think about, after all, and more than that, she was still tired. Calories should fix that problem, with any luck. She sipped her drink again, not really saying anything to Sophia, not really sure what to say either, beyond banal chatter. The pirate lady may think her as a friend, but the fact of the matter was that they really only knew each other from a couple chance encounters, and they were only friends because Sophia was desperate for any sort of connection while Amaryllis didn’t have the heart in her to refuse.

Weird shit, really. Amaryllis let out a sigh; she wished Hilaria would come soon, though wasn’t sure if she’d prefer her purified or unpurified.

As if on cue, the door to the establishment opened and in walked a girl with long, silver hair reminiscent of Hilaria's. Her clothes consisted of torn Jean shorts and a likewise torn shirt that was cutting it close to being exposed enough for a claim of public indecency to be filed. But these tears didn't seem to be some expression of fashion -- they were battered, old clothes that were long overdue for replacement, made even clearer by the bandages wrapped around her upper arms and a leg.

The girl looked around the joint before spotting Amaryllis. She focused on the swordbearer for a moment, before shooting her hand in the air. "Hi~!" she called to her, and then to the girl sitting beside her. Approaching the table, she smiled at both. "Hilaria is sorry for the wait~ She isn't normally bothered by people like that~"

Sophia gave a wide grin at seeing Hilaria, who seemed rather the same as before, raising her glass of coke in celebration towards her before taking a large swig of it.

Ultimately she was...just glad for the company of anyone, at least. Not like she knew either of these two especially well, though the Goo Lass was ultimately the one person was at least giving her the time of day at this point. She didn’t know where to go or what to do otherwise, and Sophia herself had been basically born yesterday at that. It was all so troubling, at its core, but she did at least want to get to know the silver-sword-wielding Amaryllis better if she could. Was the least she could do her best at!

Plus, from what little she knew, this armored girl had a nice appreciation for a bite to eat at least.

“Welcome! And good ta’ see ya’ back in one piece!” Sophia said, gesturing heartily and kindly to an open spot at their table she had saved for the crusader-looking girl, “Already ordered mah’self a nice normal dinner anna’ large bunch o’ fried livers! When tha’ waitress comes by, just tell er’ what ya’ want an’ I’ll pay fer’ it just as promised!”

Hilaria nodded, saying “Wonderful~!”

"It's, uh, nothing to worry about," Amaryllis said with a weak smile. "Was everything alright with, like, whoever wanted to talk to you? They didn't do anything, did they?"

Taking her seat, Hilaria looked to Amaryllis. "They gave Hel--, Mm, Hilaria some cake~ It was delicious~!" she told them, her expression temporarily dampening during her mistake, but returning immediately after. "Mm, then they asked Hilaria to become pure again, but Hilaria didn't want that~"

Hilaria took a moment to take in the scent of freshly-made food, which made her only more eager. "But since Hilaria got cake that doesn't matter~"

Sophia let out a small, almost quiet, sigh of relief. She had no idea about, ah, all of these things...but she could tell herself and the knight girl were at least similar in some fashion. In fact, that much her patron had told her about after Hilaria had disappeared with those other people. They were ‘corrupted’, as she had understood it, and not everyone took a liking to not...though not everyone who was corrupted was good either, really. Not that anyone who wasn’t corrupted was inherently good though too, right? If they were being themselves, and felt true, wasn’t that enough to suffice whether they were or were not corrupted?

The pirate silently shook her head as Hilaria talked to Amaryllis. Bloody hell she had enough to drink about already, even more questions than anything, but at least she had some coke here. Taking another swig of the obviously large cup, Sophia set it down calmly, gestured for a waitress to come get Hilaria’s order, and then looked over to the other two as she sat up more in her seat.

“Well, lass, at last they gave yeh’ cake fer’ ya troubles, eh?” Sophia said, giving a small smile before continuing on, “Ah, but if yeh’ both don’t mind mah’ askin’, I’d like ta’ get ta’ know more about yeh’. Can’t say ah’ know anyone ere’ save for that maid lass I showed up with...and she’s kinda disappeared as it were.”

Sophia sheepishly scratched the back of her head through her hoodie, her smile genuinely somewhat awkward of all things.

“The maid disappeared?” Amaryllis narrowed her eyes, a mixture of concern and suspicion flashing over her features as she felt for a Sword that wasn’t there. Not the time to be pursuing that thread though. She went to sip at her sweet drink instead, taking a moment to gather up some courage. Just a joke. She could totally do this. One, two, three!

“And, uh, yeesh Hilaria. They gave you cake, but you didn’t save any for us? R-rude, right?”

Hilaria frowned, taking Amaryllis' statement rather seriously. "Hilaria would have brought you some, but..." She thought about the terrible thing that happened with Isabella. The very moment that all color had drained from this world and a piece of cake lie on the floor, wasted. A tragedy. She sniffled. "...they didn't have enough. And some of what little there was got spoiled~!" She would have also mentioned she didn't exactly vacate the premises in a normal fashion, but that'd just evoke curiosity she didn't care to sate.

It was at this time the waitress came over. Hilaria's interest immediately shifted from the other two to her, and she went about ordering what she wanted, which happened to be enough food to feed three people. But even if Sophia had tried to get a word in protest, it was too late -- the order was made and the girl left.

Hilaria turned to Sophia, hearing about her lack of companionship. "Eh~? Are you new, Soapie~?" Hilaria asked, inspecting the pirate girl. She then listened to Sophia’s request. "You want to learn more about Hilaria~?" She thought for a moment, unsure what to even say. But then she had a spark. "Well, Hilaria really loves food~! It's wonderful~ Beyond that… well, Hilaria doesn’t think it matters~"

Sophia subtly noted the silver-bladed swordswoman’s expression and words, especially at the mention of the disappearance of the maid girl. A light but subtle grimace flashed over Sophia’s features for but a brief moment, though she didn’t blink an eye at Hilaria’s food order. Yet Hilaria the next moment had her looking back with the mispronounced name, eager-seeming response, and mentions of food. The pirate let out a hearty laugh as she listened, before giving a genuine a wholehearted nod in return.

“Aye lass, food is a wonderful thing! So many flavors and types and kinds of it abound at’ ah’ can’t fathom it all! One little side conquest i hope ta’ undertake is ta’ taste all tha’ foods in Penrose, even...not gotta lotta memories otherwise, if any,” Sophia said, letting out a more restrained chuckle after before she went about taking another swig of her large coke, “Heh...from the look of yeh’, i also wonder what places an thin’ ya’ seen out ere’, Hilaria. But ya’ don’t hafta’ talk bout’ anything ya’ wouldn’t want ta’ talk bout’ round’ me. But if ya’ need an eatin’ buddy, ya’ can hit me up anytime!”

“Hilaria would love that~!”

The pirate raised her cup to the words she said, before setting it back on the table in front of her and looking to Amaryllis with a look of friendly camaraderie on her face. Though something in the pirate’s eyes didn’t seem to be...‘entirely there’ either. Almost like her gaze was genuine, but something inside her head was a bit more distant than usual.

“Whatta’ bout’ you, Amaryllis?” Sophia said, audibly doing her best to pronounce others’ names as best as she could in this instance, “Ah...know ah’ ain’t much thanna’ straggler...frankly ya’ the only other one ta’ show me a kind face in alla’ this since ah’ woke up fer’ tha’ first time. That ahn’ at’ chain-y arm ah’ got pushing me towards ya’ fer some reason...heh.

But what’s something ya like? Ah’ suppose at’s a place ta’ start in tryin’ to get to know someone else, eh?”

“Eh, are we really just going to, uh, do this?” Amaryllis laughed awkwardly, before shutting herself up with the straw of her drink. Pressing herself against the back of the seat, the bespectacled woman toyed with a strand of hair briefly, a difficult expression on her face. Something she liked…

The Sword prodded her ribs. Somehow, it tickled more than it hurt. Right, no need to think too much about it, she supposed.

“Guess, I’d like world peace.”

…

Wow, did she really just say that?

“Ahahaha, I mean, like, food is good too! Could really go for some food right now!” And just like that, Amaryllis went at the food like she was a vacuum cleaner going through a dusty wooden floor.

“Mmm, do you? Hilaria doesn’t think your heart is into it, if that’s the case~!” She eyed Amaryllis almost as if offended by her actions. “Because any true connoisseur of foods would understand that chipmunking is in bad taste, as well as means for disqualification~!” she pointed at Amaryllis’ cheeks, which had become big as she shoveled a large amount of food into them. “Hilaria calls your bluff~!” But just as quickly as she jumped on Amaryllis, she soon seemed to have lost interest in putting Amaryllis on the spot any longer. She turned to Sophia.

“Hilaria knows the ins and outs of Penrose cuisine~! If you want, Hilaria will help you taste all of the food Penrose has to offer~” She elected not to mention that she had essentially done so already, minus home-cooked meals. “And…” Hilaria paused rather abruptly, as if she was second-guessing something. “...Hel--laria is a bit too old to remember much. Mmm, but she does know she likes Rome, too~!”

Sophia gave a small chuckle at the flustered swordswoman. It was almost like night and day when the ‘Goo Lass’ was on or off the battlefield, at least from what the pirate had seen so far. Yet she couldn’t judge, really, or at least that was how she felt about the matter. At least the food had arrived though. The pirate munched on a couple of fresh, hot livers in the meantime, savoring the spices and slight bitterness as she listened to Hilaria speak once more. Yet as she listened, the pirate couldn’t hold back the grin then came to her face.

“I’d be happeh’ ta’ take ya’ up on that offer, lass!” the dark magical girl said after swallowing a bite, her eyes locked on Hilaria for a moment and beaming with an excited energy, “Though don’t fret over tha’ old memories too much now…if yer’ unable ta’ remember tha’ past, then, then move forward an’ make new one’s! I’d be glad ta’ help ya’ with that, an’ maybe we could go see Rome someday ta’ boot if mah’ dusty ol’ patron would take us on ah’ ride, haha!”

She then put a gentle hand on Hilaria’s own, before leaning back once more. Something about memory issues seemed to resonate with her somewhat, though it wasn’t like she wasn’t curious about the past. The armored girl’s near-mistakes in saying her own name, which had happened a couple of times now, seemed to be a clue of something perhaps. It was nothing she’d press the lass for, though she on the other hand wished she could press herself for more answers for her own past. Still hadn’t found that girl who’d tried to kill her either, much less get a chance to talk...

The pirate then looked over to Amaryllis once more.

“Well, world peace seems like ah’ good thin’ ta’ like, ah’ reckon. Ah’ world where ah’ ain’t getting threatened er’ shot at every other day would be nice, haha! But...ah reckon tha’ people ere’ would do better with it ahs’ well,” the pirate said, wistfully staring into her coke before looking back once more with a goofy but happy grin, “Sorry fer’, ah, if any o’ this is awkward ere’, lass. Perhaps next time ya’ can decide on tha’ place an’ activity, eh? Specially’ if it made yeh’ more comfortable, ah’d be glad ta’ come along and see what ya’ like!”

“Eh? But I really do like eating…”

“Well, since you eat Lichs, Hilaria supposes she can take your word for it…”

Amaryllis shook her head at Sophia’s concern.

“It’s like, basically fine. I wanted to eat food anyways, so, like, yeah. Just that, y’know, talking to people is weirder than just stabbing monsters. There’s way more wrong ways to do things than right ways, and you can’t, uh, mend someone’s heart with your fists, right?”

“Mm~? Do you really think so~?” Hilaria’s food finally arrived, and the waitress spread it along the table, after taking any trash leftover from the others. “Hilaria would say that talking to people is the norm in this respect~! And it’s a lot easier to get food that way~”

Before her now was essentially a feast. More drumsticks and thighs than one could count on a hand, and sides, such as potatoes and mac&cheese were plenty. Multiple sodas, as well. She set upon them with a strange mix of grace and gluttony, devouring things in a very efficient way. Every so often, she would stop and take a glug. “~! Oh, but Hilaria stopped caring about any of that difficult stuff and talking became so much easier, so maybe that’s why~ But then again, Hilaria finds fighting monsters more enjoyable anyway, because it makes the food so much better~”

“Well, ya’ speak true ah’ suppose....not like ah’ve had too much experience in this save fer’ almost bein’ killed an’ threatened a few times,” Sophia said, letting out a small sigh and glancing up at the ceiling a minute with a grimace on her face and a distant light in her eyes, ignoring Hilaria’s eating almost altogether as vivid memories of the wind-using girl trying to kill her in cold blood right after she awoke bubbled up, “...Bah. Can’t say really on my fer’ sure part, tho’, at’ fists might not work fer’ someone out ere’ in the world. Punchin’ and fighting till’ tha’ feelin’s get through somehow... and ya’ have ta’ talk cause yer’ both too tired.

But...well, mostly knowin’ battle ah’n mah’ part, ah’d wanna’ suppose ah’t like battle talkin’ requires work at it tah’ get better, eh? Ya’ get hurt, others gettin’ hurt, ahn’ just keep on tryin’ till ya’ work ya’ way out and help em’ others along with ya’ as best ya’ can?”

The pirate lightly shook her head side to side. This was perhaps a bit ‘too’ profound to talk of over a meal, and getting all sappy when she was supposed to be enjoying time with comrades (at least in that last battle) somewhat put a bad taste in her mouth. Such talk could come later, but for now-

“Heh. Well, lass, sorreh’ fer’ gettin’ a bit out oh’ things there! Gotta get tyin’ on tha’ feedbag befer’ its get cold, haha!”

The dark magical girl seemed to return to her jovial and more food-loving self a moment later, before going ham on her remaining fresh-cooked livers. Hunger seemed to rumble in her stomach a bit more, somehow, and she was happy to sate it and feel more ‘normal’ again. At least as far ‘normal’ as something like herself was in all of this. Sophia then motioned for a waitress as she finished blitzing through the rest of her own meal at a rapid pace.

“Ah’ll get ah’nother large order of those livers, please! Ah’n two dozen cookies fer’ tha’ three of us fer’ dessert!” she said, before looking to Hilaria and Amaryllis with a wide and beaming but still so very goofy grin.

“Yeah, feel like I’m basically done talking too.” Well, Amaryllis always sorta was. Especially when they were just talking. “Let’s all eat and head out before we end up ordering more than what the restaurant has stocked up?”

Hilaria was watching the other two patiently, having somehow finished her huge meal sometime before they'd even stopped talking. Her plates were stacked and ready to be taken as if this were routine. So, she simply nodded when Amaryllis suggested leaving. "It would be rude to deprive others of food, so Hilaria thinks that's a good idea, Arma---Amaryllis~!" She caught herself slipping yet again. But ignoring that, wasn't it her doing the 'depriving'? "Hilaria enjoyed the food. And some company makes every bite that much sweeter, even if it's just a few strangers who have just met~!" she smiled. "So, thank you two, for a wonderful meal~"

It was about this time the cookies were brought over. Probably surprising to all involved, Hilaria only took one and stood up. "See you la-..." Hilaria briefly paused, a troubled look momentarily washing over her features. She replaced it with a weak smile afterward. "Bye-bye~!" and as if that strange moment had never occurred, she munched on the one cookie as she departed the KFC.

“Aye,” the pirate said in agreement with the sword wielding girl, before giving a polite wave and a thankful smile as Hilaria left, before looking back to Amaryllis once more, “Ah...well, feel free ta’ take any of tha’ cookies ya’ want on tha’ way out at least. Haha….but if not ah’ll be eatin’ these back on mah’ ship!”

The pirate let out a small laugh, before finishing the last bits of her coke with a chug and a flourish as she set the cup back down on the table. She then pushed back on her seat, standing up and stretching her arms.

“An’...thank yeh’ fer’ coming, Amaryllis. Ah’ hope ta’ get ta’ know ya’ better, at least fir’ tha’ kindess ya’ve shown ah’ wobbly landlubber like mah’self. Might not beh’ much, but fer’ someone who’s just woken up inta’ ah’ totally new world...it means a lot ta’ not be shot at by everythin’ at’ moves.”

With that Sophia gave a small wink and a thankful smile to the rose knight, before moving over to the front counter to pay up and leave. Her patron had sent her prepared for this, even for Hilaria’s portion sizes surprisingly enough. All that remained was fresh order of hot, fried livers...and the box of now just-under two dozen fresh cookies sat upon the table.

“I’ll finish them with you,” Amaryllis said, after a brief pause. “Pretty sure you’ll get more friends and stuff soon anyways, Sophia. Just, like, keep talking to people and not shooting at them first, yeah?”

Taking one of the cookies and breaking it in half, she offered one half to Sophia and bit into the other half herself.

“Horrors are Horrors, but everyone deserves one chance, anyways.”

The pirate took a visible pause, stopping before really walking away from the table. Turning back around, however, it was easy to see Sophia’s face in look of genuine but slight surprise. Yet...it only took a moment after before that beaming, goofy smile once again came to her face as she took the offered half of the cookie and took a solid bite out of it.

“Aye! I can agree with at’!”

Lily winced as Alexander walked up to her, looking away with tears welling up. Even though Lily knew he would never hurt her on purpose, a part of her expected the moody magical boy to scold her; she knew how temperamental he would get when it came to harming innocent people, and how swiftly he would enact revenge on those who wronged him. Yet, no words of reprimanding were uttered, and instead he in turn looked like he was at a loss on what to do.
”Umm, Alex…?” She mumbled as he came closer-

Suddenly, at that moment, when she was drawn to Alex, she blushed heavily, her eyes wide at his gesture. Her heart skipped a beat...And so did the world; she alone perceived how time was erased for that missing heartbeat, laws of causality crashing together from point to point to preserve the laws of the space-time-continuum. It was over before she could blink twice, yet that feeling lingered.
”Aaa...Hawawa...” She uttered gibberish, feeling like she could faint from how endearing Alex was. To not lose face, she hugged Alex back, choosing to embrace his forgiveness.
”Thank you, Alex. I’ll do better next time...”

It took a moment, but Lily successfully calmed herself down, having accepted her mistakes and choosing to move on. She was happy to hear how Su was grateful to Alex, only to frown as her gaze moved to her. Her memory flashed back to the time when she had an argument with her over Justine’s fate. But before she could say anything, Su already made her offer, surprising Lily.
”A b-bronze coin...”
She repeated the word...And then, gradually, her expression turned cheery, and she took sU’s hand, waving it frantically.
”We’d be glad for any room! Thank you so much.” Then she realized something, and she whispered to Su:
”But, uhh...C-Could you make it two rooms? Alex is kind of...well, you know...snory.” She grinned awkwardly afterwards, and then petted Mika gently on the head.
”I’ll get you the most delicious ice cream in forever, Mika!”
Finally, she bowed before Tetrad.
”Grandma Tetrad, I’ll keep your words in my heart, even long after you have passed.”

As punishment for her ditzy mistake, she was the one to carry Tetrad back to home as the group returned back to Penrose, and finally had a chance to get a good night’s sleep at the Golden Trove.

---

Helga was startled as the rock on the floor suddenly buzzed like a phone, causing Helga to leap over the desk parkour-style and snatch it up in a single fluid motion.
“Su? Where the hell have you been!” She screamed the moment she put the stone to her ear, sounding quite upset.
“You made me so worried I was gonna crack a-” She stopped to listen to Su, holding a hand to her mouth.
“The Overcity? No, I’ll make us dinner, you get your butt right over here.” She then listened to Su say her goodbyes, “Yeah. Bye for now.” She put the stone in her pocket, looking upset. She breathed heavily, regretting her outburst upon hearing how weary Su was. She then went to the kitchen to cook, making sure everything was ready for when she would inevitably return.

And when she did, she would be met with a hug from a crying girl who missed her more than anything else.

---

Jill’s intense eyes burned down on Ronin for a moment longer...before she closed them with a cute smile as she agreed, accepting the handshake. She also looked at Amanda with a warm expression, nodding at her offer.
”Excellent~ In that case, allow me to provide you two with a means of communication.” She held her hand out, and Stacy placed two phones on it; their cases were colored platinum and black, respectively. She handed the first one to Ronin and the second to Amanda..
”These magical phones will allow you to call my number among others. They are tuned to reach the Overcity as well.” Afterwards she put a hand to her chin, thinking.
”Mariette on the other hand...She has become formidable indeed. I will need servants if I am to be victorious...Hmm, yes, they will do quite nicely..” She turned away, making a flippant wave of her hand.
”Until we meet again...Let’s keep in touch, my little Ronin~”
And with that, both her and Stacy disappeared, leaving Ronin, Valkyrie and Amanda. Valkyrie looked a bit confused.
”I have a feeling I’ve missed out on some important exposition,” she finally spoke, before turning to Ronin.
“Regardless, if you are to embark on a dangerous quest, then I would be honored to accompany you on it, Ronin. I know of a place where we can stay for the night. Follow me.” And so, the three left the roof of the station, having now found themselves embroiled in a growing conflict as the night of fear came to an end.

But in time...It would be but a prelude to a nightmare that would swallow Penrose whole.

It was early, dreadfully early some might say, when Penny had slipped into Brittany’s Boutique. She had decided to head to the shop as soon as it opened for the day. It had only been a day since she had split and she didn’t like the feeling of being unarmed.

There were a lot of things she had gotten used to that she found herself missing. The newfound silence was one, as she no longer hummed from an engine core, it was the state of her thoughts that surprised her the most. They were very fluid, and keeping focused on one task was difficult at times. Unless Chloe was involved, and this trip involved Chloe and a Weapon. She couldn't forget the Weapon part.

Penny moved past the counter to survey the new stock. She couldn’t help the feeling of relief at seeing she had been correct in assuming that the store now had Weapons on display. After all that is why she came here. Granted there weren’t a lot of them, but at the same time Penny didn’t need much time at all to decide what one she wanted. It was a short blade, little more than a dagger, but it called out to Penny. And one look at it’s placard told her everything she needed to know about it. Gently she picked off the rack and held it.

It felt right, it felt like home, she furrowed her brow as she tried to place why that was, but the thought slipped away from her. With a shrug, Penny wandered further back into the store, she couldn’t let herself get distracted anymore she had something very important to pick up. It was why she came here after all, right?

At last she came upon the shelf of plushies and her goal for the shopping trip,or was it the dagger she was carrying? Shrugging it off she gently reached out and picked up the small plush version of herself, smiling as she reread the placard. Glad that she was remembered as someone who helped people.

Still smiling she moved back towards the front, weaving through all the newer stock to take a second look at everything there. She couldn’t get anything else, only barely having the money for her current purchases, but she could remember for next time.

“Hi Brittany’' Penny would say in greetings as she walked upto the counter, placing the doll and dagger down as she continued. “I like your new stuff. Is our deal still valid?”

Brittany was looking down as she rested her forearms on the counter, her hat drooping down to the point it nearly obscured her eyes; instead of her usual greeting, she only gave a wave of her hand as she addressed the customer.
‘Greetings...‘ She mumbled, only to blink and lift herself up to look at the taller girl.
‘Oh, it’s you, Penny. Been a long time since last we met at the beach, huh? Nice makeover you have there.‘ Memories began coming back to Penny, from the time she first met with Brittany.



Brittany blinked at Penny’s mention of the deal, and her eyes lighted up.
‘The deal? THE DEAL! YES!‘ She screamed in joy, taking Penny’s hand with her hand, and lightly shaking it.
‘Penny, you can help me rescue Sammy! Please, you’ll help me right?‘
She pleaded, her eyes sparkling as she made a puppy-like face.

Penny was taken aback by the reaction, and it showed on her face as she worked her thoughts into a more coherent state. “Sammy?” she would try to place the name to no success, regardless when the next part was processed her eyes sharpened as her focus fixed on the important thing that was said “She’s in danger? Yes, yes of course I’ll help. What's the problem, where is she?” she would ask quickly.

Brittany released the ex-android girl's hand and nodded.
‘"She is a friend of mine who was kidnapped while we were gone at the beach," she explained.
‘"She's held here in Penrose. I don't know exactly where, but I know who did it." She leaned over the counter, glanced around the shop, and whispered: ‘"The Ebon Mint."

Penny would hiss at the mention of the Ebon mint. “Of course it’s those scum sucking leeches” she would say venomously. “I’d be willing to help out even if we hadn’t set up a deal. When do you think you’ll know where she is?” She would ask as she started to try and piece together who it was she could ask to help out. Depending on the time she might even be able to pull her other half into this as well.

“If it’s going to take some time I can try asking some of my other friends for help as well”

Brittany looked glad, and high-fived her Patron.
‘"Yes! I had a feeling you'd be the reliable type." She then scratched her cheek at the question, looking unsure.
‘"Um, sure, I just...I was kind of hoping you'd help with that too." She paused for a moment, as if she heard something, before returning back to her explanation.
‘"Sammy is a super sleuth you see, and was in a case when she was nabbed. I think the same might happen to me if I start snooping around. And if I'm gone, who's going to run the shop?"

“Good point…” Penny would humm as she rocked back onto her heel. “I can start asking around, might know a few people who could point me in the right direction.” Cindy and Chloe came to mind. Cindy knew a lot of things, and Chloe was still part of the Mint on paper.

“I’ll have to ask Penny about it as well” She would murmur quietly to herself as she thought about her other half “She has the contact information for a few others but I know she’d be just as willing” Still she’d end up nodding to herself before she looked back at Britney smiling. “I’ll start soon as I can!” Penny would promise, before pointing and the blade and doll “So price?”

‘Half the price,‘ Brittany answered. ‘An agreeable offer, yes?‘

Penny sat there for a moment simply blinking as she replayed what Britney had just said. Then she ran the math. Then she couldn’t help but break out a giant smile “Thank you! Of course that’s an agreeable offer.” She would say in delight as she fished out the needed coins from her pockets.

After placing the Coins on the counter top; 1 Gold 2 Silver and 4 Bronze. Brittany was pleased, and counted the coins.
‘Thank you, and please come again!,‘ Brittany answered.

Penny snatched up her new weapon and the adorable plush of her old self. “I’ll get started on trying to track her down right away!” She’d say dashing off to give Chloe her gift.

---

It would be hours later before Britney would have another run in with Penny, in fact it would be shortly before closing when Penny would quietly enter into the store. Yet it wouldn’t be the same Penny that had been here earlier.

The mechanical half of Penny would not waste much time from when she entered the shop. Her first circuit was done to establish all that was new in the store, and to establish whether or not her other half had already passed through.

The absent spot of where the doll of her old self used to sit answered that question quite easily.

Brittany lifted a confused eyebrow, but quickly shifted to her servicing smile.
‘Oh, uh, welcome to the shop! Feel free to browse as much as you like.‘

The second circuit was over even quicker, but was used to pick out the few things that she wanted, that she could afford. Her other half walked away with most of the money after all.

“Salutations.” she would greet Britney as she placed an Overcity guide and a Purification Artifact on the counter top. “These will be the total of my purchases.”

‘That would total 2 Silver and 14 Bronze coins, please.‘
Brittany did not waste any time in her response, expecting this customer in particular to be strictly business. However, she bit her lip as she took another look at her.
‘Um, excuse me for asking, but... Do you happen to know someone named Penny?‘

“Yes” Penny would reply as she carefully stacked the required coins on the counter top “My designation is Penny. And my other half is also designated Penny.” She would explain succinctly before pointing at where the plush of her used to sit “Circumstances lead me to believe you encountered her earlier”

She would wait until Britney took the coins to pick up her purchases once again, yet she would also wait incase Brittney had more questions. She knew it would be rude to simply leave now.

‘Really?‘ Brittany’s jaw dropped at the revelation, and she accidentally swiped at the coins, causing one of them to roll and drop to the floor.

‘Whoops. Sorry about that.‘ She walked to the front of the corner to pick it up, only to stop as a spider-like limb detached from Penny’s back and picked up the coin first and handed it back to her

“No apologies required” She would say with a soft smile. “She did pass on your request to me as well. I will also be working on finding her.” With that said Penny would pick up her purchases and internalize them. The Overcity guide would turn into a small floating orb shaped drone. It had a large lense on the front and it spent a moment just looking at things before floating into an open space on Penny’s back.

The Purification artifact would become a white gold pendent in the shape of an eight pointed star with a diamond in the middle that was glowing softly.

“Good night” She would say before turning to leave.

'Uh, yeah...Good night.'
Brittany waved goodbye to Robo Penny with a twitching eyebrow, still a bit taken aback by the revelation. Well, at least she got double the sales from it. That has to count for something.